Spheres of Influence: Ventures and Visions in Educational Development*

3-6 July, 2002
The University of Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia

Abstract

From banking education to knowledge searching: A paradigm shift from traditional learning to distance learning

Dele Braimoh, National University of Lesotho, Africa

The human activity which we call 'education' is based largely in our society on the related processes known as 'teaching' and 'learning'. The formalization of these processes, resulting in their being carried out within schools, colleges and universities, emerges from society's conscious responses to fundamental problems of adaptation and survival.

As early as 1964, McLuhan conceptualized the "global village" theory, but today, the manifestation of that theory has become a household phenomenon with the advent of sophisticated information and communication technologies. Students can now access and utilize myriad of information on the internet, cultivate inquiry minds to challenge existing theories and yet engage in continuing professional training over geographically dispersed areas. This has therefore, broken the conventional educational practice, which Freire (1972) conceived as a "banking system" in which students are considered as passive receivers of educational content. For example, instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize and regurgitate. Paradoxically, this is a pedagogical system of education where knowledge is seen as a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those who are considered to know nothing. This practice restricts rather than enhances accessibility to knowledge and thus refuses to see education and knowledge as a process of inquiry.

Therefore, this paper analyses the practice of conventional learning mode and contrasts such with distance learning process, a global phenomenon now in vogue, with its attendant virtues for guaranteeing continuing professional development. This synthesis is more relevant now in the face of the shrinking absorptive capacity to meet the spiral public demand for formal education, particularly at the tertiary institutional level.

Key words:
Innovative learning process

Objectives, outcomes and activities:

1. To share experiences with colleagues about African Tertiary Institutions' academic processes.
2. To test theories of innovative learning with the advent of technologies
3. To learn from other participants, their modes of educational delivery and strategies used for stimulating academic performance improvement.

Dele Braimoh is a Professor of Adult and Distance Education at the National University of Lesotho, Lesotho, Southern Africa. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in Mass Communication, an M.Ed. and a PhD. Degrees in Adult Education. His teaching and research interest areas include: adult and non-formal education, distance and continuing education, development communication, industrial relations, rural and community education including higher education policy and management.

Contact: Dele Braimoh, email: ad.braimoh@nul.ls & dbraimoh@yahoo.com