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1.0 Introduction
Distance and open learning has been practice by more than 1300 institution in
about 130 countries offering 70,000 odd courses to nearly 90 million students
with varied academic, economic and cultural backgrounds .It has been estimated
that there are 36,000 distance learners (8th Malaysia Plan, 2001) in Malaysia and
this figure is reported to increase to 54,000 by 2005. The flexibility it offer has
made this mode of learning are increasingly popular .Traditional barrier to
education are fast disappearing thanks to communicational technologies that
tremendously influence the thinking of educationalist, policy maker and
practitioner of distance and open learning. Geographical, national and
institutional boundaries get broken or redrawn, allowing greater number of
students to choose the course they need and the way in which they want to
learn across the countries. This rosy global scenario, however, has it thorny side
too.
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ideas about education are undergoing a metamorphosis as the concepts of open
learning, lifelong learning and distance learning gain familiarity.
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, there are important
differences. Open learning is an umbrella term for any scheme of education or
training that seeks systematically to remove barriers to learning, whether they are
concerned with age, time, place or space. With open learning, individuals take
responsibility for what they learn, how they learn, where they learn, how quickly
they learn, who helps them and when they have their learning assessed.
Distance learning, on the other hand, is one particular form of open learning in
which tutors and learners are separated by geographical distance. This is
sometimes called a home-study or correspondence course. But many modes of
communication are used for distance learning, not just postal correspondence. If
you stop to think about it, most of us use distance learning techniques in some
form in our daily lives: we read books and newspapers, watch programmes on
television and request information over the telephone. These are all learning
experiences which 'educate' in the broadest sense
The current trend in open and distance learning generated a new approach to
teaching and learning. Over the past 30 years, much expertise has been built up
in the writing and design of courses and learning materials. One of the most
important lessons is that distance learners need much more than a tutor who
marks assignments and sends them back. Any successful course provider needs
to ensure additional support for learners through excellent administration
systems and access to accreditation and qualifications. Many organizations also
provide full immersion by the end of year and social events for students, creating
a virtual learning community. This kind of networking is invaluable to all learners,
and more especially to students of distance learning.
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Although print is still the most popular and flexible medium for delivering open
learning, new technology will obviously play a key role in the next century. Radio
and television have been an essential part of Open University courses, and many
distance learning programmes incorporate computer-based packages. E-mail
and the Internet also offer exciting possibilities. There may come a time when
many learners will use multimedia as a matter of course, and communicate with
their tutors by e-mail. In the USA, the University of Madison, Wisconsin, is
already using new technology - it runs a course in disaster management, which is
offered over the Internet to students in disaster areas like Bosnia where all post
and telecommunications systems have broken down.
New providers have come onto the market as the demand for courses offering
vocational and managerial skills, many of them leading to professional
qualifications, has snowballed. One of the most prolific areas is for courses
leading to a master's in business administration (MBA). Another trend is the
increasing interest in providing on-the-job training through distance learning. In
the UK, companies like Coca-Cola Schweppes, Ford and IBM are taking distance
learning very seriously. No longer are limited to a few specialist institutions, open
and distance learning becoming part of mainstream delivery.
More further education colleges and universities now offer mixed-mode delivery
of courses, which enables people to learn at their own pace and in their own
time. Ten years ago, few people would have understood the terms 'distance
learning' or 'open learning'; now they are part of the educational vocabulary.
Distance learning has changed from being the last choice for people who couldn't
attend college or university to being the first choice for people who want flexibility
and guaranteed quality. It has also pioneered the concept of learner-centered
education. The future is one where learning boundaries will disappear, and
distance learning opportunities continue to expand.
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Distance education technologies are expanding at an extremely rapid rate. Too
often, instructional designers and curriculum developers have become enamored
of the latest technologies without dealing with the underlying issues of learner
characteristics and needs, the influence of media upon the instructional process,
equity of access to interactive delivery systems, and the new roles of teacher,
site facilitator, and student in the distance learning process.
The issues addressed in this research paper will reflect some challenges faced
by the open and distance learners. These include :
4.1. Situational variables, it can be inferred two main problems faced by the
students that were influencing their study, they were:
* Poor learning environment (such as: lack of support from family as well
as lack of learning facilities)
4.2. Institutional variables, it can be said that the students were disturbed in
their study due to:
* Tuition fee that they could not afford to pay (general cost like tuition fee
semesterly and cost for buying written learning materials)
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* Problems caused by institutional procedures (such as availability of course
materials, delay in registration, and poor communication with institution)
* Problems with course scheduling and pacing (tight schedule and course
poorly paced –too slow, uneven, or too fast)
4.3. Based on dispositional perspective, it can be implied that there were six
main problems that influenced students performance, they were:
* Time management
* Learning style problems (usually most of the adult learners need more
face to face interaction, and working with peers)
* Adult pride problems (such as the need for respect, independence, and
achievement –high marks or fear of failure)
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4.4. Viewed from epistemological variable, it was clear that the most significant
effect that disturbed student performance could be divided into four major
areas, they were:
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colleagues did not support them appropriately. In addition, this conditions was
shared by both successful and failed students in the ODL course. A more
concrete environmental problem was the student’s physical milieu, the resources,
both material (library) and intellectual (expert who might provide tutoring or
companionable discussion), and the home environment. A quiet place to study
and away from the interruptions and distractions of normal family life were
absolutely required. A number of students found achieving this separation
problematic.
Time was undoubtedly a barrier even though it was not in itself necessarily the
key to success in the course. Here lack of time was related to time available, as
impacted by changes in the student’s circumstances, the fact that the course
took more time than anticipated. This might be in turn related to course demands,
an institutional variable, or problems with content that required them to spend
more time, an epistemological variable, or study style. Besides, lack of time might
be caused by multiple roles as spouse, parents, and full time employees. Most of
the students, moreover, found that time allocation was very critical in order to be
able to follow the course effectively.
Although students had already leapt the barrier of fee costs, but there are
concern about “add-on” cost, such as the cost of additional textbooks, deposits
for the audio or video programs, and considerable expenses of attending on-
campus activities (tutorials or laboratory work). Apart from cost problems,
students’ performance was also influenced by bureaucratic procedures.
Restricted office hours and difficulties reaching staff for information and
assistance, for examples, were problems for students, who felt that the institution
did not understand their needs. Some delay in registration and the late arrival of
learning materials alienated affected students and exacerbated their time
constraints. A number of student found that these conditions happening in almost
every occasion during they were doing the course.
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The identified problem of course scheduling seemed related to institutional
insensitivity or inability to respond to students’ needs. Most of students who were
taking the ODL course were those currently in the work force. Therefore, it was
not easy for them to follow the schedule accordingly. Time problems, moreover,
were related to overall course length. Assignment pacing was somewhat
intertwined as well. The problem of students not having enough time as the pace
was too quick and they found difficulties to make some readjustment to follow the
course effectively.
The problems some students experienced involving the course tutors were
diverse and disturbing. Inappropriate tutorial assistance, according to Woodley &
Parlett (1983), as variable in dropout but perhaps not so explicitly as it was
expressed here by most of the students observed. Some students had difficulties
reaching their tutors, who invited calls at restricted time only. One student was
offended by the unavailability of the tutor and written feedback suggesting to her.
In fact, tutorial was far from adequate provided institutionally.
Tutor accessibility was also a psychological problem for some students who were
hesitant to initiate contact. The ethnographies showed that those students were
intimidated and though their tutor had better things to do. They were particularly
hesitant to phone when they thought their question was too easy; something that
they should know but they did not. In a couple of topics (within the modules), the
apparent absence of desirable tutor characteristics like unconditional positive
regard for student, empathy, cordiality and supportiveness were reflected in the
personality/communication conflict aspect of the tutorial support problems.
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explained rather than judgmental. This positive type of feedback was clearly
absent in most cases here.
There were several reasons why students enrolled into one or more study
programs. Three of them were: (i) achieving their degree, (ii) acquiring a
professional qualification, and (iii) increasing their knowledge and skill. For some,
the course was a try-out instrument to see if they liked it or they could handle it.
Nevertheless, most of the students cited uncertainty about their goal. In addition,
the problem of the stress of multiple roles was separate from that of the time
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constraints imposed by multiple roles considered previously. Here the students
specifically indicated it was stress, trying to study effectively when one was under
stress condition.
The students’ problems with time management reflected their time priorities. That
is their willingness to devote time to study at the expense of other activities.
Students also revealed a number of problems that can be loosely described as
not being in learning mode. Nevertheless, it can be inferred from the comments
of successful students that it took them a while to realize that there was a way to
be more effective in their achievement. Problems with not being in a learning
mode, furthermore, seemed related to the students had been away from school
and their unfamiliarity with effective studying habit, either as they had forgotten or
because they never knew. Most of the students had been “away” for such a long
period of time (say 10 or more years) from studying environment. Note: 95% of
the student body of the OUM were people who were coming from work force and
they had been away from studying circumstances for 10-15 years in average
(OUM, 2004).
Problem that can be said to involve adult pride posed another major dispositional
barrier for mature students. This was critically relevant, as around 70% of the
students were in the age of 30-40 years old (OUM, 2004). Some had needs of
achievement that went beyond passing to include a need for high achievement.
Adult pride was also behind the problem about their desire to do the course
independently on one hand and their need of face-to-face tutorial assistance on
the other hand. This is to say that those students wanted help but were reluctant
to seek it and it was not proactively available. Besides, psychological, social, and
economic factors could also being barriers to students in distance learning mode
(Snyder et al, 1978). The psychological aspect (also viewed from social and
economic perspectives) discussed here needs to be studied further in the future
comprehensively.
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The epistemological problems reflected a lack of congruence between the
student’s cognitive and affective characteristic and perceptions of knowledge,
and the nature of the knowledge presented in the modules. The student’s
epistemological position was a screen through which new knowledge must be
acquired. The screen might become a barrier when the epistemological position
of a course’s content or expectations was incompatible. The student’s conceptual
framework could not easily accommodate it. The study described that this was a
major and main problem that were experienced by the students.
Someone might anticipate that most of students would have difficulties with the
scientific, technical nature of the course. They were seemingly comfortable with
generalities, abstract concepts, and broad context but not with scientific,
technical, and mathematical specifics. Nevertheless, there were some students
who felt comfortable with the general emphasis on scientific facts and principles.
This was in accordance with Schmeck (1988) who insisted that there were
contrary issues concerning analytic/serialist/field-independent/left-brained versus
global/holistic/field-dependent/right-brained.
The other epistemological problems for students could be categorized into the
following, such as: (i) lack of personal relevance of the subject matter content,
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and (ii) lack of prerequisite knowledge. Lack of personal relevance caused the
students could not relate it into their everyday experience. Accordingly, the
problems the students encountered with a lack of prerequisite knowledge were
related to the structure/specialized competence dimension. High structure fields
with considerable hierarchy of knowledge required more specialized knowledge
on the part of the learner. Theoretically and practically, students could only be
mastered in the ODL course if they had already been mastered in Calculus
course. If, for example, they did not pass Calculus adequately then they will find
difficulties in studying the ODL course. As a matter of fact, the study showed that
most of the students found the ODL course difficult, as they did not follow the
Calculus course adequately. This was to say that the study confirmed
significantly that the lack of prerequisite knowledge was the most influencing
factors to their performance.
The results and discussions above showed us that there were several problems
faced by the students who did the ODL course. The main factor affecting
student’s performance was epistemological variable; especially the lack of
prerequisite knowledge, there should be a special effort like break-through
program from the Department to improve student achievement. The prerequisite
knowledge is very critical. In general, most of students failed in writing down the
specific solution of questions asked in the final exam, as they had to first master
the elementary concept that was provided in Calculus course.
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person was unique, possessing different values, beliefs, needs, attitudes,
motives, past-experiences, and abilities. Therefore, both professional
development and institutional improvement should focus on creating the uniquely
optimal conditions for each and every learner to persevere, while acknowledging
that we may not understand all the factors at work. Specifics effort could include
proactive tutorial assistance, providing prerequisite knowledge transitions or
separate primer materials, paying greater attention to clarity and readability in
written materials, and increasing interactive opportunities.
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epistemological factors. This implies that further multivariate studies with
disciplinary coverage would be significant enough in adding to the body of
knowledge concerning students’ performance in distance learning mode in the
future. In this case, the students’ skills as an independent learner play an
important role. Planning and managing the smart way, applying smart time
management, self- motivation, and developing learning strategies are some of
the techniques on which to be mastered by an independent learners.
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my great appreciation to Mr. Wan Mohd Amin bin Wan
Zainal Abidin (Open University, Malaysia) for his support to make this
assignment possible. I am also grateful to Professor Dato’ Ir Dr Mohammad Nor
bin Haji Salleh (The Vice President for Management and Development of
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Learning Centre, Open University, Malaysia) for his interesting presentation at
Politeknik Seberang Perai,Pulau Pinang during orientation and ODL seminar
(2005) that positively inspired and motivated me to complete this assignment.
References
Abdullah, S. & Roy, J. (1994) ‘Designing the course to suit the clients: A
Malaysian experience’, Paper presented at the ICDE conference on distance
education, Windows on the future, The Correspondence School, Wellington,
May 7-9.
Brindley, J.E. (1988) A model of attrition for distance education, ICDE, 131-137.
Gibson, C.C. & Graff, A.O. (1992) Impact of adults’ preferred learning styles and
perception of barriers on completion of external baccalaureate degree
programs, Journal of Distance Education 8(1): 39-51.
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