Technological Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Education in ... - ADEA

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Technological Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Education in Africa: an overview 17 Neat categorizations, such as those provided above, are increasingly containing too divergent a range of educational practices to remain relevant. This has become particularly problematic in the area of distance education. For example, distributed lecturing systems using videoconferencing equipment and systems using instructionally designed study guides and decentralized tutorial support find themselves located within the same category, although they bear almost no resemblance in terms of pedagogical approach, technologies used, and financial implications. This is not to suggest that one is intrinsically better than the other. It simply points to the inadequacy of planning approaches that assume the planning requirements of both will be adequately met by a single framework called ‘distance education’. Awareness is now growing that elements of distance education have almost always existed in face-to-face programmes, while educators involved in good quality distance education increasingly recognize the importance of different types of face-to-face education as structured elements of their programmes. This trend has rendered rigid distinctions between the two modes of delivery meaningless. One consequence of this is that many education providers are now struggling with the constraints created by maintaining separate ‘modes of delivery’. The Gauteng Youth College in South Africa’s Gauteng province, for example, was set up to exploit the benefits of distance education methods of delivery in providing ‘second-chance’ opportunities to failed matriculants. Amongst the many interesting lessons that this project yielded was a clear understanding that provincial policy and administrative frameworks currently make it very difficult to explore innovative methods of delivery. Key to these policy frameworks is that so many education systems are based on the notion that students will be studying full-time at contact campuses. An appropriate solution to this problem is the conceptual introduction of a planning continuum of education provision: this one that has, as two imaginary poles, (1) provision only at a distance and (2) provision that is solely face-to-face. The reality is that all education provision exists somewhere on this continuum, but cannot be placed strictly at either pole. Educators often end up equating particular methods of education with good quality education, even when these methods are being poorly implemented. The notion of this continuum is free of such premature and unnecessary judgements about quality. 2. Definition of Terms
18 Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning This conceptual shift is vital in changing the structure of education systems around the world. In particular, it allows for greater flexibility and opens possibilities of collaboration, both of which are vital to improvements in educational quality and to the cost-effectiveness of education provision, issues of particular relevance to policy-makers. It allows education providers to plan, implement, and review each education intervention on its own merits, rather than being forced into simplistic, dichotomous categories (such as ‘distance education’ or ‘contact education’), which set arbitrary and unhelpful constraints. This flexibility should form the cornerstone of all education planning processes. Education systems always serve a diversity of people with a wide range of educational needs. There is no single teaching and learning model that will meet these diverse needs equally well. This point seems obvious, but cannot be stressed strongly enough, particularly given the almost innate human desire to find simple, packaged solutions to complex problems. This stance fits well with the move towards open learning as an underlying philosophy to guide educational provision. Open learning is based on the principle of flexibility in order to increase access to education and often forms part of broader equity efforts in society. This approach allows learners much more freedom to determine what, how and when they want to learn than traditional approaches to education. The aim is to provide learning opportunities to a diverse range of learners both originating from, and learning in, different contexts, which affects the way in which successful learning occurs. Within open learning approaches, there is commonly reference to learner-centred approaches, as well as resource-based and autonomous learning. This means that the learner is central, ‘learning to learn’ is in itself a goal, the learner develops critical thinking skills and the ability to learn independently. This philosophy becomes increasingly important in the context of lifelong learning and the need for people to be equipped to function in the knowledge society. 2. Definition of Terms 2.1.3 Distance Education and Technology-Enhanced Learning Linked to the above is an unfortunate trend that has crept into the field of educational technology. This new trend, particularly pervasive in American educational debates but now finding its way into several educational discourses, has been to use ‘distance education’ and
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