Ruth Aluko

University of Pretoria | UP · Unit for Distance Education

Joy is a feeling that goes beyond happiness, and learning at whatever level should evoke joy in both students and teachers if its goals were to be met. However, the joy of learning may sometimes be totally excluded in a diverse world, especially in emerging economy contexts where issues of equality, equity and social justice are more profound. Usin...

Effective student support is key in stemming the dropout in distance education. This article reports on the student support provision in a hybrid teacher education programme. Altogether 160 participants were purposively selected; 126 completed a survey, 33 (30 students and 3 administrative staff) took part in six focus group discussions; and one in...

In South Africa, as in some other countries, the BEd(Hons) program is a generic postgraduate qualification partly intended to deepen the expertise of educators and to enable them to lead and manage effectively. This is with the aim of ensuring the provision of quality education in a transforming education environment. Experienced education managers...

Higher education in emerging economies has taken advantage of several technology affordances for student assessment in the digital era. However, the use of educational technology remains an area of concern in this context because of unequal technology terrain. This issue is more difficult in distance education, where students live in and work in re...

This paper responds in part to a special edition of this journal (39/2) on dual-mode provision. We were concerned that contact providers might drift into distance education provision through extending campus-based online learning without first thinking through the underpinning implications of its administrative systems, an issue that was not addres...

The recent student unrest in South African public higher education institutions highlighted the call for the decolonisation of education across post-colonial countries. This research explored the construct of the “decolonisation of education” through the lens of students of different nationalities across Africa, their perspectives on approaches to...

p class="3">Mobile broadband penetration is growing rapidly in Africa, and it offers vast opportunities for mobile learning. Together with its possibilities is the danger of overlooking standards related to its use. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has initiated work in this area focusing on African and...

Open distance learning (ODL) has become a buzz word in the present day education system because of its ability to expand education admission to millions all over the world. In spite of its potential, the low completion rate of students in this delivery mode is still a thorny issue. Though a more dismal picture exists in South Africa, the concern fo...

There is ample evidence that African countries have started putting policies in place regarding Open Distance Learning (ODL) in order to ensure the quality of its programs. Quality and its management are organisational obligations that are vested in management’s commitment towards an understanding of quality. Although higher education is involved i...

The 'revolving door' syndrome is a term that has been used to describe the low throughput rate in higher education. Even though distance education has been recognized as having the potential to meet the escalating demand for higher education all over the world, the mode is plagued with low throughput rate. This is especially true in South Africa, w...

The ‘revolving door’ syndrome is a term that has been used to describe the low throughput rate in higher education. Even though distance education has been recognized as having the potential to meet the escalating demand for higher education all over the world, the mode is plagued with low throughput rate. This is especially true in South Africa, w...

This article emanates from a longitudinal study of the impact of a distance education programme for teacher training on graduates' job performance, in which the authors built on the findings of a previous pilot study. After using Kirkpatrick's Training Evaluation Model in a previous study, one of the authors found there to be a strong relationship...

The African Scholars Forum 2014 (ASF-2014) was organised by The Kola Scholars, a non profit-making organisation, which is committed to enhancing the global competitiveness of African societies through knowledge production. ASF-2014 is devoted to an in-depth discussion on higher education issues which are critical to Africa development. The forum st...

Reflection-on-action is necessary to derive meaning from one's experiences. This paper revisits research data from an elongated study on the impact of a distance education programme on the professional practice of graduates. The study focused on 300 graduates and 128 principals, selected through multi-stage and purposive sampling. The researcher us...

This pilot study investigates the impact of a tutorial model on the performance of distance education students enrolled for an Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) programme. The aim of the support system is to enhance learning and improve performance. Towards this end, the institution developed a tutorial support system model, which is not depe...

Although our perceptions regarding distance education (DE) have changed significantly, there still remains a perceived lack of quality in the development, management and delivery of DE programmes. Unfortunately, DE offered in developing countries depends largely on first and second-generation delivery modes and relies heavily on print as form of in...

This paper examines the impact of a distance education program offered by the University of Pretoria, South Africa, on the professional practice of teachers. A pilot study was conducted using a combination of surveys and focus group interviews. Findings reveal that the program was beneficial to graduates’ personal development, professional practice...

This article emanates from a comparative study of the quality of a B.Ed. (Hons) programme in contact and distance contexts in a dual-mode institution, in terms of access, delivery and output. Both versions of the programme are guided by a similar underpinning philosophy that drives its ethos. Even though it appears that there may be no prominent di...