Distance Education University Research Articles

The Training of Educators in Praxis. Experiences Drawn from the Master's Degree in Intercultural Education

This paper aims to defend and illustrate the way university teaching can contribute to overcoming the dichotomies of theory and practice, research and action, scientific knowledge and professional knowledge in the training of educators. To this end, the first section addresses the commitment towards emancipatory research in response to how and with whom to research, from both collaborative and participatory perspectives; the second introduces the intercultural focus as a framework for moving beyond dichotomization; and the third part stresses the role of university education in overcoming these logics, illustrating how our university teaching promotes educational praxis in its dual role as a reflective practice, of research and intervention, in the Euro-Latin American Master's Degree in Intercultural Education run by the Spanish National Distance Education University (UNED). To conclude, we list a number of aspects, which we suggest should be promoted in order to provide a renewed perspective on socio-educational intervention and research.

Rank Analysis of Off-campus Learning Centers Based on Students’ Achievements and TOPSIS Method and Grey Correlation

Modern distance education is an important form of adult higher education, and has become an important part of higher education in china. Off campus learning center is a support institution for the study of Modern Distance Education in Colleges and universities. Comprehensive evaluation of off-campus learning centers is an important means of strengthening the management of off-campus learning centers. The students’achievement as one of the comprehensive evaluation indicators of the off-campus learning center can better reflect the comprehensive ability of the management and service of the off-campus learning center. This paper applies the students’achievements in the learning process and the TOPSIS method and the grey correlation to the comprehensive analysis and ranking of the off-campus learning center, so as to provide the feasible method and theoretical basis for the students' academic achievement as the evaluation index of the off-campus learning center.

Basic actions to reduce dropout rates in distance learning

Today’s society, which is strongly based on knowledge and interaction with information, has a key component in technological innovation, a fundamental tool for the development of the current teaching methodologies. Nowadays, there are a lot of online resources, such as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and distance learning courses. One aspect that is common to all of these is a high dropout rate: about 90% in MOOCs and 50% in the courses of the Spanish National Distance Education University, among other examples. In this paper, we analyze a number of actions undertaken in the Master’s Degree in Computational Mathematics at Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, Spain. These actions seem to help decrease the dropout rate in distance learning; the available data confirm their effectiveness.

Learning the psychology of the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon through on-line practice

Psychology undergraduates can benefit from direct experiences with laboratory procedures of psychological phenomena. However, they are not always available for students within a distance education program. The present study included students from the Spanish National Distance Education University (UNED) that were to take part in a Basic Psychology examination session. They participated in web-sessions on a tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) laboratory procedure. The aim was to study whether their performance at TOT-related items would be differentially improved. Our results support the conclusion that practicing with the TOT application was effective in improving the TOT comprehension among students. Study A showed that the performance level was higher for the TOT-practiced participants relative to the non-practiced ones. Study B showed significant group by item-type interaction. Also, there was a significant effect of group, and item-type. The results are contextualized in the psychological institutions’ mainstream effort for Psychology to be viewed as a STEM discipline by students, the political representatives, and the society.

RESOURCES FOR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING COURSES

With the integration of ICT to teaching and learning almost all disciplines which were conducted in the traditional mode throughout the years, are now being taught online in as well. The premier open and distance education university in Sri Lanka, the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) which conducts teacher training courses and programmes at many levels in addition to many other programmes and courses in numerous disciplines is planning to conduct some teacher training courses online as well. Around 3000 graduate teachers of the country’s school system has enrolled in the post graduate diploma in Education (PGDE) programme in the 2017/2018 academic year and the programme is conducted in all the districts of the country through the university’s study centres. To follow online training courses conveniently teachers need resources. This study was conducted to find whether those resources are available with the teachers, whether there are differences in the availability of resources as per their locations and gender and to make suggestions to improve the resource availability. To select the sample of teachers, initially two districts and the 2 study centres in those districts were selected. After that, the teacher samples were selected randomly from those registered for the PGDE programme in the current academic year for the 2 centres. The main instrument for data collection was a questionnaire while a semi structured interviews were conducted with a few teachers from both centres. The findings were that the availability of some resources was good while some are not. The majority had the Internet facility; there were no remarkable differences between the teachers as per location of the centres. However, male teachers had more resources than the female teachers. Suggestions were made to improve the resource availability and facilitate online learning of teachers. Article visualizations:

La Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica (UNED) y la virtualización de su oferta académica. Un análisis reflexivo de su puesta en práctica

This article analyses the virtualization process of university courses implemented in the four schools of the National Distance Education University (UNED, for its acronym in Spanish). Primarily, the objective is to determine whether the virtualization of the courses should be the only alternative for students, or if it should be another tool to integrate into the pedagogic model of distance education in the context and reality of Costa Rica, in regards to the viability of access to digital technologies. Thus, an analysis of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) was done through virtualization and e-learning, explaining its implementation in UNED, a setting where there is still a long way to go in terms of accessibility, mainly between urban and rural areas. Additionally, the ICTs are approached as an alternative, an option, or a tool within the distance education model, since their implementation depends on a pedagogic foundation (techniques, strategies, and methodologies in ICT), and above all, on the context. The conclusions state that the virtualization of the courses must be an alternative but not an imposition for the students, because consideration of the context is vital, in terms of accessibility to digital technologies in Costa Rica, meaning that the quality of education must prevail over the means (semi-virtual, hybrid, virtual, or distance). Virtualization is not a matter of being at the forefront by means of technical innovation, but its implementation must be based on a real need with suitable conditions (adequate logistic infrastructure). Finally, ICTs must depend on a clearly established pedagogical curriculum, without reducing the access and quality in education.

Remote radio astronomy in distance learning

National Distance Education University (UNED) is a Spanish University whose methodology is based on the principles of Distance Learning. UNED has the largest student population in Spain and is one of the largest universities in Europe. PARTNeR (Proyecto Académico con el Radio Telescopio de NASA en Robledo, Educational Project with NASA’s Radio Telescope at Robledo) is an educational project that allows students to remotely operate a 34-meter parabolic antenna located at the NASA’s Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex. UNED science students perform real-time remote radio astronomical observations controlling PARTNeR radio telescope through Internet from their classroom. Students that cannot attend the observation on-site because of geographical dispersion or occupational tasks can join it on-line using the AVIP classroom, a virtual classroom based on IP technology. The main educational objective of UNED-PARTNeR collaboration is to learn the basics of general astronomy and radio astronomy and to understand the fundamentals of radio telescope operation. The technical objective of UNED-PARTNeR collaboration poses a double challenge: on the one hand, to remotely operate a firstrate scientific instrumentation using AVIP classroom and, on the other hand, to carry out a real scientific research using distance learning methodology. Keywords: Distance learning; Remote radio astronomy; Virtual classroom; Practical Astrophysics

Development of a Computer Tool to Support the Teaching of Materials Technology

Materials technology is a matter of great applicative and crosscutting interest, as evidenced by their presence in most curriculums of the current industrial engineering degrees. During the development of this matter, it is crucial that the student assimilates not only the relationship among composition, processing and mechanical properties, but also, how all these technological features interact facing the in-service behavior of the material. That is why, within a Doctoral dissertation developed at the Department of Construction and Manufacturing Engineering at the National Distance Education University (UNED), it has designed a computer tool to quantify the stringency level of technological requirements of materials (especially suitable for high demanding applications), characterized by its suitability as interactive teaching material used in the teaching of materials engineering. As a case study, we have chosen a selection of materials for nuclear reactor pressure vessels, because it is a very representative example of the relationship between chemical composition, mechanical properties and in-service behavior.

Widening Access of Nigerians To Distance Education Programmes

<p>Two distance education programmes prominently exist in Nigeria. These are the Nigerian Certificate of Education (NCE) distance learning programme and the Open University distance education models. Ample evidence abounds to show that numerous Nigerians have not maximally taken advantage of these programmes to acquire requisite knowledge and skills in order to fit into the world of work and/or to improve their productivity. A plethora of factors underlie these unsavory situations. This paper highlights the inherent needs to the participation of Nigerians into these distance learning programmes and also suggests different strategies for widening or enhancing the access of more Nigerians to these new paradigms of accessing education. </p>

Challenges and Opportunities Related to Quality Distance Higher Education in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has managed to respond to the movement in support of UNESCO’S lifelong learning concept and strategy that seeks to widen and deepen access to higher education through distance education initiatives. Despite the significant increase in students enrolling in distance education institutions, the gold standard of excellence that is sought by many nations has gradually been compromised. There are symptoms of a downward trend in terms of quality in open distance learning institutions. The qualitative study analysed major factors affecting the provision of quality distance higher education with specific reference to the Zimbabwe Open University, the sole provider of university distance education in Zimbabwe. The study focused on three Zimbabwe Open University regional centres in Zimbabwe. The paper seeks to identify major factors contributing to the declining quality of distance education and discusses measures that distance education providers in Zimbabwe can undertake in order to promote excellence for effective learning in the 21st century. The study established that several factors are affecting the quality of distance education in Zimbabwe. The lack of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) facilities at regional and district centres was a major hindrance to effective teaching and learning.

Academic Workload Planning for Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Universities: The Experience of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)

The quality of the programmes and courses in ODL depends on the academics that plan the programmes, develop the curriculum, manage courses and programmes and carry out administrative duties. It is observed that the academics often complain of work overload. It also appears there is a mix-up in integrating the mode of planning workload in the conventional universities into the open and distance education universities. This may be attributed to inadequate spread in the duties assigned, which if not checked could affect the quality of teaching and learning. This necessitated the study that was carried out to determine academic workload in NOUN. The findings revealed a gap between academic activities and adequate utilisation of time. Also, inadequate spread of activities affects the quality of the academic inputs. This led to the development of academic workload model to guide the spread of academic activities in open and distance learning.

How to Improve the Quality of Teaching in the Course of Network Education

This paper expounds the characteristics and advantages of modern distance education. On this basis, this paper puts forward the limitations and deficiencies of the current educational practice, and analyzes the reasons that affect the quality of education. On the basis of analyzing the reasons, solutions to the problems in the course of work are put forward according to working experience and practice. The realization of the virtual experiment will ease difficulties and pressures effectively, which the various modern distance education in colleges and universities generally faced in funds, venues and equipment and other aspects. So carrying out the virtual experimental teaching is timeless and beyond the constraint of space, and help to improve the quality of teaching. Therefore, the virtual experiment will become an inevitable trend in the practice teaching of modern distance education.

Experimentación virtual con el simulador dosis-respuesta como herramienta docente en biología

We present an educational innovation strategy that consists on the implementation of a virtual investigation project in biology. In university education, some lab practices are prohibitive due to high costs. For distance university education, there are few virtual educational resources that can be used instead. In this paper we share the experience of using the dose-response simulator 1.0. The simulator has been developed in our lab to explore the usability and the learning levels achieved by the students. An exploratory study was conducted with a group of students from the Research Methods I course of the Bachelor’s degree biology program. The work corresponds to a virtual, structured, semi-closed type, guided by specialized teaching supervision. Two levels of knowledge were evaluated: the management of the program and the understanding of theoretical knowledge. 69.2% of the students stated that using the simulator was easy. According with Bloom's taxonomy, from 100 to 92.3% performed well in activities at the apply and analyze levels, and 76.9 to 61.5% at the synthesize level. 7.7% did not adapt at all. The results indicate a high level of student learning. Simulators are an alternative for teaching when lab practices are expensive.

‘What do we do in the meantime?’ (Ferris 2004): Language errors and scaffolded intervention strategies in the writing of distance education students

The ongoing theoretical debates on the value of error correction and the attention that should be accorded to language accuracy have overlooked the needs of teachers 'at the chalkface'. Yet, effective teaching strategies are vital in multi-lingual South Africa, particularly given the under-performance of South African students evidenced in international comparative studies. Based on a Master's dissertation entitled 'A critical review of the language errors in the writing of distance education students' (Ward-Cox, 2012), this article interrogates linguistic competence and investigates the language 'errors' made by a heterogeneous group of 100 entry-level distance education university students with the aim of improving academic writing. The research follows a process of error identification and statistical analysis and reviews intervention strategies. The implications of the bimodal pattern of distribution in the review findings and its link to school background are discussed. Scaffolded intervention strategies are presented in response to Ferris's (2004) question to teachers: ... what do we do in the meantime [while the academic debate debate rages]?

Iranian EFL Students’ Emotional Intelligence and Autonomy in Distance Education

<p>The present study aimed to clarify EFL learners’ conceptions of autonomy and whether their autonomy was correlated with their emotional intelligence. The research was carried out with the participation of 110 learners at Distance Education University in Urmia, Iran. Questionnaires were emailed to the participants. Results of statistical analyses revealed substantial correlations between learners’ conceptions of autonomy and their emotional intelligence. ‘Independence’, ‘Stress Tolerance’, ‘Problem- Solving’, ‘Happiness’, ‘Self-actualization’, ‘Self-awareness’, ‘Optimism’, ‘Self-regard’, ‘Empathy,’ and ‘Impulse Control’ became the most determining elements of emotional intelligence (EI) for learners. Overall, the findings led the researcher to conclude that learners’ EI is a key factor influencing the extent to which they are ready to learn autonomously, and that teachers could therefore strive to ascertain learners’ intelligence type before they train them to become autonomous.</p>

Investigating the Relationship between the Effects of Motivation, Personal Development and Basic Computer Usage Upon the Student Success in Distance Education Via the Structural Equation Modeling

Objective. This study determined the factors affecting the academic success of students receiving distance education and examines the relationships between these factors. As a result of the factor analysis, the relationships between the variables of motivation, personal development and basic computer usage that were separated into groups were tested using the structural equation modeling. Methods. A 5 point likert scale that was prepared according to expert opinion was applied to the sample group consisting of students receiving associate degree education at Kirikkale University Distance Education Center (KUZEM). The study hypothesis presented a relationship between the variables of motivation, personal development and basic computer usage that were asserted to have an effect upon the student success. The hypothesis test was performed using the structural equation modeling. Findings. This part involves the results of the structural equation modeling that tested the reliability analysis, factor analysis and the study hypothesis. Results. (1) Variables in the variable group involving questions aimed at students in the process of education like “have you received distance education?”, “are efficient materials being used” and “what is your level of using the presentation program”, (2) Among the variable groups whose effects upon the student success were examined, there is a two-sided and significant relationship between the motivation and the personal development level, (3) There is no significant relationship between the basic computer usage and the personal development.

How Do We Market to Distance Populations, and Does It Work?: Results From a Longitudinal Study and a Survey of the Profession

ABSTRACTThis article discusses the results of a longitudinal survey conducted by Kansas State University Libraries to assess the marketing of library services to the university's distance education population. The latest implementation of the survey revealed overall similar or increased awareness of and satisfaction with library services compared to the previous survey. Also included are results of a survey of library professionals on best practices for distance education librarians. Findings include the importance of developing relationships with campus distance education offices and faculty and the need to be persistent with marketing efforts to a changing population.

The Postgraduate Supervisor Under Scrutiny: An Autoethnographic Inquiry

Effective postgraduate supervision is a critical indicator of individual scholarship and institutional reputation. This paper uses autoethnography to scrutinize critical moments in the author’s enactment of the supervisory role over a lengthy career at a distance education university, where supervision takes place through face-to-face consultation, distance education, or a combination of both modes. Autoethnography, an innovative addition to the compendium of qualitative research methods, is gaining prominence as a means of examining the academic life through the personal and professional histories of individual academics. The author’s aim is to focus both inward on the vulnerable self as expressed in the role of academic supervisor and outward on the social and cultural aspects of this role as it is shaped within the context of the university. This has been done by constructing a text with a high degree of self-reflexivity, which combines evocative and literary elements with some explicit theorizing around generativity theory. Generativity is defined as an adult’s concern for and commitment to promoting the well-being of the next generation, in this case, the intellectual well-being of future cohorts of scholars. Against the framework of generativity, a series of autobiographical vignettes illustrate self-defining moments in the author’s development as supervisor. The role of memory and memory supports in producing an accurate story and measures taken to interact with the characters in the stories to enhance textual credibility are addressed. The vignettes illustrate the desire to conduct supervision as a generative act; cultural demand for generativity; the transmission of a personal aesthetic in supervision; the separation-individuation of the student; the redemption of generative commitment in the face of threats to generativity; and the perpetuation of the generative cycle. I conclude that autoethnography as method presents a useful route to both self-understanding and social understanding of the academic life, with particular reference to the role of postgraduate supervisor.

Factors Affecting ICT Adoption among Distance Education Students based on the Technology Acceptance Model—A Case Study at a Distance Education University in Iran

<p class="apa">The incorporation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into education systems is an active program and movement in education that illustrates modern education and enables an all-encompassing presence in the third millennium; however, prior to applying ICT, the factors affecting the adoption and use of these technologies should be carefully investigated. The present study was conducted to examine the factors affecting ICT adoption among distance education students based on the Technology Acceptance Model. The present descriptive survey was conducted in a statistical population consisting of all the distance education students residing in Isfahan, Iran, in 2013, 281 of who were selected as the sample population through simple random sampling. The data collection tool used was a researcher-made questionnaire designed based on field studies and using the questionnaires used in studies conducted by Nair (2012), Alanazy (2006) and Wikins (2008). The items in each section were designed based on the constructs and factors forming the Technology Acceptance Model examined in this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data in SPSS-21 and LISREL. The results of the analysis showed significant relationships between perceived usefulness and ease of ICT use and the attitude toward the use of these technologies, between the attitude toward ICT use and the decision to use ICT, and also between the decision to use ICT and its actual use.<strong></strong></p>

Scale and scope economies of distance education in Australian universities

Despite compelling qualitative arguments for scale and scope economies in university-level distance education, as distinct from traditional class-based face-to-face instruction, there is little rigorous quantitative evidence in support. In this paper, we explore the scale and scope economies of distance education using a multiplicatively separable cost function and a sample of 37 Australian public universities over the 10-year period from 2003 to 2012. The results suggest strong overall scale and scope economies and product-specific scale economies for distance education. Further, the economies of scope for distance education are increasing with mean output, suggesting an increasing cost benefit of producing distance education in conjunction with traditional class-based face-to-face teaching. This provides an important implication: when allocating places for different modes of attendance or considering further expansion of student numbers, there should be a priority on distance education as a means of achieving significant cost savings.