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Bangladesh ELT situation has been deteriorating for the last four decades. Regional and national projects including ELTIP and EIA proved to be futile in improving this situation, especially, in the Bangladesh rural primary schools with almost 0% properly trained English teachers to implement the current CLT curriculum. This article investigates the on-going poor health-status of CLT at randomly selected schools of northern Bangladesh through delving into the research gaps linked with the ELT practitioners' own English proficiency, their training needs, motivation and teaching skills; their perception on the instructional module; and perception of the YLs of English in Bangladesh. This enquiry uses a mixed method involving a questionnaire survey, semi-structured interview with ELT teachers, teacher trainers, head-teachers and lesson observation followed by a workshop and informal discussion with 100 participants from all ELT stake-holders to validate the findings of the earlier questionnaire survey. The findings conclude that ineffective and lack of teacher training, non-availability of English subject teacher, unproductive instructional materials, unhelpful learning environment, learners' socio-economic background, teachers' poor competence in English and knowledge of CLT methods are responsible for this deterioration. It recommends that implementation of a rigorous teacher training program for CLT to produce English subject teachers for each school, production of a pedagogically user-friendly instructional module for CPD, a culture-oriented teaching-learning environment and a program of regular guidance and supervision by CLT experts would address the gaps prevailing in the ELT (and CLT) situation at the rural primary schools of Bangladesh.

This article describes the use of Moodle as a suitable platform to support the postgraduate open and distance learning (ODL) courses offered by Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). Many USIM postgraduate students who take obligatory courses (e.g., research methodology and data analysis) are taught at different venues to facilitate students' access to higher education and enhance quality of lifelong learning. Managing this complex teaching network has called for the adaptation of Moodle platform. This approach meets two relevant requirements, (a) to ensure consistency, compliance, and quality of teaching, (b) to reduce educational costs, which largely depend on the number of peripheral venues for teaching activities. This article analyses the functionalities of the Moodle platform and its use among USIM postgraduate students and academics. The data was collected based on content analysis via questionnaire applied to 18 USIM ODL postgraduate students and 4 lecturers. The results show that despite having great potential, Moodle is mainly used as a repository for materials. Moreover, lecturers recognize the importance of the use of other functionalities of this platform in order to promote the success of the teaching and learning process.

The study of the university of Mustansiriyah case show us very clear that university suffers from a lot of problems start from the security, technology, management, pedagogical and ethical. Based on a pre-questionnaire survey about e-learning results, interviews and studies show us the need to the complete e-education system. Continuous scrutiny and study of the Iraqi higher education showed us very clearly there was something missing and need to be more reinforced in our modified Khan framework especially with the revolution of the wireless technologies. A framework was designed with many added dimensions like stability, time, learner, content control, standardization, scalability and modularization. As a result, a new framework, is an "ELAMEER-IDRUS" orbit e-education framework with a good acceptance at the post evaluation process that was achieved from a group of 231 senior academics. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)

Nowadays, the HE (higher education) sector of Iraq has suffered severe disruption and mass destruction due to the war and, in general, only 10% of its remaining operational sectors are in the acceptable conditions. This research is an attempt to plan a PS (proposed strategy) for the Iraqi HE sector that can be executed easily in Iraq as a part of the rebuilding of the country and critical sectors, especially education. Before designing the PS, a specially formulated questionnaire using six-point Likert scale was distributed to 350 Iraqi professors and universities academic staff, and the results obtained showed that the problems faced in establishing such an e-learning network in the HE sector included missing infrastructure, well-trained staff, outside world help and the relevant budgets. A comprehensive e-learning strategy has been designed with models that were found through discovering the using of e-learning in one of the pioneers of distance education universities in Asia: the USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) which has a complete e-learning system with a state of the art video conferencing delivery system and an electronic portal. This was complemented by the Badrul Huda Khan octagonal eight-dimension e-learning model. The educational activities were taken as a yardstick in the design of e-learning systems and educational activities for Iraq. The PS plays a major role in fixing an e-learning policy to the government and the ministry of HE in Iraq. (Contains 6 figures and 4 tables.)

This paper reports the investigation of the effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) within a web-based environment in the delivery of an undergraduate Physics course. The effectiveness was evaluated by comparing the performances and the perceptions of the sample students (n=67) using the web-based PBL and comparing the outcomes with those of the web-based Content-Based Learning (CBL). The comparative post-test performance analysis conducted using a student t-test statistical analysis (p<0.05) revealed that the experimental web-based PBL approach yielded better performances than the controlled CBL approach. Where perceptions were concerned, the analysis also revealed that students exposed to the web-based PBL approach responded more positively with their knowledge enhancement compared to students exposed to the web-based CBL approach. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)

This article looks at the quality assurance practices amongst three (3) groups of staff in the School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia, i.e. lecturers, resident tutors and support staff. 9 dimensions of the Quality Assurance Practices i.e. Staff Development, Planning, Work Process, Team Work, Prioritise Customers, Performance Evaluation, System for Sending of Learning Materials, System for Receiving of Assignments from Students and Management of Students' Records are identified in this study. The results show that quality assurances practices amongst three groups are different. Profile Analysis used in this research shows that quality assurance practices amongst lecturers and support staff are parallel. Results also show that quality assurance practices of resident tutors have profiles that differ from the lecturers and support staff. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

The impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on the management practices in the Malaysian Smart Schools was investigated. The analysis revealed that the impact has resulted in changes that include the enrichment of the ICT culture among students and teachers, more efficient student and teacher administration, better accessibility to information and a higher utilisation of school resources. This analysis also revealed that time constraints, higher administrative costs, negative acceptance/support from some untrained staff, abuse of the ICT facilities and problems related to the imposed rigid procedural requirements are among the challenges encountered by the schools.

A study was conducted regarding students' perceptions on the characteristics of the learning requirements in a web-based learning environment. Various aspects of on-line learning were studied including the general web-based support system for the students, the learning materials, instructional strategies of the learning materials and the learning resources. The results revealed a high degree of necessity for a web-based general support system to be provided to the students; the students were also very receptive towards the need for on-line supplementary course articles, as well as materials related to course tests and examinations. Where the on-line web-based learning materials were concerned, the students perceived that these should only be supplementary and supportive to the existing modular print-based format of the course delivery. The instructional strategies that integrate various forms of interaction, the access to a plethora of resources and the media-rich environment fitted well with their learning requirements via distance education.

Explores the level of availability of computers, Internet accessibility, and the rate of usage of computers both at home and at the workplace between distance education learners according to gender. Results of questionnaires completed at the Universiti Sains Malaysia indicate that distance education reduces the gender gap. (Author/LRW)

Presents the instructional design aspects of a multimedia course delivered online via the Internet in a distance learning program at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. Reports results of a preliminary study that showed student perceptions toward online distance education focused on accessibility and presentation rather than pedagogical techniques and interactivity. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/LRW)

This paper reports distance learners' satisfaction with the support system provided to them by a distance teaching institution. Based on the Simpson's model of the support system in distance education, this study proposed the research framework on students' satisfaction of quality that consisted of two factors, namely, the academic and the administrative factors. Satisfaction with the quality of various dimensions of the academic and administrative learners' support system was measured; these dimensions ranged from the initial process of registration as a student, orientation, course related support system such as the academic organiser, the course guide book, video conferencing, the annual residential intensive course, the library and regional centres to course achievements and evaluation processes. Factorial analysis was conducted to determine the inter-relationships amongst the dimensions and to identify a set of latent dimensions that is not readily observed. The results of the factorial analysis revealed that the satisfaction with the quality of the learner support consisting of the administrative and the academic dimensions was consistent with the Simpson model of the support system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of distance education in encouraging lifelong learning among rural students on the West Coast of Sabah, Malaysia. Two national secondary schools, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Badin and SMK St. John in the Tuaran district, West Coast of Sabah, were chosen for this study. At the preliminary stage of the study, a total of 64 selected rural students were given questionnaires regarding their opinions on their science learning experiences. There were five questions pertaining to lifelong learning which were included in the questionnaires. Students were given teaching and learning modules on one of the Form 2 (year 8) science chapters. At the end of the study, these students were given the questionnaire as feedback forms pertaining to the researcher's teaching method. An analysis of the questionnaire revealed two salient findings : 84 percent of the respondents were interested in science, and 88 percent wanted to learn science in depth, other than using the text book. Meanwhile, a comparison between the students' pre- and post- written test marks showed an improvement over 40 percent, and this correlated with the majority who expressed great interest, through the questionnaires, in science-related activities. Based on the questionnaire feedback, 93 percent were inspired to pursue science courses in universities. This indicated that the students intended to make science-related subjects as their priority in earning a degree and thereby obtain science-based jobs after graduation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the students' acceptance of Mobile Learning via Short Message Service (SMS-Learning) amongst distance learners in the Universiti Sains Malaysia. This study aims to examine the student's acceptance towards the language use in SMS-Learning content, the cost of communicating and also the navigation of the system. The study employed the qualitative methodology where data were collected through questionnaire that was administered to 105 distance education students from Bachelor of Management, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Social Science and Bachelor of Art. The survey responses were tabulated in a 5-point Likert scale and analyzed using the Rasch Measurement Model. The results indicated that the simple language used in SMS-Learning was accepted by the respondents. By using the language precisely, it leads to high usability of SMS-Learning which will allow it to academically assist them in their study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]