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EDDE 205 Tuscano_Report on Module 1
1. Report on Module 1:
Distance Education in the 21st Century
and the Sustainable Development Goals
Francis Jim B. Tuscano
EDDE 205 l 3T-2017-2018
2. Guide in Navigating the Slide Presentation
• Icons are hyperlinks. Click the icons to go to specific or
desired slides.
• Additional notes are available in the slides notes.
Home Slide
3. Module Objectives
At the end of this module, learners should be
able to:
Describe the role of distance education in
the 21st century context and in the
attainment of the Sustainable Development
Goals
Home Slide
4. Home Slide
Diving into the
21st-Century
Global Society
Increasing Role
of Higher
Education
Institutions
Open Universities
in the Crossroads
of Change
Focus Discussion:
Role of Open
Universities in
21st Century Asia
Response to the
Crisis and
Challenges:
UNESCO &
SDGs
Main Parts of the Report
6. 21st Century as an Era of
Paradoxes in the Global Society
Home Slide
(Hernes, 2006)
7. PovertyWealth
VS
Increase of possession
and wealth
Inequality is widening as
the poor gets poorer.
Better Health
Advances in technology and
discoveries in medicine and
treatments made human life
longer and better
New Threats
Discovery of new
diseases and old threats
loom (HIV-AIDS, cancer)
8. Tech GapTech Gain
VS
New knowledge are
translated into new
technological tools and
discoveries
Developing and under-
developed countries remain at the
end spectrum of slow
technological advancements
Control over
nature
More knowledge over nature and
better use of resources for our
advantage
Environmental
Degradation
Human manipulation has led to
global problems such forest
degradation, accelerated global
warming etc.
9. Gender DifferencesGender Improvement
VS
More acknowledgment of
the role of women in the
society
In some countries, women’s
rights are in papers only and are
not observed in real life.
Democratization
More and more countries have
threaded the road towards
governance by and for the people.
Disenfranchisement
Basic human rights remain to
be elusive for some countries,
even the newly democratized
ones.
10. …but not for all.
Education…
VS
Education has been
acknowledged as a basic human
right.
Access to educational systems
remains a big challenge to some
countries, esp. in terms of cost or
funding.
12. medieval universities:
training of clergy; huge
repositories of
knowledge in libraries
15th-16th century
universities:
training of officers for
navigation purposes
Industrial Revolution
universities:
use of new scientific and
technological methods
and tools
21st century
universities:
technology affected the
new changes in the
workplaces
Historical Context of Higher Education
(Kak, 2018)
13. Current Context:
Universities witness the post-industrial economy
where tech is embedded in daily life and computer as
an important tool for learning (4th Industrial
Revolution).
The current trends and the changing global landscape of the
21st century presents opportunities and challenges for higher
ed and distance learning institutions. For some countries,
these pose as threats or crisis in higher ed (Mason, 2006).
14. Three Trends that Affect the
Educational Environment
Home Slide
(Hernes, 2006)
16. Globalization - as the the increasing flow
across borders and boundaries – in all
aspects covering that of people, goods,
services, ideas, information, images and
values.
2
18. What
crisis?
Educational
systems face
economic and
social pressures
and are unable to
meet the needs of
increasingly
knowledge-
intensive
economies.
Social changes in
the past 10 years
were caused by:
• globalization
• technological
developments
• the information
explosion.
(Mason, 2006).
19. More
about
the
crisis…
Automation and artificial intelligence
technologies are transforming manufacturing,
corporate work and the retail business - Those
who do not adapt are deeply affected.
(Kak, 2018).
Colleges and universities are slow in
acknowledging theses trends as they focus
about competition from schools or training
systems using online learning technology.
Online education is a disruptive challenge for which
colleges are ill-prepared. Unless universities move
quickly to transform themselves into educational
institutions for a technology-assisted future, they risk
becoming obsolete.
20. More and
more
about the
crisis…
Universities are still working in the
parameters established in medieval times
(Hardy, 2017).
Narrow minded idea about university
students - Not anymore 18-year old school-
leavers.
Universities should open up to credit
transfer. Students should not be confined
into a single curriculum.
Traditional higher ed will be swept aside by
digital competitors.
21. Response to the Crisis
& Challenges: UNESCO
and SDGs Lead the
Way
Home Slide
22. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
(SDGs)
• UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development are global goals that aim to
respond to global issues such as poverty, climate change, and
inequalities among others. Members of the UN agreed to work
together to achieve the 17 SDGs.
• Higher Education plays a vital role in achieving SDG 4 on
Education, but also in ensuring that all SDGs are reached - proving
that education is the key to a better society.
Watch information video HERE.
23. World Declaration on Higher Education key and ideal
expectations (UNESCO, 1998):
1. higher education should be equally accessible to all,
2. linked in a seamless educational system starting from childhood,
3. provide for lifelong learning,
4. relevant to society,
5. use diverse educational models,
6. provide for essential staff development,
7. ensure quality,
8. be student- centered,
9. ensure women’s participation and,
10. embrace the potential of Information Technology (IT) and
networking.
(Mason, 2006).
24. PARIS MESSAGE (UNESCO, 2015)
• Address the issues of access, equity, and quality learning
outcomes
• Contribution of higher education to the SGDs - e.g. SDG 4
• Inequalities still exist e.g. digital divides
• Online, Open and Flexible to meet the growing demand for access,
equity, and quality learning outcomes through various cost-
effective e-learning modes
Preamble
25. PARIS MESSAGE (UNESCO, 2015)
Call to Action
Role of Governments
Government and Higher Ed Institutions
Students
Academic Staff
International Cooperation
27. Improve quality of and increase access to e-learning
modules or courses. Make use of ICT but also reduce
costs to gain more access.
1
Modularization of education through use of learning objectives -
the notion of a learning object: a short piece of learning material
that can be combined with others to form a course or learning
module.
Changing role of faculty/ teacher - facilitators and designers
of online courses
2
3
28. Need for e-learning skills because learning with technology
requires skillsets that learners must have in order to progress
and become successful with online learning.4
Supporting e-learning: Student support and services are
necessary and indispensable requirements of online learning.
This can range from technical support to academic tutorials or
online registrations.
E-learning initiatives require a change in leadership style and
approaches within universities. University leaders in the digital age need
to understand institutional cultures, deal with the inevitable dissonances
that arise, technology literate, and demonstrate the value of
collaboration, teamwork and communication.
5
6
29. These challenges also reflect the
opportunities that higher ed and
distance learning institutions can
explore.
(Mason, 2006 & Kak, 2018).
30. Growth of virtual universities and
partnerships
Blended Learning
Opportunities for Higher Ed & distance
learning institutions Institutions
Open Source and Open
Courseware Movement
Growth of local study centers and
telecenters
Move to a student-centered
pedagogy
(Mason, 2006 & Kak, 2018).
32. The changing landscape of the global society has led us to the
realization that Higher Ed, particularly, open universities are in
the crossroads of exciting challenges and opportunities for
innovations.
Home Slide
Open universities are tasked to become bastions of
“equitable, quality education and lifelong
learning.”
33. Throughout history, the purpose of open universities has
evolved. We now come up with the following:
• building capacity that the higher education system cannot or will not deliver;
• providing individual opportunity and social justice that the higher education
system cannot or will not satisfy because of its own interests or limited
vision;
• intervention to change the higher education system, which is seen as
incapable of renewing itself; and
• nation-building – where a national university, as opposed to private,
confessional or regional universities, need in the government’s view to
support national development.
(Tait, 2008)
34. • building capacity that the higher education system cannot or will not deliver;
• providing individual opportunity and social justice that the higher education system
cannot or will not satisfy because of its own interests or limited vision;
• intervention to change the higher education system, which is seen as incapable of
renewing itself; and
• nation-building – where a national university, as opposed to private, confessional
or regional universities, need in the government’s view to support national
development.
(Tait, 2008)
If open universities achieve and fulfill these, then the
challenges of 21st century will be addressed and the
SDGs attained.
36. Asian Context:
• Increase by over 50% in higher ed enrollment leading to
expansion of demand for education
• Projection that 21st century will be the Asian century
• Asian definition of higher education - the goal and means to
success
• Higher education pushes the economy and build the talent
pool (national development)
37. Challenges to Higher Ed in Asia
• Increase in demand for higher education with regards to
access, equity and quality learning outcomes
• Rapidly changing work environment and industry skills
requirements
• Super fluid student mobility
• Redefining the 21st century skills
• Maintaining the quality of education
• Equity of access and learning outcomes
• Social responsibility
• Contribution to SDGs
38. Role of Open Universities
and Regional Cooperation
39. Means of how open universities can transform
higher education in Asia:
• Open admission to programs and courses, use of open educational resources,
universal design for inclusivity, technology to provide accessibility and
inclusivity
• Promote the culture of sharing and “coopetition”
• The work and living environments are the learning spaces. Immediate
application of learning should be targeted to make learning more embedded.
• Open university system can facilitate the discharge of higher education’s
social responsibilities such as training and continuing professional
development not only for teachers but for other professions as well,
improvement in the overall quality of education, and making education as the
core of all sustainable development goals
40. Regional Cooperation:
Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU)
• AAOU’s potential influence in transforming higher education in
countries where they operate
• AAOU as a platform for higher education collaboration for research
• AAOU’s initial attempts of collaboration: the Exchange Fellow
program and collaborative research among open universities among
others
41. Conclusion:
Home Slide
• The systematic changes and trends in the 21st century fundamentally
affected the different areas of global society, especially in the realm of
education.
• Open universities (distance learning) are at the crossroads to make a
difference through tapping into technology to provide better access and
learning for all - to achieve not just SDG #4 but to use education as means
to attain all 17 SDGs. DE can address the challenges of the 21st century
and even develop in learners the needed skills to become a holistic member
of the society.
• Asian higher education institutions and open universities play a vital role for
pushing the region into greater progress through providing quality education
and lifelong learning.
42. Points for Discussion:
Home Slide
• How are the systematic changes and trends in the 21st century
manifest in and affect Philippine society?
• How are higher education institutions and open universities in
the Philippines responding to the systematic changes and trends
in the 21st century and call for attaining the SDGs?
43. References:
Bandalaria , M. (n.d.) The Role of Open Universities in Transforming Higher Education in Asia. Retrieved from
https://myportal.upou.edu.ph/mod/resource/view.php?id=109728
Hardy, J. (2017). Universities challenged to abandon ‘Fortress Mentality’ to aid students. Retrieved from
https://ounews.co/around-ou/ou-speaks-out/universities-challenged-abandon-fortress-mentality/
Hernes, G. (2006). The new century: societal paradoxes and major trends. The virtual university: models and
messages, lessons from case studies.
Kak, S. (2018). Universities must prepare for a technology-enabled future. Retrieved from
https://theconversation.com/universities-must-prepare-for-a-technology-enabled-future-89354
Mason, R. (2006). The university–current challenges and opportunities. The virtual university, 49-69.
Tait, A. (2008). What are open universities for?. Open Learning, 23(2), 85-93.
UNESCO. (2015). Paris Message. Retrieved from:
https://www.icde.org/assets/WHAT_WE_DO/POLICY/parismessage13072015final.pdf
United Nations. (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved from:
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
44. Report on Module 1:
Distance Education in the 21st Century
and the Sustainable Development Goals
Francis Jim B. Tuscano
EDDE 205 l 3T-2017-2018
Editor's Notes
Report on Module 1:
Distance Education in the 21st Century and the Sustainable Development Goals
Francis Jim B. Tuscano
EDDE 205 l 3T-2017-2018
Guide in Navigating the Slide Presentation
Click the icons to reach specific or desired slides.
Slide notes are available.
At the end of this module, learners should be able to:
Describe the role of distance education in the 21st century context and in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals
Wealth and poverty - Increase of possession and wealth but inequality is widening. Rich gets richer while the poor gets poorer. Wealth in concentrated on those who are already wealthy. Gap is getting bigger.
Better health but new threats - Due to advances in technology, we see great improvements in medicine. New medical discoveries and treatments that help humans live better and longer. However, new threats are being discovered due to spread of newly discovered diseases. Some of the threats continue to loom because they still are not yet curable by current medical provisions.
Technology Gain vs Technology gap. New ideas are translated to become technology tools and discoveries making our lives longer, easier and more efficient. Numerous innovations and patents are applied every year. However due to factors such as economy, those in the third world countries remain at the end of the spectrum as technology gain is slow. Technology gaps gets getting bigger as first world countries innovate in much faster rate.
Control over nature vs environmental degradation - We have more knowledge over nature and to use the resources to our own advantage. However, due to our manipulation the environment has suffered from our manipulation.
Gender improvement but still there are differences. There has been more and more acknowledgment of the role of women. Women have been given equal rights. However, much of this are simply in papers since there are still countries that restrict the rights of women.
Democratization vs disenfranchisement. More and more countries have threaded the road towards governance by and for the people. However, basic human rights remain to be elusive for some countries, even the newly democratized ones.
Education, but not for all. Education has been acknowledged as basic human rights and yet access to educational systems remains a big challenge to some countries. Access to higher education has become costly turning it as something privilege while other countries continue to see access to better education system as a problem.
The evolution of the university
Medieval European universities - training of clergy - huge repositories of knowledge in libraries
15th - 16th centuries - universities for training of officers for navigation purposes
Industrial revolution - use of new scientific and technological methods and tools
21st century - technology affected the new changes in the workplaces
Current Context: Universities witness the post-industrial economy where tech is embedded in daily life and computer as an important tool for learning. The current trends and the changing global landscape of the 21st century presents opportunities and challenges for higher ed institutions. For some countries, these pose as threats or crisis in higher ed.
In all these paradoxes, education seems to become the critical nexus - the crossroads where these problems are seen, analyzed, and hopefully find solutions for the imbalance.There are three trends that affect the educational environment and seems to reshape education systems.
Changing demography - The demographic composition of a nation exerts great influence on the educational landscape of a nation. More specifically, it asserts influence on the supply and demand for education.
Increasing world population - There has been major changes in population between developing countries and industrialized nations. In developing countries, there’s an increase in population and their population is relatively young causing an increase for student services and educational demand. On the other hand, industrialized countries tend to have older population affecting demand for better pension and adult services and causing problems on the need for younger generation to replenish the aging generation.
Urbanization - Habitat will be cities causing problems in “mega-cities” where a lot of people will experience the effects of urbanization via the mega-problems - the poor are still living in the slums and basic needs becomes more expensive and will become unattainable for the poor.
International migration will increase. Professionals from developing countries will seek better prospect in industrialized countries. Some will choose to migrate to escape political conditions.
Aging - Life expectancy increases challenging the nations to ensure that the working population can sustain the children and the retired. Working force needs to be more productive for the need of sustenance.
New diseases will continue to affect world population. International migration and globalization becomes means for diseases to spread. Old but serious diseases will continue to affect the human population.
Globalization - as the the increasing flow across borders and boundaries – whether national, economic, cultural, technological, or institutional – of people, goods, services, ideas, information, images and values.
Manifestations of Globalizations
Increase of technology innovations and inventions and their subsequent integration in daily aspect of human life such as communications both in the micro and macro levels.
Economic Exchange - Globalization is not only changing the world economy but also the conditions for economies. For example, because of the rapid technology advancements, we see economies experiencing faster movements or changes in technology tools. For example, smartphone models are updated in less that a year. New jobs are created due to innovations in technology. Knowledge economies seek for highly qualified professionals, even luring those from other countries causing bran drain from former countries.
Political Integration sees more nations working together even in realms of law and politics. Economies and trade become catalysts for national unions to be formed so that exchange of good and transactions can happen faster.
Culture witnesses quick and faster of ideas and mindsets challenging the traditional and opening avenues for new thinking to emerge in th population. Globalization seems to level off and homogenized mindsets, reducing cultural differences but still preserving one’s heritage.
Knowledge Growth:
Science-based knowledge continues to become catalyst and drivers for social change affecting all aspects of human life.
Information technology has increased and made sharing and management of knowledge more efficient. New knowledge are being applied to become innovative products.
Redefining development with how a country manages, uses, and applies knowledge to drive progress for society’s wealth and welfare. IT has become a major tool to learn, apply, and manage information and relevant knowledge.
Educational systems face economic and social pressures and are unable to meet the needs of increasingly knowledge-intensive economies. Internet and IT has become powerful technology tools that affect communication and relationships. There is an increase of knowledge. Universities and learners are flooded with it. Globalization poses the challenge of knowledge and competitiveness that is supported by lifelong learning. The turmoil that universities have experienced over the past 10 years has been caused by the broader social changes that have taken place due to globalization, technological developments and the information explosion.
Kak (2018) further adds and makes the crisis much clearer:
Automation and artificial intelligence technologies are transforming manufacturing, corporate work and the retail business, providing new opportunities for companies to explore and posing major threats to those that don’t adapt to the times.
Colleges and universities are slow in acknowledging theses trends as they focus about competition from schools or training systems using online learning technology.
online education is a disruptive challenge for which colleges are ill-prepared. Unless universities move quickly to transform themselves into educational institutions for a technology-assisted future, they risk becoming obsolete.
Moreover, Hardy (2017) makes a great description of how universities are in crisis:
According to Peter Horroks, universities are still working in the parameters established in medieval times.He argues for greater cooperation - between institutions
Narrow minded idea about university students - Not anymore 18-year old school-leavers. The vast majority of those thinking about undertaking higher education in the next five years were already in work. Education as the currency since the workplace continues to evolve
Technology is crumbling the fortress walls. Traditional higher ed will be swept aside by digital competitors
Universities should open up to credit transfer: students should not be confined into a single curriculum. They must be able to take courses in other universities to fit their expectations and goals. Higher ed must adopt to this. Define nature of higher education in response to the changing world and needs of humanity
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)
UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are global goals that aim to respond to global issues such as poverty, climate change, and inequalities among others. Members of the UN agreed to work together to achieve the 17 SDGs. Higher Education plays a vital role in achieving SDG 4 on Education, but also in ensuring that all SDGs are reached - proving that education is the key to a better society.
In response, the World Declaration on Higher Education (UNESCO, 1998) provided key and ideal expectations from higher education:
higher education should be equally accessible to all,
linked in a seamless educational system starting from childhood,
provide for lifelong learning,
relevant to society,
use diverse educational models,
provide for essential staff development,
ensure quality,
be student- centered,
ensure women’s participation and
embrace the potential of Information Technology (IT) and networking.
PARIS MESSAGE (UNESCO, 2015)
Preamble
Addressing the issues of access, equity, and quality learning outcomes as key features shaping the new vision for the post- 2015 educational agenda, the contribution of higher education to the SGDs, ie. SGD 4 (equitable, quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030) was highlighted.
Despite progress, inequalities still exist e.g. digital divides in developing nations and least developed ones
Online, Open and Flexible education represents a core range of strategies within a variety of contexts, utilizing media and information and communication technologies (ICT), to contribute to meeting this growing demand, while ensuring equity, access, and quality learning outcomes.
Online, Open and Flexible education systems provide capacity for Higher Education, supported by robust quality assurance and regulation, to provide routes for student success delivering large-scale and cost-effective pathways for certificates, diplomas, degrees, and higher level qualifications, and a range of non-formal learning activities such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
A Call to Action:
Role of Governments
Recognize the importance of Online, Open, and Flexible systems to meet the challenge of scale and quality in Higher Ed and Lifelong learning
Create policies and enable regulations that support Online, Open and Flexible systems
Recognize the importance of funding programs and initiative in support for Online, Open and Flexible systems
Government and Higher Ed Institutions
Put in place policies - in particular with regard to the adoption of Online, Open and Flexible systems practice; and to support funding of research in enhancing teacher ICT competencies in higher education in order to ensure continuing innovation and quality enhancement.
Promote Higher Education policies that encompass Lifelong Learning
Give priority to the use of new pedagogical approaches e.g use of digital affordances
Reform curriculum in support of lifelong learning etc
Recognize skills and qualifications on the basis of demonstrated learning outcomes
Create a supportive environment for the development of leadership in Higher Education to assure high quality institutional performance in the practice of Online, Open and Flexible systems.
Support funding of research in Online, Open and Flexible education methods.
Academic Staff
Be empowered with technology-enhanced pedagogical skills and supported to engage with Online, Open and Flexible education practice.
Be supported to take on new roles, such as learning coaches or mentors, dedicated to teaching students how to learn in a digital environment, as opposed to teaching them content.
Be encouraged to create, develop, adapt and share high-quality accessible digital resources, taking into account local needs and diversity of learners.
Students
Be supported in ways to engage effectively with Online, Open, and Flexible education practice, particular attention being given to students with learning challenges, to new groups of learners, and to building skills for lifelong learning
Be empowered with knowledge and skills enabling them not only to be successful online learners but also successful employment creators and entrepreneurs.
International Cooperation
Undertake continuous monitoring and evaluation, including uptake and outcomes of Online, Open and Flexible systems.
Promote North-South-South collaboration in Online, Open, Flexible Higher Education to support development in the developing and least developed countries.
Give consideration to:
Initiatives for quality summits setting policy directions in the world regions
Promotion of doctoral student programmes to create opportunities for collaboration, networking and support for participation and visibility in events, networks and projects.
Strengthening global collaboration on R&D relevant to online, open and flexible higher education.
Challenges Brought by the Changes to Higher Ed Institutions
Improve quality of online courses or e-learning modules. Increase access to online or professional learning modules to cater to more learners, even those in post-graduates. Make use of ICT but also reduce costs to gain more access.
Modularization of education through use of learning objectives - the notion of a learning object: a short piece of learning material that can be combined with others to form a course or learning module. The idea is that the learning objects produced by academics are tagged with appropriate metadata and stored in data repositories that form a pool from which to create new courses.
Changing Role of the faculty/ teacher - Teachers who teach in virtual learning environment, some create online courses. From a face to face teacher/ professor, online teachers needs to learn to become online learning facilitators.
Need for e-learning skills - Learning with technology requires skillsets that learners must have in order to progress and become successful with online learning. For example, learners and even teachers must learn how to use ICT tools in order to achieve learning objectives. Online learning works with information from the Internet, hence, learners must become more critical with the information that they come across.
Supporting e-learning - Student support and services are necessary and indispensable requirements of online learning. This can range from technical support to academic tutorials or online registrations.
New kinds of leaderships - E-learning initiatives require a change in leadership style and approaches within universities. In keeping with the nature of the changes, university leaders in the digital age need to understand institutional cultures and deal with the inevitable dissonances that arise. Obviously they need to be technology literate themselves and to demonstrate the value of collaboration, teamwork and communication at all levels of the organization. They also need to take risks and be opportunistic, managing change is necessary but not sufficient. Changing times call for flexibility and adaptability.
These challenges also reflects the opportunities for that higher ed and distance learning institutions can explore.
(Mason, 2006 & Kak, 2018).
Opportunities for Higher Ed Institutions (Mason, 2006 & Kak, 2018).
Growth of virtual universities and partnerships
Blended Learning - Combination of online courses and traditional in-classroom (MOOCs)
Open Source and Open Courseware Movement/ Free information in different formats in the Internet - online courses
Growth of local study centers and telecenters
Move to a student-centered pedagogy
The changing landscape of the global society has led us to the realization that Higher Ed, particularly, open universities are in the crossroads of exciting challenges and opportunities for innovations. Open universities are tasked to become bastions of “equitable, quality education and lifelong learning.”
building capacity that the higher education system cannot or will not deliver;
providing individual opportunity and social justice that the higher education system cannot or will not satisfy because of its own interests or limited vision;
intervention to change the higher education system, which is seen as incapable of renew- ing itself; and
nation-building – where a national university, as opposed to private, confessional or regional universities, need in the government’s view to support national development.
Context
During the last 10 years, enrollment in higher education in Asia has been observed to increase by over 50%. Demand for education continues to expand
Coupled with the projection that 21st century will be the Asian century
Asian definition of higher education - it is the goal of everyone to reach higher education and graduate but also the means to success
Higher education plays a role in national development - push the economy and build the talent pool
Higher Education in Asia in the 21st century - Challenges
Increase in demand for higher education with regards to access, equity and quality learning outcomes
Rapidly changing work environment and the rapidly changing skills requirements by the industry - Brought about by the 4th Industrial Revolution, skills and talents of graduates are constantly changing. This will affect the relevance of current curriculum and instruction in Asian higher education
Student mobility - Students due to various reasons transfer or migrate to different places especially of the consideration for better economical prospects
Redefining the 21st century skills - include ethical values, digital citizenship, independent learning, sense of responsibility, effective time management and an integrated way of learning
Maintaining the quality of education
Equity of access and learning outcomes
Social responsibility
Contribution to SDGs
Means of how open universities can transform higher education in Asia
Open admission to programs and courses ensures equity of access to education and learning, use of open educational resources, use of universal design for inclusivity, use of technology to provide accessibility and inclusivity - to make learning ubiquitous
Promote the culture of sharing and “coopetition - use of open data, research, textbook in the midst of conventional competition as seen in admission, student artifacts or completion
The work and living environments are the learning spaces. Recognized that learners in open universities are rooted in their lives and hence these are part of their learning space. Immediate application of learning should be targeted to make learning more embedded. Ensure the ideal integration of praxis and theory as in industries
Open university system can facilitate the discharge of higher education’s social responsibilities which include the following:
Training and continuing professional development not only for teachers but for other professions as well
Improvement in the overall quality of education, which, in addition to teacher professional development, can also be done through development of contextualized open educational resources or OERs as a component of its open education practice
Making education as the core of all sustainable development goals
Regional Cooperation
The Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) is one example of regional cooperation among universities, in this case, among open universities in the region.
This presence implies a potential influence of AAOU to the role of open universities in transforming higher education in the respective countries where they operate.
AAOU serves as a platform for higher education collaboration for research, institutionalizing the acceptable quality assurance framework for education, as well as harmonizing standards to facilitate credit transfer mechanism.
As initial attempts of collaboration, AAOU undertakes the Exchange Fellow program; collaborative research among open universities to further develop the field of open distance e-learning; quality framework for MOOCs and OERs; perception of open universities on credit transfer mechanism, and accreditation process.
Report on Module 1:
Distance Education in the 21st Century and the Sustainable Development Goals
Francis Jim B. Tuscano
EDDE 205 l 3T-2017-2018