Using ODL and ICT to develop the skills of the unreached: a contribution to the ADEA triennial of the Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning

Innovation in technology is occurring at rapid pace thus shrinking the distances and making information and knowledge more than ever accessible to everyone irrespective of where the person resides. This paper consists of four main articles. The first one deals with technological trends. The second one focuses on the deployment and use of open and distance education mode in rural areas by documenting initiatives that embrace information and communication technologies (ICTs). Due to challenges faced in rural areas only a few success stories/cases currently exist and some of these are cited in this article. The challenges faced in the deployment of ICT enhanced ODL have been highlighted as well as the potential of developing and delivering effective and relevant ODL programmes in rural areas in order to ensure that issues of educational equity and social exclusion rural communities are adequately addressed. ICTs in ODL are perhaps the greatest tool to date for self-education and value addition to any community’s development efforts, yet poor rural communities particularly in Africa do not have the necessary awareness, skills or facilities to enable themselves to develop using ICTs. Inadequate ICT infrastructures in rural areas remain a major source for the digital divide in Africa and for under-performance of distance learners. The third one analyses the support provided to ODL learners who often encounter difficulties in completing their studies through the distance education mode due to loneliness, uncertainties and de-motivation. ICT has not been able to sufficiently support distance learners in overcoming those obstacles efficiently. An investigation regarding those learning supports has been conducted in ten distance learning institutions, along with an intensive literature review with the aim of understanding the high percentage of dropout rates of distant learners. The learners’ interactions have been scrutinized through content analysis of their synchronous exchanges, during a completely online course. After taking into account the limited technical and human resources in Africa, a technological virtual environment along with a pedagogical framework has been proposed with the aim of giving adequate educational support to them. The fourth article has explored The Open University (UK) and its efforts to use new technologies to deliver online courses to difficult-to- reach learners in prison environments. The case study analysed here is an international course (called, B201- Business Organisations and their environments) which also touches an African cohort of learners. The implications for designing and delivering online ODL to the complex unreachable environments of prisons anywhere, and particularly in Africa, have been discussed

Communications in education

The paper aims to provide evidence of the role of communications in education. The term communications is used in three interrelated ways: it refers to the interactions and engagements which take place between different actors in the education sector; it looks at the transmission of information, knowledge or data between two or more points; and it refers to the processes and means though which these interactions take place. The report identifies where communications in the education sector has been successful and some of its weaknesses. The paper focuses on spaces for communications in education, the processes of communications and the direct and indirect impacts of communications initiatives. It gives examples of a range of communication initiatives and provides evidence of impact, where available

Developing NQTs e-pedagogies for inclusion

Report of a project to develop e-pedagogies for inclusion

Emerging Opportunities: Monitoring and Evaluation in a Tech-Enabled World

Various trends are impacting on the field of monitoring and evaluation in the area of international development. Resources have become ever more scarce while expectations for what development assistance should achieve are growing. The search for more efficient systems to measure impact is on. Country governments are also working to improve their own capacities for evaluation, and demand is rising from national and community-based organizations for meaningful participation in the evaluation process as well as for greater voice and more accountability from both aid and development agencies and government.These factors, in addition to greater competition for limited resources in the area of international development, are pushing donors, program participants and evaluators themselves to seek more rigorous – and at the same time flexible – systems to monitor and evaluate development and humanitarian interventions.However, many current approaches to M&E are unable to address the changing structure of development assistance and the increasingly complex environment in which it operates. Operational challenges (for example, limited time, insufficient resources and poor data quality) as well as methodological challenges that impact on the quality and timeliness of evaluation exercises have yet to be fully overcome

A conceptual study of the factors influencing e-inclusion

With the advancement of the Internet and supporting Information and Communication Technologies, e-inclusion has emerged as an effective means to create opportunities for all and to further individual autonomy and capability in terms of using online services offered by public agencies. The aim of this paper is to offer a critical discussion on the role of e-inclusion from the user perspective, which goes beyond the demographic factors when adopting e-government services. Further, this paper explains the fundamental differences between digital divide and e-inclusion and examines why research focus is now shifting towards studying e-inclusion rather that digital divide in Europe. Through a conceptual analysis the authors examine the relationship between social inclusion and e-inclusion and how they contributes towards promoting the use of ICT to overcome exclusion and improve economic performance, employment opportunities, quality of life, social participation and cohesion

Educational Technology Topic Guide

This guide aims to contribute to what we know about the relationship between educational technology (edtech) and educational outcomes by addressing the following overarching question: What is the evidence that the use of edtech, by teachers or students, impacts teaching and learning practices, or learning outcomes? It also offers recommendations to support advisors to strengthen the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes that use edtech. We define edtech as the use of digital or electronic technologies and materials to support teaching and learning. Recognising that technology alone does not enhance learning, evaluations must also consider how programmes are designed and implemented, how teachers are supported, how communities are developed and how outcomes are measured (see http://tel.ac.uk/about-3/, 2014). Effective edtech programmes are characterised by: a clear and specific curriculum focus the use of relevant curriculum materials a focus on teacher development and pedagogy evaluation mechanisms that go beyond outputs. These findings come from a wide range of technology use including: interactive radio instruction (IRI) classroom audio or video resources accessed via teachers’ mobile phones student tablets and eReaders computer-assisted learning (CAL) to supplement classroom teaching. However, there are also examples of large-scale investment in edtech – particularly computers for student use – that produce limited educational outcomes. We need to know more about: how to support teachers to develop appropriate, relevant practices using edtech how such practices are enacted in schools, and what factors contribute to or mitigate against successful outcomes. Recommendations: 1. Edtech programmes should focus on enabling educational change, not delivering technology. In doing so, programmes should provide adequate support for teachers and aim to capture changes in teaching practice and learning outcomes in evaluation. 2. Advisors should support proposals that further develop successful practices or that address gaps in evidence and understanding. 3. Advisors should discourage proposals that have an emphasis on technology over education, weak programmatic support or poor evaluation. 4. In design and evaluation, value-for-money metrics and cost-effectiveness analyses should be carried out

Innovation and communication technologies + Problem based learning: a new approach for teaching architecture

This article presents the results obtained during its first year of application in the educational innovation project called “New frameworks of teaching: ICT applied to problem based learning in technical bachelors” (PIE 15-166) developed at the School of Architecture in the University of Malaga. This has been focused on the development of educational strategies based on exploiting the potential of ICT, taking as a framework the ABP. Its application on subjects from different areas of knowledge (architectural composition, urban planning, projects and architectural constructions) has allowed assessing the adaptability of this methodology depending on the content. Among the obtained results can be highlighted the improvement in cross curricular coordination between subjects from different fields of studies, providing different ways of synchronous and asynchronous communication between students and teachers to generate a greater interaction between all the involved subjects; increasing in addition the interest and an improvement of the results.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Sociabilidade: A chave para o transtorno do processamento sensorial

Social communication and sensory processing disorder are two factors that interact with each other and the difficulties they find in them impact on different neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. More specifically, sociability is shown to play a key role in dealing with sensory processing difficulties and the interventions related to it can be implemented in a school setting as well within a therapeutic setting and even at home. The design of these interventions with a focus on sociability aims on the one hand to reduce sensory difficulties and on the other hand to provide meaningful communication when working with children with autism or severe or generalized learning difficulties. This article’s goal is to compile research findings regarding the impact of sociability on children with sensory difficulties through a literature review. Specifically, many interventions with pillars the social communication have been studied to help children with autism and other syndromes The outcomes demonstrated a direct link between sociability and sensory processing disorder with interventions and therapeutic programs implemented in many nations with favorable outcomes in many facets of how children with these issues behave. One of the most effective interventions that helps are Intensive Interaction with high contribution to the sensory regulation of children mainly with autism. Students with neurodevelopmental problems were the samples for the interventions' participants. Application of these programs on a weekly basis, two to three times, is helpful in the right direction.El trastorno de la comunicación social y el procesamiento sensorial son dos factores que interactúan entre sí y las dificultades que encuentran en ellos repercuten en diferentes trastornos del neurodesarrollo como el autismo. Más específicamente, se muestra que la sociabilidad juega un papel clave en el tratamiento de las dificultades de procesamiento sensorial y las intervenciones relacionadas con ella pueden implementarse tanto en un entorno escolar como en un contexto terapéutico e incluso en el hogar. El diseño de estas intervenciones con un enfoque principal en la sociabilidad tiene como objetivo, por un lado, reducir las dificultades sensoriales y, por otro lado, proporcionar una comunicación significativa cuando se trabaja con niños con autismo o dificultades de aprendizaje severas o generalizadas. El propósito de este artículo es registrar datos de investigación sobre el efecto de la sociabilidad en niños con dificultades sensoriales a través de una revisión de la literatura. En concreto, se han estudiado muchas intervenciones con pilares la comunicación social para ayudar a niños con autismo y otros síndromes. Los resultados mostraron que existe una correlación directa entre la sociabilidad y el trastorno del procesamiento sensorial con intervenciones y programas terapéuticos implementados en muchos países con resultados positivos en todos los aspectos del comportamiento de los niños con estas dificultades. Una de las intervenciones más efectivas que ayuda son las Interacciones Intensivas con alto aporte a la regulación sensorial de niños principalmente con autismo. En cuanto a los participantes en las intervenciones, las muestras fueron estudiantes con trastornos del neurodesarrollo estudiados. La frecuencia de aplicación de estos programas 2-3 veces por semana ayuda en la dirección correcta.A comunicação social e o transtorno do processamento sensorial, são dois fatores que interagem entre si e as dificuldades que encontram neles, impactam em diferentes transtornos do neurodesenvolvimento como o autismo. Mais especificamente, a sociabilidade mostra-se como um papel fundamental para lidar com as dificuldades de processamento sensorial e as intervenções relacionadas a ela podem ser implementadas em ambiente escolar, bem como, em contexto terapêutico e até mesmo em casa. O desenho destas intervenções com foco principal na sociabilidade visa por um lado, reduzir as dificuldades sensoriais e, por outro, proporcionar uma comunicação significativa ao trabalhar com crianças com autismo ou dificuldades de aprendizagem graves ou generalizadas. O objetivo deste artigo foi registrar dados de pesquisa sobre o efeito da sociabilidade em crianças com dificuldades sensoriais por meio de uma revisão de literatura. Especificamente, intervenções com pilares na comunicação social, têm sido estudadas para ajudar crianças com autismo e outras síndromes. Os resultados mostraram que existe uma correlação direta entre sociabilidade e transtorno do processamento sensorial com intervenções e programas terapêuticos implementados em vários países com resultados positivos em todos os aspectos do comportamento de crianças com essas dificuldades. Uma das intervenções mais eficazes que auxiliam, são a interação intensiva com alta contribuição para a regulação sensorial em crianças principalmente com autismo. Em relação aos participantes das intervenções, as amostras foram estudantes com transtornos do neurodesenvolvimento estudados. A frequência de aplicação destes programas dois ou três vezes por semana ajuda na direção correta

Teaching and learning in virtual worlds: is it worth the effort?

Educators have been quick to spot the enormous potential afforded by virtual worlds for situated and authentic learning, practising tasks with potentially serious consequences in the real world and for bringing geographically dispersed faculty and students together in the same space (Gee, 2007; Johnson and Levine, 2008). Though this potential has largely been realised, it generally isn’t without cost in terms of lack of institutional buy-in, steep learning curves for all participants, and lack of a sound theoretical framework to support learning activities (Campbell, 2009; Cheal, 2007; Kluge & Riley, 2008). This symposium will explore the affordances and issues associated with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, all the time considering the question: is it worth the effort