Abstract

JOUBERT, Yvonne  and  SNYMAN, Annette. The contribution of the e-tutor mode in an open distance learning higher education institution: the perspective of the e-tutor. IJTL [online]. 2020, vol.15, n.1, pp.6-21. ISSN 2519-5670.

The objective of this exploratory qualitative study was to determine e-tutors' perceptions (only e-tutors' perceptions, not students' or lecturers' perceptions) of the contribution of the e-tutor model towards an open distance learning institution, as well as to its students, from a sample of 31 out of 50 e-tutors in the Human Resource Management (HRM) Department. Open-ended questions were emailed to 50 e-tutors in the HRM Department to be completed on a voluntary basis. The results indicated that according to these e-tutors, the e-tutor model may hold several benefits for the institution, including that it could assist to increase pass rates, provide support to students and lecturers, assist to bridge the ODL gap - the gap between students, lecturers and fellow students due to distance education, and provide a competitive advantage to the institution. The e-tutors' views furthermore revealed that the model may hold substantial benefits for the students such as that it could assist students to understand the content and knowledge of the learning matter better, keep them informed, increase interaction, motivate them, and increase support and the ability of students to graduate. Therefore, the study demonstrates that the ODL institution's use of the e-tutor model could increase its student success rates and institutional competitiveness.

Keywords : contribution; distance education; e-learning; open distance learning; e-tutoring; student support.

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