Support Distance Education Research Articles

Distance education support services: Sensemaking amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

In this article, we explore the notion of sensemaking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Exploring sensemaking in periods of disruption and uncertainty can provide a deeper understanding of how distance education institutions can navigate future disruptions. We focus on support staff employed at one institution and their experience during remote work as a result of lockdown measures. Support staff are essential for the effective functioning and success of distance institutions. We use sensemaking as a conceptual and theoretical framework to understand staff experience of how their roles changed because of lockdown measures. Four participants were interviewed on digital platforms. All were involved in sensemaking by exploring the wider system, creating a map of their new work environment, acting to change their work system, and subsequently learning from it. It was also found that their sensemaking includes both affective and cognitive elements. We recommend that sensemaking theories and conceptual frameworks be used to further understand sensemaking in distance education support services during times of change.

A RESEARCH ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT TECHNOLOGIES IN DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS


 
 
 
 This study investigates the acceptance of distance education support technology among college students. 200 students from Mianyang Teachers' University in Sichuan Province, China, were surveyed through questionnaires and interviews. The data were gathered through a combination of questionnaire surveys and interviews and analysed using SPSS to examine the utilisation of technology by students during the teaching and learning process. Additionally, this study aimed to explore the factors influencing how technology is employed to support teaching and learning and investigate student attitudes and perceptions regarding its use in education. The study is based on a framework that addresses students' adoption, perception, and use of technology in open-distance learning. It attempts to connect the theory of transactional distance with the technology acceptance model (tam).
 
 
 

대학원격교육지원센터(UDEC) 학습 콘텐츠 현황 분석 및 발전을 위한 제언

대학원격교육지원센터(UDEC) 학습 콘텐츠 현황 분석 및 발전을 위한 제언

Reimagining post-COVID distance education support services with achievement motives and career personality

Reimagining post-COVID distance education support services with achievement motives and career personality

ACADEMIC LIBRARIES AND DISTANCE EDUCATION IN GHANA: EVIDENCE FROM THE SD DOMBO UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

This study examines the role of academic libraries in supporting distance education at the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies in Ghana. The findings highlight the importance of digital access and resources, information literacy instruction and support services, collaborative partnerships, and user satisfaction. The study reveals that academic libraries have made significant investments in digital collections, ensuring remote access to a wide range of scholarly materials for distance learners. Information literacy programs and support services are crucial in equipping students with research skills and enhancing their academic success. Collaborative partnerships between librarians, faculty, and other stakeholders integrate library services into the distance education curriculum. User satisfaction demonstrates the effectiveness of library support in meeting the needs of remote learners. Based on the findings, recommendations are provided to enhance library support for distance education, including continuous investment in digital resources, strengthening information literacy instruction, and encouraging collaborations and partnerships. By implementing these recommendations, academic libraries can enhance their support for distance education and contribute to student success.
 Keywords: Academic Libraries, Distance Education, Ghana, Evidence.

인구감소시대 교육의 질 제고를 위한 지방의회의 역할 분석

This study analyzes the phe prospect of school age population decline and the direction of future education reform were analyzed. And the role of local councils to improve the quality of education was studied. The main results are as follows.
 First, local councils need to actively improve the quality of preschool, elementary, and secondary education by reducing the number of students per class.
 Second, local councils need to promote the enactment of ordinances to support bridging the gap in higher education under the jurisdiction of local governments, ordinances to support distance education, and ordinances to support artificial intelligence education between universities, local governments, and education offices.
 Third, local councils need to pay attention to the enactment of ordinances to support educational cooperation between metropolitan and provincial offices of education and local universities.

Teachers’ experiences of in-service training on inclusive education: a South African perspective

The object of this research: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore and describe teachers’ experiences of in-service training on inclusive education. While diverse literature has dealt with teachers’ experiences of in-service training programmes and the conceptualization of inclusive education, the majority of these studies show limited focus on in-service training programmes tailored according to identified classroom needs.
 Methods: This study adopted a phenomenological research design. The purposive and conveniently selected 8 participants enrolled in the BEd Honours (Learning Support) distance education programme participated in the study. Furthermore, the study’s data collection process involved telephonic semi-structured interviews. The study used a thematic data analysis method.
 The main scientific results: The findings in this study indicated that the themes of learning barriers and inclusive education training. Moreover, the findings indicated that BEd Honours is informative and necessary for professional development; however, some participants shared concerns about the limited application material in the training programme.
 The area of practical use of the research results: This is for teachers in the in-service training. By identifying and uncovering teachers’ needs to implement inclusive education, these findings can be used to improve in-service training programmes

Perceived usability evaluation of learning management systems via axiomatic design with a real life application

PurposeUsage of learning management systems (LMSs) has become widespread with the disruption of face-to-face educations after the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several software products, usually named as LMS to enable and support distance education. However, selection of a suitable LMS is a complex multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) problem that requires consideration of many criteria and inputs from different parties like students, academicians, education managers, etc. Usability evaluation of LMS is one of the critical steps in deciding which LMS system to be adapted. There are several studies related to usability evaluation of LMS in the literature, but utilization of MCDM methods and real life case studies are very rare. Based on this motivation, perceived usability evaluation of SAKAI-LMS that is in use at an academic department is performed by employing axiomatic design procedure (ADP). This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned issues.Design/methodology/approachADP is considered as a suitable MCDM method for perceived usability evaluation as it allows an easy approach to data fusion and setting performance targets for decision makers. A questionnaire is developed to collect data from three types of system users about predetermined usability criteria and their importance. After detailed statistical analyses and weighting criteria via analytical hierarch process (AHP), ADP is carried out to evaluate usability of the LMS.FindingsIt is found that the proposed ADP based approach is easy to apply in practical circumstances and able to quantify perceived usability of the LMSs.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed approach provides an easy and practical evaluation of perceived usability of the LMSs for decision makers who are responsible for the implementation of LMSs. The developed novel and practical MCDM-based perceived usability approach for LMS in this study has been verified through a real life case study at an academic department. Perceived usability results, therefore, reflects only the views of this focus group and are not generalizable.Originality/valueFirst time in the literature, a comprehensive ADP based MCDM approach is proposed based on the analyses of the related literature and information gathered from the system users.

Social Networks to Rescue COVID-19 Education: Learners' Awareness of Social Networks in Aiding Education

Governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). This has culminated in the largest school disruption in recent history. This study explored learners’ awareness of using smart educational systems (social networks) to support remote learning (e-learning). The study examined three constructs: Motivation, Active role, and Interaction, based on the theory of Connectivism. These constructs contributed to the development of a survey used to gather perspectives on social networks in education from a group of Business Studies learners in a South African high school. Data was collected from a sample of Business Studies learners (n=133) just before the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show there was an awareness of the use of social networks in education among learners. Therefore, social networks had the potential to support distance education during the pandemic.

Design Implications for Interactive and Analogue Technologies supporting Distance Education: A Longitudinal Mixed-Method Study during the Pandemic

We believe that challenging times demand HCI education to pay attention to current real-life, complex, systemic problems. Therefore, we suggest an integrated framework for teaching HCI that involves combining the transition design framework, which suggests long-term, future-oriented design on a large scale toward more sustainable lifestyles, and speculative and critical design. The integration of the two creates spaces for dialogues and debates enabling students to take a more critical perspective concerning possible futures and technology design. We suggest studio-based pedagogy and explicate various aspects of the course, including its theoretical and practical underpinnings, pedagogical approach, and provide examples of projects to illustrate how the framework was used and ways in which speculative and critical design and thinking were crucial for learning. Finally, we highlight six learning facets that might contribute to orienting students’ upcoming professional work towards desirable futures.

The Challenges Distance Education Students Experience during Their Education Degree Program in the Faculty of Education at the University of Namibia

The main purpose of this study was to identify the challenges distance education students experience during their education degree studies. The specific objectives studied included the following: to investigate the technical and technology limitations, limited interactivity between lecturers and students and among distance education students, and lack of support from administrative staff. The research design employed in this study was the survey research design. The distance education students were asked to complete an online survey to determine their experiences doing their studies on a distance mode. The target population for this study included all distance education students (1675) who are enrolled at the Centre for Open, Distance and eLearning (CODEL) at the University of Namibia in 2020. The questionnaire instrument was administered via google form, 354 responses were received in spreadsheet formats, and chats generated from the responses, the Statistical Package of the Social Sciences (SPSS) file, the descriptive and reliability statistics for all the variables. Based on the findings of this study, this study concludes that the University of Namibia needs to improve slow internet speeds, limited internet access, lecturer student interaction, collaboration between distance education students, lack of computers, among others. Some of the recommendations made by this study include: increased funding in ICT infrastructure for distance education students, better training for lecturers on how to deliver pedagogy and the CODeL administrative staff to better support distance education students.

Analysis of teachers’ and parents’ needs for distance education support for students with disabilities in the post-Corona era

목적 코로나의 확산처럼 국가 위기 상황에 원격교육이 혼합적으로 수행되어야 하는 포스트 코로나 시대를 맞이하여, 장애학생을 대상으로 수행된 원격교육에 대한 경험을 바탕으로 원격교육에 대하여 교사 및 학부모의 요구사항을 파악하고 지원 방향에 대하여 탐색하고자 한다. 방법 이를 위하여 전국의 특수교사 총 1,462명과 장애학생이 학교에 재학 중에 있는 총 2,393명 학부모를 대상으로 2021년 3월 말에 설문 조사를 시행하였다. 설문조사는 교사의 경우에는 원격수업 플랫폼 및 콘텐츠, 교수-학습 지원, 원격학습 관리 및 제도에 관한 어려움과 요구조사 문항으로 구성하였고, 학부모의 경우에는 장애학생의 원격수업 플랫폼 사용의 어려움, 원격수업 과정에서의 어려움, 학부모 대상 지원 등에 대한 문항으로 구성하였다. 설문조사 데이터는 기술 통계 분석과 다중응답 빈도 분석 등을 수행하였다. 결과 연구 결과, 학교급에 따라 특수교사들의 요구사항이 다르지만 장애학생의 특성을 고려한 친화적이고 접근가능한 플랫폼, 장애유형별 다양한 콘텐츠, 콘텐츠 저작 환경에 대한 요구를 파악하였다. 또한, 장애학생들을 위한 효과적인 원격수업의 교수학습을 지원하고 평가할 수 있는 가이드북, 매뉴얼 및 우수사례 등이 제공될 필요가 있으며 교사 및 장애학생 모두 디지털 리터러시 교육과 연수의 필요성이 제기되었다. 마지막으로 교사와 학부모가 생각하는 효과적인 원격수업 방법의 차이를 확인하면서 상호 이해할 수 있는 우수 사례 발굴과 공유를 통한 논의가 필요함을 보여주었다. 결론 본 연구를 통해 장애학생의 원격수업을 위해 플랫폼, 콘텐츠, 교수⋅학습 측면에서의 지원에 대한 요구사항을 도출하였으며 장애학생 학교급 및 학교유형별 차이점을 분석하였고 이러한 차이에 따른 효과적인 원격수업을 위한 지원 방향에 대하여 시사점을 제시하였다.

On the Generator of Stable Cubical Multivariate Encryption Maps Over Boolean Rings for Protection of Large Information System

Encryption based on Walks in Algebraic GRAphs (EWAGRA) is used for protection of authors' rights, access to electronic books or documents located at a certain knowledge base (Information Quality Assurance Support Systems of a university, digital library supporting distance education, various digital archives and etc). The method allows generating nonlinear stream ciphers, which have some similarities with a one-time pad: different keys produce distinct ciphertexts from the same plaintext. In contrast to the case of a one-time pad, the length of the key is flexible and the encryption map is a nonlinear poly- nomial map, which order is growing with the growth of the dimension n of the plaintext space. The encryption has good resistance to attacks of the adversary when he has no access to plaintext space or has a rather small number of intercepted plaintext- ciphertext pairs. It is known that encryption and decryption maps are cubical maps. So, interception of n3 + O(n) plaintext-ciphertext pairs allows conducting a plain linearization attack for finding the inverse map. We consider the idea of the modification of this encryption algorithm after sending each message without using key exchange protocols. So the new algorithm is resistant to plain linearization attacks.

Experiences of Students with Visual Impairments at an Open Distance and e-Learning University in South Africa: Counselling Perspective

The purpose of the qualitative study on which this article is based was to explore the experiences of students with visual impairments registered at an Open Distance and e-Learning University in South Africa, through a phenomenological research design. Literature was reviewed on student support in distance education and concepts from the critical disability theory, biopsychosocial model of disability, connectivism and affect theories formed the conceptual framework for the study. Telephonic semi-structured interviews were used as a technique to collect data from seven participants. Data were transcribed and then coded employing ATLAS.ti. The emerged themes centred on students’ counselling experiences, the synergy between the departments, and accessibility of services. It was also determined that students lose academic time due to the lack of resources and study materials in alternative and accessible formats. While policies and implementation plans were claimed to be in place, they do not address the reality on the ground due to a lack of coordination of disability issues, and late referral of students to counselling services. The study recommends the prioritisation of disability issues, and it needs to be incorporated in the wider university’s strategic plan to accelerate its implementation. This will translate to (i) training ICT staff on various computer software programs needed to support students with visual impairments, (ii) developing alternative formative and summative assessments, (iii) developing a graduateness and job readiness intervention programme to empower the students financially and add value to the university’s employment equity agenda, and lastly (iv) putting the disability unit at the centre of all disability matters for coordinating purposes.

Parent observations about the impact of COVID-19 on children with ASD in Turkey

Objectives: The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that people with disabilities are the most vulnerable, neglected and discriminated individuals at times of emergency. National and international studies are needed to understand the extent to which the general well-being, quality of life, and positive and negative behaviors of children with ASD are affected during the pandemic. Methods: This study explores the impact of Covid-19 on the typical behaviors of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by focusing on quantitative observation findings obtained from their parents and caregivers. In order to explore the effects of three months of pandemic restrictions during the initial period, 103 parents and caregivers were asked to describe significant behavior changes in their children with ASD comparing before and during the pandemic period. Results: The results showed that children were negatively affected in 21 of 32 typical ASD traits. However, a significant number of participants also reported positive changes in several of their children's social and communicative behaviors as shared family time increased during the pandemic. This finding alone was not statistically supported. However, when it was coupled with the variable of access to online education assistance, it was concluded that the two variables together reduced the negative impact on children. Additionally, we found a sex difference in the impact of Covid-19 on children with ASD. The test results and mean scores show that girls were affected either more negatively or more positively than boys. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the negative effects of a natural disaster such as Covid-19 may be decreased when family members cooperatively share their responsibilities, spend more time with their children with ASD, and use distance education support services. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, Covid-19, pandemic, parents, sex difference, social distancing

Schooling Interrupted: Educating Children and Youth in the Covid-19 Era

Distance education has been practised for generations, although its purpose and form have changed. Correspondence courses, in which students receive instruction via mail and respond with assignments or questions to the instructor, date back to the mid-1800s, if not earlier. As technology changed, so did the nature of distance education. Radio, television, computers, and, most recently, the internet have supported distance education over the years. Research studies on the use and effectiveness of distance education focus almost exclusively on higher education. A recent research synthesis suggests that fewer than five per cent of the studies have addressed K-12 education. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, has brought distance education into K-12 schools and classrooms. Distance education in the Covid-19 era has been referred to as ‘emergency remote teaching’ (ERT) because, with little research on which to rely, teachers must improvise quick solutions under less-than-ideal circumstances, a situation that causes many teachers to experience stress. The purpose of this paper is to address five fundamental questions. First, what problems have K-12 school administrators and teachers faced in implementing ERT? Second, under what conditions has ERT been effective since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic? Third, what are the strengths of ERT in K-12 schools and classrooms? Fourth, what are the weaknesses of ERT in K-12 schools and classrooms? Fifth, to what extent will lessons learned from ERT influence teaching and learning when the pandemic abates? The paper concludes with a brief set of recommendations. Throughout the paper, the focus is on K-12 education.

Design and implementation of a digital textbook about physical agents as a learning resource in the training process of Chilean physical therapy students in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on education, forcing the implementation of distance learning methodologies using information and communication technologies (ICT). The digital textbook is a didactic resource used to guide the training process of students; besides, its interactivity allows systematic work, favoring metacognition and the construction of self-learning. The aim of this paper is to describe, through a descriptive cross-sectional design, the design, review, digitalization and implementation phases of a digital textbook about physical agents as a learning resource to support distance education in the training process of physical therapy students enrolled in the physical agents course offered by Universidad Andres Bello in Santiago, Chile, in the context of the human mobility restriction measures implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The textbook consists of thirteen thematic sections and once it was reviewed and validated by peers and by the editorial committee of the university it was digitalized and indexed into the digital resource database of the university, where it was made available to the entire cohort of students enrolled in the physical agents course during the first semester of 2020 (n=115).The digital textbook was successfully implemented as a didactic resource to guide the autonomous and distance learning of students during the time human mobility restriction measures were established in Chile due to the pandemic. Future studies should focus on reporting the students’ satisfaction and perception of this tool and its effect on learning outcomes in order to obtain effective feedback.

Aligning Sustainable Development Goal 4 with Provision of Distance Learning through Library Perspective: The Case of the Open University of Tanzania

Sustainable development goal number four (SDG 4) is the education goal whose main focus is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities. In that perspective, its focus on the promotion of lifelong learning augurs well with the mainstay of distance education in any country. This linkage is anchored on the quality, timely provision of knowledge through libraries that are entrusted with the role of searching, acquiring, processing and make access to various distance learners knowledge in various forms for their continuous learning and attaining various qualifications. Sustainable development goal number four (SDG 4) lies at the centre of all other goals as it entails transforming societies globally into learned, aware, and one that can cope with changes at economic, political economic and social levels. Impliedly, education for all that is the main proponent of this goal must be achieved using all avenues possible including open distance learning for those that cannot afford it through other conventional education systems. Libraries are the lifeline of open and distance learning. Over years, especially with the fast-changing technologies and more emphasis on e-learning of which open distance learning has also adopted quickly, the role of library has had challenges in terms of the visibility on services it provides, availability of adequate resources to cope with such changes and, skilled staff to offer library services with e-learning base. This paper explores issues related to the role of library services in supporting promotion of lifelong education through distance education systems and as articulated in the sustainable development goal four (4). The paper examines ongoing global as well as national efforts of libraries in supporting distance education in the modern era and through the existing technologies. The linkage of the three variables, i.e. SDG4, distance education and library services is, without any doubt, of critical importance for the continuous growth and improvement of learning through distance education.

A Social Media Supported Distance Education Application for the Building Cost Course Given in Civil Engineering Education During the COVID 19 Quarantine

A distance education application in Düzce University within the Fall Semester, which started in September 2020, constitutes the main subject of this study. 118 students chose the Construction Cost course, which is one of the fourth year elective courses in Civil Engineering, this term. In addition to the lectures given within the Düzce University Distance Education Center (UZEM), different applications have been made / made through a social media (Whatsapp) group in which all students participated. With the help of additional videos, audio and written messages, an application was made based on increasing the communication opportunities with the participant students, teachers and other students, and developing a civil engineering culture. By increasing motivation with research assignments including construction industry practices and problems, monitoring documentary construction projects, interesting photographs and videos; The aim is to follow a lesson close to formal education for students who are encouraged to learn by experiencing the lesson, to make participatory practices, and to discuss their findings. In the meantime, the importance of first degree health protection was emphasized with information sharing and recommendations on the importance of compliance with COVID 19 measures. It was preferred to reinforce the importance of Self-Learning / Study practices.

“PRISM OF KNOWLEDGE” AS A VIRTUAL FORM OF ORGANIZATION OF E-NETWORK KNOWLEDGE BASE IN EDUCATION

This is a brief description of the current state of the use of software and information tools ICT in the formation of knowledge bases in education. Examples of the latest information and communication technologies (ICT) used in this area are given. The basic principles of the formation of an electronic network knowledge base in education are given. The goal of building an electronic network knowledge base in education has been determined. The described ontological and e-scenario principles of organizing an electronic network knowledge base in education in the format of an object-oriented “Prism of knowledge”. A general characteristic of the ontological method for constructing an electronic network knowledge base is given, it is based on the theory of graphs, namely, on its tree structure. This operational characteristic of the electronic script of the knowledge base, the specific information structure of its data blocks. An example of an operational tree-like graph-structure of an e-scenario of a knowledge base is given on the example of a physics curriculum for grade 10. The general characteristic of the “Web-software complex, the editor of scripts of the knowledge base” (work.inhost.com.ua) is given and its organizational structure is described. The results of the formation of an electronic network knowledge base in education in the “Knowledge Prism” format based on the use of the “Web-software complex, the knowledge base script editor” are presented. Provided like “Prism of Knowledge – Newton’s Law” and describes its characteristics. Discussion of the prospects of using the proposed method for constructing an electronic network knowledge base in the “Prism of knowledge” format, as a means of increasing the efficiency of information support for education. A conclusion is given on the relevance of the practical application of this method of forming an electronic network knowledge base on the platform of using the “Web-software complex, script editor of the knowledge base”, as a means of supporting distance education and a tool for building personal and corporate e-network knowledge bases in the “Prism of knowledge” format ... For example, such as an e-network knowledge base of lessons or curricula, electronic textbooks, presentations, etc.