ARTICLES

PAR-TIME EDUCATION AND DISTANT EDUCATION 

BY

IHIANLE AMENDOL OZOEMEZIM

Part-Time Adult Learner also Part-Time Learner (PTL) refers to a subset of non-traditional learner who pursues higher education, typically after reaching physical maturity, while living off-campus, and possessing responsibilities related to family and/or employment. Many are from a minority or disadvantaged group (disability, immigrant status, etc.).

PTLs have access to numerous programs and fields of study to pursue. They can be enrolled in certificate, diploma, undergraduate (including after-degree) or graduate degrees, in credit or non-degree credit courses, all in a plethora of fields. The multiplicity of characteristics reflected by PTLs makes this segment of the student population challenging to study.

Caution must be practiced when defining PTLs, since there are many variations amongst them

DISTINGUISHING PART-TIME LEARNERS

Caution must be practiced when defining PTLs, since there are many variations amongst them. As one researcher described, a PTL is:

"...the 29 year-old man with a wife and a new baby, who, at last perceiving that accounting is his niche, plods on over as many as eight years toward accreditation in that field... an ambitious senior school teacher who has set his mind on a school superintendency and seeks to advance his credentials. ...a member of a farmers’ union with a vision of what might be in agriculture who undertakes to grapple with economics in preparation for a leadership role... a restless 43 year-old wife and mother who gains relief from household demands through the study of ceramics or comparative literature or who takes refresher courses in nursing techniques in anticipation of her re-entry into nursing... an engineering graduate, success having placed him in managerial ranks, who is confronted with human problems for which his earlier professional training has not prepared him...a new Canadian for whom more rewarding employment or access to formal post-secondary education requires that he upgrade his skill in English as a second language."

One method of separating the PTLs from the NTLs can be found by applying institutional criteria. Institutional criteria can be used to separate the NTL from the PTL however caution must be practised as criteria can vary between and within institutions. Part-Time status in Canadian Universities is dictated by the enrollment in a maximum and, occasionally minimum number of credit hours or courses. The University of British Columbia defines a part-time undergraduate student as one enrolled in less than 80% of the standard 30 credit-hour course load. The University of Manitoba defines the part-time undergraduate student as an individual enrolled in less than 60% of the standard full 30 credit hour course load. The Government of Canada National Student loans program defines a Part-Time Student as one who is enrolled in 20-59% of a full course load.

PART-TIME LEARNER POPULATION

PTL's have a long history in Higher Education. Some of the earliest universities including Takshasila and Nalanda in Asia and the medieval Universities in Europe were created by and organized for PTL’s. In Canadian higher education, part-time enrollment demonstrated significant growth for the greater part of the twentieth century but has recently leveled off. The Trends Report (2007) reported that from 1976 to 1992 part-time enrollment “…grew by some 65 percent or 125,000 to a peak of 316,000 in 1992"(p. 13). Following 1992 participation of PTL's in Canadian higher education dwindled to 250,000 by 1997 and has stayed about that level since.

PTL's compose a noticeable portion of Canadian Higher Education. Today there exists approximately 265,000 PTL's in Canadian Universities and University-Colleges (see University college). The Trends Report in Higher Education Report (2007) purports that there are 815,000 full-time learners in Canadian Universities and University-Colleges. PTL's compose almost 25% of the entire student population within Canadian Universities and University-Colleges. Acquiring data on Part-Time Learners in Canadian Colleges would assist in providing a more accurate picture of PTL's in Canadian Higher Education. It would also be of great benefit to include statistics on PTL participation in other countries.

CHALLENGES OF PART-TIME LEARNING

Part-Time Learners are faced with a multitude of barriers in Higher Education that can be classified as attitudinal, institutional or situational.

An attitudinal barrier relates to the learner’s attitude toward negative experiences in the learner’s educational past which may prevent enrollment in further education. Merriam, Caffarella and Baumgartner (2007) purport that some adult learners lack the confidence to pursue further education. Additionally, they may perceive higher education as reflecting the teacher-centred practises and exclusive pedagogy of their earlier schooling experiences.

Institutional barriers are policies and procedures that make attendance difficult or impossible. Many universities still practise conventional admissions; PTLs often hold unconventional educational biographies that can be difficult to compare and measure against traditional admissions requirements. PTLs have a variety of constraints and demands on their time and face challenges synthesizing a long term plan of action. Few PTL-oriented workshops, inefficient dissemination of information regarding part-time learner programs. Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) can help PTLs accelerate the completion of studies by granting credit through lifelong learning.

Situational barriers relates to an individual’s circumstances at a given time that can impede enrollment or attendance. Situational challenges include financial costs, scheduling conflicts and time-management. The expenses of tuition, textbooks, and evening snacks must be weighed against needs such as clothes and school supplies for children or family vacations. The scheduled classes must be able to fit within a schedule that accommodates work and family obligations. Time spent on school assignments cannot be so excessive that it detracts significantly from work and family responsibilities. Situational barriers should be considered prior to enrollment.

MOTIVATIONS OF PART-TIME LEARNERS

Eduard Kindeman, father of adult education in the United States, said that the purpose of adult education is to "put meaning into the whole of life”. This holistic approach includes “wants, needs, desire, and wishes”. John Dewey said that "to find out what one is fitted to do and to secure an opportunity to do it is the key to happiness.” Exploration helps adult part-time learners the connection between education and career in their life journeys.

DISTANT EDUCATION

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.

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 include;

National Teachers Institute (NTI),

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 Prospect

Distance learning part time courses are gaining popularity all over the world because they are helping students and working professionals get an undergraduate degree which helps them get better jobs or do better in their current jobs. These courses are popular in countries like Nigeria where the educational infrastructure is too weak to support higher education.

According to a few studies conducted the following stats were gathered.

“69% of the part-time undergraduates have acquired supreme confidence at work and have even come up with impressive job performances. Out of them, 29% of the students have received pleasant hikes in their pay packages while 28% have got promotion.”

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 comprise all patterns of student-centered learning process in which the teacher has only a limited role. The old forms of correspondence education, external or extra-mural studies and home-based study come under this description. All of them have certain common characteristics that keep them separate from the traditional pattern of face-to-face learning. The most

outstanding characteristics is the physical distance between the students and the teacher… Distance education (as well as, open learning) is a self-paced learning process wherein the student can frame his own time-table according to the time at his disposal. This makes it possible for the people employed in full-time jobs, house wives with numerous household chores and youths waiting for employment to carry on education at their leisure available to them…” Therefore, distance education can be defined as the teaching-learning process in which students are separated from the teachers by a physical distance which is often bridged by modern communication media”. 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 government established some institutions for distance learning. These include;

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.

This means that students who take up part time courses are doing well in the job field. These days, taking a student loan for people who study part time has become easy because they do not have to repay them till they get a salary of 21,000 British Pounds, annually. Online part time courses are easy to study because of the internet that can be accessed in any corner of the world. Online distance learning also has fabulous benefits that help in the work field.

BENEFITS OF DISTANT LEARNING

Flexibility to Learn

As these online courses can be learnt keeping convenience in mind, you can study and work at the same time. After working for over eight hours at office it is impossible for you to attend class, however, with online part time courses you can study after you get back from work, comfortably from your home.

Chance To Study at UK Universities

Many universities in UK are providing part time courses for students who cannot afford to study full time. As UK University degrees are recognised all over the world, therefore these degrees will be beneficial for students who need a degree for better jobs.

Acquire New Skills

Online part time courses enable you to acquire various new skills that will help you in your workplace. One such important skill is communication.

These part time online courses help students save money on books with the availability of e-textbooks and also help them to start earning well.

 

 

REFERENCES

1.     Bean, J., P., & Metzner, B., S. (Winter,1985). A conceptual model of non-traditional undergraduate student attrition. Review of Educational Research, 55(4), 485-540. Retrieved November 6, 2007, from JSTOR database.

2.     Shale, D., & Roche, J. (1998). Not all part-time students are the same. Presented to the Canadian Institutional Research and Planning Association Annual Conference, October 1998. Office of Institutional Analysis, University of Calgary. Retrieved September 19, 2007, from http://www.oia.ucalgary.ca/oia/files/oia/CIRPA1998.pdf

3.     Campbell, 1984. p.19-20.

4.     The University of British. (N.D.) Student Calendar. Retrieved September 28, 2007 from: http://www.students.ubc.ca/calendar/index.cfm?tree=12,195,272,29

5.     The University of Manitoba. (N.D.) Student Records. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from: http://umanitoba.ca/student/records/registration/961.htm

6.     CanLearn (N.D.) Canada student loans program: Part-time studies. Government of Canada. Retrieved October 2, 2007, from http://www.canlearn.ca/en/Multimedia/nslsc/pdf/guides/CAN_PT_EN.pdf

7.     Waniewicz, I. (1976). Demand for part-time learning in Ontario. The Ontario Educational Communications: Canada.

8.     Trends in Higher Education (2007). Associations of Universities and Colleges of Canada. Retrieved September 20, 2007, from: http://www.aucc.ca/_pdf/english/publications/trends_2007_e.pdf