The present study investigated the need of digital technologies for the distance learners of AIOU (Allama Iqbal Open University), and the challenges in its implementation. Within mixed-method approach, an explanatory sequential design was employed to conduct this study. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaires from 963 students to find out the needs for digital technologies. Later 3 administrators and 1 library in-charge were interviewed to find out the challenges in its implementation. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. For qualitative data analysis, inductive analysis was done. Most of the students said that digital technologies were needed for increasing accessibility and flexibility of learning. The challenges for its implementation were in the requirement of diverse online learning resources, access, cost and lack of expertise. The paper recommended that there should be provision of portable devices to students with Wi-Fi, and guidance about its use. Annual need-assessment system was also suggested.

Academic plagiarism has remained a major concern for higher education institutions, as it hampers not only the quality of the teaching-learning process and research, but also the overall educational institution. This issue appears to be even more serious in online and distance education institutions. As a result, a qualitative study was conducted on an online university in Pakistan to investigate the determinants of academic plagiarism and to find ways to address this issue. The students were given an open-ended questionnaire to reflect their opinions on the awareness and understanding of plagiarism, its determinants, and ways to address it. The findings revealed that most of the 267 online university students had a poor awareness and understanding of plagiarism. Major reasons for students’ plagiarism turned out to be a lack of a proactive approach to create awareness, an omission of citation conventions from course content, untrained teachers, a lack of strict penalties and their proper implementation, poor time management, a fear of failure, a lack of confidence, laziness, and a culture of plagiarism. The study proposes the Awareness, Support, and Prevention model (AS&P model) to address this issue in higher education institutions.

The study aimes to develop and validate Digital Literacy Scale (DLS) based on Chen’s (2015) theoretical framework which includes nine dimensions: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, citizenship, character, curation, copyright, and connectedness. A question pool consisting of 62 items based on the nine dimensions of digital literacy was generated on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Content validity of the question pool was sought from experts in terms of clarity of items, language understanding, and relevance. SPSS and AMOS were used for statistical analysis. Using a sample of 349 university students, Exploratory Factor Analysis was employed for reliability analysis, construct validation, and factor structure of the scale. EFA confirms the nine dimensions; however, some items were deleted during this process. Finally, Confirmatory Factor Analysis was employed to check the reliability and validity of the factor structure by using a second sample (n=442). CFA showed that all the values were within the acceptable range (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin 0.886, the total variance explained 62.87%, Cronbach Alpha 0.894, and the goodness of fit 0.924). Thus a standardized DLS consisting of 36 items and 9 factors (communication, copyright, critical thinking, character, citizenship, curation, connectedness, creativity, and collaboration) was finalized. DLS is a psychometrically sound, reliable, and valid measurement tool that can be used to measure digital literacy.

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This study investigates the level of social interaction, its determinants and influence on the instructors’ motivation and work efficiency in an online university in Pakistan. Exploratory case study design has been used for this purpose. Data was gathered through participant observations and one-to-one interviews. Ten interviews were conducted from instructors belonging to four different departments. Observations were carried out for a period of one month. The study revealed that in the online university, level of social interaction was lower than a traditional one. Instructors pointed out various reasons behind it including high workload, seating arrangements, and attitude of some of the heads. Even when they had free time and opportunities, most of the them preferred browsing through the internet or chatting with their fellows through computers. It appeared that the online culture and intense human-computer interaction had made them addicted to machines. Almost all the instructors agreed that higher and better level of social interaction would improve their job motivation, work efficiency and institutional attachment. They suggested more relaxed environment, trips and social gathering, workshops and conferences involving all the departments, sports week for the faculty members, and facilities like canteen and staffroom for improved social interaction and work experience.