Development of “STOU Media for all” Model Platform for Distance Learning at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University

Abstract

The objective of this study is to develop a learning platform, entitled STOU Media for All, to enable Distance Learning for Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University by inspecting and assessing the platform requirements from the Bachelor levels of the university who registered in the subject 10152: Thailand and the world society, totaling of 265 students. The results showed that overall, the level of requirements were very high in all aspects, the most weighed topics were (1) media, the platform requires a media and knowledge source to elaborate difficult topics; (2) the Usage and designs, the user interface must be intuitive and interesting while conveying the right amount of information; (3) the platform quality was rated at the very good level in terms of the quality of communication and interactions between students and instructors; and (4) the expectations, the students should be able to learn and understand better in the final results. The experts in designing the platform mentioned that the requirements and the scope are in a respectable area and suitable to process to the drafting step. The prototype evaluation of “STOU Media for all” achieved a very good score. The Platform components and process comprised: (1) Input factors; (2) Process factors; and (3) Output factors. The process of developing “STOU Media for all” are as follows (1) study and analyze the course description, the objectives, each chapter of the course, instructional plans and the details including content of the course (2) define the objective for the students to receive from “STOU Media for all”; (3) collect the subject information and media; (4) design and develop media to present in the subject and in-class activities; (5) upload the instructional materials and activities to the platform; (6) develop interactive elements between students and teachers; (7) conduct classes based on the platform; (8) finalize, control and monitor the “STOU Media for all” platform; and (9) test and evaluate the “STOU Media for all” platform.