Boleswana educational research

Abstract

Stakeholders, educators and learners increasingly perceive distance education as an effective knowledge system. Diploma in Education by distance mode aims at upgrading all primary school teachers to the diploma level. It is expected that the Diploma in Primary Education (DPE) programme will improve teachers' knowledge skills and competency in primary education at the foundation level. One of the specialist areas is English. Four modules in English are offered for the DPE through Distance Education in Botswana. Each module covers the three main components: language, literature and methodology. Even as policy makers continue to build on the knowledge system, data about printed materials for the DPE raise some vital concerns pertaining to efficiency and effectiveness of materials. The purpose of this research paper is, therefore to investigate the effectiveness of this module to learners' knowledge and competency in English. The findings of the study reveal that the materials are effective to some extent. It has been recommended that Module I be reviewed for improved effectiveness.


LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 3 () 2006: pp.41-52