A Participatory Pedagogical Model for Online Distance Learning: Ideation and Implementation

In spite of its increasing popularity, distance education faces challenges -- levels of digital literacy, access to technology, workload and time management, students' feelings of isolation and disconnection -- that can have a significant impact on the experience of the learners. In addressing these issues, we propose a pedagogical model for distance learning which promotes the synergy of eight ingredients -- Community, Openness, Multimodality, Participation, Personalisation, Learning, Experience, Technological-Enhancement, with their initial letters generating the acronym COMP-PLETE -- for the shaping of a highly participatory online learning experience and the creation of an active and cohesive community characterised by a strong sense of commitment towards the learning of the individuals and that of the group. This paper presents the theoretical rationale for and implementation of COMP-PLETE. It also provides recommendations for researchers and practitioners interested in cultivating an online learning community which responds well to the aforementioned challenges posed by distance education.

Self-directed Science Learning During COVID-19 and Beyond.

Prompted by the sudden shift to remote instruction in March 2020 brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers explored online resources to support their students learning from home. We report on how twelve teachers identified and creatively leveraged open educational resources (OERs) and practices to facilitate self-directed science learning. Based on interviews and logged data, we illustrate how teachers' use of OER starkly differed from the typical uses of technology for transmitting information or increasing productivity. These experiences provide insights into ways teachers and professional developers can take advantage of OER to promote self-directed learning when in-person instruction resumes.

Zoom in: Open educational resources for informal online learning during COVID-19 and beyond

Institutions, organisations, and policymakers use open educational resources (OERs) to promote student equity and social inclusion. The global COVID-19 crisis highlighted the need for lifelong learning and underscored the importance of the higher education system in this endeavour. This study describes informal learning among adults through OERs, during the COVID-19 crisis, distinguishing between employed and unemployed individuals and between professional and personal development. A questionnaire distributed during the COVID-19 lockdown focused on three themes: (1) types of OERs used for learning during this period;(2) perceived OERs' usefulness;and (3) changes in OER use due to the crisis. Our findings revealed group differences in types of OERs used and in changes brought about by COVID-19, as well as within-group differences based on personal characteristics. Only a few participants reported using massive open online courses (MOOCs). Moreover, videoconferencing usage increased despite low perceived usefulness ratings, pointing to a change in informal learning modes. This exploratory research provides insights into the preferences of individual groups. These insights may be used to reduce socioeconomic disparities, especially among those who have lost their jobs, and to develop effective models for open education. Implications for practice or policy: • Enhancing the discussions about the future of open education by reflecting a wide picture of OERs use. • Redesigning OERs for the labour market by distinguishing between employed and unemployed, and professional and personal development. • OER preferences according to personal characteristics can be used to achieve better engagement with learning. © Articles published in the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET) are available under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Authors retain copyright in their work and grant AJET right of first publication under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Impact of COVID-19 on Formal Education: An International Review of Practices and Potentials of Open Education at a Distance

In terms of scale, shock, and disenfranchisement, the disruption to formal education arising from COVID-19 has been unprecedented. Anecdotally, responses from teachers and educators around the world range from heightened caution to being inspired by distance education as the "new normal.” Of all the challenges, face-to-face and formal teaching have been most heavily affected. Despite some education systems demonstrating resilience, a major challenge is sustaining quality and inclusiveness in formal education suddenly delivered at a distance. In probing these issues, this article profiles international perspectives on the role of open education in responding to the impact on formal school and higher education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We proceed by highlighting and analysing practices and case studies from 13 countries representing all global regions, identifying and discussing the challenges and opportunities that have presented themselves. Reports cover the period from the beginning of 2020 until 11 March 2021, the first anniversary of the COVID-19 outbreak as declared by the World Health Organization. In our comparative study, we identify seven key aspects of which three (missing infrastructure and sharing OER, open education and access to OER, and urgent need for professional development and training for teachers) are directly related to open education at a distance. After comparing examples of existing practice, we make recommendations and offer insights into how open education strategies can lead to interventions that are effective and innovative—to improve formal education at a distance in schools and universities in the future.

Teachers' informal learning characteristics in using open educational resources in relation to their innovative work behavior

Purpose: Informal learning is an effective and motivating strategy to support the learning process. Informal learning has received increased attention recently due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, finding effective ways to facilitate innovative teaching and learning through open educational resources (OER) is a vital issue. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the informal learning characteristics (ILC) (i.e. observation, imitation, exploration, innovation and articulation) of teachers in using OER and whether these characteristics have any relationship with teachers' innovative work behavior (IWB, i.e. opportunity exploration, idea generation, idea promotion and idea realization) in schools. Design/methodology/approach: The current study utilized a descriptive quantitative survey approach. A survey with three parts was developed: the Open Educational Resources Scale (OERS), the Teachers' Informal Learning Characteristics Scale (TILCS) and the Teachers' Innovative Work Behavior Scale (TIWBS). The information was gathered from a sample of 2,024 teachers working in Kuwait's public schools through an online survey. Findings: The results revealed that social media, YouTube, PowerPoint and games were the most common open resources used by teachers. Teachers' responses on the TILCS showed that observation was the most common among teachers and exploration was the second. Responses on the TIWBS showed that idea generation was the highest. When using OER, the results showed that all five subscales of the TILCS and all four subscales of the TIWBS were linked in a good way. Research limitations/implications: This study had several limitations that should be considered in future research. First, the data collection method was self-report. Future research necessitates adopting qualitative methods such as participant observations where IWB can be monitored and documented. Another limitation is almost all teachers have smartphone with Internet access, which may have affected the results. This situation might not be found in other countries since a large percentage of young people in Kuwait use information and communication technology as is the case in other Gulf region countries. Practical implications: This study expects that this kind of support will be reflected on teachers' IWB which accelerates teachers' movement toward upper IWB tasks such as idea promotion and idea realization. This support will motivate teachers to transform teachers' innovative ideas into useful applications and try to assist teachers' colleagues through conducting workshops or inviting well-known educators to present their experiences to school personnel. Social implications: This study can be a guide to help teachers be independent, self-directed, problem-solving-oriented and internally motivated by incorporating the assumptions of andragogy theory. Furthermore, this study points out the high tendency of teachers to use OER and helps to plan teachers' professional development programs that take Andragogical tendencies into account in addition to developing teachers' lifelong learning skills. Originality/value: The results implied that teachers have obvious ILC toward OER, specifically through observation and exploration to create their own innovations in their work environments. With the appropriate internal and external incentives and support from school administrators, this study expects that teachers will move forward toward upper informal learning stages such as innovation and articulation and toward upper tasks in IWB such as idea promotion and idea realization. As a result, schools as places of work can go through a lot of changes if new OER-related applications and workshops are added. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Shaping Open, Distance and e-Learning in Post School Education and Training: A Call for a Revised Agenda

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the attention of distance education issues to the fore in a way not seen before. All forms of educational provision and sectors were affected by the pandemic. The aim of this conceptual leading article is to highlight three pertinent issues that need to be taken into account in Open, Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) to ensure the relevance of the Post School Education and Training (PSET) sector in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and beyond. Based on a review of the literature, the article highlights three pillars of successful use of technology to enhance quality in PSET, especially in the wake of the worldwide transition to remote teaching and learning. The revised agenda comprises the questioning of previously held beliefs about learning and teaching, the responsiveness of curricula and ensuring the quality of ODeL offerings. It argues that unless traditional beliefs about teaching and learning are questioned and curricula are streamlined to align with the demands of the knowledge society, the value of PSET may be trivialised in a context that is so rapidly changing. It also argues that sound quality assurance mechanisms should be put in place to ensure sufficient depth in student learning experiences, rigour in assessment processes and confidence in graduates by employers and society at large. Using the theory of Connectivism as a lens, the authors provide a framework with some recommendations for sound ODeL teaching and learning practices that are relevant for the demands of the 4IR and beyond. The framework focuses on five pillars, which are foregrounding a student-centred approach, embracing appropriate technologies to support teaching and learning, strengthening the capacity to support success, ensuring appropriate assessment processes and regular curriculum revision and renewal.

Moderating Effect of Technology Readiness towards Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Technology Acceptance during COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted higher education in Malaysia that requires the academics to transform their teaching style to online teaching. Hence, it is essential for them to be skillful in using new technology in teaching and learning. In Open and Distance Learning (ODL), the academic staff must learn a new environment of learning technology in terms of giving lectures and managing all related ODL documents. In this perspective, technology readiness of the ODL technology plays an important role to enhance the acceptance of using the latest technology in ODL among them. This study was conducted to test the moderating effect of the Technology Readiness of the academic staff towards their acceptance of ODL technology to manage teaching and learning process such as UFUTURE and Google Classrooms. The research model was developed based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Technology Readiness concept. The online survey was created and then emailed to the academic staff in UiTM Selangor, resulting in 321 responses were received subsequently. The results show that the Technology Readiness factors (Optimism and Innovativeness) strengthen the relationship between Technology Acceptance factors (Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness) and intention behaviour to use the ODL technology. Additionally, the direct effect testing has also shown that the related factors influence the intention of the academic staff to use the ODL technology except Insecurity and Discomfort. Technology readiness does play an important role, therefore, it is essential for the university to train academic staff on new ODL technology and it should be planned accordingly.

Lecturers' Experiences of Administering Online Examinations at a South African Open Distance E-Learning University during the COVID-19 Pandemic

South Africa, like other countries in the world, went into lockdown due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which meant closure of venue-based exam centres, university libraries and academic offices for more than three months. This encounter forced higher institutions of learning to review and reconfigure their assessment practices and conduct alternative assessment practises like timed exams, take home exams, randomised multiple-choice examinations and an online portfolio. Over and above that South Africa experienced load shedding (interruptions to electricity supply) and connectivity challenges which impacted the online examinations. This paper explores the experiences of lecturers whilst administering online examination at a South African Open Distance e-Learning university during COVID-19. Data collected from the lecturers who administered online examination through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analyses were used to analyse the data. Lecturers reported on student challenges related to time allocation, exam security, internet connectivity and data access, digital incompetency and support received from the information communication technology (ICT) department. Academics' reflection suggests that the system and students were not fully prepared and ready to write the online examination. The researchers propose continued technical and technological education and support for academics and students. Therefore, in line with these experiences, it is important to conduct further the research.

MOOC education for sustainable development The Erasmus+ project experience

The paper presents the scope of the international curriculum developed under the MOOC4ALL project financed by the Erasmus Plus Strategic Partnerships Program for the MOOC platform https://platform.mooc4all.eu/. The project partners were research units and non-profit organizations from Germany, Poland, Romania and Hungary. Developed under the project, the curricula covers topics in the "green area” such as renewable energy sources, waste management and sustainable development. Research conducted in the consortium countries has demonstrated the need to create online courses in these subject areas to respond to market demand and achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Green education is essential for safeguarding a sustainable world, maintaining it and preserving it for future generations. Currently, in times of climate crisis, increasing public awareness through non-formal education is of key importance. In the field of education, MOOCs have attracted a lot of attention as tools for open distance learning in the last decade. They make it possible to use the potential of new technologies in the didactic process and enable a reduction in the differences between developing and developed countries thanks to new interactive digital learning channels, which transpired to be particularly important during the Covid-19 pandemic. The online courses developed as part of the project are available to participants free of charge in five languages – English, German, Polish, Romanian and Hungarian. © 2022. The Author(s).

A new digital divide threatening resilience: exploring the need for educational, firm-based, and societal investments in ICT human capital

The knowledge, skills, and abilities that human capital offers create tangible and intangible assets that equip organizations to thrive. In particular, in today's Industry 4.0 environment, training, recruiting, and retaining highly qualified ICT-ready professionals remains a problem for many organizations including educational, governmental, healthcare, and business organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the importance of digital assets to our economies, and it is also demonstrating that there is potentially a new digital divide with even worse implications for companies, economies, and society, which is threatening the resilience of business, governance, and society. In this paper, we respond to the question "how can we develop ICT human capital in our global economy in an equitable, inclusive, and purposeful manner such that not organizations thrive, but also to promote social justice and equity in our global economy?”. © Italian e-Learning Association.

Design of Online-Merge-Offline Intelligent Learning Space under the Background of Open Education

The global COVID-19 is spreading, and online teaching is developing rapidly. The continuous deepening of the integration of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data with education and teaching has prompted new changes in education and teaching, especially online and offline integrated teaching has become a new form of teaching. Combining the characteristics of open education, this study proposed a design model of online-merge-offline (OMO) intelligent learning space under the framework of PSST on the basis of sorting out the connotation of OMO intelligent learning space, in order to provide reference for future research on intelligent learning space. © 2022 IEEE.

Impact of COVID-19 on Formal Education: An International Review of Practices and Potentials of Open Education at a Distance

In terms of scale, shock, and disenfranchisement, the disruption to formal education arising from COVID-19 has been unprecedented. Anecdotally, responses from teachers and educators around the world range from heightened caution to being inspired by distance education as the "new normal. " Of all the challenges, face-to-face and formal teaching have been most heavily affected. Despite some education systems demonstrating resilience, a major challenge is sustaining quality and inclusiveness in formal education suddenly delivered at a distance. In probing these issues, this article profiles international perspectives on the role of open education in responding to the impact on formal school and higher education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We proceed by highlighting and analysing practices and case studies from 13 countries representing all global regions, identifying and discussing the challenges and opportunities that have presented themselves. Reports cover the period from the beginning of 2020 until 11 March 2021, the first anniversary of the COVID-19 outbreak as declared by the World Health Organization. In our comparative study, we identify seven key aspects of which three (missing infrastructure and sharing OER, open education and access to OER, and urgent need for professional development and training for teachers) are directly related to open education at a distance. After comparing examples of existing practice, we make recommendations and offer insights into how open education strategies can lead to interventions that are effective and innovative-to improve formal education at a distance in schools and universities in the future.

Current Status of Radiology Education Online: a Comprehensive Update.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate various online resources available for radiology education. An online search was conducted using PubMed (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD) and Google Scholar for publications discussing the applications of online learning in radiology. The search strategy employed a combination of the following terms: radiology, web-based conferencing, radiology education seminars, radiology education online, radiology education programs, online lectures, radiology residency, radiology degree, Radiology-Integrated Training Initiative (R-ITI) e-learning platform, UTAUT, Moodle, active image-based learning, Video conference platforms (VCPs), education, undergraduate, medical students, teaching, virtual learning, blended learning, e-learning, COVID-19, pandemic, OER, open education resources, online learning, course assets, accessibility, 5G Internet, game-based learning, radiology competition, and virtual world. The literature published was reviewed and consolidated. Data from the literature shows that radiology education online and radiology education seminars are undergoing a revolution due to advancements in computers, online software, and 5G Internet speed. The pace of this development has accelerated even further due to the COVID-19 pandemic and thus forced distance online education. Various technologies are available and are being implemented by residency programs across the world to improve radiology education, making it more interactive and safer in this pandemic. Online learning has become an integral part of education in radiology, with new facets being added to it.

A 4C Model for Hyflex Classrooms

In last two years, universities around the world have been using hyflex teaching due to COVID-19. This allows students to attend physical/online lectures in a flexible manner. A hyflex class comprises classroom students as well as online students. In this paper, we present a model for hyflex classrooms that highlights 4Cs: Content, Collaboration, Community and Communication. Based on the 4C model, a hyflex classroom has been designed and implemented through various teaching/learning tools or elements. These include the effective use of presentation slides, annotations, chatbox, open education resources, multiple choice exercises, group exercises etc. The effectiveness of these tools/elements were evaluated by means of an initial student survey. These results provide valuable insights into hyflex teaching/learning. © 2022 IEEE.

Catch the Open! A Gamified Interactive Immersion Into Open Educational Practices for Higher Education Educators.

Open Education (OE) opens up learning opportunities to, potentially, every person in the world. Additionally, it allows teachers, researchers, and practitioners to find, share, reuse, and improve existing resources under a dependable legal framework. Aiming to spread and foster the introduction of open policies in Higher Education (HE) institutions, the gamified interactive learning experience Catch the Open! was developed. Catch the Open! targets HE educators who wish to learn, or who wish to deepen their existing knowledge, about OE and Open Educational Practices (OEP). Within the gamified learning experience, the user becomes an educator, Alex, the game character, who receives a task from the Rector: to investigate how to best include OE and OEP in teaching and learning practice within the institution. Alex proceeds to explore and gather information in a web-based 2D virtual HE institution where students, colleagues, and guest researchers will help her to develop a comprehensive understanding of OE and the practical application of OEP. The educational content within Catch the Open! is underpinned by an OE competences framework for HE educators, developed in a previous phase of the Erasmus+ OpenGame project. In this paper, the design process to link pedagogical and technological approaches, which results in the Catch the Open! gamified web-based interactive application, is presented as well as the application itself. Moreover, two phases of piloting with 153 HE educators from six different HE institutions are presented. The obtained findings showed that the gamified environment helped in learning about OE. On the other hand, learners also suggested several improvement aspects of the gamified environment, such as the length of finishing a learning mission while playing.

A Study on E-Learning and Recommendation System

Introduction: Today, technology and internet both are proliferating due to which information access is becoming easier, and is creating new challenges and opportunities in all fields, especially when working in the field of education. For example, the e-learning education system can be personalized in order to acquire knowledge level and learner’s requirements in a learning process. The learning experience, as per the individual learner’s goals, should be adopted. Background: In the current educational environment, e-learning plays a significant role. For many researchers, it has become one of the most important subjects, as through the use of e-learning, the whole education system would revolutionize. There are many areas of e-learning in which research work is being carried out, such as Mass Communication, Information and Technology (IT), Education and Distance Education. Objectives: To meet the various needs of the learners such as talents, interests and goals an e-learning system needs to be designed as a personalized learning system by considering various educational experiences. Many methods such as ontologies, clustering, classification and association rules have been used along with filtering techniques to enhance the personalization and performance of the learner. Methods: This paper presents a detailed review of the literature of previous work that has been conducted in e-learning area, especially in the recommendation system. Current research works on e-learning has been discussed in this work in order to discover the research developments in this discipline. Conclusions: One of the vital functions of the current e-learning system is creating a personalized resource recommendation system. In this paper, we reviewed some crucial papers on both e-learning and recommendation systems. Future research work of this paper would be designing efficient and precise e-learning and recommendation system to deal with the problem of substantial personalized information resources as e-learning plays a vital role in preventing virus spread during COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022 Bentham Science Publishers.

Open Higher Education for Refugees to Access: Virtual Learning in the Covid-19 Pandemic

The access to university and the continuation of education for people in refugee situation are investigated herein as from four initial questions: how did Covid-19 find society and this is cause displacement cases?;what is a refugee's situation in the process of the world interruption of face-to-face education?;what are the conditions for refugees to migrate to virtual education?;and what are the actions and responsibilities of international organizations (IOs) concerned with education? The qualitative research of descriptive and exploratory character, with a theoretical approach, made use of a literature survey and of IOs reports in the ambit of education to systematize and to analyze the orientations and their implications in distance learning initiatives for refugees. The importance of university actions and of refugees' participation is verified in decision-making in the context of government public policies, at different levels, bound to agreements and covenants. The emancipatory perspective of education, open to (im)migration, besides palliative policies, is made essential for their access and social integration in the digital educational governance complex. © 2022 Gate Association for Teaching and Education. All right reserved.

Postgraduate Students' Perception of the Use of E-Portfolios as a Teaching Tool to Support Learning in an Open and Distance Education Institution

E-portfolios have been used for decades in education, however, it is still a new trend in some developing countries as they continue to adopt e-learning practices. The study investigated postgraduate students' experiences and perceptions of using an e-portfolio as a teaching tool to support their learning in an open and distance e-learning (ODeL) university in South Africa. A sample of 74 students registered for online modules were selected and an online questionnaire was administered via Lime Survey. The results show that more than half of the respondents (71%) used the e-portfolio for the first time. The study also revealed the contrasting views of the support received from the lecturer and institution for the e-portfolio platform, especially with technical issues. This study suggests that distance education institutions that use e-portfolios need to strategically choose user-friendly technology tools and design appropriate student support strategies for delivering online modules. Higher education institutions that are planning to implement e-portfolios may find the results of this paper useful, however, further investigation of the learners' needs, and the available tools may assist with creative and appropriate designs of support strategies for their contexts.

The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on UiTM Melaka Students' Learning

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the Restricted Movement Order (RMO) due to COVID19 to March-July 2020 semester students of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malacca. Through a confirmatory factor analysis, the student understanding scale was validated in three dimensions: technology acceptance, teaching approach and student readiness in the practice of Open and Distance Learning (ODL). The article also analysed the relationship between student understanding and the three variables. A total of 370 respondents had been selected using the purposive sampling method using SPSS analysis. The result showed that there is a weak relationship between the teaching approach and student understanding with the correlation of 0.355. It is followed by the moderate relationship between teaching approach and student understanding with the correlation of 0.613. Meanwhile, student readiness and student understanding have been identified as a very strong relationship with the correlations of 0.743. The findings also found that student readiness has the highest mean as compared to other factors. This result specified that the students of UiTM Melaka are not fully prepared mentally and physically for an inclusive ODL approach. They felt that ODL is very incumbering and difficult in understanding the content of learning sessions especially for the subjects related with calculations.

Technology Enabled Delivery of Medical Programmes through ODL: A Study of Training Medical Doctors in Geriatric Medicine

COVID-19 provided an opportunity to experiment with alternative delivery mechanisms for a medical education programme offered through open and distance learning with face-to-face training as an essential component of the programme. Non-availability of hard copies of the course material (92%) and lack of communication from the university (32%) as well as training centres (42%) were some of the challenges faced by students of the Geriatric Medicine programme of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) during the COVID pandemic. Around 90% were willing to attend online classes and 65% to 77% were willing to present cases online for discussion. A programme-specific web portal containing all resource material and information was visited by 85% of students. Most students attended the online classes and 68% attempted the formative assessments based on the online classes. Online classes were recorded and uploaded and were found useful by 90% of students. The experiment successfully demonstrated the feasibility and acceptance of delivering practical skills using online technological tools. Further integrating technology to complement some of the face-to-face component could be used as a permanent and effective delivery strategy, which could also reduce resource requirements.