Open and Distance E=Learning

OPEN AND DISTANCE E-LEARNING RESEARCH AT THE CENTRAL UNIVERSTY OF TECHNOLOGY, FREE STATE, SOUTH AFRICA Author: Dr KJ De Beer Director Academic Support and Research 1. GLOSSARY ACU - Association of Commonwealth Universities AAU - Association of African Universities AU - African Union AVU - African Virtual University CHE - Council for Higher Education. COL - Commonwealth of Learning. COREVIP – Conference of Rectors Vice Chancellors. CUT – Central University of Technology, Free State. And University Presidents DEASA – Distance Education Association of Southern Africa. HEI’s - Higher Education Institutions. HEQC – Higher Education Quality Committee. IDRC – International Development Research Centre. INASP – International Network for the Availability of Science Publications. MINEDAF – Ministers of Education in Africa. NADEOSA – National Association for Distance and Open Learning of South Africa. NASA – North Aeronotic Space Administration. NEPAD – New Plan for African Development Partnership for Africa’s Development. OUHK – Open University Hong Kong. ODeL – Open and Distance e-Learning. SARUA – South African Regional Universities Association. UAD – Unit for Academic development. UFS – University Free State. UNESCO – United Nations Education and Science Council. ABSTRACT The title for this paper was directly stimulated by the 11th Association for African Universities General Conference during February 2005 in Cape Town. At this conference for the HE sector in Africa, commitments were made both by the President of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki as well as the Minister of National Education, Ms Naledi Pandor to assist the networking process of the AAU within the NEPAD agreement of the African Union (AU). In the context of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol which already opened academic exchange agreements, the Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA) was established on 20 February 2005. SARUA reflects the aspirations of NEPAD and the ideals of the SADC protocol on Education and Training, especially networks within Higher Education (AAU. 2005). However, the huge backlog in financial resources will also force universities to share facilities and to seek collaborative opportunities. Many challenges other than budgetary constraints and sharing the limited human resources as well as political and ethnic conflicts, civil wars, HIV/Aids and corruption can be quoted here though it does not fall within the parameters of philosophy. It only enhances the fact of sharing the HE infrastructure of the continent. Fact of the matter is that the philosophy of OL provides the only strategy as how to align and support existing structures such as the SADC protocol, SARUA, the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), the Distance Education Organisation of Southern Africa (DEASA), the National Association for Distance and Open Learning of South Africa (NADEOSA), the South African Association for Research Development in South Africa (SAARDHE), the South African for Academic Development Association (SADA) and the South African Association for Co-operative Education (SASCE).(Cf. ACDE. 2005). International organisations such as UNESCO and the COL will de jure support the fostering and the implementation of ODL policies within the broader educational and human resource development strategies and policies of member nations (AAU. 2005). Subsequently the ACDE, NADEOSA and SAARDHE will already present conferences in 2005 with and Africanized approach. Sub themes entail the visions for a true African university, the Africanization of the curriculum, management information linkages, indigenous knowledge research, internationalisation of African Higher Education and last but not least, joint staff and academic development (Cf. SAARDHE. 2005) It is inevitable that no university can build its corporate image outside the above mentioned infrastructure because such a university will not be acknowledged by the people or by international organisations. Even quality assurance practices will be Africanized within the African Quality Assurance Network (AQUANET) between quality assurance agencies. Some of the requirements will be: how accessible are the programmes of African universities; articulation issues; mobility; recognition of prior learning to build academic credits and quality standards for needs driven academic curricula. Within the philosophy of OL, PAREN (Promoting African Research and Education Networking- Internet) will eventually become the motto for change on the continent. Change is not static. New perspectives are continually necessary for modern development and capacity building (Pandor. N. 2005). One of the revolutionary slogans in Africa is that: “Education is not a privilege, it is a right!” In this sense it becomes a philosophical matter of an open, democratic and a transparent users friendly system. Teaching and Learning per se is never static. It is forever taking on new shapes, structures, modes and qualities. Long term teaching and learning becomes lifelong learning experiences with no exact deadlines, semesters, academic year end assessments of physical infrastructures. Subsequently government policies constantly have to be adapted and promulgated to suit the needs of new HE models. (CF. CUT Senate Report: Academic Governance. 2005). Therefore the National Plan (2000) of the Department of Education (DoE) in South Africa enhances the ideas of ODL to co-operate with other HEI’s in developing a national network of Learning Centres which would facilitate access and coordinated support systems. Especially to reduce duplication and overlap in programme and service provision (NP. Chapters 4.4 and 4.5). Also in this respect national and provincial collaboration between HE as well as the Further Education Training Institutions (FETI’s) are in place. And the micro level the CUT’s Academic Plan also provides for flexible learning modes which form part of their re-curriculation process. It also provides for a continuum of development cycles in re-curriculation. As such it becomes a continuation of research, implementation, evaluation, adaptation and re-training of the trainer process. Very important though is that the content of the curricula has to be Africanized in the restructuring process. Eventually the philosophy of OL must stand out to empower both students and academe to gain control over their professional lives (Cf. UAD Teaching Portfolios: 2005). Therefore the core definition of OL reads: “Open Learning-policies and practices that permit entry to learning with no or minimum barriers with respect to age, gender or time constraints and with recognition of prior learning. These policies need not be part of a distance education system but are complementary to it according to De Beer (2007). Why the philosophy of Open Learning? The uninformed reader may ask: “Why The Philosophy of Open Learning?” The answer is very simple: “Because it is not a method”, but an educational philosophy. It is an open approach towards learning. In holistic terms it means when the whole approach to HE is greater than the individual methodologies that may vary from: • Cooperative (group) learning in class; • Cooperative Education as in Experiential Learning or in-service training as in off campus real life exposure to technical job environments; • E-learning both for on campus and off campus learning opportunities; • Inter-active video conferencing for off campus learners at regional learning centres or satellite campuses with video back up copies for full time students; • First generation distance education (Correspondence courses); • Second generation distance learning (Dual contact or tutorial sessions) (De Beer, K.J. 1995); • Third generation distance education (Education Technology such as web based, video based, computer based or the variety of interactive electronic overhead projectors and edu walls with satellite link ups in collaboration with a diversity of higher education institutional networks); • Learner-centred philosophies within Outcomes and Problem Based Educational Training known as progressivism (Cf. Sherrit, C.:1999); • Blended Learning when a lecturer makes use of clippets or part of the above mentioned methodologies (Badenhorst. J.: 2004); • Flexible Learning according to the exact meaning of the word “flex”, i.e. to bend or fold access, teaching, learning, assessment, articulation, mobility and recognition of prior learning experiences according to the needs of individual students or societies or specific sub-regions (Mostert, J.:1999). However, the most important fact to keep in mind when one refers to the philosophy of OL is the political domain from which it is historically founded. It is all about an open democratic approach towards Higher Education with all the revolutionary slogans for a free and open (read transparent) society. As stated earlier, education, read also HE, is “not regarded as a privilege but a right” (University Cape Town Art Collection. 1990). In itself, HE is not a static and passive entity but rather a pacemaker in itself and for social change. HEI’s also strife to keep abreast with economic and industrial development. For example, when formal adult education in the West started to take shape during the Industrial Revolution to train the labour force and a literate society, it expanded along with rapid technological development in the 1920-1930 era. Eduard Lindeman and John Dewey formulated the “democratic, learner-centered philosophy of education, known as Progressivism” (Sherrit, C.:1999). In the 1960 civil rights era Sizer linked the phases of national development to the different types of education. His premise, in co-herence with technological development, was that education is contextual which constantly change according to the changes of society. (Sherrit, C.:1999). Great Britain took the lead when they introduced the British Open University. Soon OL was used to assist Hong Kong, a former British colony, to change from a manufactured-based economy (made in Hong Kong) to a sophisticated technical first world city. (Sherrit, C.:1999). Eventually all the Commonwealth states followed suit to bridge the same problems as Hong Kong, however, with the same fundamental adult education theory that subscribes to: • Nurturing antonymous, self directed individuals to assist them to obtain their highest potential; • Challenging the status quo so that adult (read andragogical) learners should become the pacemakers in society.(Cf. Bezuidenhout, 2005); • To link labour and education according to work force needs; • Redress social inequities; and • Promote an open and free democratic society (Sherrit,:1999). In the modern terminology the student of HE will still find these roots in the COL and the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE) which is linked to UNESCO regarding: • Promoting peace; • Advancement of women; • Outreach to oppressed and marginalized people; • Political (civil) literacy and basic human rights; • Employment; and • Access to HE. GLOBAL IMPACTS ON THE HE-CURRICULA Internal epistemological challenges to the Higher Education curriculum are:  Post Modernism and  Scientism (Luckett. 2001). Luckett (2001) propose an epistemically diverse curriculum which can be developed within the concept of OL to cover the following four important ways:  The traditional cognitive learning of propositional knowledge;  Learning by doing for the application of disciplinary knowledge;  Learning experientially, and  Developing epistemic cognition as to be able to think reflexively and contextually about learning. The challenge to integrate the above knowledge production into a traditional content-based curriculum could only be achieved with an OL-approach to address both the local and global trends in HE curriculation. For example, the curricula should be relevant to African students but also be relevant in global terms (Cf. Prinsloo, 2003) Because HE is shifting from “supply-driven” to “demand-driven”, pressures for greater relevance and accountability, the impact of globalisation and information and communications technology (ICT), competition from new providers, and the need to be more self-sustaining. HEI’s seek solutions to these challenges in open and flexible learning (better known in North America as distributed learning) and ICT. Educational opportunity is being extended across physical, political and socio-economic divides and millions of learners around the globe now learn through these means. (Daharajan, 2001). In (Latchem, C. 2002) “Open and flexible learning is increasing access, reducing costs, and taking the first steps to place the learner at the centre of the educational transaction”. New forms of HEI’s networks also assist equity-driven and marginalised institutions to benefit by an OL approach. “Third wave” mega networks (Cf. Toffler. 1980) open up and developed new configurations such as the World Bank’s African Virtual University (AUV) (http://www.avu.org) based in Nairobi to serve anglo-phone and francophone sub-Sahara. It forms part and parcel of the “new knowledge economy” (Latchem. 2002). In the case of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) they envisage four possible scenarios for HEI:  Global big business dominated by the strongest role players;  The Trojan Horses to slip in international qualifications;  Community hubs; and  University/business hybrids (Latchem. 2004) Academic staff development is therefore under tremendous pressure too when HEI’s tell academe to change, but still holding them accountable by traditional curriculum. (Cf. Latchem C. 2002). Subsequently the Managements of HEI’s should be consequent to assist their units for academic development to re-engineer and re-invent curricula that are based on andragogical forms. (CF. Bezuidenhont; 2004) Learning that is collaborative applications-driven and constructivist. Unfortunately, there are still too much conflict between managerial levers (especially in African universities) to apply modern curricula and “the languid feedback loop of academic boards and committees which stops change taking place” writes Colin Latchem (2002). However, he is convinced that academe is not inherently anti-change. In fact most lecturers are willing to embrace new initiatives as long as it is positive. In business driven curricula, it is of course necessary to have a thorough student support system to assist them to reach the outcomes within an OL system. Tait (2000) says that elements of “client-or customer centred ness” in our approach to students should be acknowledged. Not any longer the old references to students, but in a differentiated analysis regarding:  Age;  Gender;  Employment or unemployment;  Disposable income;  Educational background;  Geographical situation;  Special needs (disabilities);  Language;  Ethnic and cultural characteristics and  Communications technology connectedness. Course writing must subsequently be adapted to provide an OL approach to student support because worthwhile student support can only take place when the specific demands of students/clients are met. This includes the various forms of assessments (continuous or only grading) says Tate (2000). Course demands may be for full contact or dual contact or web based teaching and learning. Tate (2000) makes the statement that there is little research done on students support within OL. Especially what is less often recognised is the cognitive function of student support, certainly where these services include tutoring and assessment: “Such an understanding of the role of student support comes primarily out of social constructivist ideas that knowledge is in a real sense made and remade by participation in learning. Where the support of students mediates teaching embodied in courseware, then it clearly relates to learning, and thus to cognitive outcomes. It also and necessary relates to the objective of providing an environment where students feel at home, where they feel valued, and which they find manageable. In this way we can see that the three core functions are truly interrelated and interdependent.” In substantial Tait (2000) summarises support services for students may be summarised as typically as follows: • Enquiry, admission and pre-study advisory services; • Tutoring; • Guiding and counselling services; • Assessment of prior learning and credit transfer; • Study and examination centres; • Residential schools; • Library services; • Individualised correspondence teaching, including in some cases continuously assessment; • Record keeping, information management and other administrative systems; • Differentiated services for students with special needs of one sort or another, e.g. disability, geographical remoteness, prisoners; and • Materials which support the development of study skills programme planning or career development. It could be explained in the following visual figure: CURRICULATION Course or programme demands STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS Geographical regions TECHNOLOGICAL INFRACTRUCTURE AND SUPPORT SYSTEM Diverse schematic figuration images can be created to portray the OL – infrastructures of HEI’s, depending on their individual characteristics because as Tait (2000) concludes: “There is no universal blueprint for the establishment of student support systems, open as they are to a range of variations across the characteristics of student cohorts, programmes of study, educational cultures and geographic in all their complexity.” Therefore OL and ICT are a “disruptive technology that creates opportunities for new organisational models and strategies” says Colin Lutchem and Donald Hanna (2002). OL-curriculation will of course become more difficult, especially to support lecturers to become aquanted with the changing methods of course delivery. Lecturers may experience it as “losing control of their students” (Brigss, 1999: 317). 3.4 Curriculation within OL Curriculum delivery and open-access to learning facilities go hand in glove together The following pattern of student utilization was empirically researched by Ann J. Briggs (1999;323) at the University of Leicester and which gives a very clear picture of what is meant by the above statements on curricular integration: COLLEGE INFRASTRUCTURE CURRICULUM DELIVERY PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL PROVISION PERCEIVED NEED IDENTIFICATION WITH THE FACILITY UTILISATION PREDISPOSITION OF THE STUDENT PRACTICAL AND SOCIAL CONSTRAINTS Management model for student use of an open-acces learning facility. Model for Student Use of an Open-access Learning facility The data from the survey presented a situation in a state of change and adaptation, and a series of preliminary models was produced to map the forces at work. These were simplified into a final model for student use of an open-access learning facility, which identifies the five broad factors governing the dynamics of accessibility and utilization: • The place of the facility within the college infrastructure, which can be seen as the basis for its purpose and management; • The physical and social provision within the facility itself, which provides the learning environment for the student; • The effectiveness of links with curriculum delivery, which make the facility’s activities relevant to both staff and students; • The practical and social constraints upon the student; and • The predisposition of the student to use the facility. A curriculum unit should therefore understand: • OL-learning styles; • Flexibility in course delivery; • Variety of media; • Assessment processes; and • Dispersed learning environments. Consequently says, Briggs (1999 326), it is important that curriculum managers, persists liaising regularly with lecturing staff for development convergent OL models on the micro level. On the macro level, e.g. in Africa, a Curriculum Coordinating Committee (ACCC) has been established (Kuzvinetsa, 20005:3). Technical know how is exchanges among African Universities and their international partners, especially within the COL for curriculum planning, development and education in ODeL methodologies. Efforts to improve the quality of the curriculum, also become a political desire to increase the provision for learning in developing countries such as in Africa, social desire towards egalitarianism to ensure equity and equality of opportunity. (Dhanarajan, 2001:62). 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). 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). 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”: 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5 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. 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). 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. 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 AND DISTANCE LEARNING (ODL) Ruth Williams writes in Higher Education in Europe (2000, 520) that there is much confusion about the use of the expression “open and distance learning”. It is thus helpful to start with a definition of ODL. As her Strategic Study makes clear: Open learning is flexible learning that makes education more accessible to students (than the traditional forms of learning). Distance learning is a form of study and one way of pursuing open learning. Or, as John Daniel puts it (1999, p. 292), “open learning may or may not involve distance education whereas distance education may or may not contribute to open learning”. He goes on to say that many people associate distance education with the new information and communication technologies. However, open and distance learning is much more that this. This stance reiterated in a SOCRATES-ODL working paper, which defines ODL as “the use of new methods (both technical and otherwise) to improve the flexibility of learning in terms of space, time, choice of content, teaching resources, and/or to improve access to educational systems from a distance” (European Commission, 1998 Williams, 2000: 520). ODL rather is a concept that is applied to a wide range of activities. Much of the development of ODL in Central and Eastern Europe Africa and elsewhere reflects a variation in activities and also in the use of terminology. It also reflects a variation in the extent to which those developments “map-on” to the definitions quoted above. Undoubtedly, this variation is the result of different national contexts and priorities, but it also comes from a lack of understanding of, and confusion about, terminology and definitions. Although ODL developments in Africa may not all strictly adhere to the definitions of modern forms of teaching and learning mentioned above, alternatives to the traditional forms of education and training are starting to be developed (Cf. Williams, 2000: 520) Subsequently the Academic Development Plan of the CUT which is in tandem with its Manual of Policies and Procedures (CUTMOPP) that derives from National Legislation (NEPAD) promotes regional, national and international research collaboration (CUTMOPP, 2005). And Although CUTMOPP at this stage does not specifically use ODL terminology, it already implies networking with SADC and other African states. In this sense CUTMOPP already encapsulates the vision and mission of the Association of African Universities intention to play a supportive role in the development within African Partner Institutions (API’s) of applicable mixed mode or blended ODeL teaching and learning types (Kuzvinetsa, 2005: 10) This is why the CUT has to ad value to its current curricula to develop existing programmes into synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning on campus or out of the main campus in Welkom and Kimberley. Eventually within an AVU-network to provide for the increasing number of students. It is obvious that the development of virtual campuses in Africa is a reality. The paucity of resources, says Kuzvinetsa of the AAU(2005: 10) as well as the demands of the new modern upcoming learner is now forcing African universities to think creatively about how they can deliver their programmes to an ever changing student profile on the continent. It is in this creative tension between vision and reality that the CUT can add value to what African HEI’s are engaged in ODeL (Cf. Kuzvinetsa: 2055: 10). In essence ODL is about sharing resources. Due to shoe string budgets for Higher Education in Africa, HEI’s cannot afford to duplicate facilities to the further detriment of the hungry and the poor. ODL therefore is the logic answer to make use of innovative teaching and learning techniques with modern technology to reduce rural poverty (Cf. Connections, 2005). It is also more likely that international organisations, such as UNESCO and the Commonwealth will assist to provide resources to Africa’s most crippling problems. Most African States (ex British colonies) are members of the Commonwealth (Association of Commonwealth Universities, 2005). This fact will also forces South African Universities to collaborate within ODeL driven strategies to quality for international recognition and possible financial support. It could also become a local prerequisite to qualify for state subsidy. Especially universities of technology ultimately have to keep up with the vast growing of the information age and knowledge business. Diana Oblinger (2001:1) says that the speed by which new knowledge, new practices and new products appear in the market priorities lifelong learning and ODeL. According to her the following technological trends will fuel the blending of ODL with e- learning. • New applications of Web technology will appear continually. Due to the low cost of entry and the ease with which new applications can be developed and modified, new products and services will appear almost daily (PwC, 1998). • The Net get bigger and faster. The next generation Internet will be very high bandwidth, with very affordable costs. Quality of services, security and reliability will improve. We are already seeing the integration of voice, video and data. In addition, very powerful servers that provide huge amount of storage will contribute to the increasing value of the network (Greene, 2000). • Reliability will improve. The importance of the Internet to all forms of business and education will increase. Consequently, steps will be taken to guard against catastrophic failure of the Internet due to either technical malfunctions of malicious attack (PwC, 1998). • Wireless gains ground. New satellite systems will expand the coverage area and capabilities of voice, data and video wireless solutions. In fact, wireless technologies will begin to be deployed as a cost-effective alternative to wireless transmission. As prices fall, wireless may become especially important in providing telecommunications services in remote areas that cannot economically be served using other technologies (PwC, 1998). • Sizes get smaller. Palmtops, PDA’s and handled PCs will continue to gain popularity. As they add improved communication capabilities and as access to wireless digital services becomes more widely available, these smaller form-factor devices will become more commonplace in education. • Storage increases. Multimedia and many other types of applications will create growing demand for storage. Fortunately, the price per megabyte of disk storage is predicted to continue to fall by 50% every 15 to 18 months (PwC, 1998). Not only is the price falling, but the density of storage is increasing and the form factor (i.e. size) of storage for PCs is shrinking (Pool, 1999). • Displays become flexible. Although computer displays are lighter and have better resolution than ever before, new technologies such as organic light-emitting devices (OLEDS) are exceptionally bright, operate efficiently at low voltages and can potentially be made very inexpensively. These new displays will be thin, lightweight and flexible – allowing them to travel to remote locations more easily than today’s displays (Pool, 1999). • Mainframes are still cost-effective. For many of the applications likely to dominate the scene for distance and open learning, “mainframes” will be a part of the future. And they will continue to offer superior scalability, robustness, security and handling of data-intensive applications, such as decision support or data warehousing. In fact, for many enterprise-wide applications, mainframes offer a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to other platforms (PwC, 1998) (Oblinger, 2001: 12). A number of features of web-based hypermedia are also providing suitable mediums for the design of OL environments. The underlying object-oriented architecture of hypermedia systems accords with the need for representational diversity of andragogic mechanisms and the ongoing re-construction that an evolutionary approach to the design of learning activity demands. Design and development processes to take account of features of the environment likely to influence of be influenced by interactive intervention of specific programmes. Quantitative and qualitative methods are also employed to enable evaluations of hypermedia designs and its environment of use (Trikic. 2001: 186). Because ODeL is based on sharing facilities, HEI’s local consortiums are formed but will also merge with global consortia, built around disaggregated value chains that will on their turn lead to more global virtual universities. Technological developments will drive the process, the nature of net-based relationships and qualities of the Web that are impacting on ODL (Oblinger, 2001: 9). ODL will eventually force HEI’s into mergers and alliances. Hubs will compile users friendly services into single web sites to cut down cost and administration. Employers in the labour forces are also using ODeL for their employees to acquire skilbon a flexible basis. (monk, 2001: 53). New thoughts and ideas of HEI’s corporative images are now to break down the old perceptions of poor quality first generation DE-practices into that of excellent quality ODeL users friendly methodologies to stay competitive in the global village of HE and the labour market. Obviously much still has to be done to counter act the public is negative perception of “correspondence distance education” and poor student retention and pass rates. Even 30 years after the founding of Open Universities in Britain, Hong Kong and else where in the world, perceptions of non-campus based HE as second rate still persists. (Dhanarajan, 2001: 63). However, the perceptions of ODeL are rapidly changing but still with the following red warning lights to forestall the idea that it is an ideal panacea for Higher Education: • A naïve faith in the new technologies to solve all of the problems of educational deprivation around the world is misplaced. Access to technology, lack of skills to use the technology for teaching and learning, and the cost of buying and renewing technologies form the rest of the equation. It will continue to be the main impediments to the application of technologies for a much period than we are willing to accept. (Dhanarajan, 2001: 64). • An absence of institutional commitment. A significant number of courses currently available on the Web and the Internet seem to be anchored not by institutional commitment but individual enthusiasm. (Dhanarajan, 2001: 64). • Poor level of investment in staff training. The current level of investment in staff development is totally inadequate for the tasks expected from a faculty members requested to create learner conferred materials. The range of skills required to function in a multimedia environment are even more demanding. Institutions are quite enthusiastic about investing in new appliances, software programs and connections, but totally unrealistic when it comes to investing in training. (Dhanarajan, 2001: 65). • Shifting costs away from institutions to individual learners. New approaches to ODEL via cyber pipes have also meant that the cost of learning is gradually shifting from being an institutional responsibility to that of a learner responsibility. Not many home learners have the level of disposable income to pay for these in addition to tuition and other institutional fees. If providers of education are not mindful, yet another barrier can emerge. (Dhanarajan, 2001: 65). • A mismatch between the global market and the local curriculum. The Internet and the Web make it possible for education beyond borders to take place. But from the few examples that we know, curriculum has not kept pace with a global classroom. Curricula design, not surprisingly, is mostly responsive to local needs, and non-local learners suffer serious disadvantages. There is also the danger of creating new forms of imperialism, with one or two countries dominating large parts of the educational market with their view and interpretation of knowledge and information. (Dhanarajan, 2001: 65). • Untested leadership to manage change. ODeL requires sound management and leadership. The early pioneers in the field, such as Walter Perry of UK Open University, Ram Reddy of the Indira Gandhi National Open University of India, were academically respected, politically connected and astute, charismatic speakers and interlocutors, clever strategists and tacticians. They did not just manage; they initiated change. (Dhanarajan, 2001: 66) • The real danger of losing our sense of equity and equality of opportunities. At the heart of educational innovations, such as ODeL, must be the concern to reach out to those in our communities who were never able to participate in any form of learning. (Dhanarajan, 2001, 66). Internationalization; Africanization The philosophy of OL was to a great extend formed by global forces in HE such as the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), The Commonwealth of Learning (COL), and various other international organisations and funding agencies such as the World Bank. For the purposes of this framework on the philosophy of OL, our focus will have to be on Africanization within the above mentioned international bodies. In 1999 the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) was established to further for example teachers’ education in its 53 African member states. It also strives for international co-operation for the development of education through the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Union (AU). (IICBA, 2004). Very important is the IICBA’s ability to utilise ODeL to train and develop a critical mass of teachers in the most cost effective manner. Another characteristic is its partnership with African intergovernmental organisations and nongovernmental institutions to identify and execute comprehensive strategies for Africa’s educational development. (ICCBA, 2004). ICCBA links African Ministries of education to enhance Information and Communication Technology. One of its key objectives of the ICCBA’s ODeL project is to adapt the courses within African countries. In 2000, world leaders set eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) that aim to transform the conditions of human kind in the 21st century. From this global perspective the holistic philosophy of OL was given a huge boost within the Commonwealth of Learning who promotes this idea since its establishment in 1988 in Canada. (COL, 2004) “The Commonwealth of Learning is an agency established by the Commonwealth in Canada in 1988 to widen access to learning through the effective use of open distance learning (ODL) and new communications technologies. It rapidly developed into one of the Commonwealth’s most successful initiatives, pioneering developments in international distance learning.” (Educational Formal, 2004: 13). “COL is the only international intergovernmental agency that focuses exclusively on using technology to expand the scope and scale of human learning. It operates on the premise that knowledge is the key to individual freedom and to cultural, social and economic development. It helps Governments to develop policies that make innovation sustainable and to build systems or applications that expand learning and works in partnership with other international and bilateral organisations working on the MDGs.” “COL is a small agency. It achieves high impact through its focus on technology; placing special emphasis on open and distance learning (ODL) because of its proven effectiveness.” “COL starts from the premise that the use of human reason, and the knowledge that flows from it, is the key to enabling all people to enjoy healthy and decent lives. As a world leader in the new field of knowledge management, COL has a special mission to help people access and use knowledge that can help them.” “The achievement of the Millennium Development Goals does not depend on knowledge and learning alone. Political decisions, for example to make trading arrangements more equitable for developing countries, also have a vital role. However, ready access to usable knowledge can enable people in developing countries, from farmers to academics, to take rapid advantage of favourable changes”. “Development depends on the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge by everyone. COL believes that technology can greatly facilitate these processes. The techniques of open and distance learning give farmers the know-how to improve their livelihoods and rural women the knowledge to arise a healthy family. Schoolnets create communities of practise among teachers and give children access to the best materials. E-learning and the knowledge media are gradually enriching the curriculum for all universities”. COL is an effective partner in combining knowledge and technology to advance development. • Across the globe: More than 135 million children do not have access to primary education. Of those who do, many are taught by poor trained teachers in ill-equipped schools with no learning materials, laboratories or libraries, and will not complete primary school education. Over one billion adults, most of them illiterate, have never received or benefited from education when they were young. Many others require new skills to function in a new and ever-changing global environment. Access to HE is no more than percent of the relevant age group in many developing countries. (COL, 2005). • Education: It offers the best strategy to break the cycle of poverty, misery and violence. But conventional means alone or unable to meet this challenges. ODeL, coupled with the application of appropriate information and communications technologies, can play a central role in delivering education at all levels to all peoples, providing them with the chance for a brighter future. “The Commonwealth of Learning”(COL) Employs open learning and distance education to increase access to education and training. COL collaborates with governments and educational institutions and works with national and international development agencies, national regional distance education associations and open universities and schools around Commonwealth. Through its model-building programmes, COL has: • Enhanced access to leaning in more than 40 countries; • Influenced the development of open schools and universities; • Conducted training seminars and studies; • Established an extensive network of education and technology specialists; and • Facilitated systemic changes in the delivery of education and influences government policy.” (COL, 2005). COL’s partners within the UNESCO’s ITCBA’s member Ministers of Education Network work closely together to achieve the UNESCO’s World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal in 2000. Especially to improve the literacy rates of women in Africa. (Connection, 2004: 8). A further advantage of COL for African member states is of course the advanced network which consists out of India. COL could be regarded as a global catalyst for collaborative action in a synergistic manner. (Round Table, 2000: 462). Capacity building by creating programmes to incorporate a variety of customized (read Africanized) technological models, for collaboration is the core business of COL. (Macdonald, 2000: 463). True collaboration involves more than joint funding says Macdonald (2000: 463). It extends also to joint planning, management, and implementation, such as that affordable by Canada’s piloting as innovation to the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Program. COL participates in forums that bring together agencies-governmental, intergovernmental, or non-governmental-that have similar or complementary objectives, for example, in the Global Knowledge Partnership; the ongoing work with UNESCO, UNICEF and other development agencies in a range of areas including initiatives supporting the EFA agenda, secondary school reform and health education; the building of African capacity in distance education through their membership on the executive committee of the ADEA (Association for the Development of Education in Africa) supporting humanitarian agencies in their educational and training activities (UNICEF, UNHCR, OXFAM); and participating on the WETV Foundation Board. (Macdonald, 2000: 463). The Federation of Commonwealth Open and Distance Learning Associations (FOCODLA). Cooperates with Commonwealth professional associations to assist them to apply open and distance learning in continuing professional education. Also to organise effective ways to follow up on the expectations of the Education For All (EFA) conference in Dakar. (Macdonald, 2000: 463). The development of a formal relationship with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s (SAARC) distance education facilities is a high priority. As part of its role as a catalyst for collaboration, COL will explore ways to partner with the Indian educational television, Gyan Darshan, and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), to include educational programming useful to Commonwealth countries covered by the satellite’s footprint: East Africa through the Pacific and South Asia. In addition, the potential for the creation of an Eastern African facility for distance education development as well as the feasibility of establishing a facility for research and training in distance education in the Pacific will be significant initiatives. In cooperation with the Commonwealth Secretariat, and possibly the ADEA Working Groups on Teacher Training and Distance Education, COL organizes a sub-Saharan Africa policy dialogue on teacher training through ODL. Learning methodologies to improve training. (Macdonald, 2000: 464). Africanization The National Association of Open and Distance Learning of South Africa (NADEOSA) also collaborated with COL to organize their annual inter-national conference in Durban June 2003. It forms a consortium with the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) and other African associations such as the Regional Training and Research Institute for Open and Distance Learning (RETRIDAL) in Nigeria as well as DEASA. An African Ministers’ Conference on ODL were also held in early 2004 in partnership with the South African Department of Education and UNESCO, which made recommendations that will enable African countries to make maximum use of ODL and incorporate it into their education frameworks. COL is working with the Department and UNESCO in taking forward these recommendations. (COL: 2005). In February 2005, COL collaborated with the World Bank, UNESCO and the AAU to organize a joint conference in Cape Town. Substantial workshops forged closer ties among university vice chancellors while an African Quality Assurance Network (AQUANET) was also established. (AAU: 2005). The Association of African Universities (AAU) The AAU is a not-for-profit continental organisation with a membership of 175 HEI’s drawn from 44 African countries and all sub-regions of the continent. Since its founding in 1967, the AAU has been serving as the collective voice and principal regional forum for consultation, exchange of information and co-operation among the institutions of higher education in Africa. Key areas featuring in its Core Programme have been: • Strengthening of institutional capacity, • Promotion of networking and institutional collaboration, and support for research on higher education issues, • Policy advocacy, promotion of quality assurance and academic mobility, and • Enhancing access to scholarly information. (AAU, 2005). The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) The ACU is a registered charity with a membership of 500 universities across the Commonwealth. It was founded in 1913 and since then has served as the principal forum for discussion, the exchange of information and co-operation among the institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its programmes, inter alia, promote academic mobility, institutional collaboration, research networks, research on higher education issues, (in particular borderless higher education and benchmarking institutional management processes. Another important sub-division of the AAU, namely PAREN (The Promoting of Research and Education Networking-Internet), is already on track and collaborates with the Canadian Independent Development Agency (CIDA) as well with the AVU, a project of the World Bank. (AAU: 2005). Most important for South African Universities is the establishment of SARUA (Southern African Regional Universities Association) which operates according to the SADC protocol within the greater NEPAD structures. (SADC-Protocol: Article 7:14). In ODeL terms the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE) promotes OL methodologies such as Flexible and Blended learning. (AAU: 2005). The South African Minister of National Education, Ms Naledi Pandor, committed her Department’s desire for technical partnerships with other African universities to establish a new African university infrastructure. (AAU, 2005). In addition, the IICBA, of UNESCO, underpins the COL and AU initiatives within the NEPAD Secretariat on educational issues. Substantial development work has also been done on science and technology for industrialisation. (IICBA; 2005). All in all Africanization of ODeL is still only in the making. Suffice to say that it is a very neglected issue at many South African universities who do not really recognise the urgent needs of the African continent at large. Unfortunately politics on the continents bedevilled much of the valuable information on ODeL. For example the predominant negative news reports that over shadows the sincere objectives of the Virtual Institute for Higher Education in Africa, (VIHEAF) which is geographically situated in Harare, Zimbabwe. It is an UNESCO cluster office which offers free registration on the Internet http: // www.viheaf.net. VIHEAF inter alia strives to: • Build/strengthen the capacity of teachers and other personnel in educational in stitutions in sub-Saharan Africa in critical areas of national and regional needs as identifies through the machineries of AU, MINEDAF and NEPAD; • Provide Internet-based training on HIV/AIDS Education for teachers at the primary, secondary and higher education levels in Africa; • Provide Internet-based training on the development of materials for open and distance learning; • Enhance the knowledge and skills of academic staff in institutions of higher learning on such issues as (a) teaching of large classes; (b) effective utilisation of (meagre) resources; (c) modern methods performance; (d) basic guidance counselling techniques; (e) basic skills of curriculum development: and (f) techniques for writing winning grant proposals. • Share experiences among staff in institutions of higher learning and within the context of the World Conference on Higher Education (WCHE) and the African Network for Innovations in Higher Education (ANIHE) on best practices in higher education teaching. (VIHEAF: 2005). Thinking Beyond Scenarios Our vision is to Africanize a differentiated but single co-ordinated African higher, further and vocational education system of the southern African of Regional Universities Association (SARUA) within the Association for African Universities (AAU) in tandem with NEPAD. On the micro level, an OPEN UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE will sooner or later be established to encapsulate the following institutions: • The University Free State (UFS); • The Central University of Technology Free State (CUT); • The UNISA – Regional Distance Facilities; • Further Education and Training Institutions (FETI’s); • Vocational colleges (Agricultural and Nursing). Eventually, the Free State Higher and Further Education Consortium (FSHEC) of which the CUT is also a member will co-operate within SARUA and its ODeL substrates such as: • ACDE • DEASA • NADEOSA • World Bank • AVU • AAU • COL • UNESCO Timeframes of UNESCO for example to train teachers in Africa is as follows:  Begin interventions:  2006: 16 countries  2008: add 7 countries  2010: add 15 countries  2012: add 8 countries  Consultation with Member State to determine which countries enter the Teacher Education Initiative next  Assistance up to four years (AAU: 2005)  ODeL methodologies are prominent through out (Own italics) Step by step the way is pared fonto an holistic approach to Higher Education. The Higher Education South Africa (HESA) CUT Council agreed, in principle, that the CUT should subscribe to and become an institutional member of this Section 21 Company, which represents the interests of South African public HEI’s. The Principal/Vice-Chancellor of the CUT was appointed and authorised to make all the arrangements and sign all such documents as may be necessary to secure the CUT’s status as a subscribing member of Higher Education South Africa, on terms which he might deem appropriate. The Principal/Vice-Chancellor of the CUT was appointed as a director of HESA and was appointed and authorised to make all arrangements and sign all such documents as may be necessary to give effect to this resolution. (CUT Council: 2005) Technology based ODeL which is currently hampered by the multilingual African societies will be overcomed via appropriate technical solutions without totalitarian language management engineering of politicians. Carl Sayan (1996: 432) writes in his book “The Demon-haunted world: Science is a candle in the Dark”: New ideas, invention, and creativity in general, always spearhead a king of freedom breaking out of hobbling con-straints. Freedom as a prerequisite for continuing the delicate experiment of science which is one reason the Soviet Union could not remain a totalitarian state and be technologically competitive. At the same time, science – or rather its delicate mix of openness and scepticism, and its encouragement of diversity and dedate – is a pre-requisite for continuing the delicate experiment of freedom in an industrial and highly technological society. Skeptical thinking does not imply that ODEL will be exactly planned according to the philosophy of OL as argued for the only and single solution for HEI’s in Africa, but to serve as a premise or starting point for an holistic differentiated meaning. That implies that the whole concept is bigger than its parts which could be investigated with a logical set of logical reasoning tools: • Facts that ODeL is on the agenda for HEI’s; • Substantive evidences of academic debates are available; • Experts of ODeL with reknowned authority propagate the democratic ideas of freedom and openness; • OL is open for multiple working hypothesis for a number of methodologies that are successfully implemented and developed, e.g. Flexible learning, Blended Learning and all its sub-divisions; • ODEL as such is an alternative hypotheses on its own. A number of new ideas on OL can be elaborated on, however, not initial impressions which were already coined; • Alternatives for ODeL are yet to be developed. Subsequently it is not a final panacea for HEI’s. One reason for example, will be to reject the idea that e-learning could ever replace the lecturer in the African learning culture; • Scientific ODeL research is quantifiable. CR the attached list of references and additional list of cross reference (infra: pp). CF the great number of HEI’s in these references who are already implementing one or other form of ODeL; • There is a chain of logical arguments how ODeL currently develops in Africa (supra: pp); • NEPAD has a budget to fund ODeL (AAU=Press Release); • In comparing the data on the philosophy of OL, the simple choice is to accept the ODeL as a Fait de accopli at African HEI’s. Consequently, the UAD at the CUT has to do more research on the individual components of ODeL. No counter arguments can be raised against this fact. Finally, the grand idea is that the philosophy of OL is only an elementary part of Higher Education in the total world of learning. It is like an electron in the cosmos. (Cf. Sagan: 211). No scientist can ever acquire total know how of the multiple possibilities of learning or the way in which an individual’s brain is understanding “a thing” at a certain point in time, location, action, experience, context, method or perception…Subsequently to this fact, the philosophy of OL is incapable of disproof! REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING LIST Association of African Universities. 2005. 11th AAU General Conference: Cross-border Provision and the Future of Higher Education in Africa. Conference Documents. 21st – 25th February. Association of African Universities and the Association of Commonwealth Universities Press Release. 2005. Cape Town 11 March. Auger, R.W. and Wideman, R. 2000. Using Action Research to Open the Door to Life-long Professional Learning. In Opening the Door. Education, 121 (1); 120–127. Braimoh, D. 2003. Open Learning. In South African Journal of Higher Education, 17 (3); 13-25. Briggs, A.R.J. 1999. Open Doors? Moddelling accessibility of learning resource facilities. In Journal of Further and Higher Education, 23 (3); 317-327. Cape Higher Education Consortium. 2005. www.chec.ac.za Commonwealth of Learning. 2005. Open and Distance Learning Policy. www.col.org/programmes/reporting/eval 02.htm Connections. 2004. A news publication of the Commonwealth of Learning, 9 (1). Connections. 2005. A news publication of the Commonwealth of Learning, 10 (1). Central University of Technology, Free State. 2055. Academic Development and Plan. Manual of Policies and Procedures. Central University of Technology, Free State. 2005. Access with Success Plan. Presentation to Senate. Central University of Technology, Free State. Academic Governance. Seante document S05/01/18. Central University of Technology, Free State. 2005. Restructuring of the Library and Information Centre. Central University of Technology, Free State. 2005. Teaching Portfolios. 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