OPEN LEARNING RESEARCH PROJECT (5)
3.4.2 Open Access
Open access for students to a HEI’s forms the very core of the philosophy of OL. That is the widening of access with success for the system in open but to ensure success applicants are still have to be selected according to HEI’s criteria. Two possibilities, entrance or rejection stare any applicant in the face.
If it is rejection on academic qualifications only, it may be fair, but when it is due to space and financial reasons, it discriminates against potential students who might have become very successful academics. This is where the new strategic approach of African Universities involves working with and supporting activities in partner institutions to enhance their institutional capacity in Open, Distance and electronic Learning (ODEL).
Teaching methodologies thus have to be adapted for co-operations so that HEI’s can increase equitable access to their demand-driven programs (Kuzvinetsa, 2005: 2).
Due to the fact that the ODeL-model is more cost effective, i.e. where additional infrastructures are not unnecessarily duplicated, more money will be available to finance the very poor applicants with good academic points on the Swedish scale, to enter HEI’s. ODEL, which has a proven track record of flexible and modular course provision, becomes a viable and sustainable option for converting African millions of human resources currently subsisting on less than US $ 1 per day from a liability to an asset that can become pivotal in social economic development states professor. Dzvimbo Kuzvinetsa (2005).
The rejected applicants on the grounds of their academic points on the Swedish scale are also given a chance within an OL-system to enter HE via bridging programmes. Multiple examples already exist in South Africa such as the Free State Higher and Further Education Consortium (FSHEC) and others such as Cape Higher Education Consortium, where academically deprives students can commence with their academic careers (CHEC;2005).
Of course the open access philosophy still poses problems of its own. Often individual course groups or social groups could keep on demanding to dominate a certain facility. Subsequently group behaviour should be monitored very closely and must be discouraged (Briggs, 1999: 324).
A large strong group of IT students does not necessary mean it is a needs or demand driven course if they are not going to get a place in the job market. It becomes a balancing trick not to be misled either by such behavior patterns.
OL is also aimed to enhance student persistence. Mantz Yorke (2004; 26) deliberately does not use “retention” because its is deliberate while “persistence does not necessarily imply the lack of a break in engagement, and encompasses re-engagement with the same provider after a deliberate break (the term ‘repeat business’ might be used here)”.
Equal access to OL is also reliable for adults with disabilities or caring responsibilities. These student cohorts may have specific needs arising from their circumstances. Their attendance patterns are more vulnerable. Subsequently they have to work at their own pace and may take longer than the average students to finish their academic qualifications. By its very nature OL offers more flexibility and customized curricular to fulfill in the needs of these students (Edmunds, 2001: 11).
3.4.3 Philosophy and Origion of Co-operative Education
Co-operative Education has its origin with Professor Herman Schneider at Lehigh University in Pennsyvania, USA. Schneider enrolled at Lehigh University as a student in 1980, studying architecture and engineering. During his studies he worked part-time and between sessions to help pay for his education. After graduation he entered the business world before returning to Lehigh University five years after graduation. He soon concluded that traditional classroom instruction could take engineering and other technical students only so far.
He devised the framework of co-operative education, believing it to be the ideal educational model: students could learn their craft in a work setting, while also earning a wage to help cover the rising cost of HE. At the same time they could make professional contacts that could lead to employment opportunities after graduation. Co-operative education thus consists of two parts, namely academic components and a work experience components (experiential learning). (Jacobs, 2005).
3.4.4 Definition of Co-operative Education
Co-operative education can thus be defined as a method of education that combines learning in the classroom with learning in the workplace.
Students put their academic knowledge into action through relevant work experiences gained in commerce, industry and the public sector.
Co-operative education includes the following features:
It is a strategy of applied learning;
It involves a structured programme developed and supervised by an educational institution in collaboration with one or more companies/organizations;
Relevant productive work is an integral part of a student’s academic programme and an essential component of the final assessment.
It is important to note that there is a vast difference between experiential learning and work experience. (Jacobs: 2005)
There are five classes of “in-service training”:
Observation. The student is exposed to real problems in practice, but does not actively take part in the work or solution of problems. Is usually not paid.
General work experience. Students perform work, and may become involved with projects. No structures training and work is not necessarily related to formal training. There is usually some form of remuneration.
Work-study plan. Students work in approved posts. The work may (coincidentally) be related to formal studies. The institution has title or no contact with students during these periods of work. Students are dependent upon the employer for what they learn. Students usually work for remuneration.
Co-operative education and career development. Here the main objective is the promotion of the competency of the student by participation in the work situation. Students are appointed in temporary positions. The work is related to formal studies and the institution liaises with employers and students. There is usually some form of remuneration or other benefits.
Internship. The purpose of placing students for internship is normally twofold. Firstly, it offers students the opportunity to become familiar with the demands and dignity of work and secondly, students are able to test their abilities and shortcomings in actual situations. Internships are used in the training of medical personnel, accountants, professional engineers, etc. There is usually remuneration during the training.
In the ideal case HEI’s students will follow a structured training programme in which they will be exposed to different problems that arise in practice. The student will be actively involved with work and problems solving under the guidance of a mentor (Jacobs, 2005).
The academic component is provided by formal instruction (classroom teaching) in the lecture rooms, and is supplemented by experimental work in the HEI laboratories.
Laboratory sessions for students contribute to a thorough grouping in theory and principles, as well as practical techniques. Such laboratory work is normally performed at HEI and is not part of the experiential learning programme.
The experiential learning components has to allow for career development as focuses on the present needs, the short term projected needs as well as the expected long-term needs of both the worker (student) and the employer.
Experiential learning component is planned according to “job description” and career requirement and is integrated with CUT courses. Experiential learning usually consists of a structured programme and stressed that it should not be confused with work experience. (Jacobs, 2005). It is clearly differentiates as follows:
Formal training modules refer to training opportunities with clearly defines aims and objectives. The progress of the student’s development and competencies are measured against predetermined criteria;
Vocational learning experiences (formal training) refer to the experience gained by exposure to the real life of the actual work situation;
Career experiences refers to those aspects to which the student is exposed during his/her experiential learning relating to career development such as formal and informal lines of authority; as well as the scope and relevance of his position in the company/organization;
Outcomes. The ”outcomes” of a Co-operative Education programme should be described in terms of:
The knowledge base that the student should accumulate;
Skills that the student is able to apply; and
Vocational attitudes that have been instilled.
The required outcomes should be clearly defined at the outset. The outcomes should focus not only on predetermined, measurable skills but must also allow for the acquisition of knowledge and personal skills which are not coupled to planned training elements.
3.4.5 Curriculum Development within Co-operative Education models.
According to Weise and Chapman (2004: 247) a major benefit to academic institutions through participation in co-op is curriculum development and content. Any one or combinations of, the three co-op partners can drive curriculum change. Examples range from specifically tailored courses for industry needs to more genetic courses that prepare students for a broader work place. Academic institutions must be responsive to the changing needs of industry and course material must be entirely relevant. Work-integrated learning, for example, is becoming a key aspect of undergraduate programs (Canter and Frame, 2001) and is closely linked with outcome driven curricula that focus on ability to “do” and not just to “know” (Boud, 2001).
Employer involvement in curricula is often facilitated through joint ventures with industry committees on campus and various partnership involving government and industry. In Australia major employers proposed a joint venture with government and tertiary institutions to introduce a new information technology degree (Fry and Hughes, 1997). This was in response to a serious shortage of qualified information systems practitioners. The new degree was aimed at high-achieving students financed by industry scholarships. Company staff was involved in developing course material and guest lecturing. This was followed by another innovative program driven by the institution, involving a new postgraduate degree in management for business managers (Jacobs, 2005).
In New Zealand surveys of industrial employers highlighted major deficiencies in the required skills and abilities of recent science and technology graduates (Chapman, 1995; Chapman and Kirk, 1992). As a consequence and with the assistance of employers, a new course on science management was developed and delivered within the school of Science and Technology. The course, consisting of a number of short modules covering science business, communication, accounting, marketing, quality management, and human resource management, quickly attracted the largest number of students for any second-year course offered in the school. This is described by Hodges, McSporran, Rainbury, and Sutherland (1996), where a first business studies degree was developed for their university by studying and modeling similar degree offered nationally and overseas (Jacobs, 2005).
In Canada co-op was responsible for rationalizing a large number of departmental training courses (McRae, 1996). A new genetic course resulted, and is now offered on the Internet. This course and others like it are examples of cost-effective curricula development where successful co-op models can be used as the basis for new course (Jacobs, 2005).
Probably the most exciting facet of curriculum development has involved interaction between academic supervisors and the world of work (Apostolides and Looye, 1997 and Baird and Groenwald, 1996 and Faraday, 1999). Enormous benefits to academic institutions result from these interactions in the form of new courses, course relevance, and the importance of continuous consultation with industry to ensure that class material is meeting industry needs. The concept of total education (Apostolides and Looye, 1997) is better met by the integration of academic study with the co-op work experience. In this study a pattern of work assignments was shown to affect the qualities of overall learning which resulted in the modification, order, and focus in which certain courses were subsequently offered. In this case the modified curricula better reflected the needs of students at appropriate times during the degree. (Jacobs, 2005).
3.4.6 Service Learning
Non formal and formal service Learning is very much related to Co-operative Education (read experiential or in service training) within the overall philosophy of OL. The HEQC-approach is very much in line with their philosophical approach to Community Engagement and Service Learning.
3.4.7 Life Long Learning
Lifelong learning is an integral part of the struggle for substantive democracy and social justice in southern African states. Bezuidenhout (2004: 102).
The various new policies and practices being implemented in the South African educational system can be seen as building blocks towards a lifelong learning system. Lifelong learning as a concept is visionary and therefore poses profound andragogical and organizational implications that are yet to be explored and fully understood. (RSA, 2003: [online] (Isaacman, 1996: 33).
Focus must continually be shifted between the individual and the context of that individual, with neither point being separated form the other. An individual comprises a human being, but also a worker and a citizen of a country, with each individual having his/her own social context. The role of lifelong learning in these contexts has varied throughout history, with it having addresses the needs of production (worker), society (citizen) and culture (human being) to varying degrees at different times (RSA, 2003: [online]).
Lifelong learning exists in all societies in different forms as people move through their life stages. There are many “lifelong educations”, as lifelong learning refers to the totality of learning activities, with these being classified by Paul Belanger into three specific constituent elements:
Initial education: Those individuals who participate more in learning activities during different periods of adult life are those who had a better longer initial education, since the general cumulative pattern of educational participation is highly influenced by initial education;
Adult education: There has been a rapid expansion of the social demand for organized adult education over the past 20 years, including vocational, community and HE. The provision of adult education does not conform to an organizational pattern, but is rather diffused over many structures and arrangements (compare 5.3).
Diffuse learning environments: Learning does not take place only through organized educational, formal or non-formal processes – there are also numerous informal learning events and processes. Various cultural factors influence adult educational aspirations and learning achievement in initial education as well as adult education, including attitude towards education, the predisposition towards specific types of learning in the family or environment, the mere availability of books, the prevailing attitudes towards written communication, and the presence of a local cultural infrastructure (RSA, 2003: [online])(Isaacman. 1996: 31).
A challenging vision of HEI’s transformed for OL comes form Lord Michael Young of Dartington and was first elaborated at a conference in Swaziland, of the 25th anniversary of the Distance Education Association of Southern Africa (DEASA).
“Lifelong learning is all very well as a noble slogan, but it would be of little overall value if it were only lifelong learning for the few and not the many. In the fullness of time nothing less than universal learning will suffice. The educational battle between the champions of the few and the champions of the many has been joined… It is an outflanking policy I am presenting traversing a circuitous route towards mass engagement. It is to make universities which have done so much to enlarge inequality the instruments of equality instead … I know it will be a long time before the University of London is established. The University of Namibia, or Zimbabwe or Ghana or Delhi or Hong Kong could come beforehand, at any rate with that spirit if not the name. (Young, 1999)”. (Dodds. 2001: 505).
A good African example how to approach Life Long Learning within an OL system, would be that of the University of Namibia. It implies a close monitoring process to determine successful indicators. (Dodds. 2001: 506). This he says, is the most difficult part of the research, i.e. “How do we think at this stage how we will change HE and if so, what will it look like. Dodds formulates the following three critical areas:
The extent to which we have achieves mass or at least open access to HE. We will measure this primarily by numbers – what percentage of those who are competent to undertake HE formal (i.e. assessment/qualification-oriented) programmes are enrolled to do so? This will largely depend on: the extent to which we have been able to put on place open, or at least flexible, entry systems to replace the strict and rigid assessment/qualification criteria in place at present; the extent to which we have created curricular constructs that attract students from many walks of life to see university studies as relevant to their lives and their work; and whether we have been able to put in place flexible delivery structures which ensure that students are able to study with a reasonable prospect of success.
Our success in re-organizing all our teaching and curricula to promote the development of all our students, at all levels (pre-graduate, undergraduate, postgraduate and non-qualification), in all modes of delivery (full time, part time, face-to-face or distance) of the skills and attitudes of lifelong learning.
Our demonstrated ability to set up and maintain structures that provide access to programmes through which the specialist intellectual resources of a HE institution are made available to all who are interested in, or can be attracted to them, regardless of previous educational background or lack of it, in understandable forms and language. This assumes an ability to make the campus equal the community or, in the case of Namibia, the nation, in ways that are real, not virtual, but which exploit to the full all media and technologies to which the intended audiences have access or can be given access. Dodds, argues that “no reasons why barely literate or newly literate farmers cannot understand the most advanced concepts of agricultural science or economics as they relate to their opportunities for improved livelihood through farming, or why mothers who had very little formal education before becoming mothers cannot understand the most complicated ideas of health science or HIV/AIDS prevention strategies as they relate to their children. The challenge is to academics to find the language and contexts in which to present their specialized knowledge and concepts”(Dodds; 2001:507).
Tony Dodds further argues that open and lifelong learning are the obvious directions for universities to go in the 21st century and that such development grow naturally out of their traditional roles and values. However, to incorporate these new directions and to build them into the structures of a university in order to ensure that they become fully institutionalized require significant changes in the ways of operating. He defines (2001: 8) nine essential; conditions under which such programmes can be implemented:
“The first and possibly the most revolutionary transformation that will be needed is the establishment of much more open entry or admission systems to qualification programmes. There is ample and increasing evidence that school qualifications are entirely unreliable predictors of mature students’ ability to cope successfully with learning programmes. An additional consideration is that, under an open learning system, the additional cost per student of a few students whose entry suitability is in doubt, but who are determined to try, is marginal.
A second necessary change will be the introduction of flexible curriculum construction, which will enable students to select courses and modules that meet their learning needs in ways that do not at present add up to normal degree curricula. This might well demand much more cross-faculty combinations than are at present allowed or which would be logically possible in full-time face-to-face teaching circumstances.
The third set of conditions, or pre-conditions, are self-evidence; study structures that enable adult students to study while they earn (part-time study) and in places that are removed from the universities’ full-time teaching campuses distance education modes of study).
A fourth condition arises from the third: a much more flexible scheduling of progress through a qualification. Part-time and distance adult students may need to take significant periods of time off from their studies for reasons that related to other parts of their lives and to return to complete their degrees after such breaks. For the sake of continuity, there probably needs to be limits on this flexibility. However, it is vital that such mature part-time students can plan vary the pace at which they study in ways that allow more flexibility than full-time studies allow.
The fifth structural necessity is that an open and distance learning system through which lifelong learning opportunities are made available builds in effective student support networks to assist all its students to study with a reasonable chance of success. These are not exclusively structures through which face-to-face tutorial support is provided but they will usually include facilities for such contact. The growing, though very far from complete, access of students to new ICT facilities greatly enhances our ability to respond to this need.
A six condition is the acceptance of the ability students to move in and out of different modes of study or between them. Students who start as open learning should have the opportunity to enroll as full-time students at certain points of their progress, when they have completes courses to a point where they could easily fit into the full-time schedules. Similarly students who start as full-time students should have the opportunity to transfer to open learning if their circumstances or their preferences lead them to wish to do so.
A seventh and again somewhat radical; conditions for full-scale open and lifelong learning would be the flexibility for students to choose, as part of their degree with a particular local university, to take courses that they access through open learning from other universities, even from other countries. This would provide them with options that their local university does not provide, but they would need to be credited towards their degree by their local university; these possibilities are hugely increased by the growing availability on a global basis of access to enroll for courses through web-based delivery. The issues of accreditation of such cross-institution study and of credit transfer remain extremely difficult; the 21st century universities are going to have to find solutions.
An eighth conditions is that the university outreach – through non-degree and often non-tertiary programmes of adult and continuing education, aiming to make the universities’ intellectual power-house available to all – are recognized and funded as essential; university activities.
My final condition takes us back to the issue of ensuring that all university curricula include, as a high priority objective, the creation of lifelong learners by including the development of lifelong learning skills and attitudes as integral parts of those curricula. This will not happen on its own; universities will have to put in place incentives and regulations and curriculum development structures which ensure that it does" (Dodds, 2001: 508).
Open access for students to a HEI’s forms the very core of the philosophy of OL. That is the widening of access with success for the system in open but to ensure success applicants are still have to be selected according to HEI’s criteria. Two possibilities, entrance or rejection stare any applicant in the face.
If it is rejection on academic qualifications only, it may be fair, but when it is due to space and financial reasons, it discriminates against potential students who might have become very successful academics. This is where the new strategic approach of African Universities involves working with and supporting activities in partner institutions to enhance their institutional capacity in Open, Distance and electronic Learning (ODEL).
Teaching methodologies thus have to be adapted for co-operations so that HEI’s can increase equitable access to their demand-driven programs (Kuzvinetsa, 2005: 2).
Due to the fact that the ODeL-model is more cost effective, i.e. where additional infrastructures are not unnecessarily duplicated, more money will be available to finance the very poor applicants with good academic points on the Swedish scale, to enter HEI’s. ODEL, which has a proven track record of flexible and modular course provision, becomes a viable and sustainable option for converting African millions of human resources currently subsisting on less than US $ 1 per day from a liability to an asset that can become pivotal in social economic development states professor. Dzvimbo Kuzvinetsa (2005).
The rejected applicants on the grounds of their academic points on the Swedish scale are also given a chance within an OL-system to enter HE via bridging programmes. Multiple examples already exist in South Africa such as the Free State Higher and Further Education Consortium (FSHEC) and others such as Cape Higher Education Consortium, where academically deprives students can commence with their academic careers (CHEC;2005).
Of course the open access philosophy still poses problems of its own. Often individual course groups or social groups could keep on demanding to dominate a certain facility. Subsequently group behaviour should be monitored very closely and must be discouraged (Briggs, 1999: 324).
A large strong group of IT students does not necessary mean it is a needs or demand driven course if they are not going to get a place in the job market. It becomes a balancing trick not to be misled either by such behavior patterns.
OL is also aimed to enhance student persistence. Mantz Yorke (2004; 26) deliberately does not use “retention” because its is deliberate while “persistence does not necessarily imply the lack of a break in engagement, and encompasses re-engagement with the same provider after a deliberate break (the term ‘repeat business’ might be used here)”.
Equal access to OL is also reliable for adults with disabilities or caring responsibilities. These student cohorts may have specific needs arising from their circumstances. Their attendance patterns are more vulnerable. Subsequently they have to work at their own pace and may take longer than the average students to finish their academic qualifications. By its very nature OL offers more flexibility and customized curricular to fulfill in the needs of these students (Edmunds, 2001: 11).
3.4.3 Philosophy and Origion of Co-operative Education
Co-operative Education has its origin with Professor Herman Schneider at Lehigh University in Pennsyvania, USA. Schneider enrolled at Lehigh University as a student in 1980, studying architecture and engineering. During his studies he worked part-time and between sessions to help pay for his education. After graduation he entered the business world before returning to Lehigh University five years after graduation. He soon concluded that traditional classroom instruction could take engineering and other technical students only so far.
He devised the framework of co-operative education, believing it to be the ideal educational model: students could learn their craft in a work setting, while also earning a wage to help cover the rising cost of HE. At the same time they could make professional contacts that could lead to employment opportunities after graduation. Co-operative education thus consists of two parts, namely academic components and a work experience components (experiential learning). (Jacobs, 2005).
3.4.4 Definition of Co-operative Education
Co-operative education can thus be defined as a method of education that combines learning in the classroom with learning in the workplace.
Students put their academic knowledge into action through relevant work experiences gained in commerce, industry and the public sector.
Co-operative education includes the following features:
It is a strategy of applied learning;
It involves a structured programme developed and supervised by an educational institution in collaboration with one or more companies/organizations;
Relevant productive work is an integral part of a student’s academic programme and an essential component of the final assessment.
It is important to note that there is a vast difference between experiential learning and work experience. (Jacobs: 2005)
There are five classes of “in-service training”:
Observation. The student is exposed to real problems in practice, but does not actively take part in the work or solution of problems. Is usually not paid.
General work experience. Students perform work, and may become involved with projects. No structures training and work is not necessarily related to formal training. There is usually some form of remuneration.
Work-study plan. Students work in approved posts. The work may (coincidentally) be related to formal studies. The institution has title or no contact with students during these periods of work. Students are dependent upon the employer for what they learn. Students usually work for remuneration.
Co-operative education and career development. Here the main objective is the promotion of the competency of the student by participation in the work situation. Students are appointed in temporary positions. The work is related to formal studies and the institution liaises with employers and students. There is usually some form of remuneration or other benefits.
Internship. The purpose of placing students for internship is normally twofold. Firstly, it offers students the opportunity to become familiar with the demands and dignity of work and secondly, students are able to test their abilities and shortcomings in actual situations. Internships are used in the training of medical personnel, accountants, professional engineers, etc. There is usually remuneration during the training.
In the ideal case HEI’s students will follow a structured training programme in which they will be exposed to different problems that arise in practice. The student will be actively involved with work and problems solving under the guidance of a mentor (Jacobs, 2005).
The academic component is provided by formal instruction (classroom teaching) in the lecture rooms, and is supplemented by experimental work in the HEI laboratories.
Laboratory sessions for students contribute to a thorough grouping in theory and principles, as well as practical techniques. Such laboratory work is normally performed at HEI and is not part of the experiential learning programme.
The experiential learning components has to allow for career development as focuses on the present needs, the short term projected needs as well as the expected long-term needs of both the worker (student) and the employer.
Experiential learning component is planned according to “job description” and career requirement and is integrated with CUT courses. Experiential learning usually consists of a structured programme and stressed that it should not be confused with work experience. (Jacobs, 2005). It is clearly differentiates as follows:
Formal training modules refer to training opportunities with clearly defines aims and objectives. The progress of the student’s development and competencies are measured against predetermined criteria;
Vocational learning experiences (formal training) refer to the experience gained by exposure to the real life of the actual work situation;
Career experiences refers to those aspects to which the student is exposed during his/her experiential learning relating to career development such as formal and informal lines of authority; as well as the scope and relevance of his position in the company/organization;
Outcomes. The ”outcomes” of a Co-operative Education programme should be described in terms of:
The knowledge base that the student should accumulate;
Skills that the student is able to apply; and
Vocational attitudes that have been instilled.
The required outcomes should be clearly defined at the outset. The outcomes should focus not only on predetermined, measurable skills but must also allow for the acquisition of knowledge and personal skills which are not coupled to planned training elements.
3.4.5 Curriculum Development within Co-operative Education models.
According to Weise and Chapman (2004: 247) a major benefit to academic institutions through participation in co-op is curriculum development and content. Any one or combinations of, the three co-op partners can drive curriculum change. Examples range from specifically tailored courses for industry needs to more genetic courses that prepare students for a broader work place. Academic institutions must be responsive to the changing needs of industry and course material must be entirely relevant. Work-integrated learning, for example, is becoming a key aspect of undergraduate programs (Canter and Frame, 2001) and is closely linked with outcome driven curricula that focus on ability to “do” and not just to “know” (Boud, 2001).
Employer involvement in curricula is often facilitated through joint ventures with industry committees on campus and various partnership involving government and industry. In Australia major employers proposed a joint venture with government and tertiary institutions to introduce a new information technology degree (Fry and Hughes, 1997). This was in response to a serious shortage of qualified information systems practitioners. The new degree was aimed at high-achieving students financed by industry scholarships. Company staff was involved in developing course material and guest lecturing. This was followed by another innovative program driven by the institution, involving a new postgraduate degree in management for business managers (Jacobs, 2005).
In New Zealand surveys of industrial employers highlighted major deficiencies in the required skills and abilities of recent science and technology graduates (Chapman, 1995; Chapman and Kirk, 1992). As a consequence and with the assistance of employers, a new course on science management was developed and delivered within the school of Science and Technology. The course, consisting of a number of short modules covering science business, communication, accounting, marketing, quality management, and human resource management, quickly attracted the largest number of students for any second-year course offered in the school. This is described by Hodges, McSporran, Rainbury, and Sutherland (1996), where a first business studies degree was developed for their university by studying and modeling similar degree offered nationally and overseas (Jacobs, 2005).
In Canada co-op was responsible for rationalizing a large number of departmental training courses (McRae, 1996). A new genetic course resulted, and is now offered on the Internet. This course and others like it are examples of cost-effective curricula development where successful co-op models can be used as the basis for new course (Jacobs, 2005).
Probably the most exciting facet of curriculum development has involved interaction between academic supervisors and the world of work (Apostolides and Looye, 1997 and Baird and Groenwald, 1996 and Faraday, 1999). Enormous benefits to academic institutions result from these interactions in the form of new courses, course relevance, and the importance of continuous consultation with industry to ensure that class material is meeting industry needs. The concept of total education (Apostolides and Looye, 1997) is better met by the integration of academic study with the co-op work experience. In this study a pattern of work assignments was shown to affect the qualities of overall learning which resulted in the modification, order, and focus in which certain courses were subsequently offered. In this case the modified curricula better reflected the needs of students at appropriate times during the degree. (Jacobs, 2005).
3.4.6 Service Learning
Non formal and formal service Learning is very much related to Co-operative Education (read experiential or in service training) within the overall philosophy of OL. The HEQC-approach is very much in line with their philosophical approach to Community Engagement and Service Learning.
3.4.7 Life Long Learning
Lifelong learning is an integral part of the struggle for substantive democracy and social justice in southern African states. Bezuidenhout (2004: 102).
The various new policies and practices being implemented in the South African educational system can be seen as building blocks towards a lifelong learning system. Lifelong learning as a concept is visionary and therefore poses profound andragogical and organizational implications that are yet to be explored and fully understood. (RSA, 2003: [online] (Isaacman, 1996: 33).
Focus must continually be shifted between the individual and the context of that individual, with neither point being separated form the other. An individual comprises a human being, but also a worker and a citizen of a country, with each individual having his/her own social context. The role of lifelong learning in these contexts has varied throughout history, with it having addresses the needs of production (worker), society (citizen) and culture (human being) to varying degrees at different times (RSA, 2003: [online]).
Lifelong learning exists in all societies in different forms as people move through their life stages. There are many “lifelong educations”, as lifelong learning refers to the totality of learning activities, with these being classified by Paul Belanger into three specific constituent elements:
Initial education: Those individuals who participate more in learning activities during different periods of adult life are those who had a better longer initial education, since the general cumulative pattern of educational participation is highly influenced by initial education;
Adult education: There has been a rapid expansion of the social demand for organized adult education over the past 20 years, including vocational, community and HE. The provision of adult education does not conform to an organizational pattern, but is rather diffused over many structures and arrangements (compare 5.3).
Diffuse learning environments: Learning does not take place only through organized educational, formal or non-formal processes – there are also numerous informal learning events and processes. Various cultural factors influence adult educational aspirations and learning achievement in initial education as well as adult education, including attitude towards education, the predisposition towards specific types of learning in the family or environment, the mere availability of books, the prevailing attitudes towards written communication, and the presence of a local cultural infrastructure (RSA, 2003: [online])(Isaacman. 1996: 31).
A challenging vision of HEI’s transformed for OL comes form Lord Michael Young of Dartington and was first elaborated at a conference in Swaziland, of the 25th anniversary of the Distance Education Association of Southern Africa (DEASA).
“Lifelong learning is all very well as a noble slogan, but it would be of little overall value if it were only lifelong learning for the few and not the many. In the fullness of time nothing less than universal learning will suffice. The educational battle between the champions of the few and the champions of the many has been joined… It is an outflanking policy I am presenting traversing a circuitous route towards mass engagement. It is to make universities which have done so much to enlarge inequality the instruments of equality instead … I know it will be a long time before the University of London is established. The University of Namibia, or Zimbabwe or Ghana or Delhi or Hong Kong could come beforehand, at any rate with that spirit if not the name. (Young, 1999)”. (Dodds. 2001: 505).
A good African example how to approach Life Long Learning within an OL system, would be that of the University of Namibia. It implies a close monitoring process to determine successful indicators. (Dodds. 2001: 506). This he says, is the most difficult part of the research, i.e. “How do we think at this stage how we will change HE and if so, what will it look like. Dodds formulates the following three critical areas:
The extent to which we have achieves mass or at least open access to HE. We will measure this primarily by numbers – what percentage of those who are competent to undertake HE formal (i.e. assessment/qualification-oriented) programmes are enrolled to do so? This will largely depend on: the extent to which we have been able to put on place open, or at least flexible, entry systems to replace the strict and rigid assessment/qualification criteria in place at present; the extent to which we have created curricular constructs that attract students from many walks of life to see university studies as relevant to their lives and their work; and whether we have been able to put in place flexible delivery structures which ensure that students are able to study with a reasonable prospect of success.
Our success in re-organizing all our teaching and curricula to promote the development of all our students, at all levels (pre-graduate, undergraduate, postgraduate and non-qualification), in all modes of delivery (full time, part time, face-to-face or distance) of the skills and attitudes of lifelong learning.
Our demonstrated ability to set up and maintain structures that provide access to programmes through which the specialist intellectual resources of a HE institution are made available to all who are interested in, or can be attracted to them, regardless of previous educational background or lack of it, in understandable forms and language. This assumes an ability to make the campus equal the community or, in the case of Namibia, the nation, in ways that are real, not virtual, but which exploit to the full all media and technologies to which the intended audiences have access or can be given access. Dodds, argues that “no reasons why barely literate or newly literate farmers cannot understand the most advanced concepts of agricultural science or economics as they relate to their opportunities for improved livelihood through farming, or why mothers who had very little formal education before becoming mothers cannot understand the most complicated ideas of health science or HIV/AIDS prevention strategies as they relate to their children. The challenge is to academics to find the language and contexts in which to present their specialized knowledge and concepts”(Dodds; 2001:507).
Tony Dodds further argues that open and lifelong learning are the obvious directions for universities to go in the 21st century and that such development grow naturally out of their traditional roles and values. However, to incorporate these new directions and to build them into the structures of a university in order to ensure that they become fully institutionalized require significant changes in the ways of operating. He defines (2001: 8) nine essential; conditions under which such programmes can be implemented:
“The first and possibly the most revolutionary transformation that will be needed is the establishment of much more open entry or admission systems to qualification programmes. There is ample and increasing evidence that school qualifications are entirely unreliable predictors of mature students’ ability to cope successfully with learning programmes. An additional consideration is that, under an open learning system, the additional cost per student of a few students whose entry suitability is in doubt, but who are determined to try, is marginal.
A second necessary change will be the introduction of flexible curriculum construction, which will enable students to select courses and modules that meet their learning needs in ways that do not at present add up to normal degree curricula. This might well demand much more cross-faculty combinations than are at present allowed or which would be logically possible in full-time face-to-face teaching circumstances.
The third set of conditions, or pre-conditions, are self-evidence; study structures that enable adult students to study while they earn (part-time study) and in places that are removed from the universities’ full-time teaching campuses distance education modes of study).
A fourth condition arises from the third: a much more flexible scheduling of progress through a qualification. Part-time and distance adult students may need to take significant periods of time off from their studies for reasons that related to other parts of their lives and to return to complete their degrees after such breaks. For the sake of continuity, there probably needs to be limits on this flexibility. However, it is vital that such mature part-time students can plan vary the pace at which they study in ways that allow more flexibility than full-time studies allow.
The fifth structural necessity is that an open and distance learning system through which lifelong learning opportunities are made available builds in effective student support networks to assist all its students to study with a reasonable chance of success. These are not exclusively structures through which face-to-face tutorial support is provided but they will usually include facilities for such contact. The growing, though very far from complete, access of students to new ICT facilities greatly enhances our ability to respond to this need.
A six condition is the acceptance of the ability students to move in and out of different modes of study or between them. Students who start as open learning should have the opportunity to enroll as full-time students at certain points of their progress, when they have completes courses to a point where they could easily fit into the full-time schedules. Similarly students who start as full-time students should have the opportunity to transfer to open learning if their circumstances or their preferences lead them to wish to do so.
A seventh and again somewhat radical; conditions for full-scale open and lifelong learning would be the flexibility for students to choose, as part of their degree with a particular local university, to take courses that they access through open learning from other universities, even from other countries. This would provide them with options that their local university does not provide, but they would need to be credited towards their degree by their local university; these possibilities are hugely increased by the growing availability on a global basis of access to enroll for courses through web-based delivery. The issues of accreditation of such cross-institution study and of credit transfer remain extremely difficult; the 21st century universities are going to have to find solutions.
An eighth conditions is that the university outreach – through non-degree and often non-tertiary programmes of adult and continuing education, aiming to make the universities’ intellectual power-house available to all – are recognized and funded as essential; university activities.
My final condition takes us back to the issue of ensuring that all university curricula include, as a high priority objective, the creation of lifelong learners by including the development of lifelong learning skills and attitudes as integral parts of those curricula. This will not happen on its own; universities will have to put in place incentives and regulations and curriculum development structures which ensure that it does" (Dodds, 2001: 508).
posted by Kallie (Karel Johannes) de Beer at 1:44 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home