Modern technology, outdated delivery

A survey has indicated that adult students doing courses in information and communications technology are generally dissatisfied with the teaching methods being adopted.

Many of the students complained about the lack of flexibility in the way such courses are delivered. All the courses in the survey used a face-to-face mode of delivery, and none took advantage of the flexibility offered by modern technologies, according to a preliminary review of the results.

"This, coupled with a general dissatisfaction with the scheduled lecture times, seems to point towards a need for a more flexible learning and teaching mode in adult education," said the University's Mario Camilleri, the project leader.

The survey was part of a three-year Grundtvig 2 learning partnership between the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta and partners in Italy, Austria and Germany. The partnership is looking into the development of innovative methodologies in adult ICT education and training.

The survey questioned more than 100 learners attending a variety of part-time adult ICT courses. Mr Camilleri, who is the computing education coordinator in the university's Department of Mathematics, Science and Technical Education, emphasised that these results were from a preliminary analysis of the data. In the next few months the local researchers would be comparing their results with data collected by their colleagues from Italy, Germany and Austria.

"Also, the survey was only intended to give us some indicators when developing ICT learning resources for adults - we'll be very reluctant to generalise from such a small scale exercise. Still, some useful indicators have emerged."

For example, according to some of the teachers interviewed, the biggest learning hurdle experienced by their adult students is lack of self-confidence and stamina. The students give up too easily, and need someone to boost their confidence and to direct them.

Work emerged as the predominant objective for choosing to take up an adult ICT course. Men cited career advancement significantly more often than women as a reason for furthering their education in ICT, while women mentioned personal creative development as an objective significantly more frequently than men.

Many of the respondents said they find plenty of support and encouragement from their employers to take up an adult ICT course.

Mr Camilleri said the project was very much in line with the recently published draft National Action Plan for Employment (August 2004). The plan lists "improving the levels of education and certification among the workforce" as one of the six strategic elements to be pursued during 2005-2010, and (in accordance with EU policy) recommends that "innovative learning methods be developed, and investment in ICT skills (be) increased".

The first meeting between the project partners took place in December 2003 in Fasano, Provincia di Brindisi, Italy at an institution of higher technical education.

Since the Maltese participants could not attend the second meeting held in Lackenbach, in Borgenlund, Austria in March 2004, a videoconferencing link was set up thanks to the Centre for Computing Services (CSC) at the University of Malta.

During this meeting plans were finalised for a small-scale survey of a sample of adult ICT courses offered in each of the participating regions. A total of over 450 questionnaires were administered to adult learners following ICT courses during March and April 2004, and the partners met again at the Technical University of Chemnitz, Germany in May to discuss the analysis of the data and to conclude the first year of work on this project.

As a result of contacts set up in the course of the first year of this project, Prof. Roland Schöne, an internationally recognised authority on adult education and chair of the Department of Adult Education and Continuing Education at the University of Chemnitz, paid a visit to Malta in July during which he had various meetings at the University, the Ministry of Education and the Education Division.

This project is being carried out with the support of the European Community in the framework of the Grundtvig action of the Socrates Programme. The primary objective of the Grundtvig action is to enhance the provision of adult education through European cooperation. In this context, a learning partnership is a framework for small-scale cooperative activities between organisations working in adult learning and aims to broaden the participation of smaller organisations that wish to include a dimension of European cooperation within their education activities.

The Maltese participants said they would like to thank the Socrates National Agency for its constant support, as well as the learners and teachers who voluntarily participated in the survey.