01. Research & Publications

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Open Access
Book Review: Dede & Richards, Eds., The 60-Year Curriculum: New Models for Lifelong Learning in the Digital Economy
(2022-03-19) Olcott Jr, Don; Panda, Santosh
The 60-Year curriculum: New models for lifelong learning in the digital economy examines new vantage points for higher education reform and global shifts in workforce development driven primarily by new models of lifelong learning. The chapter authors have provided insightful and occasionally provocative analyses of how universities in the digital economy will need to reconceptualise their models of lifelong learning given the impacts of digital technologies and increases in life expectancy resulting in longer careers and the need for education, training, upskilling-re- skilling-upgrading. In sum, these trends mean that “what we learn, when we learn it, how we learn it, and who we learn it from will all change” (Scott, p. 25).
Open Access
Challenges of Distance Learning at Universities during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Georgia
(2023-03-20) Verulava, Tengiz; Shengelia, Kakha; Makharashvili, Giorgi; Panda, Santosh
Adaptation to distance learning, which is one of the most effective ways of fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic, presented numerous challenges to society and the economy. The study aims to assess the consequences of distance learning as a result of the pandemic from the perspective of students and teachers. Quantitative research was conducted. The students (n = 417) and teachers (n = 47) of all disciplines from Tbilisi universities (Republic of Georgia) participated in the research. Non-probability convenience sampling technique was used for the study. Respondents evaluated the process of distance learning positively since they had the opportunity to attend lectures from any location, thus, saving costs, learning new skills, gaining valuable experience, and having more free time left than before. Using a Likert scale, the distance learning process was positively assessed by students (3.2 points out of 5) and teachers (3 points out of 5). The majority of students (n = 288, 69%) preferred the synthesis of distance and auditory learning methods as they consider the student’s own choices in a superior way. Respondents pointed out some deficiencies, such as limited communication, technical access difficulties, low quality and malfunction of internet access, an inconvenient environment, students’ involvement process and complicated social relationships. The crisis caused by the Covid-19 epidemic has identified the need to advance the methods of high-quality acquisition of knowledge. It is preferable to equip university auditoriums with the necessary technical capabilities and to develop curricula that allow students to decide whether to attend lectures in the classroom or to participate online.
Open Access
COVID-19 Pandemic: Development of Digital Technologies that Provide Connection, Collaboration and Lifelong Learning
(2022-11-21) Otamas, Inna H; Anishchenko, Viktoriia O; Ovsiankina, Liudmyla A; Afanasyeva, Inna A; Bieliatynskyi, Andrii; Panda, Santosh
The topicality of the problem under research is due to the changes in educational systems (from elementary to higher) in Ukraine and throughout the world caused by COVID-19. The authors believe digital technologies that allow keeping in contact under COVID-19 while studying or working should be examined. The article determines which groups of the population use these technologies and the consequences it has. The article aims to reveal the essence of initiatives of international organizations on the educational institutions in the world and Ukraine during the COVID-19 period. The aim also involves highlighting and analyzing the quality of education and ensuring continuous updating of its content based on the latest technological advances, including innovative methods in the educational process during COVID-19. A main set of methods was as follows: 1) analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization to study scientific literature, legislative and regulatory documents; 2) historical and pedagogical analysis to determine the features of the open education development. The questionnaire was adapted to ensure the statistical accuracy and relevance of the data obtained from Google Forms, a web service with limited access to the electronic questionnaire (only by link). The data obtained show the following: the regional affiliation and profiles of educational institutions; the experience of the teaching staff in using distance learning technologies in the education process; assessment of the prospects for distance learning implementation in the Ukrainian educational system; readiness to master distance learning technologies. The empirical data obtained were analyzed and organized by the electronic survey with Google Forms web service with limited access to the form. The significance of the article is to provide a holistic view of online teaching and learning activities under lockdown to eliminate academic disorders and ensure the resumption of educational activities and discourses as a normal process.
Open Access
Creating Open Online Courses with Learner Representative Partners to Widen Participation in Higher Education
(2019-07) Coughlan, Tim; Goff, Jenny
Open online courses could provide stepping stones for audiences that are under-represented in higher education (HE). However, there are concerns that these instead proliferate forms of exclusion and do not address known difficulties for widening participation. We explore how organisations that represent the perspectives of particular underserved audiences for HE can act as ‘Learner Representative Partners’ to support the creation of appropriate courses and to highlight practices that exclude. Six course development processes where a university worked with different partners are analysed using interviews, documentation of resource use, and data on learner behaviour. The analysis utilises previously identified challenges to widening participation and collaborative course creation. Getting partners to directly engage in authoring the course was particularly beneficial but all partners prompted critical thought and greater understanding of the intended audiences. We suggest principles to support such partnerships effectively. These include adapting to a variable capacity of partners to contribute, to encourage reuse or creation of resources by partners, and to facilitate partners to feel confident in expressing their views.
Open Access
Democratising Digital Educational Game Design for Social Change
(2023-03-20) Myers, Christina; Piccolo, Lara; Collins, Trevor; Panda, Santosh
Digital games can be used as educational tools for tackling structural inequalities and promoting social justice. Designing games with these purposes is often a complex task that requires a myriad of combined expertise, including games’ mechanics, software development, educational game design, pedagogy, and knowledge of the educational topic (which can target very specific social issues). Democratising the design of educational games is used to increase the agency and participation of diverse and novice groups throughout design processes - and can be used to improve the efficiency of such games as it directly leads to the inclusion of broad voices, knowledge, experiences and perspectives. This research adopted a Design-Based Research methodology to create, evaluate and validate 13 design principles to democratise the design of educational games for social change. Three research phases were implemented in turn: a preliminary research, prototyping and evaluation phase. The preliminary research phase was based on creating these principles by grounding them on fundamentals of Critical Pedagogy, a theory of education which presents pedagogical techniques to accelerate learning, engagement and social change. The prototyping phase was based on conducting semi-structured interviews to assess and improve these principles with educational and game design experts. During the evaluation phase, these principles were applied and evaluated during two weekend-long game design events, which were mostly attended by diverse groups who had never designed a digital game before. This research presents theoretical and practical contributions related to how to democratise educational game design for social change. It evidenced the relevance of facilitating design principles that addresses what could be done to trigger learning in games by presenting design principles; why this learning could be facilitated, from both educational and gaming perspectives; and how to implement these principles into an educational game.
Open Access
Developing Partnerships to Acquire Impact: The Role of Three Regional Centres’ Capacity Building Efforts for ODL Adoption in the Emerging World
(2021-07-20) Perris, Kirk; McGreal, Rory; Panda, Santosh
Partnerships are central to the awareness, implementation and development of open and distance learning (ODL). It is an attribute that is distinct in the higher education sector, where ODL has made a large footprint by dispelling the notion that university enrolment is reserved for a narrow and elite demographic. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) operates to advance the uptake of ODL amongst the 54 member states of the Commonwealth. COL leverages its work through various channels, and the COL Regional Centres play a pivotal role as partners to COL and, in turn, to acquire new partners that may benefit from COL’s technical expertise. The Regional Centres, strategically located across the Commonwealth, engage primarily in capacity building for ODL. Their constituents include governments, institutions, and individual learners. This paper explores the role of COL Regional Centres to grow existing partnerships and to form new ones in the pursuit of ODL expansion. The formation of partnerships is understudied in the ODL space, yet it has been pivotal in augmenting the visibility and importance of ODL around the world. Drawing on data from an evaluation of three COL Regional Centres conducted at the end of 2019, and reporting on follow-up activities to the mid-point of 2021, this paper highlights how the RCs are achieving their mandate to engage partners and, in the process, have achieved short- and long-term outcomes since 2018. Findings provide insight into the effectiveness of RC activities, relative to the number of institutions and individuals reached, complemented with inputs from RC stakeholders, mostly comprised of RC staff. Recommendations are offered, with the paper positing that the role of the Regional Centres should continue and expand to other areas of the Commonwealth premised on their ability to build and sustain partnerships through capacity building efforts.
Open Access
Education for Development: From Distance to Open Education
(2018-07) Tait, Alan W; Gaskell, Anne
This paper sets out the ways in which technologies for learning have been at the heart of education for development for millennia, not as is sometimes thought only in the last 30 years of the digital revolution. Short case studies of the University of London External System and the Open University UK set out the development outcomes of these major distance education innovations. The context of widening access to Higher Education is acknowledged, in particular from the perspectives of student success and dropout. The major dimensions of open education enabled by digital affordances are elaborated, and their contribution to development acknowledged. Finally, the article suggests that the move to mass Higher Education systems in an overall majority of countries over the period of the UN Sustainable Development Goals will see the distinctions between online and campus-based modes diminished.
Open Access
The Effects of Authentic Learning Practices on Problem-Solving Skills and Attitude towards Science Courses
(2021-03-18) Aynas, Naciye; Aslan, Mecit; Panda, Santosh
This study aims to investigate the effects of authentic learning methods — applied in science courses — on the problem-solving skills and attitudes towards those courses. As a research design, a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test control groups was used in the study. The data of the study were collected from 92 students at the level of 6th grade in Van, Turkey in the 2017-2018 academic year. As data collection tools, the Problem-Solving Skills Test and Science Attitude Scale were used throughout the study. During the data analysis phase, descriptive statistics, one-factor analysis of variance for unrelated samples, t-test for related samples, Kruskal Wallis-H and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test were used. As a result of the study, it was realised that there was a significant difference between the experimental group and control groups' problem-solving skills total scores in favour of the experimental group. Furthermore, it was ascertained that authentic learning practices improved the problem-solving skills of the experimental group students to a significant extent. In terms of attitude points towards science, it was determined that the post-test scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than the control groups and authentic learning practices had a positive effect on attitude.
Open Access
European Figures in Distance and e-Learning
(2017-03) Tait, Alan
In my contribution on European figures who have really made a difference in distance and e-learning I want firstly to observe that Europe has produced, or at least been the happy host of many of the major figures in our field. A question to be returned to is whether there is a unifying theme to theory and practice in Europe, so a particular European perspective on distance and e-learning, or rather a set of theorists and innovators who happen to have been based in Europe.
Open Access
Examining the Practices and Challenges of Distance Education of PhD Candidates in the Context of COVID-19
(2022-03-19) Fast, Olha; Semenog, Olena; Vovk, Myroslava; Buhaichuk, Nazar; Golya, Galyna; Panda, Santosh
The distance education system is actively developing in the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sharp transition of PhD candidates to distance education caused difficulties in organising the educational process. The aim of this study was to analyse the methods of distance education for postgraduate students in the context of a COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of graduate students was conducted through specially- designed and semi-standardised interviews of focus groups of producers and consumers of educational services. The study showed that the process of adaptation of postgraduate students majoring in Physical Culture and Sports and Biology was much more difficult than in the major Educational, Pedagogical Sciences and Philology. The reasons for the problems of distance education of PhD candidates included the complexity of creating educational and methodological materials for distance learning; lack of a centralised system of certification and accreditation of electronic courses; insufficient motivation of teachers; shortage of teachers who could competently develop distance learning courses in higher education. The study identified opportunities to implement promising areas of online learning in the system of training of academic and teaching staff: retraining of a large proportion of the teaching staff, implementation of a system approach to the development of the online environment of educational institutions, development of skills and abilities to use educational content. Prospects for further research include the study of problems of violation of academic integrity by postgraduate students in the course of distance learning.
Open Access
From Modernisation, Dependency and Soft Power Toward a Commonwealth of Learning
(2021-11-19) Evans, Terry; Jakupec, Victor; Panda, Santosh
This article reflects on some influential theories, concepts and institutions that have shaped the nature and substance of international development since the mid-20th century. In particular, theories of modernisation and dependency are deployed to reflect on the ways in which the International Financial Institutions, such as, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have adopted a ‘Washington Consensus’ concerning the social and economic development of ‘developing’ nations. ‘Soft power’ national agencies, such as, the British Council and USAID are brought into consideration, especially, for their interests and influences over matters of learning for development. The multi-national Commonwealth of Learning’s particular contribution to learning for development is discussed with suggestions made for developing member nations’ capacities to produce new local knowledge and to bring their existing local knowledge to the fore to share as part of a (Lockean) ‘commonwealth of learning’.
Open Access
The Global Micro-credential Landscape: Charting a New Credential Ecology for Lifelong Learning
(2021-07-20) Brown, Mark; Nic Giolla Mhichíl, Mairéad; Beirne, Elaine; Mac Lochlainn, Conchúr; Panda, Santosh
This article offers a global overview of the burgeoning field of micro-credentials and their relationship to lifelong learning, employability and new models of digital education. Although there is no globally accepted definition of micro-credentials, the term indicates smaller units of study, which are usually shorter than traditional forms of accredited learning and courses leading to conventional qualifications such as degrees. The paper aims to provide educators with a helicopter view of the rapidly evolving global micro-credential landscape, with particular relevance to higher education leaders, industry stakeholders and government policy-makers. It addresses five questions: (i) what are micro-credentials? (ii) why micro-credentials? (iii) who are the key stakeholders? (iv) what is happening globally? and (v) what are some of the key takeaways? Drawing on a European-wide perspective and recent developments in The Republic of Ireland, the paper concludes that micro-credentials are likely to become a more established and mature feature of the 21st Century credential ecology over the next five years. While the global micro-credential landscape is currently disconnected across national boundaries, more clarity and coherence will emerge as governments around the world increasingly align new credentialing developments with existing national qualification frameworks. The micro-credentialing movement also provides opportunities for governments and higher education institutions in partnership with industry to harness new digital learning models beyond the pandemic.
Open Access
How Directing Formal Students to Institutionally-Delivered OER Supports their Success
(2019-11-19)
The OpenLearn platform was launched in 2006 with the aim of delivering excerpts of the Open University’s (UK) (OU) curriculum as open educational resources (OER). Now reaching over 8.5m learners a year, the platform delivers free courses, educational interactives, videos and articles across a broad range of subjects reflecting what is delivered formally to students and through topical, engaging content. The OU is the UK’s largest university for undergraduate education with around 170,000 enrolled students primarily engaged in online, distance education. // Whilst previous studies on OpenLearn had revealed the demographics of learners using the platform (Law et al., 2013; Perryman et al., 2013; Law & Jelfs, 2016), platform-derived analytics showed that a high proportion of OU students were also using OpenLearn, despite it not performing any formally directed role in the delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. // This paper discusses research undertaken with OU students in 2017 to examine their experience and motivations for using OpenLearn and the potential impact on their learning. Surveys were issued to 10,000 students with the resulting data informing university strategy around the function of OER as a means to motivate, prepare and retain students. // Data showed that students are using OpenLearn for module choice, as a taster of OU study before signing up, for study preparedness, time-management planning, confidence-building, assessment support and professional development. In addition, OU students who use OpenLearn are more likely to be retained and to progress to their next course. // This paper will also discusses recommendations and actions taken from this research that were realised in 2018 and early results from this, ostensibly the impact of a project to integrate OER into the student induction process. // The data revealed in this paper will be of interest to the wider academic community, HE policy-makers, those involved in delivering non-accredited learning and the impact of OER.
Open Access
ICT and Internet Usage among Kosovar Students: the Impact of Trends on Achievement in the PISA Scales
(2023-03-20) Shala, Arif; Grajcevci, Albulene; Panda, Santosh
The current analysis aims to research the impact of ICT usage on students’ achievement in the 2018 PISA assessment. The Program for International student assessment, measures the achievement of 15-year-olds in mathematics, science and reading literacy across a large number of world economies. Kosovo has participated in the PISA assessment in 2015 for the first time and for the second time in 2018. The current study will look at the achievement of over 4000 Kosovar students in reading literacy, mathematics and science and analyze trends of ICT usage among students. More specifically the analysis focused on understanding trends of ICT and internet usage of Kosovar students, such as using computers for chatting, research information, reading literacy news, learning something new, and reading emails among others. Furthermore, the study explores gender differences in usage trends, to explore if gender plays a role in such trends. Finally, the study researches the impact on performance of gender, internet access and access to computers to complete homework. The result of the current analysis provides that access to internet and having access to computers at home links to higher achievement in all PISA scales. An additional finding of this study is that Kosovar students tend to use technology and internet mainly to chat with friends, and significantly less for reading emails, learning for something new or for doing homework. Female students reported lower internet presence compared to male students, but in the meantime were the ones who outperformed in the reading literacy and science scales, suggesting that higher online presence mainly for chatting hinders learning and achievement.
Open Access
Investigation of Pre-service Teachers’ Readiness Levels for Online Learning and Engagement Levels in the Online Environment
(2022-07-19) Zeybek, Gülçin; Panda, Santosh
The aim of this study was to examine pre-service teachers’ readiness levels for online learning and engagement levels in the online environment in terms of various variables and to determine the relationship between readiness levels for online learning and engagement levels in the online environment. The design of the research is the correlational survey model, one of the quantitative research designs. The study group of the research consisted of pre-service teachers who were studying in the faculty of education at a state university in Turkey. In the study, a personal information form, the “Online Learning Readiness Scale” and the “Student Engagement Scale” were used as measurement tools. Within the framework of quantitative data analysis, descriptive statistical techniques, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test and Pearson correlation technique were used. When the research findings were examined, it was seen that the pre-service teachers’ readiness for online learning was high in all dimensions; when it comes to engagement in the online environment, it was observed that they obtained high mean scores in the total scale, and the behavioral engagement and cognitive engagement dimensions, while they obtained a moderate mean score in the affective engagement dimension. In addition, it is one of the important results of the study that there was a medium-level, positive and significant relationship between pre-service teachers’ readiness levels for online learning and engagement levels in the online environment.
Open Access
Learning Development’s Role in Supporting Academic Synergies through Co-evolution of Teaching Excellence and Practice
(2021-11-19) Donnelly, Roisin; Panda, Santosh
This report from the field discusses a new approach taken to the co-evolution of teaching excellence and evidence-based practice in the context of Learning Development in a Technological University in Ireland. It explores supporting faculty in their exploration of pedagogic inquiry and teaching excellence and how this can co-evolve to generate synergies in academic productivity (the core activity sets of the faculty). A key part of this Learning Development work is understanding how integrating inquiry and teaching can drive excellence and pedagogic innovation in practice.
Open Access
May the Fourth Be with you: Creating Education 4.0
(2019-07) Salmon, Gilly
The paper looks back across dominant ways of delivering Higher Education until the present day and then looks forward. There is an approximate continuum described from Education 1.0 through 2.0 to 3.0. Education is mapped onto the emergence and development of the Web and the revolutions known as ‘Industrial’ over the last 250 years. Then some foresight is deployed with the particular lens of graduates’ employment prospects and contributions to the future – dubbed ‘Education 4.0’. The paper hopes to stimulate dialogue and promote preparedness and innovation for more changes arriving fast over Higher Education’s wider horizons.
Open Access
Mobile Language Learning Innovation Inspired by Migrants
(2019-07) Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes
Migrants arriving in a country are not always welcome. Similarly, the arrival of new technologies can be perceived as a blot on the familiar landscape of established educational practices. This paper seeks a productive synergy between migrants’ educational requirements with respect to learning the language of their host society; their valuable and unique human experiences and talents; and innovative learning designs that harness the ubiquity of smartphones and other mobile technologies. The present-day mass mobility and migration of individuals and groups of people sows the seeds of new ideas, generating novel approaches to language teaching and learning supported by personal technologies. There is a substantial body of evidence from research and practice for the effectiveness and appeal of mobile language learning in various educational settings, however, a specific focus on migrant learners is a more recent development. The paper provides an analysis of innovative mobile language learning projects and applications designed for migrants. It is argued that innovations resulting from a concern with supporting migrant learners can also benefit other mobile populations, such as students and business people, through the introduction of more adaptable ways of fostering and organizing learning.
Open Access
National Open Educational Resources Policy for Malta
(2018) Camilleri, Anthony F
Malta’s National Lifelong Learning Strategy 2020 embraces open education and OER to promote connected learning. The document sets out the strategy and contains several recommendations for raising awareness about OER. A report to the Ministry for Education and Employment (MEDE) by the Working Group on Post-Secondary Education and the Future of Education presents a series of recommendations. The report presents a draft OER policy for Malta to take forward the vision of lifelong learning envisaged in the strategy 2020.
Open Access
Open Badges as Credentials in Open Education Systems: Case Studies from Greece and Europe
(2019-03) Papadimitriou, Sofia T; Niari, Maria I
Open Badges are digital representations of achievements or skills which describe the framework, significance, and outcomes of a learning procedure based on specific criteria. The Open Badges’ collection can be used by its holder as a virtual CV of skills and qualifications. The practice of development, issue, and use of badges is connected with gamification elements, as badges are seen as incentives towards positive behavior and are powerful pedagogical tools. Furthermore, the use of Open Badges could become an alternative certification system for skills and knowledge acquired in online, blended and other informal learning environments and systems. In this article, we present case studies in which Open Badges have been used as credentials for educational practices in pilot educational systems, either in non-formal or informal learning systems, with specific emphasis on open learning environments. Key insights from these case studies highlight the extended use of Open Badges and stress the need for a common evaluation and accreditation system in open online learning environments.

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