Abstract:
The main purpose of this research is to explore various countries experiences about developing
blended learning system in distance education universities. Blended learning, as a third wave in
developing learning environment, has become commonplace after the resident and e-learning
environments in universities. The goal of this movement is improving learning qualities,
extending the boundaries of education and decreasing educational costs. In this study, a
qualitative approach and a comparative method were used. The qualitative method was used to
understand the social contexts of distance education universities and comparative approach was
applied to compare universities in terms of observable categories. Among 17 distance mega
universities in the world, four universities, including Indirah Gandhi National Open University
in India, Anadulu Open University in Turkey, Open University of China (OUC), and Alberta
Open University in Canada were selected using purposeful sampling. The data collecting tool
consisted of a checklist that was prepared with emphasis on 10 categories of social and cultural
features of the countries including general situation of public and higher education, distance
education, policies related to blended learning, learning management system, content
development and presenting method, learning activities and resources, support system,
interaction systems, teaching and assessment method, and evaluation system of learning quality.
The required data were also collected through note taking procedure from sites of universities
and related articles and books. For data collection and analysis, George Brody's four-step
method (Description, Interpretation, Proximity, and Comparison) was used. At first, required
data was gathered from articles, university web sites, and interaction with informed people
through note taking. Next, data were interpreted after continuous review with regard to
university social and cultural contexts. In the third stage, data was organized and categorized
based on similarity and differences and then were compared. Results showed that each four
universities uses British open university framework in organizational structure. Each university
included blending learning in their system based on their polices. Along with self-learning
textual content, the universities started providing electronic content and designing learning
activates with using ICT possibilities, while the Athabasca University emphasizes on individual
and group learning activities. In each four universities, using educational TV as a learning aid is
common place. Support services system in each university is Commensurate with social and
cultural conditions. Online synchronous and asynchronous teaching is part of teaching activities
in each university, but its quality is different. Learning assessment in different in four
universities, but formative and summative evaluations are emphasized in all universities.
Quality assurance system in Athabasca and OUC is based on PLAR, in Anadolu University
based on the Bologna scheme, and in Indirah Gandhi, based on Council of Higher Education. In
this research, for developing blended learning in Payame Noor University, a framework is
provided at the end.
Machine summary:
The data collecting toolconsisted of a checklist that was prepared with emphasis on 10 categories of social and cultural features of the countries including general situation of public and higher education, distance education, policies related to blended learning, learning management system, contentdevelopment and presenting method, learning activities and resources, support system, interaction systems, teaching and assessment method, and evaluation system of learning quality.
According to their findings, factors such as vision, mission, values and aims, evaluation methods, instructional material and resources, educational leadership, governance and management, financial resources, technological facilities, teaching and learning, designing educational courses and curriculum production, student, faculty and staff support services, internal quality assessment, and research system have important roles in improving educational quality [14].
They attempt to integrate various educational components including social context, access to information and communication technologies, learning materials, learning activities, learning resources, teachers and students' interactions, evaluation methods and quality assurance practices to create learning environment for live events, self-learning, providing evaluation opportunities, active learning, motivation, online content, collaboration, and assessment.
The categories under investigation in these four universities are social and cultural features of the countries, general situations of public and higher education, distance education, policies related to blended learning, learning management system, content development and method, learning activities and resources, support system, interaction systems, teaching and assessment method, and evaluation system of learning quality.