LS4ODFL/Types and Foundations of Learner Support/Types

Learner support focuses on what the teacher or instructor can or should do to help learners beyond the formal delivery of content or skills development. The following diagram illustrates the different categories of learner support in ODFL.

Much research and development into distance learning have gone into teaching – academic support. Less attention has been paid to nonacademic support which is perhaps the more complex area and needs various ways of describing it. Watch this video to get a glimpse of learner support: [Watchtime: 15.18 mins]

by Commonwealth of Learning Functions of learner support Regardless of how an institution chooses to organise its learner support services, the two basic functions of learner support apply: tuition and counselling. Both can be broken down further into a number of tasks.

 The two major types of learning support are academic and non-academic, and these are further categorised into their respective roles, as we have learned in the first section of this module. It is essential to understand how to build effective online learner support, comprehend the challenges involved, and strategies to overcome them.