Distance Education Policy Research Articles

Effects of Emergency Distance Education on Teacher Training Process in Turkey: Instructors’ Opinions

Emerging in 2019 and then spreading throughout the world, COVID-19 has led to the application of emergency action plans in almost all areas of life. In this process, the Turkish education system also made a transition to distance education in schools of all types and levels. The main purpose of this study is to determine the views of the instructors regarding the prospective teacher education practices implemented via distance education in Turkey during the pandemic period. This study was carried out using a case study method. The data collected through an open-ended questionnaire were analyzed using content analysis. In conclusion, it was found that universities in Turkey do not have a functional distance education policy for the urgent distance education process, and a centralized policy is followed in most universities for distance education. Also, it was concluded that limited interaction, lack of equipment, and infrastructure problems negatively affect the distance education process. Moreover, it was found that distance education applications are not convenient for teacher education, there are some negative effects of conducting teaching practice through distance education, and support is needed in technical, human, and managerial issues for teacher education through distance education to be successful.

Critical Study of Implementation of Distance Education Policy During a Pandemic

The convergence of technology as a learning media requires educators and learners to overwhelm online learning technology. This study intended to analyze the exact constraints of online learning systems during a pandemic in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Cenderawasih University. This sort of research was descriptive in a qualitative approach. Sources of data came from interviews, observations, and literature studies. Data analysis ran through the stages of reduction, presentation, and verification of data. The legality of the data was experimented using triangulation. The result showed that there were three core elements which had been excluded by the existence of new media during the Covid-19 pandemic. First, the disposition of companies was based on audiovisual technology to accumulate profits as like subscription system of the Zoom Application. Second, the fading of the actuality of lecturer-student synergies only exist in conventional (face-to-face) learning. Third, the inflammation of humanist education which is summarized by independent learning.

The Challenges of Distance Education and Evidence-Based Solution Suggestions

Today, the development of technology and the internet plays an important role in providing equal opportunities in education. Distance education studies carried out for this purpose facilitate education and training by providing education opportunities independent of both time and place. There are some difficulties experienced in maintaining distance education, which is increasing in popularity day by day with the advantages it provides in the learning process with technological developments. In this study, by considering the difficulties experienced in the distance education process, suggestions are made for both system developers and teachers who are the implementers of the system. In the first part of the study, the difficulties brought by distance education and in the second part, suggestions compiled from the results of the studies on the elimination of the difficulties experienced are included. For this reason, it is thought that this study will provide important contributions to education technologists, content managers, teachers who teach with the distance education system and policy providers who develop the distance education system.

The use of distance education to confronting the educational challenges in light of Corona crisis. (Analysis and evaluating study)

The chapter aims to recognize the use of distance education in confronting the challenges of education in light of Corona crisis. It discusses the following topics: introduction. Objectives. and significance of the chapter. Its terms and distance education (its concepts. Characteristics. Technologies. Norms of choosing and the challenges of implementing in light of corona crisis and the needs of its success). The international experience in implementing electronic and distance education after and during corona crisis, analyzing and evaluating the experience of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia universities to confronting the educational crisis during corona pandemic., designing questionnaire as a tool for collecting data of sample reaches. (352) members were selected randomly from the teaching staff in governmental universities in Saudi Arabia in (1441/1442). In addition to the document analysis card which was developed by the Ministry of Education and Saudi Arabia governmental universities to analyze documents related to distance education. The study reached at many results, including: A complete shift of Saudi governmental universities to distance learning during Corona crisis. The research sample agrees with a high degree that the distance education policy in the universities of Saudi Arabia is clear. The most important reasons for the success of distance education in the experience of Saudi universities: regulation, clarity of the educational policy among universities in the field of using distance education and preparing good technical infrastructure, the training of teaching staff members on the use of distance education in teaching through learning management system (Blackboard), the training of students on the learning management system (Blackboard), the use of control and motivation for learners to ensure their interaction, providing electronic guidance for students, as well as providing technical support for all university employees. The study came out with many recommendations, most notably: Getting benefit from successful international experiences in the field of distance education and the need to harmonize and resettle them according to the Saudi environment and students' needs, switching all traditional courses to electronic courses, and training university teaching staff to design and produce electronic courses, create an administration specialized in educational design made up of qualified cadres of educational technology specialists working on formulating and designing courses, studying reality, designing scenarios, and directing, producing and evaluating them. In addition to the need to pay attention to the technical infrastructure of universities Key words: Distance education, Corona crisis, Experience of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, challenges of education.

Policy for Distance Learning in Education in Higher Education Institutions: Experiences from Sudan

The introduction of distance learning in education in universities has transferred the competition between them to a higher, global level also. However, Sudan is one of the African countries, suffering from many challenges that are related to technology such as poor network, lack of awareness, lack of commitment of institutions and instructors, and lack of network coverage to the remote areas. Therefore, this paper aimed to review the initiative of distance education in some Sudanese universities. In doing so, this paper followed a qualitative research approach to the type of case study research. The information for this study was derived from articles, books, online sources, reports, and documents. The paper reviewed distance education policy in some Sudanese Universities Such as the Open University of Sudan, University of Khartoum, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Al-Neelain University, and Al-Zaeem Al-Azhari University. It was normal that universities in Sudan needed to introduce their teachers and students to such distance education programs to achieve more excellence in teaching and learning. The paper suggests college officials should adopt policies to implement distance education in Sudanese universities.

Promoting the integration of technology in teaching: An analysis of the factors that increase the intention to use technologies among Italian teachers

AbstractBackground: The rapid spread of COVID‐19 forced many countries to adopt severe containment measures, transferring all didactic activities into virtual environments. However, the integration of technology in teaching may present difficulties, especially in some countries, such as Italy. Objectives: The present study analyzed how the two main factors of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), namely perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, combined with online teaching self‐efficacy, were associated with the intention to use technology to teach. We posited a moderated moderation model in which perceived usefulness represented the main predictor, with self‐efficacy and perceived ease of use as moderators of intention to use technology to teach. Method: The model was tested through multiple regressions, using the PROCESS macro on SPSS 26 with a sample of 178 upper secondary school teachers in Italy. Results and conclusions: Regressions showed that each variable significantly predicted the intention to use technology. In addition, a moderation effect of self‐efficacy on the perceived usefulness of using technology was found for medium and high‐level of perceived ease of use of technology. Implications: The present study provides targeted implications for distance education policy and practice to promote its adoption (or the blended modality) in Italian upper schools.

A institucionalização da EaD nas universidades públicas: um relato de experiência da UDESC

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de apresentar o processo de institucionalização da modalidade a distância na Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina – UDESC, a partir da história do Centro de Educação a Distância – CEAD criado em 2002. Iniciamos com uma breve reflexão sobre a educação a distância nas universidades públicas brasileiras nas últimas décadas e, na sequência, apresentamos os marcos legais que têm apoiado o processo de institucionalização da EAD na UDESC, com destaque à política de EAD da UDESC aprovada em 2014 e sua relação com o Plano de Desenvolvimento Institucional da UDESC do período de 2017 a 2021 e com as novas diretrizes do ensino de graduação elaboradas em 2019. Para finalizar o relato, apontamos as conquistas e alguns desafios que ainda envolvem a modalidade a distância na instituição.

The effectiveness of Hybrid Learning in Character Building of Integrated Islamic Elementary School Students during the COVID -19 Pandemic

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world, it has an impact on various sectors, including the education sector so that the learning process continues in shaping the character of the nation's children. The government provides a distance education policy, but in reality there are many obstacles. Teachers can continue to carry out learning with a hybrid learning model, it is hoped that character building will still be instilled. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of hybrid learning in character building of students at Raudhatul Muttaqin Islamic Elementary School, Bekasi. The research method used is mixed methods with quantitative and qualitative analysis. Based on the results of data analysis, research findings indicate that character building is still instilled with parental guidance and reporting to school in the form of an electronic Learning Management System then validated by the teacher. Face-to-face effectiveness of 90.5%, online 70.6%, and adequate infrastructure 82% character building can still be applied even with hybrid learning. This shows the important role of parents at home is very high. Further research is needed so that the strengthening of character education can continue to be realized even with various approaches

STUDI ANALISIS DAMPAK PADEMI COVID-19 TERHADAP EKSISTENSI PEMBELAJARAN PENDIDIKAN AGAMA ISLAM DI INDONESIA

The world has been surprised by the emergence of a COVID 19 pandemic, was born in China, and widespread to various countries in the world. In Indonesia, the government issued several policies to break the COVID 19 pandemic chain, which also triggered some pro-cons in the midst of society. One of the policies government takes is the closure of learning access directly at school and moving the learning process from physical class to a virtual classroom or known as online learning. In the economic sector also affects the parents’ financial ability to provide sufficient funds to support the implementation of distance learning applied by the government. The implications of the distance education policy are of course the quality of learning, including the subjects of Islamic religious education, which is essentially aimed at planting knowledge, skills, and religious consciousness to form the character of the students. Online education must certainly be precise, in order to provide equal education services to all students, prepare teachers to master the technology, and seek the core learning of Islamic religious education can still be done well.

Educação a distância e formação profissional do/da assistente social: elementos para o debate

Resumo Este artigo tem por objetivo analisar em que medida a formação em Serviço Social a distância se fundamenta ou se distancia dos princípios das diretrizes curriculares da Associação Brasileira de Ensino e Pesquisa em Serviço Social (ABEPSS) de 1996. O Ensino a Distância está previsto na política educacional de ensino superior no Brasil e se caracteriza pela mercantilização e por um discurso de democratização que escamoteia a precarização do ensino. Não temos por intenção fazer críticas ou julgamentos em relação aos trabalhadores ou estudantes desta modalidade. Verificamos que o ensino a distância tem se operacionalizado como ensino de massa e a padronização e a tecnologia como mediador principal submete os trabalhadores à alienação do trabalho. Esse é um determinante do processo formativo nessa modalidade. Outras características levantadas foram, a superficialidade do material apostilado, que não contempla o rigor teórico-metodológico preconizado pelas diretrizes da Associação Brasileira de Ensino e Pesquisa em Serviço Social e a inexistência do tripé ensino-pesquisa-extensão.

Avoiding to fit a square peg into a round hole: a policy framework for operationalising open distance education in dual-mode universities

Although education policies in many African countries refer to the need for distance education to widen participation in universities, they have not articulated guidelines on how they plan to develop systems and structures that will support it. The purpose of this study was to develop a policy framework specific for distance education provision in conventional universities. A two-step approach was utilised to guide the process of the development of the framework. The first step was to analyse national education policies, which provide the educational vision of the country. The second step was to analyse distance education policy frameworks in order to provide specific criteria that need to be met when providing distance education. Futures research methodology was employed to look at policy interventions with the aim of identifying probable development in education that may influence distance education practices within the conventional university context.

Editorial Vol 8 2015

This is the eighth Volume of the OUSL Journal, the journal of the Open University of Sri Lanka. The articles published in this issue cover research on Distance Education, Agriculture, and Bilingual Education Policy in Sri Lanka, Lifestyle Factors influencing Coronary Heart Diseases, Protective Techniques needed in Fluoroscopic Guided Surgeries, and Legal Issues related to Domestic Violence.

Examining Policy Guidelines for Distance Education in Dual Mode Public Universities in Ghana

The study reports a case of distance education policy in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), a dual mode University in Ghana. The interview method was used to obtain information from 21 purposively selected key informants in the University. Policy documents that addressed Distance Education (DE) were reviewed. The study showed that KNUST has identified DE as a policy initiative for meeting institutional goals. The current DE policy focus was on student support services. However, policy areas under Governance/ Administration and Academic/Faculty/Department were yet to be fully developed. The study recommended a systematic review/audit of existing institutional policies to take care of the needs of distance learners. These needs include addressing key issues of facilities and resources in the Regional centers and documenting policies that showcase the benefits of individual and departmental efforts relating to workload to increase interest, satisfaction and participation in the DE programmes by the various Departments. Keywords: Policy guidelines, distance education, dual mode Universities

NEA Grant Committee on Distance Education Policy and Bargaining Benchmarks

NEA Grant Committee on Distance Education Policy and Bargaining Benchmarks

Workshop: Freedom of Information Law CLE Credit - Sample Distance Education Policy & Contract Language

Workshop: Freedom of Information Law CLE Credit - Sample Distance Education Policy & Contract Language

Deciding which technology is the best for distance education: Issues in media/technology comparisons studies

Abstract Distance education decision makers; who will be shaping the future of distance education; should understand the role of different technologies and their unique attributes closely. In order to achieve this task accurately, they also need to know the superiorities of different technologies to each other. Media comparison studies have been conducted to see these superiorities and to help deciding “which technology is better?” In some studies researchers make some fundamental errors and flaws in media comparison studies for distance learning. Hence, there is a need to determine these issues in order to make decision process work better. In this review study, issues on media comparison studies in distance education discussed with theoretical backgrounds. Also in this study, reader could find what kind of flaws can occur in media comparisons studies and what cause to these flaws as well as some suggestions to avoid these flaws. In this study, five of the most significant errors scholars have made in writing and discussing distance education research in technology/media comparisons studies are determined. This study aims to help distance education policy makers, distance education researchers and instructors by making them aware of these issues in comparison studies. Hence, they could make a more accurate decision when implementing distance learning solutions in their institutions.

Introduction to this special issue: Faculty intellectual property in the digital age

Prior to the third generation of distance education that is described as telelearning (Taylor 1995) or teleconferencing (Moore and Kearsley 1996), there were few questions about the ownership of a faculty member’s intellectual property. It was extremely rare for an institution to claim ownership of a professor’s class materials whether lecture notes, flip charts, overhead transparencies, audio and video recording, monographs, handouts or tests. With the advent of Internet-based distance education delivery systems including 2-way audio and video as well as online courses, the issue of intellectual property ownership has grown complex. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) states ‘‘The materials created by faculty members for distance education courses should be treated in exactly the same fashion as materials created by faculty members for traditional courses’’ (AAUP, n.d.). This statement implies that ownership of course materials used in teaching a course delivered via distance education should be treated the same as a traditional face-to-face classroom course, that is, the faculty member owns the materials. In contrast, the American Association of Universities (1999) states ‘‘...the university should own the intellectual property that is created at the university by faculty.’’ University distance education policies, however, view ownership of distance education materials differently than traditional classroom materials. The distance education policy at California Polytechnic State University (Calpoly Polytechnic State University, n.d.) states that faculty must negotiate with the university for ownership based on current policies and contracts. The University of Nevada Las Vegas (n.d.) and Buffalo State University (n.d.) policies state that the university and faculty member are joint owners of the materials if university

The satirical value of virtual worlds

Imaginary worlds have been devised by artists and commentators for centuries to focus satirical attention on society’s problems. The increasing sophistication of three‐dimensional graphics software is generating comparable ‘virtual worlds’ for educational usage. Can such worlds play a satirical role suggesting developments in distance education practice and policy? The article examines the emergence of Hinterlife, a cartoon world run by a disarmingly despotic academic known to the real world only by his virtual name, Professor Horace. This article suggests that a healthy dose of satire can help distance education to overcome the problems generated in difficult economic times.

Policy Deficit in Distance Education: A Transactional Distance

This paper innovatively extends the application of transactional distance theory (TDT) to evidence-based policy development in Mauritius. In-depth interview data on student persistence from a range of stakeholders is used to understand the implications of distance education (DE) policy deficit. Policy deficit has surfaced as another dimension of transactional distance and student persistence as an appropriate measuring instrument. Transactional distance is salient in the non-alignment of national and institutional DE planning. Associated results are myopic institutional vision, stagnating national plans, poor resource deployment, and ill-understood opportunities for personal development. This research validates TDT as an instrument for policy development and concludes that supporting advocacy plans will help to achieve sustainable distance education in the region. Lessons from the field in Mauritius can be usefully adapted to the sub-Saharan African context (SSA). These preliminary indications require further research and discussion.

Distance Education Policy and Public Awareness in Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam

The current project brings together academic and governmental specialists from Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam (CLV), in a collaborative study of the prospects for distance education (DE) in those countries. The study’s overall objectives are to: 1. survey and take stock of existing educational scenarios and problems in CLV; 2. document the policies and research relating to DE practices in CLV and beyond; 3. discuss these policies and practices with national core groups, policy and decision makers; 4. initiate strategies for networked collaboration among CLV’s educational institutions; 5. build DE capacity by “training the trainers” in a variety of distance teaching and learning skills; and 6. formulate recommendations for the development of detailed DE initiatives in the three nations. This article reports on the early stages of this project: the implementation of a stakeholder survey in the three countries, and a study of existing policies and practices. The project is funded in 2005–2008 by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), whose PANdora model provides a collaborative basis to assist the teams in developing a common research strategy and in avoiding duplication of effort.