Open and distance education as a strategy for human capital development in Nigeria

The development of human capital has been identified as the most important component of all the factors employed in production economics. Since independence in 1960, Nigeria has placed great emphasis on training and education for human capital formation. However, the education process as the primary means of developing human resource has failed, in its conventional mode, to fulfil the needs of the country. This paper therefore examines the impact of open and distance learning on the human capital development processes in teacher education and other areas in Nigeria, presenting an overview of human capital development efforts in Nigeria with a focus on the tertiary education system. The study also maps out the potential benefits and logical justifications for the application of distance learning systems in the training and development of professionals for the industrial and corporate sectors of the economy. In conclusion, a proposal is made for the full‐scale adoption of open and distance learning as a fundamental strategy for human resource development in the country.     

远程开放教育环境下自主学习模式的探讨

随着电大远程开放教育的深入发展,加强学生自主学习能力的培养,使学生学会自主学习,提高学生参与学习的主动性和积极性,对保障教学过程顺利进行,提高教学质量具有重要意义。     

Intellectual roots of distance education: a progressive knowledge domain analysis

ABSTRACT

Distance education (DE) is a constantly evolving and advancing field, and as such, its intellectual network and dynamics need to be investigated and explored. In this regard, this study reviewed a total of 1685 articles and 51,940 references through social network analysis for a bibliometric examination of the DE field. The findings indicate that DE is an interdisciplinary field and part of mainstream education. The progressive knowledge domain analysis revealed that the intellectual roots of DE stem from generic social learning theories, after which DE-related theories began to emerge following the foundation of open universities. The research concludes that there was a paradigm shift that resulted from developments in online networked technologies in the 2000s, at which time DE started to gradually evolve into sixth generation ubiquitous DE.     

基于碎片化学习的远程开放教育移动学习模式探讨

人类学习方式经历了私塾求学、课堂学习及网络学习三个历史阶段,现代远程开放教育是社会发展的必然要求。移动学习(M-Learning)能够针对现代社会学习者流动分散的学习特征,利用碎片化学习方式,实现最佳学习效果,运用越来越广泛的移动学习必将成为未来学习过程中不可或缺的学习方式,是未来远程开放教育中的最佳学习模式。     

远程教育政策:现代远程教育生存发展的重要保障

本文拟从远程教育政策的含义,作用和运用教育政策作用促进远程教育发展应注意的问题等几个方面论述远程教育政策是远程教育生存发展的重要保障。     

Teaching for equity: insights from international evidence with implications for a teacher education curriculum

Researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers in many countries are grappling with ways to address the persistent problem of inequitable educational outcomes between advantaged and disadvantaged students. This paper reports the results of a unique cross-country, cross-cultural analysis undertaken to provide insights into teaching practices that promote equity, drawing on programmes of empirical research or syntheses of major programmes of research that worked from a complex, non-linear view of teaching and its outcomes. We analysed international evidence about teaching practices that have a positive influence on diverse students’ learning outcomes and opportunities and then compared and contrasted the results of these analyses. From the commonalities we identified, we derived six interconnected facets of practice for equity, which are general principles of practice rather than specific teaching strategies or behaviours. Building on these facets, we developed a conceptual framework that can inform an equity-centred teacher education curriculum that specifically addresses the task of preparing teachers who can make a positive difference to the learning opportunities and outcomes of diverse students, particularly those historically disadvantaged by the education system.     

Factors affecting corporate image from the perspective of distance learning students in public higher education institutions

New information technologies enable different interactions in the educational environment, affecting how the image of educational institutions adopting distance-learning programmes is perceived. This article identifies factors affecting the perception of corporate image from the viewpoint of distance-learning students at public higher education institutions. The results indicate that the institution’s image is a translation of impressions generated from the individual’s interaction with various organisational components, based on relevant cognitive and affective aspects according to the way of observing the environment. The study demonstrated both the multidimensionality of the image and that the institution’s overall image is associated most strongly with its affective image. The study also demonstrated that the virtual environment was the factor most strongly associated with affective image.     

Musing on the memes of open and distance education

Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body, so memes (ideas, behaviours, and actions) transmit cultural ideas or practices from one mind to another through writing, speech, or other imitable phenomena. This paper considers the memes that influence the evolution of open and distance education. If the transmission is strong and a sufficient number of policy-makers, managers, or practitioners in various contexts are capable of faithful imitation, the meme pool will evolve to exploit these memes to the full. If the propagation is weak, this may give rise to little or no imitation of the necessary philosophical stances, service orientations, and operational capacities.     

电大远程开放教育与高等职业教育融合创新发展的大实践

文章分析电大举办高等职业教育现象,就融合创新发展应该借鉴的经验和必须面对的问题提出办学总体规划。文章建议中央电大在电大远程开放教育与高等职业教育融合创新发展的大实践进程中,应顺势担当领导者和指导者的角色,并会同各地电大,大手笔地协调和统筹融合创新发展。     

Investigating First-Year Chemistry Learning Difficulties in the South Pacific: A Case Study from Fiji

The learning difficulties for new entrant chemistry students from a multi-national, regional, tertiary education institution in the South Pacific were investigated using a purpose-designed diagnostic instrument. The instrument contained 25 items distributed across three themes: scientific reasoning, numeracy and scientific language literacy. The research findings suggest that the main learning difficulty facing these students is in numeracy with students able to interpret numerical data presented in graphical form and to complete rudimentary numerical calculations, but unable to use numerical data or perform calculations involving ratios. Targeted remedial tutoring, based on the results of this diagnostic test instrument, rather than content-driven extra tutorials, are suggested for remediation of learning difficulties.     

Metamorphosis in distance learning: Setting new trends in special needs education by addressing existing curriculum challenges

Abstract

This paper describes the participatory development of a new curriculum for an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) (Inclusive and Special Needs Education) programme in the Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria. Several challenges in the existing programme necessitated curriculum re-design and development. These challenges included responding to policies regarding inclusive and special needs education; responding to revised higher education frameworks; revisiting the structure and content of modules in order to improve articulation; addressing an anticipated increase in student enrolment and a changing student profile; and incorporating current trends in distance education service delivery. Partners in this collaborative curriculum initiative included the Unit for Distance Education, the Department of Educational Psychology, the Department for Education Innovation and the South African Institute of Distance Education (SAIDE). Insights derived from this paper could possibly inform similar curriculum development initiatives, as well as extend knowledge on open and distance learning service delivery, in particular for in-service teacher training.     

Voices from South and North in dialogue: on diversity and education for the future

In this article texts by scholars from South Africa, Sweden and Great Britain are analysed. They contributed as invited speakers to a conference in Sweden in 2009 on changing societies, values, religions and education. Here a South–North dialogue on diversity and the future of education is constructed through the way their conference contributions are presented and analysed. Democracy and gender also appear as crucial themes. Out of the original 12 keynote contributions to the conference a selection is made, meaning that seven of them are focused on. What can be observed is (a) that the contributors from South Africa connect diversity and social justice; (b) that the gender researchers critically discuss the risks of the North imposing its theoretical framework on the South and search for ways out of that and (c) a preoccupation with a renewal of education recognising diversity but also looking for what could come beyond such an emphasis and form a common ground. The article constitutes an example of shared knowledge production where South and North meet. Conditions for that are critically reflected upon methodologically.     

A conceptual framework for achieving good governance at open and distance learning institutions

This paper describes a good governance architecture framework that would bring significant improvements in the overall working of open and distance learning institutions in a well-structured and systematic way. The good governance framework is articulated with seven basic principles which are performance, transparency, accountability, participation, leadership, consensus orientation and fairness. These principles are structured with the good governance practices which relate to performing well for the assigned goals and objectives, promoting values for the organisation, making well-informed and transparent decisions, focusing on the organisation’s purpose and outcomes, capacity building and managing risks effectively. These principles and suggested practices in the framework would become tools for developing an improvement strategy so as to help in the smooth operation and efficient management of the institution concerned. The developed system would bring about significant improvement in the teaching–learning activity as well as in the quality of distance education. It would also enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and overall performance of the institutional management which is crucial to the continuous development of the institution concerned. Thus, the proposed good governance framework when implemented in an open and distance education institution would improve the quality of distance education and also increase its accessibility in a well-organised and structured way.     

电大图书馆在远程开放教育中的定位思考

现代远程开放教育已经成为广播电视大学整体办学思想的主线。在这种新形势下,电大系统的图书馆应结合自己学校的发展和实际情况,对其目标、功能、馆藏、人员以及数字化进程等诸多方面进行重新定位思考。     

Current status of learner support in distance education: emerging issues and directions for future research

This study examines the literature on learner support with the aim of helping institutions of higher education plan and implement support services for distance learners. The following issues emerged as areas of particular importance to future research in distance learner support: 1) the lack of research on cost-effectiveness; 2) the lack of empirical research; and 3) the need for a learner-centered approach in designing and implementing learner support. These issues are discussed in detail to enhance our understanding the role of learner support in post-secondary level distance education programs. It is further argued that future research should focus more on developing and refining methods for cost-benefit analysis of learner support, developing a general framework of the learner support model in dual-mode institutions, and developing systematic methods to identify, analyze, synthesize, and assess the needs of distance learners.     

远程开放教育——培养合格英语本科生的可行之路——天津电大塘沽分校1999级英语本科班跟踪调查报告

本是对天津广播电视大学塘沽分校1999级英语本科（专升本）一个教学班跟踪调查的实证报告。它提供了有关学员学习动机、学生浸润于英语输入（Exposure to English Input）途径和时间、教材和课程的质量控制等方面的基本情况以及可以量化的资料，从而说明远程开放教育是培养合格英语本科毕业生的有效途径。     

Developments and trends in synthesizing diverse forms of evidence: beyond comparisons between distance education and classroom instruction

This paper describes a range of models and methods for synthesizing diverse forms of research evidence. Although this topic is applicable to many contexts (e.g. education, health care), the focus here is on the research traditions of distance education and online learning. Thirteen models and methods are described, and seven examples from distance education and online learning are used to illustrate them. The models are classified as systematic, purposeful, and mixed and are described and compared in terms of purpose, methodological aspects, and expected outcomes.     

The development and application of progressive education in the Netherlands and some implications for South Africa

Abstract

The charge that schooling is poorly adapted to modern conditions in South Africa and abroad has been debated since the beginning of the twentieth century, with the result that two strands of competing paradigms - traditional and progressive - crystallised from the discussion. This article delineates the salient features of progressive education to prepare the ground for a comparison of outcomes-based education (OBE) in South Africa with education in the Netherlands and thereby determine the influence, if any, of progressive education on OBE and Dutch education respectively. The data gathered to determine the progressive influence on Dutch education showed that some elements of progressive education had been combined with traditional (tried-and-tested) practices to create an effective primary educational system. The implication for South Africa is that teachers should be allowed to adapt their teaching styles and curriculum development to accommodate learners who cannot benefit optimally from progressive teaching, and that progressive principles can be implemented in South Africa, provided it is done as in the Netherlands without trying to force everybody into the same mould (i.e., on the crude principle that ‘one size fits all’),     

The policy implications of the global flow of tertiary students: a social network analysis

In 2016, approximately 5 million students, about 2% of global tertiary enrolments, studied abroad. As globalisation of education advances, tertiary student mobility is an important channel through which highly skilled immigrants arrive and work in different nation states. Informed by the multidisciplinary internationalisation frameworks, this study applies social network analysis techniques to the UNESCO data, to explore and compare the international tertiary student mobility networks in 1999 and in 2012. Based on the network visualisation and statistical analyses, this research emphasises that an individual country’s economic and political power and geographic location are increasingly significant in determining its position in the network. Compared to the 1999 networks, the developing world has played a more important role in the networks by becoming the new destination for study and sending out more students. Yet it is still the economically leading nations that serve as the critical bridges connecting the less developed countries/regions to the world. Underneath the seemingly balanced development, the developing nations might be in a more disadvantaged and peripheral position in 2012. This study is concluded with a discussion of the brain drain issue and how various nation states confront it in light of the global flow of tertiary students.     

The role of feedback in the under-attainment of ethnic minority students: evidence from distance education

In UK higher education, the attainment of ethnic minority students is lower than that of white students, and this remains the case when differences in entry qualifications have been taken into account. The present study investigated whether the under-attainment of ethnic minority students might be due to the nature of the feedback that they received for their assignments. The assignments submitted by 470 ethnic minority and 470 matched white students taking a distance-learning course were compared using a computer system, Open Mentor, to categorise the feedback given by tutors based on a scheme devised by Bales. Asian and black students and students of mixed ethnicity obtained lower marks for their assignments than did the white students. However, there were only small differences between the ethnic minority students and the white students in terms of the pattern of feedback that they received, and these disappeared when the marks that they had received for their assignments had been taken into account. It is concluded that students from all ethnic groups received feedback that was commensurate with their marks, and that the origins of the attainment gap in ethnic minority students in UK higher education must be sought elsewhere.