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- Som Naidu is Principal Associate (Technology, Education and Design Associates), and Executive Editor of the journal D... moreSom Naidu is Principal Associate (Technology, Education and Design Associates), and Executive Editor of the journal Distance Education (https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cdie20/current). Dr Naidu has spent most of his professional life in the higher education sector in a variety of roles to do with enhancing learning and teaching in open, flexible, distance, online learning and distributed learning environments, as well as education more generally in various jurisdictions and contexts. Till the end of 2020 he served as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Flexible Learning), and Director of the Centre for Flexible Learning at the University of the South Pacific.
In May 2014 the Open University of Sri Lanka awarded Dr. Naidu a D.Litt. (Honoris Causa), in recognition of his extensive contribution to the field of open, flexible, distance and e-learning both regionally and internationally. In addition, in July 2020, Advance Higher Education, UK, admitted Dr. Naidu as Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy for his commitment, contribution and strategic leadership in the scholarship of learning and teaching.edit
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Does this mean that we can leave learning to chance? In some cases we may, but in most organized educational settings, I believe that we cannot afford to leave learning to a chance occurrence. Learning is a complex phenomenon, a time... more
Does this mean that we can leave learning to chance? In some cases we may, but in most organized educational settings, I believe that we cannot afford to leave learning to a chance occurrence. Learning is a complex phenomenon, a time consuming and costly activity. In order to produce the best results, with minimal resources and the shortest possible time, we need to carefully design and manage our learning activities.
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The future of Naval aviation training is directly linked to our success in converting and/or augmenting conventional classroom instructor training with advanced distributed learning (ADL). The foreign military sales (FMS) customer should... more
The future of Naval aviation training is directly linked to our success in converting and/or augmenting conventional classroom instructor training with advanced distributed learning (ADL). The foreign military sales (FMS) customer should develop familiarity with the concepts and protocols of ADL since it will be in this medium that much of future computer based training will be developed. To achieve the ADL training vision, training must be distributed just-in-time and on demand, be available anytime-anywhere, and be enabled with resource development and exploitation of modern learning technologies. ADL is a strategy developed to harness the power of learning, information, and communication technologies to modernize education and training. The ADL initiative is intended to implement the “anytime-anywhere” learning concept to provide access to the highest quality education and training that can be tailored to individual needs and delivered cost-effectively, whenever and wherever it is required. This concept will apply equally to both NAVAIR and FMS customers.
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Research Interests: Sociology, Education, Higher Education, Narrative, Praxis, and 10 moreOpen Education, Open Educational Resources (Education), Open Educational Resources (OER), Openness, Open Educational Practices, Technology Enhanced Education, Open and Distance Learning, Open educational resources (OERs), Open Praxis, and Bildungsinformatik
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Karunanayaka, S. & Naidu, S. (2009). Developing Professional Competencies of Teacher Educators in the use of Educational Technology, with Scenario-based Learning In Kinuthia & S. Marshall (Eds.) Cases ‘n’ Places: Global... more
Karunanayaka, S. & Naidu, S. (2009). Developing Professional Competencies of Teacher Educators in the use of Educational Technology, with Scenario-based Learning In Kinuthia & S. Marshall (Eds.) Cases ‘n’ Places: Global Cases in Educational Technology, Information Age Publishing, USA. pp. 123-132
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This chapter reports on a research project implemented in the Faculty of Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) which investigated the impact of integrating Open Educational Resources (OER) in the teaching-learning process... more
This chapter reports on a research project implemented in the Faculty of Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) which investigated the impact of integrating Open Educational Resources (OER) in the teaching-learning process by secondarylevel student teachers in Sri Lanka. The research questions this study seeks to answer are: What are the impacts of OER integration on the use of instructional materials by teachers? What are the impacts of OER integration on teachers’ pedagogical perspectives? What are the impacts of OER integration on teachers’ pedagogical practices? The study adopted a design-based research approach. An intervention programme was implemented with 230 participants who were student teachers registered in the OUSL Postgraduate Diploma in Education programme in nine OUSL centres across the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. Data were collected at multiple stages through the following quantitative and qualitative strategies: survey questionnaires, analysis of les...
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ABSTRACT Authentic assessment activities are those that afford learners opportunities to practice finding solutions to real-world issues and challenges, so that upon graduation they are able to apply these skills to issues and challenges... more
ABSTRACT Authentic assessment activities are those that afford learners opportunities to practice finding solutions to real-world issues and challenges, so that upon graduation they are able to apply these skills to issues and challenges they will face in their workplaces. When learners are able to do this successfully, they are judged as job ready. However, ascertaining the impacts of authentic assessment activities upon the achievement of learning outcomes and the development of desirable graduate attributes is challenging. How can we know for certain that our assessment activities have had the desired impact? A possible pathway is to examine the impacts of authentic assessment activities on the development of graduate attributes. The study reported in this paper offers insights on how, and in which ways, the design of authentic assessment activities in an online professional development program for practitioners influenced the development of generic graduate attributes.
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Purpose The Open University of Sri Lanka implemented a fully online professional development course on open educational resources-based e-learning (OEReL), which adopted a scenario-based learning (SBL) design within the constructivist... more
Purpose The Open University of Sri Lanka implemented a fully online professional development course on open educational resources-based e-learning (OEReL), which adopted a scenario-based learning (SBL) design within the constructivist pedagogy. It was designed to facilitate knowledge construction in a collaborative manner with the support of open educational resource (OER), mainly through peer-facilitated discussion forum activities. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study on how peer-facilitated discussions affected the OEReL process, what factors supported and hindered peer-facilitated discussions, and what challenges were faced during the process. Design/methodology/approach The OEReL course consisted of five modules with 14 discussion forum activities. Content analysis of the threaded forum discussions was the key data collection and analysis strategy based on the community of inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison and Arbaugh, 2007). It was supplemented with participant...
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Technology-enhanced teaching and learning is an outcome of the integration of technology and pedagogy. While technology integration can augment the teaching-learning process, teachers’ willingness and their capacity to use technology and... more
Technology-enhanced teaching and learning is an outcome of the integration of technology and pedagogy. While technology integration can augment the teaching-learning process, teachers’ willingness and their capacity to use technology and pedagogy creatively and meaningfully is crucial to student learning. For effective technology integration, teachers require specific knowledge on three broad knowledge bases - technology, pedagogy, and content, and their complex inter-relationships, as described in the Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). Teachers also require competencies in putting into practice this synthesized knowledge, when designing learning experiences for their students. While TPACK offers a good conceptual framework about the interplay of content, technological and pedagogical knowledge, the synergy of technology and pedagogy in the teaching-learning process calls for serious attention to the design of learning experi...
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Proceedings of CSCL 2002 page 13 PROGRAM COMMITTEE Cecilia Baranauskas Lecia Barker Philip Bell John Bransford Alain Breuleux Amy Bruckman Tom Calvert Tak-Wai Chan Andy Cockburn Alan Collins Bob Craig Chris di Giano Pierre Dillenbourg Tom... more
Proceedings of CSCL 2002 page 13 PROGRAM COMMITTEE Cecilia Baranauskas Lecia Barker Philip Bell John Bransford Alain Breuleux Amy Bruckman Tom Calvert Tak-Wai Chan Andy Cockburn Alan Collins Bob Craig Chris di Giano Pierre Dillenbourg Tom Duffy Mike Eisenberg Skip Ellis Yrjo Engestrom Barry Fischman Geri Gay Ricki Goldman-Segall Louis Gomez Mark Guzdial Jorg Haake Kai Hakkarainen Thomas Herrmann Randy Hinrichs Christopher Hoadley Ulrich Hoppe Michele Jackson Tim Koschmann Kari Kuutti Unicamp, SP, Brazil University of ...
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Contemporary educational institutions are experiencing disruptions to their modus operandi from a variety of sources. A changing student demographic across the higher education sector, along with their changing educational needs is... more
Contemporary educational institutions are experiencing disruptions to their modus operandi from a variety of sources. A changing student demographic across the higher education sector, along with their changing educational needs is driving much of this disruption. Other drivers are the need for different kinds of skill sets required in the contemporary workplace, the need for alternative methods of credentialing and a demand for flexibility in the education space. However, if you looked around for how prepared our contemporary educational institutions are for leading learning for the future, you are likely to be disappointed. This is not because our current educational system is broken en masse. In fact, there are plenty of examples of excellent practices all around us, but these are not enough. Our universities and educational systems continue to operate on outdated principles and practices. While they are willing to experiment with new models on the peripheries of their core busin...
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Following campus closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Ministries of Education around the world requested teachers to move their teaching online. This case study reflects on how the Commonwealth of Learning responded to requests... more
Following campus closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Ministries of Education around the world requested teachers to move their teaching online. This case study reflects on how the Commonwealth of Learning responded to requests from two countries to provide support in pedagogical and curricular change for online learning in this process. A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform was used to upskill 11,568 teachers in two regions of the Commonwealth. Analytics from within the course, together with pre-, mid- and end- course surveys of participants’ perceptions indicated that while there was, and is scope for improvement, the short course largely reached its objective of providing immediate support on an introductory level and that the approach adopted was largely appropriate for the purpose.
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Exploring the role of pedagogical design in promoting quality in teaching and learning
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A fundamental question in the design of learning environments is determining the nature of instructional control which will facilitate optimal learning outcomes. The assumptions that increased control in the hands of learners will produce... more
A fundamental question in the design of learning environments is determining the nature of instructional control which will facilitate optimal learning outcomes. The assumptions that increased control in the hands of learners will produce enhanced learning outcomes is untenable. This short paper reviews a select body of research with varying types and levels of control in learning environments and presents a summary of operational definitions of control applied in those studies. Analysis of these definitions revealed variations in the amount of control allowed which is most meaningful if represented on a continuum ranging from maximum program control on the one hand, to maximum learner control on the other. The impacts of control in learning environments is briefly discussed. Locus of instructional control in learning environments whether CAI (computer-assisted instruction) or CAVI (computer-assisted video instruction) may range from maximal program control on the one hand to maxima...
Abstract: Quality is the most important cotrTonent of any comprehensive continuing professional development programme. This was addressed in a teacher education programme to further address the growing need for quality teacher education... more
Abstract: Quality is the most important cotrTonent of any comprehensive continuing professional development programme. This was addressed in a teacher education programme to further address the growing need for quality teacher education in the South Asian Region. Keeping this in view, the Department of Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) with the assistance of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) launched a Master of Arts in Teacher Education (MATE) - International Programme in February 2005. This paper describes the development of this programme and how it supports collaboration and networking among institutional partners, individuals, as well as countries, at various levels including programme design, pedagogical design and programme implementation. A unique feature of the programme is its pedagogical design, which uses authentic learning scenarios to situate learners in various key roles with challenging tasks to perform. This story-centered approach enhances devel...
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Authentic assessment activities are those that afford learners opportunities to practice finding solutions to real world issues and challenges, so that upon graduation they are able to apply skills developed from these learning... more
Authentic assessment activities are those that afford learners opportunities to practice finding solutions to real world issues and challenges, so that upon graduation they are able to apply skills developed from these learning experiences to issues and challenges they are likely to face in their workplace. When learners are able to do this successfully, they are judged as "job-ready". However, ascertaining the impacts of authentic assessment activities upon the achievement of learning outcomes and the development of desirable graduate attributes is challenging. How can we know with any certainty that our assessment activities have had the desired impact? A possible pathway is to examine the impacts of authentic assessment activities on the development of generic graduate attributes. Our study offers insights on how and in which ways the design of authentic assessment influences the development of generic graduate attributes in an online professional development programme for practitioners around Open Educational Resources and Open Educational Practices.
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Karunanayaka, S.P., & Naidu, S. (Eds.) (2020). Pathways to Open Educational Practices. The Open University of Sri Lanka. (ISBN 978-9-552-31763-7) Retrieved from
http://publicationshare.com/pdfs/Pathways_to_OEP_eBook.pdf
http://publicationshare.com/pdfs/Pathways_to_OEP_eBook.pdf