Saide Selected Abstracts
No. 1 2015
Distance Education
Application of the Classification Tree Model in Predicting Learner Dropout Behaviour in Open and
Distance Learning by Dr. Yasmin. In: Distance Education vol. 34, no. 2, 2013 pp218-231.
This paper demonstrates the meaningful application of learning analytics for determining
dropout predictors in the context of open and distance learning in large developing country.
The study was conducted at the Directorate of Distance Education at the University of North
Bengal, West Bengal, India. This study employed a quantitative research design using a
data mining approach to examine the predictive relationship between pre-entry
demographic variables of learners with their dropout behaviour. Demographic and
academic variables of learners, such as gender, marital and employment status, subject
chosen, social status, age and income status were taken as independent or explanatory
variables for predicting the response variables. Data analysis showed that the pattern of
learner attrition is strongly biased towards a relatively disadvantaged category of learners,
namely married and employed men or married women are more likely to leave due to
factors such as pregnancy or relocation, and that remoteness of location of residence
contributed to a high dropout rate. The results of this study provide important input for
counsellors and faculty members to advise learner for best possible completion options.
Diploma Disease in Ghanaian Distance Education Upgrading Programmes for Teachers by Damien
Kofi Mereku. In: Open Learning vol. 29, no.1 pp45-58.
This research explores manifestations of ‘diploma disease’ in distance education
(DE) upgrading programmes for basic school teachers in Ghana. A survey design
which included document analysis was used to explore the emphasis in the contents
of the DE programme and the experiences of teachers who took the programmes.
The study involved a sample of 230 students (140 males and 90 females) who were
all teaching in public schools (66% in primary and 31% in junior high schools). The
findings indicate that the programme was fulfilling its purpose of upgrading a large
number of teachers so they acquired a diploma and/or degree qualification for
teaching in Ghanaian basic schools. In spite of their average satisfaction with their
experiences of several aspects of the DE upgrading programme, a substantial
proportion of the participants indicated that they had great difficulties in carrying
out such activities as ‘teaching large classes’ and ‘teaching new content areas
introduced into the syllabuses’ because the programme provided little opportunity
to develop these skills. Finally, since the DE programme is based on the official
curriculum designed for the traditional face-to-face programme, the failure of the
former to increase teachers’ capacity to deliver as envisaged by the initiators of the
programme can be attributed largely to inefficiencies in the official curriculum. The
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study concluded that the DE programme’s inability to increase teachers’ capacity to
deliver better teaching is a manifestation of a ‘diploma disease’ resulting from
inefficiencies in the nation’s teacher education system. Suggestions are made for
improving the quality of DE upgrading programmes.
e-Readiness of ODL Multicultural Lecturers: Implications for Effective Mediation by J Nyoni. In: SA
Journal of Higher Education vol. 27 no. 5, 2013 pp1277-1289.
This article is a narrative report of the findings from an analysis of multicultural facilitators’
discourses on their e-readiness in the use of information and communication technologies
ICTs) affordances in open and distance learning (ODL) mediation experiences. Firstly, the
findings revealed by qualitative deconstructive discourse analysis (DDA) indicated that the
majority of ODL facilitators/instructors lack e-readiness skills that are critical in the effective
manipulation of ICT affordances in teaching and learning ODL environments. Secondly,
some facilitators did not fully understand what undergirds ODL pedagogy, principles and
practices. The institution’s academic lecturers are periodically given e-training but this
seems to be inadequate. The author argues that a comprehensive orientation tutorial
package covering e-readiness, e-training and ODL principles and practices should be
organised for all inexperienced as well as newly employed lecturers to prepare them
appropriately for the rigors of ODL pedagogy.
Factors Affecting Examination Attrition: Does Academic Support Help? A Survey of ACN203 S (Cost
Accounting and Control) Students at Unisa by Lerato Sonia Tladi. In: Open Learning vol. 28 no.1, 2013
pp67-82.
This study sought to determine the attributing and contributing factors to examination
absence as well as whether the academic and social support available to students had a role
to play in discouraging or reducing absence from examinations using results from a
quantitative survey of ACN203S (Cost Accounting and Control) student who were admitted
to but did not sit for the October/November 2011 and/or May/June 2012 ACN203S
examinations. The results indicate that it is mainly non-academic factors that were
responsible for examination absence, mainly work responsibilities that resulted in students
not having enough time to study, and those who had enough time to study not to spend
sufficient time studying. With regard to academic and social support, despite students
indicating awareness and need for counselling, lecturer, tutorial and other support, their use
of available support was minimal. This was attributed in part to not knowing how to
explain their problems to the lecturer, having a view that the support would not be helpful
and not having the time to contact support services.
LOL – Limitations of Online Learning – Are We Selling the Open and Distance Message Short? By
Barrie Todhunter. In: Distance Education vol. 34 no. 2, 2013 pp232 – 252.
The thesis of this paper is that the open and distance education sector is based on a
framework of terminology that is typologically inconsistent and which lacks clarity, and
open and distance education teaching and learning models are examined to explore these
concerns. The findings of this analysis are then used to assist in the articulation of a strategic
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direction for a regional dual-mode Australian university and to identify appropriate
branding for its off-campus model of education. Concerns are raised as to the
appropriateness of an “online” message to prospective students given possible adverse
perceptions of a learning environment that may not align with the needs and expectations of
distance learners.
(A) Model of Factors Affecting Independent Learners’ Engagement with Feedback on Language
Learning Tasks by Maria Fernandez-Toro and Stella Hurd. In: Distance Education vol.35 no.1 pp106125.
In independent learning contexts, the effectiveness of the feedback dialogue between
student and tutor or, in the absence of a tutor, the quality of the learning materials, is
essential to successful learning. Using the voices of participants as the prime source of data
through a combination of data-driven and concept-driven approaches, this investigation
attempts to gain deeper insights into the dynamics of the learning process as students
express emotional reactional reactions to the learning environment and in particular the
written feedback from their tutors and the learning materials. To account for the different
ways in which adult learners studying independently engage both cognitively and
emotionally with external feedback, we propose a model based on four key drivers: goal
relevance, knowledge, self-confidence, and roles. We conclude that only when these key
drivers are aligned with each other can learners in independent settings engage with
external feedback and learn from it.
Reflections on Assessment in Open Distance Learning (ODL): the Case of the University of South Africa
by Moeketsi Letseka and Victor Pitsoe. In Open Praxis vol. 5, issue 1, 2013 pp 197-206.
The article explores the challenges of assessment in open distance learning (ODL). The
authors argue that ultimately assessment should be about improving the quality of teaching
and effective learning. It should be based on making expectations explicit and public,
setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality, systematically
gathering, analysing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches
expectations and standards, and using the resultant information to document, explain, and
improve performance. However, getting all these variables to work in ODL presents
mammoth challenges. How can ODL lecturers validate and authenticate students’ written
work? How can they tell whether the students’ submitted work sufficiently reflects their
knowledge and understanding? South Africa has inherited an unequal, racially skewed and
inequitable educational provision from its apartheid past. This poses serious challenge for
assessing quality. The article therefore seeks to understand these context-specific challenges
of ODL assessment at UNISA.
Student Retention in Distance Education: Are We Failing Our Students? By Ormond Simpson. In:
Open Learning vol. 28 no2, 2013 pp135-140.
This paper brings together some data on student retention in distance education in the form
of graduation rates at a sample of distance institutions. The paper suggests that there is a
‘distance education deficit’ with many distance institutions having less than one-quarter of
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the graduation rates of conventional institutions. It looks in some detail at the data for one
well-known institution the UK Open University – and surveys some of the reasons why
such a deficit should occur and asks what the effects are on students, institutions and society
as a whole. The paper suggests that one reason for the deficit is the ‘category error’ of
confusing teaching with learning, and that institutions have focused too much on the
provision of teaching materials, especially online, and too little on motivating students to
learn. It maintains that there is accumulating evidence for the essentiality of proactive
contact for overcoming dropout and the importance of making that contact motivational.
The paper claims that such an approach is financially viable and can make surpluses for the
institutions concerned if carefully designed. Finally, whilst briefly surveying some of the
new developments in distance education in the form of Massive Online Open Courses,
learning analytics, and the use of smartphones, this paper suggests more speculatively that
rather than resources or organisation, the main barriers to increasing student success in
distance education are institutional attitudes to student retention.
Teaching Gender Studies Via Open and Distance Learning in South Africa by Jessica Murray, Deidre
Byrne and Leandra Koenig-Visagie. In: Distance Education vol.34, no.3, 2013 pp339-352.
The University of South Africa (UNISA) has recently redesigned its honors degree in Gender
Studies. The course design team members have been mindful of three key factors while
redesigning this degree. First, we are aligning our course design with the demands of open
and distance learning (ODL) and UNISA’s institutional move to online delivery of all
teaching materials. Second, we are guided by the theoretical principles of feminist
pedagogy. Third, we are committed to producing graduates who can take on the challenge
of being gender change agents in a country with an escalating rate of gender-based violence.
This article charts the development of the Gender Studies curricular initiative at UNISA
with reference to the pedagogical insights provided by feminist scholarship on teaching,
learning, and technology. We hope that our experience will provide insight into the
parameters and process of creating an effective program in Gender Studies within an ODL
context.
Transactional Distance and Student Ratings in Online College Courses by Stephen L Benton, Dan Li,
Amy Gross and William H Pallett. In: American Journal of Distance Education vol. 27 no. 4, 2013 pp
207-217.
Student ratings were compared in courses offered either exclusively online (n = 13,416) or
face-to-face (n = 5,272). Data from 105 institutions were accessed from archived files of the
IDEA Student Ratings of Instruction system. If a course was taught online, the instructor
was less likely to lecture and more likely to use discussion, especially in hard disciplines. A
course was less likely to have been taught online if the instructor was rated high in
establishing rapport and if the course was within hard and pure disciplines. A high rating
on structuring classroom experiences and expecting students to share in responsibility for
learning increased the odds the course was offered online. However, high ratings on
stimulating student interest and student effort in the course made it less likely. Results are
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discussed with respect to transactional distance elements of dialogue, structure, and learner
autonomy.
Use of Self-Referential (Ipsative) Feedback to Motivate and Guide Distance Learners by Gwyneth
Hughes, Elizabeth Wood, Kaori Kitagawa. In: Open Learning vol 29, no.1, 2014 pp31-44.
Distance learners often rely on written feedback for learning and for motivation. But
feedback that is ‘given’ to learners and that relies on praise to motivate does not
engage learners in the process of self-development. We propose that an ipsative
approach to assessment and feedback based on a comparison with a learner’s
previous performance motivates distance learners by developing a self-awareness of
progress that encourages learners to interact with feedback and apply this to future
work. A study of a distance learning Masters programme in Educational Leadership
indicated that formal self-referential (ipsative) feedback was largely absent. An
ipsative feedback scheme was therefore developed in consultation with the tutors in
which students completed a reflection on their progress in implementing past
feedback. Tutors provided both an ipsative and a developmental response. Student
and tutor evaluations of the scheme indicated that feedback on progress has the
potential to motivate distance learners and to encourage them to act on
developmental feedback, but can also raise grade expectations. Sustainable methods
of applying ipsative feedback to a wide range of distance learning programmes are
worth further exploration.
Widening Access Through Openness in Higher Education in the Developing World: A Bourdieusian
Field Analysis of Experiences from the National Open University of Nigeria by Felix Kayode Olakulehin
and Gurmit Singh. In Open Praxis, vol.5, issue 1 2013 pp31-40.
Bourdieu has argued that higher education is a field that reproduces social inequality, thus
complicating how openness widens access to higher education in the developing world.
Drawing on the experiences of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), this paper
critically analyses and evaluates the rationale, approach, difficulties, opportunities,
outcomes and benefits of NOUN’s experience in widening access to higher education in
Nigeria using Bourdieu’s field theory. We argue that the success of efforts for openness in
higher education in Nigeria using Bourdieu’s field theory. We argue that the success of
efforts for openness in higher education in a developing world context involves steering the
contradictory tensions of openness and access across competing policy and practice fields.
We offer this theorisation as a future social theoretical agenda for reflexive research for
improving the effectiveness of praxis to widen access through openness in higher education
in the developing world.
Education: South Africa
Cognitive Coaching: Strengthening Grade R Teachers’ Leadership Capacity as Supervising Partners of
Student Teachers. In: SA Journal of Higher Education vol. 27 no. 4, 2013 pp 1005-1020.
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Effective lesson planning and analysis are important aspects of teaching and learning. Any
collaborative partnership between universities and schools to improve practice in the Early
Childhood Development (ECD) sector is a sound investment in the future of young learners.
This research project explored the contribution of cognitive coaching to the leadership
capacity of Grade R teachers as supervising partners of student teachers. The purpose of the
research project was to provide support to and share expertise amongst the participating
Grade R teachers and teacher educators in the ECD sector through cognitive coaching with a
view to enhancing the capacity of all participants. In this article I report on a collaborative
partnership that was initiated between the University of Stellenbosch and Grade R teachers.
The research results indicate that the project has had positive effects for the Grade R teachers
as supervising partners of student teachers and also impacted on student teacher
development. In the process real benefits accrued with time as expertise and competence
improved confidence in the work contexts and thus the practice participating ECD teachers
and practitioners.
Does Public Expenditure Management Matter for Education Outcomes? By Nana Adowaa Boateng.
In: Development Southern Africa vol. 31, no.4, 2014 pp535-552.
This paper examines the significance of public expenditure management for primary
education outcomes in public schools in two South African provinces (Gauteng and North
West). Using cross-sectional data from 175 public primary schools and 13 local education
offices, the analysis finds that while misappropriation of education funds (leakages) is not
strongly associated with poor education outcomes, delays on the part of the government in
disbursing funds to schools are correlated with Grade 5 dropout rates. The paper finds no
evidence that public expenditure and total resource wealth (including public and private
contributions) are significantly associated with education outcomes. Increased spending on
learning and teaching support materials is associated strongly with lower Grade 1 and
Grade 7 repetition rates. The paper also finds that repetition rates are driven strongly by
poverty indicators at the district level, while dropout rates are driven strongly by district
and school inefficiency.
Getting the Job Done: What Actually Happens After an International Action Plan has Been Approved?
By John Aitchison. In: Adult Education and Development no. 80, 2013 pp18 – 21.
The Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI) held in Belém, Brazil, in
December 2009, adopted the Belém Framework for Action (UNESCEO 2OO9b), to guide and
revitalize Adult Education in the world. Among the follow-up activities have been regional meetings
of Adult Education experts such as the one held in Cape Verde in late 2012 where African
developments and examples of good practice were examined and an action plan to help put the
Belém Framework for Action into operation were approved.
In the build-up to CONFINTEA VI, African participants at the Nairobi sub-Saharan African Conference
had placed heavy stress on combining delivery to both youth and adults (UNESCO 2009a), and one of
the studies reported on at Cape Verde was a five nation Youth and Adult Education study conducted
in 2011 and 2012 in the following Southern African Development Community nations: Angola,
Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Swaziland. The urgency of developing policies catering to
youth was strongly reconfirmed by results from this study.
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Progress through School and the Determinants of School Dropout in South Africa by Nicola Branson,
Clare Hofmeyr and David Lam. In: Development Southern Africa vol. 31, no. 1 pp106-126.
The release of the National Income Dynamics Study Wave 2 provides the first nationally
representative longitudinal data collected in South Africa, making it possible to study
transitions in and out of school, across grades and into work, in ways not previously
possible. We illustrate the high levels of grade repletion evident in South African schools
and show how school completion presents a significant hurdle with very few youth
successfully matriculating. Exit from school does not offer any advantages as most youth
find themselves idle once they have left school. Our regression analysis investigates
correlates of school dropout and shows that falling behind is a key determinant of school
dropout, even after controlling for school quality and socio-economic status. Those behind
but attending higher quality schools are partially protected from dropping out. Some
evidence that credit constraints may be related to dropout is found, especially among males.
Higher Education
From Fixing to Possibility: Changing a Learning Model for Undergraduates by J Pym. In: SA Journal of
Higher Education vol. 27 no. 2, 2013 pp353-367.
This article engages with the work of an equity initiative, the Academic development
(AD) programme in the Development Unit (Commerce) at the University of Cape
Town. The programme focuses on providing access, improving graduation rates and
creating a ‘value added’ experience, rather than a deficit model approach.
The article concentrates on understanding how and why the model has evolved over
time with an increasing awareness that the notion of ‘disadvantage’ needs a more
critical engagement and stereotype threat is real issue in any separate programme.
The challenge is to draw on students as a resource in the teaching and learning
process and develop a way of working collectively and reflectively to help shift both
teaching practices and students’ level of engagement and reflection. This necessitates
shifting away from the notion of a ‘one size fits all’ approach and moving away from
‘preparing’ the students to a joint undertaking of transforming both the teaching and
learning environment, addressing the great diversity of strengths and challenges
that the students bring to higher education.
The article is a qualitative exploration of the key issues that guide this work, as well
as outlining what this focus means in practice.
Evaluating Quality Learning in Higher Education: Re-examining the Evidence by Jason M Lodge and
Agnes Bonsanquet. In : Quality in Higher Education vol. 20 no. 1, 2014 pp3-23.
The ways in which the value-added benefits of higher education are conceptualised
and measured have come under increased scrutiny as universities become more
accountable to their funding bodies in a difficult economic climate. Existing
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approaches for understanding quality learning often rely on measuring the
subjective student experience or on instruments that have questionable reliability
and validity. In order to overcome these issues, the gap between rigour and
relevance in higher educational research must be addressed. It is therefore suggested
that the learning sciences play a greater role in understanding quality learning in
universities. By directly examining the assumptions underpinning the conceptions
of quality learning through an expansion of the evidence base available, more valid
and reliable methods can be developed. These methods will then allow more
sophisticated indicators for assessing what students gain from their time in higher
education.
‘I Don’t Understand Everything Here…I’m Scared’: Discontinuities as Experienced by First-Year
Education Students in Their Encounters with Assessment by Y Shalem, L Dison, T Gennrich, T
Nkambule. In: SA Journal of Higher Education vol.27 no.5, 2013 pp1081-1098.
In this article, the authors examine students’ perceptions of the written assessment tasks in a
Bachelor of Education (BEd) first-year course. The authors examine the perceptions of 18
students on assessment, and make explicit their understanding of the textual forms
appropriate for academic writing. The analysis presented in the article draws on data
gathered from three focus-group discussions with 18 first-year students about their
experiences of assessment. It shows that behind what appears as a lack of understanding of
‘basics’, such as referencing rules, lies a misrecognition of the textual forms appropriate for
academic writing, in short, of academic criteria. The authors use the notion of discontinuity
to describe the difficulty students experience regarding academic writing in comparison to
their experiences of school writing. The analysis demonstrates three different
discontinuities. Firstly, all the students, but particularly the average and the low-achieving
students, experience the requirement to position themselves in relation to knowledge
authorities as constraining. Secondly, academic writing foregrounds focus, elaboration and
justification, which are criteria that only the high-achieving students in the group
understand to be necessary in order to ‘know what something is’. Thirdly, in view of their
misrecognition of academic criteria (by focusing on content alone rather than on content and
form), the average and the low-achieving students struggle to judge their lecturers’ feedback
on their writing. Conceptually, the discontinuities reflect the gap between the form of
writing the students think they need to follow and the textual forms they are expected to
produce.
Knowledge, Power and Meanings Shaping Quality Assurance in Higher Education: A Systemic Critique
by Don Houston and Shelley Paewai. In Quality in Higher Education vol. 19 no.3, 2013 pp261-282.
Internationally, quality assurance schemes persist despite long-standing dissatisfaction and
critique of their impact and outcomes. Adopting a critical systems perspective, the article
explores the relationships between the knowledge, power and meanings that stakeholder
groups bring to the design and implementation of quality assurance systems. The analysis
shows that such systems are designed to serve the external accountability purposes of
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government and agencies outside the university who are responsible for designing the
systems. Academics inside the university are affected by quality assurance systems but
uninvolved in their design. The knowledge and power distance and differences of meaning
between the system designers and academics result in quality assurance systems that are
unable to contribute to the improvement of teaching and research in the university. The
article proposes interconnected but clearly differentiated definitions of quality assurance
and quality improvement that can inform systems design aimed at more than meeting
external accountability demands.
Theses on Institutional Planning and Research at Universities by S. Badat. In: SA Journal of Higher
Education vol. 27 no. 2, 2013 pp295-308.
Institutional research is critical for informing a university’s goals and policies, for
effective and penetrating review of a university’s performance, for continuous
improvements in teaching and learning, scholarship, research, community
engagement and for the overall functioning of a university.
Institutional research is also a key input into institutional planning, the process of
careful and considered deliberation and making of choices on the academic and
overall institutional trajectory and development of the university. A university
which does not seek to be entirely shaped by historical patterns and contemporary
currents and pressures strives to proactively and consciously shape its own future.
Institutional research and planning agendas are not purely technical and neutral
issues. They are shaped by values and politics, the latter understood as contestation
and struggles over social relations, over what kind of institution a university seeks to
be.
Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Student Dropout from HEIs by L Ramrathan. In:
SA Journal of Higher Education vol. 27 no.1, 2013 pp209-220.
Higher education institutions (HEls) within South Africa, in particular, have experienced a
high rate of student dropout within undergraduate programmes. Reasons for such a high
dropout rate, as contained in the extant literature suggest that the majority of students drop
out because of biographical and financial reasons. The international literature suggests that
student dropout is located within the discourse of students’ experience of higher education.
This article reports on an institutional study on student dropout at a South African HEI with
a view to exploring, through a fine-grained analysis, the issues that researchers need to
conceptualise when researching student dropout. Through the analysis of data generated by
the mixed methods approach, the article presents a conceptual framework for exploring
personal, biographical and institutional issues impacting on student dropout. Through this
framework, new insights on this phenomenon are illuminated and one such illumination
relating to insidious institutional violence is presented.
Towards Successful Participation in Academic Writing: What Can We Learn from Assessment? By Y
Shalem, L Dison and Y Reed. In: SA Journal of Higher Education vol.27 no.5, 2013 pp1071-1080.
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The main aim of this short introductory article is to provide a context for the three articles
that follow. It begins with a brief review of the literature pertinent to student success or
failure in the academy. It then moves to a description of the background of a research
project which investigated the cognitive and academic literacy demands of formative and
summative assessment tasks for first-year students in the Bachelor of Education (BEd)
programme at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) School of Education (WSoE).
Open Educational Resources
Experiences in MOOCs: The Perspective of Students Experiences in MOOCs: The Perspective of
Students by Samar Zutshi,k Sheena O’Hare and Angelos Rodafinos. In: American Journal of Distance
Education vol. 27 no. 4 2013 pp 218-227.
The aim of this article was to examine the experiences of students who have participated in
massive open online courses (MOOCs). The results of an initial Google blog search were
narrowed down to a sample of twenty-one blog posts, each of which was written by a
MOOC participant. Content analysis was applied to identify and classify blog comments
into emergent themes (e.g., the relevance of type and length of course, student
demographics, instruction/instructor interactive styles, and factors that impacted on the
learning process) to develop a picture of their experience. Overall, mixed feelings were
expressed. Results provided a glimpse of the student experiences, including why students
take such courses. What elements of their experience are positive, and what can be
improved from the student point of view.
From OER to PLAR: Credentialing for Open Education by Norm Friesen and Christine Wihak. In: Open
Praxis, vol.5, issue 1 2013 pp49-58.
Recent developments in OER and MOOCs (Open Educational Resources and Massive Open
Online Courses) have raised questions as to how learners engaging with these courses and
components might be assessed or credentialed. This descriptive and exploratory paper
examines PLAR (Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition) as a possible answer to these
questions. It highlights three possible connections between PLAR and open education
which hold the greatest promise for credentialing open learning experiences: 1) PLAR may
be used to assess and credential open educational activities through the use of exam banks
such as CLEP (College Level Examination Program); 2) Learning occurring in xMOOCs
(MOOCs based on already credentialed courses) and in other open contexts resembling
“courses” may be assessed in PLAR through course-based portfolios; and 3) PLAR may also
be enabled through the paper concludes that although the connections leading from open
educational contexts to PLAR credentialing are currently disparate and ad hoc, they may
become more widespread and also more readily recognized in the PLAR and OER
communities.
A Kenyan Cloud School. Massive Open Online and Ongoing Courses for Blended and Lifelong Learning
by William Jobe. In: Open Praxis, vol. 5 issue 1, 2013 pp301-313.
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This research describes the predicted outcomes of a Kenyan Cloud School (KCS), which is a
MOOC that contains all courses taught at the secondary school level in Kenya. This MOOC
will consist of online, ongoing subjects in both English and Kiswahili. The KCS subjects
offer self-testing and peer assessment to maximize scalability, and digital badges to show
progress and completion to recognize and validate non-formal learning. The KCS uses the
Moodle LMS with responsive web design to increase ubiquitous access from any device.
Access is free and open, and the KCS intends for a contextualized open educational resource
for formal secondary institutions to support blended learning and a free source of nonformal education for lifelong learning. The expected outcomes are that this effort will
reduce secondary school dropout rates, improve test scores, become a quality resource for
blended learning, as well as validate and recognize lifelong learning in Kenya.
Massive Open Online Courses: Disruptive Innovations or Disturbing Inventions by Frank de Langen
and Herman van den Bosch. In: Open Learning vol. 28 no. 3, 2013 pp216-226.
According to Christensen and Horn, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are
serving non-consumers. Although they are limited on the services they provide
compared with traditional colleges, they offer free and accessible education to a
broader audience, who cannot afford the traditional provision. However, this is a
characteristic of online distance learning in its broadest sense, as can be read in the
reports of UNISCO. For MOOCs to be disruptive, they have to: open up markets by
competing with the existing firms using low-cost business models; improve beyond
the level of the original competitors, taking price differences into account; and
improve quality and replace the established firms. In this article, we are going to
look at whether MOOCs are really disruptive innovations, or educational
innovations that disturb the present state without driving out old educational
business models. Based on the three characteristics of Christensen and Horn, our
conclusion will be that the latter is the case. This does not mean that traditional
education can ignore MOOCs, open educational resources and other forms of online
distance learning, but that it will not be a direct competitor for degree-searching
students.
MOCC Rampant by Jon Baggaley. In: Distance Education vol. 34 no.3, 2013 pp368-378.
In 2012-2013, the massive open online course (MOOC) approach has been accepted by
universities around the world, and outsourcing companies have been launched to provide
the infrastructure for it. Current press and blog coverage of the MOOC trend is examined
and the range of reactions to it, most of them enthusiastic. MOOCs vary in their
massiveness and openness, and in the extent to which they are courses; and a wide range of
MOOCs is emerging under different names. These include xMOOCs, in which course
content is defined by the course designers, and cMOOCs featuring information generated by
the students. The origins of the MOOC are examined, and its implications for the
educational institutions that have specialized in distance education previously.
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MOOC Postscript by Jon Baggaley. In: Distance Education vol. 35 no.1, 2014 pp126-132.
This is a postscript to an article about the evolution of the massive open online course
(MOOC). In the brief space of time between the previous article’s completion and
publication, attitudes to the MOOC appear to be changing rapidly. The current follow-up
discusses the rejection of key MOOC principles by Harvard University and its replacement
by small private online courses, not obviously different from the online education offered by
distance education institutions since the mid-90s. The article also presents evidence
suggesting that the previous widespread acceptance of MOOCs has been more myth than
reality.
Open Educational Practices for Curriculum Enhancement by Alejandro Armellini and Ming Nie. In:
Open Learning vol. 28 no. 1, 2013 pp7-20.
Open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP) are relatively new
areas in educational research. How OER and OEP can help practitioners enhance curricula
is one of a number of under-researched topics. This article aims to enable practitioners to
identify and implement appropriate open practices to enhance higher education curricula.
To that aim, we put forward a framework of four open educational practices based on
patterns of OER reuse (‘as is’ or adapted), mapped against the processes of curriculum
design and delivery. The framework was developed from the in-depth analysis of 20 cases
of higher education practitioners, which revealed patterns of OER reuse across disciplines,
institutions and needs. For each open practice we offer evidence, examples and ideas for
applications by practitioners. We also put forward recommendations for institutional
policies on OER and OEP.
Open Educational Practices in Higher Education: Institutional Adoption and Challenges by Angela
Murphy. In: Distance Education vol. 34 no. 2 pp201-217.
Open educational resources and open education practices have the potential to lower costs
and increase participation in higher education. One hundred and ten individuals from
higher education institutions around the world participated in a survey aimed at identifying
the extent to which higher education institutions are currently implementing open
educational resources and open educational practices. The study explores the drivers and
challenges faced by institutions considering the implementation of collaborative assessment
and accreditation services for courses based on open educational resources, such as the
Open Educational Resource University concept. Differences between institutions that are
participating in the Open Education Resources University and non-members are examined.
Results from the study indicate that although higher education institutions are aware of, and
interested in, open educational resources and open educational practices there are a number
of challenges that need to be overcome to achieve their potential.
Pedagogical Quality Enrichment in OER-based Courseware: Guiding Principles by Pradeep Kumar
Misra. In Open Praxis, vol. 5, issue 1, 2013 pp123-134.
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This is a critical phase for Open Educational Resources (OER) movement: on one side the
number of OER is increasing rapidly, and other side debates about quality of OER-based
courseware are heating up. These debates emanate from the fact that OER-based
courseware are supposed to help users to follow a logical learning path and get an engaging,
interactive, and enjoyable learning experience. There are two aspects of quality assurance in
OER-based courseware: content and pedagogy. The content aspect primarily rests with
subject experts, and pedagogical quality of courseware mainly lies in the hands of
developers. Present trends reveal that mainly enthusiasts, working with some support from
the institution management are designing and developing OER-based courseware. There
seems a possibility that these enthusiasts are developing courseware without undergoing
any specific courseware development training, and in the absence of proper knowledge and
training about pedagogy, one can not be sure that the produced courseware will be of
superior quality. In this backdrop, present paper discusses and details about a number of
guiding principles for enrichment of pedagogical quality in OER-based courseware.
The Use and Production of OER and OCW in Teaching in South African Higher Education Institutions:
Case Study by Igor Lesko. In: Open Praxis vol.5, issue 1, 2013 pp103-121.
With thousands of materials having been produced and shared openly and freely on the
Internet as Open Educational Resources (OER) or OpenCourseWare (OCW), the focus of the
Open Education movement has shifted toward the need to demonstrate how such materials
are being used, by whom and with what impact.
This paper reports on the uses, the motivation for and perceived benefits of use, as well as
the challenges of using or producing OER/OCW among academics at public Higher
Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Africa (SA). Findings revealed widespread use of
OER/OCW amongst respondents in their teaching endeavors, with a number of reported
benefits. Findings also revealed respondents’ educational rationale for using or producing
OER/OCW. Identified challenges to using or producing OER/OCW are related to licensing
issues, institutional challenges or infrastructural problems. The paper proposes several
recommendations to advance the use and production of OER/OCW in SA public higher
education.
Why Do People Share Content? Identifying Why Students Support Sharing Course Material by
Gerhard Wieger Tromp and Phillip D Long. In: Open Learning vol. 28 no.1, 2013 pp21-35.
To establish which factors predict student intentions to contribute towards an Open
CourseWare site, an online questionnaire was distributed among University of Queensland
students via email. The 320 participants completed items that were based on the theory of
planned behavior and were designed to measure attitudes, subjective norms, perceived
behavioral control. Measures of altruistic motivation were also included as a predictor for
intentions to contribute. Overall, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control
and altruistic motivation explained 43.1% of the variance in students’ intentions to
contribute. Attitudes and altruistic motivation were the strongest predictors, accounting for
7.49% and 7. 12%, respectively, with subjective norms accounting for 3.9%. Perceived
behavioural control was not found to contribute to the explanatory model. The implications
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for universities creating new OpenCourseWare sites are discussed. Further research should
investigate the effects of barriers on student intentions to develop and contribute and should
examine the determinants of faculty support.
Teacher Training and Development
Coherent Discourse and Early Number Teaching by Devika Naidoo and Hamsa Venkat. In: Journal of
Education no. 57, 2013 pp55-77.
Functional linguists argue that a prerequisite for the mediation of semiotic meaning is
coherent discourse. The multisemiotic nature of mathematics adds complexity to the need
for coherence. In mathematics classrooms it is language that weaves semiotic modes
together as teachers’ words and explanations are the means by which the relation within,
between and across semiotic modes are explicated. The assumption is that there are greater
possibilities for mediating semiotic meaning when there is coherence in the teacher talk and
practice that seeks to convey such meaning. The focus of this paper is to illustrate, through
comparative analysis of discourse in two Grade 2 number lessons – one, an intervention
project number activity and the other a number lesson taught by a Grade 2 teacher – the
significance of coherent discourse for enabling sense-making of the number concepts taught.
Integrating Foundation Phase Teacher Education with a ‘Teaching School’ at the University of
Johannesburg by Sarah Gravett, Nadine Petersen and Gadija Petker. In Education as Change Vol. 18,
Supplement 1, 2014 pp107-119.
Successful teacher education programmes underscore the integration of knowledge for
teaching with knowledge of teaching, the ‘how’ of teaching. Such programmes necessitate
an integrative programme design to counteract the schism between the ‘world of theory’
and the ‘world of practice’ and draw optimally on collaboration between teacher educators
and teachers who supervise students in schools to achieve this. This paper reflects on
participants’ experiences of a teacher education programme designed to integrate the
university coursework curriculum with student-teachers’ involvement in a school
established to serve as a practice learning site – a teaching school. Data comprised the views
of faculty managers, university and teaching school staff and student-teachers involved in
the foundation phase teacher education programme and the teaching school. The main
findings are that the teaching school has the potential to strengthen teacher education
programmes. However, as the programme designers and university staff under-estimated
the complexity of bringing together the world of the university and the school classroom,
there were many missed opportunities for using the teaching school experience optimally to
help student-teachers develop the disposition and outlook of competent novice teachers.
Teaching school staff were also no enabled to develop optimally as teacher educators.
Mediating Self-Regulation in Kindergarten Classrooms: An Exploratory Case Study of Early Childhood
Education in South Africa by Giulietta Harrison and Azwihangwisi Muthivhi. In: Journal of Education
no. 57, 2013 pp79-102.
This article examines the role preschool teachers could play in mediating self-regulation
among pre-schoolers. It is based on a case study which probed how a teacher’s mediation
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promoted cognitive and emotional development of pre-schoolers between the ages of 4-6,
and facilitated the acquisition of self-regulation.
This case study, informed by Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory of learning and development,
involved the teacher mediating self-regulatory processes through facilitating role-play (or
what could be termed ‘fantasy play’) by providing models of appropriate dialogue structure
to pre-schoolers, as well as strategies for organisational and problem-solving skills.
Professionalism in South African Education: the Challenges of Developing Teacher Professional
Knowledge, Practice, Identity and Voice by Francine de Clercq. In: Journal of Education no. 57, 2013
pp31-54.
To change and improve teacher knowledge, practice, behaviour and mindset remains a
difficult challenge in South African school education. This article investigates how macro
and meso influences beyond the level of the school have shaped teacher professionalisation
and professionalism as both are outcomes of complex contradictory forces and factors. The
post-1994 period has seen education departments and teacher unions dominate and shape
the construction of teacher professionalisation and professionalism. As a result, serious
problems continue to exist in the level and quality of teachers’ work and attitudes. This
article argues that a crucial space exists in which a positive impact can be made by
independent professional associations to improve teacher knowledge, practice, identity
formation and mindset. These associations have great potential for working collaboratively
with and for teachers to strengthen the voice of the profession and make professional inputs
in the teacher-related policy-making process.
Supporting Teacher Educator Professional Learning About Assessment: Insights from the Design and
Use of a Task Analysis Tool in a First-Year BEd Programme by K Dixon, Y Reed, J Reid. In: SA Journal
of Higher Education vol.27 no. 5, 2013 pp1099-1117.
While there is an extensive literature in the field of professional development for teachers,
much less has been researched and written about professional development for teacher
educators (Smith 2003). In this article, the authors present and discuss their findings from
an assessment research project at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) School of
Education (WSoE) which offered opportunities for professional development to teacher
educators in a Bachelor of Education (BEd) programme. The research project focussed on
first-year assignments and examinations because of concerns about the under-preparedness
of many first-year students for the cognitive and academic literacy challenges of university
study. The authors present a tool for the analysis of formative and summative assessment
tasks and then describe and discuss its use in the analysis of (i) a first-year assignment; and
(ii) a first-year examination question. In the concluding section, the authors argue firstly,
that the collaborative design and use of the task analysis tool enabled professional learning
for teacher educators; and, secondly, that such learning can lead to the adoption of
assessment practices that both transmit criteria of knowledge being taught and test students’
mastery of these criteria at an appropriate cognitive and academic literacy ‘level’.
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‘Theory’ for Teacher Practice: A Typology of Application Tasks in Teacher Education by Y Shalem and
L Rusznyak. In: SA Journal of Higher Education vol.27 no. 5, 2013 pp118-1134.
Debates about the relation between educational theory and teaching practice are embodied
in assessment tasks that prompt student teachers to relate theoretical concepts and
simulated or directly experienced practice-based contexts in relation to one another. To
establish clarity on the ways in which theory and practice can be positioned in relation to
one another in application tasks, the authors revisit the debate between Hirst and Carr
(2005) about the role of theory in and for education. They analyse examples of assessment
tasks according to a typology showing how such tasks demarcate conceptual and contextual
objects of study in ways that are more or less visible to students. They argue that the more
visibly the concepts are demarcated, the greater the possibilities are for student teachers to
develop systematised bodies of educational knowledge that are able to provide organising
insights into their developing practice. While the authors concede that there might be valid
pedagogical reasons for doing so, they argue that when conceptual objects are less visible to
students, the underlying message that is transmitted to students is that educational theory is
neither specialised knowledge nor is it distinctively different from their common-sense
perspectives. This approach is less likely to promote their acquisition of systematised
knowledge for and of practice.
Technology Enhanced Learning
Analysis of the Use of Twitter as a Learning Strategy in Master’s Studies by Tiberio Feliz, Carmen
Ricoy and Salvora Feliz. In: Open Learning vol. 28 no. 3, pp201-215.
The present study analyses the use of Twitter in the course Social Media and Digital
Learning, taught as part of a master’s programme at Universidad Nacional de
Educación a Distancial (Spain). The main purpose of the use of this resource was to
develop a learning community. This was implemented through the micro design of
activities. A mixed research study was undertaken with the aim of enhancing
practice and sharing the findings with the scientific community. The initial phase of
study, involving virtual ethnography, utilised observation supported by a diary to
detect problems and propose solutions. Implementation was followed by a
statistical analysis of the main aspects explored in the previous phase. Thirty-nine
people (20 male and 19 female) participated in the study, generating a total of 3026
tweets that were subjected to analysis. The findings indicate that students actively
participate in training activities using Twitter but have problems integrating
interaction mechanisms. Therefore, they need to be given guidance, insisting on
retweets, as well as on improving horizontal interaction. There is a tendency to send
tweets via browsers and HootSuite, which avoids viewing problems. Users tend to
take full advantage of the maximum length allowed by this tool. They do not
perceive the character number restriction as negative and believe it encourages
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reflection and analysis. Training activities on Twitter follow a classic pattern,
concentrated around the days in which the activities are proposed.
Credit Hours with No Set Time: A Study of Credit Policies in Asynchronous Online Education by
Frederick Carl Prasuhn. In: American Journal of Distance Education vol. 28 no. 1, 2014 pp4 -13.
U.S public university system policies were examined to learn how credit hours were
determined for asynchronous online education. Findings indicated that (a) credit
hour meaning and use are not consistent, (b) primary responsibility for credit hour
decisions was at the local level, and (c) no policies exist to guide credit hour
application for asynchronous online education. An unexpected finding indicated
that an alternative was possible: a potential new method to track learning may be
competency-based education.
Facebook Versus Moodle in Practice by Natasa Petrovic, Veljko Jeremic, Marko Cirovic, Zoran
Radojicic, Nemanja Milenkovic. In: American Journal of Distance Education vol. 28 no. 2, 2014 pp
117-125.
Very few research papers and case studies have shown successful integration of both
Facebook and Moodle in the educational experience of students. This study sought to
evaluate the educational benefits of the increasingly popular Facebook – which plays an
important role in students’ social life as well as their academic life – and to compare it with
the widely used course management system Moodle. In this study, the authors surveyed
students of the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Organizational Science in Serbia on their
attitude toward Facebook and Moodle as productive online tools for teaching and learning.
An analysis of the results was carried out using the SPSS software package. The results of
this research answer the question of whether or not using Facebook as an educational tool is
more effective than using Moodle and how it affects students’ everyday learning activities.
ICT Integration in Teaching: An Uncomfortable Zone for Teachers: A Case of Schools in Johannesburg
by Samuel Chikasha, Miracle Ntuli, Rajiv Sundarjee, Jubilee Chikasha. In: Education as Change, vol 18,
no.1, 2014 pp137-150.
E-learning can be seen as a means to increase the global competitiveness of a nation. Despite
developmental role, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for
teaching and learning purposes has not been met with a great deal of success in South
African schools. Consequently, this study investigated factors that affect usage of ICT by
secondary school teachers around Johannesburg. The findings suggest that teachers are
more likely to integrate ICT into their teaching if they believe it has potential to enhance
teaching and learning. Similar is the case for those who perceive ICT to be easy to use –
those who believe that interacting with computers does not require a lot of mental effort.
This implies that ICT usage can be improved if teachers’ training programmes were to
incorporate some form of e-learning. This could help some teachers to develop a positive
attitude towards e-learning that can be translated into actual usage in classrooms. As such,
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the Department of Education must request for ICT usage plans from schools as well as
incentivize teachers who use ICT starting at school level.
Longitudinal Study on the Uses of Mobile Tablet Devices and Changes in Digital Media Literacy of
Young Adults. In: Educational Media International vol. 50 no.4, 2013 pp266-280.
This study examined whether gaining access to a new digital device enhanced the digital
media literacy of young adults and what factors determine such change. Thirty-five young
adults were given a mobile tablet device and observed for one year. Participants engaged in
an online community, responding regularly to online surveys and discussion forums.
Digital media literacy, using multidimensional scales, was measured at the beginning and
end of the study. Usage was measured every month to track changes over time. When
measured with multiple dimensional scales, the participants’ digital media literacy levels
increased over time. Those who used the tablet device for information access and social
activities increased their digital media literacy in some dimensions. However, an increase in
digital media literacy was not directly related to the time spent on the tablet.
Mobile Technology: Implications of Its Application on Learning by Samuel Adesola Adeyemo, Gloria
Olusola Adedoja and Omobola Adelore. In: Open Praxis, vol 5, issue 1, 2013 pp 249 – 254.
Learning in Nigeria is considered to have taken a new dimension as the Distance Learning
Centre (DLC) of the University of Ibadan has created wider access to learning through the
application of mobile technology to learning with particular reference to mobile phones use
for the teaching and learning process. By this, the Centre seeks to achieve one of the major
objectives of the Nigerian National Policy on Education, which is the provision of equal
educational opportunities to all citizens at different levels of education. The paper therefore
presents the attendant challenges of introducing such an innovative idea to learning at the
University of Ibadan using a sampled population of 201 in a Focus Group Discussion (FGD)
held among learners under the Distance Learning platform to establish the benefits and
problems of using mobile phones for learning in the University of Ibadan.
Opening Up to Open Source: Looking at How Moodle was Adopted in Higher Education by Eamon
Costello. In: Open Learning vol. 28 no3, pp187-200.
The virtual learning environment (VLE) has grown to become a piece of complex
infrastructure that is now deemed critical to higher educational provision. This
paper looks at Moodle and its adoption in higher education. Moodle’s origins, as an
open source VLE, are investigated and its growth examined in the context of how
higher educational institutions adopt VLEs.
Professional Development for Online University Teaching by Janet Gregory and Gilly Salmon. In:
Distance Education vol.34, no.3 2013 pp256-270.
Almost every higher education institution is challenged to develop increasing numbers of
staff to teach online of blended modes of learning. The process needs to be rapid, cost18
effective and lead directly to practical outcomes. From our experience, we had little time,
opportunity or the need to start from scratch, and we chose to adopt and adapt a course that
was based on a well-rehearsed and respected pedagogical model. We offer our experience
to date as a case study with some extracted principles for others to explore and follow. We
discuss the value of contextualization, incremental innovation, and mentoring of online
convenors. This article will be of interest of those seeking to provide effective professional
development routes for large numbers of staff.
Telecentres for Sustainable Rural Development: Review and Case Study of a South African Rural
Telecentre by Marthinus C Breitenbach. In: Development Southern Africa vol.30 no.2, 2013 pp262278.
This paper evaluates a South African rural telecentre that may serve as a ‘best practice’
model. The paper first provides a brief literature review of telecentres and the role of
information and communication technology in economic development. A qualitative
evaluation of a case study is presented within the context of sustainability considerations
and development outcomes; that is, showing how the telecentre has improved the lives of
the rural community at Thabina. Some of the observed economic development impacts are
listed in the paper and an attempt is made to capture the essence of the vital links between
the use of information and communication technology (technology transfer), human
development, education and economic development.
Transforming Teaching with Emerging Technologies: Implications for Higher Education Institutions by
V. Bozalek, D. Ng’ambi, D. Gachago. In: SA Journal of Higher Education vol. 27 no. 2, 2013 pp419436.
A gulf is widening between the technologies used by students, those used by
educators and those provided by institutions. However, knowledge about the
impact of so called emerging technologies on learning or the readiness of higher
education institutions (HEIs) to engage with such technologies in the South African
context is relatively thin. This article uses Rogers’ (2003) diffusion of innovations
model as a conceptual framework to examine the diffusion, adoption and
appropriation of emerging technologies in South Africa HEIs. We report on a survey
which examined how emerging technologies are used in innovative pedagogical
practices to transform teaching and learning across South African HEIs. The article
concludes that, in order to foster a greater uptake or more institution-wide diffusion
of use of emerging technologies, institutional opinion leaders need to purposefully
create an enabling environment by giving recognition to and communicating with
change agents, and developing polices that will encourage institutional-wide
engagement with emerging technologies.
Understanding the Role of Principals and the Use of Computers in Secondary Schools by V. Naicker.
In: SA Journal of Higher Education vol. 27 no. 4 2013 pp966-984.
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This article reports on a study that investigated principals’ views of the use of computers in
35 secondary schools in Cape Town, South Africa. School principals use computers to assist
them in their administrative and managerial duties. The principals’ promotion and support
regarding the use of computers in their schools, depends on how useful the principals
consider computers to be. The research question of this study discusses principals’ views on
the importance of computers, the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) policy,
computer resources and issues related to the use of computers in schools. Qualitative
analysis was used because it allowed the researcher to investigate trends or patterns in
similarities. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The researcher was searching
for themes and trying to get a sense of the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of principals related to the use of
computers in their schools. Data were collected from 35 questionnaires completed by school
principals. The objective of the study was to investigate the role played by principals
regarding the use of computers in their schools. The study found that principals strongly
believe that computers must never replace the value of educators. The role model position
of the educators in the classroom is critical, especially to those learners who come from poor
backgrounds. Principals professed that the purchase, maintenance and support of
computers are the biggest constraints.
Viability of e-Textbooks in Developing Countries: Ghanaian University Students’ Perceptions by
Stephen Asunka. In: Open Learning vol. 28 no.1, 2013 pp36-50.
As higher education institutions the world over are gradually transitioning to e-textbooks,
this study explored Ghanaian undergraduate students’ awareness, experiences and
perceptions of e-books, particularly with regard to their acceptance of e-textbooks as
eventual replacements of physical textbooks. A total of 253 undergraduate students at a
private university in Ghana participated in the study by responding to paper-based
questionnaires administered over a four week period. Analysing data with simple
descriptive statistics and content analysis, the findings reveal that students generally have a
fair idea of what e-books are, and also acknowledge the potential benefits of e-textbooks.
However, a significant number do not presently use e-books. On the whole, students are
strongly averse to using e-books and other Internet-based electronic resources in place of
physical books for academic purposes. Factors influencing these perceptions are discussed
within the broader context of barriers to effective e-textbook adoption and usage in
developing countries.
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