Skills development through distance education

This publication examines the various aspects of delivering skills training by open and distance learning (ODL), including the stakeholders, learners, curriculum, design, development and delivery of courses, student support, staff training, skill certification and quality control. It also examines methods of teaching practical skills. The final chapter demonstrates how all of these various processes can be managed in an institutional context. Case studies are drawn from Africa, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, India and the United Kingdom. They offer information and advice on increasing access to technical and vocational education and training (TVET) using ODL and how a single-mode institution using traditional delivery methodology might become a dual-mode institution incorporating ODL. The chapters are: Economic development and skills development / Arun K. Mishra (outlines the contextual aspects and current trends in social and economic development that TVET must address); The key players / Judith Calder (describes the key players in the design and delivery of TVET via ODL through two case studies); The potential learners / Magnus John (discusses potential learners and portrays them as lifelong learners in the context of globalisation and technology-assisted learning); The curriculum / Keith Dunbar (examines philosophical approaches to curriculum development, and covers the national standards of Canada, UK and Australia, and highlights the significance of acquiring essential skills); Needs identification and programme evaluation / Neville Weal (examines the identification of training needs and program evaluation); Student support in open and distance learning for TVET / Ved Goel (examines student support services as a component of ODL for TVET); Delivering the programme / Carol Hampton and John Bartram (covers work-based learning, on-the-job training, adoption of technology, learning centres, and delivery strategies in general); Instructional design / Dermot Moore, Annemarie Bates and Jean Grundling (examines the process of designing and developing instructional materials using two different models); Teaching practical skills / Carol Hampton (presents a number of successful approaches and looks at assessment); Quality assurance in the delivery of TVET programmes via ODL: the case of a small island developing state / Olabisi Kuboni (provides a detailed analysis of quality assurance in Trinidad and Tobago); Mobility and articulation / Adrian R. Haas (examines issues of mobility and articulation of TVET with other stages or areas of study and discusses the idea of a skills passport as introduced in Europe); The need for staff training and retraining / Marvin E. Lamoureux (stresses the importance of staff training and retraining at sectoral, institutional and local levels for meeting the demands of expanding TVET, and proposes that ODL is a viable option for these purposes); Connecting the dots: planning and management strategies in TVET / Dick Scales (provides an overview of planning and management of TVET in a conventional education institution). Show less