Journal of Learning for Development - JL4D
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Open Education and the Sustainable Development Goals: Making Change Happen
No full textEducation for All has been a concept at the heart of international development since 1990 and has found its latest instantiation within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as SDG 4, ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’. Open education, in the form of resources and practices are both seen as contributors to SDG4 as evidenced by the recent 2nd World Open Educational Resources Congress. The ambition for open education to contribute to the SDGs is clear from this and other gatherings but the means to make it happen are not as clear, and many have claimed that little has happened since the SDGs were launched in 2015. To help address this apparent gap, this paper: (1) sets out the scale and scope of the SDGs; (2) reviews the potential contribution of open educational resources and practices to support the SDGs, and (3) uses a framing of power and systems thinking to review the way open education activities might be fostered within tertiary education in all local, national and regional contexts in order to support the SDGs, and not just SDG 4. It will also tentatively propose a theory of change that brings together power relationships, systems thinking and open education as key components and provide a case study of how this might work in practice through a newly funded project proposal. It is hoped that this theory of change and proposal will be a starting point for wider debate and discussion on how to make change happen in this important arena
Mediated Authentic Video: A Flexible Tool Supporting a Developmental Approach to Teacher Education
No full textYou Tube now has more searches than Google, indicating that video is a motivating and, potentially, powerful learning tool. This paper investigates how we can embrace video to support improvements in teacher education. It will draw on innovative approaches to teacher education, developed by the Open University UK, in order to explore in more depth the potential of video. It will use case studies from three continents, and draw on research from different sources, in order to highlight the successes and the challenges. Looking across the examples presented, the paper will describe models of teacher learning and video use, and demonstrate that video can add value to teacher development activities provided that appropriate support and mediation, consistent with the pedagogy that is being promoted, is in place. Sustainable Development Goal 4 emphasizes the importance of improving the quality of the experiences that children have in school. This requires new models for teacher education, and has become an urgent issue. Video could be a significant part of the solution
Editorial: Open and Distance Learning for Development: how can new technologies and distance education leaders make an impact?
No full textBuilding an Efficient and Effective Test Management System in an ODL Institution
No full textOpen University Malaysia (OUM) is progressively moving towards implementing assessment on demand and online assessment. This move is deemed necessary for OUM to continue to be the leading provider of flexible learning. OUM serves a very large number of students each semester and these students are vastly distributed throughout the country. As the number of learners keeps growing, the task of managing and administering examinations every semester has become increasingly laborious, time consuming and costly. In trying to deal with this situation and improve the assessment processes, OUM has embarked on the development and employment of a test management system. This test management system is named OUM QBank. The initial objectives of QBank development were aimed at enabling the systematic classification and storage of test items, as well as the auto-generation of test papers based on the required criteria. However, it was later agreed that the QBank should be a more comprehensive test management system that manages not just all assessment items but also includes the features to facilitate quality control and flexibility of use. These include the functionality to perform item analyses and also online examination. This paper identifies the key elements and the important theoretical basis in ensuring the design and development of an effective and efficient system
MOOCifying Courses: Delivery of a MOOC to Enhance University Course Activities
No full textSince 2012 MOOCs have been heralded as a new way of learning outside of formal university programs of study and there has been much speculation regarding their impact. While MOOCs have provided millions of global learners with access to courses, they failed to deliver the types of learning experiences and completion requirements that were hoped for. One potential iteration of MOOCs might be to blend them with existing courses offered in universities supporting links and connections between study and the outside world. This MOOCification of full-fee courses may provide another next step in the delivery of real and authentic learning. Using an empirical case study design, this project explored the MOOCification of an undergraduate preservice education course at an Australian university. The study presents evidence that blending MOOCs with classroom-based or online learning does provide higher education learners with personalized active learning opportunities. Further research on scaffolded support enabling learners to capitalize on additional aspects of networked learning in MOOCs is needed
Mobile learning: readiness and perceptions of teachers of Open Universities of Commonwealth Asia
No full textIntegration of ‘Mobile Learning’ (m-learning) in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system can play a crucial role in reducing the ‘Digital Divide’ and strengthening ‘Democratization of Education’ by providing quality educational opportunities and access to information quickly at affordable cost in Commonwealth Asian countries. Successful implementation of m-learning will be determined by readiness and positive perception of the teachers towards it. This study examined the m-learning readiness and perception of the teachers of eighteen Open Universities spread across five Commonwealth Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). The analysis of responses obtained from 102 teachers indicates that they have device and skill readiness to impart m-learning. The study also revealed the presence of positive perception for m-learning among them. They affirmed that m-learning has the potential to engage the learner to a greater extent. It enhances the collaboration and didactic conversation, thereby reducing the feeling of isolation for learners in ODL system. However teachers were still not sure, if m-learning can replace e-learning through conventional devices
MOOC Adaptation and Translation to Improve Equity in Participation
No full textThere is an urgent need to improve elementary and secondary school classroom practices across India and the scale of this challenge is argued to demand new approaches to teacher professional learning. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) represent one such approach and one that, in the context of this study, is considered to provide a means by which to transcend traditional training processes and disrupt conventional pedagogic practices. This paper offers a critical review of a large-scale MOOC deployed in English, and then in Hindi, to support targeted sustainable capacity building within an education development initiative (TESS-India) across seven states in India. The study draws on multiple sources of participant data to identify and examine features, which stimulated a buzz around the MOOCs, leading to over 40,000 registrations and a completion rate of approximately 50% for each of the two MOOCs