Distance Education in Bhutan: Improving access and quality through ICT use

Jamtsho, Sangay; Bullen, Mark

doi:10.1080/01587910701439217

Cited by 26 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Through this mode, many people are able to make full use of ICT facilities by the application of a wide range of media source, such as print, audio-visual, CD-ROM, computers, and the Internet (Komba, 2009). Jamtsho andBullen (2007, as cited in Skagen et al, 2006) resonate that in today's information driven society, it has become very important to empower students to be self-directed knowledge on the information super highway.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and Prospects of ICT Facilities in Improving Access to the Open Distance Learning Programme of African Universities: Research Evidence From Nigeria

Isuku¹

2018

UCER-A

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Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been playing a vital role in the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) programmes of universities in both developed and developing countries. This is evidence in the access opportunity the learning mode has been able to provide to millions of people all over the world. Thus, its operation has enhanced the provision of educational services on a large scale to a greater portion of potential learners who for obvious reasons are unable to attend the traditional face-to-face residential schooling system. ICT uses various tools and technologies to meet the needs of learners at any point in time. However, despite the potential prospects and benefits associated with the use of these ICT facilities in the ODL programme, several challenges still limit the full realisation of the expected benefits of ICT usage in the ODL programmes of most universities in Africa. The study investigated a total of 500 students who were purposively sampled from year-three to year-five across the three university centres which operates the ODL programme in Southwest Nigeria, namely, universities of Ibadan, Ife, and Lagos, out of which 483 distributed questionnaire instruments were retuned. The collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics of percentages, mean, and standard deviation. The results show the most serious challenges facing access to ODL programme as: unstable and epileptic power supply (28.57%), high cost of purchase of ICT facilities (24.4%), poor Internet connectivity (21.95%), and poor mobile phone network signal (23.4%). Moreover, the analyzed data on the benefit derived from the use of ICT revealed a mean of 2.71. This implies that the respondents agreed that they derived benefits from the use of ICT facilities.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and Prospects of ICT Facilities in Improving Access to the Open Distance Learning Programme of African Universities: Research Evidence From Nigeria

Isuku¹

2018

UCER-A

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“…Much of the literature on library participation in learning management systems shows that there is a common objective among libraries to deliver resources seamlessly within the LMS (Eales and Scantlebury, 2007, Ge, 2010, Henk, 2010, Jamtsho & Bullen, 2007, Luther, 1998. This goal is sometimes in conflict with a librarian's desire to build information literacy skills among students.…”

Section: Digital Seamlessnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maximizing Library Presence While Minimizing Online Maintenance

MacIsaac

2011

Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Computer Supported Education

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This paper presents challenges and opportunities for an academic library to increasing its presence in an online learning management system (LMS). Successful examples from Athabasca University, Canada's Open University will highlight the benefits of a collaborative team approach to course development and LMS software applications. This case study demonstrates how an academic library can participate fully as an active partner in the learning process. Specific focus is given to the seamless access for students from the LMS to licensed electronic resources.

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“…In 2003, to improve its accessibility for students located in rural and inaccessible areas of Bhutan, an Internet-based component was added to the DTEP, using learning management system methods, computer-mediated conferencing and email. Recent self-reports of these tests have been candid in describing the lack of satisfaction with Web-based methods (Jamtsho & Bullen, 2007). Students appreciated the additional support and references found on the course website, though lamented the constantly poor, even worsening, Internet connectivity issues they encountered.…”

Section: Educational Programmesmentioning

confidence: 99%

IRRODL Volume 9, Number 3

Authors

2008

IRRODL

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You can't step in the same water twice, said Heraclitus. He may have been correct in the literal sense, but even Heraclitus must have had those déjà vu moments when his life seemed to be repeating itself. Standing by a pond while making a video download for this IRRODL editorial recalled identical experiences filming by ponds in 1975 and 1996, and prompted some thoughts on how little institutional policy ever really changes in the world of media-based education. In the mid-90s, television was on its way out as a medium of choice in North American and European education. It had been struggling for credibility for almost as long as it had been in use. The Open University in the UK, for example, started broadcasting course materials on TV in the early '70s, in the middle of the night and often for surprisingly small student enrolments of a few dozen. In 1978 the cost-effectiveness of this effort was questioned at a London University conference with the provocative title "Is anybody there?" It turned out they weren't, at least not in justifiable numbers, and that many courses could have been delivered to the students more efficiently in the mail on audiotapes. Since the late '90s, the same question has been asked about the WorldWide Web, at least in regions where only tiny proportions of the population have Internet access. Turning a blind eye to the inaccessibility hurdle, developing-world institutions have pressed on developing web-based ODL materials anyway, with an eager "If we build it, they will come" attitude. They appear motivated to adopt the most modern techniques available, regardless, and are encouraged in this by western distance educators who apparently regard media older than the web as strange and obsolete. But "Is anyone there, or likely to be so?" Actually not for the foreseeable future. Web-based education has polarised world society into elite and have-not groups far more than TV and radio ever did; and its adoption in the developing world appears oblivious to the fact that today's students would derive greater benefit from media that are actually available to them. Are the hundreds of millions of would-be students who cannot access the Internet a kind of 'untouchable' class, whose problems and needs have become invisible? Fortunately, in India and other developing countries, the needs of disadvantaged students remain very much in focus, and offer inspiration for all educators. For example, the University estimated by that bastion of source credibility, Wikipedia ('mega-universities' entry), as having the 7th largest student enrolment in the world, is named after Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who devoted his life to erasing untouchability from Indian society and to implementing open learning methods for the benefit of all. Today Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University maintains its commitment to these Editorial Volume 9, No. 3 Baggaley 2 ideals by preserving far-reaching uses of radio, TV, and audio/ videotape, while other Asian universities struggle and fail to harness more elitist forms of Internet-based educati...

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Distance Education in Bhutan: Improving access and quality through ICT use

Cited by 26 publications

References 2 publications

Challenges and Prospects of ICT Facilities in Improving Access to the Open Distance Learning Programme of African Universities: Research Evidence From Nigeria

Challenges and Prospects of ICT Facilities in Improving Access to the Open Distance Learning Programme of African Universities: Research Evidence From Nigeria

Maximizing Library Presence While Minimizing Online Maintenance

IRRODL Volume 9, Number 3

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