ERIC Number: EJ1018270
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Jul
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1939-5256
EISSN: N/A
The Potential of a Multimedia Open Educational Resource Module in Enhancing Effective Teaching and Learning in a Postgraduate Agricultural Program: Experience From AgShare Project Model
Hassen, Jemal Yousuf
Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, v17 n2 p51-62 Jul 2013
Graduate programs in agriculture in developing countries such as in Ethiopia are often designed in cognizance of the need for skilled manpower for agricultural development. In Ethiopia, the contribution of graduates of agricultural graduate programs to the attempt to transform smallholder agriculture has become a matter of urgency in the face of the increasing challenge of food insecurity. However, the performance of graduates of those programs in making concrete contributions to the urgent needs of agricultural development has been patchy at best. There might be no single best solution as to how to make agricultural graduate programs and/or their graduates responsive to the needs of agricultural development. In particular, hopes that effective teaching and learning in agricultural graduate programs would lead their students to attain the relevant knowledge and skills to make concrete contributions to agricultural development are frequently not realized. This article seeks to share the experience of implementing the AgShare project model to develop and use an open education resource (OER) module, and in so doing, furthering our understanding of the possibilities of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning toward its intended purpose. Among the key findings from this experience is that a multimedia OER module developed against clearly defined educational needs, with authentic content designed according to sound educational principles, can lead to direct and immediate improvements in the quality of teaching and learning, which enables learners to acquire knowledge and skills that fit an ultimate purpose in a real-life context.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Agricultural Education, Masters Programs, Resource Units, Shared Resources and Services, Multimedia Instruction, Relevance (Education), Education Work Relationship, Instructional Effectiveness, Teacher Student Relationship, Graduate Students, College Faculty, College Curriculum, Learning
Sloan Consortium. P.O. Box 1238, Newburyport, MA 01950. e-mail: publisher@sloanconsortium.org; Web site: http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/jaln_main
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ethiopia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A