Open Universities in the Commonwealth: AT A GLANCE Open Universities in the Commonwealth: AT A GLANCE The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to promote the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. © 2017 by Commonwealth of Learning. Open Universities in the Commonwealth: At a Glance is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence (international): http://creativecommons.org/ licences/by-sa/4.0. For the avoidance of doubt, by applying this licence the Commonwealth of Learning does not waive any privileges or immunities from claims that they may be entitled to assert, nor does the Commonwealth of Learning submit itself to the jurisdiction, courts, legal processes or laws of any jurisdiction. This report was prepared by Dr. Sanjaya Mishra, Education Specialist, eLearning, Commonwealth of Learning, Canada. ISBN: 978-1-894975-89-6 Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the heads of all the open universities in the Commonwealth for providing data for preparation of the report. Thanks to Ms. Annegret Wittfoth (Intern) at COL for data coding and preliminary analysis. Cite as: COL. (2017). Open universities in the Commonwealth: At a glance. Burnaby: COL. Published by: COMMONWEALTH OF LEARNING 4710 Kingsway, Suite 2500 Burnaby, British Columbia Canada V5H 4M2 Telephone: +1 604 775 8200 Fax: +1 604 775 8210 Web: www.col.org Email: [email protected] Contents Abbreviations .......................................................2 Foreword ..............................................................3 At a Glance ...........................................................4 Overview ..............................................................7 Teaching and Learning Systems ...........................8 Educational Programmes Offered .........................9 Learner Support Services ...................................11 Student Enrolment .............................................11 Staffing ..............................................................13 Finance ..............................................................15 Governance ........................................................19 Research ............................................................19 International Reach ............................................20 Achievements .....................................................20 Priorities ............................................................21 Key Trends and Conclusions ...............................22 Notes ..................................................................24 Annex: Profiles of the Open Universities in the Commonwealth .......................................25 OPEN UNIVERSITIES IN THE COMMONWEALTH: AT A GLANCE 1 Abbreviations AIOU Allama Iqbal Open University AU Athabasca University BAOU Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University BOU Bangladesh Open University BRAOU Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University ICT Information and communication technology IGNOU Indira Gandhi National Open University KKSHOU Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University KSOU Karnataka State Open University LMS Learning management system MOOC Massive open online course MPBOU Madhya Pradesh Bhoj (Open) University NOU Nalanda Open University NOUN National Open University of Nigeria NSOU Netaji Subhas Open University ODL Open and distance learning OER Open educational resources OSOU Odisha State Open University OU Open university OUC Open University of Cyprus OUM Open University Malaysia OUMa Open University of Mauritius OUSL Open University of Sri Lanka OUT Open University of Tanzania PSSOU Pandit Sundarlal Sharma (Open) University SLM Self-learning material TNOU Tamil Nadu Open University UKOU The Open University UNISA University of South Africa UOU Uttarakhand Open University UPRTOU Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University VMOU Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University WOU Wawasan Open University YCMOU Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University OPEN UNIVERSITIES IN THE COMMONWEALTH: AT A GLANCE 2 Foreword When the Commonwealth of Learning This data source on open universities in the (COL) was established in 1987, there Commonwealth will be a valuable resource for both policy were 11 open universities in the makers and practitioners. All the information provided in Commonwealth: six in Asia, three in this report is based on the responses received. Our effort Canada, and one each in South Africa has been to present the data to help readers compare and and the United Kingdom. Today, the contrast similar institutions and draw their own number of dedicated single-mode open conclusions for appropriate action. universities in the Commonwealth has tripled. Several years The report presents some interesting information — there ago, the International Centre for Distance Learning (ICDL), are over 4.4 million learners enrolled in the 27 open at The Open University (UK), collected data about the universities in the Commonwealth, who have a choice of number of courses and programmes offered by distance over 2,497 programmes and 18,342 courses in almost all teaching institutions in the world. Today, such a source is disciplines, ranging from humanities to engineering. India not available, and it is a challenge to obtain data on the has 41 per cent of all the learners in Commonwealth open number of students, courses and programmes offered at universities. In ten open universities, the number of female a distance. Due to the emergence of online providers and learners exceeds that of males. Learner success at campus institutions offering online programmes, open and distance learning (ODL) is no longer the preserve of open COL would like to thank all the participating universities universities. The field is much wider than it was 30 years for their time and effort in completing the survey. I must ago, and technology is increasingly contributing to the also commend my colleague Dr. Sanjaya Mishra for death of “distance.” It has become an arduous task to track leading this important project with patience and vision. data about distance education. COL has focused on the We now have a rich resource that will help us to analyse open universities in the Commonwealth rather than on all trends, identify gaps and address key issues. I hope you providers of ODL. will enjoy exploring the data presented as much as we enjoyed compiling it. In the absence of comparative data about open universities, the current impact of ODL institutions is not clear. To develop a database of open universities in the Commonwealth, COL initiated a survey. This report presents 27 open universities that responded to our questionnaire. Professor Asha Kanwar President and CEO Commonwealth of Learning, Canada OPEN UNIVERSITIES IN THE COMMONWEALTH: AT A GLANCE 3 At a Glance Open Universities in the Commonwealth 27 2,497 18,342 4,464,751 Universities Programmes Courses Students Levels (higher secondary) Level 3 (post-secondary, non-tertiary) Level 4 (associate degree, technical diploma) Level 5 (bachelor’s or equivalent) Level 6 (master’s or equivalent) Level 7 (doctoral degree or equivalent) Level 8 *Based on the International System for Classification of Education (ISCED) Four universities all six ISCED levels Modes Modes of teaching All of the OUs through open and distance learning 27 Open and 5 Face to face 14 Online distance learning learning Gender equity distribution Key priorities of the OUs for the next three years (by frequency cited) STUDENTS TEACHERS Learner support Enrolled 2,359,141 2,105,162 Full-time 3,569 3,807 Qualifications eLearning Part-time 99,638 87,225 awarded 687,457 681, 519 infrastructure The OUs studied Quality assurance depend largely on part-time Skills development teachers programmes TECHNICAL STAFF ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Infrastructure 1,452 408 7,891 5,664 development Open educational Output resources Low outpuut rates* suggest many Curriculum and OUs strugggle with attrition content revision TE 60 A R T 50 Amongst the OUs Research U P 40 surveyed, the UK T U Open University O 30 has the highest International 20 output rate. outreach and 10 collaborations UUUUUUU UUUUCMaLTUUUAUU UUU *Output rate indicates the AIOABAOBOBRAOIGNOKKSHOMPBONONSOOSOOUOUOUMOOUSOUPSSOTNOUKOUNISUOUPRTOVMOWOYCMO pweitrhce an qtaugaeli fiocf aletiaornn.ers leaving Capacity building INSTITUTION