scholarly journals New Ways of Mediating Learning: Investigating the implications of adopting open educational resources for tertiary education at an institution in the United Kingdom as compared to one in South Africa

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Wilson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Open University ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Entry Requirements

Access to education is not freely available to all. Open Educational Resources (OERs) have the potential to change the playing field in terms of an individual’s right to education. The Open University in the United Kingdom was founded almost forty years ago on the principle of ‘open’ access with no entry requirements necessary. The University develops innovative high quality multiple media distance-learning courses. In a new venture called OpenLearn, The Open University is making its course materials freely available worldwide on the Web as OERs ( see http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn). How might other institutions make use of these distance-learning materials? The paper starts by discussing the different contexts wherein two institutions operate and the inequalities that exist between them. One institution is a university based in South Africa and the other is a college located in the United Kingdom. Both institutions, however, deliver distance-learning courses. The second part of the paper discusses preliminary findings when OERs are considered for tertiary education at these two institutions. The findings emphasise some of the opportunities and challenges that exist if these two institutions adopt OERs.

The voice of students from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-146
Author(s):  
Joan Simons ◽  
Silice Patrice Belton
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
White Students ◽  
Large Distance ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Open University ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Minority Ethnic

The Open University is a large, distance-learning university, serving all four nations of the United Kingdom (UK) and provides education for most of its students through open entry, meaning that no prior qualifications are necessary. At the OU, we have a low percentage of students who come from a black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) background, ranging from 4% to 13% depending on their programme of study. However, due to the high student population at the Open University, that low percentage amounts to thousands of students. We were keen to hear from our BAME students, as we are aware of a challenging awarding gap between these students and white students. We ran three focus groups with a total of ten students from a BAME background, and asked about issues such as being valued, inclusion, a sense of belonging and feeling represented. This was the first time that BAME students had been asked about their views in this way. We found that although there were positive insights, students were uncomfortable engaging in forums, lacked a sense of belonging and did not feel represented in the curriculum. By encouraging these students to give voice to their concerns, we heard, for the first time, some of the issues they are dealing with that need to be addressed.

scholarly journals RIC in COVID-19—a Clinical Trial to Investigate Whether Remote Ischemic Conditioning (RIC) Can Prevent Deterioration to Critical Care in Patients with COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean M. Davidson ◽  
Kishal Lukhna ◽  
Diana A. Gorog ◽  
Alan D. Salama ◽  
Alejandro Rosell Castillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Inflammatory Cytokines ◽  
In Vitro Cytotoxicity ◽  
Cytokine Storm ◽  
Remote Ischemic Conditioning ◽  
Ischemic Conditioning ◽  
The United Kingdom

Abstract Purpose Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has, to date, been diagnosed in over 130 million persons worldwide and is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Several variants of concern have emerged including those in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil. SARS-CoV-2 can cause a dysregulated inflammatory response known as a cytokine storm, which can progress rapidly to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, and death. Suppressing these cytokine elevations may be key to improving outcomes. Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is a simple, non-invasive procedure whereby a blood pressure cuff is inflated and deflated on the upper arm for several cycles. “RIC in COVID-19” is a pilot, multi-center, randomized clinical trial, designed to ascertain whether RIC suppresses inflammatory cytokine production. Methods A minimum of 55 adult patients with diagnosed COVID-19, but not of critical status, will be enrolled from centers in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa. RIC will be administered daily for up to 15 days. The primary outcome is the level of inflammatory cytokines that are involved in the cytokine storm that can occur following SARS-CoV-2 infection. The secondary endpoint is the time between admission and until intensive care admission or death. The in vitro cytotoxicity of patient blood will also be assessed using primary human cardiac endothelial cells. Conclusions The results of this pilot study will provide initial evidence on the ability of RIC to suppress the production of inflammatory cytokines in the setting of COVID-19. Trial Registration NCT04699227, registered January 7th, 2021.

scholarly journals A cross-sectional survey assessing the influence of theoretically informed behavioural factors on hand hygiene across seven countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Schmidtke ◽  
K. G. Drinkwater
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Hand Hygiene ◽  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Surface Cleaning ◽  
Behaviour Change Techniques ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Surface Areas ◽  
The United Kingdom

Abstract Background Human hygiene behaviours influence the transmission of infectious diseases. Changing maladaptive hygiene habits has the potential to improve public health. Parents and teachers can play an important role in disinfecting surface areas and in helping children develop healthful handwashing habits. The current study aims to inform a future intervention that will help parents and teachers take up this role using a theoretically and empirically informed behaviour change model called the Capabilities-Opportunities-Motivations-Behaviour (COM-B) model. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was designed to measure participants’ capabilities, opportunities, and motivations to [1] increase their children’s handwashing with soap and [2] increase their cleaning of surface areas. Additional items captured how often participants believed their children washed their hands. The final survey was administered early in the coronavirus pandemic (May and June 2020) to 3975 participants from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Participants self-identified as mums, dads, or teachers of children 5 to 10 years old. ANOVAs analyses were used to compare participant capabilities, opportunities, and motivations across countries for handwashing and surface disinfecting. Multiple regressions analyses were conducted for each country to assess the predictive relationship between the COM-B components and children’s handwashing. Results The ANOVA analyses revealed that India had the lowest levels of capability, opportunity, and motivation, for both hand hygiene and surface cleaning. The regression analyses revealed that for Australia, Indonesia, and South Africa, the capability component was the only significant predictor of children’s handwashing. For India, capability and opportunity were significant. For the United Kingdom, capability and motivation were significant. Lastly, for Saudi Arabia all components were significant. Conclusions The discussion explores how the Behaviour Change Wheel methodology could be used to guide further intervention development with community stakeholders in each country. Of the countries assessed, India offers the greatest room for improvement, and behaviour change techniques that influence people’s capability and opportunities should be prioritised there.

The global effectiveness of fact-checking: Evidence from simultaneous experiments in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (37) ◽  
pp. e2104235118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Porter ◽  
Thomas J. Wood
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
Point Scale ◽  
Analytic Procedure ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
Checking Experiments

The spread of misinformation is a global phenomenon, with implications for elections, state-sanctioned violence, and health outcomes. Yet, even though scholars have investigated the capacity of fact-checking to reduce belief in misinformation, little evidence exists on the global effectiveness of this approach. We describe fact-checking experiments conducted simultaneously in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, in which we studied whether fact-checking can durably reduce belief in misinformation. In total, we evaluated 22 fact-checks, including two that were tested in all four countries. Fact-checking reduced belief in misinformation, with most effects still apparent more than 2 wk later. A meta-analytic procedure indicates that fact-checks reduced belief in misinformation by at least 0.59 points on a 5-point scale. Exposure to misinformation, however, only increased false beliefs by less than 0.07 points on the same scale. Across continents, fact-checks reduce belief in misinformation, often durably so.

scholarly journals The Hybridisation of Conventional Higher Education: UK Perspective

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Open Learning ◽  
Tertiary Sector ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Radical Approach

Before the creation of the United Kingdom Open University (UKOU) - its Charter was given in 1969 and the first students were admitted in 1971 - the full-time residential model of higher education was pervasive, with part-time and distance modes of study seen as separate and inferior. The UKOU demonstrated the effectiveness of distance learning but also, because of its success, in some ways inhibited change in the mainstream tertiary sector. As social and political pressures on the sector grew, higher education providers were forced to innovate and models of “open learning” offered ways forward. As a result, the distinction between “distance” and “face-to-face” delivery rapidly eroded during the 1990s. However, barriers still remain to a more radical approach to provision as a whole.

scholarly journals Distance education in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Kingdom: A comparative study: التعليم عن بعد في المملكة العربية السعودية والمملكة المتحدة: دراسة مقارنة

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (29) ◽  
pp. 128-143
Author(s):  
Mohammed Noah Alkhiri, Talal Aqeel Alkhiri Mohammed Noah Alkhiri, Talal Aqeel Alkhiri
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
International Data ◽  
Shed Light

This paper aims to shed light on distance education in the United Kingdom and comparing it to distance education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the extent of its use in improving the processes of distance learning and education, and ways to overcome the problems facing distance education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study relied on reports and analysis of international data conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Among the most important findings of the study: It is possible to benefit from the experience of the United Kingdom in distance learning, and there are significant differences in distance learning between the two countries, and there are few similarities. Among the most important recommendations of the study: To benefit from the experiences of British universities and institutions in distance education, and to simulate the platforms and applications used in distance education in the United Kingdom and how to benefit from them, and to benefit from the experience of the United Kingdom in responding to economic growth and bridging the digital divide by using the Internet in schools to teach academic subjects.

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