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IADIS International Conference e-Learning 2007
 51
TUTORING SYSTEM AS AN EFFICIENT BLENDEDLEARNING APPROACH
dr. Viktorija Sul
č
i
č
 
University of Primorska, Faculty of management Koper Cankarjeva 5, 6000 Koper, Sloveniaviktorija.sulcic@fm-kp.si
ABSTRACT
Existing researches show that the development of multimedia online course demands huge staff efforts and results inno significant difference in study outcomes. Besides, the dropout rates in online courses are usually higher than intraditional education. At our faculty several researches were made to ascertain the most efficient way of e-learning in asmaller educational environment, in which the number of students is smaller than in environments where existing e-learning researches were made.In this paper the results from our researches related to e-learning costs are presented. We found out that even if thenumber of students is not as high that as in existing researches, introducing e-learning can be cost-efficient and thatstudents can also gain more knowledge in e-learning courses. At the first stage of the introduction of information andcommunication technology (ICT) in education the institution needs to invest some time and money in quality tutor training. The tutor’s role, normally played by an asistent, has in fact proved to be one of the factors of efficient e-learningfound in our research. After the tutors’ training, the courses can be developed and performed with lower costs and havesignificant impact on study outcomes.
KEYWORDS
E-learning, blended learning, cost-efficiency, tutoring system.
1.
 
INTRODUCTION
All institutions desire to reduce their operational costs. Changes in the learning delivery processes, likethe introduction of information and communication technology (ICT), influenced on teaching costssignificantly. For this reason a considerable amount of researches about cost-effectiveness of the introductionof ICT in education was performed at the end of 60
th
and in the beginning of the 70
th
of the previous century(Rumble 1997, 120). Since 1975 UNESCO also supports the researches in this field (UNESCO 2002). In theUSA the cost-effectiveness of radio and television usage in education was investigated in the 70
th
(Rumble1997, 120). In the 1972 Wagner made a comparative research between Open University’s (OU) distanceeducation courses and courses carried out by traditional universities in the UK (ibidem). The recurrent costsof equivalent undergraduate studies at traditional universities were 3.7 times higher than the cost of OUdistance education courses (at postgraduate level the ratio is 1.5 to 1 for traditional universities). Thedifferences arose from the basic differences between the OU and traditional universities. At OU studentsmostly study part-time, while at traditional universities full-time students are in majority (ibidem, 122). Inaddition to that traditional universities offer expensive courses such as medicine, which the OU does not. TheOU also has a different approach than traditional universities. The OU provides a credit transfer schemeunder which students’ previous educational qualifications are recognized as part of their study obligations(ibidem, 124) thus making their study period shorter. The UK research indicated how important themethodology used in such comparative researches is. Especially when different kinds of institutions are beingcompared (Rumble 1997, 130 – 132).The cost-effectiveness of ICT supported education depends on the technology used, the number of students and of course extent (UNESCO 2002, 73 – 75, Rumble 2001, 76). The staff time needed to producean hour of student learning depends on media employed in the course (Rumble 1997, 79). Sparks (in Rumble
 
ISBN: 978-972-8924-34-8 © 2007 IADIS
 521997, 79) reported that approximately 2 to 10 hours are needed to prepare one hour of traditional lecture andup to 300 hours to prepare one hour of interactive video. When preparing interactive video additional supportstaff is also needed. However, the course costs per student decrease with every course repetition. It iscommon that a large number of students are enrolled in distance education courses, as it is the case at the OU.The costs of online course also depend on the extent of student support. If groups supported by tutors aresmall, the costs increase.Russell reported no significant difference in study outcomes based on the mode of education delivery(face-to-face or distance) (NSD). In addition to that, a group of authors reported that dropout rates of onlinecourses range from 10 % (Diaz 2002) to more than 70 % of students (Mungania 2004, Masie Center 2003,Flood 2002, Dager and Wade 2004), who fail to successfully complete online courses. Simpson (2003) for example reports that 35 % OU students leave the OU before they even take their first exam.These research results are frightening. On one hand the development of multimedia online coursedemands enormous staff efforts, while on the other hand there are no significant differences in studyoutcomes and the dropout rates are higher than in traditional education. As a solution to these problems,Tinto suggested there should be more student interaction and tighter integration with their schoolmates andwith their institution (in Tyler-Smith 2006).As all researches made until now were focused on large institutions with large numbers of students. Asour faculty is a smaller institution with fewer students, we were interested in testing research findings fromresearches made on a bigger scale. Therefore, our research focuses on finding the blended learning approachthat is the most appropriate for smaller educational institutions. Blended learning approaches combinetraditional learning performed in real classroom with student activities in an virtual e-classroom (onlineactivities). Our hypothesis is that courses with up to 100 students can be performed with a blended learningapproach at no significantly higher costs than the costs of a traditional course delivery and that there is anincrease in the gained knowledge because of the blended learning approach.
2.
 
AN EFFICIENT BLENDED LEARNING APPROACH
2.1
 
Study efficiency
Efficiency is defined as the ratio of output to input (Baleti
ć
1995, 174; Dictionary of Accounting Terms,Rumble 197, 120).Participants enter the e-learning process (the input in the e-learning process), for which appropriate ICT isneeded. Students with accomplished study obligations, study materials and e-learning courses exit as theoutput of e-learning (Figure 1
Error! Reference source not found.
).
Figure 1. The e-learning process (Sul
č
i
č
2007b, 69)
 
IADIS International Conference e-Learning 2007
 53The students – graduates and their knowledge (the output) are hardly measured in the terms of monetaryvalues (Levin 1995, 382). Therefore it is more suitable to talk about cost-effectiveness than economiceffectiveness and to measure the students’ effectiveness in another way – for example with the number of students completing the program. We have measured students’ effectiveness by grades and by the student perception of gained knowledge in the e-learning course as compared to traditional courses.
2.2
 
First experiences with blended learning
Our faculty, where 3.000 undergraduate and postgraduate students study business, started with blendedlearning in the academic year 2003/2004. At that time only 37 undergraduate full-time students wereincluded in the blended learning course (Sul
č
i
č
and Trunk 
Š
irca, 2005). In the following year 105 part-timestudents were enrolled in the same course (Sul
č
i
č
2007a). Due to a larger number of the students, the studentswere divided into smaller groups of 13 to 23 students. Each group was supported by a tutor. Based on theway of study different blended learning approaches were used – for full-time students 50 % of the course wasdelivered face-to-face, while only two meetings were organized for part-time students. The first face-to-facemeeting was organized at the beginning of the course and the second at the end of the eight-week course.In our courses the open source learning management system Moodle (www.moodle.org
 
) is used as theonline learning environment. Online courses with large numbers of students are usually supported by onlinetutors (usually teaching assistants). Online tutors are responsible for smaller groups of students. The tutorsmonitor the students in a group, encourage them and motivate them to accomplish study obligations.In previous researches among students different factors for efficient blended learning approach wereinvestigated (Sul
č
i
č
2007b) and the most important factors proved to be:
•
 
the way in which a course was carried out,
•
 
 personal students’ characteristics at the end of the course (self-initiative and perseverance wereexposed),
•
 
the role of the tutor who supported the students in the e-classroom.Students assessed the gained knowledge from the e-learning course as compared to traditional courses ona 5-degree scale. The three most important factors that were identified in the research explained 55.2 % of thevariability of students’ perception of gained knowledge at (Sul
č
i
č
2007b, 141).The research results confirmed that the tutor supported blended learning approach was an appropriate wayof e-learning at our faculty. The tutor’s role was found more important than expensive multimedia studymaterials. Therefore it is necessary to pay attention to continuous and quality tutor training.
2.3
 
Methodology
Our research was based on the evaluation made in the academic year 2004/2005 in which we had an onlinecourse with 105 students, who were supported by tutors. All costs related to the preparation and the deliveryof the course were accurately recorded and observed from the institutional and students’ point of view. Wefound out that the costs in online course were 26.9 % higher from the institutional point of view and 25.2 %lower from the students’ point of view when compared to the costs traditionally delivered courses. The entireonline course was, with two exceptions – two meetings organized in real classrooms, performed purelyonline. Based on this evaluation we identified costs related to all participants of the e-learning process(Figure 2).
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