Capacity building projects
Projects that report on capacity-building collaborations across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America.
In support of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal of inclusive and equitable access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all, the Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) works with partners from around the globe to help develop, promote and strengthen local capacities for creating, supporting and evaluating online and distance education provision and learning opportunities.
Partners are drawn from varied contexts but with one overarching common characteristic: learning and teaching at a distance is the only realistic option for overcoming local barriers to achieving such goals, including rapid population growth, geographical isolation, limited infrastructure, internal and external conflicts, social attitudes and budget limitations.
The projects in this section report on capacity-building collaborations across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America.
The kinds of challenges they address are:
- Developing staff capability in teaching online and researching current issues in online learning and teaching in a mega university.
- Enhancing staff capacity and capability for developing, delivering and supporting effective online teaching, learning and assessment in a conflict zone.
- Supporting the ongoing monitoring, evaluation and improvement planning of training for medical staff in child health care in developing countries.
- Supporting the re-development of courses into a blended format within an accelerated timescale.
- Supporting faculty in developing contextualized approaches to designing and enhancing on-line programmes for student success.
- Developing critical skills in diplomacy for active serving diplomats as well as grounding students in the core theories of international relations using a blend of synchronous and asynchronous teaching to provide both wide-ranging intellectual skills, and direct practice-based experience for the analysis of solutions to many of today's global problems.
Capacity building projects
About the project
This ongoing project reflects the strategic partnership between CODE and The Open University of China. With over 4.8 million students, OUC is the largest single provider of higher education in China, employing a blend of face-to-face and online/distance learning. CODE supports OUC in developing staff capability in teaching online, collaborative research and welcomes OUC visiting scholars to àËÅöÊÓƵ for placement in the Centre.
Funding
This project was funded through the àËÅöÊÓƵ Centre for Distance Education (now CODE), The Open University of China and the Sino-British Fellowship Trust.
Project team
Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of CODE)
Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stephen Brown (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stylianos Hatzipanagos (CODE Fellow)
Dr Gwyneth Hughes (CODE Fellow)
Professor Alan Parkinson (CODE Fellow)
Dr Matthew Phillpott (CODE Fellow)
Dr Christina Howell-Richardson (CODE Fellow)
Professor Alan Tait (CODE Fellow)
Time frame
2018 - to date
Outputs and resources
Staff development 2022-23
The ‘Designing for learning in online and distance education’ course for The Open University of China has been adapted to support the professional development of 100 OUC teachers and is split into three units for 2022/23:
UNIT 1: Fundamentals of course design 26 September 2022 – 25 November 2022
UNIT 2: Teaching and learning 5 December 2022 – 17 March 2023
UNIT 3: Assessment and feedback 17 April 2023 – 9 June 2023
The adjusted format from September 2022 to June 2023, supports the 100 OUC participants to engage sustained application of the learning on the short course to their practice.
Our partner tutors at The Open University of China work with groups of 10 participants, with a synchronous meeting in each topic. This provides an opportunity to build and consolidate the learning supported through the virtual learning environment. Cluster tutorials also take place in each Topic, ensuring that participants, OUC tutors and CODE Fellows actively co-create the learning and build in both subject disciplinary and cultural expectations.
Download the staff development short course evaluation report for 2022-23
2021-22
‘Designing for learning in online and distance education’ was a bespoke short course run by the Centre for Distance Education between September 2021 and January 2022 for 250 new and experienced tutors at the Open University of China. It was delivered and supported entirely online, in partnership with local tutors in China. Some materials were specially written by CODE for the course; others were adapted from the àËÅöÊÓƵ Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. CODE staff ran bi-weekly webinars for course participants, and weekly webinars for lead tutors from the Open University of China. Each OU China lead tutor worked with a group of about 20 OU China tutors.
The course topics were: Contexts, and the student week; programme and module design; using what we know about students learning and theories of learning; structuring learning; designing learning activities for individual students; designing collaborative activities and assessments; tutor feedback, and midcourse review; locating resources to support learning, and student information capabilities; Technology to enhance learning; assessment; tutor roles, tutor development, and developing as a tutor; and program monitoring, evaluation and improvement. Digital badges were awarded for the successful completion of defined parts of the course. Participants who successfully complete the course, and write a reflective commentary on what they have learned and how they will apply this to their practice, can apply to be granted accreditation of prior learning into the second and final module of the àËÅöÊÓƵ PGCertHE.
This was a bilingual short course, with participants working in both English and Chinese and our work was reported at the 2022 CODE .
Download the staff development short course evaluation report for 2021-22
Scholarly collaboration
CODE Fellow Alan Tait has contributed to ‘Beyond Distance Education, cutting edge perspectives on the future of open universities’ published by The Open University of China. The book is made up of 16 chapters from open university leaders around the world, including Asia, North America, Africa, the Arab Region, Australia and Europe, with in addition a Foreword and Summary by the President of OUC Dr Jing Degang. A number of the chapters deal with the impact of the COVID pandemic on the practice of the open university and on higher education more widely in the country, and in addition reflect on the achievements and challenges of the open university model now more than 50 years old. Professor Alan Tait has contributed a chapter on the Open University U.K., which includes an account of the contribution the àËÅöÊÓƵ external programme made to the original institutional model.
Visiting scholars
The Open university of China visiting scholars 2024
Visiting scholars will be based at the Centre for Online and Distance Education from 4th March to the end of June 2024.
| Scholar | Affiliation | Project title (initial) | Supervisory team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jiang Yilu | Institute of Lifelong Education The Open University of China，Beijing | Exploring the Path of Characteristic Discipline Construction in UK Open and Distance Education | Prof Stylianos Hatzipanagos |
| Ana Niu | Tianjin Open University | Research on the Accreditation of Prior Learning and Credit Accumulation and Transfer System in the UK —A Case Study of the University of Londo | Profs Alan Tait, Norbert Pachler |
UoL’s CODE is supporting a five-year programme of visiting scholars from OUC, funded by the (SBFT).
The Open university of China visiting scholars 2023
| OUC Visiting Scholar | INSTITUTION | PROJECT TITLE | CODE Fellow team |
|---|---|---|---|
| LIU Chang | Guangzhou Open University, China | The Impact of Heutagogy (self-determined learning) on Encouraging Learner Agency of Adult Learners | Prof Philip Powel, Prof Anita Walsh |
| LIU Ning | The Open University of China | Teacher Professional Learning Influenced by the Intelligent Technology from the perspective of the Complex Dynamic System Theory (CDST):An Empirical Study Focused on the Learning Needs and Approaches | Dr Jonathan San Diego, Dr Maylyn Tan |
| MA Tengfai | The Open University of China | An empirical study on professional identity of teachers engaged in distance education | Prof Norbert Pachler, Dr Michele Milner |
- Read about the 2023 visiting scholars.
- Download the 2023 visiting scholar report (PDF)
In 2020 – 2022 our Visiting Scholars provision was suspended due to Covid.
CODE hosted two OUC Visiting Scholars in 2019/20 – sponsored by SBFT, in partnership with the China Scholarship Council. Luo Xiabao (Carol), and Fengwei Cai, were from Gansu and Ningbo Radio and TV Universities respectively, both Branches of OU China. Carol’s project concerned the use of social media by students in selected àËÅöÊÓƵ programmes, while Fengwei focused on strategies that support independent learning. For four months Carol and Fengwei were supported by a team of CODE Fellows, led by the Head of the CODE, Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper, CODE Fellows Simon Rofe and Alan Tait and supported by our the wider CODE Fellows. Carol and Fengwei have gone on to be two of the tutors supporting to short course.
UoL hosted an event for all of the OU China visiting scholars from across the UK in January 2020. Visiting scholars from Open University UK, and University of Leeds joined the UoL Visiting Scholars at a reception and presented their projects to an audience including the sponsors, Sino-British Fellowship Trust.
About the project
The aim of this project is to provide guidance and support for the development of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Nigeria in collaboration with the National Universities Commission, Nigeria. The ongoing programme of activity comprises a series of bespoke workshops and annual symposia for senior university management and staff in Nigeria and àËÅöÊÓƵ. This project supports a joint memorandum of understanding established between the àËÅöÊÓƵ and the Nigerian National Universities Commission.
Funding
This project is funded by the àËÅöÊÓƵ and the National Universities Commission, Nigeria.
Project team
Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of CODE)
Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stephen Brown (CODE Fellow)
Dr Ibrahim ElMayet (Regional Business Development Manager, àËÅöÊÓƵ Worldwide)
Dr Akanimo Odon (Africa adviser)
Peter O’Hara, Business Development Manager Africa and Middle East
Mike Winter OBE (Director International Affairs, àËÅöÊÓƵ)
Time frame
2017 – to date
Outputs and resources
Abuja 2017 Symposium
Abuja 2018 Workshop
- (warning: large file, 2094 KB)
àËÅöÊÓƵ 2018 workshop
Abuja 2019 symposium
àËÅöÊÓƵ workshop 2019
àËÅöÊÓƵ workshop 2020
- Artificial Intelligence in Open Distance Education. Abiodun Musa Aibinu (Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria)
Online symposium 2021
RIDE 2021 conference
2022/23
We are delighted that after a pause in visits to àËÅöÊÓƵ during the height of the pandemic, colleagues from Nigeria’s National University Commission and Universities in Nigeria are now able to return to àËÅöÊÓƵ. Joining our summer 2022 RIDE conference, the NUC team and UOL colleagues identified a further programme of support for Universities in Nigeria seeking to develop their Open and Distance Learning offer.
A three-day workshop programme on: Developing strategy, policies, and quality assurance structures for Open and Distance Learning (ODL) centres, is taking place in àËÅöÊÓƵ on 21, 22 and 24 March 2023 for approximately 30 VCs and senior leaders from Nigerian Universities, plus senior colleagues from the Nigerian National Universities Commission.
Additionally, the 5th joint UoL-NUC symposium is taking place on 23 March, 2023. The event is hybrid face-to-face/online, between àËÅöÊÓƵ and Abuja, focusing on Policy and practice in open and distance learning, with speakers from the UK and Nigeria.
About the project
The aim of this project was to assist colleagues in Palestinian universities to enhance their capacity and capability for developing, delivering and supporting effective online teaching, learning and assessment. An intensive online programme of synchronous and asynchronous learning activities and seminars was delivered to around 30 participants over 4 weeks. Participants were expected to spend about seven hours a week, across the four weeks. Key features of the approach were:
- Early and continuing consultation with stakeholder/client groups and universities to clarify the details of the content and the educational and technical approach, building on the expertise of CDE colleagues in undertaking such work in many parts of the world.
- The training and development processes explicitly built on the current capabilities and expertise of participants in the programme and encouraged participants to make maximum appropriate use of current, including locally produced, educational materials, resources and processes, including high-quality open educational resources.
- Elements of current àËÅöÊÓƵ courses, including the Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and a variety of other subjects to reflect client needs, were used to illustrate educational approaches and methods.
- In enhancing faculty and administrator’s confidence in online teaching pedagogy the emphasis was on supporting the development of a common pedagogy, which can be deployed online, in-person and in combinations of these two.
The majority of the training was undertaken with course teams who were working together to lead, develop and implement. This was ‘on-the-job’ practice-based training and development. The training and development process used was to exemplify/demonstrate the training and development methods being taught, including theory-informed pedagogy; outcomes-based course design, learning and assessment; resource-based learning; active learning and collaborative learning. Participating Universities were encouraged to include staff and educational development colleagues in the programme teams, to maximize the scope for cascade training and development, and hence to boost the overall efficiency and longer-term impact of the process. The materials and methods used to provide the training were provided under a Creative Commons license, to encourage local adaptation and further use.
A àËÅöÊÓƵ certificate of completion was available for participants in our CPD.
Funding
This project was funded jointly by the àËÅöÊÓƵ Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) and the Friends of Birzeit University (FoBZU) organisation, Palestine.
Project team
Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of CODE)
Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stephen Brown (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stylianos Hatzipanagos (CODE Fellow)
Dr Matt Philpott (CODE Fellow)
Professor Alan Tait (CODE Fellow)
Omar Shweiki, Director, Friends of Birzeit University
Time frame
8-23 March 2021
Outcomes
Birzeit University: Cascade to 15-20 junior lecturers based across the faculties. One workshop held during the second week of September 2021 covering key lessons learnt from the CODE training.
An-Najah University: Cascade to 80-100 junior staff and teachers. Summer training running June-August 2021 consisting of 4 modules to be implemented over a 3-month period using the hands-on approach. Part of a university-wide curriculum review initiated by project participants.
Bethlehem University: Cascade to minimum of 20 lecturers from the Faculty of Arts and Education during the summer semester before the start of the new academic year. Aim to establish a regular programme at the Instructional Technology Unit (ITU) to commence during the upcoming Fall semester.
Al-Azhar University: One workshop held in April 2021 attended by 23 members of the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences. A further session planned in August 2021 for deans of faculties and heads of departments, followed by a workshop for each of faculty at the university.
About the project
Children across countries in Africa are set to benefit as the àËÅöÊÓƵ signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the East Central Southern Africa College of Paediatrics and Child Health (ECSAPACH) to support the development, design and delivery of blended training for doctors in child health care.  
Under the terms of the MoU, leading child health specialists and clinical educators from six African states will benefit from sharing knowledge with each other, and with experts in the àËÅöÊÓƵ’s Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE). 
There will be several phases to the project, which is aimed at supporting the development of high quality and appropriately contextualised blended learning provision for medical staff across the region. CODE will support ECSAPACH through a range of activities including:  
- Facilitated discussions; 
- A three-day workshop in àËÅöÊÓƵ;  
- Engagement with needs and capacity analyses and planning;  
- An online staff development and capacity building course supporting the ongoing monitoring, evaluation and improvement planning of training for medical staff in child health care. 
The medical training course will launch in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Botswana and Zimbabwe and it is anticipated that other member states will join in due course. 
Funding
This project is funded by ECSAPACH
Project team
Dr Liz Wilkinson
Dr Sandra Tury
Time frame
September 2023 - August 2024
About the project
The Centro Universitario de Tlajomulco (CUTlajomulco) of the University of Guadalajara, Mexico is in the process of transforming its face-to-face courses into a blended/hybrid delivery mode. To support them in this transformation, CODE is working with colleagues at the University of Guadalajara by providing an online professional development course, presented over 12 topics, and divided into 3 units. The course is designed specifically to support the re-development of courses into a blended format for delivery from January 2024. In addition, CODE will be supporting Universitario de Tlajomulco with its delivery and evaluation of the blended/hybrid courses in 2024.
The professional development course entails 8-10 hours of study per topic, encouraging both theoretical and practical learning, with a focus on the practical development of their courses in real-time.
Unit 1 – Structure and Analysis, including topics on course analysis, learning outcomes, theories of learning, and designing using the ABC Design model.
Unit 2 – Designing Learning, focusing on a deeper development of the design through consideration of ‘the blend’, using technology, and individual and collaborative learning techniques.
Unit 3 – Supporting Learning, where the design is finalised and developed with consideration of feedback, assessment, and programme monitoring and evaluation.
Funding
This project was funded by the Centro Universitario de Tlajomulco.
Project team
Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of CODE)
Professor Stephen Brown (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stylianos Hatzipanagos (CODE Fellow)
Dr Matthew Phillpott (CODE Fellow)
Dr Christina Howell-Richardson (CODE Fellow)
Dr J. Simon Rofe (Deputy Director of CODE)
The course is also supported by other CODE Fellows on specific topics: Leo Havemann, Professor Lynsie Chew, Dr Alexandra Mihai, plus Helen Xanthaki and Huw Morgan Jones.
Time frame
June 2023 – June 2024
About the project
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) seeks to develop its provision in on-line and distance education. This project comprised a two-day workshop in àËÅöÊÓƵ, supporting UPM participants in developing contextualized approaches to designing and enhancing on-line programmes for student success.
Funding
This project is funded by Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Project team
Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper: Director of CODE, àËÅöÊÓƵ
Prof Philip Powell CODE
Dr Maylyn Tan, Singapore Institute for Management, CODE
Larisa Grice, Senior Learning design team àËÅöÊÓƵ
Alex Martin, Kings College àËÅöÊÓƵ
Charlotte Forrest, Kings College àËÅöÊÓƵ
Emanuele De Luca, Kings College àËÅöÊÓƵ
Sam Brenton, Director of Online Education, àËÅöÊÓƵ
Dr J. Simon Rofe, Deputy Director CODE and University of Leeds
Prof Alan Tait, CODE, àËÅöÊÓƵ
Tim Wade, Director of Student Services, Linda Amrane-Cooper, àËÅöÊÓƵ
Jo Harris, Associate Director Student Experience, àËÅöÊÓƵ
Will Eames, Student Experience Manager, àËÅöÊÓƵ
Sandra Tury, Assoc Director: Online Library Service, àËÅöÊÓƵ,
Dr Matthew Phillpott, CODE
Prof Alan Parkinson, UCL and CODE
Prof Lynsie Chew, UCL and CODE
Rachel Sutton, Associate Director Quality, àËÅöÊÓƵ
Leonard Houx, Cambridge Education, CODE
Time frame
22-23 June 2023
Outputs and resources
Download the workshop activity report
About the project
The course was designed to blend synchronous and asynchronous teaching to develop critical skills in diplomacy for active serving diplomats as well as grounding students in the core theories of international relations. 15 serving diplomats – all from Bahrain but serving all over the world – took part in the online course, which started on 25 September and lasted a month. Commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain and The Mohamed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies [Home - MBMA], the course is tied to the UOL global diplomacy program which aims to provide both wide-ranging intellectual skills, and direct practice-based experience for the analysis of solutions to many of today's global problems.
Funding
Provided by the Kingdom of Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Project team
Dr Ashley Cox (CODE Fellow)
Dr Matt Phillpott (CODE Fellow)
Dr Simon Rofe (CODE Fellow)
Dr Kristin Cook
Time frame
October 2023 – November 2023
Get in touch to learn more
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