Return of Student Assignments in Distance Education: Various Technologies to Reduce Turnaround Time

Abstract

We evaluated five technologies that tutors could use to mark assignments and return the results to students electronically (i.e. by e-mail). The five technologies are: word processors, computer fax, scanners, graphics tablets, and touch sensitive computer screens. The last four methods would allow hand-written comments. Evaluation included feasibility, cost of equipment and software, and time taken to send various sizes of documents (1, 5, 10 and 20 pages). Project costs included (from most expensive to least): purchase of a computer with a touch-sensitive screen, wages for a research assistant to set up and test out the equipment, purchase of a graphics tablet and software, miscellaneous (i.e., contingency software, trip to examine different computers). And software for preparing paper documents to be distributed electronically (i.e. Adobe Acrobat).