Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Final
Final
Final
Executive Summery:
Table of Content
Distance Learning:
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom. It has been described as "a process to create and provide access to learning when the source of information and the learners are separated by time and distance, or both." Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason have been referred to as hybrid or blended courses of study. Distance learning occurs when there is a separation between the instructor and the student, usually due to geographical or time concerns that prevent the student from attending an on-campus course. Often, electronic means are used to bridge this gap and distribute educational material though distance learning programs using printed and mailed materials have existed for well over a hundred years. These programs have usually been specially designed to help best meet the needs and requirements that arise when learning is taking place outside of a traditional classroom setting. The majority of distance education today takes place using the Internet, now readily accessible for the vast majority of students whether in their own homes or at facilities such as local libraries. These electronic means are used to distribute the learning material, keep students in touch with teachers, and provide access to communication between students. Of course, distance learning can use other technological formats as well including television, DVDs, teleconferencing, and printable material, but the immediacy and functionality of Web learning has made it a first choice for many distance learners. Online programs often take advantage of a number of emerging technologies to make keeping in touch and effectively communicating ideas easier and more efficient than ever
before and students may find themselves using interactive videos, e-mail, and discussion boards to complete their lessons.
Synchronous learning technology is a mode of delivery where all participants are "present" at the same time. It resembles traditional classroom teaching methods despite the participants being located remotely. It requires a timetable to be organized. Web conferencing, videoconferencing, Educational television, Instructional television are examples of synchronous technology, as are direct-broadcast satellite (DBS), internet radio, live streaming, telephone, and web-based VoIP. The asynchronous learning mode of delivery is where participants access course materials on their own schedule and so is more flexible. Students are not required to be together at the same time. Mail correspondence, which is the oldest form of distance education, is an asynchronous delivery technology and others include message board forums, e-mail, video and audio recordings, print materials, voicemail and fax. The two methods can be combined in the delivery of one course. For example, some courses offered by The Open University use periodic sessions of residential or day teaching to supplement the remote teaching. Other technology methods used in the delivery of distance education include online threedimensional (3D) virtual worlds. A popular 3D virtual world, Active Worlds, is used for synchronous and asynchronous learning. Active Worlds provides opportunities for students to work collaboratively.
2. To reach learners in different geographic locations - rural areas, as well as cities across the United States, Canada, and the world 3. Course enrichment and staff development 4. Institutions and organizations are also using distance learning to save on the cost of training and to offer just-in-time training to individuals and employees in remote locations Distant learning is very flexible. At the same time, distant learning requires more of the learner. As a learner, you are responsible for ensuring that you schedule the necessary time away from other activities in order to complete your coursework and assignments. Whatever schedule you set, you must follow through with it, or else your learning will not be effective. Distance learning has reversed the dynamics of learning; instead of the student going to school, the school now comes to the student.
Allow both audio and video communications. Video technologies can provide the visual and audio realism of a face-to-face class. It is generally considered the "next best thing to being there."
Facilitate personal feelings. Video technologies enable students and instructors to see facial expressions and body language, adding personalities to communication.
Enable high levels of interaction. Most video communications are synchronous, allowing high degrees of interactions, questions and answers, etc.
May be expensive. Cameras and editing equipment can be expensive. In addition, the infrastructure at each site and the links between sites can be costly. Require a great deal of planning and preparation. To be effective, the camera crews and the instructor must practice and become a team. Faculty members generally need practice and training to be effective in this domain.
Must be scheduled. Most videoconferences are not spontaneous. Instead, they must be planned and the necessary resources must be scheduled.
Require technical support team. Because of the complexity of video recording, mixing, and transmission, a technical support team is required. In addition, site facilitators are necessary to ensure the equipment works properly at the receiving stations.
Voicemail
cost use
Length may be limited No visual cues May involve toll charges No visual No interaction cues
Audio files/CD
Audio conference
Online Chat
Requires similar software Must be scheduled Requires hardware Requires computer Requires Web access May be slow Complex to record No interaction Requires hardware
Web-based Education
May incorporate multimedia Worldwide access Interactive Inexpensive Easily accessible Easily duplicated Audio and visual elements High May be interactive realism
Videotape/DVD
Satellite Videoconference
Expensive hardware Must be scheduled Usually one-way only Must Small be scheduled windows
Internet Videoconference
High May
be
realism interactive
Relatively inexpensive Cable/Broadcast Television Easy to use Easily accessible May be videotaped Includes audio and visual
Slow, jerky video High production costs Requires hardware No interaction Must be scheduled
places are extremely limited in Bangladesh. Therefore, even those who can afford to finance their studies find it difficult to get admitted to any universities (Sadeq 2003). Fourthly, the tradition of childhood and early marriage in the country deprives the female population from higher education. Besides, there are some other usual factors like physical disabilities, remoteness of localities, higher tuition fees in most private universities, and so on. These are the reasons for why millions of people are deprived from higher education in Bangladesh despite their keen interest and eligibilities. Open and distance education can open up the opportunities for higher education for such a vast under-privileged population. Bangladesh is generously endowed with human resources that need to be well equipped with literacy and skills to contribute to economic development, which is badly needed for this country. The open and distance education is expected to do a lot in this field if provided with adequate facilities and quality.
institutional status through establishing the Bangladesh Open University (BOU) and it receives the autonomous status by the parliamentary act, 1992. With a population of nearly 140 million, Bangladesh faces the challenges of creating manpower within the shortest possible time. Available educational facilities in the country are inadequate to meet this challenge. Access to education is always limited by physical facilities in the conventional system. Therefore, the objectives have been clarified in the BOU act [BOU Act-1992, No-38, 3(5)] as to create educated and trained work-force by providing access to a wide range of educational and vocational training programs for all levels of people particularly for disadvantaged and rural masses including women who are generally deprived of formal education and training. The Government of Bangladesh and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have provided funds for setting up the University. The main structure of the University has been built as the central campus at Gazipur, about 40 kilometers north of Dhaka-the capital city of Bangladesh. The Open University is a breakthrough to grab the chance and to pursue the objectives to enrich knowledge of people, especially in developing countries. Most of the people in developing countries and Least Developed Countries do not have access to sufficient education. The condition has also become worst when improvement and recovery of the economy are the main priorities of government's policy instead of education. In this situation, Open University is relevant. More and less, developing countries have similar problems in education. Many alternatives of solution have been developed to overcome the problem. Large number of out of school children, disadvantage groups, skilled and unskilled working class, rural people, job seekers and women who couldn't afford to have regular education; the open and distance learning (ODL) system has given them an open door access. Therefore, the concept of Open University is popular in all nations.
Therefore, a detail description of BOU and its academic programs are included in this report to understand the current situation of ICT use in DE, and find out potentials for elearning in Bangladesh in future. Academic Programs BOU provides higher education and professional training in wide areas such as agriculture, business, education, arts, science and technology as well as basic education at secondary and higher secondary levels. It introduces several formal academic programs from Certificate to Masters Levels under six academic schools. Current enrollment of BOU is approximately 400 thousands. This number is higher than the total enrollment of all traditional universities in the country. Considering the importance of life- long education, BOU broadcasts many non-formal programs in the field of agriculture, health and nutrition, environment, livestock and poultry, pisciculture, public laws, ethics, family planning and so on through national TV and radiobroadcasts (Anonymous 2002). Mode of Teaching Mode of teaching is very important for distance learning. Mixed mode uses several different media methods or deliveries such as video and e-mail compared to single mode which is one delivery method. "Single mode delivery systems do not provide enough instructional power to ignite the student's interest because they fail to provide student involvement. As a distinct mode of imparting education, Bangladesh Open University relies heavily on print materials, electronic media like radio-television and audio-video cassettes, and face to face tutorial services (Islam 2005). The use of these techniques helps BOU to take its academic programs to the door-steps of people far and wide. It makes room for in-house education. Considering the rapid expansion of ICTsin the country, BOU should introduce more electronic media like CD-ROM, e-mail, internet for its advanced learners (Table 3). Indeed, BOU has been broadcasting some radio and TV programs for the students of each formal program through national TV and radio. The broadcasting time of those programs are sometimes not convenient to the target learners. Therefore, BOU could easily make
copies of those recorded programs on CD/CR-ROM and add with respective package of course materials. However, it is necessary to survey of student access in common ICTs to make a pilot project for introducing some interactive e-learning systems (proposed) with current modes of delivery of courses for the BOU students. Staffs New skills must be learned by faculty members to meet the needs of quality distance education (Sherry and Mores, 1995). BOU has well-trained and skilled academic and management staffs. Almost all teachers and higher ranked officers received an advanced training in distance and open learning in home and abroad funded by ADB (Anonymous 2002, BOU 1997). They received training in all aspects of DE including modern management, computer skill development, information technology, printing technology, media production, mass communication, communication skill development, environmental control, transport management, editing, module writing etc. These skilled staffs are able to introduce and run any new technology for e-learning. Students enrollment BOU student enrollment in different programs is dramatically increasing since its operation in 1995. The students enrollment from 1998-2003 (Anonymous 2002) in different programs, suggest that BOU certainly exists as one of the mega-universities in future and will take the responsibility for educating the mass people of Bangladesh. If it is possible to improve the socio-economic conditions and ICT infrastructure of the country, introduction of interactive e-learning could boost DE and directly contribute to the development of Bangladesh.
E-Learning in Bangladesh
Todays world is shaped by availability of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Because global economy is powered by technology, fueled by information and driven by knowledge. This rapid change demands a dynamic renovation in the sector of education. ICTs can empower teachers and
students, promote change and foster the development of 21st century skills. With the improvement of technology the whole world is now connected with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) which has brought a significant change in the way the world operates and communicates. Bangladesh is not lagged behind of this step. The broad objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of next generation technologies in the education sector of Bangladesh. The study initially focused on introducing KITEs Dynamic Character Recognition Technology (DCRT), Pen Tablet device and multimedia CD on math for pre-primary education. It is seen that students were extremely excited with their new learning system using innovative technology. They received multimedia content as a very useful assistant to them. Especially the animated picture and the movement of the characters made them spell bound. They spend much more time with the practice session using pen tablet device. Parents of the students response were very positive for using this new teaching-learning method. They anticipate that it would be an enormous support in learning and teaching math for four to six years school going children. Teachers of the school are very much enthusiastic using next generation technologies and the multimedia content.
Importance
and
contextual
relevance
of
e-Learning
Today, e-Learning has become the key to a profound revolution in learning. This is because e-Learning can offer what is possibly the most flexible and effective learning approach. With e-Learning, students can study at their own pace, anytime and anywhere. E-Learning enhances students learning experience by allowing a better interactive communication with instructors. This is enabled by providing a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous learning activities administered through a well-designed e-Learning environment. learning High-quality learning content, presented with good teaching outcome. methodologies, and instructional models can render a positive impact on the students
Generally e-Learning is seen as offering solutions to several challenges currently facing in education sector. e-Learning can improve the quality of learning by:
providing access to a range of resources and materials which may not otherwise be available or accessible, for example graphics, sound, animation, multimedia giving allowing learning providing making creating reducing an it control to students to over study of multimedia to that promotes learning amend an learning and active when at and where their individual without update approach to any they own study pace students tutor materials learning time students needs attractive easier environment
providing a student centered learning environment which can be tailored to meet the
releasing time for more active, engaging and interactive forms of teaching supporting increased communications between staff and students, and amongst students providing frequent and timely individual feedback, for example through computer assisted motivating supporting supporting encouraging assessment, students and economic students reuse to take through and appropriate encouraging of high responsibility use positive of interactive expensive their own collaborative quality, for reinforcement courseware learning resources learning.
1.
Dynamic
Character
Recognition
Technology
(DCRT)
Handwriting is a natural way for child to learn spelling, counting and various studies. Current e-Learning systems are highly dependent on clicking the mouse and tapping the keyboards. While there are various good contents using the mouse and keyboards, it has
limitation on flexibility and variation of the contents. However, it was difficult to develop an educational contents using handwriting due to lack of sufficient technologies. KITE developed an innovative Character Recognition Technology with its long experience in the field of vision recognition technology and continuous effort for break through ideas. It is a perfect fit for educational applications as it has high recognition ability combined with ability to evaluate the shape. KITEs technology has already been deployed commercially by various educational applications in Japan. Application developed by KITE for teachers has been adopted by all primary schools and junior high schools in City of Saitama, Japan in February 2010.
3. Mobile Learning
Mobile Learning increases access for those who are mobile or cannot physically attend learning institutions those who would not otherwise be able to follow courses in a traditional educational setting due to the constraints of work, household activities, or other competing demands on their time. Mobile Learning makes education more accessible in that it enables learners to pursue their studies according to their own schedule. The portability of mobile technology means that Mobile Learning is not bound by fixed class times; Mobile Learning enables learning at all times and in all places, during breaks, before or after shifts, at home, or on the go. Interestingly, however, while
Mobile Learning is portable, it is not necessarily associated with physical movement. According to a study conducted by Vavoula, few people actually utilize the time spent in transit to learn
Direct cost One of the major issues in a period of technological and cultural metamorphosis is estimating and managing the direct costs to determine whether the investment required is worthwhile. Conversion costs (equipment, skills) Because of the general state of technological and economic flux, planning the implementation of new systems and skills is a precarious exercise.
E-learning provides the courses round the clock i.e. 7 days a week and 24 hours a day, which further attracts working peoples, students and even individuals.
Lots of flexibility. With distance learning courses, students can complete their course work from just about anywhere, provided theres a computer and internet connection. This allows students to work when and where it is more convenient for them without having to squeeze in scheduled classes to an already busy life.
No commuting. Taking a course online can be one way to cut down on costly gas or public transportation. Since students can often work from home to complete their class assignments, both time and money are saved in cutting out the trips to and from class.
Numerous choices for schools. Even if you live in a community with few or no colleges distance learning allows you to choose from a wide variety of schools to complete your education. You may find online schools that specialize in your particular field or one that can provide a great general education. Either way, your options for education will be greatly expanded.
Lowered costs. Prices for online courses are generally cheaper than their oncampus counterparts and you wont have to worry about commuting, moving or getting meal plans on campus, some additional benefits to learning from home.
Learn while working. As distance learning can usually be completed on your own schedule, it is much easier to complete distance learning courses while working
than more traditional educational programs. Keeping your job gives you more income, experience and stability while completing your degree giving you less to worry about and more time to focus on your studies. Distance Learning Disadvantages:
Lack of social interaction. If the classroom environment is what you love most about learning you may want to take a step back and reconsider distance learning. Youll likely get some interaction on chat rooms, discussion boards and through email, but the experience will be quite different than traditional courses.
Format isnt ideal for all learners. Not everyone is an ideal candidate for online learning. If you know you have problems with motivation, procrastination and needs lots of individual attention from an instructor you may want to think long and hard before enrolling in an online learning program.
Some employers dont accept online degrees. While a majority of employers will, there are some who still see a stigma attached to distance learning. Realize that your online degree may not be the ideal tool for some job fields or for future learning.
Requires adaptability to new technologies. If youve never been one to love working with technology you will probably get a lot less out of an online course than your more tech-savvy counterparts. Make sure you feel comfortable working with computers and with online programs before you sign up for a class.
Not all courses required to complete the degree may be offered online. It makes sense that more practical majors like nursing arent offered entirely online, after all, part of the degree is learning to work directly with patients. Find out all the requirements of your degree to see what may need to be completed offline.
Conclusion
Distance learning makes it much easier for some students to complete a degree or get additional job-training while balancing work and family commitments. Because the hours
when class work can be completed are flexible, as most distance learning programs allow students to work at their own pace and on their own time, many students can complete their work during times when they are free, rather than scheduling their lives around a set classroom time. With more flexibility comes more responsibility on the part of the learner. Students must learn to work well independently and without the constant guidance and monitoring of an instructor, making distance learning a challenge for those who are not easily self-motivated. Distance learning is also a great tool to help reach students who are in geographically remote areas and may not have readily available access to educational facilities or who want to explore opportunities not offered by their local schools. Of course, schools are not the only people who are taking advantage of distance learning, as many businesses have found it a valuable tool in making employee education and training quicker and more cost efficient.