Using onscreen-action-capture tutorials to enhance student learning of MYOB software.

Skills in being able to interact with accounting information systems (AIS), are increasingly seen as critical components of undergraduate accounting courses in Australia. In an AIS subject developed at a tertiary institution, students were required to use a written practice set to acquire the necessary skills to use MYOB, a common, computerised accounting information system for small business. Following evaluation of, and reflection on, the learning process, there were indications that students did not sufficiently comprehend the written instructions provided as part of the practice set. To remedy this problem, onscreen-action-capture tutorials were developed using a cognitive apprenticeship approach to skill development. A full cohort of students will commence use of the tutorials in 2007. However, some preliminary issues and constraints have arisen which require resolution and need to be addressed. This paper represents the first interim stage in a study that will be progressed once the onscreen-action-capture tutorials have been rolled out to a full semester cohort, and appropriate student evaluation and reflection has taken place. In the interim, future possibilities for on screen-action-capture tutorials are now being contemplated; potentialities which were not recognised at the start of the project, but which have emerged as a result of the project.