Notes from an interview with Usha Savithri, Country/Academic Head of Aptech Fiji, on 25 July 2003. Part of the NmInTheSouthPacific project.

Students

Student Background

• 7th Form, USp, and CQU students wanting hands-on web experience
• nearly 50% fijian, rest are msotyl indo-fijian
• most have little computer experience
• good English

How are Fijian students different from those you have taught in other countries?

• good communicators
• good English
• more creative-orieneed than interested in building big enterprises

Teaching Methodology

• Aptech has Int'l standards, so same course is taught worldwide
• 1 student per computer
• lectures are run as hands-on tutorials

Collab Learning/ Aversion to Question authority

it seems a combination of e-anyonmity and peer-learnign is used to overcome aversion to question authority

• • "...job of lecturer is to make students interactive... they have to give presentations... once they become interactive, if they have doubts, they go to the lecturers"
• students are encouraged to ask questions, and do
  • all students forced to give presentations
  • most projects are group projects
  • student communities: online scheduled chats with foreign faculty