Kay Venteicher-Shulman

OMDE 601 Section 9041

27 October 2013
Comparison of Athabasca University and Open University of Tanzania
Introduction
An open university is an institution of higher education that serves the educational needs
through an open admissions policy. While the definition of an open admissions policy can mean
different things to different educational institutions, a common thread woven through an
organization established in the second wave of distance education has numerous commonalities.
This essay provides a comparison of two open universities, one in a developed country and the
other from a developing country; they are Athabasca University (AU) in Canada and the Open
University of Tanzania (OUT) in Tanzania. Comparisons and contrasts of the institutional
dimensions will include; history, mission and values, organization, model of teaching and
learning, and technology.

History
Information from the Athabasca University website and the AU Comprehensive
Institution Plan (2013) offered an invaluable source of information into the history of AU. AU
was established on June 25, 1970 under the Alberta Post-secondary Learning Act, the AU offers
a comprehensive academic and research institution. Originally planned as a traditional
educational institution, it was changed in 1972 to an open and distance learning university
attaining self-governing status in April 1978. Originally based in Edmonton, the AU moved in
1984 to the Town of Athabasca. It has three satellite campuses located in Calgary, Edmonton,
and Fort McMurray, Alberta (AU, n.d.). It was during the early 1970s, Guri-Rosenblit (2009)
explains, that there was a common global government-organized movement towards a largescale distance education model which could provide greater access to higher education at a lower
cost than traditional higher education models.

Kay Venteicher-Shulman
OMDE 601 Section 9041
27 October 2013
Comparison of Athabasca University and Open University of Tanzania
The AUs fiscal philosophy is a balanced and sustainable financial approach, with
revenues and expenditures calculated at more than $130 million. It offers more than 20
undergraduate programs, 12 graduate programs, and other diploma or certificate programs in
over 55 subject areas boasting more than 850 courses. It serves over 40,000 students coming
from every Canadian province and territory and 87 countries worldwide, it boasts over 30,000
alumni. The average AU undergraduate is 29 and graduate is 39. Statistics for enrolled students
show that 83% are working, 67% are women, 50% are graduates supporting dependents, and
70% of all graduates are the first to earn a university degree in their family. The AU
Comprehensive Plan (2013) touts a growth rate for AU that anticipates an annual growth of 30%
between planning years of 2012 and 2017. While the individual student admission to AU is not
predicated on previous education, undergraduate applicants must be 16 years of age and may be
required to complete academic prerequisites for courses or programs (AU, n.d.).
The OUT Facts and Figures (2013) and OUT Prospectus 2012/2013(n.d.) provide a great
amount of information on the institution. The OUT was established in 1992 by the United
Republic of Tanzania through an act by the Tanzanian Parliament and began operating within a
year. The OUT initial enrollment included 766 students in 1994 in the undergraduate programs
with the makeup of female students growing from 8.3% in 1994 to 24% in 2000 and finally
31.5% in 2013. In 2013 OUT has a student population of over 4,600 and with over 43,000
students receiving some level of education since its beginnings (OUT, 2013).
It currently offers certificates, diplomas, degrees and postgraduate courses in seven
different programs. Across the regions of Africa that it serves, there is an indication of gender
disparity with females being under represented until the last few years. The make-up of the male

Kay Venteicher-Shulman
OMDE 601 Section 9041
27 October 2013
Comparison of Athabasca University and Open University of Tanzania
to female ratio is fairly consistent over the schools history with only the Social Work and
Sociology programs during the last six years displaying a greater gender parity in admission with
rates of 46.4% and 42.3% respectively in the OUT Facts and Figures of 2012/2013 (OUT, n.d.).
The current student population of OUT is made up of approximately 26,000 students with a
break-out of 22,000 and 4,000 respectively as undergraduate and postgraduate students as
reported by the Southern African Regional Universities Organization (SARUA, n.d.).
Mission and Values
AU asserts its mission, while operating as Canadas Open University; is to serve the
public and guarantee access to the non-traditional student. By removing barriers which limit
access to post-secondary schooling such as cultural, educational, financial, geographical, and
social factors, AU can ensure and promote student success in university-level studies and provide
greater access for adult learners. It also is committed to furthering teaching, research,
scholarship, and support to the public. This supports the AU vision to be a world-class online
university. The AU programs offer the equivalent rigorous, high quality university education as
a traditional post-secondary-educational does. It follows the four principles of excellence,
openness, flexibility, and innovation that provide a common thread in the university values such
as excellence, learning, scholarly research, diversity and inclusiveness, AU employees, and
accountability. As Canadas Open University, AU continues to remove barriers to postsecondary school often experienced by non-traditional students (A.U., n.d.).

Kay Venteicher-Shulman
OMDE 601 Section 9041
27 October 2013
Comparison of Athabasca University and Open University of Tanzania
While the OUT mission is quite similar in that it promotes a quality education
through open and distance education. It also promotes research and service to the public to
better both Tanzania and greater Africa through sustainable means and socio-economic
development. OUT operates under a vision to become a leading world-class university that
provides an affordable quality education. OUT includes both values and norms that guide it
similar to those of AU while expanding its commitment to issues such as gender, equal
opportunity, collegiality, and social accountability that speaks to cultural differences and issues
of the region when compared to the Western world. The global community and driving change
and reform through the impact of globalization on these previously remote areas of Africa are
viewing these differences (OUT, 2012).
Organization
Moore and Kearsley (2012) point out that AU is the leading single-mode distance
education university in Canada. On the four campuses, AU employs over 1,350 faculty and
staff. Similarly, the OUT Prospectus 2011/2012 (OUT, 2012) states that it is a single-mode
institution operating in the open and distance learning model. OUT is organized into 29 regional
centers in Tanzania, with one each in Kenya and Rwanda. OUTs academic staff has grown
from five in 1994 to 354 in 2013 and 282 administrative staff. It also has 4 coordinating centers
and 69 study centers (OUT, n.d.).
Model of Teaching and Learning
Both AU and OUT appear to use dimensions of andragogy as teaching/learning models in
addition to organized meetings with tutors as needed. Both offer seminar type meeting to

Kay Venteicher-Shulman
OMDE 601 Section 9041
27 October 2013
Comparison of Athabasca University and Open University of Tanzania
support activities such as labs and organized group activities for coursework. AU offers both
individual and group study courses for material that appears to target the learners need to
continue individual, self-directed, initiative to learn and grow. AU does use similar timelines for
course work as traditional education institutions. There is also community building conducted
during the online activities to support the learning environment (Moisey, Neu, & ClevelandInnes, 2008). This is similar to the description from OUT that discusses the individual selfguided learning supplemented by face-to-face sessions, written assignments and semi-annual
testing. The distance education aspects have benefited OUT in fostering camaraderie and
additional means of technology-mediated learning and sharing of materials (Butcher, Latchem,
Mawoyo, & Levey, 2011). The difference appears to be in the extended period that OUT offers
for remote areas. Both offer programs with similar curriculum and course work requirements,
which upon review appears similar to curriculum offered at schools such as University of
Maryland University College.
Technology
Both AU and OUT operate under conditions that place large numbers of learners at a
distance from the educational institutions. While AU has attained status as an online university,
it continues to advance in open and distance education through utilizing the Open Learning
Environment or OLE (i.e., web, e-mail, Internet) for both student support and education
purposes. For the large number of learners that reside in rural and remote areas, delivery
technologies include multi-media based material, print materials, CD-ROM, computer software,
audio/video conferencing, audio/video tapes and TV or radio (AU, n.d.; Nihuka & Voogt,
2012). OUT has a greater challenges and difficulty in internet technology (IT) due to the limited

Kay Venteicher-Shulman
OMDE 601 Section 9041
27 October 2013
Comparison of Athabasca University and Open University of Tanzania
infrastructure within the geographic region it serves, which creates an inability to support
adequate online delivery. The work around that it has put into place is a networked computer
infrastructure available at OUT facilities with limited connectivity between sites based on cost
and availability. Limited IT is supplemented by delivery through multiple means such as
broadcasting, telecasting, correspondence, enhanced face to face, and seminars, which is why
OUT extends the course time for remote areas.
Conclusion
The AU and OUT have a great number of similarities in their missions, values, similar
technology challenges in remote areas, historical beginnings through government direction, and
the desire to provide a quality education to the population it serves by ensuring open access.
While AU has experienced greater success in serving the larger population, the use of
technology, models of teaching and learning, it has had the benefit of operating in a stable socioeconomic setting of a leading country. OUT has achieved slow but consistent success in
overcoming cultural hurdles such as gender parity in a socio-economic setting that is still
considered a third world country and just recently entering the global economy. Both institutions
continue to grow in student numbers and in curriculum offerings that continue to bring value to
those learners and public that they serve as well as the open university model.

Kay Venteicher-Shulman
OMDE 601 Section 9041
27 October 2013
Comparison of Athabasca University and Open University of Tanzania
References
Athabasca University (AU). (n.d.) About A.U. [web page]. Retrieved from
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Athabasca University (AU). (2013, June 7) Comprehensive institutional plan: 2013-16. About
A.U. [web page]. Retrieved from
www.athabascau.ca/content/aboutau/documents/cip/2013-16.pdf
Butcher, N., Latchem, C., Mawoyo, M., & Levey, L. (2011). Distance education for
empowerment and development in Africa. Distance Education, 32(2), 149-158.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2011.584844
Guri-Rosenblatt, S. (2009). Diverse models of distance teaching universities. Encyclopedia of
Distance Learning, 2, 727-733. Available from:
http://www.box.com/s/51sbixtccnccfxboh1uk
Moisey, S. D., Neu, C., & Cleveland-Innes, M. (2008). Community building and computermediated Conferencing. Journal of Distance Education, 22(2), 15-42. Retrieved from
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b=ehh&AN=31973095&site=eds-live&scope=site
Nihuka, K. A., & Voogt, J. (2012). Collaborative e-learning course design: Impacts on
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Technology, 28(2), 232-248. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.umuc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d
b=eric&AN=EJ976022&site=eds-live&scope=site

Kay Venteicher-Shulman
OMDE 601 Section 9041
27 October 2013
Comparison of Athabasca University and Open University of Tanzania
Open University of Tanzania (OUT). (n.d.) The Open University of Tanzania: Affordable quality
education for all. [web page]. Retrieved from http://www.out.ac.tz/
Open University of Tanzania (OUT). (2013, June) OUT facts and figures 2012/2013. Dar es
Salaam: OUT. Retrieved from http://www.out.ac.tz/images/news_events/facts.pdf
Open University of Tanzania (OUT). (2012) OUT prospectus 2011/2012. Dar es Salaam: OUT.
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http://www.out.ac.tz/gallery/Announcements/2013%20prospectus%20version%209.pdf/
Southern Africa Regional Universities Association. (n.d.) Open University of Tanzania. [web
page]. Retrieved from
http://www.sarua.org/?q=uni_Open%20University%20of%20Tanzania