Distance And Blended Learning In Asia

Distance and Blended Learning in Asia is a unique and comprehensive overview of open, distance learning (ODL) and information and communication technology (ICT) in Asian education and training. Broad in coverage, this book critically examines ODL and ICT experiences from Japan to Turkey and from Sri Lanka to Mongolia – drawing conclusions from the successes and failures, and recommending ways in which planning, management and practice may be developed for the world’s largest concentration of adult open and distance learners. This pioneering book draws on Asian theory, research and practice to identify the strengths, weaknesses and challenges in all sectors of Asian education and training. It critically and insightfully discusses the ideas, skills and practices that are necessary to advance knowledge in leadership and management, professional development, innovation and quality assurance and research and diffusion. Distance and Blended Learning in Asia provides an insightful, informative and critical review of ODL / ICT developments in schools, open schooling, colleges, universities, workplace training, professional development and non-formal adult and community education. The book is an invaluable reference for ODL / ICT professionals, educators and students anywhere in the world, and is essential reading for all of those involved in ODL / ICT in Asia.

Distance and Blended Learning in Asia is a unique and comprehensive overview of open, distance learning (ODL) and information and communication technology (ICT) in Asian education and training. Broad in coverage, this book critically examines ODL and ICT experiences from Japan to Turkey and from Sri Lanka to Mongolia – drawing conclusions from the successes and failures, and recommending ways in which planning, management and practice may be developed for the world’s largest concentration of adult open and distance learners. This pioneering book draws on Asian theory, research and practice to identify the strengths, weaknesses and challenges in all sectors of Asian education and training. It critically and insightfully discusses the ideas, skills and practices that are necessary to advance knowledge in leadership and management, professional development, innovation and quality assurance and research and diffusion. Distance and Blended Learning in Asia provides an insightful, informative and critical review of ODL / ICT developments in schools, open schooling, colleges, universities, workplace training, professional development and non-formal adult and community education. The book is an invaluable reference for ODL / ICT professionals, educators and students anywhere in the world, and is essential reading for all of those involved in ODL / ICT in Asia.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book describes the history, structure and institutions of open and distance education in six countries: China, India, Russia, Turkey, South Africa and South Korea. It describes how open and distance education is evolving in a digital age to reflect the needs and circumstances of the national higher education systems in these countries. It also explores the similarities and differences between how their open and distance higher education systems are managed and structured. This book is the second in a series, following Open and Distance Education in Australia, Europe and the Americas (Springer 2018). Both books compare and draw conclusions about the nature of open and distance education in the context of various national higher education systems. In a digital era characterized by the growing use of online, open and distance education, this book will prove particularly valuable for policy-makers and senior administrators who want to learn about establishing or expanding open and distance education services. In addition, it offers a valuable reference guide for researchers, academics and students interested in understanding the different approaches to open and distance education.

This book has been designed for the orientation and training of specialists in open and distance learning methods in Asia. It is the outcome of the collaborative PANdora research and development initiative (2005–08) between 24 open and distance learning (ODL) institutions, government departments and non-governmental organizations in 13 Asian countries. The guidelines in the book have been designed in modular form so that selected sections can be combined according to users’ needs and translated into local languages in keeping with the PANdora network’s open resources philosophy.

In Asia, Distance Education (DE) is providing major solutions in the areas of education and training. DE methods that are standard in other parts of the world, however, have yet to demonstrate their full potential in Asia. Covering nine DE projects by 39 researchers from 13 countries, this book analyses the DE scenario in Asia, the successes, the failures and the reasons behind them. This book is a unique collation of the results of studies of educational technologies across an extensive network of Asian countries. It also provides a useful snapshot of DE's development in Asia in the early years of the 21st century. The surveys reported cover different DE contexts, methodologies, and levels of generalisability, and add to the existing scholarship on the subject by providing previously unavailable, firm evidence about DE's prospects in Asia. The contributors give important recommendations that can be translated into practical and political actions to help solve critical socio-economic problems of Asia as well as other parts of the world.

This book demonstrates how blended learning improves access to and enhances the quality of higher education teaching and learning in Asian universities. It first discusses how leading universities in the region drive and support blended learning at the institutional level to enhance student learning engagement and outcomes. It then examines 10 effective implementations and lessons learned of blended learning practices across different disciplinary courses and programmes (humanities and language, science and engineering, social science and education, and others) in the region. The chapters in this book provide an overview of the opportunities and challenges of blended learning for improved access and enhanced quality of higher education, and offer insights into the promising blended learning policies and practices in Asian universities.

There have been numerous debates and discussions on the use of ICT in education, especially in English language teaching and learning. In this book, readers will find it meaningful to further revisit and re-evaluate the existing practices of ICT use for teaching-learning of English. The main aims of this book are addressing some of the critical issues in the research and practices of ICT use for English language teaching and learning in South East Asia (SEA), and discerning the wide range and extent of ICT use in different English language classrooms, where ICT serves as a mediating tool for the facilitation process of teaching and learning. These aims are guided, and then supported by the pedagogical considerations and implications that are underscored as a result of the examination of ICT use and integration in the contexts. This publication would be among the first in terms of examining ICT and English language teaching and learning in the overall SEA context, whereby there are opportunities for readers to learn from different contexts and different countries.

This report analyzes the online learning experiences of higher education students in six Asian countries during the pandemic to illustrate how to provide technical and learning support, narrow the digital divide, and direct future policy. Drawing on surveys from Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and Viet Nam, the report touches on areas including internet availability, student satisfaction, and levels of student-teacher interaction. Providing country breakdowns, it considers funding for online education, underscores the challenges for low-income students, and sets out how to fill the skills and training gap to offer equal access to better education.