Revisiting lifelong learning for quality improvement in ODL institutions in Africa

Abstract

Among the challenges in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) generally and specifically within the African sub-region, is the difficulty to harness resources to regularly mobilize senior and mature academics as complacent learners to embrace continuous professional development, as a way of improving the quality of their academic performance. In order to change their conservative academic practises in many of the transformed African Tertiary Institutions (ATIs), this paper argues, that irrespective of the status and the long years of service of such academic staff members, it becomes pertinent for them to consciously engage in lifelong learning process. This is important because majority of such lecturers of ODL Institutions came from the contact (F2F) institutions with little or no experience of ODL best practices.