INTERVIEW DATA EXPLICATION
5.2 Distance learning context
5.2.2 Perspectives on DL experience
2005). It accepted applicants with minimum academic entry requirements, 5 O level subject passes including English Language that other universities did not accept.
It improved the status of one male deputy school head in the sample as it enabled him, ―-to qualify for his administrative post‖ (DT1CH:367). He was promoted to a primary school head after he joined the B.Ed. programme at ZOU and attributed his promotion to DL.
Considering the above reasons, DL had more comparative advantages for adult learners than campus-based study. Adults with families meet their family, financial, social and professional obligations while they improve their social standing and advance themselves educationally.
generalized, the correct result on this aspect is determined by the results of the questionnaire survey.
All the interviewees who were comfortable with learning at a distance had previous DL experience. One male deputy school head from earlier intakes that completed the programme on time said, ―I had --experience studying-- on my own -- I didn‘t find a lot of challenges learning at a distance‖ (DT1B:369). A male school head from earlier intakes that also had unimpeded completion of the programme said, ―I went to school up to Form 2 only-- after that I started studying by correspondence --- that love to keep on going with studies that helped me‖ (DT1ZV:370). Another male school head with extensive DL experience from earlier intakes that had unimpeded completion of the programme was driven by excitement to enrol in the programme.
He wanted to attain this unique qualification as his, ―--last academic qualification was Form 2 and then distances ‗O‘ level, distance ‗A‘ level and now this degree programme‖ (DT1BV:369). Yet another male school head but from later intakes still on the programme said, ―I only went through formal education up to Grade 7---- I actually enjoy distance learning‖(DT1CH:371).
The above predominantly male group of participants had unimpeded completion of the programme and were mostly from earlier intakes. Their comfort with DL could be attributed to self-confidence and motivation drawn from previous DL experience.
A second observation from this sample was that the six participants who had unimpeded completion were from the earlier intakes and the two who had delayed completion were from later intakes. Of the four participants in the whole delayed completion category, three were from later and one from earlier intakes. That the interview results seemed to show better performance from participants from earlier than later intakes had negative implications on how the programme was run in later intakes. That sample of interviewees had three school heads. It is interesting that all
the three school heads were among the six participants who had unimpeded completion. Therefore interview results also revealed that school heads had a higher and less inhibited completion rate than other groups of teachers. It could be that school heads had more time to study and resources like telephone and typing facilities at their disposal than other teachers as school heads are in charge of all school resources. It could also be an issue of them being more exposed to management matters and therefore having the advantage of sometimes being examined on issues they deal with in their daily work as indicated by one school head who said,― the programme was--educational-we had to use-- what we experienced as school heads-- to understand-- the programme‖ (DT3BV:396).
My sample of interviewees also showed that more urban than rural adult learners delayed completion on the B.Ed. programme through DL. All the four participants who delayed completion stayed in urban areas.
The eight interviewees who found DL challenging gave their experiences in B.Ed.at ZOU that revealed broader picture challenges that I dealt with under their respective tree nodes to avoid tautology. Among these were:
Heavy demands of the programme on adults without previous DL experience, Long duration between previous formal and DL studies,
Lack of self-confidence and interruptions while studying in isolation, Inability to balance family, work and study commitments,
Financial problems, Ineffective orientation,
Inadequate modules, library books and internet access, Insufficient contact tutorial time,
Poor communication with regional centres,
Ineffective feedback from assignments and supervision of projects, and Inadequate revision for examinations and missing results.
In this tree node I dealt with previous DL experience, duration between formal studying and DL, lack of confidence, studying in isolation, socio-academic integration and financial challenges. The rest are dealt with in detail under their tree nodes.
In this set three participants faced challenges because they did not have previous DL experience. For instance, a female head of department from later intakes that delayed completion and was still on the programme said, ―it‘s-quite difficult--since it‘s --my first time to study alone at home (DT1P:374). Another female senior teacher from later intakes without previous DL experience that was still on the programme echoed her counterpart‘s view as she said DL, ―-is quite challenging and at times -- you think of dropping out because of the demands of the programme‖ (DT1C:370).
Some challenges experienced by participants were associated with the duration between the last time learners had studied and DL. Six of my interviewees had less than ten years and six had more than ten years between past formal studies and DL.
For instance, although he had unimpeded completion of B.Ed., a school head that had more than ten years between past formal studies and DL said that, ―It was a great challenge-- after -- 15 years and one finds oneself now embarking on this programme‖ (DT1BV:369).This adult learner faced the challenge of having lost some of the keenness and skills to concentrate and retain material during learning.
Long duration of learners‘ stay without engaging in serious study negatively impacts on assignment writing skills. Concentration can be compromised especially among adult learners as they are involved in many social responsibilities. Besides that, the B.Ed. degree programme that he was now doing was at university level yet his other DL experience was at high school level. Hence he was unsure of his capacity to cope with the assignment writing and other academic requirements at university level.
All the four interviewees from rural areas faced challenges of the distance they travelled to the regional centres. Most of them also lacked access to telephone and electricity which are essential aspects of DL. For instance, a female school head from earlier intakes that had unimpeded completion of the programme said, ―I was -- working in Mash East and—doing my programme in Chinhoyi--Mash West--300 kilometres from where I was working‖ (DT5V:412). Apart from being late for and missing some tutorials such learners faced challenges of travelling risks, costs and learning time. Under ideal conditions a student should not have crossed regional boundaries all the way from Mashonaland East past Harare to Chinhoyi in Mashonaland West Regional Centre (Figure 1). That in itself implies that something was wrong in her registration process. It smacks of poor management of the programme. If she could not be enrolled in her region, at least she could have been registered in the neighbouring Harare Region.
On asking the participants the strategies they used to cope with DL in the face of challenges, a school head that had unimpeded completion of the programme said, ―it needed a lot of dedication-‖ (DT1BV:369) in line with the desire to learn among adult learners (Jarvis 1995; Merriam 2001).