Articles in Periodicals & Books

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Open Access
Blending Innovative Pedagogy and Technology for Capacity Development of Educators during the Pandemic
(2023-03-20) Karunanayaka, Shironica Priyanthi; Panda, Santosh
The increased use of digital learning environments augments the adoption of open practices in education which contributes to SDG4. The Covid-19 pandemic has compelled an accelerated move towards technology-enhanced learning, prompting educators to re-think and re-design learning environments grounded in innovative pedagogy and technology. In the current scenario it is imperative that educators are offered capacity development opportunities to meaningfully engage in digital and open practices. This paper presents a case study of an online capacity development intervention in OER-integrated technology-enhanced learning (TEL) material creation, implemented with a group of 15 educators selected using the purposive sampling method. It focused on the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of OER-integrated TEL materials by the educators. The intervention comprised a carefully designed learning experience with intensive hands-on activities in a Moodle online learning environment, supplemented with a series of ZOOM-based interactive workshops. The study explored the design strategies that enhanced the creation of OER-integrated TEL materials by the educators, challenges encountered by them and how those were managed, and the effects of the intervention on changing their thinking and practices. Multiple data gathering occurred via questionnaires, discussion forums, reflective journals, and focus group interviews. Primarily, an in-depth content analysis of the qualitative data gathered was conducted. The findings revealed that the systematic learning experience design, which adopted a ‘learning by designing’ approach harnessing the affordances of both technology and pedagogy, empowered educators to become active creators of OER-integrated TEL materials and to take leadership in integrating digital and open practices into teaching-learning processes.
Open Access
Communication and capacity building to advance adaptation strategies in agriculture in the context of climate change in India
(2015-04) Balaji, Venkataraman; Ganapuram, Sreedhar; Devakumar, C
Climate change is perhaps the most serious issue that affects food security of a very large number of human beings and animals. Impacts of climate change will be particularly significant in South Asia where most of food production comes from smallholder farms. Vulnerability in this region is two-fold: production of important food crop varieties may be affected by developments such as rise in temperature; smallholder farmers have low economic resilience when large variations in crop outputs occur. Both adaptive and anticipatory measures based on research in agricultural sciences are being proposed. What is important is also to build the capacity of smallholder farmers to cope with the impact of climate change-induced phenomena. Key guides to large scale action such as the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change propose integrated action for capacity building involving both top-down and bottom-up inputs. In this paper, we provide an overview of accepted impacts of climate change on agriculture and food security in South Asia, and the proposed and ongoing agronomic adaptation strategies in India. Our focus is on capacity building at a micro-level which can augment adaptation efforts. We offer two case studies that provide pointers for integrating novel communication and capacity building processes for smallholder farmers that can considerably improve their ability to engage in action for adaptation.
Open Access
Comparative Advantages of Offline Digital Technology for Remote Indigenous Classrooms in Guatemala (2019-2020)
(2022-03-19) Wiebe, Adrienne; Crisostomo, Luis; Feliciano, Ruben; Anderson, Terry; Panda, Santosh
Technology has been viewed as a means to improve the quality of education for children globally, particularly in remote and marginal communities. This study examines the comparative advantages of the use of appropriate technology (off-line servers with digital libraries connected to a classroom set of laptops) in ten intervention schools in Indigenous communities in Guatemala for one school year. The study was too short (due to pandemic restrictions) to demonstrate statistically significant differences for learning outcomes. However, using an instructional core model as a framework, qualitative findings supported four previously identified comparative advantages, and identified four additional ones relevant to remote Indigenous communities. The intervention validated the ability of technology to improve standardized instruction, differentiated instruction, opportunities for practice, and learner engagement. Newly identified advantages are: access to high-quality educational resources (substitution for print materials), teacher capacity-building, student technical skills and digital literacy, and sharing cultural knowledge.
Open Access
Culturally Inclusive Online Learning for Capacity Development Projects in International Contexts
(2020-03-20) Gunawardena, Charlotte Nirmalani
This paper explores cultural inclusivity in online learning design by discussing two international capacity development projects; an online tutor mentor development program in Sri Lanka and a hybrid physician assistant training program in Ghana. Inclusivity involves establishing partnerships and conducting needs assessments to maximize the capacity that already exists within a given context, and addressing cultural factors that impact online learning: developing a learning community, negotiating identity, power, and authority, generating social presence, supporting collaboration, engaging in authentic inquiry-based learning, navigating interactions in a second language, and developing co-mentoring relationships to support learning. The paper provides a framework, WisCom (Wisdom Communities) to guide the design of culturally inclusive online learning incorporating lessons learned from international projects. By emphasising divergent thinking, consensus building, and the exploration of multiple solutions to complex, real-world problems, WisCom maximizes opportunities for participants’ diverse backgrounds and experiences to be valued.
Open Access
Editorial: Capacity Building for New Modes of Learning and Teaching
(2022-11-21) Panda, Santosh; Panda, Santosh
In many educational development initiatives across the globe, and especially in the Commonwealth by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), capacity building at all levels and for all categories of people has been underlined as the foundation to shifting to new modes of teaching-learning-training during Covid and also in the post-COVID-19 era. The change management formulation through the model of ‘policy-technology-capacity building’ had emerged as a significantly effective strategy toward development and especially ‘learning for development’. We need more research evidence to further support this formulation, and also to contribute to possible directions for national, institutional and individual goal-setting and strategic applications in-context. It is hoped that the contributions to this issue of JL4D will further enlighten our understanding and suggest pathways toward implementation of education and training programmes in national, regional and institutional contexts.
Open Access
Editorial: Professional Development and Capacity Building in Learning for Development
(2020-07-20) Panda, Santosh
The work of the Commonwealth of Learning, as also that of many governmental and institutional initiatives, has been, in the past, based on ‘policy-capacity-technology’ as a theory of change framework within which national and institutional strategies on learning for development have been located. It has been argued that it works better when practice is based on policy, and when capacitybuilding mediates between policy and technology (Panda & Mishra, 2020). The authors suggest that such implementation needs to be contextual in consideration of ‘socio-cultural and educational ecologies’. In a recent UNESCO communiqué , in the context of OER, building capacity of stakeholders to create, access, use, adapt, and redistribute OER was highlighted as of prime importance along with policy, quality, sustainability, and international collaboration (UNESCO, 2019). In the past, varied professional development and capacity building strategies have been designed at national and institutional levels depending on the existing needs, resources, and constraints for learning and training designs. Keeping in view these developments and future possibilities, we have devoted this issue of JL4D to the theme “Professional Development and Capacity Building in Learning for Development” which reports research and development in areas ranging from Carpe Diem to use of learning-based extension, professional development in schools, skills in the use of mobile learning, teacher competencies in ICT integration in schools, skills in the design and implementation of learning platforms, self-regulated learning skills, vocational and entrepreneurial skills in vulnerable contexts, and workplace training. There is also an interesting book review on digital security and safety.
Open Access
Editorial: Technology and Pedagogy for Learning and Capacity Building
(2023-03-20) Panda, Santosh; Panda, Santosh
In any technology-enabled learning formulation, it is important to consider the pedagogic affordances of technology, and how to develop the required level of competency and concomitant capacity building to undertake teaching-learning and training activities of high quality. There are a variety of frameworks and guidelines available on TEL, and we, as teachers, trainers and researchers, need to consider reviewing the research literature, analysing the effective blending of pedagogy and technology, developing appropriate learning resources (and/or considering existing Open Educational Resources and MOOCs), understanding the challenges faced especially due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and appropriating the quality assurance frameworks and parameters, among others. The present issue of the Journal, comprising one invited paper, five research papers, two case studies, and two book reviews, addresses the above issues and concerns.
Open Access
Eliciting In-service Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge for 21st-Century Skills in Tanzania
(2018-12) Mtebe, Joel S; Raphael, Christina; Gaskell, Anne
The Tanzania Vision 2025 articulates the country's aspiration of becoming an industrialized and middle-income country by 2025. The education sector, which is the main driving force towards realizing this goal, is expected to bring about the right mix of high-quality skills for the rapid development of quality and adequate human resources. The kind of revolution needed is nevertheless impossible if teachers are not equipped with the necessary skills to bring in the desirable changes. This study adapted Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for 21st-Century skills to investigate teachers’ competence levels of 21st-Century skills using self-reported survey and classroom observations from a sample of 132 teachers in 20 schools in Pwani and Morogoro regions. The study found out that many teachers have moderate self-reported confidence in all TPACK elements with technology. Conversely, teachers self-reported confidence levels in content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge was found to be high. The findings from this study provides valuable insights on how teachers use ICT to prepare students for 21-Century skills capable of supporting the country’s efforts towards developing an industrial economy.
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
Factors Inhibiting Sports Lecturer’s Publication Productivity in International Journals
(2021-11-19) Hanief, Yulingga Nanda; Haqiyah, Aridhotul; Winarno, Mashuri Eko; Pratama, Budiman Agung; Sinulingga, Albadi; Panda, Santosh
Scientific publication is an essential part of research dissemination, irrespective of the productivity effects on lecturers' careers. Therefore, this study aims to determine the internal and external factors inhibiting the productivity of sports lecturers' publication in international journals. This is qualitative descriptive research with a survey method and questionnaire used to collect data from 74 sports lecturers in Indonesia by using Google form. The data were further analyzed to reduce the number of the original variables using the factor analysis method with the validity tests includes KMO (Kaiser Meyer Olkin), Bartlett, and MSA (Measure of Sampling Adequacy) used for reliability. The results showed that the sports lecturer’s writing ability and cost are responsible for inhibiting publications' productivity in international journals as opposed to gender analysis. The majority had limited time to write because most of their activities were carried out in the field. Grants offered by both the government and universities are expected to be absorbed to support the sports lecturers' publication activities in Indonesia. Further studies need to be carried out by analyzing the college type, academic position, and age as considerations for stakeholders to take strategic steps to overcome publication challenges.
Open Access
Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Capacity Building of Organisations and Individuals
(2022-11-21) Kuppuswami, Damodaram; Ferreira, Frances; Panda, Santosh
To ensure its partners have the capacity to implement gender responsive projects, COL introduced an online training programme on gender equality and women’s empowerment. This paper reports the methodology and results in measuring the efficacy of this online training at individual and organisational levels. The ability of individuals and organisations to plan and implement transformative actions with a gender perspective require adequate knowledge, skills and a change in attitudes. Given this need, the commonly used Knowledge, Attitude, Skills (KAS) model was used to measure the efficacy of this online training at individual and organisational levels by defining different dimensions of capacities with three learning domains — Cognitive, Affective, Psychomotor (Bloom’s Taxonomy). The baseline and the end line of KAS at the individual level on the six core gender capacities was established for comparison. Two questionnaires were designed to assess the learning achievements of the participants and to measure the efficacy of the training. An analysis of the study registers a clear trend of positive outcomes at the individual level regarding improved knowledge, attitudes and skills on gender equality that could be applied in their work. Furthermore, the paper reports that the organisations demonstrate an enabling environment for more gender equal policies, structures and practices and proposes ways to convert the success of this training by integrating it into the broader gender equality strategy of these organisations.
Open Access
MOOC Adaptation and Translation to Improve Equity in Participation
(2017-07) Wolfenden, Freda; Cross, Simon; Henry, Fiona
There is an urgent need to improve elementary and secondary school classroom practices across India and the scale of this challenge is argued to demand new approaches to teacher professional learning. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) represent one such approach and one that, in the context of this study, is considered to provide a means by which to transcend traditional training processes and disrupt conventional pedagogic practices. This paper offers a critical review of a large-scale MOOC deployed in English, and then in Hindi, to support targeted sustainable capacity building within an education development initiative (TESS-India) across seven states in India. The study draws on multiple sources of participant data to identify and examine features, which stimulated a buzz around the MOOCs, leading to over 40,000 registrations and a completion rate of approximately 50% for each of the two MOOCs.
Open Access
Supporting Open Practices with Teachers in Zambia
(2019-11-19) Stutchbury, Kris; Gallastegi, Lore; Woodward, Clare
This paper demonstrates how the features and affordances of open learning have been developed in new and productive ways to provide school-based continuing professional development for teachers in Zambia. It presents and critically reviews data from 200 teachers who have taken part in phase 1 of the Zambian Education School-based Training (ZEST) – a project which, over the next three years, will be scaled-up across Zambia. The project is underpinned by the belief that knowledge about teaching is co-constructed through participation in, and reflection on, practice. Thus, the emphasis is on empowering teachers to work together to develop practices appropriate to their context – open practices. In the study, we describe an on-going process of realist evaluation which enables us to establish at an early stage what works in which contexts and informs on-going project planning. It concludes that this approach to evaluation has the potential to be helpful in understanding open practices and how they can be developed.
Open Access
Technology Leadership and ICT Use: Strategies for Capacity Building for ICT integration
(2014) Mwawasi, Felix M
Technology leadership is a fairly new concept in school leadership focus. It has become a concern for study in recent times, in tandem with the pedagogical change of integrating ICT in teaching and learning especially in the developed nations. However, few such studies have been done in Africa. A number of studies in the developed countries have advanced descriptive approaches on how educators should go about the using of ICT in education. Teachers, therefore, need to have prerequisite skills to integrate ICT in teaching and learning and school leaders have a role in enabling the effective use of ICTs. This study aimed at investigating how school leaders help build capacities of teachers to be able to effectively integrate ICT in their teaching and learning, at school level, in a public secondary school in Kenya. Using a qualitative case study approach, five school leaders involved in the capacity building, were purposively sampled for interviews, four teachers were engaged in a Focus Group Discussion and two teachers were observed engaged in classroom practice. Further data was obtained by analysing official school documents. The data analysed indicate the school leaders facilitated increased access to ICT facilities to the teachers and supported them, alongside training, to enable them explore various ways of integrating ICT in teaching and learning.
Open Access
Unlocking the Potential of Public Libraries in Supporting Distance Learning
(2016) Nabushawo, Harriet M; Aguti, Jessica N; Winterbottom, Mark
This paper examines the place of public libraries in supporting distance learners in Makerere University, exploring the factors which affect utilisation of their services. The study adopted a survey design with 300 B.Ed. students, collecting data through focus group discussions, structured questionnaires and individual interviews.

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