Assisting Students to study online - the Deakin Learning Toolkit _计算机网络论文.docVIP

Assisting Students to study online - the Deakin Learning Toolkit _计算机网络论文 Assisting Students to study online - the Deakin Learning Toolkit _计算机网络论文 ABSTRACT The Deakin Learning Toolkit (DTL) is an innovation that provides students and staff with the tools, skills and information to participate fully in the University’s online learning community. Now in its third year, it has demonstrable value and impact and has been enthusiastically adopted within the University (and copied by other universities). In 1998 it won the Vice-Chancellor’s award for Outstanding Support Services. Physically, the DLT is a CD-ROM, which operates like a web browser, containing information, training programs and software. It is a resource to orient students to Deakin and its online environment and services, to provide them with the tools (including learning resources and software) they need to work in that learning environment, to teach them how to use the tools and services that are available and to lead them from the CD-ROM to the online world of Deakin University. KEYWORDS Deakin University Deakin Learning Toolkit distance education students off-campus students online learning online services library services student services information technology services student support 1. Introduction Deakin University is a metropolitan and regionally based university with six campuses in the Australian State of Victoria. Its 2000 student population totalled 28,192 people, with 13,661 studying on-campus, 12,110 studying off-campus and a further 2,421 in mixed on and off-campus mode. In addition, a further 40,000 students study through the University’s commercial arm, Deakin Australia, which provides training and higher education opportunities to staff of corporations and government departments and to members of professional associations. Since its inception, Deakin University has been renowned for its excellent distance education programs, providing higher education opportunities to people who, for