Becoming and Being an (Open) Distance Learning

Practitioner and Researcher

Paul PrinslooUniversity of South Africa (Unisa)

@14prinspImage credit: https://pixabay.com/en/spiderweb-morning-dew-waterdrop-1684807/

Invited presentation in the Doctor of Distance Education Program (EDDE 806), Athabasca University, 17 November 2016

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS• Except for the personal photographs, I don’t own the copyright of any

of the images used and hereby acknowledge their original copyright and licensing regimes. All the images used in this presentation have been sourced from Google and were labeled for non-commercial reuse

• This work (excluding the licencing regimes of the images from Google) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

• Elements in this presentation were covered in Prinsloo. P. (2014, October 22). Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin: researcher identity and performance. Inaugural University of South Africa (Unisa). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267395307_Mene_mene_tekel_upharsin_researcher_identity_and_performance

Disclaimer: This is a personal reflection. My experiences, insights (or lack thereof) are my own and any resemblance to the experiences of other researchers is unintentional…

Not all the…

may be

Image adapted from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All_persons_fictitious_disclaimer_English.PNG

• How does one become a researcher in distance education?

• When is one acknowledged as a researcher in distance education and from whom does this recognition come?

• How will I know if/when I’ve made it?• What does it mean to be a distance education

researcher?

Some preliminary questions for consideration…

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/stairs-architecture-secret-curve-1636573/

Context & identitySerendipity/luck

Curiosity and troubleNetworks

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/tree-branches-spring-nature-sky-439171/

At the intersections of…

Overview of the presentation• Map the field on which I play as distance

education practitioner and researcher• Explore my own journey in terms of context,

serendipity, curiosity and trouble as well as networks

• Share some themes and examples of my own work

• Towards digital scholarship and being• (In)conclusions

7

Researcher identity as plural, dynamic construct…

Becoming researcher

Who I am as a researcher, how I am measured, what I value

Age

Home languagePublication language

Being researcherRace

Gender

Performing researcher identity

Location/ Context

HealthCulture

Dispositions

Habits

Networks

8

[(habitus)(capital)] + field = practice/agency

My habitus - how my past and present (and my understanding thereof) shaped and still shape me

The capital that I have acquired in the process (or not)

The field – the context in which I find myself in. This is not a neutral space, but is, itself, shaped by various structures, and agencies of individuals and collectives

My practice/agency and my understanding thereof…

[(habitus)(capital)] + field = practice/agencyAdapted from Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: a social critique of the judgment of taste. Richard Nice

(trans). Cambridge: Harvard University Press

9

Image retrieved from http://www.allstaractivities.com/images/soccer-positions.gif

Exploring research as field…• Players have set/

predetermined positions

• Rules are predetermined

• Players have different skills

• What players can do is determined by their position on the field

• The physical condition of the field impacts play

See: Thomson, P. (2012). Field. In M. Grenfell (ed.). Pierre Bourdieu. Key concepts (pp. 65—82) Durham, UK: Acumen Publishing.

Context is (almost) everythingImage credit: https://pixabay.com/en/milky-way-rocks-night-landscape-916523/

Becoming a distance education researcher…

1959

- B

orn

1976

- M

atric

1995

– U

nive

rsity

of S

outh

Afr

ica

(Uni

sa) ,

Reg

iona

l offi

ce,

Polo

kwan

e

1982

- Bac

helo

r of D

ivin

ity

1985

-87

– N

ation

al S

ervi

ce

2000

– P

ostg

radu

ate

Man

agem

ent D

evel

opm

ent

Prog

ram

me

- Uni

sa

1987

-199

4 Fi

rst e

mpl

oyer

1984

Doc

tora

l ex

ams

1979

– B

ache

lor d

egre

e

2002

– C

ertifi

cate

for

Dist

ance

Edu

catio

n Pr

actiti

oner

s

2000

– a

ppoi

nted

as

Uni

sa tu

tor

2003

- Su

stai

ning

the

Onl

ine

Lear

ning

En

viro

nmen

t – U

NIS

A

1997

– P

ostg

radu

ate

degr

ee in

Art

Hist

ory,

UN

ISA

2005

- O

nlin

e Le

arni

ng

and

Teac

hing

–

Uni

vers

ity o

f Lon

don

2002

– C

urric

ulum

and

le

arni

ng d

esig

ner,

Uni

sa20

02 –

star

t my

law

deg

ree

– dr

op o

ut a

fter 2

0 m

odul

es20

02–

first

dist

ance

edu

catio

n co

nfer

ence

(P

CF4,

Dur

ban,

Sou

th A

fric

a20

03 –

firs

t pub

licati

on in

di

stan

ce e

duca

tion

2010

- 20

11 P

roje

ct c

oord

inat

or

– fr

om D

E to

ODL

2008

– D

litt e

t Phi

l (R

elig

ious

Stu

dies

) - U

nisa

2012

– a

pplic

ation

for

Nati

onal

Res

earc

h Fo

unda

tion

(NRF

) ra

ting

2013

– O

DL R

esea

rch

prof

esso

r

2012

– N

RF ra

ting

– C3

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/milky-way-rocks-night-landscape-916523/

Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Africa#/media/File:LocationAfrica.png

My identity and being a researcher are irrevocably linked to and impacted by my context

13

My story of becoming and being:[(habitus)(capital)]

1948 – eleven years before I was born

Image credits: http://espressostalinist.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/europeans-only.jpg

Image credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid

14

[(habitus)(capital)]

My story of becoming and being: [(habitus)(capital)] (cont.)

1956 – the Bantu Education Act of 1955

"There is no place for [the Bantu] in the European community above the level of certain forms of labor ... What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics when it (sic) cannot use it in practice?“ (Hendrik Verwoerd, Minister of Native Affairs, South Africa)

15

My story of becoming and being:[(habitus)(capital)] (cont.)

Born white and male into a system of intergenerational privilege, white superiority and epistemological license

• Born 1959• Started school in 1965• Schooled in my home

language• Classified a European• Grew up in a segregated

mining village, in a middle-class family

16

My story of becoming and being:[(habitus)(capital)] (cont.)

I matriculated in 1976 when (black) schools in Soweto were burning and when (black) school were kids killed for protesting against Bantu education

Image credits: http://kgothatsomanale.blogspot.com/2013/06/soweto-uprising-16-june-1976.html

17

I enrolled at universities of my choice, worked on the mines to fund my studies and somehow pulled it off

Yes I worked hard – but it would be disingenuous to disregard the opportunities afforded to me because of my race, my language and my gender

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/key-stump-nature-forest-1683108/

18

Recap: [(habitus)(capital)] + field =

practice/agencyMy habitus - how my past and present (and my understanding thereof) shaped and still shape me

The capital that I have acquired in the process (or not)

The field – the context in which I find myself in. This is not a neutral space, but is, itself, shaped by various structures, and agencies of individuals and collectives

My practice/agency and my understanding thereof…

[(habitus)(capital)] + field = practice/agency

19

My story of becoming and being a (distance education) researcher

When I entered the field of distance education as an administrative officer, a curriculum developer and later as researcher – the field, practice in and research on distance

education were dominated by white, male theorists and scholars, and predominantly white, male administrative and academic staff

20

But…I entered the field of distance education research ill-prepared (theoretically and methodologically), battling to find a voice as

African distance education scholar in a field dominated by mainstream educational research, and a field ‘ruled’ by North

Atlantic (white, male) voices, journals and networks

I discovered the power of networks as not only connecting people, but also disconnecting others

21

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/rule-board-circle-font-wont-1752412/

Context & identitySerendipity/luck

Curiosity and troubleNetworks

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/tree-branches-spring-nature-sky-439171/

Becoming and being…

Some themes and examples of my research journey: context, serendipity,

curiousity and troubleImage credit: https://pixabay.com/en/doors-choices-choose-open-decision-1587329/

Prinsloo, P. (2003). The anonymous learners: a critical reflection on some assumptions regarding rural and city learners. Progressio, 25(1): 48-60.

Du Plessis, A., Muller, H., & Prinsloo, P. (2005). Determining the profile of the successful first-year accounting student. South African Journal for Higher Education, 19(4): 684-698.

Du Plessis, A., Muller, H., & Prinsloo, P. (2007). Validating the profile of the successful first-year accounting student. Meditari Accountancy Research Vol. 15 No. 1 2007 : 19-33.

Prinsloo, P., Muller, H., Du Plessis, A. (2009). Raising awareness of the risk of failure in first-year Accounting students. Accounting Education, 19(1-2), 203-218. DOI: 10.1080/09639280802618130.

FIRST THEME: A preoccupation with the student experience/student success

Pretorius, A.M., Uys, M.D., & Prinsloo, P. (2010). Exploring the impact of raising students’ risk awareness in Introductory Microeconomics at an African open and distance learning institution. Progressio 32(1): 131-154.

Subotzky, G., & Prinsloo, P. (2011). Turning the tide: a socio-critical model and framework for improving student success in open distance learning at the University of South Africa. Distance Education, 32(2): 177-19.

A turning point: serendipity, luck & hard work

George Subotzky

Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketman80120/3980724036/sizes/l/

SECOND theme: The student online experience

Slade, S., Galpin, F.A.V., & Prinsloo, P. (2011). Through the looking glass and what we found there: exploring student entries in online learning diaries. Open Learning. The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, 26(1): 27-38.

Liebenberg, H., Chetty, Y., & Prinsloo, P. (2012). Student access to and skills in using technology in an open distance learning context. International Review of Research in Open Distance Learning (IRRODL) 13(4). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1303/2348

A turning pointSlade, S., & Prinsloo, P. (2013). Learning Analytics: Ethical Issues and Dilemmas. American Behavioral Scientist 57(1) pp. 1509–1528.

Van Rooyen, A., & Prinsloo, P. (2007). Exploring a blended learning approach to improve student success in the teaching of second year Accounting. Meditari Accountancy Research Vol. 15 (1): 51-69.

A turning point: serendipity, luck and hard work

Slade, S., & Prinsloo, P. (2013). Learning Analytics: Ethical Issues and Dilemmas., American Behavioral Scientist 57(1) 1509–1528

2007 – International Fellowship, Open University Business School (Dr Sharon Slade & Fenella Galpin)2008 – Unisa International Fellowship to the OU2009 – Second International Fellowship Open University Business School

THIRD theme: Learning analyticsPrinsloo, P., & Slade, S. (2014). Educational triage in higher online education: walking a moral tightrope. International Review of Research in Open Distributed Learning (IRRODL), 14(4), pp. 306-331. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1881

Prinsloo, P., & Slade, S. (2015, March). Student privacy self-management: implications for learning analytics. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Learning Analytics And Knowledge (pp. 83-92). ACM.

Slade, S., & Prinsloo, P. (2015). Student perspectives on the use of their data: between intrusion, surveillance and care. European Journal of Open, Distance and Elearning. (pp.16-28).Special Issue. http://www.eurodl.org/materials/special/2015/Slade_Prinsloo.pdf

Prinsloo, P., & Slade, S. (2016). Student vulnerability, agency, and learning analytics: an exploration. Journal of Learning Analytics, 3(1), 159-182. Willis, J. E., Slade, S., & Prinsloo, P. (2016). Ethical oversight of student data in learning analytics: A typology derived from a cross-continental, cross-institutional perspective. Educational Technology Research and Development. DOI: 10.1007/s11423-016-9463-4 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11423-016-9463-4

FOURTH emerging theme: Supervision and supervisor identities

Maritz, J., & Prinsloo, P. (2015): A Bourdieusian perspective onbecoming and being a postgraduate supervisor: the role of capital, Higher Education Research & Development, DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2015.1011085 (pp 1-14). http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2015.1011085 Prinsloo, P., & Maritz, J. (2015) “Queering” and querying supervisor identities in postgraduate education. Higher Education Research and Development (HERDA), 34(4), 695-708. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2015.1051007

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/beaded-cobweb-network-dew-drip-1630493/

Networked and networking scholarship: a personal approach

• How does one become a researcher in distance education?

• When is one acknowledged as a researcher in distance education and from whom does this recognition come?

• How will I know if/when I’ve made it?• What does it mean to be a distance education

researcher?

(In)conclusions

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/stairs-architecture-secret-curve-1636573/

THANK YOU

Paul Prinsloo Research Professor in Open Distance Learning (ODL)College of Economic and Management Sciences, Office number 3-15, Club 1, Hazelwood, P O Box 392Unisa, 0003, Republic of South Africa

T: +27 (0) 12 433 4719 (office)

prinsp@unisa.ac.za Skype: paul.prinsloo59Personal blog: http://opendistanceteachingandlearning.wordpress.comTwitter profile: @14prinsp