Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (2011)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/79889

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Supporting induction to the teaching profession for women in Malawi
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Wolfenden, Freda; Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; Freda.Wolfenden@open.ac.uk
Gender parity in primary and secondary education has yet to be achieved in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Malawi. The presence of female teachers is recognised as positively impacting on girls’ enrolment and learning success, but in many rural areas in Malawi, there are few qualifi ed female teachers working in primary or secondary schools. This paper contributes to the current debates on how to address this gap in qualifi ed female teacher recruitment and retention in rural areas. One suggested solution to breaking the cycle of low female achievement in rural areas is the use of distance education to prepare local women to become teachers in their own communities. In the programme reported on in this paper, aspiring female teachers are supported to take on the role of “learning assistants” in their local community primary schools while studying to achieve the qualifi cations necessary for application to a formal primary teacher training course. Using applications, interviews and workshop data from the early stages of the programme, the backgrounds and motivations of applicants to the programme are explored. The paper also discusses the implications for the design of this distance learning programme, emerging constraints on the achievement of programme intentions and areas for further study.
Index pages
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; ruth.aluko@up.ac.za
Ensuring the highest possible quality of education in a changing Africa
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; ruth.aluko@up.ac.za
The Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA) 2011 was hosted by the Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique, from 3 to 5 August. It was the fourth of its kind. The biennial conference was born out of the necessity to create a unique platform for all faculties of education to share knowledge and deliberate on educational issues as they affect Africa. We understand our contextual landscape as it affects education better and expanding education and improving its quality is central to the continent development. African scholars always meet at international conferences, but at the inception of the DETA conference in 2005, there were few conferences to bring these scholars together. DETA’s major objectives are to contribute to the debate on teacher training in Africa and to build capacity for the delivery of teacher training programmes in Africa. These objectives represent ways in which the conference can support NEPAD, various protocols on education and training in Africa, the Millennium Development Goals, and some of the recommendations of the All-Africa Education Ministers’ Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education.
Pedagogies of and pedagogies in distance learning material for teacher education
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Reed, Yvonne; Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; yvonne.reed@wits.ac.za
This paper is a response to calls made in the teacher education pedagogy literature (e.g. Loughran, 2006; Moletsane, 2003; Murphy, 2008; Russell, 1997) for teacher educators to take a critical look at how they mediate knowledge and skills to pre-service and in-service teacher education students. Teaching teachers is a particularly complex kind of teaching, and is even more complex when this teaching is done on the page or screen in distance learning programmes. It is argued that, when teacher educators design materials for teacher education at a distance, they should consider not only the pedagogies they wish to describe and discuss in the materials, but also the pedagogies of the materials because both contribute to the constitution of particular subject positions for readers (as students and as teachers). Such positioning is likely to affect their “investment” (Norton, 2000) in their studies and in the classroom practices advocated by the designers. I use examples from a critical pedagogic analysis (Reed, 2010) of selected South African teacher education materials to illustrate this argument.
Foreign languages in African science classrooms: perspectives on and approaches to language use during teaching
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Oyoo, Samuel; Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; Samuel.Oyoo@wits.ac.za
Africa is perhaps the only continent in the world where most formal or school education is conducted in instructional languages that are foreign to most learners and their teachers. In contexts where formal learning is conducted in a foreign language, achievement of general profi ciency in the instructional language is a necessary fi rst step if any learning is to be expected in that language. In this article, the objective is to argue an appropriate perspective on – and suggest approaches to – the use of (the foreign) language by science teachers during teaching. This article is the outcome of sustained literature reviews of cross-national research on language in science education over the last 40 years. In this article, a plural nature of school science is adopted, including it being a distinct language foreign to all learners, irrespective of their fi rst language. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to highlight the role of the instructional language as used by the science teacher and in science texts. This article targets the science teacher with regard to the well-known need for teacher intervention in the learning of school science.
The importance of continuous teacher development through distance education for teachers using additional language for learning, teaching and assessment
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Omidire, Margaret Funke; Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; funke.omidire@up.ac.za
This paper is based on a study conducted to determine the infl uence of a curriculum-based dynamic assessment (CDA) procedure on the performance and effect on additional language (AL) learners in mainstream education. Eight learners in Grade 8 selected from two schools in Lagos, Nigeria, participated in a process of debriefi ng and mediation during three continuous assessment cycles and the endof- term examination in two subjects, Business Studies and Integrated Science. The study was an attempt to employ CDA as a means of reducing the inequity in the assessment of learners using a language in which they lack profi ciency. Although the results suggest a generally positive infl uence of CDA to varying degrees, the participants’ low level of AL acquisition was almost crippling to the entire study. Code switching had to be used extensively during mediation and debriefi ng, questioning the actual AL teaching and learning process. The severity of the barriers constituted a serious limitation to optimum learning. The results suggest that the AL teaching and learning process could be fundamentally fl awed, as it appeared that some of the teachers, as models of language, were themselves failing the learners. The question of the adequacy of teacher training and continuous professional development for teachers was deemed a strong factor in both the participating schools. The results of this study indicate a profound need to expand teacher education and in-service training through distance education in order to increase the number of truly qualifi ed teachers, particularly in rural areas.
Effects of outdoor activities on biology students’ attitude to the environment
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Olagunju, Alice M.; Oloyede, Omolola O.; Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; amolagunju@yahoo.com; oloyedelol@yahoo.com
The teacher’s use of lecture method has been observed to be ineffective in bringing about the right attitude towards the environment and environmental problems. The purpose of this research is to fi nd out what are the effect of outdoor activities and the infl uence of gender on secondary school students’ environmental attitude to Biology. Outdoor activities are educational activities that occur outside the regular classroom activities to create awareness about the environment. The aim is for students to notice the environmental problems caused as a result of a negative attitude towards the environment and the need for a positive attitude instead. The study was carried out using a pre-test, post-test, and a control group. A quasi-experimental design data analysis was undertaken using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The outdoor activities had a signifi cant effect on students’ environmental attitude (F=5.067 P<0.05). Gender also played a signifi cant role in the attitude of students to the environment (F=6.939, P<0.05). Outdoor activities were observed to have brought about signifi cant attitudinal change in the students. Therefore, outdoor activities are recommended for teaching and learning environmental education in Biology for both genders.
Distance education students’ experiences of learning support sessions
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Ogina, Teresa Auma; Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; taogina@up.ac.za
Distance education is a learner-centred approach to education that emphasises independent learning based on the assumption that students are self-motivated and active in the learning process. However, due to the fact that distance education students study alone most of the time, there is a need to enhance their learning experience by providing support structures. Besides supplying learning materials, the University of Pretoria offers face-to-face support sessions to facilitate learning. Although students provide feedback on the sessions in the form of short questionnaires, there is a need to further explore their experiences using a qualitative approach to capture nuances of how the students experience and conceptualise learning support. It should also be established whether they think that it is worthwhile attending the sessions. This paper draws on theoretical insights from transactional distance theory, focusing on learning support in terms of dialogue in the learning facilitation process, the structure of the programmes and learner autonomy. Data was collected by interviewing students enrolled for the Advanced Certifi cate in Education (ACE): Education Management at the Distance Education Unit of the University of Pretoria. The study’s fi ndings suggest that the students consider learning support sessions to be benefi cial. The knowledge and skills gained during these sessions and through dialogue in the form of networking with other students contribute to their professional and personal development and – to some extent – to their learner autonomy. However, a need is identifi ed for the continuous development of learning support facilitators, material and administrative support structures to enhance the quality of the support system and to reduce transactional distance.
Reducing distance learners’ attrition rate at the University of Cape Coast: tutors’/students’ perception
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Akuamoah-Boateng, Clara; Boadu, Kankam; Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; cakuamoahboateng@yahoo.co.uk; kankam21265@gmail.com
The goal of distance education in Ghana is to make quality education, especially at the tertiary level, more accessible and relevant to meeting the human resource needs of the country. This is to improve performance as well as the quality of the lives of Ghanaians. This dream can only be realised if students enrolled in the programmes graduate on schedule. Currently, the number of students enrolled in the distance education programme at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) is over 24 000. However, for various reasons, not every student that enrols in the programme graduates on schedule. This paper examines tutors’ and students’ perceptions of the attrition rate of distance learners. The survey research method was used to gather data and an analysis was done using frequency count, simple percentages, mean and standard deviation. Factors identifi ed as causes of attrition and measures to reduce the problem were signifi cant, as perceived by tutors and learners. However, this paper concludes that the complexity of the causes of attrition and measures to reduce it, allow for few practical solutions. Most of the signifi cant causes were evolutionary issues that can be resolved as time goes on through improvements in technology, effective course design, better understanding of learner characteristics and appropriate learner support systems. Some recommendations were made as interim measures to help reduce the high attrition rate among distance learners at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
Facilitator preparation, support and quality assurance for the improvement of student performance at contact sessions
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Mampane, Sharon; Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; sharon.mampane@up.ac.za
This paper focuses on how distance education (DE) facilitators of the Advanced Certifi cate in Education (ACE) are trained, supported and quality-assured during contact sessions to improve their facilitation skills. The argument is whether facilitators are adequately trained, quality-assured and supported to assist students studying independently in improving their performance. A further argument is whether the training, quality assurance and support of facilitators contribute to the two-way communication between students and the facilitator, and the communication of students with one another during the learning process. Ten facilitators from two provinces, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, who were involved in the ACE Education Management Programme, were purposively sampled and interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The aim was to establish what the support structures and methods used for distance education facilitation were. Findings revealed that module coordinators had no standardised training programme or support mechanisms for the facilitators, which resulted in some facilitators being better prepared than others. These fi ndings may contribute to designing a standardised facilitator training programme and support strategies for the improvement of facilitation and learning, as well as quality assurance at contact sessions.
Effective assessment and evaluation strategies for distance education
(Distance Education and Teachers’ Training in Africa (DETA), 2011) Dwomoh-Tweneboah, Martin; Aluko, Folake Ruth; Januario, Francisco; mdwomoh@linfi eld.edu
Distance education, or distance learning, is a fi eld of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom (Wikipedia, 2011). Most institutions across the globe have embarked on distance education to meet the demands of students who, under normal circumstances, are not able to attend classes in the traditional classroom format because of time constraints, and job and family responsibilities. There is a compelling need to determine success through effective assessment and programme evaluation. Much has been written about distance education in terms of types and structures, and tools and methods of delivery. However, very little has been written and discussed about the effectiveness of distance learning and effective ways to assess and evaluate distance education programmes and the use of programme evaluation outcomes to improve students’ learning, instructional techniques, resources and programme management. This paper discusses the various programme evaluation strategies, and assessment tools and practices. Effective programme assessment and evaluation not only helps to determine what and how students have learned, but also helps to improve programme quality.

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