WHAT INSTITUTIONAL MODELS IN TERTIARY DISTANCE EDUCATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA?

Print, correspondence tuition, view data, audio and video cassettes

, video disks, telephone, video conferencing, teaching aids and computer are a wide range of media to draw up.

There are various factors which planners and managers of tertiary distance education institutions need to take into account.

First, they should use media where their potential market can access. Generally speaking, print, correspondence tuition, radio, audio cassettes and teaching aids are readily available and relatively inexpensive. Video and computer based systems are more expensive and less available. Secondly, one needs to find out whether the distance teaching institutions have or can afford to have access to the necessary production and distribution systems. Thirdly, one needs to decide what works best pedagogically and why? Much depends on the specific objectives one is trying to reach.

Which possibilities, in terms of educational media and/or communication and teaching are concerned with the institutional models in tertiary distance education in Sub-Saharan Africa? Four possibilities exist which are: dual-mode, single-mode, franchised international program and direct un-franchised international provision.

Dual-mode institution offers both classroom instruction and distance education programs. The dual-mode is generally concerned with enrolments in the 10 000 to 20 000 range. It makes use of and is supported by an existing academic and research capacity. Classroom and distance instruction are based on common materials and performance is evaluated using common standards. Where an academic credit system is employed, students can move back and forth between distance and classroom study, or pursue a combination of the two.

Distance education within a dual-mode university can be organized in this way: either the institution's specialists undertake to design courses, produce materials, and oversee their distribution and use, or there is a coordinating unit at the school and this unit functions as a liaison between students and university departments that directly produce and offer distance education courses.

The single-mode institution is a wholly dedicated distance learning institution. Student admissions are not selective. This model is usually called "open university". In this case, the specialist staff is strong, there is an absence of institutional resistance to a new and different form of pedagogy, and the institution is potentially to serve students from more than one country.

The franchised international program consists, for a foreign provider of distance education programs, in entering into partnership with a local tertiary institution to offer these programs on a joint basis. The local institution uses courses materials developed and copyrighted by the foreign provider. However, the local institution is directly responsible for the local logistics, students support, and management. Fee income is shared by the two institutions.

As far as the direct un-franchised international provision is concerned, an established distance learning facility or "virtual university" offers courses internationally, using the Internet and interactive e-mail. The student, in this case, must require, in order to gain access, a computer, a modem, an Internet connection and a credit card. For this model, little or no action is required by local government or institution, and the student can study without having to raise the funds necessary to study abroad.

In selecting among the dual-mode, the single-mode, the franchised international programme and the direct un-franchised international provision, market analysis is recommended as an essential part of the planning and decision making process. And in this process, market analysis looks at four areas: student demographics (age, geographic distribution, qualification desired, occupational interest, socio-economic status), competition (alternative services available to students, alternative delivery modes for providers), the regulatory environment (quality standards, licensing, accreditation, taxation, telecommunications), and the ability and willingness to pay by students.

WHAT INSTITUTIONAL MODELS IN TERTIARY DISTANCE EDUCATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA?

By: Drissa Cisse

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