In this research, the author investigates the role of the personal tutor in an online professional development programme for in-service college lecturers (the Teaching Qualification (Further Education) or TQ(FE)) in Scotland.  In the current economic climate, and in the face of massification of university education, we see many universities across Europe (and indeed globally) attempting to make economies in programmes, seeking efficiencies to cut costs, without, however, devaluing the quality of the education on offer. Institutions facing growing numbers of students and decreasing numbers of teaching staff are increasingly looking to information and communication technologies (ICT) to overcome these problems (Oliver, 2008, citing Tynjala, Valiman & Sarja, 2003).  Web 2.0 technologies – with their facility for user-generated content, affording student-to-student communication, are particularly appealing in this regard, offering real possibilities in reduction of the staff-heavy one-to-one tutor/student communication which until recently has dominated in the online distance learning context.    

Garrison (2000: 8, citing Holmberg, 1989) writes, ‘Guided didactic conversation, Holmberg argues, “is a pervasive characteristic of distance education". In essence, his theory posits distance education as friendly conversation [fostered by] well-developed self-instructional materials [resulting in] feelings of personal relations ... intellectual pleasure [and] study motivation" (p. 43)’.  The problem faced by distance learning programmes in the HE context today is how to address such affective needs in the learner in a way that is satisfying for them, without requiring unmanageable teaching input.  The ‘friendly conversation’ is key to success in this context, from the social constructivist perspective upon which the current research draws; ‘learning is derived from rich conversation with other people who have similar or different perspectives based on their own life experiences’ (Woo and Reeves, 2007, citing Jonassen, 1999; Jonassen et al., 1995).  The social aspects of distance learning programmes enhance learning (Ward, Peters, Shelley, 2010). 

To a large extent, University teaching relies upon learners assuming responsibility for their own learning: this is a central tenet of much  literature in the field (for example Brookfield, 1995, 2001; Foley, 2000; Knowles, 1975; Mezirow, 2000; Shor, 1996); the learner ‘learning to learn’ is one of the key competences of the European Lifelong Learning Programme (European Communities, 2007); it is expected that European Citizens should, ‘develop an increasing sense of responsibility for the acquisition, maintenance and expansion of their own competences’ (European Parliament, 2006).    

This research examines ways in which the online TQ(FE) programme has developed beyond the mere transmission of information, to put appropriate mechanisms in place to meet the needs of the learner’s affective domain, through the innovative use of Web 2.0 social media tools.

Research question and subquestions:

Is the ‘personal tutor’ a prerequisite of online distance professional development programmes?

·        Is there a measurable difference in successful completion of the TQ(FE) professional development programme when the personal tutor is replaced by a semi-automated central tutor incorporating email and a blog?

·        How best can Web 2.0 tools be utilised to enhance learning and to meet the social needs of the learners on an online distance learning programme? 

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