IED has kept strictly with traditional part-time operation because any further upgrade might result into unaffordable financial cost implication for the students.
4.2.4 Adequacy of Students Support Systems for Distance Learners in NOUN and OAU
to complete their programmes and even enhance their academic performance as they will be less worried about paying up their fees and focus more on their studies. There are also indications that students in both schools are provided with adequate tutorial/academic support.
They are satisfied with instructional deliveries, though 29.1% in NOUN and 23.6% in OAU still consider study materials inadequate.
In NOUN and OAU, 58.1% and 69.6% respectively affirmed that they have enough qualified facilitators. The roles the facilitators play in both institutions are in line with the PARS’s guides in the sense that the facilitators ensure the students are increasingly more self-directed and independent in learning. One of the ways the students demonstrate self-directedness is the organisation of learner-led tutorials on a regular basis. Meanwhile, as discussed earlier, insufficiency and impunctuality of facilitators in NOUN was a recurring theme in the qualitative data. It was identified as the top challenge they face, appealing that “if facilitators could come regularly, it will really be perfect” (NOUN OSCS 2). Also, peculiar to CDL, OAU CDLAF 2 complained that; “You have to drag, and drag and pull them before they come for the recording,
…before they mark their exams”.
Findings also reflected that NOUN and OAU, according to the students, provide technical support, administrative support as well as psychological/social support services for students in both NOUN and OAU. Meanwhile, OAU distance learners do not have sufficient access to libraries and resource centres. For instance, “we don’t have library ID card… we will not be permitted to go there or to borrow any books” (OAU IEDS 1), “I can't travel all the way to go and use the school library” (OAU CDLS 2) and at the CDL located in Moro, “we don't have a library here yet” (OAU CDLAF 2) which is about 7-kilometre away from the main campus at Ile-Ife. In NOUN, libraries are inadequate, in “the library, there's no space. I've never seen students in the library here or maybe they access library outside” (NOUN OSCAF 2).
However, NOUN and OAU students that so wish can access e-library. Library/resource centre
is an integral component of academic support and students cannot afford to lack access to a decent, well-equipped library in the school and beyond it.
From the students’ perspective (61.3% in NOUN and 56.2% in OAU), the overall students support systems in both institutions, to an extent, are judged to be comprehensive, decentralised and/or easily available. In their narratives: “I chat with her through Whatsapp. I call her any time of the day to find out information (NOUN LSCS 1)”; “So, we have the desk officer who used to attend to us all the time we are there” (OAU IEDS 1). From the responses of the facilitators, students support systems in NOUN and OAU can be considered adequate. For instance, 100% and 78.6% in NOUN and OAU respectively affirmed that the institution has well-defined processes for receiving feedbacks and progress reports from students. They (69.3% in NOUN and 78.5% in OAU) also indicated that they contact students through personal phone calls, letters, e-mails, SMSs, comments in chat rooms, or feedback notes on returned assignments. In NOUN, “we have various means of sending information to them” (NOUN LSCAF 1) and “there are counsellors on board” (NOUN LSCAF 2). In OAU, “they have the tutors on ground that can easily be contacted… We have a counsellor here who they can speak to” (OAU CDLAF 1) and “that's why the desk officer is in place” (OAU IEDAF 1).
However, students support systems in both institutions somewhat lack adequate communication sub-systems. For instance, many students (49.5% in NOUN and 34.8% in OAU), said they find it difficult to communicate with different units in their institutions. Also, they (49.1% in NOUN but 36% in OAU) indicated they do not receive personal phone calls, letters, e-mails, SMSs, comments in chat rooms, or feedback notes on returned assignments from facilitators and administrators. Learners’ personal contacts are necessary housekeeping details that facilitators should possess. They form the bedrock for forging a relationship with students (Askov, Johnson, Petty & Young, 2003). According to Al-Alawneh (2013) students see lack of instructor's feedback and communication as a barrier in distance education: there is a need for
feedback and more interaction between instructors and students and between students themselves. Information and effective communication means are very central to support services and to a large extent determine how adequate the support systems are. Communication for the purposes of students support services must be easy, timely and apt both on the sides of the students and the support providers. Phenomenological narratives of the learners however show that the use of ICT, especially social media such as Whatsapp carry strong potential for effective communication for support services.
In the context of the theoretical framework for this study, the crave for more effective communication is justified because, according to the principle of socio-constructivism, such is needed for the learners to construct knowledge within their zone of proximal learning of which the facilitators are integral component. The PARS model also dictates that systemic levels of communication are essential for provision of effective academic and relational support services.
Providing support services must be properly and reliably communicated because support could be counter-productive if it is not well managed and communicated. The institution’s website must be up to date and bear accurate information for students and prospective students. Lack of awareness or misinformation about available student support mechanisms would cause ineffectiveness and inadequacy of the mechanisms and might affect the institution’s overall academic productivity. The essence of initial and continued orientation is thus to ensure that students are in tuned with services they are entitled to and how they can access them.
Findings showed that social media platforms such as Whatsapp are becoming very instrumental for distance learning in Nigeria. In the interviews granted for this study, “Whatsapp” came up 10 times from the part of NOUN and 12 times from the part of OAU, totalling 22. There were reported cases of one-to-one and group interactions via Whatsapp, among students and between students and facilitators. Social media communications are usually not taken to be formal but using the platforms is innovative, should be encouraged and be used creatively. Recent studies
such as Bukaliya and Rupande (2013), van Wyk (2014), Gachago, Strydom, Hanekom, Simons and Walters (2015), Bozkurt, Karadeniz and Kocdar (2017) and Pachigolla (n.d) have demonstrated similar potentialities and benefits of social media (and Whatsapp) for open and distance learning.
Whatsapp creates a sense of assured and affordable accessibility because many students and teachers use it; it facilitates prompt dissemination of information due to its instant messaging (text, voice or video) functionality and because Whatsapp in particular is an application that functions even with poor or minimal internet connection (which is generally the case in Nigeria). Also, Whatsapp allows for both synchronous and asynchronous communication between facilitators and learners and among the learners. In this respect, social media and other multi-media applications such as Skpe, Imo, Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram could be a cheaper alternative to expensive teleconferencing facilities. Thus, we might witness improved and more formal use of these platforms in distance learning for both academic and relational support especially until better internet connectivity, wider coverage and more affordable data bundles become available in Nigeria. These tools and other ICT facilities neutralise the barrier created by space and time and provide the sense of immediacy adult learners crave for and ultimately promote the social construction of knowledge (Anderson and Simpson, 2012).
The implication of the foregoing, according to PARS, is that readily available relational support helps in stimulating the learner’s sense of initiation and sustaining their sense of self-direction. Provision of academic and relational support is not to make the distance students independent (from the state of being dependent) but to ultimately make them interdependent.
As Beaudoin (1990, p. 3) notes, distance learners “are in varying stages of cognitive and psychological readiness for self-directed learning activities and, while for some the format
seems familiar and comfortable, for others the prospect of studying in this way is intimidating."
This also aligns with the tenets of socio-constructivism. Continuous improvement is thus needed in the provision of students support services because this aspect has been identified as an integral part of ensuring quality assurance in distance education (Olojede, 2007). As COL International (2001) suggests, building adequate students support systems requires training for the faculty members in the areas of special needs of distance learners; strategies for supporting learners; roles of support services at key times in the learning cycle; learner support and administration; counselling; functions of face-to-face contact in a distance education system;
setting up and managing de-centralised tutorial support systems; drawing on existing resources to support learners and; use of media and technologies in supporting learners. This means that provision of adequate support systems is the responsibility of the institutions and the facilitators.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Summary
The study compared experiences and practices in distance education programmes of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (OAU). The specific objectives of the study were to: relate the psychosocial experiences of distance learners in NOUN to those of OAU; compare the competencies of the facilitators of distance learning in NOUN with those of OAU; examine the similarities and differences in the operational structures of distance education in NOUN and OAU and; investigate the relative adequacy of students support systems for distance learners in NOUN and OAU. Three research questions were set, corresponding to the first three objectives. One hypothesis was generated from objective four. The hypothesis is: there is no significant difference in the adequacy of students support systems for distance learners in NOUN and OAU. Conceptual review, theoretical review and empirical review were carried out to provide various insights to the focus of the study.
Two research designs, case study and phenomenology, were adopted for the study. The study population consisted of the distance learning students of OAU and the students of NOUN as well as facilitators of distance learning programmes in the institutions. The sample for the study comprised 230 respondents (200 students and thirty 30 facilitators) selected using multilevel mixed methods sampling techniques. That is, 100 students were selected each from NOUN and OAU using disproportionate stratified random sampling technique. Specifically, for NOUN, 50 students were selected from each of Ikeja Study Centre and Osogbo Study Centre using simple random sampling technique. For OAU, 20 students were selected from CDL and 80 students were selected from IED using simple random sampling technique. For the facilitator sample,
15 facilitators were selected from each of the two institutions using simple random sampling technique. In addition, to collect qualitative data, sixteen (16) participants were selected from the total sample using purposive sampling technique. The interviewees included four students from each of NOUN and OAU as well as four facilitators from each of NOUN and OAU. Four researcher-designed instruments (two questionnaires and two semi-structured interview guides) were deployed for data collection. After a review of returned questionnaires, 182 student questionnaires and 27 facilitator questionnaires were found adequate for analysis. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistical tools, and phenomenological analysis were deployed.
Results revealed the following major findings:
1. Distance learners in NOUN (65.6%) and OAU (76.4 %) consider themselves fit for distance education and only 14% and 12.3% respectively have considered dropping out of their programmes. NOUN students are mostly unconventional distance learners. and their psychosocial experiences include: higher level of opportunity to socialise, healthy facilitator-learner relationship, flexibility and cost effectiveness of distance learning and irregularity/insufficiency of facilitator-led tutorials. OAU students are mostly conventional distance learners whose psychosocial experiences include: lower level of opportunity to socialise, healthy facilitator-learner relationship, flexibility and cost effectiveness of distance learning, difficulty due to work and family responsibilities, and costs and risks of travelling.
2. According to the students (51.6% in NOUN and 66.3% in OAU) the facilitators treat them as adult learners and they (61.3% and 83.6% respectively) affirmed that their facilitators demonstrate sufficient mastery of subject matters of the courses they teach but while only 46.2% in NOUN agreed that their facilitators are punctual, 64.1% in OAU agreed to same. Competencies of facilitators of distance learning in NOUN
include: interpersonal skills in relating with distance learners, sufficient mastery of subject matters, and preparation of effective study materials but the part-time instructor-facilitators are generally unpunctual and hold tutorials irregularly. Competencies of facilitators of distance learning in OAU include: interpersonal skills in relating with distance learners, sufficient mastery of subject matters and use of appropriate teaching methods but instructor-facilitators of the online programmes (CDL) tend not to give priority to distance education duties.
3. Similarities in the opererational structures of distance education in NOUN and OAU include: admission application/screening, payment of fees and course registration processes similarly take place predominantly online, the use of blended learning approaches, the use of print and audio/audio-visual instructional materials (though OAU part-time students rely on physical meetings and print material). Differences in the operational structures of distance education in NOUN and OAU include: the deployment of part-time and quasi-part-time facilitators in NOUN and OAU respectively, compulsory tutorial attendance in OAU, only pen-on-paper examinations in OAU, NOUN’s admission requirement of O’ Level results but OAU’s requirement of higher qualifications (for direct entry to 200 or 300 levels) and while NOUN has study centres, OAU has two autonomous sub-systems (CDL and IED) of distance education.
4. From both the students’ (t=-0.816, p>0.05) and the facilitators’ (t=0.620, p>0.05) perspectives, there is no significant difference in the adequacy of support systems for distance learners in NOUN and OAU. From the students’ perspective (61.3% in NOUN and 56.2% in OAU), the overall students support systems in both institutions were judged to be generally adequate. From the facilitators’ perspective, 100% and 78.6% in NOUN and OAU respectively affirmed that the institutions have well-defined processes for receiving feedbacks and progress reports from students. Students in both institutions,
to varying extents, benefit from orientation programmes, tutorial/academic, technical, administrative, psychological, financial as well as Whatsapp-mediated social/relational support services.