Greetings Dear readers of TOJDE,

Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE January 2011 ISSN 1302-6488 Volume: 12 Number: 1

CONTENTS

From the Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. Ugur DEMIRAY……………..…..……….….....................…………………………….4-8 Notes for Editor SNAPP: GRAPHING STUDENT INTERACTIONS IN A LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Kevin YEE Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA Jace HARGIS Assistant Provost for Faculty Development University of the Pacific, USA.................................................................................... 9-12 THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: Challenges and Prospects Muyiwa ADEYEMI, Ph.D Olabisi Onabanjo University, NIGERIA................................................................... 13-20 CREATIVITY AND TEACHING COMPETENCY OF PROSPECTIVE B.ED TEACHERS F. L. Antony GRACIOUS St. Xavier’s College of Education (Autonomous) Palayamkottai, INDIA F. L. Jasmine ANNE SHYLA Manonmanium Sundaranar University, Tirunelvel, INDIA P. ANNARAJA, Research Supervisor St. Xavier’s College of Education (Autonomous) Palayamkottai, INDIA................ 21-28 ICT IN UNIVERSITIES OF THE WESTERN HIMALAYAN REGION IN INDIA: Performance Analysis Dhirendra SHARMA Himachal Pradesh University, INDIA Vikram SINGH Ch. Devi Lal University, INDIA................................................................................ 29-53 Articles THE UTILIZATION OF WEB-BASED TECHNOLOGY AS PREDICTOR OF FACULTY INSIGHTS OF SUPPORT FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ELEARNING Hamed GHAEMI, M.A in TEFL, University of Tehran, IRAN..................................................................................... 54-61

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CONTENT ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH PROJECTS SUBMITTED BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS (2000-2009) AT THE ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY: Implications for Quality Assessment Caleb KANGAI Richard BUKALIYA Farirai MUSIKA Mapuranga BABRA Zimbabwe Open University, ZIMBABWE ................................................................ 62-84 GUIDING STUDENTS TO ANSWERS: Query Recommendation Ozgür YILMAZEL Anadolu University, TURKEY................................................................................... 85-94 BLOGS IN DISTANCE EDUCATION: An Analysis of Physical Educators’ Perceptions of Learning Maria MAHERIDOU Panagiotis ANTONIOU Thomas KOURTESSIS Andreas AVGERINOS Department of Physical Education and Sport Science Democritus University of Thrace, GREECE............................................................ 95-107 PREDICTOR OF E-LEARNING DEVELOPMENT AND USE PRACTICES IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (HEIs) OF NWFP, PAKISTAN Ghulam Muhammad KUNDI Allah NAWAZ Gomal University, PAKISTAN.............................................................................. 108-125 SOME STRUCTURAL CHANGES ON THE WAY TOWARDS EUNIVERSITY Wolfram LAASER Fernuniversität in Hagen, GERMANY.................................................................. 126-137 PRE-SERVICE STUDENTS’ CLASS STANDINGS AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS O DISTANCE EDUCATION Alan E. YOUNG College of Business at the University, CAYMAN ISLANDS (UCCI)...................... 138-151 STUDENTS’ DECISION STEPS IN META-COGNITIVE LEARNING IN FREE ONLINE GROUPS (METAL-FROG): A Case Study Kinsley Ng SEN FA University Science Malaysia, MALAYSIA Firuz Hussin HUSSIN University University Malaya, MALAYSIA............................................................152-165 E-LEARNING AND LIFELONG LEARNING George S. MOUZAKITIS E-Learning Think Tank Team, Korinthos, GREECE Nazime TUNCAY, NORTH CYPRUS TURKISH REPUBLIC..................................... 166-173

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INVESTIGATING AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTORS' ATTITUDES TOWARD E-LEARNING IN IRAN Davoud MOHAMMADI Seyed Mahmoud HOSSEINI Hossein Shabanali FAMI University of Tehran, IRAN................................................................................ 174-183 THE “COMMUNITY SERVICES” COURSE THROUGH DISTANCE EDUCATION: Evaluation of Primary School Students A. Nurhan SAKAR Oznur OZTURK Anadolu University, Open Education Faculty, Eskisehir, TURKEY...................... 184-194 MANAGERIAL PERCEPTION OF EDUCATION IN THE EDUCATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS Mehmet Metin ARSLAN Kirikkale University, Kirikkale, TURKEY............................................................. 195-211 Opinions of Elementary Level EFL Learners on The Use of Weblogs Ilknur ISTIFCI Anadolu University, Eskisehir, TURKEY............................................................. 212-222 Reviews INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN FOR TEACHERS: Improving classroom practice Reviewed by Yavuz Akbulut Anadolu University, TURKEY............................................................................... 223-225 NEW SCIENCE OF LEARNING: COGNITION, COMPUTERS AND COLLABORATION IN EDUCATION Reviewed by Onur DONMEZ Anadolu University Graduate School of Educational Sciences Eskisehir, TURKEY................................................................................................ 226-231

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Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE January 2011 ISSN 1302-6488 Volume: 12 Number: 1 from Editor

Greetings Dear readers of TOJDE, TOJDE is appeared on your screen now as Volume 12, Number: 1. In this issue it is published 4 notes for Editor, 13 articles, 2 book reviews. And this time, 34 authors from 11 different countries are placed. These published articles are from Cayman Islands, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, USA and Zimbabwe. The first Notes for editor arrived from USA, written by Kevin YEE and Jace HARGIS. They focused on “SNAPP:Graphing Student Interactions in a Learning Management ystem”. They mentioned that SNAPP works on multiple LMS’s, including BlackBoard, WebCT Vista, WebCT CE, Sakai, Moodle, and Desire2Learn. The software is free to download and requires Internet access to perform its functions. The second notes for editor is titled as “THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: Challenges and Prospects” which is written by Muyiwa ADEYEMI, from Olabisi Onabanjo University, NIGERIA. In Nigeria, Africa, the introduction of this form of learning programme, is relatively new and therefore pose some challenges to all stakeholders in the education industry. In trying to meet up with the enormous demands for formal education, Nigerian government established some institutions for distance learning. These included the National Teachers Institute (NTI), the National Open University (NOUN) among others. Therefore, this paper examined the historical development of this programme and particularly in Nigeria, the theories and philosophies of distance education “Creativity and Teaching Competency of Prospective B.Ed Teachers” is the third paper for “Notes for Editor” section of TOJDE’s in this issue. It has written by F. L. ANTONY GRACIOUS and P. ANNARAJA from St. Xavier’s College of Education (Autonomous) Palayamkottai, INDIA. The present study Creativity and Teaching Competency of prospective B.Ed teachers was probed to find the relationship between Creativity and Teaching Competency of Prospective B.Ed Teachers. Data for the study were collected using self made Teaching Competency Scale and Creativity Scale. The investigator used stratified random sampling technique for selecting the sample. The sample consists of 242 Prospective B.Ed Teachers. For analyzing data; 't' test and Pearson's product moment co-efficient were the statistical techniques used. Finding shows there was no significant relationship between Creativity and Teaching Competency of prospective B.Ed teachers. The fourth notes for Editor written by Dhirendra SHARMA From University Institute of Information Technology Himachal Pradesh University, INDIA and Vikram SINGH, from Department of Computer Science and Engineering Ch. Devi Lal University, INDIA on ICT In Universities of The Western Himalayan Region In India: Performance Analysis. The paper presents a comparative analysis of a live project study carried out to understand the impact and performance of ICT initiatives taken by the Universities located in the Western Himalayan Region of India. A basic four-tier framework has been used to carry out this study. Accordingly, a pre- structured questionnaire on ICT initiatives, status and accomplishments, 117 questions divided in 18 groups, was prepared and given to the Head of the Department (HOD) of ICT in the Universities, who along with his technical team, supplied the feedback on a five- point scale. In each of the groups, one question was related to performance (as performance indicator) which was identified and thus another special group ‘S’ was created with 18 responses. The first article is from Iran, on “The Utilization of Web-Based Technology As Predictor of Faculty Insights of Support For The Implementation of Elearning” written by Hamed

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GHAEMI from the University of Tehran, IRAN. This study investigates the level of implementation of web-based instructional technology (WBIT) by the in-teaching faculties of English Language departments as factor related to faculty perception of institutional mechanisms and its partial significance as condition supporting the implementation of elearning in university education. Using a sample of 160 in-teaching faculties at selected Islamic Azad Universities (IAU) across Iran, faculty perceptions of support mechanisms were examined. The findings of the present study reveal that factors such as stages of apprehension about using WBIT and levels of use offer a justification of the perception variations. Making a profile of faculty WBIT utilization is predicted to provide insight for the development of strategies and administrative practices vital for eLearning to succeed in university education. The Second article is on “Content Analysis Of Research Projects Submitted By Undergraduate Students (2000-2009) At The Zimbabwe Open University: Implications for Quality Assessment”, written by Caleb KANGAI, Richard BUKALIYA, Farirai MUSIKA and Mapuranga BABRA From Zimbabwe Open University, ZIMBABWE. This study was part of a series of studies, into issues of quality, currently being conducted at the ZOU by the present authors. The present study aimed at developing a systematic approach towards quality assessment of students’ research work. A content analysis of 400 research projects submitted by ZOU undergraduate students between 2000-2009 was undertaken applying both conceptual and relational analysis. Conceptual analysis was based on a checklist of six concepts: research questions, research paradigm, research design, data collection instruments, data form, procedures for data analysis and presentation and sought to establish the status of students’ research work, its gaps and areas of saturation. Relational analysis was conducted through the use of a model that sought to assess the methodological appropriateness and methodological quality of the research projects. The third articles are from Anadolu University, Turkey. The third one is on “Guiding Students To Answers: Query Recommendation”, conducted by Ozgür YILMAZEL, from Anadolu University, Department of Computer Engineering, Eskisehir, TURKEY.His paper reports on a guided navigation system built on the textbook search engine developed at Anadolu University to support distance education students. The search engine uses Turkish Language specific language processing modules to enable searches over course material presented in Open Education Faculty textbooks. We implemented a guided navigation engine by using query log mining to our application. It makes use of previous users’ sessions to help students find information they are looking for by using fewer queries. We used item-based similarity to do query recommendation. This paper describes the search application, query expansion and evaluation of the system over existing query logs. We show that our system suggested relevant queries with a success rate of 85%. The 4th article arrived from GREECE, which is prepared on “Blogs In Distance Education: An Analysis of Physical Educators’ Perceptions of Learning”, written by Maria MAHERIDOU, Panagiotis ANTONIOU, Thomas KOURTESSIS and Andreas AVGERINOS from Department of Physical Education and Sport Science Democritus University of Thrace, GREECE. The purpose of this study was to examine the physical educators’ perception of learning toward three blog courses, carrying on during an eight week period, in order to enhance their professional development and their skills in effective teaching. In each blog a different cooperative teaching method was applied (STAND, COOP and ICL). Participants were fifty four (n=54) physical educators who teach in elementary and secondary schools of different Greek regions, with an experience of 1.67 to 21.75 years. The fifth article which is entitled as “Predictor of E-Learning Development and Use Practices in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) of NWFP, Pakistan”, written Senior

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Ghulam Muhammad KUNDI and Allah NAWAZ, from Department of Public Administration Gomal University, PAKISTAN. This research reveals that perceptions about educational technologies are very significantly related with and predict the criterion variable of ‘Problems of eLearning’ but surprisingly, the ‘prospects of eLearning’ are very nominally associated with and predicted by the predictor. The results of the research provide to discuss scenarios to explain the services needed and report on the present discussion about reforming organizational structures and adjusting IT infrastructure to create the future eUniversity. “Some Structural Changes on The Way Towards eUniversity”, send by Wolfram LAASER, Former “Akademischer Direktor” at Centre of Media and IT, Fernuniversität in Hagen, GERMANY. The seventh article titled as “Pre-Service Students’ Class Standings and Their Perceptions of Distance Education”, written by Allan E. YOUNG, Teacher Education Department, College of Business at the University CAYMAN ISLANDS (UCCI). The study revealed that pre-service teachers at the beginning stage of their program were significantly more satisfied, overall, with distance courses and programs, than those at the end of their program. Students near the beginning and middle of their program rated grading and timely return of assignments, a sense of accomplishment, and willingness to take additional distance courses, significantly higher than those who were at the end of their program. However, the opportunity to know others in the distance class, although rated low, was higher for students at the end of their program. The study revealed that those in education should plan programs that will address the idiosyncrasies at all levels, thereby resulting in satisfaction on the part of student teachers. The eight article is come from Malaysia. Titled article is on “Students’ Decision Steps In Meta-Cognitive Learning in Free Online Groups (METAL-FROG): A Case Study”, written by Kinsley Ng SEN FA, School of Social Sciences, University Science Malaysia and Firuz Hussin from Department of Instructional Technology Faculty of Education, University University Malaya, MALAYSIA. This paper only presents a part of the findings under the pro-learning behaviors sub-theory. We found striking similarities between the model proposed by latane & darley (1971), five essential steps to a pro-social response in an emergency, and our research subject. The model which explains the course of a pro-social decision was borrowed and modified as surrogate theory to explain the online discussion response of the students. The insights help educators to better understand what holds students back from fruitful online peer diologic discussion. The 9th article is arrived to us from Greece and written by George S. MOUZAKITIS from eLearning Think Tank Team, GREECE and Nazime TUNCAY, from Near East University, Nicosia. NORTH CYPRUS TURKISH REPUBLIC on “E-LEARNING and Lifelong Learning”. This paper connects e-learning educational/training courses delivery with lifelong learning (LLL). It will further analyze certain factors from the professional and educational point of view and provide recommendations on how to accelerate the implementation of LLL supported by e-learning. The article is which numbered as 10, again from IRAN. Article is entitled as “Investigating Agricultural Instructors' Attitudes Toward E-Learning in Iran”, written by Davoud MOHAMMADI, Seyed Mahmoud HOSSEINI and Hossein Shabanali FAMI From Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, College of Agricultural Economics and Development, University of Tehran, IRAN. The purpose of this study is to explore agricultural instructors’ attitudes toward e-learning usage. A descriptive–correlation survey approach was used in this study.

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Accordingly, 175 instructors in 64 agricultural education centers are asked to answer questionnaires for investigating their attitudes. Data were collected by mailing the questionnaire. After statistical analysis, the results demonstrate that instructors have positive attitude toward using e-learning as a teaching assisted tool. Intrinsic incentives and motivators for acceptance of e-learning are important than extrinsic incentives and motivators. Based on the findings, this research proposes guidelines for developing elearning environments in agricultural education. In article 11 mention about “The “Community Services” Course Through Distance Education: Evaluation of Primary School Students”, written by A. Nurhan SAKAR and Oznur OZTURK, from Anadolu University, Open Education Faculty, Eskisehir, TURKEY. Their article mention that following the Bologna Process, Turkish Council of Higher Education (YÖK) adopted a resolution and changed the curriculum of teacher training higher education institutions. This curriculum revision introduced a new course called ‘Community Service’ which aims to raise students’ awareness of their responsibilities as individuals to the community in which they live. Through this course, students are expected to realize individuals can make a difference by volunteering to share their knowledge and skills with the community. This study presents one application of Community Service course. This application is of interest because it was researched whether the course achieved its aim by evaluating the satisfaction level of primary school students at whose schools English survey courses given within the scope of Open Education Faculty Distance English Language Teaching (DELT) Program. Article 12 was about ”Managerial Perception of Education in The Educational Nonwritten by Mehmet Metin ARSLAN, from Governmental Organizations”, Kirikkale University, TURKEY. The aim of this research is to determine the educational NGO managers’ perceptions of education and distance education in the city of Kırıkkale. The sample of this qualitative research, which has been conducted on a case pattern basis, comprises managers from 13 educational non-governmental organizations in the province of Kırıkkale. Data were collected by the researcher himself through direct contact and interview with the participants. The interview form was developed based on the opinions from experts in the field. The concordance between the sentential codifications was checked by an independent observer and the researcher in order to ensure data reliability. The last but not least article 13 again from Anadolu Universiy. On “Opinions Of Elementary Level EFL Learners on The Use Of Weblogs” , written by Ilknur ISTIFCI, Anadolu University, The School of Foreign Languages, Eskisehir, TURKEY. The aim of this study is to find the opinions of elementary level EFL learners on using weblogs and distance education. The subjects of the study were 10 Native speakers of English in London and 15 Turkish EFL learners who are learning English in the School of Foreign Languages. Turkish EFL learners created a class blog and every week they were given assignments by their class teacher. They wrote paragraphs and they gave and receive feedback on their writing in terms of content, vocabulary and grammar by their classmates and by native English speakers in a virtual environment. This procedure lasted for 6 weeks. At the end of 6 weeks, students were given an evaluation questionnaire and they were asked to write their opinions about using weblogs. They were also interviewed by their teacher and the opinions of the students were categorized. Findings indicate that the students found the idea of weblogs as a distant learning tool motivating, enjoyable and encouraging. Two books are reviewed in this issue. The first book was about “Instructional Design For Teachers: Improving classroom practice” written by Alison A. Carr-Chellman,

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reviewed by Reviewed by Reviewed by Yavuz Akbulut, Anadolu University, TURKEY. I nstructional design for teachers (ID4T) provides us and particularly K-12 teachers with a practical instructional design model. The contents of the book guide the readers through step by step and easy-to-use directions with an emphasis on encouraging current and effective us of ID principles. The application of the model is not too highly analytical and detailed, which protects the teacher from losing sight of the overall learning context. The illustrated ID process further adapts the classroom teachers to more learner-centered implementations through framing questions, common errors, relevant heuristics and examples. These can also help classroom teachers to be more cognizant of learner diversity in formal educational settings whose learning outcomes are predetermined by authorities that are beyond the reach of classroom teachers and learners. The second book is about “Educational Technology In Practice Research and Practical Case Studies from the Field” edited by Edited by Wanjira KINUTHIA and Steward MARSHALL and reviewed by Ozden SAHIN-IZMIRLI, Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Dear readers, you can reach us online either directly at http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr or by visiting Anadolu University homepage at http://www.anadolu.edu.tr from English version, clicking on Scientific Research button and than goes to the Referred Journals. To receive further information and to send your recommendations and remarks, or to submit articles for consideration, please contact TOJDE Secretariat at the below address or e-mail us to [email protected]

Hope to stay in touch and meeting in our next Issue, 1st of April 2011 Cordially, Prof. Dr. Ugur Demiray Editor-in-Chief Anadolu University Yunusemre Campus 26470-Eskisehir TURKEY Tel: +90 222 335 0581 ext. 2521 or 2522 GSM: +90 542 232 21 167 Fax: +90 222 320 4520 or Emails: [email protected] or [email protected] URL: http://home.anadolu.edu.tr/~udemiray URL: http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr

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Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE January 2011 ISSN 1302-6488 Volume: 12 Number: 1 Notes for Editor-1

SNAPP: Graphing Student Interactions in a Learning Management System Kevin YEE, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning University of Central Florida Orlando, FL, USA Jace HARGIS, Ph.D. Assistant Provost for Faculty Development University of the Pacific Stockton, California, USA One of the more vexing problems in teaching fully-online classes concerns the development of community. As Rovai (2001) identified, online courses must combat feelings of isolation and impart a sense of personal and individual attention. To create a sense of belonging and togetherness, instructors typically need to surmount numerous technological hurdles inherent in online delivery, not least of which is the inescapable conclusion that the one factor most basic to the formation of community-face to face interaction-is by definition absent in an online class. Many new tech-based teaching tools have been developed in an attempt to ameliorate the digital alienation and promote interaction, such as discussion boards, synchronous chat rooms, and emerging media like wikis, blogs and podcasts, as well as virtual worlds, such as Second Life. As the frequency of interaction grows, so does the sense of belonging to a learning community (Dawson, 2008). Yet as difficult as it is to craft a community among online learners, it is even harder to measure where and when the community is functioning (and perhaps more crucially, to know when it is not). Most Learning Management Systems (LMS) usually provide crude frequency data, so instructors will know how often students are visiting pages, and perhaps reading or posting information. However, what is lacking in this less-thandynamic system is an overview of the type, amount and direction of activity, which students’ may be engaging (Mazza & Dimitrova, 2007). The tracking tools merely report the number of posts, but it is possible that students are replying only to the instructor’s prompt and not to each other. Also, engagement alone does not necessitate or guarantee learning. Although the importance of engagement has been elevated, as many U.S. universities are using the National Student Survey of Engagement (NSSE) to gain a perception of student engagement, this is only part of the picture. The type, richness and interconnected engagement, within an authentic context, “in response to what students have learned” are critical (Bowen, 2005).

A new technology teaching tool from the University of Wollongong, Australia,9

provides a graphical representation of student activity in the discussion board of an LMS. Called SNAPP (Social Networks Adapting Pedagogical Practice), it is added as a plug-in to the browser and when clicked while the LMS discussion board is on the page, it analyzes the posts and constructs a map of student interactions.

Image copyright University of Wollongong. Student names have been removed for publication.

The image provides a visual argument for the interconnectedness of highly active students, and the alienation of students who do not reply to others (or whose posts engender no replies from others). Disconnected students are easier to spot, offering perhaps an unprecedented opportunity to intervene early before trends become habits that might be damaging to their learning. Each arrow of interaction also includes the frequency of interaction in this direction (for example, one student replied five times to various posts by another student, with the “return arrow” indicating that the second student only replied once to posts by the first student). Comparing SNAPP diagrams across different forum topics may also be valuable in assessing how effectively discussions shift between models. For instance, if one topic was instructor-centric, and the next designed to be more balanced between student interactions, SNAPP diagrams will make the progress explicit. Similarly, how well students collaborate online in groups can be gauged. The SNAPP Web site lists these benefits to the program:

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   





identify disconnected (at risk) students; identify key information brokers within your class; identify potentially high and low performing students so you can plan interventions before you even mark their work; indicate the extent to which a learning community is developing in your class; provide you with a “before and after” snapshot of what kinds of interactions happened before and after you intervened/changed your learning activity design (useful to see what effect your changes have had on student interactions and for demonstrating reflective teaching practice e.g. through a teaching portfolio); and allow your students to benchmark their performance without the need for marking.

SNAPP works on multiple LMS’s, including BlackBoard, WebCT Vista, WebCT CE, Sakai, Moodle, and Desire2Learn. The software is free to download and requires Internet access to perform its functions. BIODATA and CONTACT ADDRESSES of AUTHORS Dr. Kevin YEE has published extensively in the field of faculty development and his disciplinary research field of German Literature. His present position is Assistant Director of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Central Florida. His undergraduate and graduate degrees are in German Literature, and he has worked in faculty development since 2004. Assistant Director, Kevin Yee, PhD Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning University of Central Florida PO Box 160066, Orlando FL 32816 Phone: (407) 823-3544 or (407) 823-3544 Email: [email protected] Dr. Jace HARGIS has authored two books and over fifty academic articles as well as over one hundred national and international presentations. Currently, he is an Assistant Provost at the University of the Pacific and an Associate Professor of Education. His undergraduate and graduate degrees are in the chemical sciences and he has earned a Ph.D. from the University of Florida in Science Education, specializing in the area of informal learning settings, including how we integrate appropriate, meaningful uses of instructional technology into how we learn. Associate Professor Jace HARGIS, PhD Assistant Provost for Faculty Development Director, Center for Teaching and Learning University of the Pacific, 3601 Pacific Avenue, Stockton, CA 95211 Phone: (209) 946-2409 or (209) 946-2409 Email: [email protected]

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LINKS SNAPP home page: Learning Networks / Seeing Networks. University of Wollongong, Australia.http://research.uow.edu.au/learningnetworks/seeing/about/index.html. Online accessed 2010/12/21. REFERENCES Bowen, S. (2005). Engaged learning: Are we all on the same page? Peer R eview , 7 (2), 4-7. Dawson, S. (2008). A study of the relationship between student social networks and sense of community. Educational Technology & Society , 11(3), 224–238. Mazza, R. and Dimitrova, V., (2007). CourseVis: A graphical student monitoring tool for supporting instructors in web-based distance courses. I nternational Journal of Hum anCom puter Studies , 65(2): 125-139. Rovai, A. P. (2001). Building classroom community at a distance: A case study. Educational Technology, Research and Developm ent , 49(4), 33-48.

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Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE January 2011 ISSN 1302-6488 Volume: 12 Number: 1 Notes for Editor-2

THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: Challenges and Prospects Muyiwa ADEYEMI, Ph.D Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Distance Education as an alternative to the traditional face-to-face education has been seen as the teaching-learning process in which students are separated from the teachers by a physical distance, which is often bridged by modern communication. It comprises all patterns of student-centered learning process in which the teacher has limited role. In Nigeria, Africa, the introduction of this form of learning programme, is relatively new and therefore pose some challenges to all stakeholders in the education industry. In trying to meet up with the enormous demands for formal education, Nigerian government established some institutions for distance learning. These included the National Teachers Institute (NTI), the National Open University (NOUN) among others. This paper therefore, examined the historical development of this programme and particularly in Nigeria, the theories and philosophies of distance education, the challenges and prospects of the programme in the country. Keywords: Distance Education, Distance Education Development, Management, Challenges and Prospects. INTRODUCTION Nigeria has always seen education as an instrument for empowering people and equally the best legacy any nation can bequeath to its citizenry. Agheta (1992), Ajibade (1993) and Adeyemi (2006), writing on the role of education in national development agreed that for development to take effect, a country must have a very considerable proportion of trained, educated citizens not only to act as doctors, engineers, teachers, agriculturists, scientists and the like, but must create a new class sufficiently large and hence, sufficiently strong to establish its own value of justice, selection on merit, flexibility, empiricism and efficiency.Hence, the pursuit of educational achievement has been one of the paramount focuses of most countries of the world – Nigeria inclusive. Adeyemi (2006; 2007) summing up the national objectives of Nigerian education, as stated in the National Policy on Education (2004) described education as the integration of individuals into sound and effective citizens. The broad “objectives of Nigerian Education” therefore, include:  



The inculcation of the right type of values and attitude for the survival of the individual and society; The training of the mind in building valuable concepts, general actions and understanding of the world around them; The acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities and competencies both

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

mental and physical, as equipment for the individual to live in his society; The acquisition of a relevant and balanced knowledge of facts about local and world technology (NPE, 2004).

As part of the programmes and educational structures are in achieving the set objectives of education in Nigeria. Distance education has also been used to provide learning opportunities to students. Distance education provides Nigerian education system multimade approach (a combination of face-to-face, print, audio/video broadcasts, teleconferencing etc.) to teach students. Distance education can therefore be conceptualized as any form of organized educational experience in which teaching and learning take place, with the teachers at a distance from the learners most of the time. It is a form of education that enables a limited number of teachers to reach a very large number of learners which pave ways to cost reduction and economics of scale (Dodds, 19991; Fagbamiye, 1999, Oguntimehin and Adeyemi, 1999; 2000). In addition, Oguntimehin and Adeyemi (1999:2000) Fagbamiye (1999) and Chandler (1991) define distance education and open learning as follows:

“… distance education is used as a generic term to com prise all patterns of student-centered learning process in w hich the teacher has only a lim ited role. The old form s of correspondence education, ex ternal or ex tram ural studies and hom e-based study com e under this description. All of them have certain com m on characteristics that k eep them separate from the traditional pattern of face-to-face learning. The m ost outstanding characteristics is the physical distance betw een the students and the teacher… Distance education (as w ell as, open learning) is a self-paced learning process w herein the student can fram e his ow n tim e-table according to the tim e at his disposal. This m akes it possible for the people em ployed in full-tim e jobs, house w ives w ith num erous household chores and youths w aiting for em ploym ent to carry on education at their leisure available to them … ” Therefore, distance education can be defined as the teaching-learning process in w hich students are separated from the teachers by a physical distance w hich is often bridged by m odern com m unication m edia”. In all, it can be safely said, that distance learning is mainly structured as an intentional and systematic educational enterprise outside of traditional schooling. The terms “distance education” or “distance learning” have been applied inter-changeably by many different researchers to a great variety of programmes, providers, audiences, and media. Its hallmarks are the separate of teacher and learner in space and/or time (Perraton, 1988), the volitional control of learning by the student rather than the distant instructor (Jonassen, 1992), and non-contiguous communication between student and teacher, mediated by print or some form of technology (Keegan, 1986; Garrison & Shale, 1987). A REVIEW OF THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF DISTANCE EDUCATION The development of correspondence pattern of education in the early part of the 18th century marked the beginning in the provision of educational opportunities for several people the world over. This distance education, according to Adekanmbi (1994) and Omoyeni (2000) evolved a departure from the traditional face-to-face teaching-learning system. In Nigeria, the introduction of this form of learning programme is relatively new and therefore, poses some challenges to all stakeholders in the education industry. In trying meet up with the enormous demand for formal education, Nigerian

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government established some institutions for distance learning. These include the National Teachers Institute (NTI), the National Open University (NOUN) among others. Modern distance education has been around at least since Isaac Pitman taught shorthand in Great Britain via correspondence in the 1840s. Since, “the development of the postal service in the 19th century. Commercial correspondence colleges provided distance education to students across the country.” Computers and the internet have only made distance learning easier, just as it has for many other day-to-day tasks. One of the oldest distance education universities is the University of South Africa, which has been offering Correspondence Education courses since 1946. The largest distance education university in the United Kingdom is the Open University founded 1969. In Germany the FernUniversitat in Hagen was founded 1974. There are now many similar institutions around the world, often with the name Open University (in English or in the local language). There are many private and public, non-profit and for-profit institutions offering courses and degree programmes through distance education. Levels of accreditation vary; some institutions offering distance education in the United States have received little outside oversight, and some may be fraudulent diploma mills. In many other jurisdictions, an institution may not use the term University” without accreditation and authorization, normally by the national government. In the twentieth century, radio, television, and the Internet have all been used to further distance education. Today, distance learning has becomes one of the innovations in Nigerian education. It has become an instrument for the provision of education to Nigerians especially in the production of teachers, and other professionals of all grades at all levels. THEORIES AND PHILOSOPHIES OF DISTANCE EDUCATION According to IJE (1996), the theoretical basis on which instructional models are based affects not only the way in which information is communicated to the student, but also the way in which the student makes sense and constructs new knowledge from the information which is presented. Currently, there are two opposing views which impact on instructional design: symbol-processing and situated cognition. Until recently, the dominant view has been the traditional, information processing approach, based on the concept of a computer performing formal operations on symbols (Seamans, 1990). The key concept is that the teacher can transmit a fixed body of information to students via an external representation. She represents an abstract idea as a concrete image and then presents the image to the learner via a medium. The learner, in turn, perceives, decodes, and stores it. Horton (1994) modifies this approach by adding two additional factors: the student’s context (environment, current situation, other sensory input) and mind (memories, associations emotions, inference and reasoning, curiosity and interest) to the representation. The leaner then develops his own image and uses it to construct new knowledge, in context, based on his own prior knowledge and abilities. The alternative approach is based on constructivist principles, in which a learner actively constructs an internal representation of knowledge by interacting with the material to be learned. This is the basis for both situated cognition (Streibel, 1991) and problem-based learning (Savery & Duffy, 1995). According to this viewpoint, both social and physical interactions enter into both the

15

definition of a problem and the construction of its solution. Neither the information to be learned, nor its symbolic description, is specified outside the process of inquiry and the conclusions that emerge from that process. Prawat and Floden (1994) state that, to implement constructivism in a lesson, one must shift ones focus away from the traditional transmission model to one which is much more complex, interactive, and evolving. Though these two theories are totally different in nature, effective designers usually start with empirical knowledge: objects, events, and practices which mirror the everyday environment of their designated learners. Then, with a firm theoretical grounding, they develop a presentation which enables learners to construct appropriate new knowledge by interacting with the instruction. To quote the AI researcher, Herbert A. Simon, “Human beings are at their best when they interact with the real world and draw lessons from the bumps and bruises they get” (Simon, 1994). Hilary Perraton (1988) defines the role of the distance teacher. When, through the most effective choice of media, she meets the distance students face-to-face, she now becomes a facilitator of learning, rather than a communicator of a fixed body of information. The learning process proceeds as knowledge building among teacher and students Distance education systems now involve a high degree of interactivity between teacher and student, even in rural and isolated communities separated by perhaps thousands of miles. The Office of Technology Assessment stresses the importance of interactivity: distance learning allows students to hear and perhaps see teachers, as well as allowing teachers to react to their students’ comments and questions (US. Congress, 1988). Moreover, virtual learning communities can be formed, in which students and researchers throughout the world who are part of the same class or study group can contact one another at any time of the day or night to share observations, information, and expertise with one another (VanderVen, 1994; Wolfe, 1994). The development of correspondence pattern of education in the early part of the 18th Century marked the beginning in the provision of educational opportunities for several people the world over. This distance education; according to Adekanmbi (1994) and Omoyeni (2000) evolved a departure from the traditional face-to-face teaching-learning system. CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN NIGERIA Challenges Fagbamiye (1999) pointed out in his study on the state of the art in distance education in Nigeria that there is perhaps no distance education institution in some parts of the world. Many of the institutions in Nigeria depend mainly on the print medium and face-to-face meetings which are meant to supplement the printed course texts. Many of the institutions are handicapped by low-level development of communication facilities and the inadequate infrastructural facilities in the country as a whole. The National Teachers Institute (NTI) is perhaps the best developed of the distance education institutions with more study centers than other institutions, yet it has its problems. Distance education as an alternative to traditional face-to-face education may face both open and silent opposition from those who see education par excellence as traditional classroom teaching. It has become necessary to state that adult education is that aspect of education

16

that does not entertain drop-outs. In fact drop outs of formal school system are encouraged to drop-in through adult education. But what is witnessed currently is a relatively high “drop-outs” of the distance learner (Omoyeni, 1999; Fagbamiye, 1999; 2000, Oguntimehin, 2005: 2006). For example, from the data collected by Omoyeni, it is noted that between 1990 and 1995, there was a steady average increase of about 8.62% annual enrolment of the University of Lagos distance learning programme. That of the NTI, attracted an annual increase of about 20.47% on the average. But between 1995 and 1998, there was a sharp decline of 25.1% and 34.3% on-enrolment respectively. Those who had registered failed to continue with the programme. Other challenges confronting distance learning include the non-easy access to tutors and other educational resources by students. The students only rely on handouts. The result of these is poor study-skills and examination malpractices. Also, very little or no guidance and counseling benefits are available to learners. Finally, the costs of distance education seem to be a major set-back, the payments for transportation, books, handouts, photocopies and maintaining homes. Prospects of the Programme in Nigeria After taking a cursory look at the challenges facing distance education in Nigeria, it is pertinent to examine the prospects of this programme. Distance education challenges the learning relationship from the common, centralized school model to a more decentralized, flexible model. It also reverses social dynamics by bringing school to students, rather than students to school. This leads to a host of new issues for administrators to debate and popularize the programme. These issues include:    

the impact of electronic education on tenured teaching; balancing the budget with potentially low-cost electronic learning options; redefining what it meant to have a teacher present in the classroom; revising teacher certification requirements to accommodate those teachers who electronically cross service area boundaries (Holloway and Ohler, 1991 & Sherry, 1996).

Distance education enterprises are partnerships, they are characterized by the integration of a great many parts working towards a common goal (Schlosser and Anderson, 1994 & Pacific Mountain Network, 1994). Each school has its own aims, goals and objectives both stated and unstated. Each school also has it own culture, urban or rural, as well as its own perceived value of students learning. There are personnel issues, with clerical, technical, and educational support staff forming a vital link between teacher and students. Many facets of the project must be considered, especially linking student needs within the particular school district with current and projected technology resources. As opportunities arise, so do problems which must be dealt with. New policy issues must be addressed, as well. According to Sherry (1996) items for further consideration include:  



new forms of assessment and evaluation, including means to ensure that the students work is original and authentic a set of nationally accepted institutional accreditation standards to ensure the quality of distance education. A nationally accepted set of teacher certification standards which meet a

17

 

minimum criterion including training in distance education theory, methods and strategies The need for cooperation among business, government and education sectors Technology training and accessibility for all, not just for progressive students and teachers

The current situation in Nigeria Call for the adoption of concerted efforts from both private and public organizations in making distance education viable to compliment the conventional system already in existence. Generally, in managing distance education and open learning, the following functions have to be planned, implemented and assed: course development, course presentation, teacherstudent contact, use of communication media, organizational structure, student evaluation and student motivation and counselling. These functions to a large extent, determine the structure of administration in distance learning system. Apart from the functions mentioned about; the overall monitoring of the programme is an important aspect of management for the development of distance education, the world over. Where effective monitoring is lacking, there is the tendency for an organized programme to fail. Omoyeni (1999) sees monitoring as part of the standardized procedure and for performance advancement proper monitoring is indeed a good device to further develop the human and material aspect of distance education programme. The purpose of monitoring is not only for quality control mechanism but also, a tool to result quickly to challenges/problems that require immediate and remedial action. This explains the control role of monitoring as a process of standardization and feedback on the performance of the programme generally, and the learners in particular. CONCLUSIONS It is imperative for governments at all levels in Nigeria and the world over to realize the potential benefits of distance education to the actualization of providing education to the teeming population of the human society. In Nigeria, Africa today, as indicated above the introduction of distance education is relatively new hence, the need to address the emerging challenges of the programme. To this extent the collaborative approach of the new initiative Universal Basic Education should be adopted to ensure that all stakeholders in the administration of distance education are well enlightened and made to adequately participate in the programme. The areas of collaboration could include funding, provision of facilities, policy formulation, and policy integration among others. With these in place, the development and realization of functional and sustainable distance education would be achieved in the nearest future for the benefit of the human community. BIODATA and CONTACT ADDRESSES of AUTHOR Muyiwa Adeyemi, (ARISTOTLE) is an erudite academic with high capacity for creative thinking and research endeavors. As a very young scholar, he has been engaged in teaching, research and community service at the tertiary level of education for well over a decade. He holds a Doctoral and Master Degrees in Educational Management with specialization in Human Resource Management and Psychological Development, Bachelor of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology, Diploma Certificate in Law and a Postgraduate Diploma in Theology. The author is a member of many national and international academic and

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professional bodies which include the Nigerian Association of Educational Planning and Administration (NAEPA), the British International Sociological Association (BISA), the Counseling Association of Nigeria (CASSON) among others. He is also a member of human rights organizations. Adeyemi has several published articles in reputable national and international journals and chapter contributions in books and peer-reviewer to international institutions in academic areas. The author has been honored with many awards to justify his immense contributions to academic and creative thinking endeavors in Nigeria. His experience as a University lecturer has culminated into keen interest in the study of the implementation of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) in all ramifications of the scheme, including the production of the book – Universal Basic Education - I m plications of Facilities P rovision on P rim ary Education in Nigeria and the research Report on the I m pact Assessm ent of

Universal Basic Education (UBE) Facilities on som e P erform ance Variables in Ogun State P rim ary Schools.

He currently teaches at the Olabisi Onabanjo University on a full time basis, Lagos State University and Tai Solarin University of Education as an associate lecturer and the Assistant Coordinator of Leadership Advocacy Concept (LAC), Africa and the Coordinator of Life-Line Consultancy International. He is a consultant on human resource management Muyiwa ADEYEMI Ph.D Faculty of Education Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, NIGERIA. Email: [email protected] 234-8059906505 REFERENCES Adakanmbi, G. (1994). Setting up a Distance Teaching Institution in Omolewa, M.O. and Adakanmbi, G. (eds) University I nitiatives in Adult Education. ( Pp. 95-108). Ibadan: Ibadan University Press. Chandler, J. N. (1991). M anagem ent of Distance Education . New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Limited. Dodds, T. (1991). The Developm ent of Distance Education: A Historical P erspective . Distance Education: A Review in Janet Jenkins and Koul, B.N. Cambridge. International Extension College and New Delhi: Indira Ghandi National Open University. Fagbamiye, (1999). The Organization and Adm inistration of Distance Education . A paper presented at the National Conference on Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) Ondo, Nigeria, April 26-28. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004). National Policy on Education . Lagos: Nigeria Educational Research Council (NERC) Press. Garrison, D. R. & Shale, D. (1987). Mapping the Boundaries of Distance Education: Problems in Defining the Field. The Am erican Journal of Distance Education , (1 (1), 7-13. Holloway, R. E. & Ohler, J. (1991). Distance Education in the Next Decade. In Anglin,

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G.J. (ed), I nstructional Technology, P ast, P resent and Future. (pp. 259-66). Englewood: C.O. Libraries Unlimited. Jonassen, D. H. (1992). Applications and Lim itations of Hypertex t Technology for Distance Learning . Paper presented at the Distance Learning Workshop, Armstrong Laboratory, San Antonio, TX. Keegan, D. (1986). The Foundations of Distance Education . London: Groom Helm. Oguntimehin, Y. A. & Adeyemi, M. (1999). Nigeria and the Problems of Planning for Quality Education. In Fadipe, J.O. and Oluchuckwu, E.E. (eds) Educational P lanning and Adm inistration in Nigerian in the 21st Century. A Publication of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) Ibadan. Oguntimehin, Y.A. & Adeyemi, Muyiwa (1999). Concepts of Distance Education: A Review in Adesemowo, P.O., Basics of Education . Lagos: Triumph Book Publishers. Omoyeni, J. M. S. (1999). Managing Tutors and Learners in Distance Education Programme. In Fadipe, J. O. and Oluchukwu, E. E. (Eds) Educational P lanning and Adm inistration in Nigeria in the 21st Century. A Publication of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) Ibadan. Pacific Mountain Network (Producer) (1994). Far View I -I V (Video tape series). (Available from PMN, 1550 Park Avenue, Denver, C.O. 80218 – 1661). Schlosser, C. A. & Anderson, M. L. (1994). Distance Education: Review of the Literature . Washington DC: Association for Educational Communications and Technology. Sherry, L & Morse, R. A. (1995). “An Assessment of Training Needs in the Use of Distance Education for Instruction”. I nternational Journal of Telecom m unications. 1 (1), 5-22.

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Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE January 2011 ISSN 1302-6488 Volume: 12 Number: 1 Notes for Editor-3

CREATIVITY AND TEACHING COMPETENCY OF PROSPECTIVE B.ED TEACHERS Research Scholar, F. L. ANTONY GRACIOUS Research Supervisor, Prof. Dr. P. ANNARAJA, St. Xavier’s College of Education (Autonomous) Palayamkottai, INDIA ABSTRACT The present study Creativity and Teaching Competency of prospective B.Ed teachers was probed to find the relationship between Creativity and Teaching Competency of Prospective B.Ed Teachers. Data for the study were collected using self made Teaching Competency Scale and Creativity Scale. The investigator used stratified random sampling technique for selecting the sample. The sample consists of 242 Prospective B.Ed Teachers. For analyzing data; 't' test and Pearson's product moment co-efficient were the statistical techniques used. Finding shows there was no significant relationship between Creativity and Teaching Competency of prospective B.Ed teachers. Keywords: Teaching Competency, Creativity, Prospective B.Ed teachers INTRODUCTION The prime function of education is to draw out the potentialities of the child and develop them to meet the challenging situation in life. Proper education will keep the child to understand the society and to adjust with the social environment. For the development of the child we are providing education to adjust this world. Where as the school education can be better through proper teacher education; it can be nurtured through teacher education. Teacher education is providing quality education to their prospective teachers in educational philosophy, educational psychology and educational technology apart from the techniques of teaching. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Today we are living in a world of science and technology, where an explosion of knowledge is taking place and stepping into the modern technocratic age. For a meaningful life of an individual needs academic excellence to adjust to his environment. Education is the process of helping the child to adjust to the changing world. Therefore, we can say “education as the reconstruction or reorganization of experience, which adds to the meaning of experience and which increases the ability to direct the course of subsequent experiences”. In the technologically sophisticated modern work fields, one should aware to make something creatively and explore creatively. Creativity is the dynamic in the process of life that enables us to find ever new ways of living together in and with the world. A creative person is someone who finds ways of doing this which play with the texture of our perceptions and show us that there are other worlds, for good and ill and other ways of doing things and being human.

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Creativity is a mental and social process involving the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. Creativity is fueled by the process of either conscious or unconscious insight. If the prospective teacher is creative then he or she can lead out a better teaching, teaching competency is important to handle better learning of an individual. Teaching competencies are applicable to express aims and behavioural objectives of teaching; to specify assessment appropriate to the objectives of teaching; to select and prepare appropriate equipment and materials for teaching; to consider individual differences between students in planning of teaching; to organize teaching-learning activities to achieve the objectives and also plan activities to contribute personality development of students. It is an important part of the private and life of the people as well as their teachers. Since the teacher can interact with students of different ages from infants to adults, students with different abilities and students with learning disabilities. If a student is to be prepared for their future, then it’s an essential attribute of effective teacher is awareness of the realities of the world in psychology and technology. Then only the prospective B.Ed teachers can mould future generation. So the investigator wants to study the variables Creativity and Teaching Competency of prospective B.Ed teachers. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Statement of the problem is entitled as “Creativity and Teaching Competency of prospective B.Ed teachers”. The investigator adopted the following definitions for the terms used in this title. CREATIVITY

Creativity is the emergence of a novel, relational product, growing out of the uniqueness of the individual. TEACHING COMPETENCY Teaching Competency is the competency of the teacher and their planning and preparation of lessons for teaching, class room management, knowledge of subject, interpersonal relationship, attitude towards the children, usage of teaching aids and time management during their teaching – learning. PROSPECTIVE B.Ed TEACHERS Prospective B.Ed Teachers are the student-teachers who undergo a pre-service training on teaching learning process that provides experiences for development towards good teaching. B.Ed is skill process, undergoing training in teaching skills at the colleges of Education. OBJECTIVES To find the relationship between Creativity and Teaching Competency of Prospective B.Ed Teachers.

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NULL HYPOTHESES There is no significant difference between age above 22 and age below 22 Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their Creativity.  There is no significant difference between married and unmarried Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their Creativity.  There is no significant difference between rural and urban Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their in their Creativity.  There is no significant difference between age above 22 and age below 22 Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their Teaching Competency.  There is no significant difference between married and unmarried Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their Teaching Competency.  There is no significant difference between rural and urban Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their in their Teaching Competency.  There is no significant relationship between Creativity and Teaching Competency of Prospective B.Ed Teachers. 

METHOD Teaching Competency Scale and Creativity Scale developed by the investigators were used for the data collection. Content Validity was found through educational experts and reliability of the tools was found through test-retest method. The reliability of Teaching Competency Scale and Creativity Scale were 0.88 and 0.79 respectively. The investigator has adopted survey method for this study. Population for this study were Prospective B.Ed Teachers studying in colleges of Education affiliated to the Tamilnadu Teachers Education University, Chennai at Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari districts. The investigator used stratified random sampling technique for selecting the sample. The sample consists of 242 Prospective B.Ed Teachers. For analyzing data;’t’ test and Pearson's product moment co-efficient were the statistical techniques used. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS Findings based on the hypotheses and followed by data analysis are given as follows; Table: 1 Difference between Creativity of Prospective B.Ed Teachers by their age

Creativity

Age

N

Mean

S.D

Above 22

96

50.23

5.182

Below 22

146

49.94

5.266

‘t’ value

Remarks

0.423

Not Significant

( Table value of ‘t’ at 5% level of significance is 1.96)

Table: 1 shows that; there is no significant difference between age above 22 and age below 22 Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their Creativity.

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Table: 2 Difference between Creativity of Prospective B.Ed Teachers by their Marital Status Marital N Mean S.D ‘t’ value Married 41 50.71 5.866 0.879 Un Married 201 49.92 5.089 (Table value of ‘t’ at 5% level of significance is 1.96)

Creativity

Remarks Not Significant

Table: 2 shows that; there is no significant difference between married and unmarried Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their Creativity. Table: 3 Difference between Creativity of Prospective B.Ed Teachers by their Locality Locality

Creativity

N

Mean

S.D

‘t’ value

Rural 204 49.89 5.127 1.481 Urban 38 51.32 5.740 (Table value of ‘t’ at 5% level of significance is 1.96)

Remarks Not Significant

Table: 3 shows that; there is no significant difference between rural and urban Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their in their Creativity. Table: 4 Difference between Teaching Competency of Prospective B.Ed Teachers by their age Dimensions

Age

N

Mean

S.D

Classroom Management

Above 22

96

12.69

5.147

Below 22

146

15.59

4.822

Above 22

96

16.30

6.000

Below 22

146

19.70

5.295

Extra Curricular Activities

Above 22

96

6.58

2.904

Below 22

146

7.94

2.021

Curricular Activities

Above 22

96

12.23

4.787

Below 22 Above 22 Below 22

146 96 146

15.33 16.33 20.01

5.196 6.558 6.028

Teaching Aids

Communication Teaching Methodology

Above 22

96

14.71

6.649

Below 22

146

18.56

5.642

Ethics of Teaching

Above 22

96

9.40

4.318

Below 22

146

11.69

4.468

Rapport with Students

Above 22

96

3.19

1.531

Below 22

146

3.99

1.472

Teaching Competency

Above 22

96

89.81

35.159

Below 22

146

111.18

32.359

‘t’ value

Remarks

4.458

Significant

4.629

Significant

4.279

Significant

4.682

Significant

4.487

Significant

4.839

Significant

3.963

Significant

4.066

Significant

4.854

Significant

(Table value of ‘t’ at 5% level of significance is 1.96)

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Table: 4 shows that; there is a significant difference between age above 22 and age below 22 Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their Classroom Management, Teaching Aids, Extra Curricular Activities, Curricular Activities, Communication, Teaching Methodology, Ethics of Teaching, Rapport with Students and Teaching Competency. Table: 5 Difference between Teaching Competency of Prospective B.Ed Teachers by their Marital Status Dimensions Classroom Management Teaching Aids Extra Curricular Activities Curricular Activities Communicat ion Teaching Methodology Ethics of Teaching Rapport with Students Teaching Competency

Marital Married Un Married Married Un Married Married

N 41 201 41 201 41

Mean 14.85 14.35 17.66 18.49 7.73

S.D 6.031 4.956 6.122 5.758 2.941

Un Married

201

7.33

2.397

Married Un Married Married Un Married Married Un Married Married Un Married Married

41 201 41 201 41 201 41 201 41

13.68 14.18 18.22 18.62 16.88 17.06 10.59 10.82 3.66

5.497 5.211 7.627 6.247 7.356 6.128 5.445 4.349 1.892

Un Married

201

3.67

1.467

‘t’ value 0.567 0.836 0.932 0.556 0.361 0.172 0.302 0.049

Married 41 102.39 40.299 0.062 Un Married 201 102.77 33.966 (Table value of ‘t’ at 5% level of significance is 1.96)

Remarks Not Significant Not Significant Not Significant Not Significant Not Significant Not Significant Not Significant Not Significant Not Significant

Table: 5 shows that; there is no significant difference between married and unmarried Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their Teaching Competency. Table: 6 Difference between Teaching Competency of Prospective B.Ed Teachers by their Locality Dimensions Classroom Management Teaching Aids

Locality N

Mean

S.D

Rural

204

13.90

4.930

Urban

38

17.47

5.669

Rural

204

18.18

5.805

Urban

38

19.41

6.199

Extra Curricular Activities

Rural

204

7.23

2.503

Urban

38

8.12

2.319

Curricular

Rural

204

13.60

5.010

‘t’ value

Remarks

3.822

Significant

1.133

Not Significant

1.933

Not Significant

3.063

Significant

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Activities

Communication

Urban

38

16.53

6.041

Rural

204

18.03

6.383

Urban

38

21.38

7.007

Rural

204

16.54

6.263

Urban

38

19.41

6.448

Rural

204

10.38

4.382

Urban

38

13.15

4.998

Rural

204

3.49

1.487

Urban

38

4.62

1.557

Rural

204

99.59

38.069

2.807

Significant

2.466

Significant

3.384

Significant

4.083

Significant

3.039 Urban 38 119.09 37.933 (Table value of ‘t’ at 5% level of significance is 1.96)

Significant

Teaching Methodology Ethics of Teaching Rapport with Students Teaching Competency

Table: 6 shows that; there is a significant difference between rural and urban Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their in their Classroom Management, Curricular Activities, Communication, Teaching Methodology, Ethics of Teaching, Rapport with Students and Teaching Competency Table: 7 Relationship between Creativity and Teaching Competency of Prospective B.Ed Teachers Sample Total (242)

Calculated ‘γ’ value

Table ‘γ’ value

0.017

0.113

Remarks Not Significant

Table:7 shows that; there is no significant relationship between Teaching Competency and Creativity of Prospective B.Ed Teachers. CONCLUSION Based on findings; study shows that there is no significant difference between the Creativity of Prospective B.Ed Teachers by their age, marital status and locality. In teaching competency; Age below 22 Prospective B.Ed Teachers are better than age above 22 in their Classroom Management, Teaching Aids, Extra Curricular Activities, Curricular Activities, Communication, Teaching Methodology, Ethics of Teaching, Rapport with Students and Teaching Competency. There is no significant difference between the Teaching Competency of Prospective B.Ed Teachers by their marital status. Urban area Prospective B.Ed Teachers are better than rural area Prospective B.Ed Teachers in their Classroom Management, Curricular Activities, Communication, Teaching Methodology, Ethics of Teaching, Rapport with Students and Teaching Competency. But there is no significant relationship between Teaching Competency and Creativity of Prospective B.Ed Teachers.

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So the findings conclude that Creativity have to be improved; where as younger prospective B.Ed teachers are good in their Teaching Competency; shows better future of education. BIODATA and CONTACT ADDRESSES of AUTHORS F. L. ANTONY GRACIOUS is research scholar of Education at St. Xavier’s College of Education (Autonomous), Palayamkottai, S.India and Faculty of Physical Science Education in Bishop Agniswamy College of Education, Muttom, S.India. He completed Master of Education at St. Xavier’s College of Education (Autonomous), Palayamkottai, 2004. F. L. Antony GRACIOUS, Research Scholar, Mylodu, Alencodu (P.O), K.K District - 629 802, SOUTH INDIA Mobile: 91-9486135032 Email : [email protected] Dr. P. ANNARAJA is Associate Professor in Mathematics having 32 years of teaching Experience at St. Xavier’s College of Education (Autonomous), Palayamkottai, S.India handling Research Methodology and statistics, Mathematics Education, Educational Technology and Educational Management. He completed doctoral study in Education at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, 1996. He organised many conferences, seminars and workshops and also published many article in reputed journals and books in Education. He is working under different funding projects in Education at Tamilnadu State level in India. He guided 20 Doctoral studies and more than 100 M.Ed and M.Phil studies in Education. Prof. Dr. P. ANNARAJA, Research Supervisor Associate Professor in Mathematics, St. Xavier’s College of Education (Autonomous) Palayamkottai, INDIA Tirunelveli District – 627002 Tel: 91 – 04622577630 REFERENCE Aggrawal Y.P. (1996) Educational Research, Arya Book Depot New Delhi. Aggarwal. Y. P. (2000) Statistical methods, Sterling publishers Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi. Anderson, G. & Arsenault, N. (1998) Fundamental of Educational Research. Taylor & Francis, London and New York. Babbie, E. (1990) Survey Research Methods (2nd Ed.). Wadsworth, Belmont, CA. Bain, J.D., Ballantyne, R., Mills, C., Lester, N.C. (2002) Reflecting on Practice: Student Teachers’ Perspectives. Post Presses, Flaxton.

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Bryman, A. (2001) Social Research Methods. Oxford University Press, London. Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Method (3rd Ed.). Oxford University Press, New York. John W. Best (1977) Research in education, Prentice Hall of India, Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. Kochhar, S.K. (1991) Secondary school administration, Sterling Publishers, New Delhi. Kothari, C.R. (2000) Research methodology, Wishwa Pirakasha Pvt. Ltd. Mangal, S.K. (1985) Advanced Educational Psychology, Prakash Brothers Luthiana Sharma, R.A. (2007) Psychology of Teaching-learning Process, R. Lall Book Depot, Meerut.

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Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE January 2011 ISSN 1302-6488 Volume: 12 Number: 1 Notes for Editor-4

ICT IN UNIVERSITIES OF THE WESTERN HIMALAYAN REGION IN INDIA: Performance Analysis Dhirendra SHARMA University Institute of Information Technology Himachal Pradesh University, INDIA Vikram SINGH Department of Computer Science and Engineering Ch. Devi Lal University, INDIA ABSTRACT The paper presents a comparative analysis of a live project study carried out to understand the impact and performance of ICT initiatives taken by the Universities located in the Western Himalayan Region of India. A basic four-tier framework has been used to carry out this study. Accordingly, a pre- structured questionnaire on ICT initiatives, status and accomplishments, 117 questions divided in 18 groups, was prepared and given to the Head of the Department (HOD) of ICT in the Universities, who along with his technical team, supplied the feedback on a five- point scale. In each of the groups, one question was related to performance (as performance indicator) which was identified and thus another special group ‘S’ was created with 18 responses. In order to assess the respective performance and impact, a standard statistical analysis was carried out in terms of the weighted mean and the correlation (Pearson’s) coefficient (CC). The findings of the study are: 



Keywords:

A dynamic academic leadership and a properly trained skilled human resource yield better performance and impact leading to effective problem solving capability, research output and actual placements. This aspect is being implemented in most of the universities effectively and the performance is found to vary from one to another university For most of the groups the CC, with the ‘S’ group, was found to be significant, indicating a positive ICT- based performance in the universities (iii) The universities, to a greater extent, have been found to act as nuclei towards creating skilled professionals with enhanced core competence. Information and Communication Technology (ICT), assessment, performance, efficiency, Impact of ICT.

Initiative,

Status,

INTRODUCTION During the past decade, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has taken rapid strides in the field of higher education in various Universities and Institutions of higher learning across the length and breadth of India.

29

Such a transformation was triggered by the developments in microwaves communication followed by powerful computer systems, VSAT/ internet connectivity and optical fiber communication. Broadband communication which consists of technologies and equipments required to deliver packet- based digital voice, video and data services on-line and at high speed, has facilitated progress in this direction. Further, the broadband access technologies are being deployed to address the bandwidth problem so as to provide virtual environment of work places to end users. This has been accelerated by various initiatives of Government of India through UG-Infonet to connect various institutes and universities. Its pervasiveness has made inroads both in laboratories and class rooms. The impetus at the national level was set in motion by the recommendations of Task Force ‘Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council’ (TIFAC), for Technology Vision 2020. One of the important pilot documents “India 2020, A Vision for the New Millennium” (1998) prepared by TIFAC, under the leadership of Dr. A.P.J. Kalam, provided a blueprint of the Technology Vision for India. According to this document, ICT can enhance skills in critical thinking, information handling, and level of perception, problem solving capability and adding value to research in higher educational institutions. This document particularly underlined the importance of higher educational institutions/universities as agents to take prompt and appropriate initiatives in this direction this also gave further direction for planning ICT strategies in which the role of higher educational institutions in India can be networked to achieve criticality. The document emphasized that the Indian human resource has great learning capabilities which, with a core competence in technology, can lead to spirit of entrepreneurship and competitiveness. It strongly advocated the synergy between development of human resource cadre (Sadagopan 1998) and the role of higher educational institutions, a cornerstone of knowledge economy and technological advancement. This document prompted the Government of India to take a major ICT initiative to lay down the ICT policy for the country. This is reflected in the planning and implementation of ICT in the field of higher education by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, at various levels since 1998. Simultaneously, at the national level, it is being implemented vigorously in the form of e-governance which is being coordinated by National Informatics Centers (NIC). Latest telecommunication policy, (Tandon, 2007), has been extremely helpful in implementing this ICT policy. At the institutional level, University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), Department of Science & Technology (DST), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) are also encouraging higher educational institutions to move in this direction. In Jan. 2009, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Government of India, approved a new scheme ‘National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology’ (NMEICT), submitted by the Ministry of HRD for the 11th Five Year Plan. This mission has envisaged to raise the potential of ICT by providing high quality modules (personalized and interactive), for all the learners as one stop solution in ‘any time any where mode’. It has to ensure an effective on-line access to all the ICT resources viz. connectivity, e-content in the form of digital lectures, static documentation and availability of virtual laboratories for exploration, to more than 18,000 colleges and 425 Universities of the country. Effort of the mission is to bridge the digital divide between the haves and havenots. There has been another apex body, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), in the field of ICT, dealing with the ICT infrastructure, research & development and trade since 1988.

30

According to its recent report (Strategic Review, 2009), it has been emphasized that availability of skilled and employable talent is the responsibility of universities and higher educational institutions. In order to achieve this, concentrated effort to elevate talent and quality are needed from all the concerned quarters namely the government, the academia and the industry. The role of academia is supposed to be very critical in setting up research laboratories. Specific initiatives like faculty development program, upgrading the curriculum, launching internship programs and academia- industry collaboration have been proposed which would help to bridge the gap towards the development of talent. It is being felt that this has resulted in enhancing the reach of all the stake holders to knowledge resources which in turn is likely to have an impact on creation of knowledge as well. This body is a partner with the Government of India and various State Governments of the country to encourage percolation of ICT. It has also played a crucial role in the formulation of ICT policies which endeavors to narrow down the digital divide in the country and has paved the way for all citizens to enjoy the benefits of ICT. NASSCOM has been particularly interested in the ICT- business process outsourcing (ICT-BPO) industry in India, which has become a major job provider and has led to growing economy of the country. It provided a feedback to Government of India modulating the ICT policies and programs from time to time. At the International level, UNESCO (2007-08) has prepared a document for Asia– Pacific countries, for the implementation of ICT programs (Roy and Raitt 2003) through the higher educational/ research institutions. In this document, various ICT strategies supporting the core areas viz. learning, teaching (Kulik and Kulik, 1991 and Resta, 2002), training programs and research, driving the higher education towards excellence, have been suggested. Very recently, special issue of International Journal of Education and Development using ICT, brought out an editorial by Dirckinck- Holmfeld (2009), on innovation of ‘Problem Based Learning’ (PBL) through ICT, which emphasized on the ICT based transformation within a framework of three core themes: PBL & pedagogical principles, inquiry based learning characteristics of ICT and intercultural perspectives. The theme of PBL and Problem Oriented Project Pedagogy (POPP) have a long tradition within a university system in teaching & learning along- with international collaboration. This theme provides a direction for critical pedagogy and research oriented approaches where students have to undergo through different stages of systematic investigations. This approach further supports the development of competencies and skills towards interdisciplinary thinking and solving serious problems. ICT has supported PBL approach in new ways leading to some interesting and dramatic consequences. All these innovative ideas could diffuse using the framework provided by ICT. It seems that diffusion and adoption of the latest information and communication technology are making all the difference particularly in the universities. During the last decade there have been several attempts to understand information technology diffusion. The concept of diffusion, at the empirical level, was reviewed by Fichman in 1992. He dwelled upon innovation diffusion theory and, in particular, how to improve technology assessment, adoption and implementation. A framework was discussed in terms of classical diffusion which was adopted by individuals and organizations. For the latter, he discussed about achieving critical mass beyond which the innovation is universally adopted. A lot of other important scientific works exist on the diffusion of innovation and its adoption, given by Attewell (1992), Rogers (1995), Farquhar & Surry (1994), Anderson et al (1998), Fichman (2000) and Wilson et al (2000).

31

Attewell (1992) placed the work on diffusion in two categories:  

Adoption studies and Macro diffusion studies.

The former is primarily concerned with understanding of innovations and its assimilation during a time of adoption. The latter is concerned with pattern of technology adoption. This type of work was understood in terms of mathematical models of the diffusion process by Mahajan & Peterson (1985) and Mahajan et al. (1990). Rogers (1995) in his book on Innovation Diffusion has presented a significant general frame work which became the basis for the later work. Another mathematical approach for this innovation diffusion was developed by Karmeshu & Pathria (1980), Lal et al (1988), Karmeshu et al (1992) and by Karmeshu & Jain (1995). In recent years, a very significant work on ‘Global Diffusion of the Internet’ by Wolcott and Goodman (2003) appeared in Indian context. They presented a vision of new India as a measure of IT power, fully integrated with a global economy. The key to this vision was obviously the internet for enabling the technology based changes. They provided an analytical framework which broadly consisted of dimensions and determinants. Dimensions contained six variables namely organizational infrastructure, geographic dispersion, connectivity infrastructure, pervasiveness, sectoral absorption and sophistication of use. These variables are supposed to capture the state of internet within a country at a given point of time. Each of these variables was judged at five different levels. Determinants represent various factors to understand the observation of the ‘state’. They further elaborated on distinctive features of the internet in India for a continued dynamic growth in three steps:   

The government policy The nature of relationship between the government, the state-owned & private telecommunications service providers as a critical variable The policy makers try to strike a balance between the interest of individuals and those of the society.

Later, this framework was applied usefully to understand the initiative, status and performance in Ghana by Foster et al (2004), in Togo by Bernstien and Goodman (2005), and in Kenya by Ochara et al (2008). In view of the above ICT- based initiatives, most of the universities and higher educational institutions have adopted the latest technology and implemented it productively, for the development of skilled human resource in respective area of specialization, as part of their responsibility. These programs have been going on for the last decade or so. At this stage, one may ask a question: how much different the performance of the university system has become as compared to that without the ICT technology decade ago? An assessment of the overall performance and efficiency based on ICT infrastructure/activities, are essential particularly for deciding the future ICT strategies at the respective levels. Basically, this formed the basis of the motivation to undertake a comparative study of the ICT vision and planning, infrastructure and academic accomplishments in various universities of the western Himalayan region of the country using standard statistical methods. The University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, took steps to establish an autonomous institution, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), to undertake comprehensive assessment of the various universities in this region and to rank them.

32

NAAC (2007) has developed a framework for higher education based on the promotion and sustenance of quality of teaching- learning, research and training programs. Their most significant core value is quest for excellence/ innovations using the latest technological trends and fostering global competence among students. They have devised seven assessment criteria namely, curricular, teaching- learning, research and application, innovation, infrastructure, student support and leadership/ governance aspects to capture the micro- level quality indicators by using differential weightages. Times of India group (TOI, 2007) also tried to assess independently various agriculture, horticulture and technical institutions. Their recommendations and respective gradations are available at the national level. This information may be utilized for comparison with the findings of this paper in the context of ICT. Recently, Mokhtar et al (2007) gave a framework for assessment (academic computing) of Malaysian colleges in respect of ICT-based accomplishments, within which they tried to answer three fundamental questions regarding   

the indicators for assessment, the characteristics of performance and the academic performance.

They adopted a value chain concept originally proposed by Porter (1985). This framework had two parts as primary and support activities. The primary activities included ICT-based learning, teaching, research and training as the core service and then enhancing the value in each. It further included remote access to data, faster and precise data processing, simulation of complex systems, and collaboration between research groups. The support activities were linked with primary activities to improve the ICT-based efficiency and standards. Their finding was the moderate to high ICT- based academic performance in Malaysian colleges, which was corroborated later by Bakar & Mohamed (2008). This study was having some limitations as it was carried out for Malaysian colleges only and not for the universities and higher educational institutions of training and research. However, the work provided the inspiration to authors to devise a suitable framework for universities/ higher educational institutions and undertake the task of assessment in such institutions. In this study we plan to assess the performance of universities of western Himalayan region in India, which has intricate topography where people have to really struggle for livelihood, health and education. In view of this, the Government of India is paying special attention to alleviate the level of education in this region using the full potential of ICT in this direction. Keeping this in view, a slightly different framework is required to assess the initiative, status and accomplishment of the universities in this region “Initiative” will imply vision and planning of the ICT programs in the universities. The “status” would mean complete ICT infrastructure including local area network (LAN) facility, internet- network security, mobile computing access, system application software, and website and information system, teaching display technologies, ICT Technical staff and budget allocation, e- library, eplacement/alumni portal. “Accomplishments” will be related to the outcome of various ICTbased activities. It would include, apart from teaching and learning, the research at the conventional level and at the advanced level in the form of ICT training programs for the development of human resource with actual problem solving skills. Such an accomplishment is going to have an impact of ICT-based programs, functional in the universities, in the form of quality research publications and actual better placements of the outgoing students.

33

The reference period of the study has been the year 2009. The outline of the framework will be discussed explicitly in the next section. BASIC FRAMEWORK The basis of formulating the framework lies in the recommendations contained in the documents available at the national and international level, as described in the Introduction. The important building blocks are supposed to be the Performance Indicators (PI). One group of authors (Riley and Nuttall 1994) suggest that performance indicators must be quantitative, whereas the other group takes a wider view in favor of qualitative and descriptive statement for PI. The four-tier framework conceptualized is schematically represented in Figure 1. Both these measures (ISO, 1998) quantitative as well as qualitative, will be used here. These procedures would allow us to have a complete view of the richness and diversity of the ICT based academic performance which would make it possible to assess and judge the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of an institution in terms of PIs and to make projection for future strategies. This framework takes into consideration all the components present in universities/ higher educational Institutions which are primarily the centres of research where knowledge is created, shared and disseminated.

Figure: 1 Schematic representation of four tier framework. Boxes contain the main ICT components along with the number of questions in it

34

This figure containing the basic constituents of ICT, placed in the appropriate tiers, depict the different academic components of ICT and the related activities of a university. A questionnaire comprising 117 questions divided in 18 groups (A-R) were created to assess the initiative, status and accomplishment of the universities under investigation in accordance to the areas delineated in the framework. The items in the questionnaire are shown in Appendix A. Further, in each group of questions, the last question is related to the performance, but group the R has two questions related to performance. All these performance related questions (19) are placed in another group, S, which are presented in Table 1. Table: 1 Various Groups of ICT Components in an Institution S.No .

Group

ICT details at University level

Performance Indicators

1. 2 3 4. 5.

A B C D E

Implementation Execution Achievement Utilization Users

6.

F

Speed

10

7 8.

G H

ICT Vision ICT Initiatives ICT Planning ICT Infrastructure Local Area Networks Facility Internet, Network Security Mobile Computing access System Applications S/W

No. of Questio ns 03 04 06 13 16

04 11

9.

I

Web site and information systems

Access 24x7 basis Overall user’s Satisfaction

10.

J

11. 12. 13. 14.

K L M N

15.

O

16. 17

P Q

Teaching Display Technologies ICT Technical Staff ICT Budget allocation E- Library E-Placement/Alumni Portal ICT based Teaching and learning ICT Based research ICT Training programs

18.

R

Accomplishments

19.

S

Performance

Tier in Frame work Tier-I

Tier II

09

Online communication Availability

05

Trouble Shooting Utilization Availability Alumni Portal

05 04 04 03

Effective use of ICT

04

Satisfaction level No. of programs organized Placement /Research Success rate

07 04

Tier III

04

Tier IV

19

METHODOLOGY The universities located in the western Himalayan region are those spreading over the state of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. There are mainly 7 universities located in the western Himalayan Region of India, out of which six ICT based universities have been selected purposely as per details given in Table: 2.

35

Table: 2 Six ICT based Universities of western Himalayan region of India. University

Abbreviation

State

Jammu University, Jammu H.P University, Shimla C.S.K Agriculture University, Palampur Y.S.Parmar University Nauni, Solan National Institute of Technology (Deemed University) Hamirpur. J.P.University of Information Technology, Solan, H. P.

J. U. Jammu H. P. U, Shimla C. S. K .U Palampur

Jammu and Kashmir Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh

Y. S. P. U. Nauni

Himachal Pradesh

NIT, Hamirpur

J. P. U, Solan

Foun ded Year 1969

Ownership

Website

State Government

http://www.jammuuniversit y.in/

State Government State Government

http://www.hpuniv.gov.in

1985

State Government.

http://www.yspuniversity.ac .in

Himachal Pradesh

1986

Central Govt. of India.

http://www.nitham.ac.in

Himachal Pradesh

2002

Private

http://www.juit.ac.in

1970 1978

http://hillagric.ernet.in

In order to gain information regarding ICT vision & initiative, status and accomplishment in each university, the questionnaire was given to the concerned Head of the Department (HOD) of ICT/IT/ Computer Science in the institution/University. Though the person chosen was deemed to have the complete knowledge regarding the development of ICT program, right from its inception, The HOD along- with his technical team gave the feedback which was gathered personally by one of the authors. In the structured questionnaire, the feedback to various queries was on five point scale arranged in a particular order that revealed the natural flow from the lowest level to the highest level, in technology. That is why it was thought reasonable to give a weight age of 1 to 5 respectively to each level in increasing order. The relevant statistical quantities were obtained as follows. Weighted Mean Standard statistical tools were used to analyze the data, groupwise, to find the Weighted Mean, Standard Deviation and Coefficient of Variation (CV) keeping in view the weight of respective level. The CV indicates the variation around its weighted mean in the series, the lesser is the CV, more consistent and stable is the series. However, the weighted mean was found to be a better measure as compared to CV, to understand the trend in a particular group. The use of median was another alternative but in view of the limitations of the median method, weighted mean was logically preferred. In view of the fact that queries were replied on a five point scale, The weighted mean (WM) of each group was calculated followed by an overall mean in the respective tier. For the weighted mean, a weight factor (wl/Σwl) was assigned for the response (1) in a particular level ,l, where wl represents the weight 1,2,3,4,5 for the levels (l= 1,2,3,4,5) respectively. After this, an overall mean was found for different groups and then for different universities. Thus a simple tabular analysis was carried out to find out results which are presented in Table: 3.

36

Performance Performance may be defined as the active (not the passive) part of the process/ item. For example, take any item in either of the four tiers. As long as it remains in the mind or on the paper it is passive and it is not performance. The moment it is converted into action and becomes functional/fruitful/output oriented, that becomes performance. The performance was assessed as follows: 

 

A performance related question, (PI), was identified from each of the first 18 groups. But from the group R two questions were identified for this. These 19 questions formed the nineteenth group ‘S’. For each of the university, a statistical mean of the weighted values of 19 PIs was calculated. These mean values, given in the last row of Table 3, belonging to group S are shown in Figure 6a for different universities, depicting a performance analysis in Section 4.

Correlation Coefficients Another statistical quantity (Pearson) ‘Coefficient of Correlation’ of various groups (A to R) with the group S was obtained and given in the last column of Table 3 and displayed in Figure.6b of Section 4. It has been used to ascertain the confidence level in planning proper groupings incorporated in the structure of the questionnaire, as the correlation coefficients for most of the groups were found to be significant lying in the acceptable range (except three groups). Table: 3 Weighted Mean and Pearson’s Correlation Coefficients of various groups with Group S. Tier

J.P.U Solan

NIT Hamirpur

CSK.U Palampur

J.U. Jammu

Y.S.P.U. Nauni

H.P.U, Shimla

Correlation coefficient

Group A

0.3

0.33

0.17

0.3

0.27

0.33

0.60

Group B

0.27

0.27

0.2

0.22

0.18

0.28

0.70

Tier I Group C Weighted. Mean

0.29

0.28

0.21

0.21

0.24

0.32

0.48

0.29

0.30

0.19

0.24

0.23

0.31

Group D

0.33

0.33

0.28

0.22

0.22

0.3

0.70

Tier II

Group E

0.32

0.33

0.21

0.23

0.24

0.2

0.93

Group F

0.27

0.28

0.23

0.26

0.19

0.28

0.64

Group G

0.2

0.29

0.23

0.24

0.17

0.17

0.60

Group H

0.07

0.33

0.07

0.27

0.16

0.07

0.49

Group I

0.24

0.24

0.16

0.18

0.19

0.19

0.93

Group J

0.15

0.27

0.15

0.14

0.07

0.12

0.80

Group K

0.24

0.33

0.18

0.16

0.13

0.18

0.92

Group L

0.33

0.27

0.2

0.2

0.09

0.11

0.77

Group M

0.23

0.33

0.23

0.2

0.23

0.17

0.71

Group N Weighted Mean

0.31

0.27

0.13

0.17

0.23

0.17

0.79

0.24

0.30

0.10

0.20

0.17

0.18

Group O

0.27

0.27

0.25

0.2

0.26

0.15

Group P

0.2

0.27

0.07

0.18

0.07

0.23

0.95

Group Q Weighted Mean

0.2

0.2

0.09

0.12

0.07

0.08

0.91

0.22

0.25

0.14

0.17

0.13

0.15

0.3

0.32

0.17

0.23

0.15

0.22

0.28

0.32

0.17

0.21

0.18

0.2

Tier III

Tier IV (WM) Performance Indicator(WM)

Group R Group S

0.38

0.63

37

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This section will be presented in two subsections as below: Comparative Status of different Tiers (I-IV) The weighted mean for Tier I, vision, initiative and planning, for different universities has been presented in Figure: 2, which depicts a comparative view among the universities.

0.35 0.3

Weighted Mean

0.31

0.29 0.30 0.24 0.23

0.25

JPU, Solan N.I.T, Hamirpur

0.19

0.2

C.S.K.U, Palampur JU, Jammu

0.15

Y.S.P.U, Nauni 0.1

H.P.U, Shimla

0.05 0 Universities

Figure: 2 (Tier I.) Status of ICT Vision, Initiative and Planning among different Universities.

Actually, at the level of Tier I, all the universities think big with a minor difference. It is only a matter of earlier or later ICT technologies adopted by the universities which normally makes a difference. Figure 2 shows that there is not much difference corresponding to the constituents of Tier I, among the three Universities viz. JP University, NIT and H.P.University. The other universities might have lagged behind due to earlier adoption of the technology, proper initiative or the vision in fixing the priorities in respective universities. 0.35 0.30

Weighted Mean

0.3 0.25

0.24

JPU, Solan N.I.T, Hamirpur

0.20 0.2

0.17

0.18

C.S.K.U, Palampur JU, Jammu

0.15 0.10 0.1

Y.S.P.U, Nauni H.P.U, Shimla

0.05 0 Universities

Figure: 3 (Tier II) Status of ICT Infrastructure among different Universities.

38

The standard deviation and the coefficient of variation (CV) were also calculated for Tier I. CV (%) was found to be 14.54%, 15.13%, 18.04%, 24.05, 32.66% and 39.44% respectively for H. P. University, J.P.University, NIT, Nauni University, Jammu University and Palampur University. It reveals that first three universities are having more consistency in ICT vision, initiative and planning than the later three universities. Next, the weighted mean of all the different groups in Tier II, dealing with the overall ICT infrastructure among different Universities in the region, has been presented in Figure. 3. From this diagram, it may be seen that NIT Hamirpur is having the largest ICT infrastructure followed by J.P. University, Jammu University, H.P.University, Palampur University and Nauni University. This difference may be mainly attributed to advanced ICT facilities available in NIT, like Local Area Network with facilities of large bandwidth, Videoconferencing, Mobile (Wi-Fi) computing, IP telephony and assured access of the digital tools/ resources to all the users on the campus along-with a prompt maintenance management. These facilities are also available to students in the hostels and to faculty members at their official accommodation. At the same time, NIT has a functional & effective web site along-with the information system, better University- industry interaction. From all these counts, NIT has an edge over other universities. Other contributing factors are the effectiveness of ICT training programs, organized for the faculty, students and professionals as the drive for human resource development. Finally, the placement of outgoing professionals in reputed establishments adds much more weightage in this direction. J. P. University (a private university) closely follows the NIT Hamirpur due to the availability of sufficient resources as per their priority. This figure further reveals a small difference between Jammu University and Himachal Pradesh University, particularly because of the fact that Jammu University is having higher internet bandwidth, better mobile computing facilities, video-conferencing facility a long with e-library as compared to those available in Himachal Pradesh University. The difference may be attributed to the limitation of funding and technical faculty. 0.3 0.25

Weighted Mean

0.25

0.22

JPU, Solan

0.2 0.15

N.I.T, Hamirpur

0.17 0.14

0.15 0.13

C.S.K.U, Palampur JU, Jammu Y.S.P.U, Nauni

0.1

H.P.U, Shimla 0.05 0 Universities

Figure: 4 (Tier III.) Status of ICT based activities aching/Learning/Research/Training among different universities

Tier III, is concerned with the IC- based academic activities which can be further divided into primary activities of teaching and learning, and advanced activities like sophisticated training programs with an orientation of actual problem solving & quality research for developing professional skills. These are displayed in Figure: 4.

39

The use of ICT- based tools is one of the effective approaches in organizing various academic activities. E-journals and internet resource has become the lifeline for the quality research work and for conducting the advanced training programs in the university system. In this respect, NIT Hamirpur has established superiority over others in Tier III also, followed by J. P. University, Jammu University, H. P. University, Palampur University and Nauni university. The accomplishments leading to performance and impact of various universities at the local (societal) level, national and international level, falls under Tier IV. The performance & impact are reflected mainly through two components. One is the outstanding research supported with patents for the fruitful activities and for the benefit of mankind. Another is the placement of outgoing students trained in professional courses, to reputed universities, institutes, industries and other organizations. The accomplishment/impact factor has been shown in Figure: 5 0.35 0.30

0.32

Weighted Mean

0.30 0.23

0.25 0.20

0.17

0.22 0.15

0.15

JPU, Solan N.I.T, Hamirpur C.S.K.U, Palampur JU, Jammu Y.S.P.U, Nauni

0.10

H.P.U, Shimla

0.05 0.00 Universities

Figure: 5 (Tier IV) Status of ICT based accomplishment (Placement/Research)

This figure reveals that NIT Hamirpur is again having an edge over other universities in the western Himalayan region of India, followed by J.P.University, Jammu University and Himachal Pradesh University. The main reason for this variation is the value addition through adoption of innovations in the field of research, particularly supported by the advanced ICT-based facilities. Further, quality research publications per year, along with successful collaborative research work also become an important factor for the superiority of one university over the other. In addition, actual placement contributes the most to Tier IV in the form of linkages of the professionals with industries. Impact may be judged by either of the two methods:  

Present and past approach (ii) With and without approach.

In this study, we try to judge the accomplishment by ‘Present and past approach’. Earlier, one could not imagine the accessibility of most of the relevant journals to the academic community, particularly in the universities of this region having rough and difficult terrain with less resources, but now with the availability of the ICT-technology the e-material and e-Journals have become readily available, through the courtesy of University Grants Commission. With this, the academic interaction/communication and exposure of students & faculty members in the universities increased leaps and bounds which got reflected through quality publications in research and better placements of outgoing professionals.

40

In general, an output of a concern is judged by its quality and its demand (at the local and global level). These two aspects decide the impact of the concern. Adopting this analogy here, quality comes from, in addition to the development of skilled professionals, the enquiry- based learning & research based on problem solving. After all, the basic purpose of education is actual problem solving. This is how humanity progressed and survived. Further, the demand has its manifestation in placements of the outgoing students in reputed Indian/ multinational concerns including the software development sector. There are other factors also that are indirectly responsible for the accomplishment, performance and impact of an institution, like increase in the number of universities/ higher educational institutions where innumerable programmes having better employability are being offered. All this became possible due to the revolution in the field of solid state devices (from the micro to nano), digitization of information and internet technology. Earlier, in the absence of ICT-programs, only a few higher educational institutions/universities could be counted as centres of excellence but in the post- ICT scenario, one can appreciate the presence of many such excellent higher educational institutions at the Global level. Performance This section would be further subdivided as follows. 

ICT based Performance Analysis: Going back to Table 3, last row, group S, the weighted mean of the performance has been plotted in Figure. 6a. Here it may be noted that the maximum value of the weight corresponding to the level 5 (in the feedback), is 1/3. Now the figure reveals that NIT Hamirpur is very near to this maximum, followed by J. P. University with the performance in the range between 80 to 95%. Then comes the two general multifaceted universities namely Jammu University and H.P. University, having the performance in the range 60 to 70%, followed by the Agri- Horticulture universities having the performance in the range 50 to 60 %.

0.35

Weighted Mean

0.30

0.32 0.28 JPU, Solan

0.25 0.20

0.21 0.17

0.18

0.20

N.I.T, Hamirpur C.S.K.U, Palampur JU, Jammu

0.15

Y.S.P.U, Nauni 0.10

H.P.U, Shimla

0.05 0.00 Universities

Figure: 6A Performance Analysis



Correlation Coefficients: Towards the end, it was thought reasonable to compare Coefficient of Correlation of different groups with the group S (indicating the performance). These Correlation Coefficients have been given in the last column of Table: 3 and displayed in Figure: 6 b.

41

Value of Coorelation

0.93

1.00 0.80 0.60

0.69 0.69 0.60 0.48

0.93 0.92 0.80 0.770.710.79

0.950.91

0.640.60 0.49

0.38

0.40 0.20 0.00 Groups

A- Vision

B- Initiative

C- Planning

D- Infrastructure G- Wireless Access

E- LAN H- System Software

F- Network Security I- Web/IS

J- Teaching Aids M- e-library

K- Technical Staff N- e-placement

L- Budget O- Teachinng/Learning

P- Research

Q- Training

Figure: 6b Groupwise Correlation with performance indicator Group S

On its perusal, the CCs are found to have positive correlation, varying between 0.38 and 0.95. Its value, greater than 0.90, was found for five groups. These groups are E- LAN, IWebsite and Information System, K- technical staff, P- ICT based Research and Q- ICT Training programs, which is obvious due to the latest ICT facility being used in research and training programs and therefore a better correlation with the performance of an institution. This is found quite consistent with the analysis presented in section 4.1 above. The next five groups having CCs between 0.70- 0.89, are found to be due to D- ICT Infrastructure, JTeaching Display Technologies, L- ICT Budget Allocation, M- e-Library and N- Alumni portal and placement. There is another set of five groups whose CCs vary between 0.6-0.69. These are found just acceptable and are related to A- ICT vision, B- initiative, F- internet & network security, G- mobile computing facility and R- accomplishments of ICT. The remaining three groups having correlation coefficients below 0.60 are not acceptable due to inadequate planning in ICT. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION This section will be presented in two subsections. Summary In this study we have presented an assessment and analysis of ICT vision & planning, status of ICT infrastructure, ICT based academic activities and corresponding performance/success of six universities in the western Himalayan region. The focus was on the integration of ICT with the academic curricula of an institution. The analysis was based on the primary data gathered as feedback to a questionnaire which had 117 questions divided into 18 different relevant groups within a four-tier framework. Statistical inferences were drawn from the weighted mean of various responses. Performance indicator of each of the groups was carefully identified to gauge the success of respective ICT initiative at different stages of the framework.The Tier I covered vision, planning and implementation which initially become the basis for decision- making and respective strategies. 42

These are always driven by a visionary at the highest level in the university system with full support from the government along with a small but dynamic team at the local level. It may also be emphasized that a good academic curriculum and better faculty are the most essential requirements for imparting the quality education in the field of ICT. The present analysis showed H. P. University to have an edge over others followed by NIT Hamirpur and J.P. University among the first three Universities. It further requires superior infrastructure (Tier II) with an efficient and fast network to access the internet system along with a large bandwidth and good technical support for maintenance. This aspect in functional form gets reflected subsequently on the performance level of the university system. The analysis revealed that the technical support and redundancy problem was not taken care of in general with the exception of NIT Hamirpur and JP University. After all, the universities are meant (Tier III) to create knowledge by the professionally skilled dedicated manpower. The professional spirit of a person is always gauged on a scale of how much busy his academic schedule remains for assimilating knowledge towards actual problem solving. The findings of the analysis in respect of this category are that 



 



Communication between students and faculty members using the ICT facility, is still not widespread in many of the universities except NIT Hamirpur and partly in Jammu University. Such a communication enables flexible learning by the students. On the research front, most of the faculty and students are able to utilize ICT facilities in accessing the literature and submitting the research papers online to respective journals. Even organization of conferences and workshops has become a lot easier due to the availability of such a facility. Interaction among the researchers’ community is becoming more and more efficient within the universities and research institutions at the global level. Though the online facility is available through the websites of respective universities and students try to access information, but in case of any query posed by them, they remain disappointed in general at the institutional level. NIT Hamirpur and J.P. University have been found better in this direction. Further, most of the universities have shown good results in spreading ICT awareness a long with specialized training in this field, through organizing extension programs on regular basis. In this category, NIT Hamirpur is found to be at the top followed by J. P. University, Jammu University, H. P. University and the two agro- horticulture universities.

The better performance in ICT field always results in sound impact (Tier IV) at the national and international level in terms of outstanding research publications in the fields of relevance and actual placements. ICT plays a significant role in driving the universities towards excellence by virtue of performance. It also facilitates doing experiments in virtual laboratories and establishes close collaboration between research groups from national to global level. In this respect also, once again, NIT Hamirpur is found to have an edge over others, followed by J.P.University, H.P. University and Jammu University. CONCLUSIONS Important conclusions may be described as below: 

In view of the difficult terrain of western Himalayan region and the struggle of the people, the present study has become more relevant and significant so as to appreciate

43

 



 



the ICT penetration in different universities of the region. Integration of ICT with various academic programs to develop the problemsolving skill, has helped significantly in enhancing the quality research and better placements. This aspect is being implemented in most of the universities effectively. The positive coefficients of correlation (CC) of the performance group S with all the other eighteen groups and its analysis provided confidence in the conceptualization of groups presented in the questionnaire. On the basis of overall ICT status, activities and performance, the present analysis is found to match with the reported ranking submitted by NAAC and other agencies. It may be recalled that quality has remained the most important defining element with the NAAC. The universities, to a greater extent, have been found to act as nuclei towards creating skilled professionals with enhanced core competence

FUTURE STRATEGIES The pattern revealed in this paper through various aspects of ICT development, points towards future strategies as follows: 





Although ICT initiatives in different universities are quite encouraging, their extension must be envisaged in all the universities/higher educational institutions of the country. It must include the advanced training programs to prepare professionally skilled manpower specially in problem solving skills for enhancing the core competence of scientists and making these programs more meaningful. The universities with highly skilled professionals in the field of ICT should function as nucleus to generate more and more skilled human resource. At the same time, these professionals must plan with dedication & determination to solve the real problems and remove the sufferings of humanity. Only then it will fulfill the objectives of `Transforming the Society’ as envisaged in the Kothari Commission report of 1966 and the Technology Vision 2020 document prepared by TIFAC for India. Different courses in the form of e-content inclusive of video, in Indian universities be made available as freeware similar to those of MIT open courseware, as envisioned by NMEICT. It will have an effective long term sustainable impact on society by way of advanced ICT enabled education and empowerment of people in the western Himalayan region of the country.

Acknowledgement: Authors express their sincere thanks to Dr. S.P. Saraswat, Agroeconomic centre, H P University, Shimla, for very fruitful discussion during data analysis and Professor P. K. Ahluwalia, Department of Physics, H.P.University for some very helpful discussions. Dhirendra SHARMA University Institute of Information Technology Himachal Pradesh University, INDIA Email: [email protected] Vikram SINGH Department of Computer Science and Engineering Ch. Devi Lal University, INDIA Email: [email protected]

44

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47

Appendix A Questionnaire

I CT Com ponents

Levels of Perform ances

S. ICT Vision n o. TIER I Group A –ICT Vision 1. Source of vision

Level I (Lowest) (a) Level II (b)

Level III (Middle) ( c )

Level IV (d)

Level V (highest) (e)

Enthusiastic students

Logical conclusion of the vision. 3. Success rate of Implementation Group B - ICT Initiatives ICT infrastructure 1.

0-20%

Level II + Directors/Deans /HOD 40-60%

Level III+ Registrar

2

Level 1+ ICT specialists. 20%-40%

0-20%

20%-40%

40-60%

60-80%

Level IV + ViceChancellor 80% and above. 80% and above.

Enthusiastic students

ICT Learning/ Awareness.

Enthusiastic students

3.

Complete ICT automation

Enthusiastic students

Level II + Directors/Deans /HOD Level II + Directors/Deans /HOD Level II + Directors/Deans /HOD 40-60%

Level III+ Registrar

2.

Level 1+ ICT specialists. Level 1+ ICT specialists. Level 1+ ICT specialists. 20 -40% Level I+ Data entry and printing. Level 1+ ICT specialists. Limited to departmen t/Self Financing Dean Faculty level

Level II+ eresources & data base archive.

Level III+ Teaching/ e-content

Level IV + research /automation

Level II + Directors/Deans /HOD University level funding

Level III+ Registrar

Level IV + ViceChancellor Central Govt

Level I+II+ ICT specialists

University committee

Level IV+ Audit, Vice Chancellor

Updated 3 year or more

Updated 2 year or more 60-80%

Updated 1 year or more

4.

Execution of Initiatives Group C - ICT Planning 1. The scope of ICT planning

80%

Always Slow

Slow only in peak hours

Smooth with little delay.

Smooth w/o any delay.

20%

20-50%

50-80%

20%

20-50%

50-80%

80% or higher 80% or higher

20%

20-50%

50-80%

20%

20-50%

50-80%

Group H - System, Application software. 1.

Operating Systems in use MS windows 98 Microsoft windows2000

Not available Not available

3

MS windows 2003

4

Microsoft windows 2007 or higher

Not available Not available

5

Open source

Not available

20%

20-50%

50-80%

80% or higher

6.

Unix

Not available

20%

20-50%

50-80%

80% or higher

7.

Solaris

20%

20-50%

50-80%

8.

Office Applications

Not available Not available

20%

20-50%

50-80%

80% or higher 80% or higher

2

80% or higher 80% or higher

50

9

Groupware software is Not in use available 10. Scientific software Not like simulations available tools in use 11. Overall user None Performance/ Satisfaction Group I - Web Site and Information systems.

20%

20-50%

50-80%

20%

20-50%

50-80%

25%

25-50%

51-80%

80% or higher

1.

Academic information available on intranet

Not available

20%

20-50%

50-80%

80% or higher

2.

E content/ Lecture notes available via Web Server

Not available

20%

20-50%

50-80%

80% or higher

3.

Online attendance, Marks, examination schedule, etc

No 20% Information informati on

20-50% information

50-80% information

4.

Encouragement by teachers for online submission of assignments

No

20% Faculty

20-50% Faculty

50-80% Faculty

80% or higher informatio n 80% or higher Faculty

5.

e- communication within departments

No

20%

20-50%

50-80%

> 80%

6.

Online test/Exams of teaching courses conducted Entrance exam to various courses conducted online

No.

25%

25%-50% Test /Exams

50-80% Test /Exams

>80%

No.

25%

25%-50%

50-80%

>80%

Entrance exam is conducted through OMR/OCR System Performance due to online communication

No. Only manual

25%

25%-50%

50-80%

>80%

None

0-25%

25-50%

50-75%

>75

Laser printers, scanners

No

Dot Matrix, inkjet Printer 25%

25-50%

III + Network laser printers, 50-75%

IV + printing managem ent >75%

No

25%

25-50%

50-75%

>75%

No

25%

25-50%

50-75%

>75%

No

25%

25-50%

50-75%

>75%

No Tech. Staff

1-2

2-4

4-6

>6