2007 Biennial Cross-Campus Conference in Education

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Online delivery of a mathematics course in a distributed environment: The case of UWI Distance Education Centre
(School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2008) Franklin, Martin; Thurab-Nkhosi, Dianne
The University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC) was created in 1996 to facilitate distance delivery of programmes offered by UWI. Since 2002, UWIDEC has been incorporating the use of ICTs in the delivery of its programmes and courses. Globally, there has been debate on the pedagogical effectiveness of online courses in general and specifically the quantitative subject areas including mathematics. Taking into consideration the various arguments for and against the use of online learning, as part of a pilot programme, UWIDEC took a decision to change the mode of delivery of the course Mathematics for Social Sciences from the conventional synchronous mode to the online mode. This paper reflects on the experience of the UWI Distance Education Centre in its pilot delivery of Mathematics for Social Sciences to students across the English-speaking Caribbean. The authors review the key issues that should be considered in changing the delivery mode of mathematics courses from the conventional, synchronous mode to the online mode, and provide recommendations for improving the online delivery of mathematics courses