Journal of Learning for Development - JL4D
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Book Review: Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training Edited by MOHAMED ALLY
No full textMobile Learning Research: the Focus for Policy-Makers
No full textMobile learning has moved in the last decade from being a small, scattered research interest to being viewed by many international agencies as a way of delivering their humanitarian missions to the developing contexts of the global South. This paper explores and documents fundamental concepts and concerns that characterize or perhaps jeopardise the relationships between the ‘old’ research communities and ‘new’ policy maker communities working to improve the nature and scope of learning in the developing contexts of the global South using personal mobile digital technologies. As becomes apparent, these concepts and concerns are relevant and interesting across a broader range of domains, touching perhaps under-privilege and access to education and technology in both the global North and the global South, the uses of technology to extend, enhance and transform learning and the various pressures and determinants of policy-making and of the public funding of research.
MOOC Quality: the need for new measures
No full textMOOCs are re-operationalising traditional concepts in education. While they draw on elements of existing educational and learning models, they represent a new approach to instruction and learning. The challenges MOOCs present to traditional education models have important implications for approaching and assessing quality. This paper foregrounds some of the tensions surrounding notions of quality, as well as the need for new ways of thinking about and approaching quality in MOOCs
Effect of Community Factors on Primary School Learners’ Achievement in Rural Bangladesh
No full textThe community has important roles to play in child education. This research has identified the community factors that affect the learners’. The research uses case studies. Qualitative data were captured by semi-structured interviews. Data interpretation was underpinned by concepts derived from human capital and social capital theories. The research identified six factors which are: financial position, environment, educational status, communication and support given to schools, community child care, as well as unity and cooperation among community people which affect learner’s achievement (i.e. Quality of Education). The research also suggests that the notion of “rural community roles” would tend to be thought of as “doing something for the children”. There is also an ecological balance in the relations between the community and school. The research suggests that the human capital and social capital of the community and children reinforce each other in a reproductive loop. That means the human and social capital of family and community play a role in the creation of the human and social capitals of the children (quality education), and vice-versa. These observations on education quality add a new horizon to the knowledge base of primary education, and one that may contribute to policy-making and facilitate further research.
Quality Assurance in Asian Open and Distance Learning: Policies and Implementation
No full textOpen universities have emerged as an innovative pillar in the expansion of access to higher education participation, with single-mode distance education providers broadening access in many countries through economies of scale supported by large enrolments. These models raise questions about the quality of education provided. This paper reports on a comparative case study of quality assurance (QA) programs in distance education at three open universities in Southeast Asia. Focusing on QA development and implementation in learner support services, the study explored QA policies, supporting management practices and structures, and the influence of internal and external environmental factors, as identified through thematic analysis of data from semi-structured interviews and policy documents. The results showed many similarities in QA for learner support at the three institutions. Their learner support services were determined to be responsive to government and external quality agencies, external cultural and language factors, and student feedback.Editorial Note: Anak Bangsa Open University (ABOU) is a pseudonym used for another university, and there is no ABOU as such. All references are to actual documents and processes of the said university, but readers may not find the documents cited under ABOU in the references
Developing and Piloting Interactive Physics Experiments for Secondary Schools in Tanzania
No full textStudents in secondary schools in Tanzania have been facing difficulties in conducting laboratory experiments. This has been due to acute shortage of laboratory facilities and poor teaching methodologies. Consequently, students perceive science subjects as not attractive, difficult and irrelevant to understand the world around them. An interactive physics experiment was developed and piloted in two schools with 157 students to investigate whether interactive experiments can be used as an alternative to physical experiments. Results show that students found the interactive experiment was easier and efficient, and therefore can be used as an alternative to physical experiments
Dron, Jon and Terry Anderson (2014). Teaching Crowds - Learning and Social Media, Edmonton: AU Press
No full textA Social Partnership Model to promote Educators’ Development in Mauritius through Formal and Informal Capacity-building Initiatives
No full textThe organization Helping Our People has been setup in 2011 by a team of education professionals working at the Virtual Centre for Innovative Technologies (VCILT) at the University of Mauritius. In 2009, the VCILT embarked on the SIDECAP project, funded by the EU-ACP in a consortium regrouping the Open University of the UK, the University of the West Indies, the University of the South Pacific and the University of the Highlands and Islands. The work of the VCILT in the context of the SIDECAP project was essentially focused on the repurposing of Open Educational Resources to fit in the local Mauritian Context. At the same time, the VCILT received an internal grant to work on the development of interactive learning materials using the integration of text-to-speech technology in instructionally designed PowerPoint presentations. In this paper we report how the research activities of the two projects led to a series of development and applications in the real-world context for the continuous professional development of educators, the establishment of a social entity, an NGO called Helping Our People, a partnership with Microsoft Indian Ocean and French Pacific under the Partners in Learning Program and the Youth Empowerment Program to alleviate the suffering of those living in vulnerable conditions in the country
Bridging the Gap between Community and Cardiologists
No full textCardiovascular diseases are an emerging cause of morbidity and mortality in India. India produces less than 150 cardiologists annually leading to a gap between the need and availability of trained professionals. Three years cardiology training programme is available for post graduate doctors in conventional medical education system. Majority of the people living in rural/small town/district town of the country do not have any access to cardiac care because trained cardiologists are mostly concentrated in the metro or capital cities. To address this issue Indira Gandhi National Open University has designed and developed a two-year full time training programme in the area of non-invasive cardiology named Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Cardiology for medical graduates which is being offered through the open and distance learning mode. The objective of the programme is to train large number of medical graduates effectively to enable early recognition, management and prevention of common cardiovascular diseases. Learners have been given opportunity to train in different departments and posted in various areas like management of common cardiovascular diseases (6 months), ECG and Stress Testing (3 months), Echocardiography (3 months), ICU/CCU management (6 months), Paediatrics Cardiology (3 months), preventive cardiology (3 months) in this programme. Self learning materials, 33 video programmes (1260 minutes) and monthly live interactive teleconference (90 minutes) has been incorporated in this programme. Beside these, 50 theory counselling sessions, 25 guest lectures, seminars, journal club and case discussion has been taken care in every training center. Hands on skills training is provided to every learner as prescribed in this programme. The 72 credits programme is divided into 7 theory and 6 practical courses. Students need to pass in each course independently both in internal examination and term end examination. Minimum teacher-student ratio has been maintained strictly in both training and term end practical examination. The top most cardiac institutes/hospitals across the country have been identified as training centers as per the norms of the University. This programme has begun with 116 students in 16 training centers in 2006. 443 students have been enrolled in 67 training centres in 2013. More than 320 cardiologists are involved as academic counselors in this training programme. A total 1006 candidates have successfully completed their training and a many of them are providing services in small or district town of the country
The Nexus between Stakeholder Engagement and Instructional Quality: The Case of The UWI Open Campus’s Awareness and Professional Development Towards a Quality Support Framework
No full textAbstract:With changes in the global economic landscape, universities are employing adjunct staff to instruct their online courses in new and expanding programs. Concomitantly, the growth of information and communication technology worldwide has facilitated the creation of classrooms without walls and universities without borders. The challenge for institutions is to create that nexus between programme quality and instructor engagement, especially where the instructors are just adjunct members of the staff. The University of the West Indies (UWI), through its virtual Open Campus (OC), has aligned its strategic objective of excellence to “…provide multiple, flexible paths for all constituencies to pursue tertiary education over their lifetime[i]” with the development of a framework that provides support for adjunct faculty members who are often “new to online”.This article is predicated on a quality framework established within the UWIOC at the start of the academic year 2012/13. It draws on the processes used with online educators while the university restructured its quality assurance (QA) procedures. I will discuss how a quality framework might affect instructional practices in distance education while broadening the understanding of what it means to facilitate focused student engagement. Data for the study will be generated through multiple methods: ethnographic observations; focus group interviews and document and artefact collection – reports on the use of two monitoring instruments. I will analyse key components of the OC quality structure; quality context issues and their contribution to success; and essential principles for ongoing assessment and planning to maintain the cycle.The discourse examines the possible effects of the changes, if any, through a practice-oriented perspective on quality amidst changes occurring within the UWI’s virtual campus. it also contemplates on how the process of increased monitoring and accountability works towards quality improvement. Key findings are presented with graphic and narrative arrangements supported by literature in the area of institutional quality.[i] UWI, Strategic Plan, 201