Paxton Zozie | Mzuzu University (original) (raw)

Papers by Paxton Zozie

SA Journal of Information Management

Background: The Centre for Open and Distance Learning at Mzuzu University was established in 2006... more Background: The Centre for Open and Distance Learning at Mzuzu University was established in 2006 with the aim to increase and broaden access to higher education to most Malawians who despite meeting entry requirements into higher education were not selected because of shortage of space on campus and other learning and teaching resources. Although Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is hyped as a practical option for making higher education available to many people as widely reported in the literature, universities need to address several issues for it to hold its ground.Objectives: The study set out to investigate information needs and barriers to information sources by ODL students by addressing three objectives, namely information needs of ODL students, information sources of ODL students and challenges that ODL students face when seeking information for their courses of study.Method: A survey questionnaire with a mix of closed-ended and open-ended questions was distributed to 350 s...

The main aim of this study was to investigate how secondary schools and tertiary education instit... more The main aim of this study was to investigate how secondary schools and tertiary education institutions in Malawi can sustainably integrate e-learning technologies into traditional teaching and learning environments. The study was conducted in Malawi at Mzuzu University (MZUNI) and four secondary schools within Mzuzu City. Data were collected in two phases. Phase-one was a baseline study of the status of technology at MZUNI and in four conveniently sampled secondary schools in Mzuzu City. The rationale for conducting the baseline study was to ascertain the status of e-learning before conducting the intervention study. This phase used self-administered questionnaires, focus group discussions (FDGs) and in-depth individual interviews as tools for gathering data. Phase Two was interventional in nature because the researcher tried to implement some solutions which were observed during baseline study. This study used a longitudinal qualitative research approach. A mixed methods approach ...

Research in Comparative and International Education

The ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have considerably transformed t... more The ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have considerably transformed the higher educational landscape and are now providing an increasing number of novel and dynamic pathways for education delivery. The steady growth of flexible and affordable ICTs is impacting upon the higher education domain resulting in a departure from traditional education systems to more technologically driven forms of pedagogy. The purpose of this study was to investigate how best to exploit the available ICT infrastructures to support the creation of an open digital university at Mzuzu University in Malawi and to investigate the implications on a wider African context. The data were collected from lecturers, campus-based undergraduate students, and open and distance learning undergraduate students. The main results reveal that students and lecturers at Mzuzu University are conversant with a plethora of ICTs that can be adopted and customised to create a digital university. In that regard, we conclude that a digital university is possible in Malawi. We further conclude that, considering that African universities operate in mostly similar economic, technological and political landscapes, African universities are ready to embrace the concept of a digital university. This is regardless of the prevailing challenges.

The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning

Slowly but surely, open and distance learning (ODL) programmes are being regarded as one of the m... more Slowly but surely, open and distance learning (ODL) programmes are being regarded as one of the most practical ways that universities across the world are increasingly adopting in order to increase access to university education. Likewise, Mzuzu University (MZUNI) set up the Centre for Open and Distance Learning (CODL) to oversee the running of these programmes in 2011. In this study, we adopted the Transactional Distance Theory (Moore, 1997) to investigate the modes of instructional systems, benefits or opportunities, and the challenges associated with the delivery of ODL programmes at MZUNI. By selfadministering a questionnaire to 350 ODL students and 9 Heads of Department in the Faculty of Education whose programmes are offered through ODL, we found that instructions are mostly delivered to students through print-based instructional materials. The major benefits noted include increased access to quality higher education, affordable tuition fees, and flexibility in payment of fees. However, we established some challenges which need to be addressed by the University which include, delayed feedback of assignments and release of end of semester examination results, absence of information for courses of study, poor communication between the Centre and departments, and poor remuneration for lecturers.

Research in Comparative and International Education, 2012

... Ross Perkins is a research associate in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. He is the p... more ... Ross Perkins is a research associate in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. He is the project manager for the UPIC-ICET project. Simeon Gwayi is a physics lecturer at Mzuzu University. He is a member of the ICET team at Mzuzu. ...

SA Journal of Information Management

Background: The Centre for Open and Distance Learning at Mzuzu University was established in 2006... more Background: The Centre for Open and Distance Learning at Mzuzu University was established in 2006 with the aim to increase and broaden access to higher education to most Malawians who despite meeting entry requirements into higher education were not selected because of shortage of space on campus and other learning and teaching resources. Although Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is hyped as a practical option for making higher education available to many people as widely reported in the literature, universities need to address several issues for it to hold its ground.Objectives: The study set out to investigate information needs and barriers to information sources by ODL students by addressing three objectives, namely information needs of ODL students, information sources of ODL students and challenges that ODL students face when seeking information for their courses of study.Method: A survey questionnaire with a mix of closed-ended and open-ended questions was distributed to 350 s...

The main aim of this study was to investigate how secondary schools and tertiary education instit... more The main aim of this study was to investigate how secondary schools and tertiary education institutions in Malawi can sustainably integrate e-learning technologies into traditional teaching and learning environments. The study was conducted in Malawi at Mzuzu University (MZUNI) and four secondary schools within Mzuzu City. Data were collected in two phases. Phase-one was a baseline study of the status of technology at MZUNI and in four conveniently sampled secondary schools in Mzuzu City. The rationale for conducting the baseline study was to ascertain the status of e-learning before conducting the intervention study. This phase used self-administered questionnaires, focus group discussions (FDGs) and in-depth individual interviews as tools for gathering data. Phase Two was interventional in nature because the researcher tried to implement some solutions which were observed during baseline study. This study used a longitudinal qualitative research approach. A mixed methods approach ...

Research in Comparative and International Education

The ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have considerably transformed t... more The ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have considerably transformed the higher educational landscape and are now providing an increasing number of novel and dynamic pathways for education delivery. The steady growth of flexible and affordable ICTs is impacting upon the higher education domain resulting in a departure from traditional education systems to more technologically driven forms of pedagogy. The purpose of this study was to investigate how best to exploit the available ICT infrastructures to support the creation of an open digital university at Mzuzu University in Malawi and to investigate the implications on a wider African context. The data were collected from lecturers, campus-based undergraduate students, and open and distance learning undergraduate students. The main results reveal that students and lecturers at Mzuzu University are conversant with a plethora of ICTs that can be adopted and customised to create a digital university. In that regard, we conclude that a digital university is possible in Malawi. We further conclude that, considering that African universities operate in mostly similar economic, technological and political landscapes, African universities are ready to embrace the concept of a digital university. This is regardless of the prevailing challenges.

The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning

Slowly but surely, open and distance learning (ODL) programmes are being regarded as one of the m... more Slowly but surely, open and distance learning (ODL) programmes are being regarded as one of the most practical ways that universities across the world are increasingly adopting in order to increase access to university education. Likewise, Mzuzu University (MZUNI) set up the Centre for Open and Distance Learning (CODL) to oversee the running of these programmes in 2011. In this study, we adopted the Transactional Distance Theory (Moore, 1997) to investigate the modes of instructional systems, benefits or opportunities, and the challenges associated with the delivery of ODL programmes at MZUNI. By selfadministering a questionnaire to 350 ODL students and 9 Heads of Department in the Faculty of Education whose programmes are offered through ODL, we found that instructions are mostly delivered to students through print-based instructional materials. The major benefits noted include increased access to quality higher education, affordable tuition fees, and flexibility in payment of fees. However, we established some challenges which need to be addressed by the University which include, delayed feedback of assignments and release of end of semester examination results, absence of information for courses of study, poor communication between the Centre and departments, and poor remuneration for lecturers.

Research in Comparative and International Education, 2012

... Ross Perkins is a research associate in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. He is the p... more ... Ross Perkins is a research associate in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. He is the project manager for the UPIC-ICET project. Simeon Gwayi is a physics lecturer at Mzuzu University. He is a member of the ICET team at Mzuzu. ...