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Tech-Supported Learning: Experiences & Perceptions
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Added on 2019-09-23
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This report discusses the attitudes and perceptions of Nigerian students towards distance learning. It highlights the importance of distance learning in Nigeria due to shortages in manpower and the need for higher education. The report also outlines the problems faced by distance learning institutions in Nigeria and the steps taken by developed countries to improve distance learning. It includes a literature review of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and the delivery mechanism of education in NOUN. The report also discusses the communication tools for distance learning in Nigeria.
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STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS DISTANCE LEARNING IN NIGERIAAbstractThe main objective of this research study is to understand as to what are the attitudes andperceptions of the Nigerian students towards the distance learning. The National OpenUniversity of Nigeria (NOUN) takes a lead in providing and exclusively open and distancelearning education for the students. This report presents findings regarding experiences as well asperceptions regarding technology supported learning gathered with the help of different researchmethods. The results at the end of the report shows that the students of Nigerian Universities arevery hopeful and have developed a positive attitude and perceptions towards open and distancelearning as compared to other traditional forms of higher education. IntroductionFor the last few decades, distance learning has emerged as one of the profound phenomena in thefield of promoting education in different parts of the world. Nigeria is one such country whoseinstitutions are using it to educate its students in a large scale. From the historical point of view,even in the days of colonial era, the UK colleges that used to provide corresponding educationwere also instrumental in providing intermediate as well as advance level learning to a numerousNigerians via distance learning courses. At that time, the distance education was the onlyeffective method with which secretarial, commercial and middle and higher governmentadministrators were educated using this method of learning. Apart from these professionals, many Nigerian leaders were also provided education through thisvery method of learning. This mode of education, which was proving to be effective, wasextended in order to help the Nigerian students as well. One such module was General CertificateExaminations – used for ordinary as well as advance levels. This education to these students wasprovided by the known institutions of Britain. However, this foreign distance educational processwas stopped once the country got its freedom (Ojo & Olakulehin, 2006). Then Nigeria began torestructure its internal establishments and brought about developments in different sectorsincluding education. So, in the year 1959, the declaration of the first official distance learning bythe country was made and as per the Ashby Commission, University of Lagos was establishedthat also had a department for corresponding courses.In the wake of impacts of globalization, and the onslaught of a tidal wave of information systemsaround the world, radical changes have been witnessed in the field of education and also itsdesperate needs were felt on the part of individuals and society at large. The national andinternational experiences in conventional education have shown that in today’s educationalscenario, meeting the demands is extremely hard pressed. So, in Nigeria, there are shortages inmanpower, so the students are less able to acquire further education during the job. Therefore,distance education has become imperative for the Nigerian students today. In terms of its hugepotential for the expansion, Nigerian students regard distance education programs as anextremely helpful tool for their future. They consider it an opportunity to access qualityeducation which otherwise has been largely denied to them.
The fact that the necessity and demand for the higher education as well as on the job training isstill unabated in Nigeria, the importance of distance and open learning has to be rested on theability of multiple modes of educational processes designed to cater to the needs of those whoare fully qualified to get university education but are unable to be accommodated in the existingtertiary institutions. The compelling need for education of the students falling on this categorycan, therefore, be realized with the help of open and distance learning education. Therefore,distance learning needs to take an innovative and cost effective approach for the process ofeducation (Rogers, 1986).The following report will discuss the issues and analyze the solutions of those problems andfinally implement the different applications of the findings.MethodAs we know in distant learning education approach, there is a quasi-separation of the learner andthe teacher in time and space. In this section, the research methodologies that have been used arethe widely preferred ones. So, there will be a focus on archival research method in which wegenerally incorporate secondary research, that is, a hybrid of qualitative and quantitative data.This identification of research method has been utilized with the help of research oniondeveloped by Saunders et al. In this approach of research methodology, research philosophy isthe first level. The different research philosophies that are most preferred and widely used in thislevel are positivism and interpretivism. These philosophies analyze different assumptions beforeconducting the actual studies. As for positivism and interpretivism, the positivist’s approach is always bent towards exploratoryquantitative techniques such as social reviews, organized surveys and the valuable insights fromthe ground that possess unwavering qualities. A positivist views that society should mold anindividual and his stand in the public perception shapes his activities (Patton & Patton, 2002).The interpretivists, on the other hand, lean towards the humanistic subjective strategies such asunorganized meetings and member perceptions. Interpretivists argue that the virtue of beinghumans is not that we should respond to the outer social strengths and people are complicatedand diverse individuals. Even if they encounter the same phenomena, they will comprehend andtarget them in completely different ways and will develop their own understanding andexplanations.The research approaches being used in this report are inductive and deductive ones. Theinductive approach is used over and over again as part of the research target because thespeculation of occasions is a procedure that provides structure to each and every exploratoryscience. These assumptions are situated on a basis level, so the perception of the research leadsto investigative speculation. In deductive approach, we use a subjective procedure that takes intoaccount general comprehensions as far as using logical procedures for achieving a specific resultis concerned. Therefore, the use of using this technique results a comprehension with maximumassurance. It also utilizes an arrangement of theories to achieve a conclusion. The deductiveapproach being an instrument of exploratory learning is convincingly realized with our humanexperience and senses, which is called the reason (Perreault, 2011).
The research strategy that has been used here is the Archival research, and which is all aboutdigging up the past studies that have conducted by other researchers and academicians. Thismethod is generally employed when we are needed to include historical approach and relevantstudies regarding all the developments that have already been recorded about the researchobjectives and questions. The information that is collected through archival research is generallydescriptive in nature and it is essentially restated what has been established earlier regarding thesubject matter under study. The open distance learning as an educational method along with a philosophical construct hasbeen identified as one of the most robust approach for addressing the educational problemsprevailing in a country like Nigeria. The developing countries are facing the problems abouthuman resource development in the field of education, which is very crucial in its growth andcompetitiveness along with the far reaching societal impacts. Steps Taken by Developed Countries to Improve Distance LearningThe Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) was theproject that was undertaken by the administrators of Universities in United States. This projectwas initiated by Center for Distributed Learning (CDL) of Californian state University and itgenerated a motivational need for the other universities and then they also participated inMERLOT project. It was basically developed with an aim of creating a place where faculty couldshare educational materials for providing online teaching. It included a variety of modulesranging from tutorials to simulations.Another intergovernmental organization that has been providing quality education throughdistance learning is Commonwealth of Learning (CoL). It is based in Canada and founded byCommonwealth Heads of Government. It works with an aim of helping Commonwealthcountries to utilize the full benefits of distance education as well as the technology for enhancingthe access to quality learning.Problems OutlinedThe distance education in Nigeria is very crucial issue being faced by the students for morereasons than one. A considerable of the population of its students belong to the rural areas andlive below poverty level. Which is why they are unable to attend institutions that are located inurban areas, thereby remain deprived of necessary education even though they fall under thebetter merit category. Secondly, the students who are employed in the workforce without havingfinished their basic education because of some family problems are very less likely able to workalong with studies. At the same time, there are very few who are strongly focused towards highereducation but are not able to avail it due to the fact that they have limited access to the educationprovided by the traditional institutions for higher education (Moja, 2000). The third dominatingfactor is the tradition of early marriage and the religious beliefs prevalent in the country onaccount of which the majority of female population has been rendered lack of higher learning. In
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