Open and Distance Education at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria O.I. AsubiojoDirector, Centre for Distance LearningObafemi Awolowo UniversityIle – Ife, NIGERIA

Paper presented at the Global Distance Learning CongressTaj Lands End, Mumbai

INDIA28th June 2014

Need for Distance Learning Education in Nigerian University System• Nigerian population ~ 160 million• 1.5 million undergraduate applicants annually• 20% admitted due to limited space and facilities• Continuous demands for University degree Federal Government Response• Establishment of the National Open University –

operating the Uni-mode system• 6 Universities designated as dual-mode Universities

by NUC• Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is one of the 6

so designated

Obafemi Awolowo University(OAU)

Establishment of OAU CDL • The OAU Centre for Distance Learning (CDL) was established in 2002 with

the following fundamental objectives:• To expand the reach of education that is open, flexible, and responsive to

the challenges of a rapidly changing world anywhere anytimenywhere,anytime, and to virtually any

• To provide increased access to education in all branches of knowledge, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, to Nigerians and international community in locations outside the main University campus;

• To provide opportunities for self-improvement in education to people, who, due to their circumstances, cannot afford the regular full-time and exclusive academic structure, as for full-time students;

• To provide opportunities for retraining and updating skills, while on the job;

• To optimise utilisation of available human and material resources in the University;

• To align the University with modern trends and current developments in education and learning

Strategic Goals of the OAU Centre for Distance Learning

• To provide unfettered access to quality tertiary education via the Open and Distance Learning mode to many Nigerians

• To set the pace for using ICT as a veritable tool for promoting quality education for all, through in-house development and effective relationship with our partners across the world.

• To enhance capacity building• To deliver enhanced, adaptive learning environment which

will maximize student assimilation and success.• To provide competitive edge, prestige and differentiation

from other institutions

General guidelines

• Philosophy - Accessible, Flexibility and Lifelong learning • Admissions - All entrants into degree programs meet the

minimum national requirements for university admission• Curriculum - The curriculum for each academic program is

congruent with the approved MAS/BMAS for the program. The learning outcomes are clearly articulated in terms of competencies, skills and behavioral attributes

• Pedagogy - The pedagogy meets well defined learning objectives, while learning resources are tailored to ODL. The Media and ICT applications meet international quality standards

General guidelines (contd)

• Evaluation and Assessment; Continuous assessment is well entrenched to promote learning through feedback and includes tutor marked assignments (TMAs) and Computer marked assignments (CMAs) appropriate to the program.

- This includes Summative assessment that validate achievement of Learning objectives - Integrity of Evaluation and assessment process is ensured demonstrably - External moderation is an integral part of the evaluation and assessment process • Staffing: Adequate qualified faculty for program leadership, resource and assessment generation, and tutor monitoring. -Academic staff mix-by-rank should comply with the NUC guidelines - Staff are appropriately skilled in terms of subject and ODL • Student and Staff management sub-system: responsive student and staff support system as well as adequate learner support.

Challenges of E-learning in a developing country• Reluctance to shift from traditional face-to-face• Dearth of courseware• Epileptic power supply• Inadequate computer literacy of students• Teaching laboratory practicals• Assessment of students• Inadequate internet facilities (bandwidth)• Copyright issues• Alignment of academic procedures for dual-mode

system

Strategies for overcoming the challenges• E-learning re-orientation training for lecturers• Remuneration for lecturers for course

development/teaching• Availability of lecture materials through OER• Setting of open book-type questions• Use of software for detecting cheating• Practicals to be taken by special arrangement• Provision of low power consumption computer

“tablets” for offline applications• Resource sharing with other institutions/centres• Partnership with private IT and other private sector

educational technology outfits

Capacity Building• Participation of 10 OAU lecturers in NUC/OUUK E- learning training. 2008 -2010.• Stakeholders’ Forum on Distance Learning – 2008 Feb 12 2009; 26-28 Oct. 2010• Step-down training on E-learning course design and development 23rd June – 30th June 2009; April 8 2010; 2 – 7 August 2010; July 4 – 7, 2011 ; Jan 31 – Feb. 2 2012; Sep. 2013; April 2014

So far, about 400 lecturers have been trained

Topics covered at the step-down trainings• Introduction to Instructional Design for online courses• Developing study guide for online courses• Using blogging systems for academic purposes• Developing online course template• Online course development using Moodle Learning

Management System• Using online social networks for academic purposes• Assessment of online students• Preparing video presentations for online courses

OAU CDL Model

• In the OAU CDL Model, distant students will actually learn from the same lecturers who teach on-campus as they deliver lectures and course material online or pre-recorded, thus ensuring parity of curriculum contents and academic standards both on-campus and off-campus. The total time to complete an online course will be equivalent to that of an on-campus programme and the same degree will be earned as the ones on-campus

• The OAU distance learning model involves the applications of Multimedia Technology that support electronic instructional delivery mode (e-Learning), as well as independent learning. This involves the automation of most of the learning processes including the application, shortlisting, payment and lecture delivery using world class Student Information Systems (SIS).

E - Learning Management Systems

• OAU CDL has acquired Learning Management Systems (Blackboard, Moodle), which are built for e-learning. They can present instructional materials in text formats (lecture notes, organized into modules), documents and PowerPoint slides, illustrations such as graphics, pictures, charts, maps etc. They can as well handle video, audio, simulations, tests, animations, e.t.c.

• The courseware development process includes:• Gathering Lecturers' notes and materials• Digitization - Instructional and Interactive content• Support gaps with open ware content• Quality Assurance Review phase• LMS and Uploading• Review and constant upgrade on content

• Lecture materials come in the form of PowerPoint slides which instructors use to teach the classes. Lectures are captured on video and accompanied by hand-outs in PDF format, and other additional materials and references as the instructor deems necessary.

• A digital library is available on the portal for student and lecturer research. This model makes it unnecessary to maintain warehouses of voluminous course materials as the materials will be included in the Tablet given to each student at the beginning of their programme. This also means that students need not wait for course material delivery after paying for such. Their course materials are handed to them in the Tablets.

• Each student will be required to acquire a customized tablet from which lectures will be received both in online and offline mode.

• The tablet is designed such that it can automatically connect to the CDL e-learning portal to download lectures and update student status based on level of classes attended, forums and assignments.

• Connectivity will not be an issue for the student as the Tablet comes with its own network for which the subscription is renewed with every session’s registration.

• The Tablet will help to overcome the twin problems of internet access and power supply. The Tablet battery has a nine-hour capacity thus minimizing the problem of power outages

• The classes are designed in such a way that the bandwidth needed is not too large and does not take too much time for it to be downloaded unto computers and other devices.

• Lectures (notes and video) and assignments downloaded can be viewed offline at student’s own time, and assignments submitted as requested by instructors.

• There will be quizzes to test the level of understanding of subject taught and all these will be automatically stored in the system.

• Digitizing the course content also makes it easy to carry out curricula reviews and update of academic content at regular intervals.

• The other delivery platforms will be text, broadcast and correspondence based, supported by print material and face-to-face instructional delivery mode for courses that require residential school during long holidays for industrial training, laboratory attendance, tutorials, practicum or examination.

• At regular times during the year, such course students will receive packages of study materials and assignments prior to their residential period.

Interactive course materials

• In order to create interactive course materials, OAU CDL has employed best-in-industry tools and equipment for lecture capture, video streaming, LMS synchronisation and cloud computing

Evaluation and Assessment

• All OAU courses follow a set standard where each lecturer is required to develop a robust syllabus complete with:• Practice quizzes• Graded quizzes• Discussion Forum (Graded and ungraded)• Homework assignments and • Practicum where necessary

Available ICT Infrastructure• The ODL facility is served by a microwave link via Glo1 Nigeria Ltd

with a bandwidth capacity of 45mbps on both uplink and downlink. In addition, a backup connection via VSAT on Sky Vision UK with a capacity of 64 kbps uplink and 256 kbps downlink is also installed.

• The Building hosts a state of the art eLearning studio which is equipped with modern facilities to help deliver uncompromised eLearning materials to our distance learning students. The studio has the capacity for high definition video capture, editing, encoding and streaming, as well as synchronization of lecture slides with video clips.

• Interactive boards are also provided in the studio to enable real time annotations or display of step-by-step mathematical workings during typical lecture capture sessions. These lectures can be streamed live over broadband internet or recorded for later online or offline access.

Resource Centres• Each Resource Centre will be equipped with Local Area

Networks(LAN), a two-way VSAT equipment, at least 500-computers workstations, internet and digital library access, as well as equipment for live viewing, playback, audio and video conferencing, fully interactive services and virtual classrooms. It will also have a large classroom capable of sitting up to 200 students and other adjoining rooms used for small classes and tutorials, library, common rooms and refectory. Each resource centre Manager will provide management support and leadership for the day-to-day administration of the Centre, coordinate the use of the multimedia information networking facilities at the Centre and maintain regular liaison with the Headquarters.

Photo Gallery for the video recording

OAU CDL Website