E-LEARNING AND POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH: LEAP AN AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE

Whether one is a proponent or opponent of e-Learning, presenting its benefits to both educators and students is the overall aim of this paper. The format for e-Learning is relatively new when compared to the "talk and chalk" or "PowerPoint and whiteboard". Hence both educators and students are all still on a learning curve in gaining optimum benefit. Many of its opponents are not yet convinced e-Learning is as effective as alternative learning formats such as face to face engagement. This paper presents the benefits and challenges across a range of learning and teaching aspects of the online program, Learning Employment Aptitudes Program (LEAP). We will address issues from technical and administrative management to curricula development, learning resources and student-moderator communication. The paper will also discuss the technology applied to present and administer the program. This is critical to the overall success and future development of the program. A unique aspect of the program is that all students are enrolled in Doctoral or Master (higher degree research) programs which provide a diverse and sophisticated student group that contributes to vigorous and challenging interactions. The LEAP is an initiative of the Australian Technology Network (ATN) of universities which is an alliance of five distinctive and prominent Australian universities located in each mainland State: Curtin University Western Australia; Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; Queensland University of Technology; University of South Australia; and University of Technology Sydney. The program, which has been running since 2003, is targeted at graduate research students and their supervisors. ATN LEAP provides students the opportunity to improve their employment skills while they undertake their research degree, by completing self-paced interactive online modules. The units offered include: Leadership and Communication; Project Management; Entrepreneurship; Research Commercialisation; Public Policy; and Global Sustainability. Each participating university is responsible for the design, development and delivery of a unit. The program is free to ATN students and is provided through a collective initiative called the e-Grad School whose stakeholders are the five ATN universities. LEAP received the 2007 Australian Learning and Teaching Council award for Postgraduate Education.