scholarly journals Blended Learning and the Global South Virtual Exchanges in Higher Education

Author(s):  
Giovanna Carloni ◽  
Christopher Fotheringham ◽  
Anita Virga ◽  
Brian Zuccala

This volume collects a series of theoretical and practical interventions in the area of blended learning globally. It aims to present pedagogues working in higher education contexts in the developing world with models of successful blended learning initiatives designed and implemented by committed educators working with student bodies characterised by unequal access to technology and connectivity. The twelve individual chapters of this volume are an invaluable practical resource for educators but when taken as a whole the collection provides a counter to commonplace beliefs about blended learning originating within the institutions of wealthy countries. It offers theoretical, material and socially grounded currents for thinking about the place of blended learning in the Global South and is a work of resistance to pedagogical epistemologies with ‘first world’ and neoliberal biases.

Urbani izziv ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol Supplement (30) ◽  
pp. 158-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustav Visser ◽  
Dene Kisting

Globally, studentification has emerged as a prominent urban process, fast becoming entrenched in geographical discourse. Since the early 1990s, in both developed and developing world countries, an expansion in student enrolment has outstripped the ability of higher education institutions to provide adequate accommodation. These trends have been noted in South Africa too. The extent and impact of studentification on the urban geography of those places in which it has taken root is still poorly understood in both South Africa and the global South at large. This paper investigates studentification as experienced in one of South Africa’s secondary cities – Stellenbosch. An overview of generic studentification impacts is provided and the development of this process tracked. Thereafter, the motivation for living in these developments and the impacts of this process comes into view. It is argued that the areas affected by studentification have fundamentally changed in their physical and social character. Interestingly, a range of findings in the academic record were not present in the Stellenbosch context. Finally, it is suggested that studentification in South Africa requires greater research attention in a range of other urban settings in which this process has emerged. This is particularly urgent as it would appear that studentification can radically and very rapidly transform the geography of the areas in which it takes hold.


Author(s):  
R J Singh

This article reports on the use of blended learning in higher education. Blended learning has become popular in higher education in recent years. It is a move beyond traditional lecturing to incorporate face-to-face learning with e-learning, thereby creating a blend of learning experiences. The problem is that learning in higher education is complex and learning situations differ across contexts. Whilst there is face-to-face contact at some institutions, others offer distance learning or correspondence learning. In each context, the mode of learning may differ. The challenge is to cater for various learning opportunities through a series of learning interactions and to incorporate a blended approach. The aim of this study was to examine various ways of defining blended learning in different contexts. This was done through an examination of experiences of the use of blended learning in different higher education contexts. The study presents a case of blended learning in a postgraduate course. The experiences from all these cases are summarised and conclusions and recommendations are made in the context of blended learning in higher education in South Africa.


Author(s):  
Azizov Solijon Uchmas o’g’li

The quality and content are constantly increasing their relevance in the conditions of modern education. If quality can be understood as means and educational materials which are used in the process, the content is a sign of the diversity of these materials and a factor which takes into account the age, abilities and chances of learners. Taking into account these two important factors, the theoretical and practical bases of combining modern information technologies in improving the quality and content of the system of blended learning at philological higher education institutions of specialized in teaching English are described in detail. In addition, the paths and stages of creating a specific system that runs continuously, combining the effective and reasonable functions of social networking services (SNS) and messengers in consolidating the quality and content indicators of blended learning, are gradually illustrated. Besides that, by combining online educational materials with traditional place-based classroom methods at philological higher education institutions which are specialized in teaching English based on the approach of blended learning, the system of fostering students’ linguistic skills, such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking can be optimized and modernized according to the results of this research in the article.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Bernard ◽  
Eugene Borokhovski ◽  
Richard F. Schmid ◽  
Rana M. Tamim ◽  
Philip C. Abrami

Author(s):  
Roxana Stefanescu ◽  
◽  
Mariana Iatagan ◽  
Cristian Uta

The management of teaching is connected and could be increased by using a wide range of different methods especially when we refer to Online and Blended learning. In the first part, the paper is aiming at reviewing the literature regarding the concepts and benefits of Online and Blended learning. Based on this considerations, 8 partner universities from 8 countries jointly developed the Project “Modern competences of academic teachers – the key to modern Higher Education Institutions (HEI)” – Acronym MOCAT. The paper underlines the goals and achievements of the MOCAT project that proposes a conceptual process to increase the management performance in teaching. The paper shows in an organized manner the main deficiencies that are altering the teaching competencies of academic teachers and in connection with this, the project offers solutions to improve the methodological competency of the teachers regarding the development and use of modern approaches. The outcomes of the project consist in the development and implementation of a Multicultural Model of an Academic Teacher Competencies and in 10 online courses that represent modern training materials in the field of teaching methodology. In the end are exposed the way the results of the project can be evaluated in time as well as the anticipated effects of the project implementation.


Author(s):  
Hanlie Liebenberg ◽  
Yuraisha Chetty ◽  
Paul Prinsloo

<p>Amidst the different challenges facing higher education, and particularly distance education (DE) and open distance learning (ODL), access to information and communication technology (ICT) and students’ abilities to use ICTs are highly contested issues in the South African higher education landscape. While there are various opinions about the scope and definition of the digital divide, increasing empirical evidence questions the uncritical use of the notion of the digital divide in South African and international higher education discourses.</p><p>In the context of the University of South Africa (Unisa) as a mega ODL institution, students’ access to technology and their functional competence are some of the critical issues to consider as Unisa prepares our graduates for an increasingly digital and networked world.</p><p>This paper discusses a descriptive study that investigated students’ access to technology and their capabilities in using technology, within the broader discourse of the “digital divide.” Results support literature that challenges a simplistic understanding of the notion of the “digital divide” and reveal that the nature of access is varied.</p>


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