Commonwealth of Learning

Sustainable Learning and Development - the role of ODL

By Ms. Helen Lentell, COL Education Specialist, Training and Materials Development

COL is the only international intergovernmental agency with a mandate to encourage open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies to expand the scope and scale of learning. COL's view is that learning is both part of the process as well as the means of implementing sustainable development and creating a culture of peace. We take this view because learning is an act of agency; it enables people to take control of their lives. Evidence suggests that the more people have been involved in learning, the more developed that country will become. The United Nations General Assembly captured the importance of education for development by designating the next ten years the "Decade of Education for Sustainable Development".

The harnessing of technology for learning - or open and distance learning (ODL) - is not always understood. People either have in mind an outdated view of distance education, (the old correspondence schools), or they find it hard to imagine how modern technology, the quintessence of modernity, can have any relevance to the reality of those in poverty in the developing world. But the unique characteristic of ODL methodology means that appropriate technology can be mediated by teachers, trainers or facilitators to solve development problems.

The potential of ODL for sustainable learning and development is based on the following advantages:

Flexible: ODL can be integrated with traditional approaches to create flexible learning. For example it can provide the study materials needed to enable teachers to manage large classes or
establish asynchronous communication between learners living miles from each other.
Adaptable: ODL employs a range of appropriate media and technologies, including radio, teleconferencing, video, audio and computers to enable both the delivery of information and communication between communities of learners and learners and their teachers. For instance, radio is being used in developing countries to inform and educate communities about maternal health and HIV/AIDS.
Reach: ODL can reach those groups who have been denied access to education and training either through their remoteness to places of study or through general lack of provision as a result of economic or social disadvantage, or political upheaval. The development of open universities has enabled many millions to have access to higher education where there had been insufficient supply.
Quality and Scale: ODL can take educational and training to scale because scarce human resources are used to their optimum. Tutors, who need not be subject matter specialists, can facilitate the teaching function. Teachers, as we conventionally understand, do not need to have all the knowledge, skills and resources associated with teaching before they can support learning. With ODL the functions teachers perform are broken down into their constituent parts and given to specialists - knowledge experts, curriculum designers, course writers, media experts, designers, editors and facilitators of learning. Only a few specialists need write the study materials that many thousands can use. And because these study materials are closer to being in the public domain and often subject to scrutiny by other experts, their quality is more reliably guaranteed than the teaching that takes place in the privacy of a classroom.

ODL as an approach to learning is built upon the values of widening participation, flexibility of delivery and responsiveness to social, cultural and economic needs of learners and wider society. ODL methodology puts the learner and their learning needs and contexts at the centre of ODL practice. This focus on the learner is what makes ODL methodology potentially transformative. At COL's Institute on ODL for Development, Professor Ram G. Takwale, former Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), observed that generally, primary, secondary, vocational and technical schools and universities are poorly linked to the development agenda of the countries. Institutions tend to structure programmes based on academic disciplines and not on a development approach

Participants at the Institute were of the opinion that it is not possible to achieve any of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, www.developmentgoals.org), without a massive expansion of learning and training and that this could not be achieved within the traditional system. Learning through ODL methods provides a critical role in making poverty reduction and economic development efforts - whether in agriculture, natural resource management, small enterprise development - more participant driven, cost effective and locally self-managed and therefore more sustainable. In addition, the development and democratisation of civil society and social institutions requires the ongoing acquisition of new knowledge and skills.

The strategies for learning that are greatly facilitated by ODL are: information, communication, mediation and partnership/collaboration.

The provision of information: New knowledge or information is made available to learners through well-written and designed leaflets, booklets or a well-produced radio programme. Making these resources available, accessible and adaptable for local usage, via the web (e.g., learning objects), offers the potential to massively enhance opportunities.
Communication: Learning occurs through a communication process. There is more to learning than internalising externally provided information. This is because the "knowledge" may be contestable and its usefulness debatable. Indeed, there is much evidence to suggest that effective learning is predicated upon interactivity among learners and learning objects, other learners and good learning facilitators. The facilitator can contextualise and personalise the mass-produced materials of ODL. They know the learners and their needs and know how to give the feedback that will enable the learners to become actively involved in their learning and therefore to be successful and progress. Professor Veronica McKay, Director of the Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) Institute at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in outlining the role of ODL and adult basic learning, demonstrated at the COL Institute that training of adult literacy educators can be taken to scale. ABET has trained many thousands of adult literacy educators by "combining a mass-based industrialised model of material production with participatory and face-to-face approaches". The development of information and communications technologies and learning management systems has massively enhanced the capacity for communication within ODL.
Mediation: Successful learning in ODL requires mediation and that is classically what tutors in ODL systems do. Tutors act as intermediaries between the knowledge in the study guides and the learners. They assist learners to "own" and apply and generalise the knowledge in their learning materials. But learning described thus far assumes a predefined curriculum that has to be made relevant to the learners and their needs.

However the radical expansion of this model is to turn it on its head and it is suggested by the role of Sushma Reddy supporting illiterate farmers at her learning hub, (see Investing in Women to Assist Human Development, page 7). This is what becomes possible using modern learning technologies. Communities define their learning needs - including
illiterate farmers - and with the assistance of skilled and trusted mediators/facilitators they access knowledge and learn through the global knowledge network. Indeed, they can even engage with the experts in the research institutions! This is called "just-in-time" learning by Dr. Ajit Maru, of the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology in India. It can either be formalised into courses of study or on a need-to-know basis made possible by a dynamic/live environment.
Partnership and collaboration: Sustainable learning for development requires participatory approaches, partnerships and collaboration. Technology-mediated ODL connects different groups, with different knowledge and skills to come together to address and research complex issues, which are implicit in the notion of sustainable development. These new collaborations and partnerships, with a wide variety of stakeholders and client communities (such as grassroots communities, civil society, private sector groups, financial institutions and international development agencies), are captured in ideas about the "learning organisation" in which learners are involved in not only solving a problem but also investigating the origins of that problem. These models of learning are sometimes known as "connective learning" or "expanded learning" and are found in community development approaches. "The contours of these collaborations, such as networks and consortia, have begun to emerge in India as evidenced in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra States," Dr. Maru reported to the Institute. Interesting work using ODL is being carried out here and new models of ODL for development are emerging.

The road ahead

The potential of ODL and development is clear but much has yet to be done, participants at the Institute observed:

We need advocacy among policy makers to understand the potential of ODL. And we must get "ODL the profile it should have, and to get it included in policy as a mainstream part of education". Ms. Myra Harrison, consultant, UK.
ODL implementation requires careful planning and project management - there is a general need to develop these skills in all development contexts and not just ODL. But ODL could be a means of bridging that skills gap in development contexts. Professor Richard Siaciwena, consultant, Directorate of Distance Education, University of Zambia.
We need to strike a balance between excessive enthusiasm that ODL can solve problems of poverty and the belief that ODL is too expensive - a solution the poor cannot afford. Dr. Chris Chinien, Director, UNEVOC-Canada.
"Persuading educationalists to use resources produced by others" is a major challenge. Ms. Jenny Glennie, Director, South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE).
Training and professional development in the knowledge and skills for ODL development is vital. Mrs. Thandi Alice Ngengebule, Head, Department of Student Support, UNISA, South Africa.
New structures and new processes that embed ODL are needed in educational institutions. There is little experience in restructuring institutions and in embedding new processes for creating learning opportunities. Dr. Ajit Maru, Professor, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, India.
Engaging learners in the vast amount of lifelong learning experiences that are available to them, without compromising standards of excellence. Ms. Clover Barnett, Director, Learning Management Services Department, Human Employment and Training (HEART), Jamaica National Training Authority.
More research and understanding of the management skills required to manage the learning models for sustainable development is needed. Dr. Krishna Alluri, COL Education Specialist.

The Commonwealth of Learning believes that learning is the common wealth of human kind. Whilst ODL is not a silver bullet, it can, as COL President Sir John Daniel said, "make a major contribution to the learning challenges we face because technology mediated learning can increase access, improve quality and lower cost all at the same time."

Institute on ODL for Development

In May 2005, COL invited 37 experts from different countries to engage in a cross-sector dialogue on the role of open and distance learning (ODL) and the development agenda. The three-day Institute was held in Vancouver, Canada. Representatives from development agencies, non-governmental organisations, governments and the ODL field came together to identify the role of ODL in development with particular reference to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

In preparing for the Institute, participants were asked to comment on a draft paper and to take part in presentations, panel discussions and workshops. A principle outcome for the Institute was an exploration on the potential of ODL as a tool for development. The deliberations of the Institute will result in a COL publication on "ODL for Development".

The feedback from participants was very positive and there was throughout a very good feeling of solidarity, commitment and dedication to arriving at solutions. COL has been invited to hold a similar event in Australia by the organisers of the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA), with a focus on the contribution of ODL to development specifically in the Pacific region.

In Focus