GAMs are four-hour meetings held five times during an annual HOU course. The purpose of the meetings is to promote communication and collaboration between educators-advisors and students, as well as between students, to clarify important concepts and elements of the subject and to provide guidance for students in terms of studying and writing. Participation in GAMs is optional. GAMs are conducted face-to-face, but synchronous online meetings have been taking place since 2017 as well. Students can choose the type of GAM they want to participate in at the beginning of the academic year.
Published in Chapter:
Facilitating the Educational Process in Synchronous Group Advisory Online Meetings in the Hellenic Open University
Eleni Karakolidou (Hellenic Open University, Greece), Piera Leftheriotou (Hellenic Open University, Greece), and Maria Pavlis Korres (Hellenic Open University, Greece & Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 22
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-4972-8.ch008
Abstract
The Hellenic Open University launched synchronous online group advisory meetings for the academic year 2016-17 through the Skype for Business videoconferencing platform. This chapter focuses on the extent to which interaction, immediacy, and collaborative learning are developed in this particular online learning environment, as well as on the skills required for an efficient adult e-tutor. Research conducted in 2019 has shown that learners scored high in terms of interaction, immediacy, and collaborative learning between each other and their tutor, especially when working in online workgroups, while the learning process was facilitated by immediate e-tutor feedback, which resolved queries, and the effective facilitation of the discussion. In terms of factors hindering the learning process, learners cited the lack of meaningful relationships with their peers as a leading οne, e-tutors pointed to technical problems, while both agreed on the inadequate use of communication and collaborative tools in an online environment.