Research On Activity Of E-Tutor In Modern Distance Education

The expansion of Modem Distance Education Project brings on normative school running of a school, as well as research of DE on agenda. Although different pilot universities have different operational modes, a huge loose e-tutors group participating in distance learning has gradually formed. These tutors are bearing key duty in distance teaching, and will influence the quality of distance education. Tutors should organize every important step in teaching activity carefully for students, such as development of positive atmosphere for study, guidance of learning strategy, communion and feedback, etc based on the distace learning.Firstly, the dissertation surveys the current situation of teacher's guidance in modem distance education, including observation of online guiding activities of many e-tutors in Network Education Institute of South China Normal University, analysis of the data of online student evaluating form, summary of tutors' experience and general problem in guidance by interviewing and questionnaire. Based on the theory of distance education, theory of the learning and theory of instructional system designment, the elementary scheme of e-tutors guiding activities is formed. Secondly a three-period action research project is carried out. In the project, the freshmen of Network Education Institute of South China Normal University in autumn 2003 enrolling in the course named "Distance Learning Method" are choosed as the experimental object. The author as a tutor uses synchronous or asynchronous ways like chatroom, forum (BBS), E-mail and homework system etc, and then adopts "Triangulation" to analyze the platform data , questionnaire investigation, interview and self-introspection of researcher synthetically, verifying the effect of the guiding activities to the course.Finally, there are 2 conclusions:Guided by the thought of classified instruction, the e-tutors' instruction mainly represents in developing online learning situation, promoting students' cognition level, training study strategy, enhancing cooperative ability and so on. Though intension in e-tutors' instructions is different in different step, support to student's emotion is emphasized all along.At the beginning of instruction, tutors should bend themselves to build learning community, setting up a friendly and interactive environment. In supervising students' professional curriculum knowledge learning, tutors should focus on improving the distance students' learning strategy, metacognition level and the cooperation ability, so that realizing their self-development and forming the self-organizational atmosphere in learning community. And the tutors reach the role requirements of curriculum organization, emotional support, information consultant, study monitoring and maintaining community harmony.This research may provide reference to e-tutors' activities in Network Education Institute of South China Normal University as well as other network education institutes, facilitating the concretion of e-tutors' role and responsibility transformation , promoting the development of professional training of e-tutors.