This document outlines the agenda for a research and innovation week at UNISA focusing on open and distance education. It discusses the relevance of ODE research and analyzes research trends in ODE by reviewing publications in the journal Distance Education from 1980 to 2014. Key research areas in ODE are classified into three levels: macro (distance education systems and theories), meso (management, organization and technology), and micro (teaching and learning). The importance of systematic reviews for informing evidence-based practice is also discussed. Emerging issues in ODE research include internationalization, social justice, globalization, theories and models, and the impact of new technologies.

1. Major Topics of Research in
Open and Distance Education - Past and Future
UNISA Research and Innovation Week
Terry Anderson &
Olaf Zawacki-Richter
Pretoria, 4 March 2019

2. Folie2
Agenda
Relevance of ODE research
Research areas and analysis of research
trends in ODE
Systematic reviews and evidence-based
practice
Towards a research agenda
Update and current issues in ODE research

3. • Professor am Institut für Pädagogik
Universität Oldenburg

4. Slide4
Center for Open Education Research

5. • increasing and supporting international research activities;
• performing quality, cutting-edge international research and
scholarship;
• supporting the idea of openness in higher education;
• creating an intellectually stimulating environment for internal and
external fellows;
• offering an international, interdisciplinary Master's program to
translate research and scholarship into teaching, knowledge transfer,
and practice.
COER Aims and Purpose

6.
 Currently under development to begin 2019/2020
 Offered through COER and the Center for Lifelong Learning (C3L)
 Fully online program
 MoA signed with UNISA in July 2018:
Master of Management of Technology-
Enhanced Learning (MTEL)

7. Why research is important...
Relationship between
research and practice
Slide7

8. Slide8
Mobilizing knowledge through research
PracticeResearch
Practice to Research
Research to Practice
Video-based lectures
Presentation
modes? Disadvantages?
More effective?
e.g. comparison of different
presentation modes between
randomized control groups
...results can informevidence-based
practice.

9. Slide9
 Three presentation modes
o Large lecturer, small PPT (max. visibility)
o Small lecturer, large PPT (min. visibility)
o No lecturer, large PPT (no visibility)
Korving, Hernández&DeGroot(20
One example…

10. Slide10
Korving, H., Hernández, M., &
DeGroot, E. (2016). Lookat
meandpayattention! A
studyontherelation
betweenvisibilityand
attentioninweblectures.
Computers &
Education, 94, 151–
161.
 Participants reported most attention for weblectures (>15 min) with a large
lecturer image, F(2,75)=3.320, p=.042, η2
=.081
 However, only 8 % of the variance of attention is explained by lecturer
visibility.

11. Slide11

12. Slide12
What is relevance of educational research?
 Ground-breaking research is a consequence of two interacting factors:
o the quest for fundamental understanding (theory building)
o and consideration of use (practice)
 Relevance falls at the intersection of theory building and application in practice

13. Overview of the field:
Research areas in ODE
Slide13

14. Research Areas: Delphi Study
 Expert panel: 25 individuals from 11 countries (average of 27
years of professional experience in distance education)
 1. round: Experts were asked to list 10 important research
areas
 2. round: Experts were asked to rate research areas on a
scale of importance
Zawacki-Richter, O. (2009). Research areas in distance education – a Delphi
study. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning,
10(3), 1–17.

15. Classification of Research Areas
Three broad research perspectives or levels with 15 research areas:
1.Macro level: Distance education systems and theories
→ global system level: 5 research areas
2.Meso level: Management, organisation and technology
→ institutional level: 7 research areas
3.Micro level: Teaching and learning in distance education
→ individual level: 3 research areas

16. 16
Classification of Research Areas
Macro level: Distance education
systems and theories
1. Access, equity and ethics
2. Globalization of education and cross-
cultural aspects
3. Distance teaching systems and
institutions
4. Theories and models
5. Research methods in distance
education and knowledge transfer
Micro level: Teaching and learning in DE
13. Instructional design
14. Interaction and communication in
learning communities
15. Learner characteristics
Meso level: Management, organisation
and technology
6. Management and organisation
7. Costs and benefits
8. Educational technology
9. Innovation and change
10. Professional development and faculty
support
11. Learner support services
12. Quality assurance

17. Content analysis
of research trends in ODE
Slide17

18. Folie18
Distance Education: Sample
 Distance Education, since 1980
 Current SSCI impact factor: 1.592 (rank #57)
 Owned by the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia
 Publisher: Taylor & Francis
 Executive Editor: Som Naidu
 Articles in the sample (N=515):
o 1980-1984: N=56
o 1985-1989: N=50
o 1990-1994: N=56
o 1995-1999: N=75
o 2000-2004: N=75
o 2005-2009: N=101
o 2010-2014: N=102

19. Zawacki-Richter, O., & Naidu, S. (2016). Mapping research trends from 35
years of publications in the journal Distance Education. Distance Education,
37(3). http://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2016.1185079
Open Access! And also published in Chinese:
Slide19

20. Folie20
Text-Mining with LEXIMANCER
 Huge amounts of text can be analysed with text-mining tools
 Results are depicted in „concept maps“ based on relative locations
of concepts in the text that form a „thematic region“.

21. Slide21
1980-2014
(N=515)
Overall scope of the journal
 Articles on distance and open
education in the context of higher
education and academic learning
 Two major themes "students" and
"learning" are connected via
"interaction”.
EDUCATION
INTERACTION
LEARNING
STUDEN
RESEARCH

22. Slide22
 OUs established in the 1970s
 Beginning of professionalization (Keegan, 1980)
 Reflection on professional practices based on cases from
various DE institutions, e.g. organizational structure of Deakin
University in Australia as a mixed-mode institution (Jevons, 1984)
1980-84: Professionalization and institutional consolidation
(N=56)
INSTITUTIONS
OPEN UNIVERSITY

23. Slide23
(N=50)
 DE students in focus
 Instructional design in specific domains
 Ed. tech. to bridge the gap between
students and teachers
1985-89: Teaching and learning in distance education
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

24. Slide24
(N=56)
 Problems with quality emerged
 Focus on student satisfaction and ID
 Remote video and audio systems
1990-1994: Quality assurance in DE
QUALITY
REMOTE

25. Slide25
(N=75)
1995-1999: Student support and early stages of online learning
 Student-centred approaches to
ensure high quality learning
experiences
 Design of online courses and
the role of online Tutors,
strategies for online teaching SUPPORT
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
LEARNING

26. Slide26
2000-2004: The emergence of the virtual university
(N=75)
 Research on online learning is
moving into the mainstream
 Issues: student engagement, the role
of the e-moderator, interaction in the
online learning environment
VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY

27. Slide27
2005-2009: Collaborative learning and online interaction patterns
(N=101)  Collaborative learning
 Computer-mediated communi-
cation
 Analysis of online interaction
patterns
DISCUSSION
INTERACTION

28. Slide28
2010-2014: Interactive learning, MOOCs and OERs
(N=102)
 Interaction as mediator
between students and
learning
 OERs and MOOCs
 Special issues
MOOCS
INTERACTION
LEARNING
STUDENTS
OER

29. Slide29
Alternating research perspectives
1980 1990 2000 2010

30. Systematic reviews to inform
evidence-based practice
Slide30

31. Slide31
How to provide objective evidence to inform practice?
“Rather than looking at any study in isolation, we need to look at the
body of evidence” (Nordenbo, 2009, p. 22)
The aim is to show systematically that existing primary research
results contain arguments to shape and inform practice and policies.
Systematic review: “a review of research literature using systematic
and explicit, accountable methods" (Gough, Oliver & Thomas, 2012, p.
2)
Nordenbo, S. E. (2010). Evidence and synthesis: a new paradigm in educational research. In The
Research Council of Norway (Ed.), Rigour and relevance in educational research (pp. 21–27). St.
Hanshaugen, Norway: The Research Council of Norway.
Gough, D., Oliver, S., & Thomas, J. (Eds.). (2012). An introduction to systematic reviews.
London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE.

32. Slide32
Systematic Review
Process
Retrieved from YourHealthNet:
http://navigatingeffectivetreatments.org.au/
exploring_systematic_reviews.html (12 Feb, 2019)

33. Slide33
Example
 Research project funded by the German Ministry of Education and
Research (BMBF)
 Review question:
Under which conditions does educational technology support
student engagement in higher education?
 Evaluation of documents re: their relevance and quality for the
review question
 Synthesis of the evidence that the documents report

34. Search string
Topic and cluster Search terms
student learner* OR student*
higher education “higher education” OR universit* OR college* OR undergrad* OR graduate OR postgrad* NOT ("K-
12" OR kindergarten* OR "corporate training*" OR "professional training*" OR "primary school*" OR
"middle school*" OR “vocational education” OR “adult education”)
Educational technology “educational technolog*” OR “learning technolog*” OR “digital technolog*” OR “digital media”
Tools “social media” OR “social network*” OR “social web” OR vodcast* OR podcast* OR “digital
broadcasting” OR blog* OR weblog* OR “electronic publishing” OR microblog* OR “interactive
whiteboard*” OR simulation* OR forum* OR "computer-mediated communication” OR “computer *
network*” OR ePortfolio OR e-Portfolio OR eAssessment OR e-Assessment OR “computer-based
testing” OR “computer-assisted testing” OR OER OR “open educational resource*” OR “open
access” OR “open source*” OR “information and communication technolog*” OR “information
technolog*” OR “social tagging” OR tablet* OR “handheld device*” OR “mobile device*” OR
"smart*phone*" OR “electronic book*” OR eBook*
Internet “Web 2.0” OR “user-generated content” OR “cyber space”
Learning environments “virtual classroom*” OR “personal learning environment*” OR “virtual learning environment” OR
“virtual reality” OR “augmented reality” OR “learning management system*”
Computer “computer-based learning” OR “computer-based instruction” OR “computer-supported learning” OR
“computer-supported collaborative learning” OR “computer-supported cooperative learning” OR
“computer-supported cooperative work” OR “computer-mediated learning” OR “computer-assisted
instruction” OR “computer-assisted language learning”
Web “web-enhanced learning” OR “web-enhanced instruction” OR “web-based training*” OR “web-based
instruction” OR MOOC OR “massive open online course*” OR “online instruction” OR “online
education”
Technology “technology-enhanced learning” OR “technology-mediated learning”
Mobile “mobile learning” OR "m-Learning" OR "mLearning" OR “mobile communication system*” OR
“mobile-assisted language learning” OR “mobile computing”
E-Learning "eLearning" OR "e-Learning" OR “electronic learning” OR “online learning”
Mode of delivery “distance education” OR “blended learning” OR “virtual universit*” OR “open education” OR “online
course*” OR “distance learning” OR “collaborative learning” OR “cooperative learning” OR “game-
based learning”

35. Borah, R., Brown, A. W., Capers, P. L., & Kaiser, K. A. (2017). Analysis of the time and workers needed to conduct systematic
reviews of medical interventions using data from the PROSPERO registry. BMJ Open, 7(2),
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/7/2/e012545.full.pdf.
Borah et al. (2017, p. 4), N=195
Systematic reviews as
time and labor consuming
undertakings
average of 67 (SD = 31)
weeks to conduct and
publish a review

36. Zawacki-Richter, O., Kerres, M., Bedenlier, S., Bond, M., & Buntiens, K.
(Eds.). (2019). Systematic reviews in educational research: methodology
and applications. Heidelberg: Springer Open.
What comes next?

37. Towards a research agenda
Slide37

38. Online Distance Education
– Towards a research agenda (2014)
edited by
Olaf Zawacki-Richter
and
Terry Anderson
Open access or purchase at
http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120233

39. 39
Why is a research agenda important?
to embedd research activities in a holistic structure
to agree on gaps and priority research areas
to support cooperations
to communicate a clear research profile
...an important foundation of DE scholarship!
Towards a research agenda

40. 40
Quantify prior
research
Review that
research
Describe new
research needs
Prioritize the
research needs
Perform and eval.
new research
Redefine the
research agenda
Structure of
research areas
Context
Towards a
research agenda

41. Updates on Current Issues
in ODE Research
Slide41

42. Internationalisation, social justice and open, distance
and e-learning: what is to be done?
 Access, equity and ethics: the democratization of access to
distance education afforded by new media … to those who have
limited resources and poor infrastructure.
o Is online education inherently a social justice agenda?
o What is the impact of distance education (e.g. via mobile
learning) on narrowing (or broadening) the digital divide
o What is the role of ICT (information and communication
technologies) and/or OER (open educational resources) in terms
of access to education?

43. Globalization and cross-cultural aspects
Refers to the global external environment and drivers, the development
of the global distance education market, teaching and learning in
mediated and multi-cultural environments and the implications for
professional development and curriculum development.
Does ODL have a special opportunity to help displaced persons?
Can ODL be used as a blended component of international
experiences?

44. Distance teaching systems
and institutions:
Distance education delivery systems, the role of institutional
partnerships in developing transnational programmes and the impact of
ICT on the convergence of conventional education and distance
education institutions (hybrid or mixed-mode)
Distance education delivery system and the role of institutional
partnerships (both with other institutions and companies like
CourseEra)
Can “open universities” survive the competition in ODL from campus
based universities?

45. Theories and models
Theoretical frameworks for and foundations of distance education, e.g.
the theoretical basis of instructional models, knowledge construction,
interaction between learners and the impact of social constructivism,
connectivism and new learning theories
Theoretical frameworks for and foundations of distance education,
the impact of social media, connectivism and new learning theories on
distance education practice.

46. Research methods in distance education and
knowledge transfer
 Methodological considerations, the impact of distance education
research and writing on practice and the role of professional
associations and higher education institutions in improving practice.
 Rise of learning designs and design based research

47. Management and Organization
 Strategies, administration and organizational infrastructures and
frameworks for the development, implementation and sustainable
delivery of distance education programmes.
o What is required for successful leadership in distance education?
o Distance education and policies relating to continuing education,
lifelong learning and the impact of online learning on institutional
policies, as well as legal issues (copyright and intellectual property).

48. Costs and benefits:
 Aspects that refer to financial management, costing, pricing and
business models in distance education.
o Efficiency: What is the return on investment or impact of distance
education programmes?
o What is the impact of ICT on the costing models and the
scalability of distance education delivery?
o How can cost effective but meaningful learner support be
provided?
o Can designs and content be used in both campus and ODL?

49. Educational technology
New trends in educational technology for distance education
(e.g. Web 2.0 applications or mobile learning) and the benefits and
challenges of using OERs, media selection (e.g. synchronous vs.
asynchronous media), technical infrastructure and equipment for online
learning environments, and their affordances for teaching and learning.
Learning analytics,
Privacy concerns
How much is enough?

50. Innovation and change
Issues that refer to educational innovation with new media and
measures to support and facilitate change in institutions
Reward structures for innovation
Adoption issues
Increasing speed of communication and platform change

51. Professional development and faculty support
Professional development and faculty support services as a
prerequisite for innovation and change.
Network based professional development?
Do current models work?

52. Learner support services
The infrastructure for and organization of learner support systems
(from information and counseling for prospective students to library
services and technical support, to career services and alumni
networks).
Robo advisors,
Analytics driven interventions

53. Issues that refer to accreditation and quality standards in distance
education. The impact of quality assurance requirements and
regulation and the impact of quality learner support on enrolment and
drop-out
Fake news, fake courses, fake journals
User ratings and likes
Are their universal standards for quality in ODL?
Quality Issues

54. Instructional or learning design
 Issues that refer to the stages of the learning design process for
curriculum and course development.
 Opportunities provided by new developments in educational technology
for teaching and learning (e.g. Web 2.0 applications and mobile
devices), as well as assessment practices (competencies) in distance
education.

55. Interaction and communication
Tthe nature of the related concepts of interaction and communication,
the hallmarks of learning communities,
How much interaction is needed? How much is too much??
Data mining - uses and exploitation of
 student-teacher interactions
 student-student interactions
 student-content interactions

56. Learner characteristics
 The aims and goals of adult and younger students studying at a
distance, the socio-economic background of distance education
students, their different approaches to learning, critical thinking
dispositions,
 Media literacies and special needs. How do students learn online
(learner behavior patterns, learning styles)
 Digital literacy

57. Student Dropout
Reasons for dropout and ways to assist learners in completing
programs
What does dropouts mean esp. in regard to MOOCs?
Why is dropout rate higher in ODL?
What can we do about it?

58. Online Distance Education
– Towards a research agenda (2014)
edited by
Olaf Zawacki-Richter
and
Terry Anderson
Open access or purchase at
http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120233

59. Issues in DE Series - AUPress
 All available in print and for free download
 Currently 13 Titles available
 Newest releases:
An Online Doctorate for Researching Professionals:
Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation
Swapna Kumar and Kara Dawson
Assessment Strategies for Online Learning:
Engagement and Authenticity
Dianne Conrad and Jason Openo
Make your book the next AUPress OA release!!!

60. Issues in DE Series - AUPress

61. Terry Anderson
terrya@athabascau.ca
Blog: terrya.edublogs.org
Your comments and questions most welcomed!
Olaf Zawacki-Richter
olaf.zawacki.richter@uol.de
https://www.uni-oldenburg.de/coer/

62. Thanks for your attention!
Slide62
Terry Anderson Olaf Zawacki-Richter

63. Folie63
Content validation of qualitative text analysis
Harwood, I., Gapp, R. P., & Stewart, H. J. (2015). Cross-check for
completeness: exploring a novel use of Leximancer in a Grounded
Theory study. The Qualitative Report, 20(7), 1029–1045.
"Leximancer is not a panacea, it still requires analytical sensitivity
and judgment in its interpretation, but it is straightforward to probe
the data and cross-check via the resultant maps. [...] Leximancer
enables the analyst to make sense of large narrative data sets with
minimal manual coding. The result is an efficient and impartial second
opinion on open codes (concepts, categories and dimensions) and
potential links between them" (p. 1041).

64. Folie64
Computers & Education (CAE)
 Editors: R.S. Heller, M. Nussbaum, C.-C. Tsai
 Current SSCI impact factor:
3,819 (rank #7)
 Publisher: Elsevier
 Since 1976
 Analysis of titles and
abstracts
All of the research articles published in Computers & Education betw
were analysed for the purposes of this study. Book reviews and editori
sample. Table 1 details the number of papers published annually in the
Table 1: Number of articles published in Computers & Education by y
Year Issues N Year Issues N
1976 1 6 1997 8 41
1977 3 18 1998 8 53
1978 4 27 1999 8 33
1979 4 41 2000 8 39
1980 4 28 2001 8 43
1981 4 22 2002 8 42
1982 4 51 2003 8 46
1983 4 26 2004 8 47
1984 4 70 2005 8 48
1985 4 28 2006 8 56
1986 4 59 2007 8 123
1987 4 30 2008 8 230
1988 4 74 2009 8 209
1989 4 47 2010 8 277
1990 8 96 2011 8 229
1991 8 81 2012 8 238
1992 8 81 2013 10 287
1993 8 69 2014 10 217
1994 8 71 2015 11 227
1995 8 54 2016 12 164
1996 8 46
Total 3,674

65. Folie65
Computers & Education (CAE)
1976-2016
(N = 3,674)

66. Folie66
 1976-1986:
The advancement and growth of computer-based instruction
 1987-1996:
Stand-alone multimedia learning
 1997-2006:
Networked computers as tools for collaborative learning
 2007-2016:
Online learning in a digital age
Computers & Education (CAE)

67. Folie67
Computers & Education (CAE)

68. Slide68
What constitutes rigorous scientific research?
1. Pose significant questions that can be investigated empirically
2. Link research to relevant theory
3. Use methods that permit direct investigation of the question
4. Provide coherent, explicit chain of reasoning
5. Replicate and generalize across studies
6. Disclose research to encourage professional scrutiny and critique
Shavelson, R. J. (2010). Issues in conducting rigorous and relevant research in
education. In The Research Council of Norway (Ed.), Rigour and Relevance in
Educational Research (pp. 7–13). St. Hanshaugen, Norway: The Research Council
of Norway.

69. 77,508 sources identified
from four electronic
databases
18,068
abstracts and
titles screened
13,916 excluded papers
62 duplicates
253 not articles
114 before 2007 or after 2016
1,556 not empirical
259 not primary research
648 not HE
750 description of a tool
1978 no technology
445 evaluation
2522 no learning setting
5329 no student engagement
4,152 potential includes
349 full
papers
retrieved and
screened
249 included and
coded papers for map
100 excluded papers
29 no learning setting
6 no technology
7 engagement not due to tech
41 no student engagement
3 not empirical
2 duplicate
3 not an article
6 not higher education
2 evaluation
1 description of a tool
Sampling
23,740 excluded
duplicates
18,068 references after narrowing time span (38,202) and
applying student engagement search terms
PRISMA flowchart
Databases:
ERIC
Web of Science
PsycINFO
Scopus
Moher,D.,Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., &
Altman, D. (2009). Preferred reporting
items for systematic reviews and meta-
analyses: the PRISMA statement. The
BMJ, 339.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b2535