Transactional distance continues to be a major issue in Distance Education (DE) as resolutions to guarantee and support it are not wholly contingent on technological affordances, but depend on interactions, communication, and motivational channels embedded in pedagogical practices. While education during the Covid-19 pandemic is supported by DE, discussions around academic achievement during the pandemic have also begun. This paper argues that without reducing the transactional distance between the lecturers and students in DE institutions, effective teaching and learning cannot occur. This is a qualitative, participatory action research study that uses the experiences of first-year students, interviews from lecturers and observations of the online activity of the students in one academic writing module. This paper draws on one DE University as an example, the University of South Africa. The purpose of the paper is to identify and suggest alternative pedagogical practices to reduce the transactional distance between students and lecturers.
Despite the expansion of e-learning and the adoption of innovative learning management systems to support students, higher education institutions are still struggling under the burden of digital exclusion, hence increasing the transactional distance between lecturers and students. The research was conducted at a South African Open Distance and eLearning university and attempted to (1) understand how the Moodle site is organized to influence transaction distance, (2) identify students’ perceptions of the Moodle site to enhance their academic writing skills, and (3) identify if Moodle is an enabler or disabler to their learning. This article uses a qualitative participatory action research design and draws on the theory of transactional distance. Using observations, open-ended evaluation questions, and a focus group discussion, the study found that students appreciated the communication and interaction facilitated by the lecturers. Despite the challenges that students experienced, the transactional distance was reduced between lecturers and students. Although the findings of this study cannot be generalized on a broader scale, findings are in line with similar studies, amplifying the critical role of the perceptions and challenges of first-year students in HEIs to bring about the required change.
<p><span lang="EN-US">The COVID-19 pandemic challenged instructional methods of teaching and learning in universities around the world. To bridge this instructional gap, many universities opted for the use of digital technological innovations to reach students. Despite the implementation of these innovations, many higher education institutions were not fully prepared and ready for online teaching and learning during the pandemic. Researchers have argued that podcast and vodcast implementation in higher education institutions bring about no change to students’ motivation and performance. Consequently, there is still limited research on podcast and vodcast implementation and students’ perceptions on the utilisation of these tools in distance learning contexts. Using email interviews and online open-ended evaluation questions, this article aims to explore first-year undergraduate students’ perceptions of using podcasts and vodcasts to enhance academic writing skills in an open distance and e-Learning university in South Africa. Using transactional distance theory, the findings indicate lecturers and students’ positive perceptions towards the implementation of podcasts and vodcasts because today’s students consume digital content [digital natives], enjoy the use of technology and are adept to navigating online learning. However, even though, at first, novice lecturers were hesitant and unfamiliar with recording podcasts and vodcasts, through mediation, lecturers ended up recording quality podcasts and vodcasts that were clear and made use of illustrations that made it easier for students to understand the module’s content. The researchers recommend that lecturers consider their students’ interests, motivation, language and demographic backgrounds in creating podcasts and vodcasts.</span></p>
Despite efforts to understand how social media platforms encourage student interaction, researchers have noted that there needs to be more research that focuses on using Telegram messenger as a means to encourage student motivation and interaction in academic writing. This study aimed to understand how Telegram groups, created for first-year students at ODeL universities, increase student motivation and interaction in the Academic Writing module. This type of research is qualitative. This study uses a qualitative interpretative approach. Data collection techniques using interviews and observation. The subjects of this study were 4 lecturers and 9 students. The data analysis technique used is descriptive qualitative analysis. The study results found that lecturers considered Telegram a useful pedagogical tool to increase student motivation and interaction. Further findings reveal that Telegram motivates students to interact in groups and with modules. It is suggested that stakeholders reconsider their pedagogy and encourage using Telegram to assist students' learning of academic writing.
Over the past few years we have witnessed immense advancements of technology which challenge conventional teaching methodologies. Through an international staff exchange program that was attended over a period of two weeks, this paper compares two distance education universities from two culturally diverse continents; Africa and Asia, more specifically, a distance university in China and an open distance and e-Learning university in South Africa. This paper focuses on supporting students through quality assurance by reflecting on both distance-learning institutions and generated data by means of field notes and observations that took place during presentations. It is argued that effective and quality teaching and learning cannot occur without tightened quality control measures in a course. Arguably, if teaching and learning is quality controlled, success and throughput rates would improve. The findings in this paper indicate that an enabling environment that caters for quality assurance activities to be implemented on a continuous basis needs to be effected. Distance learning institutions need to move towards a culture of quality and by doing this they need to tailor their student support not just to produce graduates at end of a cohort but to produce quality graduates needed for the ever-evolving and rapidly transforming information and communication technologies. This paper concludes with recommendations for distance education institutions to move towards a trajectory of a culture of quality. It is argued that an environment that is conducive for quality assurance activities is needed for an effective culture of quality to ensue.
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