Background

The Regional Model Symposium was conceptualised during the 2022 UNISA Registrar’s Portfolio peer-review/quality audit exercise. The quality peer-review audit was conducted by a panel of experts drawn from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania. During the peer review exercise, the panel discussed the need for UNISA to engage more with other Universities that offer programmes through ODeL, for the purposes of:

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Objectives of the 2022 Regional Model Symposium included:

  1. Exchange of experiences on the regional model establishment, operation and keys to success within a specific context
  2. Learning from sister universities, benchmarking and getting takeaways that can make a huge difference in promoting excellence in the academic project of the participating universities
  3. Enhancement of quality and credibility of programme offering and learner support services within a context bound regional model.
  4. Interrogating teaching and learning strategies for inclusion, equity and social justice with special reference to underserved communities or the hard to reach out-of-school youth and adults using a regional model system
  5. Documentation unique experiences, insights, cutting edge innovations, policies and frameworks for a possible open access scholarly publication under creative commons International 4.0 license for wider and global sharing and feedback for continuous improvement

Sub-Themes

Exploiting Digital Technologies for Student Access and Success.
  • Recruitment, application, and registration of students,
  • Critical learner skills for progression and success,
  • Leveraging Digital Technologies to manage optimal student support strategies,
  • Leveraging Learning Analytics for access and success.
Re-thinking Online Assessment Strategies, Experiences and Challenges
  • Managing academic integrity in online and blended assessment and contexts,
  • Rethinking assessment for learning in open and online environments,
  • Designing and administering authentic e-assessment in higher education,
  • Online Assessment Successes, experiences and challenges posed by IA,
  • Managing Quality of Online and Blended Assessment and contexts.
Professional Development in the Era of AI
  • Leveraging AI Tools to enhance professionalisation of academic, part-time tutors and Admin staff (Opportunities and Challenges),
  • Determining and Ensuring Desirable skills and knowledge set of academic or administrative to optimally function in ODeL Institutions.
  • Re-thinking Quality benchmarks in professional development strategies for students, staff, and others for dynamic 4IR and AI environment in ODeL institutions.
  • Issues of laws, regulations, policies, and procedures (POPI Act) for the protection and management of personal/student information
  • Continuous improvement in areas of operation (reflexivity research- strive to improve and enhance areas of practice; enhancing systems; better ways of interacting with students)
  • Professionalisation of ODeL personnel (self-drive, honesty, punctuality, spirit of service and online etiquette) through AI.
  • for wider access, in e-tutoring, in student and staff inductions and engagement etc
Technology Mediated Teaching and Learning for Employability
  • Determining and Embedding Employability standards for technology mediated content and delivery,
  • Fostering collaborative partnerships between Academics, Students and the Industry through technology mediated teaching and learning
  • Leveraging OERs to promote technology mediated teaching and learning: perspectives, challenges, and practices,
  • Quality Assurance Models to enhance technology-mediated T&L environment and experiences for employability.