05. Conference Proceedings & Working Papers

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Open Access
The 2016 Kuala Lumpur Declaration (30 November 2016)
(2016-11-30)
The Kuala Lumpur Declaration was presented on November 30, 2016 at the Closing Ceremony of the Eighth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With the Charter of the Commonwealth 2013, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UNESCO’s Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action, Education 2030, and the 2012 UNESCO-COL Paris Declaration on Open Educational Resources (OER) in mind, it presents a set of recommendations. It also proposes that the set of recommendations be brought to the next Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) for further consideration and implementation.
Open Access
Accessibility Strategies for Making MOOCs for People with Visual impairments: A Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Perspective
(2016-11) Ngubane-Mokiwa, Sindile A
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) were designed to enhance access to education to all that desire it. The open access drive seeks to promote free and equitable access to basic, higher, formal and informal education. The main aim of MOOCs is to de-institutionalize education moving it from the formalized class to the open platform where there are no admission requirements. The second aim of MOOCs is to provide access to lifelong learning for those who want to learn for the sake of knowing and developing their competencies. The objective of this document analysis based paper is to analyze primary qualitative-research academic sources dealing with strategies to make MOOCs accessible to people with visual impairments. This paper uses Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles as a lens through which accessibility of MOOCs to people with visual impairments is examined. The document analysis involved a careful examination of research methodologies that had been used to gather data. Fifteen academic sources were sought through formidable search engines. Specified inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to select the articles that were analyzed to answer the research question: What accessibility strategies can be employed to make MOOCs accessible to people with visual impairments? Lastly, recommendations are made towards making MOOCs more accessible for people with visual impairments. // Paper ID 174
Open Access
Accommodating Learners with Specific Learning Difficulties in Educational Settings: Problems and Solutions
(2019-09) Indrarathne, Bimali
Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) such as dyslexia and ADHD are very common: it is estimated that 10% of the world population has some kind of learning difficulty. Due to the challenges learners with SpLDs face in the teaching-learning process, such learners may not achieve the expected educational goals. Therefore, it is important to make necessary changes in the teaching-learning process to accommodate those learners. For this, education systems should recognise the importance of inclusive practices at policy level and teacher educators and teachers should have thorough understanding of inclusive practices. However, teachers’ lack of knowledge on SpLDs, lack of teacher training programmes which address the issue and lack of sustainable policy on inclusive practices are some key issues that education systems face in accommodating learners with SpLDs. Recently a teacher-training programme on SpLDs and inclusive practices was conducted in Sri Lanka. Questionnaire and interview responses collected in this programme also highlighted the above issues in addition to other issues such as teachers’ negative attitudes towards SpLDs, institutional barriers such as rigid examination systems and negative socio-cultural ideology towards SpLDs (Indrarathne, 2019). The same programme was then extended to India where similar findings were visible. In this presentation, I will discuss these findings in detail by highlighting the barriers to implementing inclusive practices and discuss possible solutions. During the presentation, I will do a short task to raise participants’ awareness on the features of different types of SpLDs. The participants will also be asked to share their experiences of inclusive practices in their contexts. They will then work in groups to discuss possible solutions before having a whole group discussion on possible future challenges in implementing inclusive practices. // Paper ID 72
Open Access
Actors for Change – Reflections and Insights
(2008-09) Jha, Chhaya; Parlevliet, Michelle
PCF5 Sub-theme: Governance and social justice // This paper discusses an innovative distance learning course, Actors for Change, which positions human rights work as an integral part of conflict prevention. The four-month course, designed and implemented by UNSSC, OHCHR and Fahamu, builds the knowledge and skills of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) on why they should be involved in conflict prevention and how to mainstream this perspective in their responsibilities. The course has been structured to assist learning by reading, reflecting and doing. The course covers conflict, human rights and a 7-step model of conflict prevention. Since 2005, six courses on conflict prevention were delivered in three languages (English, French and Spanish) to staff of National Institutions in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. This paper is written by the course author and two-time tutor, and the tutor of three courses. // Paper ID 554
Open Access
Adapting Quality Assurance to Innovative Programmes
(2016-11) Uvalic-Trumbic, Stamenka; Daniel, John
Promoting equity by opening up higher education has posed challenges to quality assurance and even to the definition of quality in higher education. However, certain fundamental principles underpin all forms of higher education, no matter what the curricula or delivery mode. // Quality assurance needs to find news ways to adapt to innovative providers and programmes of higher education. This paper reports on four developments that relate to this need. // Paper ID 411
Open Access
Asa Briggs Lecture: Education and Bridging Work Cultures
(1999-03-01) Wang, Gungwu
Asa Briggs Lecture presented by Professor Wang Gungwu, Director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, at the First Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, 1 March 1999, Brunei Darussalam.
Open Access
Asa Briggs Lecture: Open Learning for Development: Towards Empowerment and Transformation
(2013-12) Tait, Alan
Asa Briggs Lecture presented by Mr. Alan Tait, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Learning for Development, Commonwealth of Learning, Professor, Distance Education and Development, Open University, United Kingdom, at the Seventh Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, 4 December 2013, International Conference Centre, Abuja, Nigeria.
Open Access
Automated Essay Scoring (AES) Systems: Opportunities and Challenges for Open and Distance Education
(2022-09) Bai, John Y H; Zawacki-Richter, Olaf; Bozkurt, Aras; Lee, Kyungmee; Fanguy, Mik; Cefa Sari, Berrin; Marin, Victoria I
PCF10 Sub-theme: Inspiring Innovations // This paper reports on a systematic review of artificial intelligence applications in education (AIEd) with a special focus on automated essay scoring (AES) systems. AES systems may provide enormous time-savings, especially for large-scale distance teaching institutions with massive numbers of students, by reducing marking and freeing up teachers’ resources for individual feedback and personal support of distance learners. After an introduction on how AES systems function, a review corpus of published articles between 2007 and 2021 is synthetised to evaluate critical discussions and research trends in AES. Articles in the corpus generally evaluated either the accuracy of AES systems or the experience of users, and include implementation of AES systems in various settings (i.e., higher education, K-12, and large-scale assessments). Despite the opportunities that AES might afford for educational institutions, many questions related to the feasibility and validity of AES systems, their implementation, and the associated ethical issues are still unanswered. The findings of this research provide a solid foundation for this discussion. // Paper ID 8339
Open Access
Barriers Encountered by Women to the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Open and Distance Learning
(2002-07) Phillips, Susan
PCF2 // Working paper presented by Susan Phililpps at the Second Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF2) in Durban, South Africa. //
Open Access
Blended Learning - What Mix? Flexible Learning - How Supple?
(2016-11) Daniel, John; Uvalic-Trumbic, Stamenka
Online technology already permeates higher education - whether programmes are formally offered online or not. We adopt the definitions of the Babson surveys in distinguishing between face-to-face, blended, and online learning. We ask first whether the current fashion for blended learning is a rearguard action against the trend to move much of higher education towards fully online learning, or whether blended learning has special merits. If so, what are those merits? // Flexible learning is a term also used to describe various combinations of classroom and online teaching. Is flexibility a purely positive phenomenon or does it have limits? If so, what are those limits? // Finally, we hear that higher education is being unbundled. How far can it be unbundled without falling apart and losing the respect of the public on whom it depends? // Paper ID 410
Open Access
Bringing Learning Closer to the Workplace: An Online Course for Librarians in Developing Countries
(2016-11) Wild, Joanna; Murugesan, Ravi; Schaeffler, Veronika; Powell, Anne
Face-to-face training workshops are frequently used in a capacity development context. However, the workshop approach has its limitations as the application of learning in practice can only happen once the learners are back at their workplaces. Unfortunately, once back at work, participants are often pulled into day-to-day responsibilities and rarely get immediate opportunities to apply their learning, and knowledge gained from the training is lost as the time passes. Therefore, we decided to redesign a workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation of Electronic Resource Use (MEERU) – an important topic for university libraries and librarians – from a face-toface workshop into a fully online course. Our goal was twofold: to train more librarians in INASP’s partner countries in the developing world, and to support an immediate application of learning in the workplace. We used a learning design approach to put the learners’ needs and experience at the heart of course development. We situated the learning in the librarians’ work context through a careful combination of interactive ‘guided readings’, activities for discussion and reflection, and a course assignment structured in parts so that the learning from each unit could be immediately applied in practice. The course was piloted for eight weeks in May to June 2016 with 23 librarians from five developing countries. Here we present the approach to the course design, the evaluation outcomes, and lessons learnt. // Paper ID 535
Open Access
Building and Supporting International Communities of Interest:Open Educational Resources/Open Content
(2006-10) D'Antoni, Susan
PCF4 // Open Educational Resources … why are they important? // The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement, by promoting the sharing, adaptation and contextualization of content, has the potential to facilitate the expansion of the offer of higher education. OER can be of use to teachers who can adapt and use them in their courses, and to learners for independent study. // An international Community of Interest … why is it important? // Open Educational Resources, whether full course materials or course elements, constitute an important resource to higher education institutions, teaching staff and learners. However, if there is little or no awareness of their availability, they cannot be exploited. // With support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning has created an international Community of Interest on OER, with the objective of increasing awareness, and supporting capacity building and informed decision making on the part of current and potential providers and users. Activities have been designed to foster an international dialogue and exchange of information, linking people who might not otherwise meet either in person or virtually to come together and participate in a debate. // Supporting such communities is directly related to UNESCO’s role in promoting international cooperation and acting as a clearinghouse. // Paper ID 159
Open Access
Commonwealth Education Co-operation: Looking to the Future
(2008-09) Williams, Peter
PCF5 Sub-theme: Cross-cutting Themes // Commonwealth education co-operation in its inter-governmental form effectively began nearly 50 years ago in Oxford at the time of the first Commonwealth Education Conference in 1959. Civil society had of course got there first: through their antecedent bodies today’s Association of Commonwealth Universities, Commonwealth Institute/Commonwealth Education Trust, Royal Commonwealth Society and League for Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers all have histories stretching back more than a hundred years. // The official mechanisms established in 1959 included the Commonwealth Education Liaison Unit, the forerunner of the Education Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat established in 1965; and the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan which will also celebrate its 50th birthday in 2009. In June next year in Kuala Lumpur the seventeenth in the series of education ministers’ conferences, the ‘17CCEM’, will be held and will afford an opportunity to review both past achievements and future possibilities. Paper ID 642
Open Access
The Contextualisation of Employability in Institutions of Higher Education
(2019-09) Okafor, Theresa; Mohee, Romeela
Several reasons account for the need to reconceptualise employability in higher institutions . The first is the crunch of unemployment which intersects with and could be partly responsible for the diminutive understanding of employability. The second is the weak, antiquated application of employability in higher education in stitutions which negatively affects graduates and their learning outcomes. Understanding employability requires a r ecogni tion of three subsets that would help in overcoming the limits of what it is to be a graduate in a highly evolving society. The subset s of employability are: . The student and the privileging of how knowledge is acquired and applied. 2. The institution and its potential for brokerage with social capital networks as well as quality assurance that especially prioritisi zes the scholarship a nd pedagogy of teaching and learning that will enable students make informed choices. 3. The Context comprising the mitigation of the complexity posed by political, economic and social factors that threaten the intended outcomes of graduates// Paper ID 275
Open Access
Curating to Creating: An open pedagogy for Quality Learning
(2016-11) Okewole, John T; Knokh, Irene
Teachers have a couple of things to resolve before taking a class. One of it links the teacher with learners - pedagogy is the connecting factor, the lifeline between a teacher and the body of learners. Pedagogy is the principles and methods of instruction. Most transmission/facilitation of knowledge succeeds and fails on the pedagogical capacity of the teachers. Based on learning theories, several pedagogies have been developed. This paper presents an open pedagogy which is based on the constructivist theory and social learning characteristics of learners. The pedagogy comprises curating, contributing, collaborating and creating/constructing as a systematic way of imparting knowledge for effective learning outcomes. // Each of the components of the pedagogy has been used before in different context to administer learning effectively. Review of an art class use of the pedagogy is presented with learners comments after contact with the teacher. // The paper gives an overview of how this pedagogy relates with the attributes of open pedagogy. Details of how the pedagogy aligns with the Bloom’s taxonomy of learning are also presented. // Paper ID 98
Open Access
Developing Open and Distance Workplace Learning: Lessons from Russia
(2002-07) Martin, Vivien; Henderson, Euan; Watson, Alan
PCF2 // Learning materials developed by the Open University for operational managers in the British Health Service are increasingly being used in other countries, often with adaptation and translation. A number of evaluations and some comparative research raise issues about how materials developed in and for the United Kingdom contribute to useful and appropriate learning support in other countries. This paper focuses on the extent to which the learning materials and the programmes that different countries have developed from them address learning in the workplace. // The materials were developed to address 40 areas of competence relevant to the management of health care. The paper considers the extent to which these competences are transferable into other cultures and contexts, since management development is essentially about developing the individual learner to be able to manage in his or her own context. // The paper draws on collaborative research involving programme leaders in Australia, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and the UK. It also considers a recent programme evaluation in Russia that included interviews with participants, their line managers and tutors. //
Open Access
Development of Learning Buffet Model for Open and Flexible Learning
(2016-11) Zainuddin, Nurkhamimi; Ahmad, Musa; Idrus, Rozhan M
Open and Flexible Learning is an excellent method of reaching all types of learners. It is truly a medium that helps to democratize education to all. Today, we are currently experiencing a time of constant evolution in the field of education in which students require more resources and tools to obtain the information and construction of knowledge. One such resource is the use of open and distance learning environment, where the lecturer assigns additional activities for the understanding of the concepts seen before. But there are times when the student does not understand the content because of the form it represents, making it necessary to have more options to facilitate the understanding of content through different ways that may be more attractive to the students, achieving more active participation in the subject and an affinity that leads to a better learning experience. This is the goal of the study, which proposes a model called “Learning Buffet Model” for designing Open and Flexible Learning content adaptable to the student´s learning style. This learning buffet model can be used as a fundamental model and applied in any area or discipline of education as it forces the consideration of four components (leaning style, content, pedagogy and technology) in the design of the lesson plan and subsequently enrich the learning environment with more specific learning objects the subjects taught. // Paper ID 536
Open Access
Distance Learners and Support Services: Current Trends and Prospects
(2008) Somayajulu, B K; Ramakrishna, Tata
PCF5: Cross-Cutting Themes // As we all know many learners and prospective learners from all walks of life felt that the quality support services should be made available for them to meet their academic requirements in time. Thoughts and ideas should be derived to see that the nature of services has to be transformed from mechanical phase to digital phase to provide learner support services in a better way. The learners also seek more technical support in meeting their requirements rapidly for their academic achievements. Persuasion of higher studies through distance education is the best possible way for the category of children; young people and of course even older people. Any institution may have to plan and design to change the operational scenario in the technical mode in view of the conditions prevailing in the digital era. // Are the DE institutions satisfied with the services offered by them? Can they think for any major transformation of activities in the support-services sector for betterment? To answer these questions, the basic support-staff structure, roles and responsibilities of the staff have to be looked into and accordingly modify the structures technically viable wherever necessary. The roles and responsibilities shall be properly defined suiting the technical environment and allocated to the staff at various levels so as to provide effective services to the distance learners. // This paper analyses the support-staff structures of a DE institution and redesign them accordingly on the basis of Feedback received from the learners. In addition, the paper discusses the Internet-based delivery mechanism, technology-enabled methods, and decentralisation of activities; and thereupon recommends suggestions for ensuring quality services in the near future. // Paper ID 25
Open Access
Embracing Learning Styles in an Organization’s eLearning Environment
(2016-11) Mere, Phoebus; Naidoo, Richard
Just like any other teaching methodology, eLearning consists of different styles of learning and teaching. To create a better understanding, we express our view about eLearning styles in this paper. A style in the context of eLearning is the way a person expresses himself or herself characterized by all features differentiating him or her from others. An individual's learning style is mostly influenced by his or her personality, way of thinking, and preferences of pictures, sounds or actions. In this paper we create a case at a telecommunication company, where we use qualitative methods to realize and understand styles of learning in the organization through the aid of eLearning. We follow the activity theory as grounding theory for our study. Open ended questionnaires are used as data collection methods, while thematic content analysis is used as way to analyze data. The contribution is to raise an awareness to ComTek about the learning styles in eLearning, to give a picture on the overall learning styles in the organization, and to build a guideline as conceptual model to discover learning styles. // Paper ID 238
Open Access
Evidence-based Approaches to Improving Teachers' Skills, in Schools Serving Poor and Marginalised Communities
(2019-09) Power, Tom; Hedges, Claire; McCormick, Robert; Rahman, Md. Shajedur
In low and lower-middle income countries most children will reach the ‘end of primary-school age’ without having learned basic skills. The situation often worsens in secondary schools. Teaching quality is the most important factor in determining student learning outcomes, yet despite massive investment in teacher education, many teachers remain poorly prepared to address learners needs, regardless of whether they are fully trained, un- or under-trained. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) Education Policy 2018, in alignment with other donors, will support national efforts to “overhaul out-dated models of teacher training, drawing on evidence-based approaches to improve teachers’ skills which deliver for children, including those who are poor and marginalised”. Particular importance is given to “practical experience in the classroom and ongoing school-based support”. In this paper we seek to set-out a succinct summary of the evidence-base on effective approaches to improving teaching quality for the children of poor and marginalised communities, before practically considering how such evidence-based approaches are manifest across different programmes from Bangladesh and India, to Palestine and Zimbabwe. We provide a starting point for those wishing to understand, emulate or adapt such programme designs, by illustrating ‘how’ school-based support and open-learning have been used to improve teaching quality across a range of settings. Further in-depth practical advice is provided to those wishing to explore School-Based Teacher Development (SBTD) programme design and development, through the COL SBTD Blueprint and Toolkit (Moon, 2018). // Paper ID 256