Response: PVC Strategic Planning
Workshop
Mtholeni N. Ngcobo
25 February 2010
Outline
• Academic transformation
• What is Unisa’s doing right or wrong?
• What needs attention and improvement
Academic transformation: teaching and learning,
student support and service to students
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A new way of thinking
Unisa seeks to play a leading role in increasing access to higher education for the
underprivileged communities
The emphasis is on revitalisation and innovation in order to meet new challenges
Transformation challenges a status quo, but on the other hand is also a challenge as
it seeks to bring major change in academic activities
It meets with resistance from those who would not want to be moved from their
comfort zones
While it is a challenge, and while it challenges the status quo, it itself is being
challenged for bringing change
Some staff members, mostly senior ones, think that it is this new concepts that has
created major problems we are faced with today
The concept is embraced by younger academics as they have little or even no
experience about what happened in the past, although the senior colleagues warn us
that ‘you will soon learn how things are done here’
What is Unisa’s doing right or
wrong?
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A good thing is that Unisa puts emphasis on multiple modes of delivery and learner centredness
It aspires to the use of work and industry integrated learning
Unisa provides greater flexibility to students through:
Written media: instructions and information in the form of tutorial letters – with interactive activities
Communication via telephone
Face-to-face meetings (for course content facilitation) and group learning (for collaborative discussions, the
exchange of learning experiences and overcoming students’ sense of isolation)
It has a leading edge information and communication technology architecture
Audio-visual media
Mixed media
Video conferencing and satellite broadcasting bridge a distance between a lecturer and students
Regional centres are important as students may have easy access to them rather than coming to Pretoria
(centralisation vs. localisation)
Affordability, access and openness become a language of the angels to some staff members – there is no
precision in defining these concepts
The problem of work load has not been tackled – how to balance teaching and learning, research and community
engagement without compromising the quality of teaching? Most younger academics are affected
The idea of various teaching delivery and assessment methods - confusing as some are presented as additional
methods rather than essential part of ODL
Career guidance is lacking to most students – from registration to course selection
Access to computers and to ICT has not been investigated adequately – these must be readily available to
students to provide asynchronous communication between student and peers and student and tutor/lecturer to
facilitate learning at a distance
What needs attention and
improvement
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Supporting our students at a distance can help to affect their achievements
However, we need to ascertain the support that is appropriate to resolve their needs
We need to know about their experiences in education and learning and other areas of their lives
Consistency in using appropriate support services is highly recommended
We need to define clearly the parameters of openness. In other words how much open should we
become?
Since the foundation is very important, how do we make sure that we prepare our students as
early as possible in their first year of entry at UNISA?
How do we make sure that there is an internal cooperation among the staff members? e.g. the
young and the old
In our endeavor to use technology, which one will be relevant for our students in deep remote
areas? This needs to be integration approach
Business model and tuition model must be adapted to meet changing needs and competition
While there is a need for greater flexibility for students, adequate assessment is also needed to
ensure quality
We must also be sensitive to the fact that most students lack essential IT facilities
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