A sociotechnological perspective of distance education systems in Bangladesh, Australia and the UK

ABSTRACT

Offering education by distance provides an important sociological tool for equalising opportunities in developed nations. However, for developing nations and more particularly some of the least-developed countries in the world, it has the potential to play a much larger role in providing both basic and advanced educational opportunities and, therefore, should be viewed as a necessity rather than an option. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of distance education (DE) systems in three different countries – Bangladesh, Australia and the UK. Although commonalities and differences were evident between the three systems, a number of unified constructs and associated thematic propositions emerged, and resulted in the identification of an innovative theoretical model. The ‘Adapting Structuration Theory In Distance Education (ASTIDE)’ model, conceptualised as part of a broader study, provides an underlying theoretical basis for effective DE provision across the world.

KEYWORDS:

• Distance education
• ASTIDE
• case studies
• sociotechnological approach
• Structuration Theory

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Md. Aktaruzzaman

MdAktaruzzaman is currently pursuing higher education and industry internship in Australia. He has more than 15 years of experience in teaching and research in Bangladesh and abroad. Dr Aktaruzzaman has published research papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings. His areas of interests include Blended and Online Education, Open and Distance Learning, Cybersecurity in a Digital World, Work Integrated Learning, Pedagogical Innovation, etc. Dr Aktaruzzaman has received numerous scholarships and awards including a Fulbright SUSI Fellowship (USA), International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS, Australia), School of Graduate Studies Scholarship (SGS, Canada) and an Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Award, etc. He is an active member in the global online and blended education community and regularly reviews articles and books from prominent publishers across the world.

Margaret Plunkett

Margaret Plunkett is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Institute of Education, Arts and Community at Federation University, Australia. She has been a teacher educator and researcher for more than three decades, specialising in the fields of rural and regional education, teacher professional learning and gifted education with particular interest in effective pedagogical practices relating to online learning and alternative educational settings. Dr Plunkett is on the editorial boards of a number of national and international journals and has published and presented widely, both with colleagues and with her former research students. She has won a number of institutional and national awards in recognition of her teaching excellence including the Pearson/ATEA Teacher Educator of the Year (2012) and an Australian Office of Learning and Teaching Citation (2014).