CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This study reports the outcome of a primary qualitative

investigation of open and distance learning system of education

as a panacea to the problem of socially induced constraints on

the acquisition of education, that may lead to the inability to

attend higher institutions of learning, acquire certificates,

become a qualified skilled worker by being able to study for the

course of study chosen by the individual. A major interest of the

study was to determine the perception of the recipients about

what the cost effectiveness of open and distance learning system

is. The study based on interviews and focus group discussions

with learners, facilitators, study centre managers and guidance

counsellors who were the learners support providers and

stakeholders in the open and distance learning and its expected

results for the learners was discussed. The study sought to

investigate whether these stakeholders subscribed to the fact

that the open and distance learning system of education will

achieve its desired objectives or not. The survey confirms the

existence of the imperative that brought about the establishment

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of open and distance learning institutions. The fact that many

recipients confirmed that more of these types of institutions are

needed suggests that the samples are of the opinions that it is

an effective approach to higher education in Nigeria . From the

result of the investigation, it was concluded that open and

distance learning institutions are highly effective in

considering the purpose of establishing them within the general

framework of the education system.

Teacher education has to do a whole range of different jobs: to

enable teachers to develop the

potential of their pupils; to serve as role models; to help

transform education and through it

society; to encourage self confidence and creativity. At the same

time, many educators often

hope that student teachers will develop appropriate, and where

necessary changed, attitudes

to their job. In order to meet these hopes, teacher education is

likely to include four elements:

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improving the general educational background of the trainee

teachers; increasing their knowledge and understanding of the

subjects they are to teach; pedagogy and understanding of

children and learning; and the development of practical skills

and competences.

The needs of primary education have dominated much discussion

about teacher education and

open and distance learning has been used more to prepare primary

than secondary teachers.

But this may be changing: earlier expansion of primary education

is creating increased demands for secondary teachers, and in some

cases to give primary teachers the skills to work at junior-

secondary level. Basic education is increasingly seen as

including both primary and at least the first cycle of secondary

education. Meanwhile teachers who move on to new roles, as head

teachers or to work in teachers’ colleges, often need and seldom

get programmes of professional development to help them in their

new job. A concern for their professional standing, long

recognised by UNESCO as of major importance for the quality of

education as well as for3

the condition of their lives, compels attention to programmes of

this kind.

Thus teacher education in many countries gives an impression of

rethinking, and restructuring

of the curriculum. But it is not clear how far the rhetoric of

reform has led to superficial or substantial restructuring. The

evidence here suggests the former. A recurrent picture is the

coexistence of traditional and newer curriculum models within one

programme. This takes the form of two competing strands of

thinking that, for convenience, can be labelled as traditional

and progressive tendencies. The traditional is teacher-centred,

based on behaviourist assumptions, has a transmission view of

knowledge and regards the teacher as a technician; the

progressive strand includes more active and participatory

learning methods, is less authoritarian, places

more demands on teachers and contains elements of constructivist

thinking. The progressive

agenda encourages the development of reflective practice among

teachers. As a result, the traditional model of master-

apprenticeship, of theory preceding practice, has become4

increasingly challenged and the coherence between education

theory and the actual practice of teaching became an even more

critical issue. Key questions then arise for the curriculum

planner

about the extent to which this agenda is appropriate for teachers

who have themselves had

only a limited background education. In a classic analysis of the

realities of educational reform,

Beeby (1966) warned against seeking over-rapid transformation and

of the dangers of unrealistic expectations of teachers who were

themselves teaching at the limit of their knowledge.It is a trite

statement that education is the greatest social leveller and that

education is the most potent instrument for mental and social

emancipation. Nations of the world, in recognition of this,

sought to provide quality education for majority of their

citizens in an equitable and accessible manner (Fafunwa 1974).

This is contingent on the realization of the leaders that a nexus

exists between education and national development processes

(Jegede 2000). This reality has led many countries, developed and

developing alike, to make huge investments in the education of

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their people. However, the greatest challenge assailing many

nations is how to provide educational opportunities for many of

their citizens. This phenomenon is particularly disturbing in

developing nations of the world where there is a preponderance of

high population growth rate and low per capita income (Jegede

2000). Providing quality education to millions has been one of

the struggles facing developing countries like Nigeria . The

formal system of education, via the conventional classroom

setting which had been in existence for centuries has gained some

sort of loss in momentum and is slow in responding to the

challenge of the exponential rise in the population of those who

have expressed interest in education. This rise in the population

of those seeking educational opportunities in the conventional

system calls for a radical departure from the traditional method

of educating people. However, the increase in the development of

information and communication technologies as they are applied to

the education process has created a new set of learners who are

not merely restricted to the brick and mortal classrooms, as they

once existed. It is time to explore the possibility and

effectiveness of alternative and innovative approaches to the

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educative process, since expanding educational opportunities

through conventional means to groups that had hitherto been

unreached such as women in purdah, migrant cattle farmers, fishermen, offshore

oil workers, prisoners, working women, full time house wives, etc, means putting

great strains on the already shrinking education budgets. It is

against the backdrop of this that open and distance learning has

been identified as the panacea to the perennial problems of

equitable access to education, equality of opportunities as well

as providing a second chance for those who had once been in the

system but had to leave [dropouts]. UNESCO (2002) stated that

open and distance learning is not necessarily the most cost-

efficient approach – but then there is no reason why it should

necessarily be. Distance education methods may be the only way to

reach some target audiences, in which case lowering the cost of

education will not necessarily be an objective of distance

education. This will allow for enhancement of opportunities that

support education for all and life long learning and also provide

avenues for the acquisition of flexible and qualitative education

for all categories of learners to justify the crave for learners'

achievement.

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THE CONCEPT OF OPEN AND DISTANCED LEARNING

No definition has been found to be exhaustive in attempting to

define open and distance learning; rather there are several

approaches to defining the term. According to UNESCO (2002), the

terms open and distance learning represent approaches that focus

on opening access to education and training provision, freeing

learners from the constraints of time and place and offering

flexible learning opportunities to individuals and groups of

learners. Peratton, Robinson & Creed (2001) defined distance

education as ‘an educational process in which a significant

proportion of the teaching is conducted by someone far removed in

space and/or time from the learners. Open Learning, in turn, is

‘an organized educational activity, based on the use of teaching

materials, in which the constraints on study are minimized in

terms of access, entry, or time and place, pace, method of study,

or any combination of these. Thus, the concept of open and

distance learning suggest an educational approach designed to

reach learners in their homes/offices/shops etc, provide learning

resources for them to qualify without attending formal classes in

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person, or create opportunities for lifelong learning, no matter

where or when they want to study. Hulsmann (1997) had approached

the definition of the concept of open and distance learning from

the characteristic point of view. He identified four crucial

features of distance education as follows:

•  The separation of the teacher and the learner in time or

place, or in both time and place.

•  Influence of an educational institution: necessity for

institutional accreditation of programmes and courses.

•  The use of technical media: involving mixed media courseware

such as print, radio and television broadcasts, video and

audiocassettes, computer band learning and telecommunications.

•  The provision of two-way communication: allowing for

interaction between learners and tutors either synchronously or

asynchronously, as opposed to the passive receipt of broadcast

signals.

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The ODL trainers' toolkit published jointly by the Commonwealth

of Learning and the Asian Development Bank (2000) identified two

additional features of distance education as:

•  Possibility of face-to-face meetings for tutorials, learner-

learner interaction (self-help study groups), library study,

laboratory and practice sessions.

•  Use of industrialized processes; that is, in large scale open

and distance learning operations, labour is divided and tasks are

assigned to various staff working together in course development

teams.

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CHAPTER TWO

PRINCIPLES OF OPEN AND DISTANCED LEARNING

In the traditional college classroom today, faculty and students

arrive with a certain set of

expectations, shaped largely by past experiences. And although

students may need the occasional

(or perhaps frequent) reminder of what’s required of them,

there’s usually something very familiar about the experience for

both faculty and students alike. In the online classroom, an

entirely new set of variables enters the equation. It’s a little

like trying to drive in a foreign country. You know how to drive,

just like you know how to teach, but it sure is hard to get the

hang of driving on the left side of the road, you’re not quite

sure how far a kilometer is, and darn it if those road signs

aren’t all in Japanese. This special report explains the “rules11

of the road” for online teaching and learning and features a

series of columns that first appeared in the Distance Education

Report’s “Between the Clicks,” a popular column by Dr. Lawrence C.

Ragan, Director of Instructional Design and Development for Penn

State’s World Campus.

The articles contained in the report will help you establish

online instructor best practices and

expectations, and include the following principles of effective

online teaching:

• Show Up and Teach

• Practice Proactive Course Management Strategies

• Establish Patterns of Course Activities

• Plan for the Unplanned

• Response Requested and Expected

• Think Before You Write

• Help Maintain Forward Progress

• Safe and Secure

• Quality Counts

• (Double) Click a Mile on My Connection

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These principles, developed at Penn State’s World Campus, outline

the core behaviors of the successful online instructor, and help

to define parameters around the investment of time on part of the

instructor. In his articles, Ragan identifies potential barriers

and limitations to online learning, and specific strategies to

assist instructors in achieving the performance expectations.

The Policy Framework

The planning of open and distance learning may involve policy

issues at international, national

and institutional level. The international issues arise in part

because the forces of globalisation are affecting the content and

practices of education, in part because new policy issues arise

when education is no longer confined within national frontiers.

Programme planners are thus increasingly exposed to innovations

in teacher education and need to make judgements about the

desirability, feasibility and acceptability of these

internationalised ideas within their country and programme.

Changes to more practice-based teaching education, for example,

have been encouraged internationally and become part of the

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common discourse about education. This has major implications for

the local planning, implementation and management of

programmes for teachers. International conventions on the role

and status of teachers as

agents of change naturally affect national policy. At the same

time, educational cooperation

across borders, and cross border enrolment, put on to the

decision-maker’s agenda jurisdictional

questions about cross-cultural transference and language and

about the control of crossborder

enrolment and its accreditation or recognition.

CHAPTER THREE

POLICY AND OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION IN TEACHER EDUCATION

The record of open and distance delivery of teacher education is

good, as noted above, and there continue to be exciting

possibilities that allow for an enhanced student experience and a

means of meeting national and international development goals.

However, teacher education always sits within national and

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international policy frameworks and is subject to the vagaries

often associated with policy.

While the cases of distance-delivered teacher education discussed

above are varied,

two sets of policy-focused factors have long driven the use of

such education:

• In earlier times, and in the African examples, a development

imperative was the driving force behind distance-delivered

teacher education. Many countries, in responding to government

policy, have used distance delivery options as a way of

increasing teacher numbers and helping to build a qualified

teaching workforce.

• In more recent times, and mainly in developed countries and as

illustrated by the Australian and New Zealand examples above, an

equity imperative allied with the continuing development of

educational technologies has underpinned the use of distance

delivery for teacher education.

Meanwhile, our reading of policy and experience in our context

indicates the policy picture has become more complex in four

notable ways:

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• While recent policy developments have promoted greater access

to tertiary level education, this has also spurred student demand

for greater flexibility. As the forces of globalisation affect

societies by promoting global migration, the rise of the global

economy, imperatives for lifelong learning and the reach of

global communications, the type of student entering teacher

education has changed. The “traditional” young, full-time teacher

27 education student is no longer the norm. A greater number of

older, parttime students are now found in teacher education

programmes (Simpson and Anderson 2009). ODL is particularly

attractive to these students who

often seek to balance their desire to obtain a teaching

qualification with their need to meet family and work

commitments. However, increased access to tertiary education and

greater flexibility has often been linked with policies that

promote competition. Unfortunately, this competition has

affected, and undermined, the equity imperative that drove many

early open and distance-delivered teacher education initiatives.

Illustrating this are the New Zealand examples, where the

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specific focus on a target group has been replaced by opening the

options to all students.

• Recent years have seen teacher education become a more

credentialed profession. In most developed countries, teacher

education has moved into the tertiary education sector and

teaching has become a profession that requires a degree. This

trend to formal credentialing is sure to continue along with the

need for the lifelong learning associated with participation in

knowledge societies. A likely result is formal continuing

professional development programmes for teachers as the need for

career-long professional development is recognised more and more.

• The tertiary education sector is also increasingly controlled

by policies relating to funding. Many governments have developed

policies that have encouraged a greater range of providers to

establish programmes. However, the result is greater competition

among them for students. In particular, changed funding streams

for universities have seen these institutions compete for control

of teacher education. With funding have also come requirements

related to reporting, completion and quality.

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• Policy-makers have become increasingly concerned with quality

issues in teaching and teacher education. Governments are the

major funders of teacher education and funding for education is

usually a significant percentage of any country’s budget.

Governments set education goals,

develop legislation and then usually charge their ministries of

education to enact the goals, provide advice to the government

and develop the frameworks to implement the government policy. In

this context, funding and quality often become interwoven. The

result is calls for “value for money” and notions of quality

often linked to efficiency as opposed to effectiveness. For

distance-delivered teacher education, the most significant

policy-related impacts have come from policies relating to

funding and quality. One aim of this approach seems to be to put

space between funders and providers. Thus, we see devolution of

responsibilities to teacher education institutions and more

decentralised systems of provision being encouraged alongside

tighter control of funding and accountability. An outcome of

this, for teacher education, has been:

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the development of teacher standards (for graduating and

experienced teachers); increased accreditation requirements;

more compliance requirements; and a focuson completion within set

time frames. These expectations are explicitly linked to funding

for teacher education and create tensions between the needs of

local constituencies and national imperatives.

Although the motivations and the policy detail may vary, teacher

education is a priority in most countries regardless of the

development stage of the country. Despite this, a number of

tensions arise among the principles of open and distance

delivery, core components of teacher education and the policy

frameworks.

CHAPTER FOUR

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METHODS AND STRATEGIES

If you search the internet for “teaching methods” or

“instructional methods” you will find thousands of descriptions

of activities – these are called methods. Sometimes they are also

called strategies or techniques, and no doubt you will find a

good variety of suggestions for activities in teaching procedures

to use. But for your work with this program, we prefer to clarify

the terms prior to looking at other aspects. This is done so that

you can make reasonable decisions in your daily teaching routine.

A strategy defines the basic procedure of how the content is

elaborated during the teaching process.

There are two possible alternatives:

1. The cognitive approach

The cognitive approach is expository, as information is given in

a structured and organized process (top-down). The student’s role

in this is passive, consuming and “breathing in”. The teacher is

the constitutive element: he informs, tells, shows, asks,

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correcs, etc.

PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH DISTANCE EDUCATION

Lack of the presence of a teacher

The first and the foremost critic of the system of distance

education is that it lacks the presence of a teacher. It is said

that education is a Tripler Process- teacher, students and

curriculum, out of which the important pole i.e. the teacher is

almost missing or behind the scene.

Solution:

Feedback on the part of concern distance educators and authority

regarding admission, PCPs, assignments, examination and projects

should be provided to the distance learners time to time.

Low Status of Distance Education Institutes

Leaving aside the open universities, distance education

departments are functioning within the framework of traditional

Universities. The authorities of the universities do not provide

full facilities to theses departments. In this way, the potential

of the system remains unutilized. If distance education continues

to be subservient to the traditional universities, then it will

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remain a poor relation of traditional system of education with

its wings of innovation completely clipped off and it would not

grow beyond that.

Solution:

First, extension counter of different universities in the state

in the form of shops, who are selling degrees, should be banned

or their degree should not be considered for any benefit both for

students and employees. Second, these distance education

departments should be given autonomy to prepare their own action

plan and policies keeping in mind the available resources and

needs of the distant-learners into consideration.

Rigidity Imposed by University Regulations

Distance education departments have to function within the rules

and regulations of the universities thus leaving little scope for

experimentation, the faculty in regular departments try to put

hurdles in the working of these departments. For example, the

frequent revisions of syllabus without consulting distance

education departments. Both campus- based and distance education

have much to gain from fuller integration in terms of expanding

the range of courses available to distance education students,

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economizing on teaching functions and allowing campus –based

students greater flexibility in choosing from a range of

resources and strategies for learning.

Solution:

While talking about distance learning and conventional learning

system, it is to be kept in mind that these two systems are not

opponent to each other. The two systems can move together in

order to take benefit of each other in serving the noble cause of

providing education to all. However, distance education can

achieve more so far as widening access to education is concerned.

Misconception about the Role of Distance Education departments

University authorities and faculities of regular departments

think that the main function of distance education departments is

to mobilize resources for meeting the deficit of the University.

This is fallacious and wrong impression. Distance education can

provide services at less cost but cannot be like coaching

academies.

Solution:

These departments of distance education must be the centre of

higher learning in the same way as regular departments and should

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contributes to the academic excellence for which the university

stands for. Misconception should be overruled soon.

Discrimination with the Product of the Distance Education

Departments:

It has been that the university and outside that the products of

distance education are not equated with the products of

traditional system inspite of their better achievement in the

same examination.

Solution: Why is it so? This needs to be examined and

discouraged. We may keep in mind that knowledge knows no

boundaries and it is not the monopoly of anyone. But authenticity

of the product should be checked and criteria for achievement

should be accessed.

Lack of support by the faculty

More than any other participant, faculty roles must change the

most in administering distance learning programs. This can be

difficult adjustment for some teachers. They must change teaching

styles to that of a mentor, tutor, and facilitator. They must

meet the needs of distance students without face-to-face contact.

Since the majority of distance learners are adults, teachers may

24

need to change their teaching style. Faculty is responsible for

changing their course content to accommodate diverse student

needs and expectations. So long as college faculty feels there is

a burden associated the distance education program currently in

place, there will be little support for expanding distance

education opportunities. There are a number of reasons for this

lack of support. Teachers may lack the basic skills or hardware

to fully participate in distance education.

Solution

The introduction of computers, telecommunications, and the World

Wide Web provides an extraordinary opportunity for faculty and

students to learn in a cooperative environment.

Student Assessment

Assessing student performance is a problem area in distance

learning. It is a commonly held belief that distance students

perform more poorly in assessment than do internal students

because of the additional pressures and burdens of distance study

Solution

Maintain the same course content, learning objectives, standards,

and credits for all sections, regardless of method of delivery.

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More research into instructional methods and models is needed to

identify those that work well in distance learning (Jackman, et,

1994). Participatory and active learning models are preferred by

distance learning students. The course content affects student

persistence.

CONCLUSION:

With these problems, there is a danger of the system becoming

stereotyped leading to inertia. Until and unless, this inertia is

removed, the system of distance education may deteriorate. Thus,

distance education requires better planning and implementation as

this system has to operate in a challenging and difficult

environment of openness. There is need to devise ways and means

to improve upon the external and internal environment of distance

education system to avoid stagnation and generate dynamism and

development to reap the potential of this system. We may say in

the words of Fred Jevons, ‘distance Education should no longer be

written off as second best. It has a different pattern of

advantages and disadvantages from campus-based education but it

is not intrinsically inferior. Distance education has some

advantages which should be recognized more widely. Easier access,

26

independent learning opportunities, a more intimate interface

with employment, better quality controls over course materials,

the possibilities of cumulative improvement over course

materials, the possibilities of cumulative improvement in

pedagogic quality, the staff development effect and under certain

circumstances, lower cost.’ Distance education has the potential

to make equity and access to education a reality and, thus,

increase opportunities for a population in a vast democracy like

ours. It has great potential for meeting the requirements of the

varied demands for human resources. In doing so, our programmes

should not be so stereotyped in their urban context, that

students in rural areas get no benefits from them. We often

forget that a majority of our youth lives in rural areas and a

substantial number of our colleges are located in district

headquarters. They need courses more appropriate to their local

context in upgrading their household occupation, agro-industries,

and rural enterprises such as cooperatives, rural banks, rural

development and panchayati raj institutions, as also the vastly

developing rural service sector, especially in the fields of

transport, storage and communication. We have a vast potential

27

for reaching out to this sector which has been largely left

untouched by our urban-based universities and teachers who

developed. We need to have open universities and schools in every

states of the country to nurture this vast sector for human

resource development leading to a productive India of the future.

Hence we need the growth of distance education to reach out to

this vast country and its diverse needs, and especially for

developing competency for various occupations and careers.

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REFERENCES

Edge, W.D. and Loegering, J.P. ‘Distance Education: Expanding

Learning Opportunities’. Wildlife Society Bulletin,

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Distance Education: A Framework for the Future. London:

Routledge, 1989. Goel, A. & Goel, S.L. Distance Education in 21st

Century. Deep and Deep Publication, New Delhi, 2009.

Jackman, D. & Swan, M. Alternative instructional models for IVN

delivery (Vol. 1). Fargo: North Dakota State University,

Central Duplicating, 1994. Keegan, D. The Foundations of Distance

Education. London: Croom Helm,1986. Keegan,D. ‘On Defining

Distance Education’. Distance Education, 1(1):1980, 13-36.

Keegan,D. Foundations of Distance Education.

Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, New York, 1996, 10-50. Kerka,

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S. ‘Deterrents to Participation in Adult Education’ 1986 ERIC

Digest No. 59, ED275889 86.

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