Useful lessons for distance educational course writers lacking capacity for interactive electronic learning material development for the enhancement of web-based distance learning

Godfred Yeboah Annum

Department of Painting and Sculpture, College of Art and Social Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana

Email: anngodam@yahoo.co.uk,  anngodam@gmail.com;

Tel: 233-206973608, 233244793964

Accepted 22 October, 2013

Abstract

The print technology has remained the first choice of most course writers of distance educational institutions especially in Ghana for delivering learning materials to students, a situation that has denied such students, the derivation of the full benefit of web-based distance learning, in view of its importance in modern pedagogical practice. The difficulty for course writers to develop and deliver web-based Interactive Electronic Learning Materials is accountable for this situation. This is due to the lack of capacity and the failure of many of the distance learning institutions to equip their course writers with the technical knowhow for achieving this. It is on this score that the writer of this article explored the application tools of Microsoft Office Word 2007 for Interactive Electronic Learning Materials development and employed the descriptive and design-based research methods to demonstrate strategies by which course writers could independently develop and deliver learning materials to facilitate e-learning. The methodological procedures emphasised the use of Frames, Tables and Link application tools.

Keywords: Course Writer; Distance Learning; Interactive Electronic Learning Material; Microsoft Office Word.