Quality in Distance Education: What does it mean for the learner?

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A journey that got my grey cells working. Here, I draw a parallel with my experiences during the journey and Distance Education. I share my thoughts on Quality in Distance Education while trying to answer two crucial questions: What matters most to the Distance learner? Where our efforts should be concentrated?
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Fresh from an invigorating refresher program in Delhi and a short visit to my historical home town at Barrackpore, I set off for my place of work at IGNOU Regional Centre, Itanagar. The plan of travel included an Air Deccan flight from Kolkata to Guwahati to be followed by an overnight Bus journey to Itanagar. (Road travel is the only means to reach Itanagar).But why am I telling you all this?

I think what happened in the course of my journey can potentially throw up some lessons in Quality. If I may extrapolate from the constructivist approach towards learning, it may have some relevance for Distance Education also.

The Deccan flight (DN-653) starts from Kolkata and terminates at Imphal traveling via Guwahati. I have consistently preferred this mode of journey over the train partly because of its convenient timing and substantially because the trains in this route take an inordinately long time to reach Guwahati. (Indeed, train travel from Guwahati to Kolkata takes much more time than what it takes to travel a much longer distance from New Delhi to Kolkata).

On 3rd February 2006, a fine sunny day, the check in and boarding of the aircraft was swift and smooth at the Netaji Subhas Airport in Kolkata. The problems began after the boarding was completed.

As the departure time (12:15 pm) approached the captain of the aircraft asked the crew to prepare for take off. Immediately, the aircraft crew moved to their positions and the regular safety demonstrations accompanied by announcements in affected accent followed. But just as everything appeared to be ready for take off, in came the announcement from the captain that the aircraft had developed a minor technical snag which would be resolved in 20-30 minutes.

I reckoned that this time could be used to free myself from the shackles of the seat belt and move to the rear-end lavatory to ‘do the needful’. But just as I entered, another announcement from the captain followed. This time the captain announced that the repair of the aircraft may take an hour or longer therefore the crew may prepare to evacuate the plane.

Inside the lavatory, while I struggled to get the flush to work which simply refused to budge, in came the untimely knock on the door by the aircraft crew posted at the rear end of the airliner. In a jiffy, I walked out complaining that the flush isn’t working.

Driven out of the aircraft, passengers had to exit the aircraft bay, re-enter the airport building, obtain a fresh boarding pass and go through the security drill all over again and wait anxiously for the signal to board the aircraft again.

At around 2:15pm passengers are allowed to board the aircraft again. But even as the aircraft was being readied for take off, the captain delivered the knock out punch. This time the pilot announced that the flight will first land at the terminal stop – Imphal and then revert to Guwahati. The reason: early closure of the Imphal airport during evening hours.

After what seemed to be a long and arduous journey in the cramped non reclining seats of the low cost carrier, we finally reached Guwahati. Indeed, while waiting for the luggage at the luggage retrieval line I realized that my flight number had changed from DN653 to DN654. By the time I could retrieve my luggage it was well past 5:30pm. A journey that in normal circumstances should have ended in Guwahati at 1:30 pm took 4 hours extra.

I hired a cab hurriedly and set off for the Guwahati Bus Terminal at Paltan Bazar. I was lucky to have got the last available seat on the rear end of the last bus to leave for Itanagar.

Looking back at the whole episode, here I would analyze the events of the day from a quality perspective. So, what are the things that went wrong? What could have been done better?

Clearly, the ground maintenance staff did not do their work well enough which resulted in the technical snag. Had they done their part; the aircraft would have taken off smoothly and passengers would have reached their destination on time. The flush in the lavatory too would have functioned properly.

Secondly, after having delayed the flight by about 2 hours, the airline added insult to injury by forcing the passengers destined for Guwahati to travel all the way to the terminal stop at Imphal. While the ostensible reason was early closer of Imphal Airport, the real reason was to pick up passengers from Imphal for a return flight to Kolkata via Guwahati. Thus the passengers traveling to Guwahati had to travel unnecessarily for an extra hour and 15 minutes.

Thirdly, having subjected the passengers to the afternoon torture, at least the carrier could have been courteous enough to provide free snack to the passengers to soothe their discontentment. Far from it, as is the normal practice in low cost airlines, the carrier sold snack to the passengers and actually made more money that day as hungry passengers had no option but to buy the hugely overpriced snack packs.

Looking back at the whole episode, here I would analyze the events of the day from a quality perspective and try and draw a parallel with the way some large Distance Education institutions function.

Like the initial smooth check in and boarding of my flight, learners get an almost effortless entry into Distance Education institutions (DEI). The admission criteria of DEIs in India are among the most lenient in the world. Similarly, the hiccups that I faced during the journey are so typical for a student enrolled with the largest distance education institution of India. Delays of all kinds - related to receipt of study material, updating of assignment grades, declaration of results, etc - are a common complaint from the distance learners. In many cases, hapless students are caught napping due to frequent changes in the programmes without any communication. Much like my flight which changed from DN653 to DN654 and about which I realized only after the completion of my journey.

So, what are the things that went wrong with the flight? What could have been done better?

An airline with quality consciousness ingrained in its DNA probably would not have invited such a situation. They would have made it doubly sure that the aircraft is well maintained and ready for flight.

Even if, as a rare case, such a technical snag was to occur, the airline would have taken care to minimize the discomfort; not maximize it, as was the case with the Deccan flight (DN-653). For instance, the passengers would have been carried through the usual route via Guwahati to Imphal rather than via Imphal to Guwahati. Thus an unnecessary flying hour for the Guwahati bound passengers would have been prevented.

Further, a quality conscious airline would have provided free snack to the passengers considering the fact that the flight which was to reach Guwahati at 1:30pm actually reached there at 5:30pm. Surely, that would have mitigated passenger discontentment significantly. Indeed, it would have potentially earned some goodwill for the airline.

This whole episode underscores one simple but important point: That for a system to succeed, all its parts need to work in a synchronized manner. If any one of the parts does not deliver there is bound to be a systemic disorder if not complete failure. Distance Education Institutions are not immune to this premise.

In distance education also, the quality of a learner’s experiences during his academic journey, from admission to convocation, hinges on the manner in which various departments of a distance education institution carry out their respective responsibilities. The more synchronized their efforts; the better would be the results. If any of the departments fail, it would lead to systemic disorder and discontentment of the learner.

So far, in my limited experience with IGNOU, I have not seen a year without some or other discrepancy. Systematic disorder seems to be the order of the day at IGNOU or should I call it ‘management by chaos’?

To be very candid, for all the hullabaloo about academic counseling, I reckon that majority of the distance learners care much less about counseling. They just want a degree as soon as possible, and in some cases, by whatever means. Excuse me for saying this, but I have strong reasons for it which I shall not elaborate.

If only the Distance Education Institutions’ Study Centres, Regional Centres, Student Registration & Evaluation Division and Material Production & Distribution Division played their role to perfection much of the existing student discontentment will disappear, drop out rates decrease and perhaps we will have substantial pass percentages to boast of. That would be a much more meaningful achievement than our misplaced sense of pride in garnering huge enrollments which is more a result of the extremely open admission criteria than anything else. Here, when I emphasize; synchronized working of the said departments, I mean all student related activities other than counseling.

Alas, I don’t see it happening with the given processes and structure. It calls for change: not just continual but transformational.

Manoj Tirkey
http://manojtirkey.blogspot.com/ - POLEMICS - Diversity of views
http://edzucate.blogspot.com/ - ACADEMIA - An academic discourse

DISTANCE EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS – A critical analysis

Before we discuss the critical issues facing the Distance Education Institutions it is pertinent to understand what exactly does success for a Distance Education institution mean? Does it mean increase in enrollment? Does it mean increase in the number of new programmes launched? Does it mean launching new study centres in remote geographical regions? To me a successful DE institution is one which not only has an affirmative answer to the previous three questions but also adds value to the learners through its programmes, i.e., after having undergone the programme a learner should have significantly enhanced his well being in terms of the knowledge gained, his social status and also his ability to be absorbed in the job market. In this process the institution should have also enhanced its goodwill in the society.

Being a distance learner as well as an academic of Distance Education (DE) this author is at a vantage point to view the critical factors for the success of distance education from both the perspectives. However, here the issues have been discussed primarily from the perspective of the learner. This learner feels that the issues discussed below need to be addressed by DE institutions for the success of their programmes as well as the success of the mode of Distance Education itself.

The issue of credibility: There is exists some amount of cynicism about the quality of the DE programmes as well as students enrolled in them in the society as well as the job market. The Batchelor Preparatory Programme of IGNOU, for instance, is a passport to the Batchelor Degree programme for students with no previous education. Such short cut provided by the university has proved to be a pitfall for the students enrolled for the programme. It has invited criticism from all spheres – students, the job market, and the academia. It has led to a blanket ban on employment of IGNOU students by many private sector firms. Rajiv Gandhi University in Arunachal Pradesh is refusing to admit such students for further studies. Also, it has led to confusion in the minds of the existing students as well as prospective learners – many think that after getting a degree from IGNOU they will not get admission for further studies. The DE institutions need to take urgent measures to stem the rot and restore pride and prestige to distance learning.

Inadequate counseling and untrained counsellors: As a learner it has been observed that counseling is not being provided for many programmes. In many programmes the counseling provided is inadequate. Often counselors resort to lecturing as opposed to counseling. The lectures very often do not conform to the course content. Often the staff at the student support centres is not found during the appointed hours of duty. The institutions should ensure sufficient number of counseling sessions through counselors trained in the DE system.

Lack of proper intimation of counseling schedules: It has been observed that often counseling schedules are not displayed on the notice boards, and if displayed, changes in the counseling are not intimated properly. It is important for the DE institutions to have a mechanism for constant communication with distance learners.

Underutilization of ICT facilities: It has been observed that the existing teleconferencing facilities are not functional in some study centres. In some others, the staff is not adept at operating the satellite interactive terminals. DE institutions should have trained staff to handle ICT infrastructure to ensure better utilization of the facilities.

Non-receipt of study materials is a very common complaint among many students. Even more chronic problem is the delay in delivery of study materials. This gives the student very less time for study and submission of assignments. Besides improving the logistics of delivery of study materials, DE institutions should take measures to make the study materials and prospectuses readily available in the market. Students who do not receive the material on time or those who have misplaced their study material can source it from the market.

Delay in declaration of results of Term-End Exams and assignments are yet another chronic problem. Such delays cause uncertainty in the minds of the learner. Often results of the previous term-end exams remain undeclared even as the next term-end exam begins. Hapless students have to appear for the next term-end exam without knowing the fate of their previous attempt. This leads to frustration among the learners. Many of whom get demoralized and drop out from the course. Also, such delays cost dear to the learners in terms of the extra time spent by them. DE institutions must ensure timely declaration of results.

Inadequate student support: Often queries and complaints of students are not attended properly at the Study Centre, Regional Centre, and even the Head Quarter of DE institutions. In a DE system the learner is remotely located and therefore lonely in his/her academic pursuit. Therefore, it is important to be sympathetic towards distance learners’ queries and provide all possible help to them.

Manoj Tirkey,
http://manojtirkey.blogspot.com/
http://edzucate.blogspot.com/

DISTANCE EDUCATION IN THE NETWORKED WORLD

According to Sir John Daniel “Distance Education (DE) is any educational process in which all or most of the teaching is conducted by someone removed in space and/or time from the learner, with the effect that all or most of the communication between teachers and learners is through an artificial medium, either electronic or print”. Therefore, by definition, in DE the normal or principal means of communication is through technology. The advancements of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the last two decades have made DE more relevant today than ever before.

Globally, over the last two decades, the mode of delivery in DE has moved beyond the traditional correspondence system to include more sophisticated systems that may be categorized as follows: television and radio systems, Multimedia systems, and Internet based systems including the broadband networks.

Educational television and radio systems use various delivery technologies terrestrial, satellite, and cable television and radio to deliver live or recorded lectures to both individual home-based learners and groups of learners in remote classrooms where some face-to-face support might be provided. Some systems offer limited audio or video-conferencing links back to the lecturer or a moderator at a central point.

Multimedia systems encompass text, audio, video, and computer-based materials, and usually some face-to-face learner support delivered to both individuals and groups. In this approach, which is that used by the open universities, instruction is no longer an individual’s work, but the work of teams of specialists: media specialists, information specialists, instructional design specialists, and learning specialists. Programmes are prepared for distribution over large numbers of learners, usually located across a whole country.

Internet-based systems are used to deliver multimedia (text, audio, video and computer-based) materials in electronic format to individuals through computers, along with access to databases and electronic libraries. Thus enabling teacher-student and student-student, one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many interactions, synchronously or asynchronously, through e-mail, computer conferences, bulletin boards, chat rooms, instant messaging, etc.

The convergence of all communication networks including the satellite network, the telephone network and the internet has been brought about by bringing all the backbone technologies to a common digital platform. Thus heralding a future that promises to be even more exciting for the distance learner. Learners today can download multi-media educational content via internet from the comfort of their homes. Institutions have also successfully experimented with live web-casting of important events through the internet. It is only a matter of time before live web casting of regular lectures becomes routine.

The spread of broadband Internet communication is stimulating new types of educational organizations and also stimulating re-thinking about the effectiveness of the older ones. Thus the new technologies are being taken up with equal enthusiasm by open universities, correspondence schools, and other DE institutions.

Non-traditional providers, including private profit-oriented new companies are entering the global market, selling educational services online, especially to adult learners in the labour force. In Europe and America some for-profit online programmes have grown twice as fast as the conventional DE institutions’ programmes which have some face-to-face interaction. Some traditional education institutions are responding to such competition by establishing their own for-profit affiliates, while corporations have established their own in-house systems to meet their own needs for ‘just-in-time’ and ‘just-enough’ education.

The growth in enrollment of learners which often includes cross border learners, especially by for-profit providers, has resulted in adverse quality issues. However, a quality culture has been emerging among the DE institutions. All mega universities, including seven in Asia, have developed and implemented Quality Assurance standards and procedures in key areas of distance education activities, and at least three mega universities in Asia have institutionalized a central QA unit and sought the development of a more systematic and coherent quality culture.

Internationally, convergence of traditional campus-based higher education with distance education and the blurring phenomenon between the two modes has been observed. Increasingly, conventional universities have been embracing innovative DE programs and e-Learning. In Korea for instance, of the 201 colleges and universities surveyed in a study, 85 percent of them had implemented e-Learning and are equipped with technical infrastructure and operational supports.

Increasingly, countries and institutions see DE, especially e-Learning, as an alternative mode of delivery to widen access to education, satisfy continuing educational needs of adults, expand trained workforce, and/or train teachers to improve the quality of schooling. Pedagogical changes have been observed in DE. For example, one-way broadcast-based or correspondence courses have been replaced by two-way interactive courses, problem-based, case-based, and/or resource-based learning. Personalized learning and support services have been introduced in several DE institutions as well.

Whereas advanced ICT offers options to both expand educational opportunities and improve upon quality, it poses many new challenges as manifest in the 'digital divide’ in developing countries. However, with rapidly declining tariff rates and prices of handsets, cellular phones with computer like capabilities could become the instrument to bridge the digital divide. Integration of the Internet and futuristic concepts like virtual reality and miniaturized projectors into the mobile phones hold the key to portable education – anywhere, any time.

Manoj Tirkey,
http://manojtirkey.blogspot.com/
http://edzucate.blogspot.com/