Can New Modes of Digital Learning Help Resolve the Teacher Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Sub-Saharan Africa, more than any other part of the world, is experiencing a crisis in finding sufficiently qualified teachers to meet the needs of expanding school systems. The professional development support provided to serving teachers is also inadequate in most countries. The most recent data on learner outcomes has revealed a worrying picture of significant under-achievement across the region. This paper argues that the teacher education and training structures of the last century will never be able to meet urgent contemporary needs. Given population growth, especially among the young, large-scale expansion of the teaching force and the associated teacher education systems will be the norm through to the middle years of the century and beyond. In this context the paper argues for a significant policy shift to expand quality teacher education and professional support at scale through a more school-based and digitally supported network model of provision. Examples of current digital programmes within the region are considered as well as the new technologies that are emerging with relevance to teacher education. The paper suggests a three-phase process through which national governments might move in making the necessary changes in policy and practice

Closing the Loop: Building Synergy for Learning through a Professional Development MOOC about Flipped Teaching

This case study describes how a MOOC, funded through an NSF grant, was used to create and assess faculty professional development. The MOOC, designed and developed using a backward design process, guided participants through an online project-based learning experience that integrated learning about the flipped classroom and about how to flip a classroom as the participants designed flipped teaching materials. The course structure involved an introduction to flipped teaching and learning content, experimented with flipped ideas and concepts, and emphasized reflection and sharing of experiences with peers. Although mentoring faculty in flipped pedagogical design was the primary MOOC goal, the project also provided insights about assessing the MOOC and the personal learning experiences of MOOC participants. MOOC developers concluded that, depending on the purpose of the MOOC, course designers and instructors may need to rethink what they are assessing, and broaden their perspectives regarding how to assess what is important. Closing the assessment loop and monitoring continuous improvement may be alternative strategies for assessing learning, boosting MOOC effectiveness, and documenting conceptual change

Innovating for Learning: Designing for the Future of Education

Teaching has moved online as the world has moved online and learning is losing its sense of physical location with the availability of many different options from mobile to MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). The impact of online learning is not confined to distance learning; when a student attends a campus university they are now as likely to meet with their fellow learners virtually as face to face. The education sector has yet to fully adapt to what this means, and indeed there strong signs of a built in resilience from providers, employers and students themselves which may mean an apparent evolution is more likely than a revolution. At the same time, there are some quiet changes underway that mean we should be preparing to innovate for the revolution to come. Some of those changes are considered in work undertaken at The Open University that has been disseminated in a series of Innovating Pedagogy reports. These reports allow the academic authors to be more speculative than is usual practice and engage in considering the future, while remaining based on a view of what is happening in the sector. In particular they adopt a position focused on pedagogy that balances technology-based futurology that can dominate yet fail to resonate with those actually involved in the teaching process. The annual Innovating Pedagogy reports cover 10 topics each, with some deliberate overlap from year to year and development of themes that show innovations moving into teaching practice. This is illustrated by two cases, the impact of MOOCs and the application of learning design and analytics. The development of MOOCs demonstrates the value of reviewing pedagogy that aligns with technology. While the use of learning design and learning analytics demonstrates how improvements in the way we describe our learning processes and the way we understand learner behaviour is helping determine how choices in pedagogy impact on student satisfaction, progression and success

Digital Learning: Reforming Teacher Education to Promote Access, Equity and Quality in Sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the present and future impact of digital learning on teacher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Digital learning in this report is defined as any instructional practice that uses new communication technologies effectively to improve access to and strengthen learning. The focus of the report is student-teachers and teachers. The 2015–2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explicitly seek to substantially increase the supply of well-qualified teachers in the region, drawing on international forms of development and co-operation where necessary (Goal 4)

How to design for persistence and retention in MOOCs?

Design of educational interventions is typically carried out following a design cycle involving phases of investigation, conceptualization, prototyping, implementation, execution and evaluation. This cycle can be applied at different levels of granularity e.g. learning activity, module, course or programme. In this paper we consider an aspect of learner behavior that can be critical to the success of many MOOCs i.e. their persistence to study, and the related theme of learner retention. We reflect on the impact that consideration of these can have on design decisions at different stages in the design cycle with the aim of en-hancing MOOC design in relation to learner persistence and retention, with particular attention to the European context

Determinants of the Intention to Use MOOCs as a Complementary Tool: An Observational Study of Ecuadorian Teachers

New technological advances and globalization have undoubtedly given rise to new forms of learning. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which are a kind of evolution on e-learning, have the endorsement of prestigious universities around the world, and are transforming the traditional teaching–learning process. In Ecuador, these online courses are based on the Basic General Education system and are neither popular among students nor widely used by teachers in their teaching method, thus, this teaching system is not considered as an official qualification. The inclusion of this tool in the Ecuadorian educational system as a learning resource would expand access to equal opportunities to students and teachers from all over the country. Therefore, our proposal is to use the MOOCs as a source with all the instructional contents of the subject and as classwork based on the flipped-classroom method. In this way, such resources can be an aid to traditional high school classes, and the average grade achieved by students through this platform, as well as the student’s participation, may be part of the formal evaluation system in any institution. With the purpose of measuring the level of confidence in online education and the usage of MOOCs as a tool for teachers’ work, a descriptive and analytical approach has been taken in this study. A quantitative survey was administered to 696 Basic General Education teachers who took used this type of course. The results of this investigation show that 93.9% of the teachers trust the online education; 89% are ready to use MOOCs as a teaching–learning resource and 79% would use MOOCs as part of the final grade. These data prove that MOOCs could be a complementary tool for Basic General Education in Ecuador, so they could contribute to improve learning outcomes and the development of traditional education

Electronic Pedagogy and Future University Business Models

Based on the International Conference on Information Systems’ (ICIS) 2014 senior scholars’ forum, we share insights on the relationship between evolving university business models and the adoption of electronic pedagogy. In recent years, particularly with the initiation of MOOCs, the potential for delivering high-quality and widely distributed coursework has expanded. However, particular instances of MOOCs and other electronic pedagogies do not guarantee equally high-quality educational outcomes for all participants. For example, some studies have suggested that most individuals completing MOOC coursework already have baccalaureate degrees, which contrasts with the idea that individuals undertake such coursework as a substitute for traditional degree programs. With this paper, we present varied experiences and views on using electronic pedagogy and report on both the conclusions and new questions raised about adopting these technologies for universities

Russian perspectives of online learning technologies in higher education: An empirical study of a MOOC

There has been a rapid growth of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in the global education market in the last decade. Online learning technologies are becoming increasingly widespread in the non-formal education sector and in higher and supplementary vocational education. The use of MOOCs in Russia to support the delivery of educational programmes at university level opens opportunities in terms of expanding the educational choice for students, the development of virtual academic mobility, reduction in the cost of educational services, and improvement in the accessibility of education. However, the effectiveness of using different online learning technologies at university level, and the consequences of their widespread adoption, has not been sufficiently explored. In this research study, a comparative analysis is made of the effects of different online learning models on student educational outcomes in a university setting. A study was undertaken in which different groups of students at the Ural Federal University, Russia, were encouraged to study technical and humanities disciplines using a framework of blended learning, and online learning with tutoring support. The results of the study were compared with the results of a reference (control) group of students who studied the same disciplines in a traditionally taught model. It was found that both models (blended and online) of MOOC implementation demonstrated greater learning gains, in comparison with the traditional model. For engineering and technical disciplines, there was no statistically significant difference between blended or online learning technologies. For the humanities discipline, where the communicative component of the learning process was significant, the blended learning technology produced better results. Conclusions of this empirical research may be useful for heads of educational organizations and teachers in helping them to make strategic decisions about the modernization of university courses by increasing the effectiveness of the implementation of new educational technologies. The results of this research project will be used for implementing the State Priority Project, ‘The Modern Digital Educational Environment of the Russian Federation’

Exploring Themes, Trends, and Frameworks: A Meta-Analysis of Online Business Education Research

The growth of online education has become a global phenomenon driven by emergence of new technologies, widespread adoption of the Internet, and intensifying demand for a skilled workforce for a digital economy. Online education is no longer a trend; it is slowly but surely becoming mainstream by 2025. This paper explores all efforts, accomplishments, issues, challenges, conclusions, and recommendations on this theme through meta-analysis of over 100 published papers since 2000. Through thorough content analysis, we provide useful recommendations for researchers and practitioners working in academia, industry, or government. We also propose a holistic model of interactions between diverse entities and stakeholders in the online tertiary business discipline education industry. This model will certainly be applicable with minor changes to other disciplines and other levels of education—primary and secondary. This model can be tested in piecemeal fashion by researchers using appropriate research methodology

Enhancing the Higher Education Quality with MOOC Penetration: Role of Policy, Library and Curriculum

The governments of emerging economies have realized the potential of MOOCs for enhancing the quality of higher education, but still, the MOOC penetration is very low in countries like India. This study explores the issues relating to MOOC integration and attempts to identify the key drivers for the adoption of MOOC based curriculum. \u27Integration into Curriculum\u27, \u27MOOC Services of Academic Library\u27, and \u27MHRD Policy and Support\u27 are identified as the key drivers for increasing the MOOC Penetration. The higher the level of MOOC penetration the greater would be the improvement in the quality of higher education. The practical implications for practice and policy are classification of MOOC services of academic library and a decision-making model for hybrid learning strategy for higher educational institutions