World Green 2

An International Delphi StudyA Curriculum Framework for Distance EducationSanjaya Mishra, PhDIGNOU, STRIDE, India

March of Distance Education...Unprecedented growth and developmentMostly in Asia with 15 Open Universities in India aloneWide variety of courses and programmesIn IGNOU alone there are 1300 course and 135 programmeIn almost all disciplinesAt all levelsFor all types of learners: motorcyle mechanic, farmers, doctors, engineers, managers, teachers, etc.

But, what is the status of Distance Education?Is Distance Education a discipline?How training on Distance Education is conducted?Pre-service, vs. ad hoc in-service trainingContent variationMasters level training in only 4 universities: AU, DU, IGNOU, UKOU.Context of usage is cited as the reasons for variation in contentIs it correct? Should not it be relatively uniform?

International DelphiPhase 1: 398 email sent; 56 replied with over 560 topicsPhase 2: 398 email sent; additional DESO-L used; 100 usable responsesPhase 3: 389 email sent; 91 responses receivedPersons from 19 countries participatedEighty percent of the respondents had written at least a paper in a peer-reviewed journal in the last 5 yearsAverage age about 50 years and average distance education experience about 15 yearsStudied DE/Online learning as a subject (65%) and 74% studied some subjects through DE/Online learning

Phase 1 ResultsE-learning (13.84%)Material Development and Production (I3.29%)Instructional Design (10.1%)Learner Support (9.67%)Foundations of Distance Education (9.2%)Educational Communication Technologies (7.69%)Research Methodology (7.47%)Management of Distance Education (6.81%)Assessment of Learner Performance (5.93%) Other 8 topics identified to group

See http://teachknowlogist.blogspot.com/2007/11/open-distance-and-online-learning.html

Phase 2 ResultsContent Validity Ratio calculated for the 17 topicsRespondents asked to rate as Not necessary, Useful, but not necessary, and Essential. Only 8 topics received 0.5 or higher CVRThese topics are: Instructional Design, Learner Support, Assessment of Learner Performance, E-Learning, Educational Communication Technologies, Quality Assurance, Curriculum Design and Development, Material Development and ProductionThree topics received negative CVR: Costing, Staff training and case studiesProject work received a Null value

Phase 3 ResultsIn Phase 3, the 17 topics were subjected to detailed analysis based on content selection criteria: Self-sufficiency, significance, validity, Interest, Utility, Learnability and Feasibility.Ratings asked: 1 Very Low, 2 Low, 3 Average, 4 High, and 5 Very HighOnly 2 topics received more than 4 as average: Learner Support and Assessment of Learner PerformanceMore than 3.49 score received by other eight topics

A Curriculum FrameworkLearner related issues at the centreCurriculum design, content development, production, in varieties of media and technology, and Instructional DesignManagement, QA, Programme Evaluation, Copyright, Costs, etc.Philosophical, Psychological, Sociological, underpinnings; models and case studiesResearch, Training and Technology may add value to the competencies of distance educator