A framework for developing competencies in open and distance e-learning

Abstract

Many open universities and distance education institutions have shifted from a predominantly print-based mode of delivery to an online mode characterised by the use of virtual learning environments and various web technologies. This paper describes the impact of the shift to open and distance e-learning (ODeL), as this trend might be called, on the course design practices of faculty members at a small single-mode distance education university in the Philippines. Specifically, the paper presents and analyses the faculty's perspectives on how their course design practices have changed and issues and challenges arising from these changes. The findings suggest that faculty training programs in ODeL should aim to develop a comprehensive range of ODeL competencies in a systematic and coherent way. Based on the findings, as well as research on practitioner development in teaching effectively with technology, a framework for developing ODeL competencies among faculty is proposed. Aside from covering the four areas of change in course design practice identified in the study, the framework also specifies levels of expertise (basic, intermediate, and advanced), indicating degrees of complexity of the knowledge and skills required for each area at each level. All of the competencies listed for all four areas at the basic level comprise the minimum competencies for teaching an online distance education course.

Issues and Challenges in Open and Distance e-Learning: Perspectives from the Philippines

“…The development of these skills should be undertaken in such a way that the integration of content, pedagogical, and technological knowledge and skills-that is what Mishra & Koehler (2006) refer to as technological pedagogical content knowledge or TPACK-is facilitated. (See Arinto [2013] for an ODeL skills framework that addresses this requirement. )…”

Faculty Members’ Instructional Priorities for Adopting OER

“…While Honebein and Honebein (2015) find that appeal is the most important priority in the digital age, and Bates (2015) includes Novelty in his SECTIONS model for media selection, in this case, it transpired that the instructors selected OER to improve learning effectiveness, but at the implementation stage, they focused mainly on OER appeal to the students. In the age of the massification of higher education for digital natives and the millennials, there may be call to develop instructors' competencies in linking motivational strategies to promoting learning effectiveness and achieving learning outcomes as suggested by Arinto (2013). Table 2 shows that extension was an important instructional priority in using OER in face-toface/blended and distance learning contexts (71 chunks, 25% of the total), particularly in Europe and Africa, a point discussed in the following section.…”

Πρόταση Δημιουργίας Πλαισίου Προδιαγραφών Προγράμματος Προπτυχιακών Και Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών Για Την Εφαρμογή Τεχνικών CLIL Με Τη Χρήση Αρχών TPACK Στο Πλαίσιο Του Επς-Ξγ

“…Η ανάγκη κατάρτισης των εκπαιδευτικών στην παραγωγική και παιδαγωγικά ορθή εφαρμογή εργαλείων Τ.Π.Ε. στο γνωστικό τους αντικείμενο στον γενικό Ελληνικό εκπαιδευτικό χώρο, έχει αποτελέσει αντικείμενο εισηγήσεων σε συνέδρια (Ζέππος, 2017) και δημοσιεύσεις (Παπαδάκης, Παρασκευάς, & Τσιμόπουλος, 2014;Τσαπάρα, 2014;Arinto, 2013). Κοινό τοπίο αυτών των τοποθετήσεων είναι πως η απλή επιμόρφωση των εκπαιδευτικών δεν είναι επαρκής, αφού η ορθολογική και παιδαγωγική χρήση των εργαλείων Τ.Π.Ε.…”