A Study on Online Interaction between Tutor and Students

Sri Sediyaningsih¹ & Aminudin Zuhairi²

(1.Communication Department, Universitas Terbuka, Pamulang, Tangerang 15418, Indonesia;

2.Institute of learning Materials Development, Examination and Information, Universitas Terbuka, Pamulang, Tangerang 15418, Indonesia)

Abstract: Learning support is essential to facilitate students in an online learning environment. At Universitas Terbuka (UT), learning support services are provided in various means, face-to-face as well as online. Online tutorial is one of the learning support services provided by UT, which aims to help students better understand the printed learning materials. Online tutorial has the advantage of allowing for more flexible access to learning through asynchronous means of interaction and communication. The course Public Speaking intends to develop students’ capability to express and communicate ideas with the public effectively. The course is equipped with printed and non-printed learning materials to help students in their independent learning activities. Students learn concepts on public speaking from the printed materials and are exposed with examples of public speaking through non-printed or CD-ROM materials.The online tutorials are designed to enhance students’ learning of public speaking concepts through online interactions. This study attempts to examine how the interaction and communication between tutors and students in online learning environments without interpersonal communication aspects such as inclusion, affection and control. A descriptive study was conducted involving content analysis of online tutorial activities during the first semester of 2010. The findings of this study have revealed that lacking of politeness, weak communication etiquette, and the need for online tutors to impair the students’ motivation to learn in an online learning environment.

Key words: online interaction; online learning; online tutorial; learning support services

【CLC numbers】G434

【Document code】A

【Article ID】1007-2179(2011)03-0068-06

The Authors: Dr. Sri Sediyaningsih is Senior Lecturer in Communication Departement at Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia. She was an anchor/news reader at Indonesia Public TV, she is also an instructor/speaker for several workshops, seminars around public speaking, interpersonal skill/communication skill and personality development. Her research interests are in communication studies especially in interpersonal communication, human communication and online communication in distance education (dianb@mail.ut.ac.id). Dr. Aminudin Zuhairi is Senior Lecturer and Head of the Institute of Learning Materials Development, Examination, and Information at Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia. His research interests are in quality assurance, online communication, and teaching and learning in open and distance education.