MOODLE-BASED PREPARATION OF COURSEWARE MATERIALS FOR A MASTERS PROGRAMME AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA (Published)
Advances in information communication technologies (ICT) and the exponential growth of internet usage are rapidly influencing the delivery of education and the transformation of teaching and learning approaches. One such transformation is the Moodle, an e-learning software platform, which is a Learning Management System (LMS) with the potential of integrating course deliveries in teaching and learning modes. The moodle platform is being adopted in a hybrid form into a Masters degree programme offered by the Distance Education Centre at the University of Education, Winneba in Ghana. A review of the literature reveals that there has been successful implementation of the LMS in diverse academic programme deliveries. However, since this is an innovation in the Ghanaian context, the study aims at exploring the experiences of developers during the preparation and development of coursewares for a distance mode delivery programme. Mixed methodologies of quantitative and qualitative methods using questionnaires and interview guides as instruments were used in collecting data from 50 courseware developers who worked collaboratively in developing the materials. Findings from the study will be used in informing the development of other coursewares and during the revision of the current materials.
Keywords: Distance Education, Learning Management Systems (LMS), courseware, development and collaborative work, online tutoring