A. The Role of Distance Education in Sustainable Development Goals 

 

From the 14th Annual Open Education Conference in California, the USA on October 2017, the reason why the global open education community like Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Education Practices (OEP) are agents in attaining SDGs are the following:

 

1. Open Educational Resources (OER) can be the education resources to teach the public about and are continuously updated by working on SDGs.  

2. It would connect education institutions, educators, and students to solving SDGs; forming a new, positive connection between governments and their public education systems.

3. Global challenges / SDGs are constantly changing and Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Education Practices (OEP) can be updated in real time.

4. As learning spaces shift to OEP, students can contribute to improving the open curriculum, work on complex and authentic SDG challenges, and have their work be used in their fields.

5. As working on SDGs is meaningful and the stakes are high (e.g., climate action, zero hunger, gender equality, no poverty, etc.), students are motivated to work smarter, learn more deeply, have an opportunity to contribute to society – by producing, revising, and sharing OER about SDGs - while they earn their degree.

 

Please watch what I recently explored in youtube for you to explore some ideas and opportunities more deeply.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference: OER + SDG4 at UNESCO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvfC8A1oW30

 

Education and higher education are seen as critical to the SDGs and there are those who see distance education as playing a central role (Uvalić-Trumbić & Daniel, 2016), those who see open educational resources as important (MacKinnon, Pasfield-Neofitou, Manns, & Grant, 2016), others who forefront education for sustainable development (Gokool-Ramdoo & Rumjaun, 2016) and others such as the International Council for Distance Education who quoted from the Incheon Declaration to state that:

 

                               A well-established, properly-regulated tertiary education system supported by technology,

                               Open Educational Resources (OERs) and distance education modalities can increase access,

                               equity, quality, and relevance, and narrow the gap between what is taught at tertiary education                                               institutions and what economies and societies demand. The provision of tertiary education should                                           be progressively free, in line with existing international agreements. (UNESCO, 2015).

 

According to McGreal, 2017, Distance Education can be used to help ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity, and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development. Distance Education can be child, disability, and gender sensitive, and provide safe, nonviolent, inclusive, and effective learning environments for all, including diverse Indigenous communities. 

 

B. How Open Distance Learning (ODL) Contribute to Sustainable Development?

 

Learning is the key to sustainable development and that learning must lead to three things: economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental conservation. Through innovative open and distance learning approaches, Commonwealth of Learning (COL) supports these three pillars of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion, environmental conservation.

 

ODL for Economic Growth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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• Millions of farm families in developing countries don’t have access to learning opportunities. COL’s Lifelong Learning for Farmers initiative is a framework that links financial capital, human capital and social capital with ICT-based ODL. This unique programme has lifted thousands of farmers out of poverty. Research shows that for every dollar invested, income and assets worth $9 have been generated among farming communities in India.

 

• Through mobile learning, the Batwa community in the remote forests of Uganda learned scientific honey and beekeeping practices which have resulted in two meals a day and opened up new possibilities for their children, who now go to school.  

 

• In just one year in Tanzania, over 4,500 women who learned farming techniques using mobiles, radio and TV started agri-enterprises. This programme is also being implemented in Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, Mauritius and Sri Lanka.

 

• COL has trained thousands of young people in various trades using video and television. This programme has impacted young people in large countries such as Nigeria and Ghana, as well as small ones such as Nauru. One such person is Eunice Maganga from Kenya, who is now a trained construction worker and has seen her income increase by 150 percent thanks to the training.

 

 

ODL for Social Inclusion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• COL is using distance learning and technology to support the schooling and skilling of 45,000 girls and women, thanks to grants from the governments of Canada and Australia. The girls and women will have the opportunity to either complete secondary school or be trained in skills for employment or entrepreneurship over the next three years in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

 

• As countries achieve success in providing universal primary education, there are still significant barriers preventing many young people from entering secondary education, particularly girls. Open schools provide flexible learning opportunities by using a range of technologies from print to the internet. COL assessed the Social Return on Investment of Open Schooling in Belize. The study concluded that for every dollar invested, there was a social return of $8.59.

 

• We know that not everyone in the Commonwealth has internet connectivity. To overcome this, COL developed Aptus, a low-cost, offline, virtual classroom that provides learners in remote locations with access to digital resources. A study of its use in Allama Iqbal Public School in Swat, Pakistan, showed that the learning outcomes of the students improved as did the practices and motivation of their teachers. Aptus has recently been deployed in Kiribati, Samoa, and Fiji. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                   

 

 

Aptus is a low-cost, offline, virtual classroom that provides learners in remote locations with access to digital resources

 

 

ODL for Environmental Conservation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Ministers of Education directed COL to establish a Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC). All 30 small states of the Commonwealth are active members of this consortium. Addressing the shared concern of environmental sustainability among the states, VUSSC is offering online courses in eco-tourism and sustainable fisheries. Students have already graduated in Sustainable Agriculture from the National University of Samoa and all the students who graduated have found full-time jobs.

 

• Working with partners in the University of South Pacific, IIT Kanpur, and UNESCO, COL offered a MOOC on climate change. Seventy percent of the participants were from the Pacific region.

 

• COL helped the Centre for Environmental Education, India, to develop a Green Teacher programme which ensures that teachers inculcate environmental concerns among school children.

 

CONCLUSION

 

To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education that promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all, we must find ways to reach learners regardless of where they are and do so efficiently and at scale. Open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies provide the means by which we can reach the many, including the often unreached, and in turn contribute to their lives, their communities and a sustainable future for all.

 

I would like to end my discussion by sharing these two quotes with you.

 

The first is from The United Nations Development Agenda (2007) which clearly regards education as a vital part of the shared goals and visions in economic and social affairs:

 

                                 “Providing every individual with an education is an integral part of the ultimate goal

                                  of improving individual well-being and so is an end in itself. In addition, as long

                                  recognized and emphasized once again by the 2005 World Summit, both formal

                                  and informal education are vital to developing productive human potential.

                                 Universal and equitable access to quality education is an, therefore, an indispensable

                                 part of the effort to… promote full and productive employment.”          

 

The second quote is from Sir John Daniel (2004), the President and Chief Executive Officer of COL when he spoke of ODL for sustainable development:

 

                        “…the appropriate use of open and distance learning allows you to increase access,

                        improve quality and cut cost – all at the same time. This is an educational revolution

                        with the potential dramatically to accelerate the development that will enhance the

                       freedoms of the mass of humankind.”

 

We must accept that ODL has become a viable alternative to the traditional mode of learning in developing countries, particularly in their human capital development efforts and consequently, raising their respective socio-economic status. This has been proven by the proliferation of ODL institutions around the world. Asia, including SEA, is proud to have some of the largest and well-established ODL institutions and open universities the world over and this clearly indicates that ODL has contributed immensely in providing equal opportunity in higher education to the masses in the region.

 

I foresee the next step to embark is on fostering of strategic relationships in and between both regions in the form of effective inter-regional, trans-border collaborations to promote the development of ODL. I believe that if we combine our efforts in this arena, we will reap the rewards and scale greater heights in ODL. Through this, we will be able to enhance our contribution to sustaining a healthy socio-economic development globally.

 

However, Open and Distance Institutions needed to think hard how could curricula help people manage livelihoods and change - and education to understand sustainability. It is crucial to look at the technology offered in ODeL in order to find ways to expand access without increasing inequality and one way would be to use appropriate, available and affordable technologies.

 

Before I end, I would like you to reflect on this video below. This is a video on the Year 2030 in Mannya Uganda. I would like you to join with me in my advocacy in EDUCATION for SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.

 

                                                                       Be an iSupport SDG #4 Advocator!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

 

Daniel, J. (9 June 2004). The Sustainable Development of Open and Distance Learning for Sustainable Development. After-dinner Remarks presented at the Commonwealth of Learning Institute, Canada. Retrieved May 15, 2018, from http://www.col.org/colweb/site/pid/3642

 

Kanwar, A. (2017). Open and Distance Learning for Sustainable Development. Education and Youth Development: Commonwealth Learning,145-150. Retrieved May 15, 2018, from http://www.commonwealthcbc.com/reports/open-and-distance-learning-for-sustainable-development

 

Lane, A. (2017). Open Education and the Sustainable Development Goals: Making Change Happen. Journal of Learning for Development,4, 275-286. Retrieved May 16, 2018, from http://jl4d.org/index.php/ejl4d/article/view/266/256

 

MacKinnon, T., Pasfield-Neofitou, S., Manns, H., & Grant, S. (2016). A meta-analysis of open educational communities of practice and sustainability in higher educational policy. Apprentissage des Langues et Systèmes d’Information et de Communication, 19(1). Retrieved from https://alsic.revues.org/2908

 

McGreal, R., Anderson, T., & Conrad, D. (2015). Open educational resources in Canada 2015.International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(5). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/2404

 

The United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2007). The United Nations Development Agenda: Development for All. New York: The United Nations.

 

UNESCO. (2015). Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002456/245656e.pdf

 

Uvalić-Trumbić, S., & Daniel, J. (2016). Sustainable development begins with education. Journal of Learning for Development, 3(3), 3-8