S1.4.3

=Feedback collected regularly from staff regarding the clarity and effectiveness of the technical support provided to students. =

Evidence
The e-learning environment presents many new and/or different teaching and learning challenges that can benefit from valid, reliable, and informative feedback from teachers. Laurillard (2002) recommends the establishment of a forum for teachers to “discuss their experience of learning technologies, and the academic issues surrounding the balance of learning methods”(p. 227).

Student perspectives are not the only ones necessary to assess. Usoro and Abid (2008) emphasize the importance of including academics and stakeholders views to ‘achieve a comprehensive measure of quality’ (p. 77-78).

According to Jamieson (2004) e-learning represents ‘the emergence of a significant online pedagogy [which] raises host of issues…concerning the complex and idiosyncratic nature of online learning’ (p. 22). A key issue is the erosion of ‘traditional teacher-centred pedagogy…as online environments provide learners with greater flexibility over when, where, how, and with whom they learn’ (p. 22). Jamieson discusses a flexible learning programme for academics, which includes a weekly discussion group and regular anonymous evaluation responses that demonstrate the variety and value of communities of learning practice.

Resources
Communities of practice are discussed by Gray (2004) who emphasises the benefits that the online environment offers for collegial information sharing. However she recommends that an accomplished moderator be employed to facilitate formal and informal discussion across e-learning’s technical, social, organisational, and pedagogical functions (p. 33).

http://cit.nus.edu.sg/ELWblog/2008/04/teaching_staff_feedback_summar.html