Page 247 - Universitas Terbuka Center of Excellence In Asia 2010 and The World 2020 (A Journey Towards a Leading Open and Distance Education Institution 1984-2008)

attend tutorials regularly, or to what extent tutorials help them in their
studies.

Learning facilities at the Regional Offices are supposed to be made use of by
the students. However, not many students are aware of the provision of the

learning facility. Beside that, there has been no effort to give training to the
students so that they can use the learning facilities, such as how to use

computer aided instructional materials.

Conclusion

Learning support services for the students are the integral part of distance
higher education system . For prospective students, the services need to be given
in the form of information and counseling. Sufficient information on the programs
offered and the learning system UT applies at the beginning of registration

period are expected to be able to help the students prevent from dropping out or
moving to another university. Beside these services, UT also provides services

such as dealing with academic administration matters as well as academic
support services in the form tutorials and mini libraries. Tutorials are carried out
in groups or individually either face-to-face, written , online, or by postal

correspondence, internet or facsimile.
The development of learning support service system in distance higher
education institution should carefully consider who needs assistance and what

kind of assistance the students need. Once the students' needs for assistance
has been identified, the administrators of the distance higher education
institution can determine the way to give it by considering some factors such as

cost, technology and geography. In order to know whether the services reach the
target and meet the requirements for the improvement of quality service , it is

necessary to do continuous assessment.

222