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The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges experienced by in-service English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers in an open distance learning (ODL) institution of higher learning in Malaysia. Many in-service ESL teachers who do not have the necessary teaching qualifications are seeking to obtain their teaching qualifications via the ODL mode of studies as it allows them to work as teachers while obtaining their teaching qualifications at the same time. They face multiple challenges which lead to high attrition rates, a concern for ODL institutions of higher learning worldwide.

A qualitative research design using a case study approach was used in this study where in-depth interviews were conducted with four in-service ESL teachers who are currently enrolled in an undergraduate Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) programme conducted via ODL.

The research is exploratory in nature. Findings highlighted four major challenges by these in-service ESL teachers: (1) financial difficulties, (2) work commitments, (3) family sacrifices and (4) emotional stress. However, technological use was not considered a challenge as mentioned by literature.

Findings from the study may be useful to ODL institutions to provide relevant support to ODL students to improve student retention rates in ODL institutions.

This study may be considered as a baseline analysis on the challenges experienced by in-service ESL teachers in ODL institution of higher learning in Malaysia. Further in-depth studies are needed to understand how ODL institutions can better support their education programme students to complete their teacher education programmes.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the hitherto unexplored strategic potentialities of blockchain as an intangible resource for open and distance learning (ODL) to attain and sustain competitive advantage by creating a more learner centric learning ecosystem.

Research design included review of the literature, desk research and case analyses to conduct this study so that the hitherto unexplored strategic potentialities of blockchain, a technological innovation, for ODL could be explored adequately.

The findings of the paper reveal that ODL must not miss out on the opportunity of harnessing the hitherto unexplored strategic potentialities of blockchain in its quest of attaining and sustain competitiveness vis-a-vis conventional system of learning. Results of this study sufficiently hint at the possible viability of considering blockchain as a strategic resource for ODL.

Results of this study sufficiently indicate the possible viability of considering blockchain as a strategic resource for ODL which in turn make them significant for decision-makers and policymakers engaged in developing ODL. Findings hint that ODL needs to make efforts to harness the strategic potentialities of blockchain for attaining and sustaining competitiveness which would also be helpful for ODL to contribute towards achievement of sustainable development goals. This paper attempts to provide a strategic viewpoint to the use of this technological innovation as a significant intangible resource discussing primarily the strategic perspectives of blockchain helpful in the further development of ODL.

Although uses of blockchain-enabled applications in ODL are relatively new, the growth is very fast. The present paper offers originality and value by filling the gap created by the inadequacies of studies focusing on the idiosyncratic characteristics including but not limited to decentralization and security of blockchain. Findings suggest that blockchain offers huge potentialities in terms of benefits for entire ODL ecosystem comprising different stakeholders such as institutions, learners, educators, etc.

This paper aims to derive criteria for a strategic selection of learning management system (LMS) after making an analysis of the feedback data collected from learners and academic counselors in open and distance learning (ODL) to evaluate their perceptions. This analysis hints at the need to implement a learning management system (LMS) in ODL. Selecting an appropriate LMS can prove to be a strategic approach for ODL in achieving self-reliance and competitiveness.

Research design includes qualitative design intended to discuss the features, advantages and attributes of different popular LMSs and compare them. In addition, the quantitative design (a questionnaire-based online feedback) to analyze the perceptions of the learners and academic counselors in order to know their e-learning needs has also been used. Results have been exhibited in tabular/graphical formats for easy comprehension and enhanced understanding.

Findings of the study suggest that availability of plethora of LMSs in the market, which also include open source (OS) LMSs, makes the decision- making as regards selection of an appropriate LMS strategically crucial requiring adequate consideration of every aspect such as cost, quality, usage, capacity, budget and most importantly priorities and objectives.

This study will help educational administrators and decision-makers in ODL for building a quality civilized life and empowered society by removing the constraints related to financial problems, disabilities, time, geographical conditions and many others in bringing education to the doorstep of every willing learner. The technical details of LMS, however, were intentionally kept simplified to achieve the objective and provide easy comprehensibility for the reader with little technical background, which might be a limitation of this study.

This study highlights that ODL has tasted success with optimum exploitation of different technological advancements in its transformational expedition from conventional learning to innovative e-learning and to the newest adaptive e-learning system. The huge potential of LMS, in providing learners and educators in ODL with an effective web-based learning system incorporating almost all the academic activities, has attracted organizations for using it not only for imparting education to learners but also for providing appropriate trainings to their human resources.

Quality assurance (QA) in open and distance learning (ODL) has always become universal concerns of stakeholders. The quality of ODL has been confronted with challenges in terms of the diversity of inputs, processes, the complex supply chain management of ODL and recent paradigm shift into online learning. Assuring the quality of ODL are daunting tasks at individual, institution and system levels. Completed before the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, this study aims to better understand the implementation of QA system in three Asian open universities (OUs), namely University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), Universitas Terbuka (UT), Indonesia and Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Pakistan.

A qualitative method was employed involving analysis of documents of the three Asian OUs and focus group discussions and interviews with management and staff. Data collected were then analyzed to draw conclusions and possible recommendations.

Findings of this study presented good practices, challenges and rooms for improvement of the QA system in the three Asian OUs. Focusing on students and stakeholders in their QA effort, this study has revealed that quality begins with inner self and is multidimensional. QA is principally viewed as continuous improvement, as mechanism and assessment and as effort at exceeding expectations of students and stakeholders. The recent challenge for QA is to embrace a delicate process of ODL transformation into online digital system. The recent COVID-19 outbreak has further implications and challenged QA implementation in ODL in higher education into the next level of complexity.

This study revealed the diversities in how OUs met the societal needs of their respective stakeholders and addressed the challenges ahead for QA in ODL.

These findings were expected to enhance the understanding of the theory and practice of QA in ODL and to contribute to quality improvement of ODL programs.

The purpose of this paper is to identify socio-economic/demographic characteristics and to evaluate the knowledge on different open distance learning (ODL) concepts of BSc undergraduates of The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) at first registration.

The surveying technique was adapted with a piloted structured questionnaire consisting of two components. The structured component was used to evaluate personal, socio-economic and demographic data. The open ended component evaluated the student’s perception on ODL concepts. The questionnaire was randomly adapted to 456 (35 percent Colombo Regional Centre (CRC) registrants) prospective BSc undergraduates at first registration time at the CRC in 2014. Data collected from the structured component were frequency tabulated and cross-tabulated with the SPSS computer software. Responses of the open ended part were examined, categorized and the frequency percentages of each response category were calculated.

The structured component recognized that the majority of BSc undergraduates of the OUSL represent employed (53 percent), late adolescents (92 percent below age 27) who reside in rural or semi-urban areas (75 percent). They belong mostly to the lower middle class and 69 percent are from families which have a monthly family income below SLR30,000/(USD208). Answers of the open ended component on ODL concepts recognized that, prior knowledge on ODL concepts were developed by most BSc undergraduates. Approximately 50 percent of respondents perceived OUSL as an institute which facilitates working people by conducting part time-based or distance mode education with self-learning features. In total, 56.9 percent students perceived the role of an ODL teacher correctly as a facilitator or a guide. The educational process was perceived correctly as an ODL system by 52 percent, while the remainder also identified the system to be a more self-study and student centered flexible learning system. However, the role of a BSc student at OUSL was recognized as self-independent learners by only 36.7 percent and the majority had no clear perception of the role they have to play as an ODL student. Hence, more attention should be paid to make students recognize the role they have to play in an ODL system in order to succeed at OUSL.

Although research has been carried out periodically on the process of ODL education system at OUSL, on the graduate (output) and dropouts, etc., not many have focused on the nature of input such as characteristic features of first registrant and their prior knowledge on ODL. As the output invariably depends on the input and the process, this type of survey is timely and novel.

The purpose of this paper is to make an assessment of the challenges in disseminating higher education to the learners in tribal communities, and problems solving capacity of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) by strategically making use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) taking a case of Madhya Pradesh (MP), which is the most tribal dominated state of India. The paper offers valuable insight in to the usage of ICT as a strategy for the ODL system presenting an account of how it can be utilized effectively to disseminate higher education in tribal communities.

Exploratory and descriptive techniques were utilized in this paper adopting the research strategy of case study in terms of the strategic potentialities of ICT in disseminating higher education in tribal communities by ODL using it as a strategy for their empowerment and development.

The findings of the paper reveal that dissemination of higher education in tribal areas is a challenging task especially due to their socioeconomic conditions and ethno cultural settings in addition to numerous infrastructural and access related issues. In view of the need of integrating education with the Indigenous perspectives, ICT can be used as an effective strategy by ODL for disseminating higher education amongst learners in those communities by reaching out to them.

This paper concludes that ICT can help ODL immensely in developing countries such as India strategically in reaching the tribal learners surpassing financial and geographical constraints with a learner centric approach increasing the capacity, quality and cost effectiveness of education system bringing the concept of strategy to center stage, at a time when ICT has fundamentally changed the strategies of different sectors including education with the unprecedented growth in its use.

This paper concludes that ICT has fundamentally changed the strategies of different sectors including higher education with the unprecedented growth in its use. It also concludes that Indian higher educational sector faced with multitude of challenges is not insulated from the effect of ICT, and its emancipatory and transformative potentials in higher education can play a major substantive role by extending support to meet the increasing higher educational needs of the tribal communities by sufficiently embedding it so that their greater contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be ensured.

The purpose of this paper is to gain original evidence of the perception of Open Distance Learning (ODL) library middle managers towards the meaning of career success from the perspective of the individual.

This quantitative research study was conducted with the help of a survey questionnaire designed by the first researcher.

Results revealed that career success no longer only relates to criteria such as the hierarchical position or progression through high ratings obtained during performance appraisal. A high premium is placed by ODL library middle managers on other success criteria identified in the literature, such as the positive effect of their work on the institution, success achieved through a focus on work life and home life balance and personal recognition due to competence.

The research findings presented in this paper form an important part of a comprehensive study on ODL library middle management development but is limited to the only ODL library in South Africa.

The paper provides current perceptions of ODL library middle managers to be considered during career path planning.

The paper provides the first findings of an overview of the perception of South African ODL library middle managers towards the meaning of career success. The study is timely as the number of ODL institutions is growing. The target population to benefit from this study is ODL library practitioners.

This chapter employed a systemic meta-synthesis literature review to reflect on the transactional variables of the theory of transactional distance (TTD) in addressing barriers to student engagement in the open and distance learning (ODL). Literature sources were obtained from unlimited databases around the globe; however, articles published before 2015 were not included in this review. Through the literature review, the authors identified barriers to student engagement in the ODL through the lens of TTD. The identified barriers to student engagement are presented according to three transactional variables of the TTD and later classified concerning student engagement dimensions. Findings suggest that key instructional dialogue barriers emanate from the teacher and student personality. For program structure, the authors found the poorly designed courses while for learner autonomy there are situational, institutional, and dispositional barriers. The identified barriers to student engagement in ODL revealed the interrelatedness of the transactional variables and the strong link with the student engagement dimensions. By integrating the transactional variables of TTD and student engagement dimensions, this chapter identified possible strategies to address barriers to student engagement in the ODL.

This paper presents the features and relevance of open distance learning in the context of the socio-economic conditions of people living in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in India. Although the primary purpose of the present study was to ascertain the effectiveness of the learner support services (LSSs) and different facilities offered by the open distance learning (ODL) institutions in that specific region. On the basis of these findings, few suggestions are made for the improvement in the support services, in order to make the ODL system more responsive to the area-specific needs of the learners, especially those residing in inaccessible areas such as J&K.

A survey-based descriptive methodology was applied to conduct this study. The data extracted from primary and secondary sources were analysed to reach certain conclusions. In total, 1,200 distance learners constituted the sample of the research. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed and distributed amongst learners and academics in the region to obtain their feedback and opinion on different aspects of support services and facilities offered to ODL learners.

Results of the study revealed that overall, the LSSs were satisfactory on different parameters, although they slightly varied from institution to institution. However, there was still scope for improvement in certain areas, where institutions further need to make serious efforts to address the identified gaps for improving the LSS and make teaching-learning more learner-centric in view of their specific requirements and local circumstances of J&K.

The present study focusses on presenting an overview of the only major components of LSS offered by ODL institutions and covers six distance education institutions (DEIs) located in different geographical locations within the limited jurisdiction of J&K. There is still scope to make focused (institution-wise) studies in a more specific situation and context to ascertain the problems in a more realistic way.

Although the study has been conducted in a specific territory of J&K, the findings reported in the paper may be equally useful for the other ODL institutions with similar characteristics or located in similar geographical locations, as support services are essential common components of institutions offering distance education programmes or courses.

The study is original research work conducted in the specific context of J&K, and its findings are based on the primary and secondary data collected from learners and other stakeholders of the selected ODL institutions. This work may be significant for the DEIs of J&K to get familiar with the essential components of LSS and develop a mechanism to further improve the academic and administrative support services for distance learners.

Higher education should bring up the multifaceted development of human resources by promoting the knowledge-enabled population that will bring socio-economic mobility, peace and progress in society. Thus, the educational providers must undertake the duty to impart need-based higher education that makes people educated with a progressive, rational, analytical, and skilful mind. Hence, there is an urgent need to address some basic challenges of higher education such as required educational avenues or institutional set up against the demand of the population, achievements in global learning, providing room for equal access to learning, research on cost benefit analysis, educational innovations and partnership, use of educational technology, quality assurance mechanism, need for adequate funds for the expansion of higher education, and so on. Once these challenges are addressed, transformation of the society can be a reality, and Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system is one of the most viable ways for transforming a country like India. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

For this study, descriptive research methodology has been used, and analysis has been done based on the data extracted from the secondary sources of information such as Census of India 2011; India Human Development Report 2011; Human Development Report 2014, 2015; Economic Survey 2015-2016; NFHS-I, II, III and IV; Report of 11th Five Years Plan; 12th FYP; Annual Report 2015-16, MHRD; Annual Report of NSS, 2016, etc.

ODL can be raised as an alternative way for making education accessible and for providing scope for skill-based education at a minimum cost. In fact, ODL, in particular, can play a significant role in transforming and empowering the vibrant adult population of a country like India into productive human resources by providing need-based training and equipping them with need-based skills, which are necessary for maintaining a decent standard of living.

Through this paper, it could be realised how ODL provides the opportunity of education to a large section of people in the society irrespective of sex and age, and how ODL has made the people capable with basic and essential kills which are necessary for maintaining a decent standard of living.

ODL could be a most viable option to mobilise the higher education system in India. This paper helps to contextualise ODL in empowering and transforming society, and the finding, and discussions have been made with reference to the various initiatives taken in the field of skill-based education through ODL in a country like India.