My e-moderator was very helpful and patient. She was there whenever I needed her help and she always encouraged me if I was late for any reason. However, there were also a number who were unhappy with some of the e-moderators. The following table reflects the main concerns raised about e-moderator performance. Table 8: Participants’ views on poor practices of some e-moderators Poor practices of e-moderators mentioned by some participants • Took many days to respond to participants • Rarely contributed to the discussion forums • Didn’t make things clear regarding what was expected, particularly regarding the module assessment and other procedures • Showed little flexibility around individual circumstances and deadlines • Rarely offered encouragement or support • Did not provide participants with a sense of how they were progressing.
In general, there was a feeling that there was a need for e-moderators to be more sympathetic regarding participants’ personal circumstances, work commitments and their lack of experience of online learning. Participating teachers also felt they needed more guidance and updates on how they were progressing. As one participant said in a focus group interview: She [the e-moderator] wasn’t a regular visitor to the forum. There was no continuous feedback. We got one feedback in our reflective journal at the beginning and one at the end. We got no feedback on how we were doing in the forum, if what we were doing was wrong or right. Again, participants also highlighted the issue of exam preparation as well, with about one-third of participants commenting that they did not feel they got sufficient support with this from their e-moderators. Finally, with regard to the e-observers, participants were appreciative of the efforts they made to support them face-to-face or by telephone when they had concerns. However, they were not entirely certain of their roles, as reflected in suggestions for how to improve their role. Some participants proposed that the role of e-moderators should entail more face-to-face classes to support the online learning or that they should take on some of the responsibilities of e-moderators. Teachers’ views on workload and time management issues Personal workload and time management issues were mentioned by almost all participants. For some, an important positive point of learning had been working out how to manage their time and create space for professional development activities alongside the requirements of their jobs. However, the results of the survey and focus group interviews revealed that, as has been signalled in the literature (see, for example, Murray, 2013), workload and time management issues were a concern for many. Just over half (52 per cent) mentioned that they had found it very challenging to manage the demands of the course alongside their school
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