POLICY DOCUMENT
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology as the name implies is a science and Technology Institution owned by the Governments of Oyo and Osun States in South Western Nigeria. It is located in Ogbomoso, a city of over a million inhabitants in the North of Ibadan. It is less than twenty minutes from ancient Oyo to the South and Ilorin to the North. It is thus surrounded by several cities and big towns with huge populations.

The idea of a Distance Education policy is to provide a conceptual framework that will form a basis for an institutional engagement of the ODL practice. A well thought-out conceptual framework and policy clarifications is a first step in this direction. The policy covers but is not restricted to Quality Assurance, Course Materials development; Use of Open Educational Resources; Course Delivery; Staff Recruitment and Progression; Learner Support; Information Advice and Guidance and so on. These are not presented in a linear order.

Ladoke Akintola University of Technology is currently a single mode institution seeking to become a dual-mode one. There are peculiar challenges and opportunities presented by dual mode environments, which should be addressed by a vibrant policy platform. Some of the challenges are regulatory distortions, lack of parity of esteem, organizational inconsistencies and staff overload. There are however opportunities for integration of the face-to-face mode and the ODL mode in a dual mode system through an ODL platform in a way that is mutually reinforcing and cost effective.

The following policy document recognizes the opportunities and challenges presented by a dual mode system.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ODL ENVIRONMENT IN NIGERIA

Egbokhare (2009:2012) outlines the following as characterizing some challenges in the environment of ODL delivery:

*      Poor understanding of the concept and practice of ODL

*      Inadequate administrative and academic capacity

*      Organizational incongruence arising from the

LAUTECH ODL

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