Ruth Aluko and Professor Daniella Coetzee. The editors ask the most pertinent question in the boo... more Ruth Aluko and Professor Daniella Coetzee. The editors ask the most pertinent question in the book's title, a question that is of profound importance to educators in general, but to open distance and e-learning scholars, researchers, and specialists in particular. The question is whether 'distance education in the developing context needs more research?' UNESCO's (2021) International Commission on the Futures of Education report, Re-imagining our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education asks a pivotal question that pertains to Aluko and Coetzee's book, "What role can education play in shaping our common world and shared future as we look to 2050 and beyond". UNESCO observes that the world faces "multiple, overlapping crises. Widening social and economic inequality, climate change, biodiversity loss, resource use that exceeds planetary boundaries, democratic backsliding, disruptive technological automation, and violence are the hallmarks of our current historical juncture". UNESCO (2021) paints a gloomy and sombre picture of the world's futures: "Paradoxical development trends are leading us on a path toward unsustainable futures. Global poverty levels have fallen, but inequalities between and within countries have grown. The highest living standards coexist with the most gaping inequalities in history. Climate change and environmental degradation threaten the survival of humanity and of other species on planet Earth. More and more people are actively engaged in public life, but civil society and democracy are fraying in many places around the world. Technology has connected us more closely than ever yet is also contributing to social fragmentation and tensions". UNESCO (2021) makes a damning judgement call, which underscores the publication of the book, Does Distance Education in the Developing Context Need More Research? Building Practice into Theory as a timely response and intervention against the above-mentioned trends and challenges that have the potential to render the world's futures unsustainable: v Does Distance Education in the Developing Context Need More Research? Building Practice into Theory "These crises and challenges constrain our individual and collective human rights. And they are largely the result of human choices and actions. They derive from social, political, and economic systems of our creation, where the short-term is prioritized over the long-term,
This study investigated the implementation of National Curriculum Statement's English First Addit... more This study investigated the implementation of National Curriculum Statement's English First Additional Language in three rural primary schools in Northern Cape Province. The focus of the investigation was on English First Additional Language learning, teaching and assessment in grade four. The purpose was to evaluate class activities in order to determine the level of achievement in English, and to establish whether classroom practices were being informed by National Curriculum Statement policy for English First Additional Language. The study employed a qualitative case study approach, using classroom observation and document analysis research tools. The findings revealed that the learners lacked literacy skills because they were not engaged in suitable and meaningful tasks to meet their linguistic needs. Most activities given to the learners were irrelevant, and not age, grade and language level appropriate. There was no evidence of communicative, text-based, reading and process writing activities in the learners' portfolio files. It was also discovered that teaching, learning and assessment did not conform to National Curriculum Statement policy for English First Additional Language and the principles of OBE methodology. Recommendations to address the problems are proposed.
Recently, the University of South Africa widened access to academic facilities and services at on... more Recently, the University of South Africa widened access to academic facilities and services at one of its study centres. Although this is laudable and demonstrates a commitment by the university towards its students, it raises these three concerns (1) What is the occupancy rate of the facilities? (2) To what extent are these improved facilities cost-effective? (3) What is the quality of the services at these facilities? A modified iron triangle was employed to analyse and determine accessibility, cost-effectiveness and the quality of the facilities. Data mining techniques involving descriptive analysis indicated that the most utilised service facilities were the computer laboratories and the least utilised was the study space. Moreover, perceived service quality of the facilities was rated good to excellent by the majority of the respondents. The modified iron triangle was found to be useful in helping us understand Student Support Excellence Project’s (SSEP) improvements at the ide...
A very special thank you goes to my husband, Ntate George Nsamba for his belief in me, for his wa... more A very special thank you goes to my husband, Ntate George Nsamba for his belief in me, for his warm love, encouragement, motivation and emotional support, statistical guidance and technical document support, in this long journey. I would also like to thank our boys, Newton and Nelkon for their support and patience and for running mommy's errands. Another thank you is extended to Professor Dele Braimoh, former Director of the Institute for Open and Distance Learning (Unisa). Another thank you also goes to Dr Charles Gahima for his assistance and guidance. I would like to thank Unisa students who participated in the study. You opened my eyes. My gratitude also goes to the following people for their assistance and support:
Evaluating the quality of students' support services in distance education institutions is vital ... more Evaluating the quality of students' support services in distance education institutions is vital because by nature Open Distance Learning (ODL) is a high-involvement service industry, with multiple student support service encounters. Most quality evaluation models tend to view quality from the institutional perspective. As a result, little is known about the determinants of service quality, which distance education students can use to evaluate the support services provided by their institutions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of support services from the current users of the services. It is through students' expectations and perceptions of their experiences that we shall understand the quality of the support services needed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand distance students' perceptions and expectations of the service received. The results of the study indicated that service quality in distance education can be measured by six dimensions namely; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, delivery, assurance and student participation. Each dimension can be measured by a number of attributes. The dimensions will be useful in helping distance education institutions evaluate the quality of their support services from students' perspective; by so doing monitoring the overall performance of their services.
The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning
The University of South Africa (UNISA) is one of the distance education universities that is shif... more The University of South Africa (UNISA) is one of the distance education universities that is shifting from open distance learning (ODL) to open distance e-learning (ODeL). UNISA started as a correspondence institution in the 1950s and it has since evolved into an ODeL university. The aim of this research was to assess and determine the maturity levels of UNISA lecturers’ and tutors’ explorations of various forms of e-learning technologies to support students in an ODeL environment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 academic staff members. A hybrid approach involving inductive and deductive reasoning was used to guide the whole research process. The online course design maturity model (OCDMM) was modified and adapted in order to guide data collection, data analysis, and the interpretation of results. The results of the study indicate that the maturity levels of UNISA’s student support e-learning technologies are at the basic levels of the maturity assessment framework...
Evaluating the quality of students' support services in distance education institutions is vital ... more Evaluating the quality of students' support services in distance education institutions is vital because by nature Open Distance Learning (ODL) is a high-involvement service industry, with multiple student support service encounters. Most quality evaluation models tend to view quality from the institutional perspective. As a result, little is known about the determinants of service quality, which distance education students can use to evaluate the support services provided by their institutions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of support services from the current users of the services. It is through students' expectations and perceptions of their experiences that we shall understand the quality of the support services needed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand distance students' perceptions and expectations of the service received. The results of the study indicated that service quality in distance education can be measured by six dimensions namely; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, delivery, assurance and student participation. Each dimension can be measured by a number of attributes. The dimensions will be useful in helping distance education institutions evaluate the quality of their support services from students' perspective; by so doing monitoring the overall performance of their services.
Evaluating the quality of students' support services in distance education institutions is vital ... more Evaluating the quality of students' support services in distance education institutions is vital because by nature Open Distance Learning (ODL) is a high-involvement service industry, with multiple student support service encounters. Most quality evaluation models tend to view quality from the institutional perspective. As a result, little is known about the determinants of service quality, which distance education students can use to evaluate the support services provided by their institutions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of support services from the current users of the services. It is through students' expectations and perceptions of their experiences that we shall understand the quality of the support services needed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand distance students' perceptions and expectations of the service received. The results of the study indicated that service quality in distance education can be measured by six dimensions namely; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, delivery, assurance and student participation. Each dimension can be measured by a number of attributes. The dimensions will be useful in helping distance education institutions evaluate the quality of their support services from students' perspective; by so doing monitoring the overall performance of their services.
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