Tutorial Support
Tutorial support services aim to provide UPOU students with the opportunity to clarify and/or discuss lessons/topics in their learning package with academic tutors and their classmates.
There are three modes of tutorials at the UPOU, as follows:
Face-to-face tutorials
In this mode, students enrolled in a course meet with a tutor and their classmates once a month on a Saturday at a UPOU Learning Center. About three hours per month of face-to-face tutorial sessions are held for a three-unit course.
Face-to-face tutorials are scheduled for courses where there is a sufficient number of students who can meet in a Learning Center and there is a qualified tutor in the area.
Teletutorial
Where there are few enrollees in a course in a Learning Center, telephone tutorials are conducted in lieu of face-to-face tutorials. The students meet at the Learning Center on a scheduled date and time to participate in tutorials via telephone conducted by a UPOU-trained tutor who is usually based in a UP campus. A maximum of three groups of students enrolled in a course can participate in a teletutorial, with two groups in two UPOU Learning Centers and the third group in a UP campus where the tutor meets them face-to-face.
Online tutorials
Recognizing the potential of modern information and communication technologies in reaching more students and in fostering high levels of interaction among learners and faculty, the UPOU adopted online tutorials in most of its courses starting in 2001. The UPOU uses the Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (IVLE) software of the National University of Singapore as its platform for online tutorials.
The IVLE has the following features:
- Boards for asynchronous threaded discussions that simulate academic interaction in a classroom
- Chat rooms for synchronous discussions
- Spaces for posting general information about a course and course policies, including requirements and grading system
- Facilities for distribution of additional materials and information to members of the class
- Facilities for online submission of student assignments and other course work
- Facilities for online quizzes
The most widely used IVLE feature to date is the discussion boards, in which threaded discussions of lessons are conducted.
For most of its courses, UPOU conducts tutorials online, rather than face-to-face or via telephone.
Students are given training in the use of IVLE upon admission to the UPOU. For an online orientation to IVLE, visit http://ivle.upou.org.
