Usage of Supplementary Online Courses: To What Extent Are We Successful? A case study with An Undergraduate Chemistry course

Abstract

One of the goals of the Distance education Modernization project (DEMP) launched at the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) in 2003, with the assistance of the Asian development Bank (ADB) was to utilize ICT as an effective way of teaching and learning. For this purpose OUSL developed and delivered three types of online courses with varying degrees of compulsion. Delivery of the courses is being carried out through the National Online Distance Education Service (NODES network. In order to access NODES several Nodes Access Centres (NAC) were established around the country. // This paper presents a case study on the usage of online supplementary component developed for the first year undergraduate Chemistry course. The course was offered over the last three academic years and only a very few students have accessed the supplementary online component. Analysis of its usage raveled that the students do not show much interest in participating in interactive forums but have shown interest in practicing quizzes The knowledge gained in this case study will be useful in future development of online supplementary courses.