OU-Led Project Awarded £510,690

At only 8 per cent, the enrolment rate for higher education (HE) across Africa remains the lowest in the world and in many countries demand far outstrips supply. Although distance education across national borders is filling that gap – one third of student registrations in South Africa, for example, are from the international distance education (IDE) cohort – the workings of IDE remain under-researched. Now a new OU-led project has been awarded £510,690 by the ESRC to fill this gap.

Research in other settings proves that distance learning can improve access for students facing demographic and social disadvantages. Facilitating Equitable Access and Quality Education for Development: South African International Distance Education will investigate these issues in the African setting. Specifically, it will ask: 'Can IDE generate equitable access to students from across the continent?' as well as 'How can the quality of IDE be assessed, and what improvements can be made to create better student outcomes?'

The project will examine IDE delivered by the University of South Africa (UNISA) to students in Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Nigeria and compare it with South African students and with students studying face-to-face. The project will also build on the OU's innovative Learning Design Initiative (OULDI). After analysing student performance, changes will be made to learning design and the effects tested on the following year's cohort.

Led by IDII member Professor Parvati Raghuram and UNISA’s Dr Ashley Gunter, the project will also work in partnership with the African Community Fund for Education and the African Network for Internationalisation of Education.

Read more on the RCUK’s Gateway to Research website.