scholarly journals Bridging the Distance in Distance E-Learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-49
Author(s):  
Gatitu Kiguru ◽  
Phyllis Mwangi ◽  
Purity Nthiga

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organisations now categorize the provision of education in emergencies as a humanitarian response to disaster. However, the very nature of an emergency situation makes the provision of education a daunting task. When entire populations are displaced and forced to live in camps as refugees in a host country, they are unlikely to have access to the physical infrastructure and other resources required for education, especially higher education. An innovative way of availing higher education opportunities to refugee populations is through distance education programmes, particularly those delivered through online e-learning platforms. As universities continue to embrace the role of humanitarian actors, they are increasingly recognizing that distance education programmes, more so e-learning ones, have the potential of reaching a wider population of refugees, enabling them access to education without requiring institutions to have a physical presence in a refugee camp. The actualization of this potential in a refugee camp setting, however, is not without challenges. Drawing on experiences from facilitating and managing a joint online certificate course targeted at refugees living in the Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya, this paper seeks to show that the challenges, ranging from physical distance to lack of computer skills, are doubly pronounced in refugee settings. Further, the paper highlights the innovative solutions that were used to mitigate the said challenges and shows how they can be adopted when designing distance e-learning programmes for both emergency and non-emergency situations in Africa.

Author(s):  
Uğur Demiray ◽  
Gülay Ekren

This chapter intends to determine the existing status of distance education at higher education level in Turkey. Recently, there are various institutions in Turkey which provide distance education such as distance education research and application centers, information departments, continuing education centers, head of IT departments etc. However, little is known about their administrative related structuring. This chapter provides a qualitative research which aims to answer following issues: (1) to determine the existing distance learning programs and compulsory joint courses being provided in distance mode, (2) to identify varying titles given to the institutions or units which provide compulsory joint courses or programs in higher education, (3) to determine the LMSs used to provide distance education, (4) to determine e-learning activities in distance education institutions, (5) to identify the roles of administrative staff in distance education institutions.


Author(s):  
Lina Morgado ◽  
Angelina Costa

Resumo: O ensino superior vive complexos momentos de mudança à escala mundial. O desenvolvimento exponencial das tecnologias e, consequentemente, da educação a distância e do elearning, os novos públicos que têm acesso a este nível de ensino, o facto de ser, pela sua natureza, um espaço de inovação na relação e construção do conhecimento, os desenvolvimentos científicos, concretamente na área da educação e das tecnologias, são fatores que têm feito emergir necessidades de análise, de avaliação e de reflexão da produção científica, tornando-as tarefas substanciais da comunidade académica. Com este artigo pretende-se esboçar alguns cenários de futuro na educação a distância e elearning, no ensino superior, olhando para a situação de Portugal no contexto europeu. Foram definidos três momentos de investigação. Num primeiro momento, pretende-se delinear o estado da arte da investigação sobre educação a distância e elearning, no ensino superior, mas ir para além dele, num segundo momento, convocando a discussão e a reflexão dos protagonistas no processo. Num terceiro momento, pretende-se confrontar as perspetivas nacionais com as perspetivas de especialistas europeus neste domínio. Os resultados que agora se apresentam constituem ainda um trabalho em progresso e por isso com resultados preliminares e parciais da primeira fase de investigação.Palavras-chave: educação a distância, elearning, ensino superior, investigação, gestão, inovação Abstract: Higher education experiments complex moments of change to a worldwide extent. With the exponential development of technology and, therefore, the distance education and learning, where a new public has access to this level of education. Other factors like being, by its nature, a space for innovation in the relationship and construction of knowledge, scientific developments, particularly in education and technology, contribute to emerging needs analysis, evaluation and reflection of the scientific production, making it the substantial tasks of the academic community. This study aims to outline scenarios of future in distance education and e-learning, in higher education, looking at Portugal's position in the European context. It has been defined three stages of the investigation. Initially, it is intended to outline the state of the art of research on distance education and e-learning, in higher education, but go beyond, in a second moment, summoning discussion and reflection of the protagonists in the process. Thirdly, the prospects of national and European perspectives of specialists in this field will be faced up. Still, in the research process, we present here the global design of the study and preliminary and partial results of phase one of the research.Keywords: distance education, e-learning, higher education, research projects, management, innovation Resumen: La enseñanza superior vive complejos momentos de cambio a escala mundial. El desarrollo exponencial de las tecnologías y, por consiguiente, de la educación a distancia y del elearning, los nuevos públicos que tienen acceso a este nivel de enseñanza, el hecho de ser, por su naturaleza, un espacio de innovación en la relación y la construcción del conocimiento, los desarrollos científicos, concretamente en el ámbito de la educación y de las tecnologías, son factores que han hecho emerger necesidades de análisis, de evaluación y de reflexión de la producción científica, haciéndolas tareas sustanciales de la comunidad académica. Con este artículo se pretende esbozar algunos escenarios de futuro en la educación a distancia y e-learning en la educación superior, mirando la situación de Portugal en el contexto europeo. Se definieron tres momentos de investigación. En un primer momento, se pretende delinear el estado del arte de la investigación sobre educación a distancia y elearning, en la enseñanza superior, pero ir más allá de él, en un segundo momento, convocando la discusión y la reflexión de los protagonistas en el proceso. En un tercer momento, se pretende confrontar las perspectivas nacionales con las perspectivas de expertos europeos en este ámbito. Los resultados que ahora se presentan constituyen todavía un trabajo en progreso y por ello con resultados preliminares y parciales de la primera fase de investigación.Palabras-clave: educación a distancia, elearning, enseñanza superior, investigación, gestión, innovación


EAD em FOCO ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Eduardo Bielschowsky

O Estado do Rio de Janeiro, juntamente com as universidades públicas (federais e estaduais) sediadas neste estado, iniciou no período 1999-2000 a construção do consórcio Cederj. Neste artigo são apresentados alguns aspectos importantes que influenciaram decisivamente no planejamento inicial desse projeto, tais como o contexto histórico da Educação a Distância no Brasil e em outros países, a situação do ensino superior no Brasil à época, mostrando que a metodologia de Educação a Distância passava por uma transição entre instituições tradicionais? e instituições que iniciavam oferta de cursos com e-learning sob influência das novas tecnologias. É também descrito o desenho acadêmico do projeto inicial, com a distribuição de oferta de cursos semipresenciais no ensino superior nas instituições públicas e os resultados da implementação dos primeiros cursos, que geraram grandes desafios para a continuidade do projeto, considerado um dos casos mais bem-sucedidos dos dias atuais.Palavras-chave: Consórcio Cederj, Fundação Cecierj, História da EaD no Brasil, Darcy Ribeiro, e-learning, Ensino superior, Educação pública. Cederj Consortium: The History of Project ConstructionAbstractThe State of Rio de Janeiro, together with the public universities (federal and state ones) in this referred state, began in 1999-2000 the construction of the Cederj consortium. This article presents some important aspects that influenced decisively the initial planning of this project, such as the historical context of Distance Education in Brazil and in other countries, the situation of higher education in Brazil at the time, showing that the methodology of Distance Education went through a transition between "traditional" institutions and institutions that started offering e-learning courses under the influence of new technologies. It is also described the academic design of the initial project, with the distribution of the offer of blended courses in higher education in public institutions and the results of the implementation of the first courses, which generated great challenges for the continuity of the project, considered one of the most well case nowadays.Palavras-chave: Cederj consortium, Cecierj Foundation, History of EaD in Brazil, Darcy Ribeiro, e-learning, Higher education, Public education.


REVISTA PLURI ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 293
Author(s):  
Katia Maria Rocha de Lima

O objetivo desta investigação é estruturar um modelo que avalie a efetividade das estratégias de ensino (tradicional, online e hibrido) utilizadas para o desenvolvimento das competências dos estudantes de graduação em administração, observando o perfil do estudante e o estilo de aprendizagem. A aprendizagem online, baseada no e-learning, tem desempenhado um papel fundamental no ensino e aprendizagem, que se torna cada vez mais popular não apenas em diferentes níveis escolares, mas também em várias instituições de educação superior em todo o mundo (Nedungadi & Raman, 2012). Nesse contexto, a educação a distância emerge como uma oportunidade que pode ampliar as possibilidades de aprendizagem do estudante, implementando ensino totalmente a distância ou no modelo híbrido.Palavras-Chave: Modelos de aprendizagem, e-learning, tradicional, on-line, híbrido.Abstract:The objective of this research is to structure a model that evaluates the effectiveness of teaching strategies (traditional, online and hybrid) used for the development of Administration course undergraduate students’ skills, observing student’s profile and his/her learning style. Online learning, based on e-learning, has played a key role in teaching and learning, which is becoming increasingly popular not only at different levels of education but also in several higher education institutions around the world (Nedungadi & Raman, 2012). In this context, distance education emerges as an opportunity that can broaden students’ learning possibilities, implementing distance education or the hybrid model.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Huu Cuong ◽  
Le My Phong

Distance and online education are popular training modes in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and open education. Accreditation is one of the approaches that many countries across the world have implemented to assure the quality of higher education, including distance learning programs. This study investigates the rationale and future directions for quality assurance and accreditation of distance education programs in Vietnam. First, the paper presents concepts of distance education, and quality assurance and accreditation of distance education. Second, the research reviews experiences of implementing quality assurance and accreditation for distance education from several countries in the world. Next, the paper analyses the rationale for conducting accreditation of distance education programs in our country. Finally, the study proposes three groups of recommendations for the national quality assurance organization, accreditation agencies and higher education institutions to be able to implement the quality assurance and accreditation of distance education in Vietnam successfully. Keywords Quality assurance; Accreditation; Distance education; Online learning; Higher education References [1] UNESCO, Distance education in Asia and the Pacific: country papers, Volume III (Singapore - Vietnam), 2009. www.unesco.org/education/pdf/53-23c.pdf.[2] UNESCO, Open and distance learning: trends, policy and strategy considerations, 2002. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001284/128463e.pdf.[3] Owusu-Boampong, A. & Holmberg, C., Distance education in European higher education – the potential, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, International Council for Open and Distance Education and Study Portals B.V, 2015.[4] Australian University, Distance learning Australia, 2018. http://www.australianuniversities.com.au/distance-learning/.[5] Darojat, O., Nilson, M. & Kaufman, D., Quality assurance in Asian open and distance learning: policies and implementation, Journal of Learning for Development, Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015) 1. [6] Jung, I. & Latchem, C., Quality assurance and accreditation in distance education and e-learning: models, policies and research, Routledge, London, 2012.[7] Wang, Qi., Quality assurance - best practices for assessing online programs, International Journal on Elearning, Vol. 5, No. 2 (2006) 265. [8] Friedman, J., 10 facts about accreditation in online degree programs, U.S.News & World Report, February 9, 2017. https://www.usnews.com.[9] U.S. Department of Education., Accrediting agencies recognized for distance education and correspondence education, 2018. https://www2.ed.gov. [10] The Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-learning (ACODE), Benchmarks for technology enhanced learning, ACODE, Canberra, 2014.[11] Bollaert, L., NVAO’s accreditation of online education in a nutshell, 2015. https://www.nvao.net.[12] Henderikx, P. & Ubachs, G., Quality assurance and accreditation of online and distance higher education, 2017. https://www.unic.ac.cy.[13] Stella A. & Gnanam, A., Quality assurance in distance education: The challenges to be addressed, Higher Education, Vol. 47, No. 2 (2004) 143.[14] Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA), Code of practices for open and distance learning, MQA, Kuala Lumpur, 2013.[15] COL, DEMP & UNESCO, Quality assurance toolkit for distance higher education institutions and programmes, COL, Vancouver, 2009.[16] Vietnamnet, Mở đào tạo từ xa sẽ không cần cấp phép, 2017. http://vietnamnet.vn. [17] Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), Quality assurance of online learning: discussion paper, TEQSA, Melbourne, 2017. [18] Nhân dân Điện tử, Phát triển đào tạo từ xa đúng hướng, 2017. http://www.nhandan.com.vn.[19] Nguyễn Hữu Cương, Một số kết quả đạt được của kiểm định chất lượng giáo dục đại học Việt Nam và hướng triển khai trong tương lai, Tạp chí Quản lý giáo dục, Tập 9 Số 8 (2017) 7.[20] Cục QLCL - Bộ GD-ĐT, Danh sách các CSGD đại học; các trường cao đẳng, trung cấp sư phạm, đã hoàn thành báo cáo tự đánh giá, được kiểm định, 2018 (dữ liệu cập nhật đến ngày 31/8/2018).[21] Cục QLCL - Bộ GD-ĐT, Danh sách các chương trình đào tạo được đánh giá/công nhận, 2018 (dữ liệu cập nhật đến ngày 31/8/2018).


2011 ◽  
pp. 654-663
Author(s):  
Som Naidu

The number of distance education and e-learning programs has been on the rise for some time now (Hannan & Silver, 2000). In the United States, the National Survey of Information Technology in Higher Education, as part of its Campus Computing Project, carries out regular surveys of the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in higher education (USA-DOE, 2000).


Author(s):  
Carlos R. Rojas-Garcia ◽  
Arturo Ruiz-Luna

The obligation for students to stay at home and take distance education due to the quarantine has turned virtual learning or e-learning into the most promising tool for safe teaching. Distance education appears to be the answer for the democratization of higher education in Latin America to eradicate poverty and inequality in work and living opportunities, still has to be accomplished. The Covid-19 crisis has forced the world education system to embrace e-learning without be prepared but does this mean a threat or as promise? In this article we explore the question at a point when the pandemic is still raging and definite answers are not yet available, firstly be presenting a framework based on previous research on e-learning in Latin-America, followed by a conversation with an e-learning professional engaged in Africa.


Author(s):  
José Magano ◽  
Carlos V. Carvalho

In Portugal, like in most Western countries, most higher education institutions are already using elearning platforms. However, this does not mean that these institutions are now offering distance education programmes but rather that they are using these tools as content repositories to support normal f2f academic disciplines. Therefore effective e-learning adoption is still limited to episodic, non systematic, initiatives. This chapter presents the e-learning initiative of the Higher Institute of Business Science and Tourism (ISCET). This initiative is relevant, precisely because it represents a holistic and revolutionary approach. All the students of ISCET were involved and there was a provision of online environments for the entire body of subjects offered in ISCET. The evaluation of the experimental stage setup the path to a systematic approach to distance education in the institute and provided valuable clues for other institutions that want to replicate ISCET’s e-learning initiative.


2021 ◽  
pp. 234763112110072
Author(s):  
Sanaa Ashour ◽  
Ghaleb A. El-Refae ◽  
Eman A. Zaitoun

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity to rethink higher education. This study focused on analysing experiences from three higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since the onset of the crisis and explored how university leaders and professors in these institutions imagine post-COVID-19 higher education. The study aimed to find out whether the pandemic has been a factor that has helped to legitimize online teaching and learning as a universal mode of delivery across different fields of studies, or if the Zoom fatigue has shown its limitations. In addition, the research investigated what transformations university experts predict and their vision for the future of higher education. The study found that many lessons learnt during the period of forced adoption of distance education will be used by universities to enhance and expand online learning provisions. This shift will be driven by the investments the universities have made in distance education and the increased familiarity of the students, staff and institutions with e-learning. The study participants foresee that more sophisticated forms of hybrid campuses will be a more appropriate model for the future, if face-to-face (F2F) classrooms do not return.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Mani Festati Broto

Universitas Terbuka (UT) as an open and distance e-learning institution in Indonesia, has widely intensify the interconnectivity on international stages. UT adopts international academic standard and pave its vision “to provide access to a world quality higher education for all through open and distance higher education”. Although, most of UT students do not yet have access to adequate internet connection, UT has been a reference for other open education institutions and was acknowledged by the global community to have been succeeded in managing distance education system. By outlining the concept of education diplomacy creates an explanation that the growth of globalized educational collaboration increases the importance of conveying people-to-people engagement through e-learning education system. In previous years, UT has aimed the mission toward an ASEAN distance education collaboration and offer an Open Online Certificate Program through MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses). The aim is to share knowledge among Indonesian and its counterparts in ASEAN.


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