05. Pan-Commonwealth Forum 5 (PCF5), 2008

Permanent URI for this collection

http://oasis.col.org/handle/11599/2432

Browse

Browsing 05. Pan-Commonwealth Forum 5 (PCF5), 2008 by Subject "Access"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Democratization of Higher Education: Experiences of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University, India’s First Open University
    (2008) Ramana, Kanaka Sabha
    PCF5: Cross-Cutting Theme // One of the objectives of Open Distance Learning system in India is to democratize higher education by providing access to large segment of the population. In India the Open Distance Learning System mainly focuses on solving the basic problem of providing equal access to higher education. In spite of limited access to higher education India faces another problem that are the inequalities of other kinds with in the education system mainly, the gender inequality and inequalities among the disadvantaged groups such as weaker sections in the larger neglected masses of the country. // Paper ID 558
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Developing Citizens: BBC News for Children and Young People around the World
    (2008) Shreeve, Helen; Crompton, Virginia
    Workshop Session: The BBC has developed complementary strategies to enable young people and children in the UK and around the world to develop as Global Citizens through the News. In a 90 minute participatory workshop we will explore the following projects: Access to the News; Engagement with the News; News Generation; News Dialogue. // Paper ID 432
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Impact of the Access to Information Technology-Mediated Potentials (IT-MP) on the Socio-Educational Practices of Nigeria Citizens
    (2008) Alade, I A; Ogunsola, K
    PCF5: Cross-Cutting Themes // The rapidly growing rate of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the world today has made it to become a very important factor of our everyday life. All along in Nigeria case and some other developing countries, there are avalanche of avenues in which Information Technology-Mediated Potentials (IT-MP) are being presented for peoples’ awareness and usage. The quest for speedy progress in scientific and technological nations largely depends on the potentials of information and communication technology this study therefore examined the impact of the access to Information Technology-Mediated Potentials (ITMP) on the socioeducational practices of Nigerian citizens. The study is a descriptive survey research. Three research questions were raised and answered in the study. A sample of 400 including lecturers, undergraduate students, computer operators and literate community people were sampled. The questionnaire used is named Information Technology-Potentials and Socio-Educational Practices Questionnaire (ITPSEPQ), with a reliability value of 0.87. The finding revealed that IT-MP have brought great gain to Nigeria socio-educational practices to a large extent in some identified areas while some other potentials of IT-MP are still strange to a large percentage of people in Nigeria. Still, the positive impact of the potentials has not been adequately felt by the community people. Also the curses of IT-MP in term of crime and much reliance on artificial intelligence are concerns for the Nigeria populace. The authors recommended the need to increase socioeducational awareness of Nigerians in some of the areas of IT-MP identified in the study, and device the means of checking the reliability of artificial intelligence in IT-MP rather than undisputable reliance on such potentials at all times. // Paper ID 96
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Increasing Access to Higher Education Through Distance Learning – A Case Study of School of Distance Learning and Continuing Education
    (2008) Rathnam, B Venkat
    PCF5: Cross-Cutting Theme // Distance Education is one of the most important educational innovation of the 20th Century (V.S. Prasad, 1998). It is known by different nomenclature in different countries. By 2007, there exists 1086 distance education institutions offering 28,295 courses in 107 countries. In India, the Open Distance Learning (ODL) is offered under Dual Mode System (K. Murali Manohar, 1996), viz., (a) Distance Learning Directorate such as SDLCE under conventional universities. There are 64 such directorates in India. (b) Exclusive Open Universities System such as Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). There are 13 such exclusive open universities. The present paper concentrates on the School of Distance Learning and Continuing Education (SDLCE) of Kakatiya University, Andhra Pradesh, India. // Paper ID 533
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    New Paradigm in Access to Education: The University of Ibadan Distance Learning Centre's Experience
    (2008) Aderinoye, Rashid
    PCF5: Cross-Cutting Theme // The University of Ibadan established in 1948 to promote higher education has always been conscious of ensuring that its gate remained open to many prospective learners rather than few. This perhaps informed its decision in 1988 to establish a unit that will further provide access to those who for reasons of geographical location, occupation and time constraint among others could not afford to attend the conventional system. Since the establishment of the Distance Learning Centre (DLC), student population has been very low until recently when there was a noticeable increase in the enrolment. The increase in enrolment became obvious during the last two students matriculation when it jumped from hundreds to thousands of students. Reasons for this have not been empirically established. The purpose of this paper was to find out among others, factors responsible for the sudden upsurge in student enrolment, the reaction of the entire university community, the fears and expectations of the students and mechanisms put in place by the university to cope with the large enrolment without jeopardizing quality and interest of the conventional programmes vis-à-vis the distance learning mode. The paper further investigates the role of ICT embraced by the Centre as against the heavy reliance on professional teachers in the line post. The instruments used to obtain data for this study were: interview schedule, management information provider and student response questionnaires, and the review of essential literature and related documents. The paper was concluded with recommendations that promote inclusive learning rather than exclusive learning without necessarily sacrificing the quality of the various programmes of the Centre. // Paper ID 313
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Web Accessibility: Does It Have a Role in Delivering Distance Education?
    (2008) Wijayaratne, Anusha
    PCF5: Cross-Cutting Theme // Web accessibility is a hot topic in international forums of professionals who are dealing with WWW to communicate with their clientele as it is very vital in facilitating various ways that users access information. Distance educationists are vastly using the Web channel in delivering their courses and support services. Therefore, Web accessibility is very important for distance educationists, particularly after they have promised to provide equal educational opportunities for ALL. However, when considering the findings of the study conducted to identify the current status of accessibility of Open University Websites of Commonwealth countries it is obvious that there is a long delay in applying the accessibility techniques in designing the Websites in the distance education sector. Paper ID 159