DLI Colloquium to Tackle Challenges Facing Distance Learning

Uchechukwu Nnaike

The Distance Learning Institute (DLI), University of Lagos, said plans are under way to convene a colloquium, where scholars and experts will share knowledge and proffer solutions to some of the challenges facing open and distance education in the country.

The Director of the institute, Prof. Uchenna Udeani, who announced this in a chat with journalists said: ”One of the most disturbing challenges we have been facing concerning this mode of learning is that of public perception. The public perception is that this mode of learning is maybe a lower and inferior brand of education, which is totally wrong and far from it.”

According to her, open and distance mode of education is currently the most sought after, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is contrary to beliefs prior to the time, that this mode of education was inferior to the ‘face to face’ teaching method.

She said the public perception is part of the issues that will be discussed at the International Colloquium scheduled for September 16 in Lagos with the theme ‘Recalibrating Open Distance Education and e-Learning for Resilient and Inclusive Education’.

Udeani, a Professor of Science Education, said: “So far, we have concluded arrangements for this much expected international colloquium with experts drawn from all over the world and within. As we speak, we have already gotten about 250 participants, both virtual and physical.

”What informed the theme is two sources; the first is global development and the second, the COVID-19 pandemic. These two developments have changed the landscape of higher education institutions in the last one-and-a-half years. As you may already know, we are all used to the face-to-face type of instruction.

”All of us would have gone through this without going through our education online and that has continued. For instance, we have Learning Management System in this university but it was hardly put to maximum use.

”It was only used by this institute and then the pandemic came, with no prescription to migrate the distance learning mode, which is virtual or online and that is one landscape that changed,” she said.

The director added that institutions of higher learning were then forced to embrace online teaching and learning method, which proved to be quite challenging, as most of these institutions lacked the facilities to achieve that.
As a result of the attendant lockdown and the inability to move around, occassioned by the pandemic, she said online education became the only way to push the frontiers of learning forward.

According to her, the other landscape that changed learning is that of accessibility. It brought to the fore efforts made in getting the population to accept the mode of learning, how opportunities to change careers that will come through education manifest.

”Therefore, with the importance and leverage that we have given to open and distance education, people have seen that they can access learning without being physically in the classroom.

”They can access it from anywhere, even as they are working. So, the impetus of the open distance education, has widened access of online learning and this has already created so much awareness on that.

”That is why we are looking at this colloquium as a meeting point for experts, both local and international. They will be dissecting open distance learning, to make it more inclusive, make it more resilient, to withstand disruptions that could be occassioned by work, conflict or another pandemic,” she stated.

Udeani said the colloquium is also expected to suggest how online access could be improved upon, for quality service delivery, as well as discover lapses in terms of skills and availability of digital tools.

She said it would also seek to find out the level of availability of internal capacity, as well as how much is needed externally.

”We also expect to find out the level of instructional design lapses because digitalising learning entails a lot of things. So, this colloquium is going to show us alot of trends; where we are now and looking into the future, how prepared we are.

”We should know that the future of online is here with us and the future is online. How we go about our jobs to ensure that we are ready, for maybe another pandemic,” she said.

The DLI director lauded the contributions and support gotten so far from the Federal Ministry of Education and its Women Affairs counterpart, other organisations, corporate bodies and individuals, for successful hosting of the event.

”May I also seize this opportunity to commend the Vice-Chancellor of this university, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe and the university management for the tremendous support given to us for the successful hosting of the event come September 16.”

Some of the key participants at the event include Prof. Pat Utomi as Chairman and Mrs. Eugenia Abu as moderator.

Speakers and discussants include Dr. Neil Fassina, President, International Council for Distance Education; Emeritus Prof. Olu Jegede, National Open University (NOUN) Abuja; and Prof. Moeketsi Letseka, UNESCO Chair on Open Distance Learning, University of South Africa.

Others are Prof. Yemisi Obashoro-John and Dr. Akanimo Odon, Africa Strategy Adviser, Lancaster University, United Kingdom, among others.