Distance Education Institutions Research Articles

The Education and Training of Cataloguing Students in South Africa Through Distance Education

SUMMARY This paper discusses the education and training of cataloguing students in South Africa at a distance education institution where the focus is on career-specific training. The position of the cataloguing course in the curriculum and the content of the course are explained. The utilization of media and technologies in offering the course, and anticipated changes and possible future developments are discussed.

Mergers And Change Management At The Micro Level: A Case Study

The transformation of the South African higher education landscape resulted in, among other things, the merger of three distance education institutions: Unisa, VUDEC and TSA. The macro level of the merger will no doubt be studied in detail. This article explores a micro level process for two departments merged by a top-down decision that did not take cognisance of their dissimilar functions and structures. The result was both a merger and a demerging process. The two departments first had to confront the realities of their different functions and structures before a reconfiguration could occur, including the emergence of a strategic plan focusing on aspects such as specific contribution, drivers, objectives and structure. The change management principles adopted to ensure the success of the process are outlined, analysed and reflected upon.

QUALITY EDUCATION IN INDIA: A MISSION REVISITED FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

India, one of the largest country in Asian continent, with a population of over one billion has been striving towards achieving sustainable development in all the spheres of the society through scientific and technological, socio-cultural and economic progress. It has been trying to bring about radical changes in the society through various modes and education remains one of the primary tools of accomplishing the developmental objective. In pursuit of this objective, the government has been establishing a number of educational institutions at all levels i.e. at school and at higher education level. It has also been supporting private and non-governmental organizations which are in this sector for reaching education to masses. Data show that distance education institutions are catering to much larger segment of population as compared to conventional mode of institutions. This large enrollment and the added responsibility of reaching education to the people with a diverse mode of delivery puts enormous responsibility on these institutions to maintain quality standards of education through distance mode. In the light of what has been stated above, the article identifies the various dimensions of quality in distance mode of education and proposes strategies for maintaining quality standards and quality control mechanism.

Roles and competencies of academic counsellors in distance education

Academic counsellors or tutors are engaged as a link between learners and distance teaching institutions. They perform various roles such as facilitating learning of subject matter content, assessing assignments, providing motivation and encouragement, and supervising research/term papers/project work. Each of these roles requires specific competencies to enable them to perform satisfactorily. This paper identifies the roles performed by academic counsellors at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the competencies required for each role. It also provides a generic list of competencies required to perform as an academic counsellor. Based on self‐rating of the competency of a group of academic counsellors, the paper recommends the training of academic counsellors and the development of distance teaching materials for use in competence‐building.

해외 원격대학의 튜터제도 운영 : OUHK의 사례

해외 원격대학의 튜터제도 운영 : OUHK의 사례

Library and information provision for distance learners in Tanzania: some research and evaluation areas to be considered

The paper discusses some of the library and information provision research and evaluation aspects in the distance education context in Tanzania. It explores some current and potential areas that can be considered for research and evaluation by library and information personnel, scholars and researchers. It does so by providing an overview of research and evaluation aspects for distance education at a global level and specifically for the Tanzania\'s environment. Some of important broad categories of research and evaluation are identified. These include the distance learner, distance education institutions, libraries and involvement of libraries/information officers, information and communication technology, the role of the publisher and the public recognition of distance education. Out of these, specific areas related to library and information sectors, are highlighted. The paper concludes by urging library and information professionals in Tanzania to seize the opportunity of researching and evaluating the aspects mentioned above, as they (librarians and other information professionals) are an important stake-holder and resource in the distance education systems. University of Dar es Salaam Library Journal Vol.6(2) 2004: 33-46

Dual Mode Academics: A Comparison of Conventional and Distance Education Experiences

he experiences of knowledgeable and practiced academics who have held full-time positions both in conventional and distance education (single/dual mode) institutions would be a strong resource in determining the differences and challenges that affect the future evolution of the virtual professor. The issues of instruction, institutional service and professional development are primary areas of concern that require attention. Four knowledgeable and practiced academics who meet this criterion report their insights and concerns and the results suggest that a significant reshaping of the academic's role in distance education should be considered.

Developing a university course for online delivery based on learning objects: from ideals to compromises

A course instructor and his assistant at Athabasca University investigated whether the process of transferring interoperable learning objects from online repositories facilitated course production, both pedagogically and economically. They examined the efficiency of the objects‐assembly method from several perspectives while developing an online university course based on learning objects for this, one of Canada's leading online and distance education institutions. The two researchers examined issues that confronted them as they gathered, assessed, repaired, assembled and created learning objects. When their search for suitable objects appeared fruitless, they questioned assumptions made by theoreticians and visionaries about pedagogical and economic efficiencies associated with the objects‐assembly metaphor and production. They highlighted this metaphor's failure to guide their course design based on learning objects in a climate of uncertainty and explained the nature of the compromise that eventually compelled them to acquire a proprietary online delivery system.

Improving academic proficiency in open distance learning through contact interventions

The aim of the article is to describe a pilot study designed to determine the extent to which contact interventions improve the academic proficiency of tertiary-level students in a distance education institution. A group of ‘at risk’ students, identified by the University of South Africa Unisa Mercantile Law Department, served as the pilot target group for the interventions described. Writing intervention: this involved the active teaching of coherence, cohesion, and the academic essay as a discourse type. Reading intervention: Explicit instruction in the answering of multiple-choice questions was given as this form of evaluation accounts for an increasingly high percentage of testing critical reading at Unisa Reading and writing centre intervention: Essay structuring and argumentation were works hopped. Particular attention was paid to cohesion and coherence. Pre- and post-testing was used to determine the effectiveness of the interventions.

Responding to student writing: A taxonomy of response styles; When language (accuracy) matters too much

This article describes a taxonomy, which was developed as an analytical instrument to classify tutorial commentary written in response to student writing. It includes categories taken from the research of Connors and Lundsford (1993), Greenhalgh (1992), Newkirk (1984b), Perry (1970), Straub (1996) and Warnock (1989) and is descriptive rather than evaluative in nature. It is a consciousness-raising tool designed to identify responses to student writing in terms of the axiological assumptions on which they are based. The students in the empirical study were registered at the University of South Africa (Unisa), a distance-teaching institution, for an entry-level, English for specific purposes module. The task was a narrative paragraph that required a student to describe a specific childhood incident and reflect on its significance. The experiment involved analysis of the global comments given by tutors at the end of 50 randomly selected ‘marked’ assignments.

NOTE FOR EDITOR: Using of Marketing Communication for Distance Education Institutions

Because of increased competition for scarce resources, marketing has become an important activity of many nonprofit organizations. Higher education institutions, as one of these nonprofit organizations, provide us with excellent examples of this trend (Hayes, 1991). The marketing of higher education has received a tremendous amount of emphasis and attention.

Teaching Algorithm Efficiency at CS1 Level: A Different Approach

Realizing the importance of teaching efficiency at early stages of the program of study in computer science (CS) on one hand, and the difficulties encountered when introducing this concept on the other, we advocate a different didactic approach in the introductory CS course (CS1). This paper describes the approach as it is used at the Open University of Israel (OUI). The OUI, a distance teaching institution with no prior educational requirements, runs a full-fledged CS program. Because of its open door policy, the dropout rate, especially in introductory courses, as well as the percentage of failures, is very high. Using the new approach has raised the percentage of students who pass the course. The new approach advocates integrating three-part questions which ask not only to identify the algorithmic problem that a given algorithm solves and to analyze its complexity, but also to design a new algorithm that performs the same task, while increasing efficiency by an order of magnitude, not only by a constant factor. The research we conducted to examine the implications of using this approach is described here.

Distance Education in Turkey

Many countries of the world are using distance education with various ways, by internet, by post and by TV. In this work, development of distance education in Turkey has been presented from the beginning. After discussing types and applications for different levels of distance education in Turkey, the distance education was given in the cultural aspect of the view. Then, in order to create the tendencies and thoughts of graduates of Higher Education Institutions and Distance Education Institutions about being competitors in job markets, sufficiency of education level, advantages for education system, continuing education in different Institutions, a face-to-face survey was applied to 1284 graduates, 958 from Higher Education Institutions and 326 from Distance Education Institutions. The results were evaluated and discussed. In the last part of this work, suggestions to become widespread and improve the distance education in the country were made.

Lecturers' experience of postgraduate supervision in a distance education context

After determining the perceptions of postgraduate students at a distance education institution of the guidance they had experienced, a research project was launched to determine lecturers’ views on supervision at the same institution. Data collection methods included focus groups, individual interviews and document analysis. Findings indicated that supervisors experienced some aspects of postgraduate supervision as extremely satisfying. However, numerous problems were raised, for example establishing acceptable ground rules, planning the research project, poor language proficiency and design of empirical investigations. In addition, administrative problems were encountered including admission requirements of students, allocation of students to appropriate supervisors and problems relating to the examination process. From the findings, the need for training of students and supervisors; discussion around issues in the supervisory process and written policies and guidelines on postgraduate supervision emerged.

Institutional Support for the Virtual Professor

Academics who hold positions at single-mode, distance education institutions are presently being hampered by an adherence to a long-standing set of protocols (specific office location, face-to-face meetings) that were put in place when the conventional post-secondary was the norm. With the advent of a powerful merging of personal computers and the internet, a shift from those protocols to one of support for the virtual professor is in the offing, to the benefit of both the professoriate and the student. A key factor in this shift is the degree and quality of institutional support that will allow these changes to take place. This paper focuses on a number of the key factors that will have to be addressed if this new type of distance education academic is to function effectively.

Improving Distance Courses: Understanding Teacher Trainees and Their Learning Styles for the Design of Teacher Training Courses and Materials at a Distance.

Literature on distance education and teacher education seems to show that what we do not know about Distance Teacher Trainees 1 ( DTT ) and their learning process involved exceeds what we know about it. As more DTT enroll in distance education programmes globally, distance education providers and institutions will witness trainees coming with different backgrounds and experiences begin to take advantage of this learning opportunities. One important variable in the effectiveness of distance learning is the preference of the distance learner for a particular learning mode. A key to maintaining distance learners participation in learning lies in understanding the Learning Styles Preferences ( LSP ) and the processes involved. This is also true for teacher training. There is much greater variation in the range of LSP and how to address them when preparing distance training materials and courses. The primary purpose of this paper is to propose ways in which individual learning differences should be accommodated when designing instructional learning materials in print for DTTs. Kolb’s ( 1984 )model on learning cycle and styles are discussed to provide instructional design guidelines which accommodate each stage of the learning cycles and individual differences between DTT in processing and presenting information and knowledge. In addition, issues on teacher education, distance learning, individual differences, and ways in which the ‘differences’ can be accommodated when designing learning materials for DTT are also discussed. This paper resonates the idea and belief that if attempts are made to match learning styles of DTTs and andragogy with content to be learned, distance teacher educators ( DTEs )and instructors can develop better instructional materials with greater prospects of success. Getting to know and understand the teacher trainees and their learning process involved must first be addressed to facilitate the diverse needs of the Malaysian teacher trainees.

ICT & The Future of Distance Education

Since the beginning of the previous century institutions offering distance education have employed a variety of technological platforms to support interactions between teachers and learners and among learners separated by distance, time or both. The convergence of powerful computers with telecommunications technologies, over the past three decades has precipitated a fundamental shift in human history: the so called Information or Knowledge Revolution in the last decade of the previous century. Technological developments in Digitization and Telecommunication have led to fundamental changes in the production, storage and dissemination of materials and information. The focus in the information age or knowledge era is on these new digital information and communication technologies (lCTs). These are proving to be more powerful than previous technologies because of their ability to integrate multiple media into simple educational applications, interactivity, flexibility of use and connectivity. Not only text but a full range, of media including graphics, speech, sounds, still and moving pictures can all be stored and conveyed. It is 'now possible to combine elements of all these components in a single package (i.e. multimedia) instead of using a variety of components such as printed text, audio/video cassette, broadcasting, etc. (i.e. multiple media). Education seems unlikely to escape the influence of such significant technological developments especially as the cost of access to ICTs continues to fall. The number of institutions adopting ICTs and introducing online courses has been growing. Undoubtedly this is leading to the ascendance of distance education as a popular mode of education being adopted by both distance teaching institutions as well as conventional institutions offering campus bound face to face education. It can be said that the adoption of ICTs has opened up new fundamentally different options for higher education both in how to run the business of higher education as well as in methodologies of teaching and learning. More institutions are involved in distance education today than at any other time in history. Distance education has truly moved to the centre stage today.

Self-Transitional Characteristic Of Distance Education Learnes: A Case Study Of Three Malaysian Univerties

This study is undertaken to elucidate various aspects of the self-transitional characteristics of learners enrolled in the distance education programmes at Universiti Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi MARA (formerly known as Institut Teknologi Mara). The aspects of the self-transitional characteristics studied included study skills, recreational activities, health, finance, and religious activities. The findings of this study will provide distance education institutions with information regarding the characteristics of the self-transition experienced by adults as a result of becoming distance education learners. Such information is important for the institution in order to provide an adequate and suitable support system for learners in distance education that takes into account the self-transition that occurs among them in order to facilitate and assist them the learning process.

Post-basic nursing students’ perceptions of the emigration of nurses from the republic of South Africa

The emigration of nurses from South Africa to work in overseas countries continues to increase despite efforts to curb this phenomenon.
 
 Opsomming
 Die emigrasie van Suid-Afrikaanse verpleegkundiges om in oorsese lande te werk neem toe ten spyte van pogings om die verskynsel te bekamp.
 
 *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.

Meeting the needs of remote library users

Many higher education institutions now offer virtual delivery of academic programs via the Internet and the World Wide Web, and cater to the needs of growing numbers of distance education students. Before an academic library can adequately address the needs, preferences, and expectations of its remote patrons, however, it needs to understand the peculiarities and challenges of serving patrons at a distance. Penn State University’s World Campus (a virtual campus) is one of the leading distance education institutions in the USA, and its libraries are among those actively engaged in ascertaining the needs of remote library users and developing services and resources to meet these needs. A portrait of library resources and services available to World Campus students is presented, and results of a survey conducted to assess Penn State World Campus students’ perceptions, expectations and use of Web‐based library resources are reported. A key finding is that students are pleased with the quality and availability of library services, but not fully partaking of the vast array of services and collections.