Teaching‐learning specialists' conceptions of their role in the design of distance learning packages

Abstract

A phenomenographic study of the conceptions that teaching‐learning specialists working in distance education in Australian universities hold of their role in contributing to the development of distance education packages is described. The study identified eight conceptions labelled instructional editor, educational process consultant, instructional process consultant, transformer, critical reviewer (surrogate student), joint venturer, distance education development facilitator, and staff developer. The conception, distance education developer, differed from the other conceptions insofar as it reflected a greater concern with organisational as compared with teaching‐learning issues. The remaining conceptions were able to be distinguished, according to whether they indicated a macro level (structural) perspective or a micro level (process) perspective. The former included the educational process consultant and staff developer conceptions. The latter were able to be further distinguished according to whether they indicated an understanding of the learning package as dialogic text (critical reviewer) or as an instructional medium (instructional process consultant, instructional editor, joint venturer, and transformer). Finally, the four conceptions which reflected an understanding of the learning package as an instructional medium could be distinguished according to the way in which the teaching‐learning specialist saw his or her relationship with the subject specialist in terms of power.