Distance education shows promise for expanding access to education in Africa but faces many challenges. It can increase enrollment and lower costs if implemented effectively, but may not be suitable for all subjects or students. While distance education has grown significantly in Africa, it has not fully met the increasing demand for higher education. New technologies like MOOCs and online learning hold potential to further scale educational opportunities, but quality, costs, and cultural factors must be considered.

1. Distance Education in Africa:
Promise and Practice
Terry Anderson, PhD.
Professor Emeritus
Athabasca University –
Canada’s Open university

2. Presentation Outline
• What is Distance Education
• Does it work? Does it save money?
• Current developments in African DE
• Your comments
• 3 generations of DE pedagogy and technology
(time permitting)

3. What is Distance Learning?
• Access to learning when the source of
information and the learners are separated by
time and distance, or both. (Keegan and
Wikipedia)
• Distance Education involves a formal
instructional usually capable of issuing
certificates and degrees

4. From Distance Educ. to:
• E-learning,
• Online learning,
• Open & flexible learn.
• Distributed learning
• Blended learning

5. Types of Distance Learning
and Education
Tauranga Moana Learning Community NZ

6. Paced Versus Un-paced DE Models
• Paced –
– Familiar from Campus model
– Fits institutional schedule(s) and services
• Un-paced
– Maximizes student freedom
– Maximizes teacher freedom
– Procrastinators heaven, lower completion rates
– Develops independent learners
– Challenges with Examinations

7. Distance Education Promises
DE will bring the following benefits:
1. Increased enrolment which will improve the
financial viability of the institution
2. It is an opportunity for faculty development
and allows lecturers to experiment with new
pedagogies and techniques
3. Increase in staff income through module
writing and creation of online course sites
4. Gives faculties a chance to revive courses
which are not popular on campus
Momentum to Distance Education Initiative at Africa
University Zimbabwe, 2014

8. Memes of Distance Education
• Achieving a more open society
– Equalizing opportunity for all
– Allowing open access to information
• Competing Memes
– Efficiency of private enterprise
– Opportunities for entrepreneur exploitation (ie
MOOCs, High Dropouts, more ads than substance)
– Neo-liberal privatization dogma
Latchem, C. (2014). Musing on the memes of open and distance
education. Distance Education, 35(3), 400-409.

9. • “an injustice to make underprepared and poor
students believe that DE is their salvation
whilst at the same time forcing providers and
institutions to accommodate the fallout from
such an assignment” Heydenrych, J. (2015)
Heydenrych, J. (2015). Education (Im) Possible: Reconsidering the Contribution of Distance
Education in South Africa. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (AJHSS), 3(2).

10. Africa in 4-6 years??
2014 USA Figures
• 18.6 million college students taking an online
course
• About 5.5 million of these students are
studying partially or fully online – most are
“on-campus students”.
• Competition for these online students is
increasing - 421 institutions launched online
programs for the first time in 2014
Clinefelter, D. L., & Aslanian, C. B. (2015). Online college students 2015: Comprehensive data on
demands and preferences. Louisville, KY: The Learning House, Inc.

11. Not Everyone Loves Synchronous
• “How often would you be willing to log in at a
specific time to join a required discussion or
virtual lecture with your instructor and
classmates?”
– 21% percent responded “never,” but
– 15% responded “more than five times per course.”
Clinefelter, D. L., & Aslanian, C. B. (2015). Online college students 2015: Comprehensive data on
demands and preferences. Louisville, KY: The Learning House, Inc.

12. DE is “cost sensitive”
• Forty-five percent of respondents to the 2014
US survey reported that they selected the
most inexpensive institution.
Clinefelter, D. L., & Aslanian, C. B. (2015). Online college students 2015: Comprehensive data
on demands and preferences. Louisville, KY: The Learning House, Inc.

13. Not all Students or Teachers Embrace
Distance Education
• “I paid for a real, campus education”
• “I would never finish if I started an online degree
• “I got into teaching because I like the classroom”
• “It may be OK for other subjects, but my subject
requires Face-to-face contact.”
• “It is way to much work and takes too long”

14. DE is not chosen because campus
education is not available!
• When asked if they would attend on-campus
classes if their program was not available
online,
– about 30% said they probably or definitely would
not
– 25 % said they would not attend a hybrid or low-
residency program

15. Students prefer different types of DE
Clinefelter, D. L., & Aslanian, C. B. (2015). Online college students 2015: Comprehensive data on
demands and preferences. Louisville, KY: The Learning House, Inc.

16. • “A new medium can empower and liberate
you, if you let it. But if you try and colonize it
- if you try to cram your magazine through a
phone jack and call yourself interactive - you'll
get nowhere. Because you will not have
thought through what it means to be
interactive.”
– Barry Diller February, 1995 edition of Wired,

17. Challenges of DE – beyond Technology
• “Current research into distance education has
focused on the process as a western
social/cultural/educational construct, (Barker
and Dickson, 1996; Bork, 1993).
• Distance learning, by its very nature, involves
more than just the transmission of
information, but also the transmission of
cultural/social paradigms between and among
the participants.”
DARKWA, Osei; MAZIBUKO, Fikile. Creating virtual learning communities
in Africa: Challenges and prospects. First Monday, [S.l.], may. 2000. ISSN
13960466. Available at:

18. Is it really cheaper?
• “currently DE is subsidized at only 50% of the
amount for contact students with master’s
and doctoral degrees excluded” (De Villiers,
2009, South Africa).
….. It all depends

19. Cost Efficiencies – Industrial Model
Production
Media
Designers
Distance Learning Centers
High Fixed Costs – Low per student costs

20. Current E-Learning Model
Low Fixed Costs – Higher per-student costs
Image Source: http://nabeeloo.com/2013/02/teaching-problems-teaching-online-is-different/
NOT Scaleable

21. Disruptive Technologies
Archer, W., Garrison, D. R., & Anderson, T. (1999). Adopting disruptive technologies in traditional
universities: Continuing education as an incubator for innovation. Canadian Journal for University Continuing
Education, 25(1), 13-30.

22. Critical Assumptions -True??
• Technology-enhanced DE is the answer to
quality delivery
• Open learning is inherent to DE
• Student support can be affordable and
effective for a very diverse audience;
• Throughput challenges can be overcome
• DE is more affordable
Heydenrych, J. (2015). Education (Im) Possible: Reconsidering the Contribution of Distance
Education in South Africa. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (AJHSS), 3(2).

23. Growth in Demand For
Higher Education in Africa
• Uganda enrolments grew from
20,000 in 2001 to close to
180,000 in 2011 (Musisi, 2003) .
• Ethiopia from 79,000 in 1991 to
more than 600,000 students in
the higher education system in
2012 (Teferra, 2014)
• Kenya State Univ. enrolments
risen by 41% in two years – from
195,428 in 2012 to 276,349 by the
end of 2013 (Nganga, 2014).
WoldeveM., & Sehoole, M. C. (2015). Access to Quality Postgraduate Education through
Distance Education in Ethiopia: The Case of Indira Gandhi National Open University. Journal
of Educational and Social Research, 5(1), 159

24. Failure to Meet Growth Demands
• “84.7% to 94.8% of the candidates seeking
admissions every year never got admitted into
Nigerian universities”. Aluede and Idogho
(2012)

25. Recent African Developments

27. African Virtual University

29. Kenya based NGO delivering courses
on and “off grid”

30. Distance Education
Theological Training

31. Private operators

33. • South Africa - distance education has become
a vital part of the university sub-system,
– 40% of headcount students
– 30% of FTE students
White Paper for Post School Education and Training System
(2014) the Department of Higher Education and Training
ISSN 2239-978

34. WoldeveM., & Sehoole, M. C. (2015). Access to Quality Postgraduate Education through
Distance Education in Ethiopia: The Case of Indira Gandhi National Open University. Journal
Mega Open Universities

35. African Council for Distance Education Member
Institutions as at 20th March 2013
Total number 39 institutions

36. Slide from Aguti, N (2014) Commonwealth of Learning
Internet & Education: Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa

37. https://youtu.be/h4OBclZjSxU

38. From http://www.siyavula.com/technology-approach.html

39. Technology to Scale – Massive, Open,
Online Courses (MOOCs)

40. Cost Efficiencies – MOOC Model
Production
Media
Designers
High Fixed Costs – Low per student costs

41. Slide from Aguti, N (2014) Commonwealth of Learning
Internet & Education: Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa

42. OpenEducationEuropa.en

43. Ubuntunet Alliance: Solutions
• Mbale, Kadzamina, Martin & Kyalo (2015) A
Collaborative Research Platform for Sharing
of Technological Tools for Eradication of
Brain Drain
The project will promote two strategies.
1. creation of linkages and networks among
experts in the Diaspora and those in the home
country.
3. mobility schemes under which
professionals will relocate to their home
countries for short term teaching and research
assignments.
OR teach via Distance Education!

44. Summary
• Distance Education is no magic bullet to solve
long standing educational challenges
• DE has proven potential to increase access,
and decrease costs- IF applied effectively
• Context, challenges and opportunities in
serious flux!
• All of us need to develop our personal
network literacies.
www.irrodl.org

45. Athabasca University Press
Open Access - Issues in Distance Education series
Aupress.ca

46. Summary
• Distance Education CAN be affordable and is
expanding access in Africa and globally
• It is NOT a universal solution to all educational
challenges
• It can be done well – or done poorly
• Provides opportunity and incentive for change
and innovation in both public and private sectors
• It is NOT dependent on any single technology
• It can be a powerful tool for increasing the impact
of the African diaspora.

47. Terry Anderson terrya@athabascau.ca
Blog: terrya.edublogs.org
Your comments & questions
most welcomed!
Slides available: