Local Support for Online Learners with Possible Learning Disabilities

LOCAL SUPPORT FOR ONLINE LEARNERS WITH POSSIBLE LEARNING DISABILITIES

Torstein Rekkedal, NKI Distance Education and Norwegian School of Information Technology, Norway

Introduction

This paper reports from a research study concerning online distance study for competence development of vocational rehabilitation clients. The students included in the study were adults with health problems participating in a rehabilitation process to re-enter into working life. As a group, the students are characterized by difficulties, problems and diagnoses, which for many represent learning disadvantages. The study examined the results of combining individual online distance learning with support organized by a local vocational rehabilitation enterprise. The study indicates that online line study with adequate local support may constitute a good solution for this target group of possibly disadvantaged learners. As the largest online institution in Scandinavia, NKI has a long tradition of supplying distance online courses to vocational rehabilitation clients. Over time there has been some success with blended learning, i.e. online courses combined with local classes. However, individual distance learning has had less success, mainly because of an experienced quite higher drop-out rate among these learners. Blended learning has generally not been a good option, as individual needs differ, so that the possibility of getting a sufficient number of students needing the same course at the same time seldom occurs, and because of their personal social and health situation, the students need to start when they are ready and proceed at their individual pace. In the search for solutions to support this group of learners to succeed in online learning a new concept of support was designed - the idea was to combine individual flexible online learning with local support in the ‘learning room’. NKI collaborated with local vocational rehabilitation enterprises, which established a room furnished...