GST107 SUMMARY FROM NOUNGEEKS.

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The Distance Education

Distance education has been defined as a field of education that

focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of

delivering teaching to students who are not physically present in a

traditional educational setting, such as the classroom. It is a

system aimed at creating access to learning when time or distance

or both separate the source of information and the learners.

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Open and Distance Learning

Open learning is an innovative movement in education that

emerged in the 1970s. It refers mainly to activities that either

enhance learning opportunities within formal education systems

or broaden learning opportunities beyond the formal education

systems (Wikipedia).

The educational philosophy of open learning emphasizes giving

learners choices about: medium or media of learning, place and

pace of study, support mechanisms as well as entry and exit points.

The combination of the philosophy of open learning and distance

education gave birth to open and distance learning. Open and

distance learning is one of the most rapidly growing fields of

education and its potential impact in all educational delivery has

been greatly accentuated through the development of

Internet-based information technologies, and in particular the

World Wide Web (UNESCO, 2002).

The development of the open and distance learning in Nigeria is

rooted in a policy. The 1977 National Policy on Education (NPE)

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has anticipated the coming of open and distance learning. The 1977

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edition of the NPE states: “maximum efforts will be made to

enable those who can benefit from higher education to be given

access to it. Such access may be through universities or

correspondence courses, or open universities, or part-time and

work study programme”. It is unknown however if this was as a

result of the role of distance education in the lives of some early

Nigerians.

However, in 2002, a new Open University, with the name,

National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) was established

during the tenure of another civilian president, Chief Olusegun

Obasanjo. It has to be on record that Chief Obasanjo not only

established the NOUN, he demonstrated the relevance of the

university by enrolling as a student of the university immediately

he left office as the President. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo started

with the Post Graduate Diploma in Christian Theology after which

he went ahead to the Masters’ Degree and capped it up with a

Doctor of Philosophy degree. Today, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has

made history by becoming the first doctoral graduate of Christian

Theology and of NOUN.

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Characteristics of Open and Distance Learning

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1. Separation of Teacher and Learner

One major distinguishing feature of open and distance learning

system from the conventional system is the distance between the

teachers and the learners. This separation occurs in two planes:

place and time. By place, we mean that the teachers and the

learners do not live or meet at any time. Let us take NOUN as an

example, while the headquarters, which houses most of the

faculties where the lecturers are, is situated at Abuja, the students

are literally scattered across the country. In fact, most of the

students may never meet any of the lecturers till they graduate

from the university. This is distance in place.

2. Accessibility

Apart from accessibility due to relaxation of entry requirements

discussed under openness, open and distance learning offers

“learning opportunities to individuals who are disadvantaged

because of their location or gender or economic constraints” (p. 11).

The disadvantaged people include prisoners.

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NOUN has study centres in many prisons in Nigeria and some of

the prisoners have graduated from their chosen courses. Hitherto,

prisoners in Nigeria have no access to higher education due to the

closed nature of universities and the closed nature of the prison too.

Apart from prisoners, women in purdah too have been securing

access to higher education because of the accessibility offered by

the open and distance learning.

3. Technologically Driven
Even in the days of distance education, technological

advancement had always contributed to the development of the

educational industry. We have also stated in Unit 1 that

technological development accelerated the coming of open and

distance learning. Fozdar (2015) also says that the advancement

of information and communication technologies “have given rise

to new opportunities for sharing information, resources, and

experiences, as well as providing network opportunities with

student peers, tutors, and the instructors”

4. Use of Mixed Media Courseware

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The use of various types of media to pass on instruction to the

learners is a major feature of the open and distance learning

system. The mixed-media courseware includes print, radio,

television broadcast, audio, video, computer-based instruction and

telecommunications. Though we have to admit that this feature is

just partially operated in NOUN currently, it has been clearly

stated in the university’s blueprint that it is the way to go about

instructional delivery. We also have to admit that the university is

striving to ensure that this is done in the nearest time possible.

5. Interactivity

One of the major criticisms against all odds is the lack of contact

between students and lecturers on the one hand between learners

on the other. To resolve this problem, practitioners of open and

distance learning have touted interactivity. Speaking in this vein,

Nakpodia (2010) believes that the

separation of student and teacher imposed by a vital link of

communication between these two important stakeholders in open

and distance learning.

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Learning Characteristics of ODL Learners

1. Motivated

Most learners in the open and distance learning institutions are

said to be intrinsically motivated and thus do not require a lot of

motivation to get them interested in their course of study. It has

been argued that the physical absence of the teacher and other

peers usually leads to distraction and discouragement, therefore,

as a student in the open and distance learning institution you need

to keep yourself motivated. To successfully keep yourself motivated,

it is important to connect with other classmates (Littlefield, 2012).

Also, “collaborating with peers in the discussion groups can be an

effective way to motivate learners to stay on task (Seckel, 2007:23).

2. Adaptation to Technology

For most of the young adults who have found their way into the

open and learning institutions, working in an online environment

may not be a problem as they are all digital natives. However, if

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you are above the age of 50 (you belong to the group that are either

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digital illiterates or digital migrants), there is the need for you to

adapt to the use of technology. As you would have discovered,

there is no way you can survive in NOUN if you are not computer

literate or computer savvy. From your admission process to

registration for courses and examination registration, you have to

go through an automated process. Apart from this, all Tutor

Marked Assignments as well as the 100 and 200 levels,

examinations are administered electronically.

3. Discipline

If you want to be successful as a distance-learning student, you

must be able to discipline yourself. As Cheurprakobkit et al. (2002)

reports, students in online learning environments must possess

“self” behaviours such as “self-discipline, self-monitoring,

self-initiative, and self-management”. For example, as a result of

the physical absence of a lecturer, it is very easy for learners to feel

tired and skip reading assignments. It takes a lot of self-discipline

to be able to read, complete assignments or participate in online

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discussion forums that may be demand usually on a daily basis.

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4. Active Participation

This means that as a student you must participate actively in all the

demands of the course as directed by your facilitator. This includes

participation in the discussion forums as well as the chat forums.

To participate actively means you would have to make you

comments on the discussion topic as well as comment on the

contributions of the other students. This is an essential process of

learning in the open and distance learning environment.

5. Reflective Skills

Reflective skill is one of the important skills expected of an open

and distance learning institution’s student. Dabbagh (2007)

defines reflective skills as the ability to apply frequent and

substantive consideration and assessment of one’s learning process

and products. Through this process, the learner can identify their

strengths and weaknesses and then build up an improvement. As

Seckel (2007) says, these types of assessment takes the form of

“diaries, online blogs, or reflection assignments and are useful in

revisiting the material they have covered in the course, and reflect

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on what was gained from the experience and from the materials

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covered” (p. 25).
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Learners’ Support Services

Garrison and Bayton (1987) define learners’ support services as the

resources that learners can access in order to carry out the learning

process. Garrison (1989) observes that in distance education,

“support is concerned with a range of human and non-human

resources to guide and facilitate the educational transaction”

Simpson (2002) offers another beautiful definition. He

approached the definition of learners’ support from a broader

sense and he sees it as all measures beyond the production of

study materials that support students in their learning process.

However, he brought in another dimension by differentiating

between academic and non-academic support. On academic

support, he wrote:

Academic support consists of: defining the course territory;

explaining concepts; explaining the course; feedback-both

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informal and formal assessment; developing learning skills such

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as numeracy and literacy; chasing progress, following up students’

progress through the course; enrichment-extending the

boundaries of the course and sharing the excitement of learning

(p.9).

Function of Learners’ Support Services

1. Cognitive Function

Cognitive support facilitates learning through the mediation of the

standard and uniform elements of course materials and learning

resources for individual settings (Tait, 2000).

2. Affective Function

Affective services provide an environment that supports students,

creates communities and enhances self-esteem (Tait, 2000:28).

3. Systematic Function

Systemic support services establish administrative processes and

information management systems that are effective, transparent

and student-friendly.

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Types of Learners’ Support Services

1. Teaching and Learning Services

According to Bowa (2008), teaching and learning services consists

of the following activities:

a. Teaching and learning contacts,

 b. Network and learner support centres

c. Compulsory residential schools

2. Social and Personal Support Services

Social and personal needs services includes the following activities:

a. Pre-course registration and counselling

b. Internet and e-mail support

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c. Peer support/study groups

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3. Information Support Services

Chattopadhyay (2014) opines that learners should be provided all

necessary information prior to admission of their course so that

they can make appropriate decisions about their studies and also

have access to all resources and support services. Information

support services include the following:

a. Information on fees and financial support

 b. Information on administrative procedure and

regulations

c. Information on registration and admission

Meaning and Guidelines for Selecting Assessment

Assessment occupies a vital position in the process of teaching and

learning, certification and acquiring knowledge and skills, whether

in a conventional system, or an ODL system. Assessment is a

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sub-system of the total ODL system. A vast mechanism works for
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managing students’ assessment.

All activities an instructor carries out in order to ascertain the level

of achievement and ability of any learner is a form of assessment.

Nitko and Brookhart (2007) described assessment as a process for

obtaining information that is used for making decisions about

students, curricula, programme, schools and educational policy.

Assessing students’ competence involves collecting information to

help decide the degree to which the student has achieved the

learning targets. Assessment is classroom research to provide

useful feedback for the improvement of teaching and learning.

Assessment is feedback from the student to the instructor about

the student’s learning.

Assessment is conducted in the ODL system mainly:

1. To provide feedback to learners starting from assignments to

the term-end examination; to get an idea about what they are

really doing and what they are supposed to do to complete the

programme; and to generate a spirit of consciousness to connect

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the concept of written materials with the varieties of practices

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carried out by the learner.

2. To reach at summative evaluation based on formative

assessment, which helps learners to examine their performance at

every stage of their study and progress successfully to attain the

course objectives.

3. Assessment in ODL is not only meant for students to earn a

grade, it is equally helpful for monitoring the effectiveness of

academic programmes and adopting appropriate strategies to

accomplish institutional objectives.

4. The practice of assessment in ODL is not only for certifying

students, it also impacts their learning improvement and helps

learners to develop a positive attitude towards the institutional

system (Commonwealth of Learning, 1999).

Definition of Evaluation

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Evaluation is a continuous process of inquiry concerned with the

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study, appraisal, and improvement of all aspects of the educational

programmes. Evaluation also leads to decision-making among

several alternatives. The scope of evaluation involves value

judgement, ascertaining the extent to which educational objectives

have been ascertained, effectiveness of appraisal of instructions

and identifying learners’ strength and weaknesses.

Importance of Evaluation/Assessment

1. Instructional Management
Assessment helps you to make decisions on how to plan

instructional activities, placing students into learning sequences,

monitoring students’ progress, diagnose learners’ learning

difficulties, providing students and parents with feedback about

achievements, evaluating teaching effectiveness and assigning

grades to students.

2. Selection

In Nigeria, learners are often considered and selected or rejected

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for admissions into various schools and institutions based in their

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performance in approved assessment bodies like Federal, State,

National examinations council (NECO), West African examination

Council (WAEC) given to them. When institutions use assessment

for selection purpose, it is necessary to show the candidates that

results on the assessment bear a significant relationship to success

in the programme or job for which the institution is selecting

persons.

3. Placement

People are assigned to different levels of the same general type of

instruction, education or work; no one is rejected, but all remain

within the institution to be assigned to some level (Cronbach,

1990).

Types of Assessment

1. Assessment for Learning

Assessment for learning is given for diagnosing learners’ problems

and difficulties during instructional processes. It is administered to

provide remediation to alleviate such difficulties. It is referred to

as formative assessment.

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Formative assessment leads to judgement of students’ about the

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quality of students’ achievement made while students are still in

the process of learning. Its result is used to improve teaching and

to help to guide students’ learning. It provides feedback for

deriving appropriate intervention. Assessment for learning is

especially useful for teachers as they develop, modify and

differentiate teaching and learning activities. It is continuous and

sustained throughout the learning process and indicates to

students their progress and growth.

2. Assessment of Learning

Assessment of learning is cumulative in nature. It is used to

confirm what students already know and what they can do in

relation to the program of studies outcomes. Assessment of

learning is an essential part of your study and it focuses on all

kinds of ways you would have to undergo to test your abilities and

achievement during the course of your study.

It is otherwise called summative assessment. This helps your

instructors to evaluate students after you have finished one or

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more units of study. Summative information is needed about a

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students’ achievement that counts towards grades for a marking

period. It comes at the end of a semester or session to ascertain

what you have attained in course or programme with a view to

awarding you with a degree in the institution. Summative

assessment is also carried out to check whether an educational

programme is successful or not.

3. Assessment as Learning

Assessment as learning focuses on fostering and supporting

metacognitive development in students as they learn to monitor

and reflect upon their own learning and to use the information
gathered to support and direct new learning. This involves taking

assessment as a field of study that one can specialise on and on

which one have in-depth knowledge. As a discipline assessment

makes one to become an expert in order to contribute to that area

of the body of knowledge.

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