When the last issue of the West African Journal for Flexible and Online Learning was published, the world was a very different place. The gradual and now rapid spread of the coronavirus has caused untold disruption in every facet of life. UNESCO has estimated that by April 2020 there were 1.37 billion students, or 80 percent of the global student population, affected by nationwide closures of educational institutions (UNESCO, 2020). The inevitable return to normal will not be as it was before the pandemic. The new world will be far more risk-averse and insular, at least for the near future. What does this mean for education, and specifically higher education? The sector has long been overdue for an overhaul to catch up with the realities of the 21st century. The ubiquity of technology, changing nature of work, and increase in personal wealth indicate that individuals will expect more from their investment in higher learning.
Some trends include personalisation and ownership of credentials, flexible on- demand learning, and a competency-based curriculum that prioritises the acquisition of skills over the accumulation of knowledge. For proponents of flexible and online learning, to which WAJOFEL espouses, the opportunity could not be riper to leverage our work to inform if not lead the forthcoming changes in higher education. As noted in a previous Editorial, the West African Sub-Region is among the youngest in the world. Nigeria, alone, as the continent's most populous by a margin of nearly 100 million, is also amongst its youngest with a median age of only 19. People need opportunity, and an increasingly differentiated higher education system is essential. The National Open University, in its short history since being established shortly after the turn of the millennium, has accelerated enrolment to surpass the half-million mark. Many other institutions in the region have taken notice and the rush to offer open and distance learning programmes is trending amongst otherwise conventional universities in Nigeria and Ghana, in particular. As growth continues, research becomes increasingly necessary. The accumulation of knowledge informed by evidence and intellect are needed to move the broad field of flexible learning forward.
This issue is segmented into two broad areas. The first focuses on access and the centrality of open and distance learning to national development in Nigeria. Readers outside of the country will learn about how a cohesive government-led intervention moved the National Open University of Nigeria from modest beginnings in the early part of the 20th century to present day with an enrolment of over half a million learners. This is no small feat, yet NOUN continues to expand as matters of unmet demand for higher learning persist.
Three articles address the expansion and argue that NOUN, and open and distance education across the country, in general, are central to national development.
The first article calls on the ODL system to be a catalyst to rebrand the higher education system in Nigeria. The author, Dr Chinwe Patience Ihuoma, argues that for Nigeria to reach its potential, ODL must be viewed as a central player, rather than a second chance pathway to learning. The author reviews the literature and offers 11 recommendations to uplift the tertiary system in Nigeria including strengthening university partnerships and embracing models of integrity.
Infrastructure is the focus of the second article by Dr Elijah Babasola Afolabi Agbaje. It is now universally accepted that networked technologies are integral to human development, yet upwards of half of the world's population is barred from reliable and affordable internet access. As many parts of the world move to the fourth industrial revolution, which posits that technological automation will permeate all facets of human life, it will widen the digital divide with many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa being left behind. Nigeria and its neighbouring countries, argues the author, are at a pivotal point to invest in IT infrastructure to unleash the intellectual potential of the vast populations of young and working-age adults across the continent with a focus on online learning as one central pathway toward sustainable development. Drawing on survey data of 95 distance learners, the author concludes that significant investment in ICTs in the country is mandatory if Nigeria is to reach is human development potential.
The third article, authored by John Abdullahi, Dr Nwachukwu Ruphina Ukamaka and Mr Peter Mshelia, report on enrolment trends in four universities located in Nigeria's northeast. Enrolment continues an upward trend in this area with improved security in the region, yet growth is slowed by inadequate funding and infrastructure. In unison with the aforementioned, further capacity building of staff is needed to reach the potential of ODL in Nigeria's least populated region.
The fourth article is authored by Professor Patrick Eya, Dr Moses Shaibu and Dr Clifford Amini, who are cross-appointed from NOUN to The Regional Training and Research Institute for Distance and Open Learning (RETRIDOL). RETRIDOL operates out of the NOUN main campus in Abuja and has been in operation nearly as long as NOUN itself. Established in 2003 as a regional centre of the Commonwealth of Learning, an intergovernmental organisation that functions to leverage educational technology to widen access to quality learning, RETRIDOL has a mandate to primarily support the expansion of ODL in the West Africa Sub-Region, with particular focus on its five Commonwealth States including, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. The paper draws an impressive arc over the life of the organisation to present day where it is leading the transition of over one dozen universities in Nigeria to become accredited as dual-mode institutions to deliver distance learning programmes. RETRIDOL has also made important inroads into its other regional countries and can also boast support from the NUC and ECOWAS.
The second half of the current volume shifts to focus on the learner and educator experience in ODL systems. Why do individuals choose to study via ODL and are they satisfied with the experience? The article by Professor Christine Ofulue and Dr Bamikole Ogunleye addresses the questions based on a satisfaction survey across five core areas. The areas include admissions, course materials, ICT, learner support and assessment and evaluation. Findings, derived from a sample of 2,471 revealed that improvements in learner support, inclusivity (e.g., people with special needs), and ICT infrastructure (e.g., bandwidth) and ICT capacity building (e.g., materials development and pedagogical training).
A study by Dr Itasanmi Sunday, Tosin Jegede and Oni Taiwo explores the correlation between demographic factors as predictors of open educational resources (OER) awareness among a collection of distance learning students in southwestern Nigeria. Findings, drawn from 523 participants, revealed that the higher the academic level and younger age-90% of the sample were 40 or younger–were predictors of greater awareness of OER. Not surprisingly, findings were also significant in OER awareness if a given school of study used OER in its modules or courses.
In the final study, the author Dr S. N. Ezeribe reinforces the role of counselling in supporting the development of self-directed undergraduate students studying via ODL in Nigeria. The article advocates for greater use and learning about self-directed learning (SDL) and the role of counselling to support greater uptake of SDL as an integral approach to being a successful distance learner.
Dr Kirk Perris - Adviser; Education, Commonwealth of Learning
Guest Editor
Date: December 8, 2020
UNESCO (24 March 2020).1.37 billion students now home as COVID-19 school closures expand, ministers scale up multimedia approaches to ensure learning continuity. https://en.unesco.org/news/137-billion-students-now-home-COVID-19-school-closures-expand-ministers-scale-multimedia