DOCUMENT RESUME ED 320 544 IR 014 458 AUTHOR Sewart, David

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 320 544 IR 014 458

AUTHOR Sewart, David, Ed.; Daniel, John S., Ed. TITLE Developing Distance Education. Papers Submitted to the World Conference of the International Council for Distance Education (14th, Oslo, Norway, August 9-16, 1988). INSTITUTION International Council for Distance Education. REPORT NO ISBN-82-508-1011-2 PUB DATE 88 NOTE 472p.; For a report from the 14th conference, see IR 014 440. PUB TYPE Collected Works - Conference Proceedings (021) -- Reports - Descriptive (141) -- Reports - Research /Technical (143)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC19 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Administration; Communications Satellites; *Developing Nations; *Distance Education; Economics; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Instructional Development; Program Evaluation; *Services; Student Attrition; *Teacher Education; *Telecommunications; Teleconferencing; Vocational Education IDENTIFIERS *Interactive Television

ABSTRACT These proceedings contain 10 keynote papers and more than 100 papers from an international conference on the theme of developing distance education. The keynote papers are:(1) "Communications Technology" (Yoshia Abe); (2) "Continuing Education. New Needs and Challenges for Distance Studies" (Urban Dahllof); (3) "Distance Education and National Development" (John S. Daniel);(4) "Distance Education--A Developing Concept" (Jack Foks); (5) "Organisational Autonomy and Coordination in Distance Education" (Patrick Guiton);(6) "Distance Teaching and Credit Transfer" (John Horlock); (7) "How to Develop a Correspondence Course" (Michael P. Lambert); (8) "If Student Services Are So Important, Then WhyAre We Cutting Them Back?" (Ross Paul); (9) "Women in Distance Education" (Christine von Prummer, Gill Kirkup, and Barbara Spronk); (10) "Economics in Distance Education: Time for a Change of Direction?" (Greville Rumble). The conference papers represent distance education projects worldwide in elementary and secondary education, higher education, and vocational education. Issues include program administration; the production of instructional materials; the use of telecommunications media, including interactive television, communications satellites, and computer conferencing; program evaluation; teacher education applications; instructional design for cognitive skill development; and student attrition. Referencesare provided in most of the papers. Appended are personal study contracts and related documents for administering distance learning in Tasmanian high schools. (GL) AtI '1 ' ,L "17----T----.1 -1-'17, 1 II 1 1 L,-, 11 II '11",-, ..._ vallitlit .11 , 1 MP __ , 1 II JWr .41higifillt Mr 1 . 11A""--11.11 Al ,. V' -,'11 -''''40111. Pob---golob-1111 1 A 1 Ima:,. ma,'' i 1 , illikor* AK , IL "11"/ A- -""7"7:71r...17:' ,,...., IN' - 1 onr-qtr-1 alio ... - -.,, 1 t4111Pirrill ii. ANIN 7-- I on'',' ':'- .. JL ',"1 l'g! rt4 ' Al.'-.. illr...A-..d:miii011111.--411 .,=,17-7=7777-1/ " 1....16.1.-1 . . . if Ir JUNI - r111111;' l'r Now .mialiallig Br ' 411' 7111 11111t 1111b0.--..ifillr 1. ,,tir ,],ii(-:..L.;1; -;,C;' ',!'ies a-y-ml IMIL:11 . I '..::',77.:. ILk gummill.....4- I" I I 'II/P'" I 17:1- 11 .doc,-,40,i-Ir ... .16.2e.'1 ' ' lirbili ,A,1111' - al It ';,,'11111-'1! --711m' L_ L'111 iii,rri-AIIIIC r Mk AL. .' frimmarNV, ir 'f II_ 41.:..--1111-1 .r --I MB .-71'.''NNE-'...111110,r' ;'1777117--,77-1/- :'Ali4:.dif ' libiiiiIIIBL______I - . . 1' I ..1 '4CIni 1 -""milll r"'''''"1I 1 ..itailP"14111411111w...11- -,1 'Am. PIP"' - : : II I.- I I A WIL** Trill- 111111111'"i-,,;,, riP' - -4111 -iime--1 I ::. . iL --lame IIIm- -'1-....g11111 I _..1--m--11 I me& ,,,-7-99.41i 1 . 177.7! , '" ., . ' 1 I -Mild *mid fill r T1. L'' ".'''..- , "11...... _ 1 f '11111111Fil `11111016 Lodge V" mimp I _111/ I I 'V 11',:',A1111111 ,:;,:shiL...,- M1111114 7 Ar 111g44.1fMr .--1!"1"1 11 .1 '''',, .4 k '111111Phi'V ism...01111 aN.ilimimil a mm--1" I NIL_ __All 1- - 1 'Yr 41. 111091006-1P- I 'S - . 111 1 PPNIL=11111__L- 1 /I 11111111111174'2.4"1"1-11 WV' I P110411.11"41111111111L, NIL INK lull 1 1 ''''' AM 1Mk_ _A 1 14.11% 1111 Alms All Pi--11 r- A A HU 11111111-- I_ .4111 1W4a k _I ig . -11t...3 I .414. - 1111111111111116.= =An 1.1!14 _MIA 111 11111111111 1 IC NNW 44MIA nor- 4111111111111,imas MEM41 A 11111 111111111111MILmom R r 1111i 1I DAVID SMART JOHN S. DANIEL Developing Distance Education Papers submittedto the 14th World Conferencein Oslo 9-16 August 1988

Interr...:tional Council for Distance Education Oslo 1988 © ICDE 1988

Cover design: Josef Leupi Layout: Reidar Gjorven Set in: Optima 10/11

Printed in: Varnamo, Sweden 1988 by Faiths Tryckeri

ISBN 82-506-1011-2

4 CONTENTS

Preface 5 Key-note papers 7 Yoshia Abe: Communications technology 9 Urban Oahildf Continuing education. New needs and challenges for distance studies 16 John S. Daniel: Distance education and national development 21 Jack Foks: Distance educationa developing concept 31 Patrick Guiton: Organisational autonomy and coordination in distance education 39 John Horlock: Distance teaching and credit transfer 45 Michael P. Lambert: How to develop a correspondence course 47 Ross Paul: If student services are so important, than why are we cutting them back? 50 Christine von PrOmmer, Gill Kirkup and Barbara Spronk: Women in distance education 57 Greville Rumble: Economics in distance education: time for a change of direction? 63 Conference papers (alphabetical by author) 71

5 PREFACE

Learning at a distance is not a new phenomenon. Indeed it might be said that the Epistles of St Paul provide evidence of an early appreciation of this method of overcoming problems of distance andtime. It is, however, in the 20th century and particularly in the last two decades that this form of education has entered strongly into the theory and practice of education throughout the world. The growth of institutions providing this form of support to students has been accompanied by the development of a body of knowledge about the principles and practices which are essential for the creation of a successful and statisfying learning experience for students. Clearly the practices will vary since they must be based upon methods of communication available in particular areas of the world and an emphasis on broadcasting and postal communication is oftena reflection o: a region's dominant communication medium rather thana conscious choice. Indeed, one of the strengths of Distance Education is the variety of media which have proved successful for it. ICDE celebrates its 50th anniversary in Oslo this year. In 1938a group of pioneers from correspondence institutions in 6 countries met in Victoria, Canada and founded the International Council for Correspondence Education. After the Second World War the Council expanded steadily, holding the World Conference ina different country every four years. In the 1960's growth accelerated and the Stockholm Conference in 1965 attracted over 200 delegates from 25 nations. Thi3 growthwas sustained through the 1970's reflecting the evolution of Distance Education and the creation of "open" Universities and Colleges inmany parts of the world. In 1982, at the 12th World Conference in Vancouver, Canada,more than 400 delegates adopted a name change the International Council for Distance Educationbetter to express the contemporary diversity of learning media and methods. The Conference in Melbourne in 1985was only the second such Conference to be staged in the Southern Hemisphere and the success of ICDE as well as the generalawareness of the longstanding tradition of Distance Education in Australia, led to anew attendance record of over 700 delegates from some 50 countries. The 14th World Conference of ICDE celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the association and this book constitutes th:-.., basic document of the Conference under the theme "Developing Distance Education". The book contains most of the major presentations and many of the supportingpapers on which the Conference is founded and was planned by the Programme Committee of ICDE which consisted of Dagny Blom (Norway), Helmar Larsson (Sweden), Erling Ljosa (Norway), Marjan Lubbers (Netherlands), Torstein Rekkedal (Norway), Reidar Roll (Norway) and David Sewart (United Kingdom) as Chairm7n. The volume andrange of the papers which have been offered for the conference has necessitated difficult decisions butwe hope that the book may be seen as representative of the wide range of themes and areas of the world whichnow enrich Distance Education. The entire project would have proved impossible without the help of many colleagues. It isa pleasure to acknowledge the support received from Reidar Roll, Janniche Langseth and other staff of the Norwegian Association of Distance Education and in particular Erling Ljosa and his staff in NKS. We are also particularly indebted to Pat Proctor of the Open University whose efforts have kept the whole project on time. Finally we would like to thank the contributors who have provided such varied and interesting papers. Reading such a wealth of contributions has been a rewarding experience and we hope that readers of the book will now be able to share this experience and makeuse in their own work of the variety of ideas and practices in the development of Distance Education to which it isa witness.

David Sewart )ohn S. Daniel

5 6 Key-notes

7 7 BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS Yoshiya Abe is Director, Research and Development Division, Natio- nal Institute of Multi -Media Education, 2-Chome, Waka- ba, Chiba-shi, Japan 260

Communications technology YOSHIYA ABE

PREFACE: COMMUNICATION, In Germany at the FernUniversitat; in Finland; in TECHNOLOGY AND DISTANCE Norway through the Norskfjernundervisning; in the four provincial institutions of Canada; in Australia at EDUCATION Deakin University; in the United States through tele- Education began as a matter of dialogue, or commu- courses offered through the Adult Learning Services nication, from its outset. In Greece and Rome, as of the Public Broadcasting Service; in Japan with the well as with Confucius and Buddha, dialogue Ix.- broadcast based University of the Air; and in the tween master and the disciples was the beginning of Netherlands, where the new Open Universiteit education. Thus academia grew as an institution opened in 1984, a variety of new communications where toe master and the disciples gathered togeth- technology is used to reach students. Many of these er to exchange views about their observation and students are adult, working or homebound and analysis of the issues. would not be able to participate in higher education without distance education. Communications technology, particularly the electronic devices developed in recent years, is capable Although distance education institutions in the de- of overcoming the barrier that distance presents to veloped world are not large in terms of the numbers education. Indeed, new communications technol- of students, they are significant because the> serve ogy has the potential to change the very nature of students off-campus in new and innovative ways. educationalinstruction processes.It may also Thus vital development within distance education change the methods used to manage or administer institutions, is seen in the employment of the new the instructional system. Recognition of the impact communications technologies. of these technological devices, in fact, resulted ina change in the name of this association from the International Association of Correspondence Edu- cation to the International Council of Distance Edu- VARIETY OF SOCIO-CULTURAL cation several years ago. INFRA-STRUCTURE Expansion of the educational mission through the In the United Kingdom the success of the British use of new communications technology is most vis- Open University depends heavily upon the well ible in the developed world, particularly among the developed mailing system and public libraries, ac- member countries of OECD where are initial dis- cess to which had been well established before the tance learning institutions have been established. formation of the new system. In Korea, the Korean Following the lead of the British Open University, Air and Correspondence University makes bene- educational outreach is new but important mission ficial use of the existing national university system for the higher education system in most of these for providing schooling and examinationsas well as countries. part-time faculty. Similar arrangements have been

8 adopted by the Sukhothai Thammathirat Open Uni- spondence students at the fourth and fifth grade versity of Thailand, the Terubuka University of In- level. This is the simplest and cheapest CAI system donesia and by many other institutions of distance to support students who find it difficult to keep up education. /ith the standardized classroom instruction. The In Japan, however, tele. ision, radio and other com- cost of a Family Computer is about $US50 and the munications technologies are extensively used, interface is about $U590. partly because its elementary and secondary educa- It is interesting to note, in this context, the differing tion provided the necessary infrastructure for the arrangements in various countries regarding who is effective use of broadcasting and other communi- to bear the cost of education. In the United States, cations technologies in distance higher education. for example, elementary and secondary education In Japanese elementary and secondary education is regarded as a birthright for all citizens. In Japan the curriculum content and the sequence of instruc- also education is compulsory and, in principle, tion for each subject, and grade level are specified publicly supported up to the 9th grade. Most coun- in detail by the Ministry of Education thus facilitat- tries in the world today consider the provision of ing the provision of instructional television pro- elementary and sometimes secondary education to grams commensurate to the sequence of instruction be a public responsibility. nationwide. Although access to higher education has increased In the United States on the other hand the curricu- in the past three decades, it is still not seen as a lum content and the sequence of instruction is left to universal right. There are, and always will be, ques- the discretion of local school districts and individual tions about who should pay for higher education. teachers. It is this national standard that makes it Whereas higher education is often publicly support- easier, or more difficult, to introduce instructional ed in European countries, in Japan, the United television and radio as support materials for class- States and most of the developing countries the room teaching. Most teachers in the United States responsibility for financing this level of study has do not use instructional television regularly, almost often been left to the student. though fifty-four percent of those teachers who had Nevertheless within the United States most states instructional television programming and a TV set have made a commitment to providing inexpensive used televised programs during 1982-83 according higher education through the systems of community to Ronald J. Pedone ("Instructional Television in colleges. It is understandable, when one considers Elementary and Secondary Education", National In- the need to reach such large numbers of students stitute of Education,June 1984). with such little money, that public community colleges were at the vanguard of producing, d. semi- nating and utilizing telecourses as a means of of- PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INITIATIVES fering higher education to all the citizens in the IN THE ADOPTION OF American community. It may also be noted that TECHNOLOGY approximately 80% of college and university students are enrolled in publicly financed institutions Because the Japanese elementary and secondary curriculum is cumulative and demanding, substan- and these institutions often make use of available telecourses. tial numbers of students fall behind. Parents are anxious to provide whatever help they can and often According to the 1979 CPB/NCES Higher Education pay for outside assistance when necessary. In Japan, Utilization Study, 72% of colleges and universities students needing academic reinforcement most in the United States make some use of television and commonly attend a juku, or private proprietary edu- 25% offer complete courses over television; 1978- cational institution, which is designed to enable 79 enrollments in television courses totalled ap- children to keep abreast of the demanding curricu- proximately half a million. Peter Dirr's 1985 Study lum. revealed substantial improvement both in terms of Juku operators are often keen in developing techno- the quality of the telecourses and the quantity of logically supported programs of instruction. For ex- enrolment thanks to the institutionalizing of the ample, in view of the recent mass sales of Family Adult Learning Services at PBS, the foundation of the Computers to elementary school pupils throughout International University Consortium and the provision of substantial funding for the production of Japan in excess of 10 million sets as of 1987 a juku chain organization developed a special in- distinguished telecourses by the Annenberg/CPB terface to combine the use of a Family Computer, a Project. TV set (used as the display) and a cassette tape for In Japan on the other hand approximately 80% of educational software. New educational software for college and university students are enrolled at pri- Japanese language, social studies, arithmetic and vate institutions which rely on student tuition and science are produced every month and utilized by fees to cover, on average, up to 80% of the current the company's approximately 1,000,000 corre- expenses, with the state providing about 20% of the

10 costs. College correspondence courses were incor- COMMUNICATIONS porated into the official education system in 1947 with the explicit purpose of providing access to TECHNOLOGY AND DISTANCE college education for working youth who could not EDUCATION afford to attend traditional college on a full-time Broadcasting is without doubt, the system that can basis. All the 12 four-year and 10 two-year Japanese deliver education most widely, cheaply (if there is a institutions offering correspondence courses are pri- large clientele) and effectively to students scattered vate and financed almost entirely by the tuition and "at a distance". The production of visual and audio fees of the students. courseware and the use of television and radio Apart from college correspondence courses which broadcasts have greatly expanded access to educa- depend on print and mail as the principal media of tion to those who could not have access to it other- instruction there are as yet only a few opportunities wise. in Japan for those who did not enter college upon No matter how strong a device broadcasting is as a graduating from high school to go back to college. medium of distance education however, it has an Since virtually all traditional colleges and universi- intrinsic weakness in assuring interactive learning. ties admit students based on their performance in From the students' viewpoint distance education entrance examinations (with the minor exception of should be an educational system which makes small quota for adult students in a few col reges and learning available either at home or during spare universities) and because the traditional cycle of time at work. Students study individually, share in Japanese education is structured for the young peo- the payment of educational costs even if it is partial ple who are peaking in their exam-taking capa- and comparatively inexpensive, and depend on bilities at the conclusion of high school, adults find their own initiative for learning. They find therefore, it extremely difficult to enter formal colleges or uni- that distance education via mass media only partial- versities after a working life of several years. ly satisfies their ideal of a learning opportunity. They There is now, however, growing interest in improv- ask for their money's worth which might easily un- ing opportunities for adult education. National pol- dermine the goal of providing cheaper educational icymakers have become increasingly concerned opportunities; and they expect their personal ques- about such problems as the ageing of the populations answered promptly, even though they are tion, the anticipated labour shortage and the need to raised at their home study sites. re-educate middle-aged and older people. One of Considering the fact that distance education is an the major recommendations of the Provinsial Coun- educational system based on the needs of the stu- cil on Educational Reform submitted to the Prime dents, the students' viewpoint must be given ample Minister in 1987 called for the formulation of an consideration. In order to fully achieve the missions educational system to meet the needs of continuing of distance education, the employment of modern education. technological devices has thus become indispens- These factors have given rise to educational alterna- able. tives such as the University of the Air, which accepts Individualized and interactive communication be- adults who wish to enroll without an entrance ex- tween the instructors and the students has become amination. The university, which owns its own tele- economically and practically feasible due to the vision and radio stations, broadcasts a wide range of introduction of new electronic media such as fac- courses continuously from six o'clock in the morn- simile communication, microcomputer communi- ing to twelve midnight; the courses are offered via cation, electronic boards, scanning television and television and radio and supported by printed text- pickup phones, CATV and highly optical visual sys- books, face-to-face instruction at study centers and tems as well as commur:cation satellite. Research correspondence instruction. By using these com- and development into the use of these devices for munications tools, the University of the Air students distance education has been promoted in Japan by may work towards a fully accredited bachelor's de- the National Institute of Multimedia Education gree. (NIME). This is a unique example of the use of television and An experiment using facsimile was carried out in radio broadcasting es the principal medium for conjunction with several courses offered by the Uni- higher education. The University of the Air is also versity of the Air. Facsimile was found to oe partic- noteworthy because, in a country where private ularly effective in a poetry course where students initiative so dominates most spheres of education, wrote and submitted short poems via facsimile and public commitment to this institution is made clear the instructor gave comments immediately after- by its subsidy of nearly 90% of the school's oper- ward, also via facsimile. In view of the rapid diffu- ational cost; student fees are minimal. sion of office facsimile, even in small shops and factories, and of inexpensive personal facsimile using the same telephone line without monopolizing a line for facsimile communication, the application of

1 0 this technology may provide an excellent interac- widespread use of family computers among young tive learning opportunity for many working people pupils provided in Japan a strong infrastructure for in small businesses and salaried workers. higher education to adopt new communications Using computers arid communication inan inter- technology. And yet the various technologies still active educational process has been the subject of require much experimentation and careful consid- experiments both domestically and internationally. eration before they can become widely used and On-screen exchange of communication has been have a positive impact on the innovative advances conducted through computer terminals in several in distance education. subjects by connecting students at several colleges and the NIME tutors via telephone lines and the host computer. Contact is made either simultaneously or RAPID GROWTH OF DISTANCE with a time lag by saving messages on the computer. EDUCATION IN ASIA AND This technology makes it possible to effectively THE PACIFIC overcome the hurdles of both distances and time. A serious bottleneck in this plan, however, is the Newly industrialized countries and developing strong allergy of Japanese adults to key boards countries in Asia and the Pacific are particularly which may be derived from a cultural heritage of noteworthy in the utilization of distance education penmanship in Chinese characters. for development. Korea Air and Correspondence University was inaugurated in 1972 and today en- A combination ofelectronicboards,pick-up rolls about 300,000 students. Al lama lqbal Open phones and scanning television are being used be- University of Pakistan was open in 1974 and its tween the NIME laboratory and several study cen- enrollment now is about 73,000 students. Sukhoth- ters, located some 1,000 kilometers away, where ai Thammathirat Open University of Thailand was corporate workers gather. Some years ago a similar established in 1978 and its students numberas experiment, called "Cyclops", was conducted by many as 450,000. In 1980, Sri Lanka Open Uni- the British Open University but it was terminated for versity was established with emphasis on techno- technological and financial reasons. In Japan, these logical education and 12,000 students are enrolled hurdles have been overcome. The primary objec- today. In 1984, Terubuka Universitywas establish- tive of this experiment is to make effective use of ed in Indonesia and in 1985, both Indhira Gandhi various existing facilities for interactive education National Open University of India and the Uni- rather than constructing new single-purpose facil- versity of the Air of Japan were opened. ities. By doing this the University hopes toecono- These institutions are all autonomous higher educ- mize on the cost of interactive education as wellas minimize the physical burden for students who oth- tion institutions, strongly supported by the govern- erwise might be required to commute to the learning ment of each country and given legal status to grant site. So far both instructors and students have recog- at least a bachelor's degree. The degree of emphasis nized the effectiveness of this method and its adop- they place on particular media of instruction varies tion for practical purposes appears to be promising. from one institution to another but they all list printed materials, television, radio, video and audiocas- The highly optical visual system is a completely settes, correspondence instruction and telephone interactive visual communication system in wnich guidance among the media mix. video cameras are set uo in homes and in the studio- classroom. The systems are connected by optical Efforts toward regional cooperation among the glass-fibre cables and information is processed above mentioned institutions bore fruit in Novem- through a computer. This system is almost an ideal ber 1987 in the form of the Asian Association of alternative to face-to-face instruction. An experi- Open Universities (AAOU). Support for the AAOU ment using this system has been conducted at a site from the UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia constructed in Nara prefecture; however, in terms of and the Pacific and from the Asian Development cost, at the present level of technological devel- Bank has been positive. The United Nations Uni- opment it is far too impractical for educational pur- versity, in conjunction with the British Open Uni- poses. versity, has been instrumental in building up an information network for distance education also. The communication satellite is one of the most promising technologies available to strengthen distance education. Several colleges in Japan have TEACHERS, STAFF AND begun to receive beams via Intersat and touse CNN STUDENTS IN DISTANCE and other programs for instruction. Satellitecom- EDUCATION munication via Venus P and other services is extensively used by many researchers and educators. Teachers play an integral role in the development and delivery of courses, programs, and counselling The extensive use of irstructional television and provided through the new communications tech- radio in elementary and secondary schools and the nology. Studies in the United States and Canada

12 11 however, have shown that many teachers participa- spondence courses rely on textbooks and corre- ting in distance education programs were teaching spondence instruction as principal media of instruc- only part-time, while holding other jobs separate tion. from their academic positions. Good communications technology basedcourses BROADCASTING or programs must be the result of a combination of many talents. In order to develop such courses a In Japan however, a system based on the use of group of people with diverse expertise needs to television and radio broadcasting as principal cooperate. All course teams should include a schol- media of instruction developed with the inaugu- ar deeply versed in the subject who, at the same ration of the University of the Air. Behind this em- time, is also a talented and sensitive teacher. To phasislies the fact that almost all elementary form a good distance education team, the academic schools already employ instructional television abilities of teachers must be combined with many broadcasts by NHK, the Japanese National Public others including editors and graphic designers, Broadcasting Service. media-oriented television and radio program direc- NHK began radio school programs in April 1935. tors, actors and actresses, as well as a visual data- The then Minister of Education defined the purpose base and other resources and the services of com- as supplementing and enriching school education, puter laboratories and animation studios. not replacing it. Televisions school programs were Some of the techniques and skills required are quite created by NHK almost simultaneously with the different from those which traditional academics beginning of television broadcasting and, since Oc- have used in the past as tutors or classroom in- tober 1951, television school programs have been structors. The use of new communications te:h- produced and broadcast. Science, social studies nology requires more organization, more advancx1 and ethics are the most popular programs. planing and significantly more preparation tirr:e Programs are broadcast weekly for each different than would be required to teach a traditional class. grade level and are 15 minutes long. Yearlypro- gramming schedules are issued before the beginning of the school year so that teachers can use them PRINCIPAL MEDIUM OF in developing lesson plans. Each trimester, NHK INSTRUCTION publishes a teacher's guide for each grade level. These guides contain detailed descriptions of each Distance education institutions rely on a mixture of scheduled program and provide notes concerning appropriate communications technology. Howev- their use in the classroom. The programs are easily er, emphasis on the various technologies difttrs incorporated into the teaching schedule because from institution to institution. There area number of the classroom as well as the media curriculum is philosophies and circumstances to be considered based upon the course of study set by the Ministry of when selecting the principal media of instruction. Education. In the late 60's and 70's the use of inexpensive video tape recorders spread widely in Japan's schools and PRINT the style of using academic television programs The British Open University set a high standard in changed substantially. In addition to elementary the production of printed course units by course school use the use of school television programs at teams. Whereas television and radio broadcasting juniorandsenior high schools inc reased very rapidly, are used as a pace-setter and motivator of learning owing o the fact that recording devices solved the and tutorial services as well as summer schools are problem of scheduling the class hours and the broad- provided in order to identify the students with the casting time. Furthermore, many teachers began to University, the studies at the British Open University edit the recorded programs to fit theirown teaching are conducted on the basis of interactive learning plans and more and more teachers started using ed- through its printed course units. ited portions as support materials in their teaching. This model is followed by most distance education A 1986 survey of the students of the University of the institutions thorughout the world.Its innovative Air revealed that about 70% of the students own course team approach in the production system has video tape recorders at home, that practically 100% greatly influenced such institutions as Sukhothai on audio cassettes and that practically all those Th3mmathirat Open University in Thailand, Al lama who possess the instruments record lectures auto- lqbal Open University of Pakistan and many others. matically and replay them at convenient times. Its effectiveness in the instructional process is aug- When computers are used as tools of education the mented by the excellent postal system, public li- new functions are labelled "computer assisted in- brary services and, above all, by the British habit of struction" (CAI) and "computer managed instruc- writing and reading. In Japan also college corre- tion" (CMI). Extensive use of CAI has been reported

1 3 12 in Great Britain where evidence confirms that CAI is developed under the auspices of the Ministry of becoming more widespread in higher education. It International Trade and Industry of Japan. A func- is extensively used in the British Open University tion to allow the input of information by voice is where they see CAI as offering great long-term edu- almost complete. When these technological devel- cational potential because of its interactive ability opments reach the level of practical application with individual students, its capacity for patient, international distance education will have been giv- instant feedback, its simulation potential and its en a new horizon. communication and database capability which enables students to access information quickly. COMMUNICATION SATELLITE Ar American CAI system developed by Control Da- New information technol ,:es are used extensively ta Corporation in conjunction with the University of in American colleges and universities to deliver pro- Illinois and called PLATO, exerted extensive, in- fessional continuing education. Their use in such ternational 'nfluence. A number of countries, in- programs as applied health, medicine, engineering cluding Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland as and high technol, w, business, education, law and well as the Netherlands and Japan, have experi- real estate is most commonly observed. Particularly mented with this sytem. PLATO continues to be noteworthy is the linkage of engineering graduate used as a CAI system at a number of American schools with corporate learning sites via communi- colleges and universities. In Japan it is extensively cation satellite organized by the Colorado-based used in the national technical colleges and private National Technological University. A similar ar- professional colleges. In particular at a private tech- rangement is now being developed in Europe nological institute, complete paper questions and through the PACE program. library services have been replaced by computer Corporations in Japan have developed extensive system. This Kanazawa Institute of Technology de- corporate training systems at high education level. veloped mathematics and English CAI software rele- Particularly in the advanced fields of technology vant to the different levels of the students and let corporations are faced with the problem of how to them work individually at the institute's computer allow their responsible engineers to leave their work lab' ratory so that all of them may reach a certain site in order to be trained. To help alleviate the stanozrd before the end of the summer vacation. problem KDD (International Telephone and Tele- CMI, on th, nther hand, can accomplish a great deal graph). NEC (Japan, Electronics Corporation) and without requiring computer access by the student. several other companies are applying distance edu- CMI, to differing degrees, is utilized at most distance cation in the form of teleconferencing systems learning institutions. At the FernUniversitat in Ger- through communications satellite. These systems many and the University of the Air of Japan comput- employ computers, slow scan television, electronic ers are used to correct and grade students. Similar board, speaker phones, facsimile and other elec- systems, sometimes interactive, are in operation at tronic devices to make distance education effective. the British Open University. In Canada, TV Ontario In an extraordinary period of rapid technological has a computer managed learning system which development and change, these corporations are was originally developed at Miami-Dade Commu- eager to modernize their operating systems, train nity College. new professionals and technicians and vitalize their Some universities in Japan have computer centres economic situation. specifically installed for educational utilization. Last year the Ministry of Education set guidelines for POSTSCRIPT the introduction of computers into secondary Does the medium change the message? How does schools and began providing schools with funds to the content of a course offered via televisions, for purchase microcomputers for use by students. The example, differ from the same course offered in a teaching of computer utilization skills to non-spe- standard classroom setting if in fact it differs at all? cialists is becoming increasingly popular. It can be expected that, as the new technology is In the United States, a number of colleges and uni- introduced into the learning environment, course versities have gone as far as requiring all their enter- content will be in some way changed or modified. ing students, regardless of field of study, to purchase Educators, when addressed with this question, may microcomputers. The expectation at these schools, respond that "it does not or should not make any which are mostly private universities, is that the difference". Even in instances where instructors be- students will use microcomputers for at least part of lieve the medium does affect the message, they find their work in all subjects. it difficult to specify in what ways the curriculum Computer language, born from numerals, and bred changes. The medium may not necessarily affect the by English, is now facing a new challenge from the message for, generally, the same information is Japanese and the Chinese. An automatic translation transmitted regardless of medium. system among several Asian languages is now being The ability of a computer-based communication

14 la network tc provide immediate and comprehensive power to produce with two hands, the employment access to a broad range of information and to offer a of modern electronic communications technology broad data base for both students and faculty how- increases our ability to team through the use of the ever, is already having widespread impact on higher brain. Distance education, with appropriate use of education. just as automobiles and aeroplanes ex- modern communications technology, will help panded humanity's ability to walk on two legs and overcome the hurdles of distance, time and cultural just as industrial robots increased humankind's difference for all people who have the will to learn. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS Professor Urban Dahl lof Ph D 1960 Stockholm University. Professor of Education, Goteborg University 1972-76. Uppsala University since 1976. Visiting professor, Um -ersity of Melbo _ le, Vic. toria, 1984; guest teacher, University of British Columbia, summer 1987.

Continuing education New needs and challenges for distance studies URBAN DAHLLOI

FROM SECONDARY TO academic or vocatic-)al training programs for a total of 80 per cent of a cohort. Of these about 25 per cent CONTINUING EDUCATION had acquired a full competence for university en- When the organizing committee for this conference trance from a three year academic program, while asked for a paper on continuing education, this another 25 per cent had a more practically oriented might be seen as a symptom of a need for distance two year program behind them after the compulsory educators to prepare themselves for a shift of em- school, requiring them to take supplementary phasis from programs for adults oriented towards a courses of less than one year full time studies in formal competence at the secondary level of school- order to gain entry to universities or colleges. Of the ing or in higher education to a more diversified rest, for those who have the ability to pursue theoret- menu of courses, more or less like the Swedish ical studies, university entry competence may re- "smorgasbord". quire merely a somewhat longer time of study in In any case, such a shift of emphasis has already certain areas. Moreover, a great number of special taken place in national policies in education, in so community adult secondary schools provide these far as many of the economically more advanced, supplementary programs either in the form of eve- and industrialized countries have by now expanded ning courses or full day studies. their formal school systems to provide secondary Under such conditions it is no wonder that such a education for the great majority of the population pioneer institution like the Hermods correspond- and higher education for a much higher proportion ence institute in MalmO expanded heavily in the of a birth cohort than was the case only a few years 1940s and 1950s, when the social demand for post- ago. compulsory education was rapidly growing but not This is not least the case in the Nordic family of small yet met by the public school system. During this welfare states on the geographical and cultural period a limited number of private and/or state sup- fringe of Western civilization. In my own country, ported correspondence institutes played a very stra- Sweden, no more than 5 per cent of the 19 year old tegic role in the provision of secondary education cohort matriculated in 1950 from the upper second- both for youth and adults in sparsely populated ar- _ yschool which corresponds to the requirements eas and for adults in the work-force all over the for university entrance. After a period of intense country. expansion, aiming at mobilizing the national reserve of talent as well as increasing the accessibility Ti:.e is still a role for distance providers to play in to secondary education both socially and regional- the area of secondary education in serving those ly, that part of the school system in 1980 provided who live far away from such a school or whose

15 working conditions or family situation do not per- at the secondary level, these areas do not any longer mitthem to participate in regular evening classes. Of represent new needs, calling for new strategies of course the expansion of the public school system planning and design. F: )wever, it should no' be leads to a shrinking market for the distance provid- denied that old or even eternal problems may call ers in this field. Moreover, two specific circum- for a reconsideration of the strategies to tackle them. stances do imply a new challenge for the course An example of this is the double crux at thr second- designers: ary level of a need for a great- variety of courses for (1) In pace with the increased diversification of the smaller groups combined with target groups less program offerings not least those of a voca- motivated for traditional independent studies. tional kind there are a greater number of The shift of emphasis from secondary education programs needed to serve a smaller lumber of provision to continuing education has so far been students, especially if society aims at providing discussed mainly from the point of view of the de- the remaining target group with the same educa- veloping countries. As far as the industrialized national opportunities as the majority of the pop- tions are concerned the preceding passages might ulation. be interpreted to imply that nothing else now re- (2) A great many of this specific target group are at mains for distance education than continuing and the same time not motivated or otherwise pre- higher education. Such a passive attitude is, howev- pared to carry on independent studies on their er, not justified. Quite the contrary. There are a own as in the days of a great reserve of academic number of strong arguments in favour of a new deal talent. in continuing education both with respect to the What steps should be taken to meet this double- types of programs offered, their quantity as well as challenge? Perhaps somebody now would like to their qualitative design. Before turning to those is- object, that this picture of the situation at thesec- sues, a few specific words should be mentioned ondary level of schooling is true only fora limited about distance programs in the higher education number of highly industrialized countries. Thatmay sector. be the case, at least in quantitative terms. Also within the Western world there are many countries HIGHER EDUCATION AND A where secondary education has not yet expanded to the same extent, or whose populations are of sucha CONTINUING EDUCATION size, that there remains for many years a large mar- POLICY ket for distance education programs. This may be In a way similar to that of secondary education, the still more valid for the developing countries, provid- systems of higher education have undergone a rapid ed that an expansion of the secondary level isa expansion in most countries during the last 20 years. policy matter of high priority. However, that isno In this connection it makes no major difference if longer always the case. Instead, it is now very often this has taken place in terms of an integrated system recognized that a vocationally oriented, continuing of universities and colleges as in Sweden or in terms education program for adults in many cases proof a dual system, often with some coordination of vides the most adequate as well as the most rapid course requirements for entry to graduate studies. way of promoting the living conditions of the great On this occasion there is specific reason to highlight majority of the population. Yet this may run parallel the importance of contextual frame conditions for to a low or moderate expansion of the traditional the organization of the higher education system, secondary and tertiary sectors. Nor should we over- including the creation of specific Open Universities look the sometimes great need to carry out literacy such as those in Great Britain, the German Federal programs and to strengthen and prolong primary education in other ways in the developing coun- Republic, the Netherlands, Spain and Japan to mention only a few well-known examples. On the other tries. However, these often overwhelming needs at hand distance education programs can be orga- the primary level usually have to be met by quite nized by many universities and colleges as one al- specific and context-related strategies of a kind ternative among a number of possible adaptations of which often combine a central, large-scale produc- the traditional delivery mode of a tertiary institution. tion of basic teaching materials with local teaching Such rather smaller scale, decentralized models, activities. All in all these mass education programs less heavily dependent upon the media of the air or at the primary level represent a unique case of edu- large package-systems of teaching materials, are cational planning which deserves its own treatment practiced in Australia, New Zealand, several of the and which carmot readily be operated within the Canadian provinces and particularly in Sweden frame of reference otherwise given for distance education. among the Nordic Countries. So in this respect there are good reasons to ask, it there are any specific Irrespective of the size of the target groups and in contextual conditions which characterize the Nor- view of the now long tradition both of literacy cam- dic countries, creating a certain link also with other paigns in the third world and of distance edination Western fringe areas like Canada, Australia and

17 16 New Zealand but necessitating differences from the some of the Australian states and the Canadian prov- situation in the U.K., U.S., Western Germany, inces. For example, the geographical conditions of France and Italy. British Columbia are very similar to those of Norway and some of the many community colleges, espe- Three sets of factors seem to form a common de- nominator for this Western fringe area. One has to cially North Island College in the coastal region, have adopted a policy of course offerings mainly do with the scale of operations, primarily in terms of intended for adults, highly decentralized and delib- population and size of adult target groups. The second factor concerns the geographical distribution of erately designed to support the development of the region. the ta-get groups in relation to already existing centres of higher education. The third factor is concen- When the total enrollment of adults in higher educa- trated on the university policies of admission as well tion is considered, it seems justifiable to ask whether as adaptation to the demands on program contents the rates of participation are higher in those states and delivery modes by new student groups. In gen- and provinces which follow a decentralizei small eral the Western fringe areas under consideration scale approach to distance education as a ..upple- here seem to share a combination of characteristics ment to other distribution forms. The establishment of relatively small target groups, particularly among of big, central s..,ecialized universities, such as the adults and a relatively high accessibility both in German Fernuniversitat in Hagen and Athabasca terms of admission opportunities and course design University in Alberta, do not seem to have promoted and in terms of geographical distances, even though a high adult participation in the area as a whole, in some of these countries, such a!, Canada and Austra- spite of the impressive student numbers for those lia, have among the largest sparsely populated areas individual institutions. Perhaps such large, central- in the world. ized solutions were undertaken primarily in coun- This does not preclude the fact that there are also tries where traditional universities were not partic- quite obvious differences within this Western fringe ularly p epared to open themselves to new student area between the Nordic countries. Norway and groups or to adjust the pattern of their course of- Finland are outstanding in their investment both in ferings to the specific demands of these groups? universities and in qualified staff such as professors In any case Sweden is no doubt among those coun- and senior lecturers. Norway has four full universi- tries that have taken yet another step towards the ties and Finland has pursued a deliberate long-term inclusion of a policy of continuing education at the regionalization policy, implying the establishment university and college level. In contrast to a great of universities or university colleges with a research number of other countries, it new has an official organization in at least one faculty area in as many policy of offering only a part of a full degree program as nine towns. in its own right as a supplement to basic training at When the Norwegian district colleges are added, the secondary level of education. Consequently, the one finds that higher education is offered at a great criterion of completion rates for a full degree can no many more towns in Norway than the four uni- longer be used as an indicator of the effectiveness of versity sites. In this connection it should be stressed the studies in that part of the system. that the Norwegian population is very unevenly This gives us a specific purpose for discussing the distributed in clusters, leaving vast sparsely pop- reasons behind a more general policy of continuing ulated areas in the mountain regions between the education and their consequences for the design of towns and often with time-consuming connections distance education programs within such a system over narrow, winding mountain roads or infrequent of education. ferry trips across the fjords. Sweden's population of 8.3 million is twice as great MOTIVES FOR A GREATER as that of Norway. Yet, there are no more than six EMPHASIS ON CONTINUING full universities and fifteen state university colleges. However, thanks to the flatter landscape and the EDUCATION real possibility of commuting larger distances, the The term continuing education is here used in a accessibility of higher education is about the same wide sense of the word. It denotes those parts of the as in Norway, particularly when one considers the life-long learning concert that have to be met by any systematic use of a strategy for decentralized cours- kind of systematic educational program, including es and distance programs, with residential schools both organized study circles and formal programs or shorter weekend meetings two or three times per leading to some specific competence, certified by semester. Sweden also has a specific set of entry any type of diploma, certificate or degree. rules for adults through which work experience is In this connection it may suffice to distinguish be- given special credit. tween two main motives for a greater emphasis on The conditions under which higher education oper- continuing education. First, we have a social motive ates in Scanr'inavia are quite similar to those of to even out differences in formal and/or real compe-

18 1 7 tence due to the social bias in the application and tional, cultural context and its traditions. Thereare selection procedures in the ordinary school system. no formal entry requirements and there are seldom In this perspective the main goal for continuing any direct links to original research. Sometimes the education is to provide adults with a second chance label of "consumer-oriented" studies are applied to to a vocational, general secondary or higher educa- this category of continuing general education,even tion competence depending on what level they though there are both arguments andsome evi- broke off from their earlier school career. Thiscom- dence that the participation cannot that easily be pensatory philosophy directs particular attention to distinguished from more investment oriented,com- differences between social classes or strata but also petence-related studies. between regions and age groups whichare often The other category thus aims at developing a specif- correlated with social background variables. Even ic competence related to the demands of the work- though recent school reforms aim at eveningout ing life. In contrast to the characteristics of a ^c -eral social and regional differences in the enrollments to education program, which often implies a .1n- post-compulsory education, they are seldom quite tation in a field, the main emphasis is here oper- successful in doing so. Therefore, a pool ofun- ational skills for which the individual, after the train- t.ipped talent will always remain at least tosome ing, can take responsibility, although he or she in extent, although its size will decrease with the %oak some way is under somebody's supervision. This attainment of the reforms. A specific case may be well-known category embraces the aim to bridge the generation gap. It is regarded as a matter of justice that provision should be made upgrading courses, often of an inservice training type for the adult generation of at leastsome of the edu- further education courses within the participant's cational opportunities which now so generouslyare offered to the youth, since it is this older generation ordinary field of work who through taxes have paid and still are paying the retraining courses for new job requirements in costs for the great expansion of the educational another occupation at the same level of respon- system. However, if that wish to bridge the gener- sibility ation gap was the main social motive, the provision programs leading to a higher competence in the of continuing education opportunities for adults same or in a new occupation. would mean just a temporary expansion fora num- The rapidly changing world of work has made this ber of years, until the older generation approached type of continuing education a very frequent one. It the age of retirement. is often stressed that, in the future, everybody has to be prepared to change occupational status several The other motive is stronger andso much longer times during a life-time. This is also the basic idea lasting that one is tempted to speak aboutan eternal need. It is based on the needs for education of all behind the term "recurrent education" asan expression of a deliberate policy to distribute formal edu- kinds evoked by the changing society withrespect cational opportunities more evenly over the life- to new technologies, structural changes of theecon- omy and other forms of rationalization. But new span and to launch financial schemes in order to educational needs do also stem from the social and promote adult participation. In any case it means environmental consequences of nem technologies that the old "ruck-sack model" no longer works. and economic changes as well as from the trends School can no longer be expected to provide the school leaver with all the intellectual food needed towards more participation by blue and white collar for the rest of the journey through life. workers and other employees in the decision making processes in the work-place and in municipal In this field there are immense demands to be filled boards or working groups, in labour unions and for which dietance education has a defin le to political parties. play. And here we should recall what as said earlier about full degrees. There is no validargu- ment that higher education always has to mean a full FORMS OF CONTINUING degree also for adults. Instead, they may be better EDUCATION served by getting a higher education credit course in just one or two specialist areas, perhaps combined Traditionally two main forms of continuing educa- with quite different subjects, depending on their tion are recognized. First of allwe have different basic level of training, their specific work situation varieties of non-credit course, sometimes,as so of- and their own motivation and career plans. Contin- ten in the Nordic countr:es, in the form of a study uing education for adults in a position of responsib- circle under the auspices of a free educationalasso- ility in working life does also provide an excellent ciation, sometimes at a "folkhOgskola"or peoples opportunity for the research community to dissemi- college more or less in the Danish Grundtvig-tradi- nate their findings and ways of thinking directly to tion, sometimes in the form of a formalcourse, e.g. key target groups which often are in a position to arranged by a university department of continuing influence the working patterns and topave the way education. The organization dependsupon the na- for new technologies or administrative routines.

19 18 Thus, an active participation by researchers may be for the design of distance education programs. In in their own interest and also promote speeding up this connection it may suffice just to emphasize a the research dissemination process. few crucial points as some food for further thoughts Finally, a third variety of continuing education and to promo, further thinking. Consequently this summary of the main contents of my presentation should perhaps be added to the two traditional ones mentioned above. This "third alternative" seems to will deliberately end up with the following open correspond to the demands for a more profound questions: knowledge base by those who in different capacities (1) What steps would be taken within distance edu- cooperate closely with highly specialized profes- cation to promote the use of the adult students' sionals and by those who in various advisory of own experience as a resource in the teaching decision making bodies have to take a stand and and learning situation? even cast a vote on complicated new schemes af- (2) How can distance education programs be fecting the economy, the environment, the working adapted to the rapidly changing research front in conditions and the life quality in the local communi- many key areas which is necessary for the deep- ty c r in society at large. The required competence understanding of the third variety of continuing does not need operational skills but a deeper under- education mentioned above? standing of implications and consequences than (3) How can one better provide for an individual- usually are connected with the outcomes of study ized feed-back to adult students who, depend- circle activities and other forms of general educa- ing on their different starting points and varying tion. The targets outlined here may often require a experiences, face difficulties at very different direct link with the research front and imply in- points in a study program, which cannot always tellectual processes of evaluation and synthesis, as- be foreseen? sessing probabilities against each other at a quite (4) How can we promote a necessary professional- high taxonomical level of cognitive educational ism among distance educators not only to write goals. teaching materials and study guides but to evaluate, plan and design distance education programs in a way that best suits the interests of the different target groups? CONSEQUENCES FOR THE (5) How can we best promote research on distance DESIGN OF DISTANCE education as part of a program aiming at a deep- EDUCATION PROGRAMS er professionalization of the field as outlined above? Finally, we should consider the consequences of the new continuing education needs, outlined above,

20 19 BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS John Daniel is president of Laurentian University in Canada. He has written extensively about communications technology and distance educatio and was president of the Inter- national Council of Distance Education from 1982-1985. Recently he has chaired the planning group for the distance education initiative announced by the Common- wealth Heads of government in October 1987.

Distance education and national development JOHN S. DANIEL

DISTANCE EDUCATION AMONG DE costs two or three times less than full-time THE NATIONS: A WORLD TOUR education; the work/DE ,..:ombi nation prevents students from Distance education continues to grow and evolve in switching professions after training which 15- a marvelously diverse fashion around the world. 20% of conventional graduates do; The diversity reflects differences in political philoso- conventional graduates need two-three years of phy between countries, the availability ofnew work before mastering their skills. methods of communication, world economic tur- The clientele for postsecondary DE in the USSR is bulence and, in a few cases, the impact of particular huge, involving some 1.5 m students or 30% of all individuals. The following vignettes attempt to cap- students ininstitutions of higher learning(Ilyin ture the salient features of distance education (DE) in 1983). Entrance is on the basis of competitive exam- various countries and regions. The coverage is inations. There are 14 specialized distance teaching somewhat biased toward postsecondary education universities (DTUs) and 800 distance subsidiaries and we emphasize how distance methods have and branches of full-time universities and institutes been harnessed to the national ambitions of different countries in conformity with their prevailing offering a complete range of programmes. The technology of Soviet DE involves correspondence cours- politico-economic values. es (study guides and text books) and some television on a national educational channel. Its distinguish- THE SOVIET BLOC ing feature is the 30% of study carried out in face-to- face settings, sometimes called the "consultation The right to distance education forms part of the model". Soviet DTUs operate branches acioss the constitution of the USSR (Article 45); nation (e.g. 23 branches for the USSR Financial and "Citizens of the USSR have the right to education. Economic Institute for Distance Education which This right is ensured by free p:ovision of all forms of has 32,000 students). Students are given paid leave education...by the development of distance and from work to keep up with their courses and attend part-time education courses... by the provision of lectures and practical work at these branches. facilities for self-education." The countries of the Soviet bloc are pleased with the results of this model of DE and seek to improve each The objectives of DE in the USSR are closely tied to element of the system. Mohle (1983) talks about the efficient training of skilledmanpower. Ilyin better integration of independent work into the edu- (1983) justifies the role of HDE in the USSR in four cational process. He repeatedly stresses the goal of points: training "creative personalities" who will take "per- better training of specialists by the combination sonal responsibility". He advocates however, the of studies and work; teaching of "clearly established positions" so creativity may not extend very far into the DE curricu-

21 2 0 lum itself. Holmberg and Keegan (1984) note that grammes in groups at the branches where they also reliance on marxist-leninist thinking as the frame- have contact with part-time tutors. Although the TV work for teaching and researchisrepeatedly universities are not "open" universities, the Chinese stressed by distance educators from the Soviet bloc. hope that the vast classroom without walls which It is too early to know what impact the emphasis on they represent will, as a side effect, raise the educa- openness (glasnost) introduced by Mr. Gorbachev tional ambitions in the population at large. will have on distance education. An article by Jedr- The programmes offered by correspondence in Chi- zycki (1984) on the proposed open university in na cover a wide range of topics and lead to the same Poland is evidence of the hopes that exist. diplomas as on-campus study. The choice of courses from the TV universities is narrower but now expanding outside the original offerings of science ASIA and technology. A satellite TV teacher's college The most exciting development in distance educa- opened in 1986 (Jianshu 1987). tion in the 1980s have occurred in the Far East. The technology of correspondence teaching in Chi- Faced with the common need to expand higher na parallels that used in the USSR. Face-to-face education countries have used distance education contact accounts for about 30% of the total time that in ways that reflect their varied educational and the student devotes to the five components of each political traditions. course; independent study; lectures; submission of assignments; tests; examination and thesis. Because of the importance attached to staff-student contact CHINA the staffing ratios, at one full-time academic per China, home to one quarter of humanity, is expand- 25-40 students, are high compared to systems ing the provision of distance education rapidly. The based purely on independent study. objective is to meet the needs of the development of China is pleased with the results of its DE and seeks the national economy and of society (Jianshu 1987) to exop-i provision. Strong emphasis is placed on as part of the modernization of education. While the the quality of management as the determinant of rationale behind DE in China and the USSR is simi- future success. This is the major motivation behind lar, the Soviet emphasis is on improving a well- cooperative projects with other countries. It is pro- established educational system whereas DE in Chi- posed (Jianshu 1987) that all institutions offering na is part of a massive catch-up operation. In 1983 correspondence courses should have a vice-presi- only 0.6% of the population were university gradu- dent fo; correspondence education. In the TV uni- ates while 23.5% were semi-literate or illiterate. In versities there is awareness of the need to improve relation to statistics like these, the numbers now text materials and their links witn the TV pro- involved in DE in China, impressive though they are grammes. The independent thinking required by the in absolute terms, represent only a modest begin- present TV university format is seen as an advan- ning. But there is no lack of idealism. Staff are urged tage, however, in a country now trying to break a to gain "a deeper understanding of higher corre- .1* tradition of rote learning in its educational system. spondence education in the cause of socialist eco- The new Chinese policy of encouraging personal nomic construction, to get them to dedicate their initiative will likely give DE an even better image. lives to the development of higher correspondence Some institutions, such as the Shanghai TV Uni- education in China" (Jianshu 1987). The aim is to versity, would like to put greater emphasis on part- provide DE to 20m Chinese over the next 15 years. time learners and short-cycle programmes if the In 1983 around 1,000,000 Chinese, or some 40% of current emphasis on full-time students can be re- the country's university population, were studying duced. at a distance. One third of this clientele was enrolled in the correspondence programmes that are offered by 311 of China's 800 colleges and universities; one TAIWAN third was associated with the Radio and Television Taiwanese experience presents a fascinating con- University of China (RTVU) a decentralized sys- trast to DE on the mainland. Chen (1988) reports tem of institutions; the final third was associated that because of the traditional Confucian emphasis with the local TV universities which, since 1978, on the teacher as role model in a face-to-face set- have "sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring ting, the National Open University of Taiwan can- rain in China" (Yu Xu 1986). not award degrees, even though its curriculum and As in the USSR, entry to DE in China is by selection examination standards are identical to those in con- and there are close links with the workplace. Jian- ventional universities. shu (1987) reports on the unified entrance exam introduced in 1986 and taken by 1.3 m people. Many students at the RTVU branches are workers THAILAND released full-time with pay. They watch the TV pro- Thailand has created the most widely admired DE

22 21 institution after the U.K. Open University. Sukhot- VIET NAM hai Thammathirat Open University (STOU)was founded in 1978 and admitted its first students in Viet Nam has awarded 50,000 degrees by distance 1980. As Carr (1984) notes: "its presentation of such education since 1960. The focus now is on the varied programmes so quickly is impressive by any in-service training of workers, 30,000 of whom are standards". For its objectives STOU "holds to the enrolled in distance courses offered by 30conven- principle of lifelong education, aims at improving tional institutions. The combination of correspond- the quality of life for the general public, seeks to ence tuition and face-to-face contact in local cen- increase the educational qualifications of working tres recalls the Soviet distance education model. people, and strives to expand educational opportu- The most pressing problem for DE in Viet Nam is nities for secondary school graduates in response to shortages of paper and equipment (Unesco 1983). the needs of individuals and society" (Srisa-an 1984). The University is also charged with preserv- JAPAN ing and developing national culture and has already made a significant contribution in this area by in- Japan kept the world waiting for 16 years, from 1969 creasing the quality and variety of books in the Thai to 1985, while it planned and designed its Uni- language. versity of the Air. Separate from the existing correspondence provision of Japanese universities, this The clientele of STOU con3isted of some 200,000 new institution was established in 1985 to offer students in 1983 and is expanding to a target of 0.5 liberal arts programmes in domestic science, indus- m by 1990. Students have either, (i) 12 years of trial and social scirmces, and cultural and natural schooling, (ii) 10 years of schooling plus 5 years sciences. These are 4-year programmes aimed at work experience, or (iii) a degree or diploma. Most both adult students and high school graduates. The students are in the 26-30 age group and govern- students' weekly commitment of approximately ten ment employees are much the largest occupational hours is divided between TV (3 hrs), written materi- group. Males slightly outnumber females and the als (4-5 hours) and attendance at study centres (3 regional distribution of students is close to that of the hrs). (Yabe 1983) population at large. STOU's programmes focus on professional and vocational training in education, management, sci- SOUTH KOREA ence, law, economics, health science, home econ- omis, agricultural extension, cooperation, politics South Korea set up a correspondence college within and communication arts. There are also extensive Seoul National University in 1972 to provide a 2- year programme to those who failed the national professional development programmes with bodies university entrance examination. Despite a drop- such as the national police department. The target is out rate of 70% it was highly cost-effective and its 400 courses, 100 of which were available in 1983. Delivery technology is based on quality corre- graduates had a very high success rate in entry to the upper years of conventional university programme, spondence texts with audio-cassettes, radio and TV This college became the Korea Correspondence broadcast "unopposed" in prime time on thena- University in 1982 and now enrolls some 250,000 tional channel. State-of-the-art TV facilitiesare part students in 5-year programmes in 13 subject areas. of STOU's new campus north of Bangkok. Thecam- pus also includes residence accommodation since Admission is by lottery among high shool graduates. all students must attend 4-5 day intensive work- The instructional strategy includes printed materi- shops during their studies. als, assignments, radio programmes, a student newspaper, and two weeks of lectures per year at The results of the first years of STOU's experience local centres associated with conventional universi- are impressive. A large enterprise that is well in- ties (Kim 1983). tegrated with the existing educational infrastructure has been built up quickly. Drop-out rates are modest at around 25% and the pass rates of 80% are high. HONG KONG Perhaps the most encouraging fact of allis that S IOU can foresee the time when student fees alone In relation to its population the capacity of the uni- will cover the operating budget and government versities, colleges and polytechnics in Hong Kong is support will not be necessary. Just as the success of small. For this reason itis the country with the the U.K. Open University owed much to the lead- highest number of its citizens studying overseas ership of its founding head, Walter Pery, so STOU's (50,000+).Legislation formerly prevented the success reflects the dedication and brilliant admin- emergence of local DE providers to satisfy the high istration of its founder, Wich it Sris a-an. His appoint- demand for university study. ment to a senior government post in 1987 deprived The largest provider of DE in Hong Kong is the Open distance education of one of its world leaders. College of the University of East Asia. This college is the most interesting collaborative venture in dis

23 tance education in the world. According to Swift system of Indian open universities. Fuiihermore the (1986): "Our college is unashamedly parasitical. legislation creating IGNOU also gives it a coor- We offer English language degrees using almost en- dinating role for DE throughout India. This signals tirely imported courses. We teach them in the same the determination of Indian governments to use DE way and at the same level as in the originating more effectively. institution and we examine them at the same level by using external examiners (and often the examinations) from that institution." PAKISTAN Planning for the college began in 1981, students Pakistan has concentrated its investment in DE in were enrolled in 1982 and the first graduates ap- the Allama lqbal Open University (AIOU), created peared in 1986. The college already breaks even on in 1974 as "a People's Open University... to pro- student fees alone (HK$40,000 for a 3-year degree) vide part-time educational facilities through corre- at an enrolment of 1000 full-time equivalent stu- spondence courses, tutorials, seminars, workshops, dents. As enrollments increase and the college ben- laboratories, te,evision and radio broadcasts and efits from economies of scale its performance will other mass communications media". AIOU's clien- improve even further . Already in the 5 years of its tele is defined as "the masses" and degree work is existence withdrawal rates have decreased sharply intended to be only a small part of its programming. while pass rates have increased. In 1983 about half the 65,000 students were enrolled in degree courses. There is a strong emphasis Swift's account of the strategy of the Open College is on teacher education and some 60,000 teachers out required reading for anyone interested in interna- of a potential market of 160,000 had taken the tional cooperation in distance education. He ad- AIOU primary teachers orientation course by 1982. dresses such issues as contract negotiation with oth- The other main focus has been general education at er institutions the possibility of cultural imperialism, the junior college level (Fleming 1982). The tech- governmental hostility to distance education, and nology used by AIOU consists of printed books to- the opportunities for cloning the open college con- gether with radio and television broadcasts. Tutorial cept. support in some 150 study centres is given for certificate courses. After a rapid start and promising early results AIOU INDIA is experiencing some financial difficulties and suf- Faced with a huge unsatisfied demand for higher fering from the shortcomings of the country's com- education and alleged corruption in its external ex- munications infrastructure. The acquisition of its amination system (A "challenge" examination ar- own printing press was an important step in reduc- rangement), India turned to DE with the creation of ing delays in the delivery of materials to students the correspondence i nstitute of the University of Del- (Unesco 1983). hi in 1962. Although the original intent was to create only one such institute per state and to limit enrol- THE SOUTH PACIFIC AND ment in each to 10,000 they proliferated to the extent AUSTRALASIA that 20% of India's I 33 universities now have correspondence institutes. Paul (1983) describes one THE PACIFIC ISLANDS such institute and Datt (1982) gives a profileof Indian In this region one talsk not of the number of uni- correspondence students. The results of this move to versities in the country, but of the number of coun- DE disappointed the Indian authorities. Thee I ientele tries in the university. From its main campus in Fiji is only 115,000, programmes are mostly limited to the University of the South Pacific (USP) services arts and commerce and the technology used rarely eleven count:ies: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nau- goes beyond printed materials of inferior quality with ru, Nieu, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, occasional use of radio and study centres. Vanuatu and Western Samoa. DE is a sine qua non Reddy (1984) lists the reasons why the correspond- for serving such a territory. Gillard and Williams ence institutes do not enjoy high credibility and (1986) describe how USP has risen to the challenge describes the latest developments in DE in India. of serving this diverse student body distributed over These are the creation of stand-alone open uni- an area of ocean the size of Australia. The tech- versities intended to bring to Indian DE the serious- nology is essentially based on printed study material ness of purpose and professional competence that is but interesting use has been made of satellite tuto- lackinginthe correspondence institutes.Carr rials. Although only 5% of students actually used (1983) describes the background to the establish- this service, which was limited to a total of 300 ment of the Andhra Pradesh Open University in hours per year, the existence of this possibility of 1982 and Singh (1985) reports on the creation of the dialogue is believed to be psychologically impor- Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) tant. The satellite used (AST-1) having ceased ser- in 1985. This will be the keystone of a national vice, USP is seeking time on other satellites.

24 23 NEW ZEALAND country where education and DE are claimed to be central to national development but have lan- New Zealand has a long tradition of distance educa- guished because national development has not gen- tion since its population is dispersed throughout two erated the economic resources to do much. Al- islands where travel is slow because of mountainous though development policies are changing, Reuben terrain. There is one major provider of distance still calls education "a state ideological institution" educationat eachlevel:the Correspondence and describes Tanzanian DE against the background School for elementary and secondary students; the cf Nyerere ,ocialism. Technical Correspondence Institute for postsecondary technical education; and Massey University for The greatest need for distance education in Africa is university level work. More recently Massey's work at the secondary and technical/vocational levels, a has been complemented by an initiative of the Uni- need which universities have been helping to meet versity of Otago in Dunedin which has set up a (e.g. in Kenya see Gitau 1984, 1986). Zambia offers national teleconference network that will be used university level correspondence courses with some for programmes in dentistry, humanities, social radio to 600 students (Siaciwena ' 984) but teacher work, wildlife management and continuing medical education and upgrading have been the nearest education. thing to university-level work attempted on any scale in most African cow .ries. Gitau (1986) describes Kenya's programmes for teachers and their AUSTRALIA cost-effectiveness has been assessed positively by the World Bank (Hawkridge 1982). Holmberg If the organization of DE in New Zealand is simple (1985) notes how these efforts suffer from "a con- and logical a sharp contrast is to be found in neigh- stant lack of material resources and funds" with boring Australia which is a federal state. Appropri- "new activit;-_, virtually smothering older ones" all ately enough the latest book on postsecondary DE in too often. Australia is entitled Diversity Down Under (ASPESA 1985). White (1982) traces the history of DE in On the positive side, however, a significant cadre of Australia, Mitchell (1986) gives ;:le example of one distance education workers have been trained in state and Gough (1983) highlights the problem of Africa in recent years and 29 African agencies active proliferation of institutions providing DE. in distance education at some level responded to a recent survey conducted for the Commonwealth The objectives of Australian DE have evolved from Secretariat (IEC/CET 1987). With more resources "access" to "equivalence" and "excellence" in re- and some international help DE could grow signif- cent years according to Gough (ASPESA 1985). The icantly in Africa in the years ahead. As in Zambia Australian government sees the provision of DE as (Siaciwena, 1988) a key goal of national devel- important because of ..- e trend to life-long recurrent opment in Africa is to reduce rural/urban disparities education, an ageing population, the increasing ex- and inculcate useful skills. pectations of women, and a more competitive labour market. Australia is proud of its "dual mode" tradition whereby the same faculty teach conventional and distance students. The results of the Aus- LATIN AMERICA tralian experience are a vibrant DE sector which, DE in Latin America presents a fascinating study. perhaps because of its diversity and competitive- Nowhere is the enthusiasm for distance education ness, has contributed much to the international DE greater. New projects, such as the Columbia open literature. The lack of coordination among provid- and distance education system are described with ers is the problem most frequently identified. missionary fervour and an abundance of organizational and planning charts (Gomez 1984). The Association lberoamericana de Educacion Su- AFRICA perior a Distancia publishes a bulletin that reports No continent has a greater need for distance educa- on developments in a number of countries. These tion than Africa (Ansere 1982) but nowhere is there have included operations within conventional uni- a greater gap between need and supply. Apart from versities such as the Universidad Abierta of UNAM the University of South Africa, which has expanded in Mexico, the Universidad de Antioquia and the to 60,000 students (ot which 13,000 Blacks) since it Universidad Javeriana in Columbia, and the Centro began as the world's first open university in 1947 de Teleducacion of the Universidad Catolica of Li- (Van As 1985), provision of DE in Africa has lacked ma, Peru. Anderson (1982) suggests that some 50 resources and continuity. A striking example of shat- Latin American universities have made serious at- tered hopes was the Open University of Nigeria tempts to offer distance education but that "like which was closed down for economic reasons al- grassfires on the savannahs" most of these initiatives most as soon as it began (Omolewa 1984, Oduaran have been short lived. 1985). Tanzania is another striking example of a Two universities designed solely for DE, Venezue-

25 la's Universidad Nacional Abierta (UNA) and Costa of DE i North America is its very diversity. Institu- Rica's Universidad Estatal de Educacion a Distancia tional free enterprise has given rise to hundreds of (UNED) have been described in detail by Yepez programmes serving an array of objectives and us- (1984) and Trejos (1984). Rumble (1982, 1985) has ing various technologies. For the USA Markowitz written about the evol **un of both institutions. He (1983) reports 70 universities offering college-level finds that Latin American DE initiatives suffer from credit courses to some 150,000 students. His survey proyectismo, "the elaboration of ambitious plans shows that the typical programme is located at a out of all proportion to the resources available to Mid-western university, had 2,055 college-level implement them". Furthermore, there are often un- correspondence enrollments in 1981-1982 and realistic expectations that the introduction of the had a full-time staff of seven and a half persons with technology of distance education will then remove all faculty teaching on an overload basis. undesirable features of the existing system. In the Canada also has a number of conventional uni- words of Tedesco (1983): versities that offer correspondence courses, for ex- "There is... a frequently encountered fallacy in ample Waterloo which has the largest English-lan- literature on the subject that attributes the antidemo- guage programme (300 courses, 20,000 students) cratic, rigid and trarlit;onalist characteristics of the and Laurentian which offers courses in both lan- formal education system to its technical aspects; it is guages. Recent focus has been service to minority thereupon assumed that by changing the technol- groups. Like Australia, Canada has generated a liter- ogy, these characteristics can be eliminated. This ature of distance education that is disproportionate kind of technocraticutopia has been rapidly refuted to its size. Recent books in English (Mugridge and by the facts, and it is becoming increasingly clear Kaufman 1986) and French (Henri and Kaye 1985) that there is no reason to suppose that the objectives are good examples. English-Canadians agonize that the traditional system fails to achieve could be over the use of electronic communications in dis- attained using new educational practices, if the var- tance education, French-Canadians, who mourn iables which define the social context remain un- the loss of a somewhat idealized teacher-student changed." relationship, stress the importance of Pencadre- Rumble concludes that the locus of DE development. ment in Latin America may move to the private universities since they do not have the organization- EUROPE al traditions, political ebullience and lack of funds that have hampered ck.velopments in the public Distarce education is a century-old tradition in sev- universities. eral European countries. For example Sweden has known distance education for 150 years (Baath and Willen 1984) and it became a major component of ARAB STATES the educational system after the establishment of Hermods in 1898. By the mid 1960s the proportion For various reasons DE has come fairly late to the of Swedes learning at a distance may have been the Arab world. The creation of al-Quds University in largest in the world and correspondence education Jordan is an example of the use of DE to try to change had high credibility. However, by the mid 1970s national characteristics judged inimical to national correspondence education was in decline in Swe- development, such as a preoccupation with paper den because the state began providing increased qualifications and a disdain for technical skills (Wa- opportunities for face-to-face adult education. I id, 1988). Norway shows a contrast between the blossoming of non-university distance education extensively reported in the literature and the paucity of re- NORTH AMERICA ports on postsecondary DE. Here, as in Finland North America is dominated by two federal coun- where some 4,000 are involved in postsecondary tries, Canada and the USA. Their national govern- DE (Hawkridge 1984) existing universities are now ments have little jurisdiction in educational matters cooperating to provide distance education courses and in neither case have they played any role in the in a range of subjects using print and audio tech- development of DE. This is almost as true of the nology with some broadcasting. provincial and state governments, which do have Conventional universities have also been responsib- authority in educational matters but have usually le for postsecondary DE in France where Centres de left DE initiatives to existing institutions. Exceptions tele-enseignement Universitaire in 18 universities are British Columbia, which set up the Open Learn- offer courses to some 20,000 students (Lefranc, ing Institute and the Knowledge Network, and more 1985). Other European countries, notably Britain, recently Ontario, which has established a Northern West Germany, Spain and, most recently, Holland, Ontario Distance Education Access Network. have opted to provide postsecondary DE by creating Against this background the distinguishing feature special institutions. The creation of the UK Open

26 25 University (UKOU) attracted worldwide attention aged 18-24, must pass an admission examination, and its success has been extensively reported (for a and are enrolled full-time. Adding together the post- brief summary see Harry, 1982). The objectives of secondary student enrollments listed in our country- the UKOU are to be open as to people, geographical by-country survey gives a total of nearly 4 m. The location, methods and ideas. It now enrolls some USSR, China, South Korea and Thailand, where the 80,000 students in undergraduate and associate conditions listed above generally obtain, account courses using a rich multi-media teaching system for three-quarters of the total. that includes, in addition to its basis of correspondence texts, TV and radio broadcasting, experimen- Secondly, DE for this majority consists of fairly sim- tal kits, telephone tutorials and a network of local ple media: correspondence texts, broadcast televi- study centres. In contrast to the highly organized sion and tutorial meetings. The literature creates the false impression that interactive telecommunica- and centralized structure of the UKOU has been the tions are now a major part of distance education Open Tech (Tolley, 1983; Freeman, 1986) a complex venture involving the provision of 7,000 open methods. What this tells us, of course, is that there are two worlds of distance education, one focussed learning packages by 300 producers through over on school l'eavers, the other on adults. Interestingly 150 college ce.itres. The growth of the Open Tech the two reproduce what the OECD has found to be has been especially interesting in view of the com- the two best eductional predictors of national eco- ment by Perry (1976) the founder of the UKOU, that although the gre -test need for distance education ;n nomic prosperity, namely 1) the proportion of youths staying in full-time education beyond the Britain might well have been at the pre-university level when the UKOU was set up, an open uni- school leaving age and, 2) the proportion of 20-30 year olds returning to postsecondary education versity had to be created first in order to establish the while working. credibility of distance teaching systems. In West Germany a strong tradition of pre-university Naturally, countries that have long been industri- correspondence teaching had little impact on high- alized have extensive provision for youths to contin- er education until the creation of 1966 of DIFF ue full-time college and university education in net- (Rebel, 1983) which develops in-service courses works of conventional institutions. For these coun- that are offered to teachers through cooperating in- tries the focus of DE is on the lifelong education of stitutions. In 1974 the state of North-Rhine West- working adults. Since these countries are richer, phalia created the Fernuniversitat (Bartels, 1984, they can use fancier technology and take time to 1985; Keegan 1982) to relieve pressure on existing write articles and books about what they are doing. universities. Israel created Everyman's University in For the countries in the throes of industrialization 1976. It now enrolls about 10,000 students in 115 the focus is on the postsecondary education of courses (Shatzman, 1984) and has been judged a young people. Their DE programmes are aimed at cost effective contribution to the country's system of mass audiences and use mass technologies like higher education (Melmed et al. 1982). printing and broadcasting that are characteristic of Legislation to create a national distance education the industrial era. university (UNED) was passed in Spain in 1970. Besides these two worlds there is a third, where DE Later legislation aimed at decentralizing the admin- must be used to ao3ment and expand the provision istration of conventional 1:panish universities has of primary and secondary education. In this world now left UNED in the advantageous position of postsecondary education at any age is still a luxury. being the only national university (Popa-Lisseanu, In the second world of DE, wh-le industrial meth- 1985). It enrolls some 90,000 students (average age ods are used to reach large nurnGers of people, DE is around 30) and its graduates have high credibility also a vehicle for national cultural and linguistic with employers. Finally, the Open University of development. As major producers of print materials Holland began operations in 1984 (van Eesteren- these institutions have a special role in maintaining Smith, 1984; van Enckevort, 1985). and enhancing local languages. This is notably the case in Thailand, India and Korea. The same phenomenon can be observed in parts of the first world CONCLUSION of DE, such as French-Canada, Israel and Holland (with Flemish-Belgium). The advanced countries al- This country by country analysis reveals that the so use DE to reach particular groups in order to general literature of DE gives a misleading impres- achieve certain national goals. The Canadian prov- sion of the purposes to which DE is put and the ince of Ontario has created a DE network in its vast methods it uses in the advancement of humankind. Northern region to help equalize opportunity there. Two examples will suffice. Firstly, a common belief Many countries have used DE for upgrading school if that DE is primarily an open learning experience teachers in new curricula and methods. In the UK for part-time adults, aged 25 or over. The review special DE projects have included increasing par- shows that most postsecondary DE students are ents' knowledge of the development of young chil

27 2 C, dren and teaching manufacturers about applica- Gitau, B. tions of the microprocessor. (1984) Counselling at a Distance. The Experience of Ke- These examples reveal the most important strengths nya's Correspondence Course Unit, ICDE Bulletin 6, pp. 32-41. of DE as a technique in the service of national development. They are its flexibility, rapidity of execution Gitau, B. and scale of impact. Furthermore, DE systems tend, (1986) A Case Study of the School of Distance Studies of much more than conventional educational institu- the University of Nairobi, Kenya, ICDE Bulletin, 11, pp. tions, to be self-improving systems which evaluate 59-68. their effectiveness and make revisions as a matter of Com; t, H.S. course. There are, however, limits to the role of (1984) Sistema de educacion abierta y a distancia: el distance education in national development. DE modelo colombiano, in Evaluation of Higher Distance cannot, of itself, change the values and habits of a Education Results, UNEDC, Madrid, pp. 123-167. nation in a short period. It is a evolutionary, not a Gough, E. revolutionary approach to education. (1983) Distance Education: A Brief Note on the Rational- ization of the Tertiary Sector in Australia, ICDE Bulletin 2, pp. 16-18. REFERENCES Harry, K. Andersson, P.S. (1982) The Open University, United Kingdom in Rumble., G. and Harry, K. Eds. The Distance Teaching Universities, (1982) The Fires of Distance Education in Latin America, Croom Helm/St. Martin's, pp. 167-186. in Daniel, J.S. et al. Eds. Learning at a Distance A World Perspective, Athabasca University/ICCE, pp. 70-72. Hawkridge, D. Ansere, J.K. (1984) Op'n Higher Education in Finland, Teaching at a Distance 25, p. 111. (1982) The Inevitability of Distance Education in Afria in Daniel, J.S. et al. Eds. Learning at a Distance A World Hawkridge, D. et al Perspective, Athabasca University/ICCE, pp. 53-61. (1982) In-service Teacher Education in Kenya in Alterna- ASPESA tive Routes to Fo;.nal Education, World Bank/Johns Hop- kins. (1985) Diversity Down Under. Darling Downs Institute Press, Toowoomba, Australia. Henri, F. and Kaye, A. Baath, J.A. and Willen, B. (1985) Le Savoir a Domicile, Presses de l'Universite du Quebec. (1984) 150 Years of Distance Education in Sweden, ICDE Bulletin 4, pp. 26-32. Holmberg, B. Carr, R.). (1985) Applications of Distance Education in Kenya, Dis- tance Education 6 (2), pp. 242-247. (1983) Correspondence education in Indian universities: a change of direction, Distance Education 4 (2), pp. 187- Holmberg, B. and Keegan, D. 194. (1984) Conference on Independent Study at Leipzig, ICDE Carr, R.J. Bulletin 6, pp. 14-15. (1984) Thailand's Open University, ICDE Bulletin 5, pp. IEC/CET 25-27. (1987) Commonwealth Cooperation in Open Learning, Chen, S. Commonwealth Secretariat, London. (1988) Creating the National Open University in Taiwan, Ilyin, V.V. the influence of Cultural and Educational Factors, to be (1983) The U.S.S.R. Financial and Economic institute for published. Distance Education, Distance Education 4 (2:, pp. 142- Datt, R. 148. (1982) Problems of Distance Education in Developing )edrzycki, W. Countries in Daniel, / S. et al. Eds. Learning at a Distance (1984) The proposed open university in Poland, Teaching A World Perspective, Athalmsca University/ICCE, p;. at a Distance 25, pp. 40-44. 63-65. lianshu, Z, Fleming, A. (1987) Three major events in higher distance education: (1982) The Allama lqbal Open University, Pakistan in News from China, ICDE Bulletin 13, pp. 18-20. Rumble, G. and Harry, K. Eds. The Distance Teaching Universities, Croom Helm/St Martin's, pp. 122-146. Kim, S.H. (1983) Current status of distance education in Korea, Dis- Freeman, R. tance Teaching in the Development of Lifelong Educa- (1986) MARIS-NET, ICII.. Bulletin 12, pp. 50-52. tion, Korea Correspondence University pp. 191-209. Gillard, G.M. and Williams, A.I. Lefranc, R. (1986) Satellite and Kerosene lamp: Distance Education at (1985) Centres de Tele-enseignement Universitaire, Ecole the University of the South Pacific. ICDE Bulletin 12, pp. Normale Superieure de Saint-Cloud, ICDE Bulletin 7, pp. 57-61. 35-38.

28 27 Markowitz, H. Siaciwena, R.M.C. (1983) Independent study by correspondence in Am 1.- (1984) Introducing Radio Broadcasts to support Corre- ican universities, Distance Education 4 (2), pp. 147-170. spondence Courses at the University of Zambia: Initial Melmed, A.S. et al observations, ICDE Bulletin 4, pp. 17-21. (1982) Everyman University in Israel The First Two Years, Siadwena, R.M.C. in Alternative Routes to Formal Education, World Bank/ (1988) Distance Education a ',d National Development: Johns Hopkins. The Zambian Case, to be published. Mitchell, I. Singh, B. (1986) Distinctive Features of Distance Education in (1985) International Seminar on "Distance Education: South Australia, ICDE Bulletin 10, pp. 34-38. Experience of Open Universities", ICDE Bulletin 11, pp. Mohle, H. 35-41. (1983) The Development of Creative Personalities Srisa-an, W. through Independent Academic Work in Distance Educa- (1984) The case of Sukhothai -") a mtr a th ira t Open Uni tion, ICDE Bulletin 2, pp. 19-29. versify of Thailand, Evaluation of Higher Distance Educa- Mudridge, I and Kaufman, D. tion results, UNED, Madrid, pp. 307-350. (1986) Distance Education in Canada, Croom Helm, Lon- Swift, D.F. don. (1986) The Global Village Realized? Paper to the Open Oduaran, A.B. Learning Institute/Knowledge Network Conference, Van- couver, May 1986. (1985) Nigeria's National Open University: A Study in Retrospect, ICDE Bulletin 8, pp. 49-53. Tedesco, J.C. Omokwa, M. (1983)Trends and Prospects in the Development of High- er Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, UN- (1984) Introducing the National Open University, ICDE Bulletin 6, pp. 41-43. ESCO Park, Reference ED-83/14/5/75, p. 27. Tolley, G. Paul, R.C. (1983) The Open Tech Programme, ICDE Bulletin 1, pp. (1983) Correspondence Education the Experience of a 43-47. decade in Fanjab University, Chandigarh, ICDE Bulletin 3, op. 32-38. Trejos, E.G. Perry, W (1984) La UNED DE Costa Rica y su desarrollo in Eval- uation of Higher Distance Education Results, UNED, Ma- (1976) Open University: A Personal Account by the first drid, pp. 73-97. Vice Chancellor, Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Popa-Lisseanu, D. UNESCO (1985) UNED: General Profile and Present Develop- (1983) Distance Education in Higher Education, Bang- ments, ICDE Bulletin 9, pp. 30-37. kok, pp. 7-21. Rebel, K. van As, B.S. (1983) Distance Education in West Germany: the DIFF's (1985) Transitional study programmes at the distance conceptual contribution. Distance Education 4 (2), pp. teaching university of South Africa: a continuing experi- 171-178. ment. Distance Education 6 (2), pp. 223-234. Reddy, R. van Eesteren-Smith, H.L. (1984) Distance teaching in India: A profile of Andhra (1984) The Netherlands Open University in the Starting Prodesh Open University in Evaluation of higher distance Blocks, ICDE Bulletin 5, pp. 18-24. education results, UNED, Madrid, nr,. 283-305. van Enckevort, G. Reuben, N.Z. (1985) The Dutch Open University Opened: An Unex- Distance Education and National Development, to be pected Success, ICDE Bulletin 7, pp. 28-34. published. Walid, K. Rumble, G. (1988) The role of the al-Quds Open University in Nation- (1982) The cost analysis of learning at a distance: Vene- al Development, to be published. zuela's Universidad Nacional Abierta, Distance Educa- tion 3 (1), pp. 116-140. White, M. (1982) Distance education in Australian Higher Education Rumble, G. A History, Distance Education 3 (2), pp. 255-278. (1985) Distance education in Latin America: models for the 80s, Distance Education 6 (2), pp. 248-255. Yabe, A. (1983) The University of the Air, The Role of Distance Shatzman, I. Teaching in the Development of Lifelong Education, Ko- (1984) Everyman's University: Original aims, Interim Re- rea Correspondence University, pp. 250-268. sults and New Projects in Evaluation of Higher Distance Education Results, UNEDi., Spain, pp. 259-282. Yepez, M.R. (1984) La organization el curriculum y la production de cubos: aspectos criticos en una institution abierta y a

29 2,, distancia, in Evaluation of Higher Distance Education Results, UNED, Madrid, pp. 99'21. Yu, Xu (1986) A look into some aspects of distance education in the People's Republic of China, Distance Education 7 (1), pp. 92-105.

302 9 BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS Jack Guido Hermann FOKS, BA (MA.) TSTC (Hawthorn), is the Head of the Victorian TAFE Off-Campus Network (VTOCN), 143 Franklin Street, MELBOURNE, Victoria 3000, AUSTRALIA. The VTOCN is responsible for the development and delivery of TAFE (technical and further education) distance education in the state of Victoria.

Distance education adeveloping concept JACK FOKS

INTRODUCTION quality print productions with impressive levels of surface design. And now print is being complement- Distance education is a concept which has devel- ed by, combined with, or replaced by a whole range oped itself out of existence. of alternative media and technologies which will be But it certaily proved useful while it lasted. A lot of looked at further in section 4 which follows. people have made their reputations because of it, Distance education programs and associated study and have been able to meet in various parts of the materials were originally planned designed and de- world to discuss it. More importantly it has led to veloped by a teacher or lecturer identified by his/her action by which students have benefitted. superior as having spare time up his/her sleeve or In this paper I will look at some of the ways in which having suffered a nervous breakdown, or being development has taken place and will propose that pregnant, or not safe to let loose on the students. the accumulative effect is that distance education is Now development is carricd out by teams of profes- no longer useful as a concept. In doing so,! will sionals, each with something to contribute to the touch on the developments in the approaches tak- process content expertise, instructional design, en: sub-editing, media selection and application and to the preparation of study materials; technological prowess. to student support; to the use of technologies, looking in particular at the different effects on poor and rich countries; STUDENT SUPPORT by government towards education in general and Students have changed. They are Tore sophisti- distance education in particular; cated and expect more. They have access to more to the privatization of education; resources (even in developing countries radio and to the question of distance education as a sep- television are reaching more people). arate philosophy. There continue to be those who learn at a distance because they have no choice but there are many others who prefer to do so. This preference may STUDY MATERIALS reflect many things, including greater compatibility Materials have developed from being just duplica- with life style; greater personal control over time, tions of lecture notes, through to being study materi- place, pace and manner of learning; a way of avoid- als in their own right, based on highly developed ing a return to the sort of institution with which there principles of instructional design. Notes reproduced are too many unhappy associated memories. on spirit duplicators have been replaced by high Students interact more with each other. And there

31 51) are far greater variations in the ages, gender and agement is provided in response to students' re- social backgrounds of distance education students. quests. It can also be pro-active with mentors on the Student support systems have developed inmany alert for, and taking action in response to, danger different ways. The general trend has been to in- signals such as late return of assignments,poor crease the level and sophistication of support. marks, changes in students' personal situations and unsatisfactory performances by tutors. Pre-enrolment counselling is now oftenmore than the provision of basic information on whatcourses Behind services to students are administrative ser- are available; assistance in interpreting course in- vices which distance education institutions have formation can lead to more involved and sensitive over the years developed to high levels of sophisti- interaction between intending students anda dis- cation. They include processes for employing tu- tance education institution. Cross - institutional re- tors, stock control systems, assignment traffic rec- ferral services add to the enrolment support. ording/monitoring systemsflizI processes associated w:th certification. Learning support has developed from situations where students were left pretty well to themselves to Computers are increasingly being used to provide, cope with correspondence notes and associated as- or help provide, services to distance education stu- signment work. Tutors are encouraged to engage in dents. Their usefulness may be more apparent in the meaningful two way communication with their stu- case of students records but there are also very dents, in writing or via other media. Seminars, useful programs associated with counselling, stock workshops and summer schools are being looked at control, assignment traffic control, tutor payments, more critically and, when appropriate and possible, and so on. However, the decision to use computers alternative strategies, more suitable to the needs of to supplen dent or provide student services should be students, are being used. Personal contact between based on a thoughtful analysis of the tasks to be students and tutors, and students and students,sup- performed and a considered weighing up of the plements more formal arrangemerts. Arrangements initial and ongoing investment against the projected are made for students to have access to learning output. resources in addition to formal study materials. Student-tutor interaction has also changed significantly. Once upon a time this involved students TECHNOLOGIES receiving materials, reading them, submitting writ- GENERAL ten assignments and receiving marks in the form of alphas or numbers. Whilst this still continues, there Developments in technology have had a tremendous impact on distance education. They have is now also a whole range of complex twoway communications taking place between students and opened up opportunities but they have also high- tutors. lighted problems, in particular those associated with the differences between rich andpoor coun- Tutors are now often expected to provide much tries. Sections 4.2 to 4.6 which follow examine more than a simple alpha or numerical mark; in- some of the advantages of technologies in distance deed they are encouraged to continue and enhance education, some of the general barriers to their ef- the learning process by indicating to students how fective use, specific problems for poor countries and they might improve their responses, referring them some of the issues involved in overcoming the diffi- to references which will add to ideas raised in as- culties. signments, supporting them when they are having difficulties and bringing them back to earth when they get too carried away. These communiationsno longer take place only on paper. They may involve ADVANTAGES interaction in face to face situations, by telephone, New technologies have added to the extent to which via computers, during television and radio broad- distance education overcomes disadvantage. casts, by exchange of audio and video recordings Whilst there is a tendency for distance educational- and by various combinations of twoor more of ists to argue that traditional face to face teaching is these. unique in placing restrictions on actual and intend- And then there is learning management,a process of ing students, they themselves can, and often do, ongoing educational support and counselling dur- impose limitations students can be required to ing a student's course of study. If a student experi- submit assignments according to prescribed sched- ences particular difficulty, if a student is not suffi- ules, attend compulsory residential schools and sit ciently challenged, if the chosen course of study for examinations at set times. But theway that dis- turns out not to be appropriate, the student can tance education creates barriers, which is relevant discuss this with a mentor, responsible for that stu- here, is to use the printed word as the basis for its dent's pastoral care and consider ways of dealing study materials and the written word as the basis for with the situation. At its most passive, learningman- student assignment work. This is inappropriate fora

32 31 large number of students, ranging from those who accurate but is also capable of providing informa- are simply not comfortable with the printed word tion which will enable educators to assist students to through to those who are illiterate. Depending upon make their individual progress through, amend, or the nature of the educational program which is be- even abandon, their courses of study. A fundamen- ing provided, it may weli be more meaningful to use tal requirement for the distance educator to be able alternative technologies young people who shy to fulfill this role is a sophisticated assignment track- away from printed materials hay, for example, be ing system. There are now many computer based far more at ease with learning experiences based on programs which provide such learning manage- video games. ment at high levels of complexity. The new technologies also provide the capacity for far greater interaction. There is the immediate inter- SHARING TECHNOLOGY-BASED action of computer aided instruction and the delayed interaction of recorded audio tapes sent be- RESOURCES tween student and tutor. There are two main reasons given for sharing educa- In the past many practical activities have not been tional resources. I have already mentioned the asso- possible for distance education students, due to the ciated economies and I now add the sharing of inaccessibility of appropriate equipment or due to academic and instructional expertise. Both are tell- the expense and danger associated with the equip- ing reasons for distance education programs to be ment or processes. The new technologies offer the based on shared resourcesas their most significant possibility of increasingly realistic simulated experi- costs are associated with the development and production of their study materials and because they ences in a whole host of areas flying areoplanes, conducting chemical experiments and handling ex- have some potential for sharing expertise around. plosives. The new technologies offer considerable scope for sharing; indeed the very high level of sophistication Many students have to overcome various levels of and resources required to develop technology apathy and hostility to the learning process in gener- based resources makes it essential if programs of any al and to traditional methods and media in partic- usefulness are to be developed. ular. Using media which create interest, which provide novelty and which are, in fact, the media with Not only is it possible, with the correct planning, to which students are comfortable because they are share audio and video tapes, audio and video discs, using them at home, at work or at play, can provide radio and television broadcasts and computer based a degree of motivation that students do not always software and courseware. As more and more print- associate with education and training. ed materials are based on computerised word-processing, type setting and graphics, the potential in- As I have indicated elsewhere, there is increasing creases for the cost-effective sharing of copy in dig- pressure on educational organizations to be more ital form. cost effective. The new technologies add to the means by which distance education programs provide economies of scale and lessen the need for GENERAL BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE capital intensive and quickly out-dated buildings USE OF TECHNOLOGY and equipment. But the new technologies also pro- I have written elsewhere about significant trends in vide increased econorro'et when they are used to the new technologies (ICDE Bullet, 1, May, 1984). I prepare and produce print-oased materials. The in- identified decreasing cost, increasing versatility, introduction of computerised fiord processing and creasing user friendliness, standardization of for- type setting provides the opportunity for more effi- mats and protocols and the capacity for technol- cient editing and exchange of materials; computer ogies to interact. aided graphics reduce the need for repetitive art In that article ! also wrote of barriers to effective use work; desktop publishing programs introduce grea- of the new technologies, mentioning educational ter efficiencies still; and new high speed printers imperialism, lack of communication and co-oper- offer cheaper materials more quickly. ation between organizations, the unfair and exces- There is growing recognition that, for many students sive reliance on enthusiastic amateurs, educational and for many educational programs, eductors need conservatism and the high level of resources and to go beyond their traditional roles of lecturers and sophistication needed for meaningful development markers of assignments and examinations. They and implementation of technology based learning. need to manage diverse and complicated individual To these barriersI now add the "cargo cult" of learning programs and to become facilitators and technology. This assumes that, if the equipment is mentors rather than the focus of all attention and the obtained, the courseware will appear by magic. The source of all knowledge and wisdom. But this re- most recent, example of this is the satellite but it is quires careful record keeping for some very in- equally true of computers, broadcast television, rec- volved processes, record keeping which is not only orded video and recorded audio The "cargo cult"

33 mentality manifests itself in a number of ways and courseware, tu maintain the equipment or to capital investment which is not backed up by recur- replace it.In addition there may just not be the rent funding; installation of complicated equipment technical expertise available to provide that sort of without a corresponding provision of technical staff; expertise. reliance on one enthusiast who may move on leav- Before enthusiastically adopting technology to de- ing behind equipment that no one else understands liver learning, one must consider the nature of one's and/or cares about; the acquisition of equipment students. Their cultural backgrounds, the language which is not appropriate to the educational tasks with which they are most comfortable, their atti- and the situations of students; and the development tudes to and their familiarity with technologies, of courseware which assumes student support sys- must all be considered. One cannot assume a ho- tems which are just not there. mogeneous population in any country, but in certain developing countries student backgrounds can BARRIERS IN POOR COUNTRIES vary tremendously, from each other and from those In addition to the general barriers listed above, de- seeking to educate them. Thee are five hundred veloping countries have specific difficulties if they languages spoken in New Guniea. The sense of wish to use the new technologies effectively. I have humour of a tribal member of that country's High- attended a number of conferences including,I re- lands is quite different to that of the well meaning gret to say, those organised by the ICDE, where dry dweller, educated in an Australian university, delegates from well-to-do organizations in well-to- who is attempting to develop an audio tape from do countries deliver to their less well off colleagues which the tribesman is to learn; and certainly their gratuitous a,' Ace on how to solve their educational experiences with various technologies will not be problems especially those of access by students the same. by the use of expensive and sophisticated tech- In most countries, politicians are interested in edu- nologies which rely upon expensive and sophistication and they are interested in telecommunica- cated technological infra-structures, in particular tions. In developing countries, where they are con- those associated with telecommunications. cerned to see rapid and co-ordinated development This does not provide much joy to educationalists in both areas, they may see it as necessary to set from countries which do not even have an effective parameters for educational institutions in terms of postal system, let alone terrestrial or satellite based their curricula and use of technologies. In those telecommunications systems. However, it is inter- developing countries where there is some volatility esting to note that satellites do offer the opportuni- in the political situation or where the governments ties for developing countries to leap straight into the see the education systems as the means to promote new systems of communicatons without having to particular values educationalists will need to take compete with, discard, or complement well estab- account of how this may affect their use of tech- lished existing systems (because they do not have nology, particularly when they consider using cour- them). Of course this is only possible if and it is a seware developed elsewhere. big "if" a generous benefactor donates the necessary equipment and training. This happened to some extent when the University of the West Indies USING TECHNOLOGY made effective use of satellite space and equipment EFFECTIVELY donated by the USA. There are four areas to consider when dealing with The lack of equipment, resources and expertise is the question of providing meaningful technology often evident in developing countries and in indi- based distance education to the many and varied vidual educational institutiuns and systems in those persons and groups in the different countries of the countries. Even when institutions have the neces- world: sary resources, this does not mean that students will planning is about taking informed decisions. It is have access to them. In particular, distance educa- about establishing educational priorities within a so- tion students, who are unable to get to the campuses cial, economic and political context and translating where the resources are located, may be required to these priorities into investment in capital, in recur- obtain their own equipment or make arrange- rent activities and in program development. At a ments to gain access to local equipment. This raises more specific level, it is about designing learning considerable problems for students from low socio- programs which will use appropriate combinations economic backgrounds. of learning strategies and learning resources to Another problem for poorer countries and poorer achieve identified educational objectives; and it is educational institutions is that, whilst they may re- about planning appropriate student support systems ceive donations or grants which enable them to it is not much use designing interactive comput- acquire equipment and systems, they will not have erised learning programs if students do not have ac- the recurrent funding necessary to develop software cess to the equipment or if they are reluctant to use it;

34 tit)44 7) co-ordination of the development of technology country, there could be a need for translation. There based courseware is often preferable, even neces- is remarkably little information available on the sary. In educational terms, academic and technical translation of print and non-print based learning expertise can be concentrated in the development resources from one culture to another and from one of resources to be made available to those who language to another. There is a need for a study to be would not normally have access to it. The devel- conducted on the need for translation, on the extent opment of much of the courseware is complex, time to which the need is presently being met and on the consuming and expensive. More and more govern- methods being used. The study should lead to rec- ments demand co-ordinated approaches, some- ommendations for providing information on avail- times directly, sometimes indirectly, for example, able translations and translation services and for through a telecommunications policy. Where co- improving present strategies. ordination is to be found, it is usually within in- For there to be meaningful inter institutional and stitutions and educational systems; sometimes it is international co-operation in the development and evident at a provincial or even national level; sharing of technology based resources and informa- co-operation is a way of achieving more education- tion, various levels of staff development and interac- ally effective and cost effective use of the tech- tion are necessary. Firstly, there is a need for senior nologies where co-ordination is inappropriate or personnel to meet in order to establish broad policy impossible, for example when we consider the shar- guidelines these meetings should be kept to a ing of resources and talent between nations. It can minimum. Secondly, operatives must communicate apply to the development of resources and to the to develop specific plans. Their meetings should be delivery of programs and will involve various levels more frequent than those of senior personnel and of involvement by participants and various services must therefore take forms other than face to face to students; meetings. Teleconferences, exchange of written sharing information and resources is a more specific and recorded communications and study tours are form of co-operation. all usefulif planned correctly. However, much more use should be made of staff secondments and How willing are institutions, systems and countries staff exchanges which involve substantial periods of to share? time and have clearly identified practical outcomes, Much has been made of the "not developed here" in particular the development of learning programs syndrome as a barrier to sharing. Whilst this contin- and learning resources. ued to be the case in countries and institutions which can afford to take such a stand, it is certainly GOVERNMENT AND DISTANCE less true of those whose resources are severely limited. EDUCATION The "aid versus trade" dilemma reflects conflicting The relationship between government and distance pressures, often from government, placed on edu- education has changed. At onetime governments in cational organizations. It will not go away but it can most countries displayed only luke warm interest in be reduced by clear foreign policy guidelines within distance education, if they displayed any at all. countries and economic support from international Interestingly enough, governments in developing organizations like UNESCO and the World Bank. countries were the first to look to distance education as a means of achieving their social, economic and When it comes to sharing resources between coun- political objectives, probably because they were tries, cultural differences may present special prob- more desperate. Governments in developed coun- lems. Given the diversity of and tensions between tries have now also seen the possibilities of alterna- cultures in some countries, it will be important to tives to face to face teaching to develop in their obtain advice from those who understand the cul- populations the knowledge, attitudes and skills to tural backgrounds of the intended students. which they attach high priority. This is a reflection of The problems associated with differences in lan- a change in attitude by governments to education as guage operate at various levels and in different ar- a whole from fairly unthinking support because it eas. First there are differences in languages between was a good thing, to making quite specific demands countries. Then there are colloquial, social and to implement government priorities. educational differences. The spoken language may As economic situations in all countries become less vary from the written language. Technical language favorable these demands increase and education is is different to social language which is different to required to play its part in training work forces better academic language. Maybe none of these differ- able to contribute to economic improvement. If ences matter because we can assume that English is public education appears unable or unwilling to do the universal language of eduction. This is too glib a so, various levels of encouragement are provided. It solution. One must accept that often this is not the is not surprising that the encouragement is often case and that, to use resources developed in one linked to funding. This may be in the form of grants

35 3-t earmarked for special projects, the withdrawal of ... open learning isexpected to be a significant way funds if government expectations are not met the of providing flexible and relevant training to support increasing tendency to direct government funds to the...governments' manpower planning pro- educational activities conducted by organizations grammes, which range from training unemployed other than the traditional public educational institu- youth...through to retraining adults, already in the tions and greater government encouragement for workforce, whose skills have becr-,,:-.:. outdated." the community and the employment sector to con- (pages 86 to 88). tribute to meeting the cost of education and training. Governments have begun to concentrate on dis- PRIVATIZATION OF EDUCATION tance education and other non-traditional learning strategies as the appropriate means of meeting the Privatization of education is a world-wide trend, educational needs of specifically identified groups paradoxically often under governments concerned of actual and potential students. I will take the liber- to exercise greater control over education and its ty of quoting myself as I described the attitude of the outcomes. Distance education institutions and sys- government of Victoria, which is one of six states in tems will need to: Australia (Smith, Kelly et al (1987) ). This dealt with compete more strenuously for government funds, "open learning" to which i will refer again later in against each other and against private organiza- this paper but I have selected extracts which equally tions; apply to distance education: consider various entrepreneurial ventures which "The Victorian government's social justice policy might have seemed slightly distasteful in the past; seeks to overcome disadvantage within the commu- seek funds from sources other than ministries of nity and has two broad implications for education. It education and, for that matter, government; means that members of the community must be helped to overcome educational disadvantage and enter into more co-operative ventures with each that education must be used to help them overcome other, other educational bodies and with the private social and/or vocational disadvantage... If those sector. students are persons for whom traditional learning They are well placed to do this provided that their methods are inappropriate, then alternative meth- approach is flexible and adventurous.They already ods will need to be provided. Adults with social and have available learning resources developed earlier work commitments, geographically isolated per- and the skills to develop more. Distance education sons, house-bound women, physically or mentally learning modules can be combined with each other disabled persons, Aborigines and the young unem- and with other resources and activities so as to suit ployed are some groups for whom regular attend- the needs and requirements of different students and other clients. ance at (eucational institutions) at set times may well not be appropriate... DISTANCE EDUCATION AS Both at the state and the national levels, governments look to (technical and further education) to A SEPARATE PHILOSOPHY contribute to their economic and labour market pil- Paranoia is not uncommon amongst distance edu- icies ... (technical and further education) is being cationalists. How sensitive we all are to any real or asked to do more for less... there are further effi- imagined suggestion that our mode of learning is ciencies inherent in... an ...approach which is not second rate has no legitimate theoretical basis and dependent upon...the use of capital intensive can easily be handled by face to face teachers as buildings... the provision of expensive and quickly incidental parts of their work loads. How hard we out-dated facilities...having to cover the cost of have worked to establish respectability for our mode travel and accommodation necessary for students to and how strenuously we strove to establish distance attend campus-based classes (looking 'Jack on this education as a separate branch of educational phi- extract, I would want to add the additional economy losophy with its own experts and requiring trained of providing statewide, even nation-wide, resources specialists to implement it. at one go, without the need for local educational There certainly is justification for concern at the institutions having to set up their own courses, staff entrenched positions of educational conservatives structures and processes for developing learning re- who believe that the only worthwhile method of sources). learning is to attend teacher centred, face to face ...both state and federal governments are con- classes at fixed times and fixed places. It certainly is cerned with Australia's internal and international necessary to achieve "parity of esteem" (Jevons, trading situation. The (learning) packages... are 1987) for alternative learning and teaching strate- considered to be marketable commodities both to gies. This conference is one testimony to the success sections of industry and the community, and to an of efforts to do so. the interest and support demon- education hungry third world. strated by government and industry for alternative

36 r lb . 3Y/ learning are additional evidence. And the many, social conditions, the economy, industrial factors many learned articles, books, lectures and confer- and prevailing politics?" ences on correspondence education ... that is, ex- This leads to considerations which are independent ternal studies... that is, off-campus studies... that of notions like distance education and traditional is, distance education, are powerful signs of re- education. These, as I have suggested above, are spectability. too broad and value laden to be useful. Instead, one The pity of it is that this has developed its own must look at a range of much more specific strate- entrenched positions and self indulgences. In par- gies and resources which will be combined, in dif- ticular it has resulted in a perceived need to identify ferent ways on different occasions, to provide the distance education as a separate mode of learning, best learning possible. If the package ends up look- together with the consequent need to categorise ing like one that the disciple of one school of learning activities, institutions and systems as being thought would identify as being pure distance edu- either distance education or not. cation, this is a coincidence and does not matter. In Active and fertile minds have been devoted to estab- any case, the discipline of another school would lishing the correct definition of distance education. probably find a feature that excluded it from his or In the first edition of "The American Journal of Dis- her definition. tance Education" (1987) Garrison and Shale contin- Many of the developments in distance education ue the debate with their challenge to Keegan. As one which I have descriLed have been leading to this reads through this article and thinks back on others "open learWng" approach as indeed have devel- by such leading distance educationalists as Peters opments in other areas of education. Technologies (1971) and Holmberg (1981 and 1987), one won- have blurred traditionaldistinctions and have ders at the futility of it all. What started off as a very opened up the possibilities of combining a whole necessary reaction against traditional barriers to the range of strategies. Government expectations, eco- needs of various students has become a game of nomic pressures and encouragement to privatize semantics, philosophical hair splitting and defence require flexible and rapid responses which are im- of empires. No matter how sincere and dedicated peded by strict conformity to prescribed definitions educationalists may be, they will be drawn into and associated processes of distance education. these games because they invariably begin by ask- Student support systems designed with distance ing the wrong question, namely "What is distance education students in mind have meaningful appli- education?" This opens the way fora process which cation for other students. The team approach to is highly entertaining for those interested in point developing structured, resource based learning pro- scoring but does precious little in terms of meeting grams makes a lot of sense for all educational activ- the educational needs of the community. As the ity, as has been demonstrated in various mixed article by Garrison and Shale demonstrates, one mode and fleximode programs. ends up attributing to "distance education" any characteristics one wishes. If, for example, a philos- opher of distance education believes that the new CONCLUSION technologies are wonderful, then any educational activity involving effective use of satellites, comput- Correspondence education began because of a con- ers and laser discs is included under the distance cern for students. It developed teaching methods education heading. which overcame barriers to education put in the way of certain members of society. That tradition of The only problem is that traditional educationalists genuine concern for students continues, even play the same games. though it is often at odds with the very natural tend- As a result, confusion and territorial disputes rage. ency to promote the interest and comforts of educa- At the same time life, as they say, goes on and tors and institutions. Inevitably it leads to an ap- confuses things even more. Distance educators use proach which provides students with the best re- face to face strategies, face to face teachers, use gardless of into which theoretical compartmen they distance education techniques. New learning strat- may or may not fit and regardless of the conve- egies emerge, especially in the area of the new nience, fame and glory of educators and their in- technologies and both camps lay claim to them as stitutions. part of their doma:,1. Resources nominally devel- So the question is whereto go from here. It would be oped for use in one mode are increasingly used in a pity not to meet again in three years' time in some the other. exotic part of the world. But when we do, maybe it What really happens is that educators who decide to should be as educators concerned with an open get on with the job do so by asking a quite different approach to learning, rather than adherents to an question "How can I best achieve identified edu- educational religion of days gone by. cational objectives with this particular student, or group of students, given the limitations of available talent and resources, administrative requirements,

37 3 i; Holmberg, B. REFERENCES (1981) Status and Trends of Distance Education (Kogan Page). Foks, J. (1984) "Big Brother Education & Telematics", ICDE Bul- Holmberg, B. letin Volume 5 (ICDE), May 1984) (1987) "Goals and Procedures in Distance Education", ICDE Bulletin Volume 13 (ICDE, January, 1987) Foks, I. (1987) "Towards Open Learning", Distance Education levons, F. and the Mainstream, edited by P. Smith & M. Kelly (1987) "Distance Education and Campus-based Educa- (Croom Helm, 1987) tion: Parity of Esteem", Distance Education and the Main- stream, edited by P. Smith & M. Kelly (Croom Helm, Garrison, D. & Shale, D. 1987) (1987) "Mapping the Boundaries of Distance Education: Problems in defining the Field", The American Journal of Peters, 0 Distance Education (The Pennsylvania State University, (1971) "Theoretical aspects of correspondence educa- 1987) tion", The Changing World of Correspondence Study, edited by 0. McKenzie & E. Chriscensen (Pennsylvania State University, 1971)

38 BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS Patrick Guiton is Director of External Studies at Murdoch University, Western Australia. Before migrating to Australia in 1974 he was a Deputy Regional Director at the British Open University. IN

Organisational autonomy and coordination in distance education PATRICK GUITON

INTRODUCTION Education) The intent, and the substance of the report were obvious from its title and, significantly, "Myopia" is a condition easy enough to diagnose in it had a chapter devoted exclusively to External others even without the benefit of a medical train- Studies. ing. In this non-clinical sense it is applied to those who, from our own perspective, seem to be protect- It is widely known that Australia, like Sweden, orga- ing some sectional interest against a broader vision. nises its higher distance education according to the Less well known is myopia's opposite, "hyperme- "integrated" model, with on-campus and off-cam- tropia" which denotes "farsightedness" but which pus students receiving the same curriculum taught is nevertheless still a clinical condition requiring and assessed by the same academic faculty. In a optical adjustment. When any scheme for the coor- paper presented at the 13th I.C.D. E. Forum I identi- dination of resources is said to have been frustrated fied Four models of organisational structure in the by "institutional myopia" it may therefore be impor- Australian University sector, these reflecting the rel- tant to look with some care at the organisational ative degree of integration between internal and context in order to ensure that any existing problem external studies.2 A most important element in this has not been compounded by "planner's hyper- integrations is the capacity for students to move metropia". readily between the modes of study as their circumstances change, or in some cases, to take course In this paper I want to use a number of case studies units in both modes concurrently. The relative ad- from current developments in Australian higher dis- vantages and disadvantages of "mixed-mode" and tance education to examine some aspects of pos- "single-mode" distance education institutions have sible tension between organisational autonomy and been argued at length but rarely from a student's broader coordination. I want to indicate some of the perspective. Emphasis tends to be placed on the factors which may need to be addressed in devel- greater commitment of academic effort and of in- oping schemes for rationalisation of resources with stitutional resources in the purpose-built institution, the hope that we, as practitioners in distance educa- rather than on the relative accessibility of course tion, may assist in providing the best possible condi- writer to the student and flexibility of study mode tions for these to work effectively. choice in the dual mode structure. The Australian Review of Efficiency and Effectiveness focuses attention on rationalisation of effort in course delivery in EFFICIENCY, EFFECTIVENESS AND one mode only the external. It must therefore AUTONOMY pose some threat to the central feature of Australian Towards the end of 1986 the Australian Common- higher distance education, the integration of "in- wealth Tertiary Education Commission published its ternal" on-campus and "external" off-campus stud- Review of Efficiency and Effectiveness in Higher ies.

39 2l i Open systems theory offers an approach in which "it may be that such a method of cooperation would exchanges between an organisation and its envi- require the modification of an institution's face-to- ronment provide the central focus. Rumble' has face courses to fit in with the external materials the shown how this approach can be applied inan institution is using!' analysis of distance education organisation. He de- Such wishful thinking is unlikely to have the desired fines two operational subsystems (course materials effect if institutions of higher education do indeed and student services) and specifies the logistic and have a central propens;:y to protect their autonomy. regulatory boundary activities necessary for thesys- In these circumstances it is hardly surprising to find tem to operate. Various writers have warned against many of those involved with integrated dual mode applying the organic analogies implicit in systems theory too readily to educational organisations. The studies concerned at the prospect of having the concept of a primary task output fits rather awk- external mode detached from the autonomous organisation for a separate process of "rationalisation". wardly and system "goals and objectives" will in External mode teaching is highly visible whilst in- reality reflect a complex of rational, political, colle- ternal mode lecturing is generally not. Whilst the gial and purely random pressures and strategies. case for collaboration in, and rationalisation of, Nevertheless, the open systems model does help in face-to-face teaching is just as clear, the capacity or emphasising two major features of organisational perhaps the will to address the issue is not equally structure and development which have particular strong. The political scientist Wildaysky has this importance when we wish to consider the pressures advice for planners: for or against inter-institutional collaboration. First- ly, in systems analysis an organism, (oran orga- "If you can't change what you should, change what nisation) seeks to survive in adaptation to, andcon- you can."5 trol of, its environment. The impetus is towards The Australian Federal Government seeks to estab- STABILITY in the face of outside pressure. Secondly, lish a network through which specified providers of it is seen to adapt its structure through feedback from external studies will develop national mandates for its transactions with other organisations: the impe- particular academic disciplines. Insofar as students tus is towards a reinforcement of AUTONOMY. may enrol with these institutions across the conti- Over the past decade Australian higher education nent, there is no argument of principle since dis- institutions have been encouraged to differentiate tance education may be presumed to be distance their academic profiles rather than to replicate each independent provided adequate provisions are others course offerings. They have responded with made for local support services and localised resi- varying and fluctuating degrees of enthusiasm and dential schools, tutorials and laboratory attendanc- success but most have fought tenaciously to rein- es. But the scheme goes further. Because a range of force and strengthen the autonomy of their individu- Australian higher education institutions are depend- al profiles. Will Universities, under pressure to iden- ent on external enrollments for their viability, they tify their unique and differentiated qualities, be able will be permitted to continue but only if they use or willing to respond to calls for them to establish course materials developed elsewhere. Academic collaborative networks which will reduce their indi- faculties' resistence to adopting imported course vidual autonomy in an uncertain environmental materials for their own external mode teaching has context? What are the influences which will encour- been dismissed as merely the expression of individ- age or drive them towards establishing networks of ualistic myopia or the N.I.H. (not invented here) shared effort? It might have been anticipated thata factor.' If the integration of dual mode teaching is to Government Review of Efficiency and Effectiveness be maintained, critics will however now have to in Higher Education would seek to rationalise the extend the N.I.H. principle to the internal mode. Is teaching being carried out in the lecture theatres of the logical outcome of this development, a national 19 Universities and 34 Colleges of Advanced Educa- curriculum centre of the Italian Universita a Distin- tion across the country. The prospect of inter-cam- za type but serving both modes for Australian pus teaching by electronic media links could have higher education? It seems unlikely. been addressed. The problem of overteaching,referred to in passing, could have been linked to the opportunities already demonstrated in some dual FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY, mode teaching Universities whereby independent CONTEXTUAL CONSTRAINTS study materials developed for off-campus students are used systematically by on-campus students and AND COLLABORATION their tutors. But the opportunity was eitherover- If educational organisations favour autonomy and looked or recognised and put back in the "too- their academic members are strongly influenced by hard" basket. Commenting on the prospects forra- collegial rather than organisational values, then it is tionalisation between dual mode institutions the hardly surprising to find several pessimistic reports most that the Commission's advisory body could do of attempts at the development and operation of was to speculate, somewhat diffidently; Consortia. The Unl.'ersity of Mid-America is one

40 39 well known example and Rumble quotes Neil in "those parts of the immediate environment which- reflective mood. may be subject to change but which most often act "practical schemes of collaboration are difficult to as fairly fixed restrictions within which the task must be performed".1° design and implement and are consequently rather rare. Further, even when a scheme is launched there For Dahllof the important question is "under what

seems to be a rather high chance that it will atrophy conditions.. ."will voluntary cooperation between or collapse after a depressingly short time"' institutions, or rationalisations imposed from outside be most likely to succeed or to fail. The types of As against this we have (as I write in October 1987) the very interesting and promising examples of the frame factors or contextual constraints likely to be British Columbia Distance Education Consortium significant range from external environmental fac- and of the Commonwealth initiative for cooperation tors such as demographic and geographic distribution to background historical factors and established in distance education. There will no doubt be other opportunities for people closer to these develop- political conditions. ments to discuss them during the Conference. I will In summary it is important to stress that the two confine myself to examples closer to home even if factors introduced here in relation to a range of they are much less ambitious. Australian case studies functional autonomy in The organisational theorists, Katz and Kahn writing organisational structure and contextual frame fac- in 1966 made this interesting observation: tors are used merely as indicators of comparison; they are not explanatory. "The fact that organisations have built-in protective devices to maintain stability and that they are noto- riously difficult to change in the direction of some reformer's desires should not obscure the realities A. COUNTRY CONTRACTING IN ofthe dynamic interrelationships of any social structure with its social and natural environment".8 WESTERN AUSTRALIA Educational organisations are not just hopelessly Dahllof has pointed to geographic and demograph- inert but neither is collaboration between them self- ic contextual frame factors which have influenced evidently attainable as planners assert. Are there the development of higher distance education in then any factors which may help us to compare the favour of dual mode rather than Open Universities relative chances of success in schemes intended to both in Australia and Sweden." improve cooperation between educational institu- In Western Australia an additional factor is the tions involed in distance education? I want to sug- heavy concentration of population in the metropoli- gest two and to relate them to a number of current tan capital city and the absence of substantial pro- examples of cooperation with which I am familiar. vincial centres beyond. The development of tech- Alvin Gouldner the American Sociologist talks of nical colleges and, more recently, "community" "functional autonomy" to distinguish between sys- colleges in a number of relatively small country tems in which the parts are highly interdependent towns has nevertheless led to pressure for some (low functional autonomy) and those in which the tertiary level education to be provided locally in the component parts are relatively independent and classroom mode. Country contracting has been a therefore have high functional autonomy. collaborative response through which metropolitan tertiary institutions have accredited selected tech- "Operationally speaking we might say thatthe func- nical education sector staff to teach some first year tional autonomy of a system part is the probability courses (Computing, Accounting, Australian Stud- that it can survive separation from the system".9 ies) to locally based students. By providing its own Using this concept we may argue that the School of external studies course materials both to contracted External Studies in the University of Queensland staff and students the city institution can effectively had (at least until very recently) higher furctional control not only the curriculum but also its delivery. autonomy than the Off-campus Programme at Dea- Since it is now standard practice in several dual kin University. But, whilst the "Queensland model" mode institutions for common print material to be might survive better under an imposed structure of used in both modes the extension of such a practice rationalisation because it would not have to take the under country contractual arrangements does not whole system of classroom teaching with it, that create an anomaly and the extension of campus does not necessarily imply that the University of teaching in this way does not result in a high level of Queensland is more likely to adopt such a collab- functional autonomy for distance education. For orative structure than is Deakin University. For that this reason, and also because the metropolitan in- type of indicator we need to turn to the work of the stitution extends its recruitment base and absorbs Swedish writers Dahllof (1977, 1986) and Willer the students into its own second year programme, (1981) who have identified Contextual Frame Con- prospects for the success of this collaborative ditions as: scheme appear good.

41 'Its B. A JOINT PRINCIPAL PROVIDER and the Knowledge Network, to establish a consor- OF EXTERNAL STUDIES IN tium WESTERN AUSTRALIA "to coordinate formally the planning and delivery of their off-campus program activities to ensure that Three Western Australian tertiary education institu- every person in British Columbia, regardless to tions are each providing a range of generally com- place of residence has an opportunity to compiete plementary programmes to a relatively small num- appropriate recognised university degrees."12 ber of students but each form an organisational To an outsider, structure which closely integrates curriculum con- it seems very unlikely that these tent, teaching staff and assessment methods for on Universities each with its own distance education and off campus students. Federal Government con- programme, would have agreed to such coordina- cerns, expressed through its Review of Efficiency tion without the catalytic influence of the Open and Effectiveness, have focussed on the perceived Learning Institute and the Knowledge Network. need for greater economies of scale to be effected in Once established however the corsortium's powers are substantial. course materials production even if these may cut across the identification of students with their "...to ensure the opportunity and appropriate aca- awarding institution. demic management for the completion of an `Open' If, as has been suggested earlier, educational in- degree on the basis of credits obtained by candidates for coursed taken from the offerings of mem- stitutions may generally be expected to act in ways ber institutions and from various other institutions" which serve to protect their autonomy, it may also be assumed that they will resist outside attempts to and impose collaboration of their external studies pro- "to coordinate needs, assessment procedures and grammes upon them. Their specific responses may program planning for the purpose of developing an however depend on the degree of functiunal auton- annual program and budget submission "" omy attained by the distance education operation in It is likely that other contextual factors facilitating or relation to the organisation as a whole. Integration hindering inte, institutional collaboration in West- of the study modes and regular movement of stu- ern Australia and in British Columba will have been dents between them indicates that the functional quite different. Political will, backed by substantial autonomy of the external mode will be low. financial resources is significantly more powerful Imposed rationalisation of the institutions' academ- than political will alone. At a rather different level, it ic profiles for one study mode only must therefore be would be interesting to know just how common it disturbing for the integrity of educational pro- was for students as the University of British Colum- grammes and the students using them even if they bia to study an award course concurrently on and off can be justified on economic grounds. Shared stu- campus or to move regularly between the study dent supports, extension of credit transfer provisions modes. and co-ordination of planning processes so as to avoid future duplication of offerings, are all ways of improving services to students without cutting C. WOMENS STUDIES AND THE across their integration with a specific dual mode programme. Unfortunately these are likely to be AUSTRALIAN DUAL MODE seen by central planners as necessary but not suffi- UNIVERSITIES cient to meet their criteria of rationalisation. By The development of Womens Studies degree pro- insisting on a pattern of institutional specialisation grammes in three Australian Universities (Deakin, of course offerings in distance education but not Murdoch, Queensland) has been well document- also in campus teaching, the planners will force a ed.'4 None of the three institutions had either the high level of functional autonomy on the external staff resources or the academic resolve to set up studies operations which could well isolate them such a programme on its own. By pooling course from the mainstream educational activity of their units through distance education, committed aca- institutions. In the Western Australian context it demic staff in each University were able to bring should be noted that one of the institutions involved about a desired academic result without having to has no less than 70% of all its awards fully available win collegial commitment of substantial resources for study in both the internal and external modes. in Lt. repetition with other academic and institution- This degree or interlock is unusual, some would say al prior vies. The development of collaboration here extravagant. But is it myopia? reflected strategic use of academic planning contex- An interesting comparison with the current Western tual factors. In order to achieve the desired result the Australian situation is offered in British Columbia, distance education mode played a valuable facilitat- Canada, where the University of Brifish Columbia, ing role but remained firmly imbedded in the aca- Simon Fraser University and the University of Victo- demic structure of each University, its functional ria agreed, together with the Open Learning Institute autonomy was appropriately held at a low level.

42 41 D. THE TOOWOOMBA ACCORD seas country. An example of this collaboration is AND THE NATIONAL DISTANCE provided by the international network established by Disted College in Malaysia in conjunction with a EDUCATION CONSORTIUM range of universities, colleges and correspondence There have been two recent initiatives taken with schools in Australia, Britain and Canada. The ar- the object of establishing national networks of high- rangement provides for Malaysian resident students er distance education in Australia. The first, dating to enrol directly in the overseas awarding instit.- from 1983, has seen the five dual mode Universities tion's courses and to receive that institution's learn- increasing opportunities for their students to crossing resources whilst Disted provides enrolment, tui- enrol in a range of course units from the other pro- tion and counselling. Although these students must vider institutions. Progress Las been steady rather pay full-cost fees for their courses, they avoid the than dramatic and, because the scheme is based on additional subsistence costs incurred by their fellow the idea of enlarging student choices rather than nationa;s who attend the provider institutions in reducing the range and number of courses offered, it person. In some cases Disted enrolled students may has not directly met central planners' objectives for also operate an "open sandwich" study arrange- rationalisation. It has, however, had one very im- ment with a final year being taken on-campus. For portant advantage in Cie Universities themselves; current purposes it may be noted that this type of cross-enrolment in the external mode is largely in- offshore distance education structure retains rela- visible to academic faculty already well accus- tively low functional autonomy in the awarding in- tomed to dealing with their own distant students and stitutions; course curriculum and course materials it therefore poses no challenge to the integration of are those used in the originating country and assess- teaching modes even when the faculty member's ment is also integrated. The possibilities for wider class includes a number of students working for an international networking under this structure are award from an institution on the other -.Je of the readily apparent and reflect the basic aim recently continent. In this structure the functional autonomy declared through the publication of the Initiative for of distance education remains low and well embed- Commonwealth Cooperation in Distance Educa- ded within the individual institutional structures. tion: The second initiative fostered by the Colleges of "... that any learner anywhere (in the Common- Advanced Education in 1987 places emphasis on wealth) shall be able to study any distance-teaching increasing opportunities for institutions to buy and programmes available from any bona fide college or sell their course materials. This follows closely the University (in the Commonwealth)." conventional wisdom of rationalists in the central With or without my parentheses this is certainly a planning processes, namely that economics of scale challenge worth accepting. in course materiai production represent the single most important objective in the rationalisation process. The test will be to see how institutions opting, or CONCLUSION forced, to use imported materials for teaching one It is interesting that when cooperation is planned half of their enrollees (the externals) maintain the between organisations rather than between individ- integration of their studies with that of the other half uals we very often use words with significant double (the internals). In this situation the isolation of dis- meanings. My Macquarie Dictionary tells me that to tance education would not only become very obvi- collaborate is (i) "to work one with another" but ous, it could also rather easily be pushed to the also (ii) "to cooperate treacherously", whilst to ra- periphery of institutional vision. tionalise is (i) "to reorganise resources so as to promote efficiency or economy" but also (ii) "to justify E. OFFSHORE DISTANCE one's behaviour by plausible explanations so as to deceive oneself or others". EDUCATION It would be unfortunate to end on a pessimistic or a The practive of "tuition-free" distance education in cynical note. Much cooperation is in fact going on Australia has largely precluded enrolment of over- in Australian distance education. Most that is suc- seas students in courses financed by Australian tax- cessful has come about from grassroots initiatives. payers. "Offshore" provision of distance education The Swedish eductional analyst Jan-Erich Lane has was therefor until recently a matter of inter-institu- argued persuasively that, in fact, t:onal collaboration such as that developed by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology with the "autonomy is not inversely proportional to coor- Open College of East Asia: provision of course ma- dination as is sometimes believed. Governmental terials and external examining towards a local control is neither a sufficient nor necessary condi- award. Now various institutions are enrolling off- tion for coordination which may result from the shore students directly in their programmes. often in voluntary activities of various parts of the system." collaboration with agencies, or colleges in an over- The real problen- with rationalisation in the interests

43 4 of efficiency and effectiveness seems not to be that it 7. Rumble is coordinated, not that it demands collaboration, op cit p. 109. but rather that it involves centralised directions and 8. Katz D. and Kahn R. control. Planners have argued that distance educa- 1966: The Social Psychology of Organisations. John Wi- tors have been offered the opportunities to regulate ley. N. York p. 27. themselves but have been too shortsighted to take advantage of them. It is to be hoped that in pressing 9. Gouldner, A. higher education institutions to look well beyond 1975: For Sociology: Renewal and Critique in Sociology the ends of their noses the planners have not inad- Today. Penguin, p. 206. vertently moved distance education out of sight- 10. Willen B. and therefore out of mind. 1981: Distance Education at Swedish Universities. ACTA Universitatis Upsaliensis p. 23. 11. Dahllof U. REFERENCES 1986: Towards a Contextual Rationale of Distance Higher Education: the Small-scale Cases of Australia and Swe- 1. Commonwealth Tertiary Education den. University of Melbourne Centre for the Study of Commission: Higher Education. Review of Efficiency and Effectiveness in Higher Educa- 12. tion. Report of the Committee of Enquiry. Canberra Sept. Report from the British Columbia Distance Education 1986. Consortium Committee dated 19th July 1984: Recom- 2. Guiton, P: mendation 1. Mimeo. Organisational Diversity Among Dual-Mode Institutions: 13. Paper presented at 13th ICDE Forum, Melbourne 1985. op cit p. 3. 3. Rumble G. 14. Maclean P. 1986. The Planning and Management of Distance Educa- The Inter-University Womens Studies Paper. Paper pre- tion. Croom Helm p. 104-105. sented to 13th ICDE Forum Melbourne 1985. 4. 15. Commonwealth Secretariat 1987: Advice of the standing Committee on External Studies to Towards a Commonwealth of Learning: a Proposal to the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission. Para Create the University of the Commonwealth for Cooper- 15 p. 63. Canberra 1986. ation in Distance Education, London. 5. Wildaysky 16. Lane, I.E.: 1979: Speaking Truth to Power. Boston p. 79. Possibility and Desirability of Higher Education Reform; 6. Moran L. in Premfors R (ed). Higher Education Organisation: Con- 1986: Collaboration and Marketing of Educational ditions for Policy Implementation. Almqvist and Wiksell Course Materials. Mimeo. International 1984 p. 75.

44 BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS John Hor lock, MA, PhD, SAD, Hon DSc, FEng, FRS is Vice-Chancellor of the Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, Eng- land. Prior to his appointment in 1981 he was Vice Chan- cellor of the University of Salford.

Distance teaching and credit transfer JOHN HORLOCK

Distance teaching and credit transfer are intimately system, the Educational Counselling and Credit linked. Distance teaching is frequently carried out Transfer Information Service (ECCTIS), has been set in modular form, with students "stacking up" a up as a computerised informations system about series of modules into a qualification. With credit courses and as a facilitator of credit transfer opportu- transfer (which involves mutual acceptance of aca- nities for the whole of U.K. higher education. demic material by two institutions) students can The incentive for credit transfer is probably greatest obtain a qualification by accumulating credits from in a distance learning scheme for mature students. more than one institution. Such people may move from one part of the country Such credit transfer is not new to some countries; for to another and opportunity to study at a new "con- example the United States "conventional" first de- ventional" location, rather than "at a distance" may gree system is closely geared to credit transfer. How- arise and may prove more attractive or convenient. ever,it has not been widely used in the United Thus credit transfer should be designed to operate Kingdom (except through the distance teaching net- across the boundary between "conventional" de- work centred on the Open University, as described gree-awarding institutions and distance learning later). In the higher education system based on the educational establishments, as well as simply with- conventional universities of the U.K., with a rela- in the latter. tively short first degree (three years), the opportunity There are two exciting developments in distance for credit transfer is limited because the courses learning/credit transfer which are now coming to must be planned carefully and precisely to fit into the fore. Firstly there is the opportunity of credit the short time available. For example, a third year transfer at international level between various coun- course in chemistry may be closely related to and tries and secondly there is the development of dis- heavily dependent on an earlier second year course tance teaching into the postgraduate area. Coupled in the same institution and this clearly restricts the with the latter is the possible recognition of "in opportunities for credit transfer. company" ccurses as part of a post-graduate de- However, a system of credit transfer has been firmly gree. established within the U.K. by the Open University, International credit transfer may be thought of with- with some twenty other universities and the whole in regions (e.g. within Europe, within South East polytechnic sector (via the Council for National Asia); or across a natural grouping of countries (the Academic Awards (CNAA)). Open University stu- Commonwealth). In Europe, credit transfer is being dents can move to other institutions taking ),,.;th examined by the members of the European Associ- them credit for their Open University work. Stu- ation of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU). dents from elsewhere can register with the Open University and gain credit towards an Open Uni- There are two obvious problems in such credit trans- versity degree from work successfully completed fer: elsewhere. More generally a national information (I) language barriers;

45 4.r (ii) the different forms that modular courses tween a non-educational institution (e.g. an indus- may take in different distance teaching in- trial company) and an educational institution). stitutions. (For example the U.K. Open University "full credit" course requires In Many Western countries recruitment of post experience students to postgraduate Masters courses some 400 hours of study and this is in has been weak. Nevertheless the necessity for these excess of many courses offered elsewhere taught Masters courses, particularly in the rapidly in Europe. An equivalence has to be estab- developing science and technology areas, is clear. lished e.g. one Open University credit (here is consequently a mismatch between recog- (400 hours) equals say 4 Dutch Open Uni- nised need (for updating the professional work- versity credits (100 hours each). force) and demand (from a community of students One of the attractions of international credit transfer who are unable to break off from a career to attend lies in widening the profile of courses that is avail- an educational institution for a largely full-time able to any one student in a particular country. It is course). less designed for physical transfer of the student There have therefore been rapid developments in between one country and another, for in general distance education at postgraduate level in the Unit- students are undertaking distance learning because ed Kingdom and a series of courses, established at they are relatively immobile. (They find it conve- Masters and Diploma levels, has been produced nient to study at home rather than study at a full-time (the Open University alone now has 10 professional institution and this is one of the advantages of the and postgraduate diploma courses and 7 postgradu- distance learning system.) ate Masters courses, all delivered on a distance An interesting current development is the proposal learning basis). In the United States development for a Commonwealth Open University by the Briggs has occurred within the "candid" T.V. area, in Committee, agreed in principle by the Common- which lectures (recorded from those given at a con- wealth Heads of Governments in October. Al- ventional institution) are circulated to students in though a university is under consideration, it is real- industry and commerce where theyare tutored. ly difficult to describe the proposal as a Universityas iere are thus two parallel developments multi- such for it will not register students for degrees. media courses of the U. K. Open University type and What is suggested is more of a brokerage agency candid T.V. courses. These are to some extentcom- which will take courses from one country (or competing but the former have been developed for large mission new courses) and make them available numbers of students (as for undergraduate work) more widely, throughout the Commonwealth or while the latter are being designed for relatively through regions of the Commonwealth. Obviously small numbers (the cheap cost of production then if these courses do become available world wide becomes important). then the question of credit transfer will arise and the For the multi-media productions with which my U.K. Open University expects to play a part in es- own institution has been concerned there is a query tablishing the mechanism for Commonwealth credit as to whether we can justify the considerable costs transfer. of productions of these courses for relatively small The Open University's experience to date with in- numbers of students that are available in any one ternational credit transfer is limited to the University country. The question of availability of courses of East Asia in Macau and Hong Kong. Students thrc ughout Europe, either directly or by credit trans- there may take Open University courses which may fer, then becomes an important factor. have been modified locally to deal with individual circumstances; they are then examined, with external examiners drawn from U.K. Open University staff. Students obtaining credit from these courses SUMMARY can work towards a degree of the University of East Asia, or if they move to the United Kingdom they As was stated at the beginning of this paper, credit can bring credit with them for what are essentially transfer and distance teaching are intimately linked. Credit transfer between distanc learning institutions Open University courses delivered overseas and for which examining standards have been effectively within one country is relatively straightforward. Credit transfer between a distance learning institu- validated by Open University staff. The U.K. Open tion University will probably require similar arrange- and conventionalinstitutionsissimilarly 'rents for credit transfer through the Common- straight forward and provides a major benefit for wealth Open University. mature students who wish to study in a variety of ways, in a variety of places. Credit transfer across Also very exciting is the recent development of dis- international boundaries is developing and has also tance teaching at postgraduate level and, coupled been described. The importance of credit transfer in with it, possible credit transfer between institutions postgraduate study between academia and industry (within one country, between two countries or be has been emphasised.

46 47 BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

Mr. Michael P. Lambert is the Associate Director of the National Home Study Council, Washington, D.C., USA. He joined the NHSC in 1972. He was named NHSC Assistant Director in 1977 and Associate Director in 1987. He has authored numerous articles on correspondence instruction. He has also served as editor of several texts, including Home Study Course Development Hand- book (1988 edition). He has visited hundreds of correspondence institutions in his career and has lectured frequently on home study education.

How to developacorrespondence course MICHAEL P. LAMBERT

INTRODUCTION in electronics technology, computer literacy, accounting, travel training, and service-related career Correspondence instruction, or distance study, in fields. the United States is undergoing a vigorous rebirth, a renaissance in virtually every aspect from public In the private home study school field in the United acceptance to marketing sophistication to increased States there are 104 accredited institutions which academic respect from traditional resident school annually enroll over 3 million students in 1,500 educators. various courses. Perhaps the most obvious area of change in U.S. A home study "course" is a series of printed texts, home study education over the past two decades learning aids and other materials which can take has been the dramatic improvement in course de- students from 3 months to 4 years to complete. The sign and appearance. As a result, courses today are typical course takes about 12 to 18 months to study. experiencing lower non-start rates, higher lesson Most courses are vocational in nature and they at- completion rates and higher graduation rates than tempt to import a "job skill" or income-producing ever before. Public acceptance of home study has competency in course graduates. Academic de- never been higher in the United States. Today, near- grees at the associate or two-year level are also ly 5 million students study by correspondence in the offered. United States. Home study students in the United States are gener- The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the ally in their 30's, are currently employed full time basic steps used in home study course development and seek job promotion as a result of completing a in National Home Study Council member schools. course. Practical ideas and suggestions are offered which will hopefully help other distance stud.7 educators In view of this, United States home study courses are who are interested in the methods used by American designed as specially written, self-contained, self- course developers. paced and flexiN,. learning experiences for busy adults. Most home study courses are prepared as self-instructional learning modules. The use of published, hard bound text books are the rare exception CORRESPONDENCE in the United States. INSTRUCTION IN THE UNITED Correspondence courses in the United States are STATES intended as an extension of classroom education In the United States today, there are as many as 400 and as an alternative learning opportunity for adults correspondence schools offering hundreds of differ- who are too involved in their careers to attend a ent subjects by mail. The most popular courses are residential school.

47 4 i; COSTS ons. Hopefully, one or more of these ideas will be of practical help to those approaching the daunting The typical course today costs about $100,000 to task of creating a correspondence course: $250,000 (in U.S. funds) to develop On a per page (of final text) basis, it costs about $200 to $300 per 1. Use a "course development team" involve 3 page to create a major home study course which to 7 experts in creating the course: Team Man- features audio, video and printed texts. ager; Writer(s); Subject Expert(s); Editor; De- signer; and Marketing Specialist would com- The expenses incurred come from: prise a minimum team. course manuscript writers, editors and printers 2. Set up a budget and a schedule assign re- artists and graphics experts sponsibilities for different functions most learning media developers courses take 12 to 18 months to develop. packaging experts 3. Perform a needs analysis examine the critical job/career tasks create performance objectives based on the tasks. PHILOSOPHY OF TEAT DESIGN 4. Create a course outline divide the course Over the years, United States home study school into learning units select media (print being educators have embraced some basic principles of the base media for each unit) assign learning course and text design. Important among these are: objectives for each unit match career tasks to course oojectives. 1. The home study text is not like the typical resi- 5. Create written texteach lesson (i.e. learning dent school text; it must do more than just pre- unit) should result in the student coming to a sent lectures or information. sense of "psychological fulfillment" or mission 2. Home study courses must teach, explicate, ca- accomplishment most units should be com- jole, anticipate questions and, in general, serve pleted by the student in 40 to 60 minutes, so as teacher, facilitator, classroom mate, motivator that students can get up from their desks feeling and be the source of further information. Courses they have "learned something" vary the are targeted for specific kinds of people: mature, number of pages in each lesson, from 5 to 30 self-starting, goal oriented learners. pages. 3. Good courses must come with "built in" read- 6. Make use of illustrations and graphics use ings, assignments, evaluative instruments and "sidebars", graphs, and instructional photos inspiration for stud nts to continue. They must intelligently as much as 40% of text copy challenge the fast learners and still hold the at- should be illustrations/graphics tention of, and teach, the less gifted. A mix of today's desktop publishing computer systems. media is important: audio cassette tapes, learning kits, job aids, as well as printed text are all 7. Create functional exams and assignments used in combination. There is no use or depend- require the student to solve real life problems and on the job situations ence on broadcast radio or TV lectures in private use realistic, job school courses. related assignments match exam questions to the learning objectives 4. Home study courses must teach the essential, use self-quizzes current body of knowledge, skills and attitudes throughout the text (every 5-6 pages of copy) to meet course objectives using media that are vary examination lengths intersperse for- economically feasible and educationally effec- mal, written exams with projects which encom- tive for the intended audience. pass more than one lesson's coverage. 5. Home study instructors serve primarily as eval- 8."Field test" the course on a group of students uators of achievement and "responders" to tech- whose demographic profile matches the in- nical queries. Their role as dispensers of infor- tended audience for the course fine tune the mation, "lecture givers" is minimal. Their role as course using their comments have them tutors is less significant as compared to university study the course at home and call in small independent study instructors. Their role as mo- groups of 4 to 5 of them for group interview tivators of learners, via written or oral commen- sessions. taries, is an important function. 9. Print and package the course attractively keep a unified theme in color, layout, binding, etc. most United States courses are 8.5 by 11 inch photo offset, using 2 colors, half-tones and SUGGESTIONS ON COURSE shaded side bars most courses are saddle- DESIGN stitched lesson booklets of 20-30 pages with a glossy, colorful cover lesson booklets are In the spirit of sharing with distance educators shipped at pre-set mailing intervals and contain around the world the experiences American home "how Iti study" sheets never overwhelm the study educators have had, we offer these suggesti- student with too much material all at once.

48 4 " 10. Offer prompt, warm, creative service for "A home study course is not simply a bunch of lesson assignments and exams most lessons with examinations to take or projects to United States institutions evaluate and re- complete. It is a complex information delivery sys- turn exams within 24 hours of receipt tem, intended to meet a number of goals. Unless it is most United States institutions offer a toll- designed as a system, as a total package, it will not free telephone service for students to call accomplish what you, and your students, want it to their instructors most courses combinl do. computer-graded exams with personalized The first step is to analyze the demographics of your instructor analysis and service. prospective students. The more data you have about their age, gender, educational level, reading skills, and vocational experience, the better. Ideally, you CONCLUSION should understand their dreams and aspirations, One of the most successful and respected course too. The more you know about the prospective stu- developers in the United States today is Dennis G. dents you are targeting, the more successful your Foltz, Director of Operations at the Gemological planning, and hence your course, will be." Institute of America, in Santa Monica, California, Well-designed home study courses will result in USA. higher course completion rates and more effective Mr. Foltz has stated: learning for students.

49 4,, BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS Ross Paul has been Vice-President, Academic, at Athabasca University since 1980. He has a B.A. f-om Bishop's University, a P.G.C.E. from the University of London, an M.A. from McGill University and a Ph.D. in Comparative Education from the University of London. He has taught at the elementary, secondary, college and university levels. He is familiar (notorious) to past attendees of international ICDE conferences in Vancouver and Melbourne for his late night, satirical musical revues.

If student servicesare so important,then whyare we cuttingthem back? ROSS PAUL

OVERVIEW The principal argument here is that the notion of the self-actualized adult learner perpetuated in much of There can be little doubt that distance education the literature on adult and continuing education is and open admissions policies have done much to more myth than reality and that the distance educa- extend accessibility to post-secondary education tion institution bears considerable responsibility for throughout the world in recent years. Too often, helping its students to cope with the difficulties in- however, the responsibility inherent in this provi- herent in this mode of education. A strong argument sion of educational opportunity to ensure that the for the retention and development of student sup- "open" door does not become a "revolving" one port services, including tutoring and academic ad- receives insufficient attention. vising, is thus posed. Isolated home-study can be extremely difficult, es- This is not merely an academic argument, for there pecially for the part-time adult learner with other is some evidence to suggest that such institutions major demands on his or her time and energy and tend to cut these first in times of fiscal restraint. It is attrition rates are much higher than they are for submitted that such cuts are based more on political campus-based institutions (Shale, 1982; van Wijk, factors within the institution than on data which 1983; Holmberg, 1982). While the issue of attrition demonstrate that they are less effective than other rates in distance education is extremely complex (as academic provisions in responding to the needs of discussed below), the evidence suggests that per- distance education students. An attempt is made to sonal factors, such as changes in time available or in understand this and hence to suggest ways in which personal circumstances and major gaps between those involved in the provision of such services can student expectations and the realities of homestudy make their case more effectively. are more important influences on a decision to There may be several limitations to this position drop-out than are such institutional factors as course paper. It should be noted that many of the premises design, course content and marks received (Wood- are based largely on experience at Athabasca, an ley, A. and Parlett, M., 1983; Brindley, 1987). open university providing educational opportuni- At first glance, this sort of evidence would support a ties to part-time adult students in Canada. It can be laissez faire attitude on the part of the institution, suggested that there may be a greater dichotomy based on the premise that most of the factors are between the academic and service sides in a uni- beyond its control. However, further analysis sug- versity than there are in other ICDE member in- gests that such key student support services as tutor- stitutions but discussions with representatives of ing, counselling and advising can help students to other milieu have suggested that the issues are wide- overcome the difficulties inherent in homestudy. spread and characteristic of every form of educa-

50 4S tional institution involved in distance education. As homestudy a daunting challenge but the inher- well, Athabasca caters to part-time adult learners in ent difficulties of being isolated are exacerbated the main and there may be important differences in for those taking a home-study course for the first commitment and attitudes towards academic work time, especially if they also have been out of between full-time and part-time students. Fully, formal education for a longtime, lack basic liter- Athabasca's open admissions policies may yield a acy and study skills, are uncertain as to their greater proportion of students lacking formal qual- educational objectives and/or blame themselves ifications and basic skills than is the case in distance rather than the institution when they find the education institutions with more formal entrance course work difficult or confusing. Whatever the requi-ements. variations in clientele among the various ICDE member institutions, few authors have perpetu- BASIC PREMISE: THE MYTH OF ated older notions of the "stand-alone" value of THE SELF-ACTUALIZED ADULT a course package in the face of overwhelming LEARNER experience to the contrary. 2. Distance education is almost never "better" than In its earliest forms, correspondence or distance face-to-face teaching for it faces a series of chal- education had a rather limited place in the educa- lenges unique to the distance mode of delivery tion world. It received kudos for providing educa- which must be overcome: tional opportunity to isolated or disadvantaged learners but had a relatively low status. It survived and developed not only because of its successes but also a) ISOLATION OF THE LEARNER because of the almost missionary zeal of some of its earliest practitioners, a zeal that led some adult The learner is typically isolated geographically from educators to believe that distance education was not the institution and from contact with peers. On a only the equal of any traditional system but that it traditional campus, upon leaving a bad or difficult was even preferable to classroom teaching. lecture, a student receives immediate support from peers who also found it useless or confusing, where- For many early distance educators the well-de- as the isolated distane education student gets little signed course package was a sort of ideal, a "teach- such reinforcement and is apt to think that he or she er proof" set of learning materials which would is just not "smart "enough to understand a passage allow the student to learn in his or her own time and (which may be merely badly written or designed). workplace. Some even carried this belief so far as to The tendency for distance education students to view it as inappropriate for a distance education blame themselves rather than the institution (Bar- institution to use face-to-face techniques at all be- tels, 198?) may make life easier for those working at cause they were too expensive or they belied the the institution but it does little for their awareness of very raisor d'etre of the specialized institutions. student problems. However, I would argue that the overwhelming ex- This sort of isolation tends to exaggerate the poor perience of distance educators has been an increas- self-concept of those who were uncertain of them- ing recognition that part-time adult learners, espe- selves to start with. It is very easy for an institution to cially those at a distance, require all the personal be quite unaware of this, except by the number of its support they can get if they are to succeed. While it "non-starts", students who drop out before doing is critical that such students have the support of very much at all in a course. family and friends in their academic endeavors, it is also submitted that the institution has important re- Without scheduled classes the student may not be sponsibilities to provide its own forms of support as able to get the support services just when he or she well. In fact, an objective scrutiny of the following requires them. Athabasca University has an elab- would suggest that student support services should orate network of telephone tutors for each course be in the ascendancy at all distance education in- but a frequent problem is that a tutor is not readily stitutions. available just when the student is ready to deal with him or her; conversely, the tutor may contact the student when he or she is preoccupied with personal or family concerns. THE CASE FOR STUDENT Another basic problem, identified by Cross (:'1) SERVICES as the critical one for the part-time adult learner, is 1. The notion advanced by earlier adult educators basic information simply knowing what the rules of the self-actualized independent adult learner are and what services are available. Even when an is largely a myth to anyone who has had the institution has a wide range of support services for experience of working closely with students in a students, many may not avail themselves of them distance education environment. Even experi- because they are unaware of their existence. enced and previously successful students find Finally, "informal" learning of the sort which takes

51 place in common room; cafeterias, in residences for example, Spady, 1971; Tinto, 1975; and Len- and pubs is less readily available in distance educa- ning, Beal and Sauer, 1980). In fact, it is easy to tion, especially if the homestudy student does not conclude from a scrutiny of research in this area that attend study sessions or have a supportive network what the institution does car make very little differ- of family and friends. ence to student persistence and success if it merely focuses on academic and pedagogical considerations. b) REIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE While research by Brindley (1987) has emphasized Distance education is supposedly non-traditional the importance of such personal factors as "changes and innovative, and yet there is a considerable case in time available/personal circumstances" and for suggesting that it can be extremely conservative. "students' personal realizations about the course" It may perpetuate the worst of traditional rote learn- as the critical variables in a distance education stu- ing, encouraging students to regurgitate what has dent's decision to drop-out, her findings have also been presented rather than really thinking the mate- challenged the notion that the institution cannot do rials through. There is a certain tyranny to the print- much about such factors. ed package, its slick design perhaps giving false credibility and permanence to its contents. In particular, she found that while changes in personal circumstances and/or time available were the Another disadvantage of the printed homestudy critical incidents most frequently reported by dis- package is that it cannot so easily be adpated to the tance education students (and over 90% of these needs of a particular learner or to accommodate were "hindering" rather than "facilitating" inci- new knowledge. Whereas the volume of course dents), course completers reported these almost as content is frequently cut back during the year by a frequently as non-completers (Brindley, 1987, p. professor who has underbudgeted the time or found 84). In other words, both the completers and non- that his students cannot cope with the volume and completers faced similar difficulties in trying to pace, this almost never happens in the distance learn at a distance but the major difference ap- education setting where the course is the same for peared to be in the ways with which the two groups every student. coped with them. This suggests the need for more One of the most frequent student complaints, de- interactive models of attrition, but it also contributes spite the best efforts of instructional designers, is that to the notion that students can be taught coping distance education courses are too long and that skills and strategies and hence it reinforces the need one has to work twice as hard as required at a for student support services. traditional university to achieve the same credits. One way of combatting this would be to give more powers to course tutors to modify courses or to set d) GAP BETWEEN STUDENT "local" examinations but, typically, they are not EXPECTATIONS AND REALITIES given such powers out of concerns about maintain- A phenomenon that has received particular atten- ing the integrity of course design and protecting the tion at Athabasca University is the "non-start", a academic credibility of the course through central- student who enrolls in a course, does not withdraw ized examinations and marking. within the formalized "withdrawal" period but nev- While distance education makes particular de- er completes an assignment, quiz or otherwise par- mands on a student's time management and study ticipates in the course. An overwhelming percent- skills, it may not provide him or her with sufficient age of the university's non-completers fall into this opportunity to acquire and develop such basic aca- category (AU TRENDS #4). While many rationales demic skills as library research or learning how to have been suggested for this non-start problem, in- advance an argument in a seminar. cluding poorly designed first units, insufficient provision of positive feedback early in the courses and unreasonably demanding courses, attention has focused more recently on the gap between student c) PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS expectations for homestudy and what they actually The literature on "drop-outs" and course comple- face when the course package wives. This includes tion rates in universities, adult education centres such concerns as ensuring that students have a well- and distance education institutions overwhelmingly informed sense of the demands on such basic skills identifies personal rather than institutional factors as as time management and study habits which dis- being the critical ones in determining a student's tance education makes, the need for better academ- success or failure (see, especially, Bean and Metzn- ic advising and programme planning and a number er, 1985). This is contrary to those identified for of other services typically provided by student ser- young, on-campus, full-time students where the vices units. This gap betweelexpectations and real- emphasis is on the individual's ability to adapt to the ities can have serious consequences a recent social and academic demands of the institution (see, Athabasca University study (Conway and Powell,

52 51 1987) found that students took far fewer distance trate on the teaching role for which they have been education courses than they had intended when engaged. they first entered the institution. h) COMBATTING GEOGRAPHIC e) STUDENT IDENTITY ISOLATION Another often overlooked factor is the relatively small number of students for whom their identity as An effective student services unit can complement "student" is first priority. Many of the students may the use of innovative delivery modes and technol- not be interested in programmes or in completing ogies in combatting the geographic isolation faced credentials and their "student" identity may be rela- by so many students. Regional centres, travelling tively minor compared to their roles as worker, par- tutors and counsellors, regional worksho:Js and self- ent or homemaker. This contrasts with the full-time help orientation and learning materials are impor- undergraduate fresh out of high school for whom tant additions to the basic _Arse package provided "university student" is almost their exclusive label by distance education institutions. for the duration of their stay on campus. This is not to suggest that the part-time adult student is less important in any way but simply to note differences i) FINANCIAL AID in the relative priorities attached to formal learning While distance education in itself helps students to by these two categories of students. afford their post-secondary studies by allowing them to study while working or bringing up a family, student services can assist students further through f) UNDERSTANDING the provision of financial aid services. THE INSTITUTION While distance education institutions are dedicated to overcoming the barriers which have previously j) STUDENT ADVOCACY ROLE prevented students from gaining access to formal Homestudy students are usually isolated from each education, they also create barriers of their own. In other and have very little power to influence deci- particular, students may find the modes of oper- sion-making or to plead a particular case in a dis- ation, from initial registration and course selection tance education institution. It is vital that student through the various non-traditional delivery op- services provide a strong student advocacy service, tions, strange and confusing. Student services units both in assisting students to organize their own asso- can play a critical role in assisting students to over- ciations and in taking up student causes, both indi- come these, through effective information, orien- vidual and collective. This role also involves bend- tation and advising roles through a host of pro- ing the rules on occasion to serve the needs of a grammes offered in regional centres, over the tele- particularly disadvantaged individual student, a phone, through regional seminars, by role which may lead to conflict with other units in correspondence and through the imaginative appli- the institution (notably the registry). cation of newer, more interactive technologies. A student's first contact with the institution is a critical one and it will usually be with a regional office, WHY CUT STUDENT SERVICES? student services, the registry or a tutor. The quality Given the above analysis, it would be logical to of service received will 1,.ally play a critical role in that student's subsequent success in pursuing a conclude that institutions involved in distance education would increase the proportionate share of homestudy course. resources in student services, counselling, regional offices and tutorial support as they gained more experience in dealing with part-time adult learners g) THE AFFECTIVE DOMAIN at a distance. In the author's experience, this hap- By definition, course materials focus on acariemic pens to some degree but more as a part of the content and hence there is usually a strong sep- following cycle of development which seems to be aration between the cognitive and affective do- repeated in new institutions of distance education as mains in homestudy courses. This places an extra they develop. responsibility on the course tutor, who is usually When a new distance education institution is estab- chosen exclusively for his or her academic creden- lished, student support services are usually second- tials, to respond to personal concerns as well. Effec- ary to establishing the basic course development tive student workshops and a referral system to and delivery systems. Since one of the principal counsellors organized by student services can great- arguments in favour of such institutions is their rela- ly assist students and enable the tutors to concen- tive cost efficiency in reaching out to disadvantaged

53 students, it is not surprising thatmore expensive, paring students better for what they will face, it is face-to-face services receive lower priority. Typical- incumbent upon student services personnel to ly, however, the experience of trying toserve isolat- do everything they can to expose students to the ed learners through distance education leadsto the realities of homestudy. This "reality therapy" int oduction or improvement of such supportser- may sometimes lead such staff to be quite critical vices as telephone tutoring, counselling and ad- of the institution in a manner which may not be vising and regional centres. This trend is reversed, very compatible with advancing their political however, when the institution faces tighter fiscal case in the institution. times and pressure increases via formal evaluation 5. The aforementioned student advocacy role, to demonstrate conclusively that the respectiveser- while crucial, has its pitfalls for student services vices are both cost efficient and effective in in- as well. Advocating the cause of the individual creasing student success. Indead, while the trend frequently runs up against academic policy and may not yet be dramatic, there is considerable evi- is often perceived as threatening the standards dence to suggest that the more established distance and hence the academic credibility of the in- teaching institutions are cutting backon student stitution's credentials. This tends further to in- services as they face tighter budgets in the late creace the gap between student services profes- 1980's. sionals and the academic faculty. If the case is so strong for the adult homestudy The senior administration can play an important student requiring personal and professionalsupport balancing role here but deans and vice-presidents services, why are student services one of the first typically are products of the academic ranks rather areas cut when distance education institutions face than student services and their loyalties tend not to tighter budgets? My own analysis would focuson lie with the latter. the politics of decision-making withina university or college. The student advocacy role is also rendered more difficult by the relative absence and isolation of the 1. As already noted, there has been a tendencyto students themselves. Even where student represen- separate the cognitive from the affective, the tatives sit on sector councils and other important former being emphasized in the early develop- academic bodies, ',hey tend to be disadvantaged by ment of most institutions and the latter gaining their lark of familiarity with the staff and the almost prominence when student success has fallen be- impossible task of trying to represent thousands of lo expected levels. However, the strong tradi- students whom they can never hope to meet. Even tions of universities for research and scholarship where they do successfully take up a student cause, have ensured that priority statusaccrues to the their ability to represent student views may easily be academic staff, those closest to the traditional challenged, given the difficulties faced by student role of contributing in the "helping"or "service" representatives in this regard and given the absence areas. of student advocacy groups to support them. 2. The relatively lower status of student services may also have been affected by the predom- inance of women in counselling roles, given the WHAT ACTIONS CAN BE TAKEN? traditional difficulties faced by women-dominat- The problem for student services staff in a distance ed occupations in achieving full professionalsta- education institution has been presented with a kind tus (e.g. school teaching, nursing, social work). of inevitability thus far in this paper. Relatively low 3. Faculty members, who tend to be the mostpow- status and political power have been portrayed as erful political group withinan institution (with built-in factors in a college or university and the the possible exception of the senior adminis- implication has been that student services staff at- tration), may be less sensitive to the personal and tempts to change this would be rather futile. skill development needs of part-time adultstu- Without denying the power of some of these forces, dents, given that the great majority of themcom- pleted their degrees on traditional university I believe that a great deal can be done to redress the balance more in favour of student support services. campuses on a full-time basis and were success- There are a number of potential strategies which can ful students who faced far fewer academic problems. be employed, although their relative effectiveness 4. Marketing and promotion materials for distance will vary considerably according to the local context: education institutions tend to play up theconve- nience to students who can study in theirown time and in their own place. As aconsequence, far too many students enter these institutions 1. INTEGRATION OF ACADEMIC with very little idea of what homestudy entails AND STUDENT SERVICES and what demands it makeson the individual's One strategy is to amalgamate academic and stu- skills and fortitude. If it is to be effective inpre- dent services units, so that each faculty, for exam-

54 ple, has its own registry, advising and counselling vided they don't advance these primarily as crit- and tutorial services. While this can lead to better ici3ms of faculty practices in other words, the informal contact among academic and professional way in which such research is presented is probably staff, it may be less cost effective (if student services as important as the results themselves in influencing staff are spread among a large number of faculties) subsequent faculty and aministrator actions. and it can undermine the development of strong Concerns about encouraging prima donnas more professional identities and collegial relationships interested in research than student advising should within student services by isolatihis the staff from not dissuade student services units from going after each other. As well, academic (in the narrowest the best qualified staff or from pushing existing staff sense) concerns will usually take priority in the fac- to upgrade their skills. Professional staff who are ulties and the relative distribution of resources to well qualified in their areas of expertise will have student services may decline over time. That this more credibility within the institution and ultimately strategy is more frequently voiced by faculty than contribute to the advancement of their services. student service representatives is often seen by the In making this presentation, I should admit to some latter as evidence of a desire to assimilate rather than integrate student services into the academic pro- prejudices myself in this area. I am an advocate of student services because I believe that distance edu- gramme. cation institutions are doing worse than a mediocre job if they encourage adults to return to formal education only to leave them to experience yet an- 2. STRONGER ACADEMIC other failure and hence to do them a greater disser- PROFILE WITHIN STUDENT vice than would have been the result of not serving SERVICES them at all. At the same time. my primary responsibility for the costs of academic services often places This strategy addresses directly the criticisms of fac- me in the position of limiting expenditures in sup- ulty members by placing a much higher priority on port areas and I am thus forced to recognize the the credentials of student services staff (masters and limitations and constraints on the university's role. doctorate degrees) and by encouraging such staff to One notable example is extensive personal counsel- conduct and publish more research. This is a double ling with students counselling resources are limit- edged sword, however. Student services staff with ed and should not be dedicated to helping the very doctorates and a strong research orientation may be few who have serious personal problems beyond less willing (or have less time) to do the more mun- the scope of he educational institution. Surely the dane information and advising functions on which answer here is to refer such students to more special- so many students depend and the quality and quan- ized agencies and to apply the counselling re- tity of basic student service may decline while indi- sources to issues directly affecting the clients as vidual members of the staff are enhancing their indi- students. In the film Educating Rita, the power of an vidual academic credibility. There is considerable education on an individual's life chances was clear- danger of a displacement of goals here, where the ly demonstrated but there must be limits to the in- means (research and scholarship) become ends in stitution's responsibility to then help the individual themselves at considerable cost to the primary stu- solve his or her consequent personal trauma. There dent service mandate of such a professional unit. are ot"er agencies for that and the counsellor's role should normally end at educating the student about these and/or making referrals. 3. A MORE POLITICAL ROLE FOR Being more "political" should not be interpreted in STUDENT SERVICES the narrow partisan sense. At least superficially, a One crucial response is for deans and directors of university places a high premium on the results of student services to pay more attention to the politi- research and it is important that Student Services cal aspects of the university. Too often, student ser- units work actively to test and to demonstrate the vices staff are naive politically, expecting theirargu- effectiveness of their services. The relative lack of ments to prevail simply because they are on the side long-term experience with distance education is of the student. Student services staff should develop never more evident than from the paucity of re- close relationships with political leaders and lobby search on its effectiveness. Research has taken on a actively for their causes. They should also develop much higher profile among ICDE members in very programmes which are directed at problems which recent years, however, and it is to be hoped that a faculty members themselves have identified, such great deal more empirical evidence will be present- as poor student writing skills, inadequate "front- ed in Norway man has been the case at previous end" advising and low completion rates. They can international conferences. Among the issues which also influence faculty opinion through institutional require much greater and more rigorous scrutiny are research which identifies major student concerns the impact of such student support services as tele- and inadequacies in the university's provisions, pro- phone and personal tutoring, counselling and ad-

55 c.-; t , -1 vising on student success and persistence. In addi- Holmberg, B. tion to conducting and publicizing such research Recent research in distance education. Hagen: FemUni- and to using it in decision-making about whatser- versitJt, 1982. vices to offer, Student Services staff also have a Lenning, 0.T., Beal, P.E., and Sauer, K. responsibility to articulate better the rationale for Retention and attrition: evidence for action and research. their services and how they advance the mission of Boulder: National Center for Higher Education Manage- the particular institution. Theircase is a good one ment Systems, 1980. but they need to improve their ability to convince students, faculty and administrators. Paul, R.H. "Athabasca University". In I. Mugridge and D. Kaufman, (eds.). Distance education in Canada. London: Croom Helm, 1986. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Shale, D. AU Trends #4. "Attrition: a cace study". in J.S. Daniel, M.A. Stroud and J.R. Thompson (eds.). Learning at a distance: a world Athabasca: Athabasca University, Office of Institutional perspective. Edmonton, Alberta: Athabasca University, studies, 1987. 1983. Bartels, J. "Study experiences of graduates and drop-outs at the FernUniversitie'. Unpublished paper. Hagen: Fer- Spady, W. nUniversitJt, 198?. "Dropouts from higher education: toward an empirical model". Interchange, 1971, 2, 38-62. Bean, I.P. and Metzner, B.S. "A conceptua. lodel on non-traditional undergraduate Tinto, V. student attrition'. Review of Educational Research, 1985, "Dropout form higher education: a theoretical synthesis 55, 485-540. of recent research." Review of Educational Research. 1975, 45, 89-125. Brindky, J.E. "Attrition and c,'mpletion in distance education: The stu- van Wilt, T. dent's perspective". Unpublished thesis subrr :n,e, it- "Drop-out in distance education: fallacies and reme- tial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Arts. Vancouver dies". Unpublished paper, Pretoria: University of South University of British Columbia, 1987. Africa, 1983. Conway, C. and Powell, R. Woodley, A. and Parlett, M. "An Analysis of AU Students; Motivations, Intentions and "Student drop-out". Teaching at a Distance, 1983, 24, Behaviour". Athabasca: Centre for Distance Education, 2-23. June 11, 1986. Woolfe, R. and Murgatroyd, S. Cross, K.P. "The open university and the negotiation of knowledge". "Foreward". In R.H. Miller (ed.). Providingaccess for Higher Education Review, 1979, 11:2, 9-16. adults to alternative college programs. New Rochelle: The Scarecrow Press for the Alliance, ::.'51.

56 5 i 5 BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS _...... u.aill61._ Christine von Prtimmer, FernUniversitJt, Hagen, Federal Republic of Germany Christine von Priimmer graduated BA in Sociology from Smith College, Northampton, Mass., U.S.A. in 1968 and then continued her studies at Universitat Konstanz in West Germany where she gained an MA in Sociology and Political Science. Since 1973 she has been undertaking research in West Germany and in the United Kingdom on a number of topics. Her current areas of specialisation are: course evaluation; institutional research and research into the situation of women in distance education. Co-authors are Gill Kirk"o, Open University, United Kingdom and Barbara Spi.nk, Athabasca Universety, Al- berta, Canada.

Women in distance education CHRISTINE VON PRUMMER, GILL KIRKUP BARBARA SPRONK

STRUCTURE: ered the domains of men. And, if so, do the contents of these coo. ';es and the way they are 1. Introduction. presented have to c.ige in order to reflect a 2. Equality and Respect: Some Implications for Dis- more general, non-sexist approach? What is the tance Educators of Taking Gender Seriously place of women's studies and feminist research in 3. Equal Opportunities for Women? Gender in Re- distance education and how can equal opportu- lation to Access and Continued Participation. nity programs affect it? 4. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Gains and As far as the study system is concerned, the mode Setbacks for Women at the Open University in and organization of teaching affects women and Britain. men in different ways. For instance, women, more than men, prefer to study in groups and have contact with other students and with staff. A 1. INTRODUCTION study system which contains more elements conducive to shared learning situations would thus This contribution on "Women in Distance Educa- be more suited to the needs of women and might tion" is concerned with the issue of gender and with serve to attract more female students to participa- some of the ways in which this issue affects both te and to persevere, while a system which relies students and staff at distance teaching institutions. more on isolated, totally "independent" learning Gender must be seen in broad contexts, some of tends to deter women. Another instance of devel- which are mentioned here to illustrate the point: opments which adversely affect women's partici- As far as students are concerned, one of the most pation is the indiscriminate introduction of in- important issues facing distance teaching institu- formation technology which often is inaccessible tions is the attrition rate and the problem of identi- to women. fying factors which might contribute to either While the issue of gender affects k ;en every- continuation or drop-out. Research has shown where, it takes on additional relevance for wom- that women have higher drop-out rates than men, en in Third-World countries. For one thing, gen- i.e. they are more affected by factors working der effects might be more marked due to the against continuation. overall economic conditions and the organiza- As far as content and presentation of study materi- tion of the educational system. In addition, the al is concerned, questions have been raised as to traditional roles of women in society might make whether women could and should be at- their participation in distance education even tracted into fields which are traditionally consid- more difficult.

57 5r, The following sections cover some aspects of the (1970) scheme of epistemological positions, Belen- gender issue in more detail. They are intended to ky et al. grouped women's perspectives on knowing raise questions about the effects of gender on indi- into five major categories: viduals and institutions in the field of distance edu- "silence, a position in which women experience cation and to provide some ideas as starting points themselves as mindless and voiceless and subject to for finding solutions. the whims of external authority; received knowledge, a perspective from which women conceive of 2. EQUALITY AND RESPECT: themselves as capable of receiving, even reproducing knowledge from the all-knowing external au- SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR thorities but not capable of creating knowledge on DISTANCE EDUCATORS OF their own; subjective knowledge, a perspective TAKING GENDER SERIOUSLY from which truth and knowledge are conceived of as personal, private and subjectively known or in- Jane Thompson, in her feminist critique of adult and tuited; procedural knowledge, a position in which continuing education (Thompson 1983:106), ar- women are invested in learning and applying ob- gues that jective procedures for obtaining and communicat- "Unless women think much more deeply about ing knowledge; and constructed knowledge, a posi- themselves, make sense of their experience and tion in which women view all knowledge and value expectations in reference to their own needs and both subjective and objective strategies for know- interests, and consider strategies for redefining the ing." (Belenky et al, 1986:15). relationships with men in ways which will change Unlike Perry's scheme, that of Belenky et al. is not the distribution of power and oppression to one of structured as a hierarchy of stages. Many of the equality and respect, learning new roles will contin- women who participated in the study shifted from ue to be a poor substitute for the practice of freedom one mode of knowing to another at points in their and liberation." lives. Belenky et al., however, leave the questions of These are not comforting words. Those of us dis- why and when and whether these modes have any tance educators who are also adult educators are "stage"-like qualities to future work. probably more at home with notions like facilitating Even at this stage of their work, however, the ways of learning, building confidence in the learner, meet- knowing mapped by these four women have impor- ing needs, and starting where the learner is. Thomp- tant implications for distance educators. in their son's point, however, in chorus with a burgeoning chapters on "Toward an Education for Women" and number of feminist educators, is that in order to "Connected Teaching", Belenky et al. draw out make these notions real for women who constitu- some of the implications these categories have for te the majority of learners in most of our institutions the classroom. They argue, for example, that in we must free ourselves as well as our students designing education appropriate for women, we from male-centered notions about how adults learn, need to begin by asking, "What does a women what content adult learners need and what kinds of know?". This may sound like the adult education structure and support most effectively facilitate their dictum of "start where the student is". However, if learning. the student is female, our "start" will take us to the First, how do adults learn? Until recently, answers to very foundations of whatever disciplines we are that question have been based on how men learn. teaching and require us to redefine the questions we The authors of the major theories of human learning ask and seek new answers rather than simply select and intellectual development have been men and, whatever existing questions and answers we decide a, Carol Gilligan (1979) has pointed out, women are most relevant. In the words of the researchers have been missing even as research subjects. Ina (Belenky et al. 1966:198). ground-breaking study, Gilligan (1982) listened to "Traditional courses... are about the culture's girls and women resolve serious moral dilemmas in questions, questions fished out of the 'mainstream' their lives. The development she traced as she lis- of our disciplines. If the student is female, her ques- tened was of a morality organized around notions of tions may differ from the culture's questions, since responsibility and care, in sharp contrast with the women, paddling in the bywaters of the culture, morality of rights described by Piaget (1965) and have had little to do with positing the questions or Kohlberg (1981, 1984), which is based on the study designing the agendas of the disciplines." of moral reasoning in boys and men. In an equally What does this listening, questioning and seeking significant study, four women psychologists (Be- behaviour entail for the teacher of women? It lenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, Tarule 1986) also lis- means, for one thing, creating an open learning tened to women, diverse in age and ethnic and climate, in which the teacher respects the student's socioeconomic background, as they talked about own rhythms and agendas rather than imposing an what was important about life and learning. On the arbitrary timetable on her learning. In some ways basis of what they learned and building on Perry's distance education is better able to provide this

58 climate than is any other mode since most distance tors use whatever means are at their disposal. At the learners are allowed within relatively flexible limits very least, teachers and learners can meet by mail to learn at their own pace. At the same time, howev- and, where population density and means permit, er, there must exist a network of support, consisting in study centres and summer schools. When avail- of teachers who are "partners" rather than "bank- able, a variety of more sophisticated technologies ers" in the learning process. In Freire's terms, part- are employed, including telephone and teleconfe- ner-teachers treat knowledge as something to be rencing, interactive broadcasting via satellite and shared with students, whereas banker-teachers deal computer conferencing. with it as the teacher's property, to be deposited in When all these components are combined cours- student storehouses (Freire 1971). Belenky et al. use es which confirm and build the learner's compe- the term "midwife-teacher" to name the required tencies as a knower and help her make connections, role: "Midwife-teachers draw (knowledge) out. support networks which nurture rather than censure They assist the students in giving birth to their own and opportunities to meet, share and struggle to- ideas, in making their own tacit knowledge explicit gether the result is the empowerment of women and elaborating it." (Belenky et al. 1986:217). to "think deeply about themselves, make sense of The medium Belenky et al. propose for this process their experience... and consider strategies for rede- is the "connected class" in which participants can fining the relationships with men in ways which will nurture each other's thoughts to maturity. The ques- change the distribution of power and oppression to tion this poses for distance educators is how to one of equality and respect..." The means exist. create "connected" classrooms at a distance. Fortu- What is needed is the will on the part of distance nately, as creative and innovative folk, distance educators who take gender seriously to ensure that educators have already developed and are using a they are used. great number of strategies which can put the necessary connections in place and make them work in the interests of women. 3. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR For example, programs and courses exist which WOMEN? GENDER IN RELATION incorporate the learners' own experiences and TO ACCESS AND CONTINUED knowledge as valid and build on them. Compe- PARTICIPATION tency-based approaches are one instance of this kind of course. Women's Studies courses are anoth- Distance education is supposed to be especially er.In Women's Studies courses, as Thompson suited to meet the needs of people who, for various points out (1983:116), "the learning is control led by reasons, find it difficult or impossible to attend tradi- women, not men, and that which is regarded as tional institutions in order to obtain their formal useful, crucial and important knowledge comes first education. Apart from factors such as distance, from women's own experience of the world." As health, or employment, there is one obstacle which another example, several open and distance educa- exclusively affects women's access to education: tion institutions offer (and some prescribe) inter- they are held responsible for raising children and for disciplinary courses. Women's studies courses are taking care of their homes and families. This hinders by definition interdisciplinary reflecting the wom- access to formal education in different ways. Firstly, en's movement's fight for wholeness (ibid.), the de- on ideological grounds, it may prevent women from sireto make connections between knowledge obtaining higher levels of education and profession- drawn from different disciplines rather than to con- al training as it is assumed that they "don't need it" tinue to isolate it within specialties. for their future as wife, mother and homemaker. Secondly, on practical grounds, it may prevent them Distance educators have also developed a multi- from attending classes and pursuing formal pro- tude of ways for providing learners and person- grams of education as their schedule is determined alized support and evaluation. Trained tutors and by the needs and wishes of their families and time counsellors nurture and confirm rather than cen- for "extraneous" activities is severely curtailed and sure, seeking to understand the mode within which not freely disposable. an individual learner is operating and helping her Distance education, which allows for a flexible break out of the silence, for example, if that is where she is trapped. In addition, personalized marking study schedule and does not require attendance at schemes exist, certainly but not exclusively in fixed times and places, would therefore seem to be ideal for women who wish to pursue higher educa- Women's Studies courses, in which a learner's pro- tion at a later stage in life. Why then do enrollment gress is measured in terms of individual growth rath- statistics not necessarily reflect this? er than competitive position with others. In West Gerrr any, for instance, only one in four As for creating opportunities for learners to meet, distance students is a woman while the proportion share and struggle nottly with teachers but also women in traditional universities is about forty, with other learners and their ideas, distance educa per cent. Among the newly matriculated students at

59 the West German FernUniversitat (Distance Uni- the requited time and workload on the one hand versity) women comprise a slightly higher percent- and the available spare time on the other hand. At age but even in this group only three in ten students first glance this affects both women and men but are female. Thus women are extremely underrepre- closer analysis shows that women are experiencing sented in terms of access and even more so in terms distinctly more pressure than men because they are of continued participation not only affected by work commitments but also by As far as access is concerned, there are various their parenting and homemaker responsibilities. For factors which adversely affect women's enrollment men, changes in their jobs, transfers, promotions as distance students. At the FernUniversitat one of and new or broader i..areer responsibilities are the these is the fact that the available degree programs single most relevant factor in their decision to slow are predominantly offered in areas traditionally pre- down or discontinue their studies at the FernUni- ferred by men and that women are not system- versitat. For women who are in paid employment atically encouraged by the institution to enter these these are important factors as well. But in addition, women fields. Another factor seems to be the cost of dis- whether they are solely unpaid home- tance studies which discourages especially those makers and carers or also in paid work have to women who are less interested in completing a find the time to meet the needs of their families and formal course of studies but wish to register for to respond immediately to private changes and to individual courses rather than studying fora degree. crises at home. In mosz cases the priorities, which This could be due to tt e fact that women, who often are prescribed by tradition and not easily nego- have no income of their own, frequently are entitled tiable, are clear and conflicts of .nterest have to be to only a small share of the family income and have resolved in favour of firstly the woman's family, little or no right to dispose of it on their own. A third secondly the woman's paid employment and lastly contributing factor is the double or triple workload the woman's personal, educational or other needs women would have to take on if they decided to and interests. become students on top of their family commit- In view of these circumstances it is not so surprising ments and, possibly, their paid employment. to see that more women than men discontinue their studies. Rather it is surprising how many women While barriers such as these serve to keep women's manage to complete their degree courses success- enrollment in distance education at a comparatively fully. One of the reasons for this might be the fact low level, there are additional factors which miti- that the women among the FernUniversitat's newly gate against their continued participation. matriculated degree students are decidedly more For instance, distance education is often equated goal-oriented than their male colleagues. This sug- with individualized learning and this, in turn, often gests that only women who are determined to obtain means isolated learning. Recent research, however, the degree manage to get past the access barriers has shown that women, more than men, prefer to and enrol in a degree program. work with others and to have contact with fellow A distance teaching institution, one might assume, students and with members of the teaching staff. must be interested in attracting such highly motiva- Thus they are more interested in the availability of ted students and in providing them with the means study centres and study groups where their needs for and the environment conducive to successful study- interaction, both on academic and personal levels, ing. And while the University itself has little or no can be met. At the same time, women find it more influence on the employment-related pressures and difficult to avail themselves of these facilities since constraints, it is not so limited in the influence it they often lack the time and the money, or are might exert over the students' private environment prevented by other commitments, to travel to study and resources. Given the necessary funding and the centres for meetings or tutorials. It is therefore not setting of priorities, a distance teaching university surprising that women, more often than men, give could support its women students in a variety of the lack of communication and contact with others ways such as childcare, travel, financial assistance, as a reason for discontinuing their distance studies. study material and equipment, organizational mea- These findings pose rhallenge to distance educa- sures, etc. tion institutions in the sense that an increased and As we have shown, these measures would primarily continuous participation by women reql tires the re- benefit the women among the student population solving of a seemingly inherent paradox: enabling and would ultimately contribute to lower attrition women to learn in groups, facilitating face-to-face rates and, possibly, to higher levels of female enroll- interaction between students and teachers while at ment. Thus it might also help to resolve a second, the same time providing individualized and flexible seemingly inherent, paradox of distance education: teaching and education at a distance. the discrepancy between women's initially high goal-orientation and their low continuation rate. One factor which causes students to discontinue their distance education is the initial misjudging of

60 5 9 4. TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE ously we would prefer the strong form which means STEP BACK: GAINS AND that we are at the beginning of a long struggle since the idea of positive discrimination, quite legal in SETBACKS FOR WOMEN AT THE some aspects of training and education is seen as an OPEN UNIVERSITY (OU) IN attack on the whole liberal ethos of Open Access, BRITAIN itself a corner stone of the University's philosophy. In the immediate future the University again faces There are at present more initiatives to benefit wom- financial economies and increased resources for en students and staff at the Open University (UK) training and staffing will be hard to get. than there ever have been, as I will go on to de- The Senate motion came initially from a Social Sci- scribe. However, each of these, for various reasons ence group called the Equal Opportunities Group. is very vulnerable to being undermined by factors troth inside and outside the university. We cannot Until now individual faculty initiatives have been afford to relax. As countries like the UK go through much more common. Most of the faculties have a economic and ideological change, changes in the group which has the interests of women staff and students of that faculty as a main priority. And each policies of central government as well as an antifem- group has had some success. The Equal Opportuni- inist "backlash" can undo the educational gains we have made for women. Internationally we need to ties group managed to get money from the faculty to pay for a consultant to come and examine the em- discuss what nev initiatives could be most produc- ployment within the faculty. tive and how be. todefend what we have. Two of the longest running groups have been the The OU initiative have been characterised by their Equalities Working Group in the School of Educa- fragmentation that is only one of them is a Uni- tion and the Women into Science and Engineering versity wide initiative and by their reliance on (WISE) group which, although housed in the Tech- energetic women (often junior members of staff), nology Faculty, draws members from the faculties of developing them on top of already onerous work- Science and Mathematics. loads. The one University wide initiative is an Equal Opportunities motion passed by the Senate in 1987 One of the first things the Equalities Group did was which demands that the University adopt policies examine course material for sexist bias and produce for equal opportunities in employment and increas- a video compilation of bad examples from Open es the recruitment and provision of services for stu- University TV programmes. Sin' e then they have dents from racially, socially and economically dis- functioned as a pressure group within the faculty on advantaged groups. Women, although not specifi- a number of issues, as well as supporting the devel- cally mentioned, should 111 into more than one of opment of modules of Masters courses that deal with these disadvantaged categories. It also recommend- the study of gender in education. Courses specifical- ed that these policies are monitored. Unfortunately, ly addressing the needs of women students and takin a large organisation such as the Open University, ing feminist scholarship seriously have existed for working out how to do all this islike dancing some time in the University. The first Women's through a minefield. Studies Course, The Changing Experience of Wom- en, was first presented in 1983. It is still being pre- The first thing to happen in the Open University has sented but is a very old lady. The course team has been that the motion has been split into issues deal- been producing plans for a replacement course but ing with students and those depling with staff. Work has staffing problems. The course is, as are most on recruiting and supporting students in academic Women's Studies courses, interdisciplinary. As the areas where there are few women staff suggests that University tries to make financial savings by not the two issues are closely bound. Student issues filling posts, faculty priorities are for mainstream have been debated at a committee on Student Pro- faculty courses. Potential members of the new gress and comments have been requested from all Women's Studies course are having to make time for the faculties and units across the University. The it out of their mainstream activities. Sadly the effect staffing side of the motion is being taken up by other of all this has been to make the course team and the appropriate committees. course very insecure. The n lotion has been welcomed by al l of us working When the WISE group was formed there already on women's issues. Many other UK institutions have existed a special bursary scheme funded by a central designated themselves "Equal Opportunities Em- government body, the Manpower Services Commis- ployers" and have had a policy in place for some sion (MSC). This had been developed by a woman time. However, the eventual policy adopted by the member of staff who at the time was in part-time University could be either in a strong form, which employment in a regional office. The scheme has so would mean employing people with special respon- far funded nearly 350 women to study courses in sibility to promote and monitor the policy and to technology or science for retraining purposes. 95 train all staff in carrying it out, or a weak form which will be studying in 1988. It has been one of the most would be no more than a statement of intent. Obvi- successful initiatives in this area. However, it is at

61 G ) the moment under threat because the MSC has to 24%. But in 1989 it will be compulsory for stu- adopted new criteriafor the success of such dents on this course to use a microprocessor for a schemes, namely that the women on them should significant amount of their work. It is argued else- have jobs in the private sector three months after the where in this conference that the increased use of completion of the course. This ignores the fact that information technology by students in distance edu- many women are studying in areas of high unem- cation could, for a variety of reasons, significantly ployment and, because many have husbands and discriminate against women. Groups, such as children, they have not the mobility to follow jobs. It WISE, have spent time trying to get this argument also ignores the fact that women 'n generalare accepted, with some success. But they are now overly represented in employment in the public sec- having to suggest changes to the policy for the distri- tor, which for MSC purposes will not count. Every bution and use of these machines to alleviate its year there have been a number of teachers on the effects. We are facing an attitude that accepts such scheme who are retraining to enter teaching in tech- technical innovation as inevitable for the future of nology. It would be to the advantage of the scheme distance education, and in many cases regards the not to take these women any longer. For many wom- effect on women as also inevitable: the price of en the scheme has set them off on a longer course of progress. For us progress is no such thing if it does professional training so that it is a couple of years not include progress for women as much as for men. before they are in full-time employment. It will be to the scheme's advantage in future to 1iscourage women from further education. This is a ,..ase where central government policy in attempting to make REFERENCES training more directed towards specific areas of employment, could end up closing a very successful Belenky, Mary Field, Blythe McVicker Clinchy, scheme because of its unwillingness to recognise Nancy Rule Goldberger, Jill Mattuck Tarule. that male and female lives, employment patterns 1986. Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of and therefore training needs are different. Self, Voice, and Mind. New York: Basic Books. Freire, Paulo. A new women's course in management, Women 1971. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Seaview. into Management, is faring better. The MSC funded the production of the materials for this course, and Gilligan, Carol. funded some pilot students for the first year. Now 1979. "Women's Place in Man's Life Cycle." Harvard the course is for sale and has high registration fig- Educational Review, 49,431-446. ures. Unfortunately itis expensive (f 1OO). The 1982. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and course team are still trying to work out ways in Women's Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Uni- which funding can be found for one of the groups of versity Press. women for whom the course was originally de- Kohlberg, L. signed: women who could not convince theirem- 1981. The Philosophy of Moral Development. New ;irk: ployers that they would make good managers and Harper and Row. who could consequently not get funding for management courses. Getting funding for women to 1984. The Psychology of Moral Development. New York: Harper and Row. come on courses remains problematic and %nil!l do as long as the measure of a woman's income is "the Perry, W.G. family income". Although research has shown that 1970. Forms of intellectual and Ethical Development in the income of the male wage earner is not equally the College Years. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Win- available to all members of the family, special fi- ston. nancial award schemes like that of the Open Uni- Piaget, Jean. versity work on the pH, ciple that they are. 1965. The Moral Judgement of the Child. New York: Free New developments in di. tance education can also Press. (Originally published 1932). indirectly attack the gains we have made. For exam- Thompson, Jane L. ple in the last ten years the proportion of women on 1983. Learning Liberation: Women's Response to Men's the first year technology course has risen from 14% Education. London: Croom Helm.

62 61 BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS Greville Rumble is the Planning Officer at The Open University, Walton, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom. He has con- sulted and written widely on the planning, management and costs of distance education.

Economics in distance education: time forachange of direction? GREVILLE RUMBLE

My central thesis in this paper is that the study of the to their businesses through the direct impact of the cost structures of distance education from an eco- training on their workforce. But it is much harder for nomic point of view is now a closed field of enquiry. the State to decide whether the investment is one I do not mean to deride the results that have been which it should make. This, however, is not a theme obtained: they were and are illuminating and all that I shall explore in this paper. those concerned with distance education should be My thesis is more prosaic: that distance education aware of the findings. Furthermore, the fact that the institutions have to look to their financial and bud- field of enquiry is closed, in the sense that the con- getary management if they are to survive in a world ceptual and methodological questions have been which increasingly expects educationalists to pro- solved, does not mean that further studies should vide more for less. not be undertaken. They will tell us something about particular distance education institutions, but they will not tell us much more about the fundamental nature of the cost structures of distance edu- LESSONS FROM THE ECONOMIC cation as compared with traditional forms of educa- STUDY OF THE COST tion. STRUCTURES OF DISTANCE I am not saying that the application of economics to EDUCATION the study of distance education is no longer a valid activity. The study of the social and economic rates It is said, particularly by distance educators, that of return on investment in distance education seems distance education is cheaper than traditional forms to me to be a field which we have scarcelti touchcd of education. This is usually a short-hand way of as yet. Of course, it is a field fraught with conceptual saying that the cost per student or per graduate is less and methodological problems, but asking whether in distance than in traditional forms of education. the investment of private or public funds in distance Since students can progress at different rates (either education is worthwhile is a valid activity partic- full-time or part-time) the cost per student is often ularly where one is trying to measure the rate of expressed in a standard measure such as the cost per return not in commercial terms but in terms of the full-time student equivalent. Sometimes the mea- value of the social and economic return to the na- sure of comparison is the cost per student hour. The tion. Commercial correspondence and distance latter is particularly useful when one comes to measure the relative costs of individual media. education systems have it easier they at least can measure their rate of return in terms of their profit Cost comparisons between distance and traditional margins. Firms who invest in distance education as educational systems are often difficult to make be- means of training their workforce and there are cause the systems may have different objectives or n )w many of them can measure the rate of return teach different subjects, or the same subjects in very

63 different ways; the previous educational qualifica- dent administration. Warehouses may have to tions of the students entering the systems may be be built and will certainly need to be equiped different, and this may affect their success in pro- to meet the institution's needs. Further capital ducing graduates; and the quality of the teaching costs will be incurred if it is decided to set up an may be different. Any one of these variables may in-house print shop rather than use existing affect costs and the way we view them. Generally, commercial printers. All this equipment will in however, cost comparisons are confined to institu- due course wear out and need to be replaced. tions teaching at the same level (primary, secondary There are compensating savings for distance or tertiary) and it is assumed that the quality of the education for example, one does not need education offered is similar. to provide student residences o (generally Distance education systems are not set up just be- speaking) permanent classrooms. cause they are believed to be cheaper. Still, cost is (4) All institutions have recurrent overhead costs an important factor. The Organising Committee for (covering such management functions as per- the Venezuelan Universidad Nacional Abierta sonnel, finance, management services, admin- stated its belief that the institution would "contrib- istration, institutional planning and evalua- ute in significantly reducing the annual cost per tion, etc.). The more sophisticated the manage- student and the social cost per graduate" (COUNA, ment and control task, the greater these costs 1979). Unfortunately the hopes of politicians and are likely to be, and this too is likely to load planners are not always realised. There are exam- costs on to distance education. All these sys- ples of distance teaching schemes where the cost tems will need to be working before a single per student or cost per graduate, and sometimes student can be enrolled. both, have been higher than costs in traditional (5) The extent to which fixed costs predominate in systems doing comparable tasks, just as there are distance education was shown in comparative plenty of examples of distance teaching systems study of the costs of courses at conventional which have been cheaper (Perraton, 1982). British unversities and at Britain's distance- teachi ng Open University: whereas the ratio of We know a great deal about the economics of dis- variable to fixed course costs at conventional tance education. The early studies by Laid law and British universities was about 1:8, at the Open Layard (1974) and Wagner (1972, 1977), and the University it was about 1:2000 (Laidlaw and criticisms of the case made for the relative cheap- Layard, 1974). ness of distance education advanced by Carnoy and (6) Because the cost structure is so different, those Levin (1975) and Mace (1874 said virtually every- setting up and operating distance systems ex- thing that was important in terms of the economics perience considerable difficulty in describing of distance education. If I can summarise their find- the operation and economics of their institu- ings in a few words I would say that their message tion to officials in government and funding was as follows: agencies (Snowden and Daniel, 1980:76, Swi- (1) The cost structures of distance and traditional nerton and Hogan, 1981:1). The shere invest- forms of education are different. Distance edu- ment in starting a project, and the fact that one cation systems generally have high fixed costs has to wait for a return on the investment, may and low variable costs, whereas traditional put governments or commercial backers off. In forms of education typically have low fixed contrast, the early investment in a small tradi- costs and high variable costs. As Wagner tional school or college may be much less. (1982:ix) put it, distance education offers edu- (7) Because the variable cost per student can be cationalists "a mass production alternative to low, distance education systems can be cheap- the traditional craft approach". er per student and/or graduate than conven- (2) This high-fixed low-variable cost structure is tional educational systems, but only if the high typical of both the institutions offering distance fixed costs can be spread across sufficient stu- education and individual courses. dents to bring the average cost per student or (3) Distance education systems need a high level graduate down below the level attained in tra- of investment before a single student can be ditional forms of education. (The average cost enrolled. The investment in capital (buildings, per student is equal to the fixed costs divided equipment, etc.) can be enormous partic- by the number of students, plus the variable ularly if studio-based technologies and satellite cost for one student). or terrestial broadcasting have to be put in (8) If the variable cost per student in a distance specially. (If existing facilities are used, then system is higher than that in a conventional the cost is a recurrent one.) Use of computer- system, one will never have a cheaper system. based technologies for teaching and adminis- In designing the system, one has to keep the tration also adds significantly to capital cost variable cost per student (cost of materials giv- not just in equipment but also the investment in en to the student, distribution costs of the mate- developing computer-based systems for stu- rials sent to each student, and the cost of corre-

64 spondence and face-to-face tuition) below the dent numbers (e.g. face-to-face tuition) are not direct cost per student in traditional systems cost-efficient for large numbers of students. (typically, the cost of staff and consumables). The reverse will be true of a medium such as Obviously, the cost per distance-taught student video in the form of transmitted television. goes up if one gives students (a) more rather (14) One can affect the cost of a medium depending than less material, (b) more expensive as op- on how you use it. For example, the costs of posed to cheaper materials, and (c) more tui- giving students video cassettes, loaning video- tion. cassettes to students on a returnable basis, sell- (9) Not all courses will attract sufficient numbers ing video-cassettes to students, and transmit- of students to bring the average cost per student ting video in the early morning for personal down below that found in traditional systems. recording by students on their own video-cas- The same course can be both inefficient and sette recorders, are different, both in absolute efficient in comparison with the costs of tradi- terms and in terms of who bears the cost (in- tional education, depending on the effect of its stitution or student). cost structure and the number of students it has (15) The cost to students can affect access signif- on average student costs. icantly. (10) The fact that some courses are not cost-effi- (16) It is difficult to establish the relative pedagogic cient compared with similar courses offered in effectiveness of different media. It is therefore traditional institutions does not mean that the always a question of judgement as to whether whole institution is inefficient, provided there or not a given institution could teach as effec- are other courses which are cost-efficient in tively or even more effectively using cheaper comparison with conventional courses. One media. This was the substance of one of Mac- can justify having such courses if they are an e's criticism of the UK Open University not integral part of a system providing wider access that it was not on the face of it cost-effective in to degrees, diplomas etc. (Laidlaw and Layard, comparison with other traditional British uni- 1974:458). However, the more courses one versities (although he had some doubts here has, the greater the investment cost in those too), but that it might be even more cost-effec- courses and the greater the overhead cost of tive if it were only more efficient (1978:305). supporting their presentation, so the greater Mace particularly queried the value of broad- the number of students needed to justify the casting, which is expensive. programme as a whole. Wagner (1977:371) suggested that one of the reasons why most of the economies of scale of the UK Open Uni- THE LIMITATIONS OF ECONOMIC versity were reaped in its first years (ie. 1971- MODELS OF DISTANCE 73) was that in the period 1974-76 the rate of increase in student numbers did not keep pace EDUCATION with the increasing number of courses present- The early economic studies of distance education ed. led to the development of simple cost functions for (11) Each course involves an investment in devel- distance education (see,for example, Wagner, opment and production. The longer the course 1977; Snowden and Daniel, 1980; Rumble, 1981; is used, the greater the number of years over 1982a; Guiton, 1982). In Wagner's cost function for which the capital cost of the investment in the Open University, for example: design is spread, and hence the more efficient Total recurrent costs = (the number of students x the the system. The corollary of extended course average cost per student) + (the number of courses lives is that the course may become outdated. presented x the average cost per course presented This wi:1 undermine the quality of the educa- including an allowance for its eventual replacement tion seriously. at the end of an agreed life) + overheads. (12) The time it takes to develop different media varies enormously, as Sparkes (1984:219) in- Whatever the value of such simple cost functions in dicated (e.g. one to ten hours of staff time to demonstrating in simple terms to politicians and develop one hour of small group teaching, others the fact that distance education could be from two to ten hours to prepare a one hour more cost-effective than traditional forms of educa- lecture, 50 to 100 hours to prepare a teaching tion, they are frankly inadequate as management text which will occupy a student for one hour, tools for making choices about costs. As Rumble, 300 hours or more to prepare one hour's worth Neil and Tout (1981:235) remarked, they "do not of material on interactive video disc though adequately specify the fundamentalvariables, these figures need to be treated with some which affect costs, in sufficient detail to be of practi- care). Choice of media is crucial to costs. cal value to people who are trying to prepare an (13) Each media has its own cost structure. Some operating budget for an institution". medium which are cost-efficient for low stu- To tackle this problem, Rumble, Neil and Tout iden-

65 6, tified a whole c 's of cost functions which would by satellite, they can enable students spread make explicit tundamental variables affecting over very wide geographical areas to "listen costs in a distance education system, and which into" lectures providing up-to-date information would be of practical help to those trying to fix a on technological advances. Students may also budget for a distance teaching institution. Never- be able to participate in the lectures through theless, even detailed cost functions have limita- telephone links (tutored video instruction or tions, since they too involve simplifications. In par- TVI). Such approaches are now being used by a ticular, they will not solve the management prob- number of universities including the National lems posed by the need to cut costs. This led Rumble Technological University in the United States. to argue that, faced by the need to implement cuts, (3) One can plan the curriculum and specify course distance teaching institutions had to return to more content in broad outline, and then appoint aca- basic principles of financial management, including demic consultants to develop the written materi- the examination of baseline budgets, the need to als and scripts for broadcasts and audio visual cash limit budgets, the need to ensure that those materials, as at the Universidad Estatal a Dis- responsible for the activity are responsible for the tancia in Costa Rica. This has the great advan- budget, the need to give budget holders only the tage that payment is by results. The academics minimum necessary to the job, and the need to deal are not permanent members of full-time staff, so with uncertainty (2982b:200-01). The approach there is no long-term commitment to them. If taken to budget cuts is likely to be different, depend- they fail to deliver the goods, they do not get ing on whether one is facing a short term crisis or a paid. Advance notification of a course may be long term run-down in financing such as may follow given, but sometimes (as at the Open Learning from the progressive cut of value of public funds Institute in British Columbia), a course is only given to the institution. The latter may well necessi- announced once all the materials have been tate a fundamental rethinking of the basic strategies handed over fot production. The process has for developing, producing and distributing materi- more in common with a publishing house than als, teaching, and administration. an educational institution. (4) Finally, one can employ a core of full-time academic staff to create the course materials. This is STRATEGIES AND THEIR COSTS the most expensive way of staffing up to develop The basic strategic choices made by an institution distance education materials. do affect costs significantly. Planners who are set- Similarly, what one needs to produce (given one's ting up distance teaching institutions on a limited choice of media), how one produces it, and where budget, and those managing such institutions in one is doing the production, can affect one's costs situations where resources are declining, can be dramatically. To take the case of print, all material much better informed about the nature of the strate- requires editing and design work. The cost of gic choices open to them, thanks to the growing an author's manuscript into a form suitable for a literature on distance education. self-instructional learning package is likely to be greater if contract authors are used. The cost of To start with, the way in which distance learning design can vary, depending on the extent to which materials are developed affect costs. illustrations and artwork is used. The way text is set (1) One can use existing material as it stands or affects costs. Offset lithography from typed originals adapt it to meet the needs of distance taught is generally cheaper than letter press printing from students. This approach involves hardly any cre- hot metal typesetting. Use of word processors in- ative effort on the part of the teaching institution stead of typewriters makes the preparation of cam- and vastly reduces the costs of devclopment, but era ready copy even easier, and can affect authoring will usually involve the payment of copyright costs. i immers (1986) reckoned that at the Van- fees to the originating institution. couver-based Open Learning Institute word proc- (2) One can "tack" a distance teaching system on essing cut the time taken to develop and prepare for to a conventional system by videoing lectures production a page of text from 120 hours to 50. On given to conventional students and preparing the other hand, where texts have to be handwritten, lecture notes to accompany the videos. Once costs can escalate. The Allama lqbal Open Uni- lecture theatres have been equipped with video versity pays its calligraphers on the same scale as cameras and recording equipment, the addi- university lecturers. The Sri Lankan Open Universi- tional per capita costs of preparing videos and ty prepares its texts in more than one language, thus lecture notes for use by off-campus students can incurring the costs of translation. The costs of print- be very little (Wagner, 1975; Leslie, 1979). A ing can also vary. Paper costs differ from country to vast library of video material can be built lip country; different grade papers may be used. The rapidly for relatively little total cost. While the costs of the offset litho process are affected by quality of these videos may not be very high, whether paper or metal plates are used. The former they are adequate for their purpose. Broadcast are cheaper but are good for only about 500 copies.

66 65 The use of colour adds greatly to the costs of print- machines outright at a negotiated rate of discount, ing. The length of the print run makes a difference to with or without a bank loan, or hire them from the the unit cost per title. On the other hand, where University at a rate which still makes student pur- more than one year's stock is printed, the costs of chase an attractive option for those students who storage need to be taken into account. Variations in can foresee the need to have a machine for several distribution costs are also significant. It is difficult to years. Even so, the cost of providing software and of make generalisations, but obviouslyit depends supporting the project is nct inconsiderable. whether the materials are mailed direct to individual A further factor affecting institutional costs is what students' homes, as happens at the British Open one teaches. There is a world of difference between University, or are trucked to local centres for collec- the costs of developing, say, basic language courses tion by the students, as happens at the Universidad which can be used for many years with little change, Estatal a Distancia in Costa Rica. and for which there is a ready and on-going market; The production costs of video varies enormously and developing a suite of courses leading to a mas- too. The costs per hour of video-tape lectures is ter's degree in some advanced scientific or techno- much less than "broadcast quality" television, and logical subject, where one is teaching about ad- these will vary from country to country, depending vances at the leading edge of reset r':h which neces- on technical standards and staffing levels. What sitate frequent changes to the material, and where constitutes broadcast quality television is subject to the number of students is very small. different standards. In the United States the Public Broadcasting Service broadcasts 3/4 inch Lo-band Umatic tape generated material, which is cheaper CONTROLLING COSTS IS A to produce than the 3/4 inch High-band tape materi- MANAGEMENT FUNCTION al used by the television companies in the United It is a truism to say that the control of costs is a Kingdom. It is perfectly feasible to produce "broad- function of management, whether it is at the simple castable" educational material at low cost. The Na- tionalTechnologicalUniversity,for example, level of budgetary control, or at the more fundamental level of agreeing strategies which will deliv- broadcasts low cost video-tape lectures by satellite which is perfectly adequate for its purpose. The er products at a price which the institution and its distribution costs of video can also vary significant- customers can afford. The examples given above ly, depending on whether video-cassettes or terres- show not only how difficult it is to cost distance tial or satellite-based systems are used (the latter education in abstract, but also how the costs of particular systems can be affected by management encompassing both direct broadcasting by satellite (DBS) and satellite to cable head ends), and the decisions. They also suggest that answers to general questions such as "How expensive is distance edu- extent to which the distance education institution is cation?" or "What does it cost to teach at a distance responsible for meeting the capital costs of the distri- at the Open University?" are only meaningful with- bution system or has access to transmission time at in a specific context. economic or marginal costs. Those interested in the costs of broadcasting should consult Eicher et al Management can only cost strategic options and (1982). control costs if the specific costs of activities are The costs of computer-based systems have been clearly identified. To do this, managements must insufficiently studied to date, but the experience of develop costing systems which will meet their needs. the Open University, which has some 80,000 students taking degree level courses, has been that the During the late 1970s and early 1980s there was cost of providing each student with a home-based considerable discussion about the methodology of personal computer is such that the institution itself costing "new technology" projects in education cannot hope to fund the project, while provision of a including, of course, distance education (c.f. UN- study centre based service does not provide suffi- ESCO, 1977:11-35; Jamison, Klees and Wells, cient access to computers to meet the academic 1978:23-69; Eicher et al, 1982:41-64; and also needs of computing and other courses. Even if the Orivel, 1987). This led to the widespread accept- University restricted itself to providing computers to ance of a general methodology for costing such students taking courses where a significant level of projects which concentrates on the functional anal- computing is deemed to be academically essential, ysis of costs (general administration costs; produc- it would quickly have to provide for the needs of at tion costs; transmission or distribution costs; and least 13,000 students. A machine meeting the needs reception cost) (Eicher et al, 1982:51). In fact, rela- of the University's students costs in the region of tively few projects have been costesi in accordance £500-600 at 1987 prices, so the University cannot with the recommended methodology. Indeed, there afford to equip students with personal computers. In are considerable discrepancies between individual view of this it has recently agreed a policy under cost studies including the use of projected (budget) which it hopes that students will either buy the versus actual (final accounts) costs and differences

67 6t in the treatment of costs, particularly capital costs lems of joint supply, where a particular course or and the annualisation or otherwise of the costs of course component may serve the needs of more developing and producing courses. than one academic programme; and the apportion- A basic problem is that the various costing metho- ing of overheads, including the desirability or other- dologies referred to above do not show how the wise of full absorption costing. functional approach to costing which they advocate Elsewhere Rumble (1985) has described in general can be reconciled with the needs of institutional and terms how the Open University, forced to cut the departmental management, nor do they show how costs of its courses in 1984-85, identified the cost these costs can be related to the activities or pro- components of developing, producing and present- grammes carried out by an institution. After all, ing courses and developed spreadsheets to model what is important is not necessarily how much is these costs against changing assumptions about re- spent on developing and producing materials, but source usage (numbers of hours of tuition per how much a particular course or programme of course, number of audio-cassettes per course) and courses will cost. changes in student numbers on the course. Initially, these spreadsheets were done manually, but the The situation is made more difficult because typical- system was quickly computerised and is now quite ly institutions are required to analyse costs by nomi- sophisticated. Markowitz (1987) has described the nal codes (salaries, consumables, travel, etc.) with- use of spreadsheets to aid financial decision making in department (reflecting management responsib- at the University of Florida using Lotus 1-2-3. ilities). This approach also fails to identify the costs of activities, which is why there is such poor cost control in so many institutions. CONCLUSION He v these problems can be solved has been the If institutions are going to adequately control their subject of a number of recent papers and articles all costs in a world in which funding sources are di- of which are, I suggest, predicated on the assump- versifying and the value of public funds decline, tion that this kind of three-way complex analysis of then they will have to tackle the problem of devel- costs(departmental/nominal costs;fu fictional oping budgetary structures which adequately reflect costs; and activity costs) will be done on computers not just departmental but also functional and pro- using spreadsheets. gramme costs. This is perhaps the greatest challenge So pervasive have microcomputers become at facing publicly-funded distance education institu- least in the richer countries that we tend to forget tions today. Ironically, of course, itis something that the microcomputing revolution is only 13 years which commercial correspondence and distance old. Apple Computer Inc. was established in 1975, teaching institutions have known for a long time. launching its Apple II microcomputer and VisiCalc After all, if their financial management is poor, they spreadsheet in 1978 thus introducing business to go out of business. the potential of low-cost, high-powered desktop computers. Other companies had meanwhile entered or were about to enter the market. There was a REFERENCES sales' explosion of hardware and software, including further and more powerful spreadsheets such as Carnoy, M. and Levin, H.M. Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Excel. Business and (1975) "Evaluation of educational media: some issues" the administration of distance education was and Instructional Science, 4, 385-406. is being revolutionised (see Rumble, 1988). 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68 fi1-.1 planning and evaluation. Beverly Hills, Sage Publica- Rumble, G. tions. (198611) Deakin Open Education Monograph no. 2, Activ- Laid law, B. and Layard, R. ity costing in mixed-mode institutions. A report based on a (1974). "Traditional versus Open University teaching study of Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Deakin methods: a cost comparison", I- .igher Education, 3, 439- University. 68. Rumble, G. Leslie, J.D. (1987) The costs and costing of distance/open education. (1979) "The University of Waterloo Model for distance Report for the International Extension College/Council for education", Canadian Journal of University Continuing Educational Technology project on Commonwealth Education, 6, 33-41. Cooperation in Open Learning. Mace, J. Rumble, G. (1978) "Mythology in the making; is the Open University (1988) "El use de microcomputadoras en sistemas de really cost-effective?" Higher Education, 7, 295-309. ensenanza a distancia", paper presented to the Primer Congreso Universitario de Educacion a Distancia, Uni- Markowitz, H. versidad Estatal a Distancia, San Jose, Costa Rica, Febru- (1987) "Financial decision making calculating the cost ary 1988. of distance education", Distance Education, 8, 147-61. Rumble, G., Neil, M. and Tout, A. Drivel, F. (1981) "Budgetary and resource forecasting" in Kaye, A. (1987) Analysing costs in distance education systems: a and Rumble, G. (eds.) (1981) Distance teaching for higher methodological approach, Dijon, University de Bour- and adult education, London, Croom Helm. gogne, Institut de Recherche sur l'Economie de l'Educa- Snowden, B.L., and Daniel, J.S. tion (IREDU) mimeo. (1980) "The economics and management of small post- Perraton, H. secondary distance education systems", Distance Educa- (1982) The cost of distance education, Cambridge, Eng- tion, 1, (1), 68-91. land, International Extension College. Sparkes, J. Rumble, G. (1984) "Pedagogic differences between media", in Bates, (1981) "The cost analysis of distance teaching: Costa A.W. (ed.) (1984) The role of technology in distance edu- Rica's Universidad Estatal a Distancia", Higher Educa- cation, London, Croom Helm. tion, 10, 375-401. Swinerton, E.N. and Hogan, T.P. Rumble, G. (1981) "A tested budget model fora nontraditional degree (1982a) "The cost analysis of distance learning: Venezue- programme", Madison, Wisconsin, University of Wis- la's Universidad Nacional Abierta", Distance Education, consin, mimeo. 3, 116-40. Timmers, S., Rumble, G. "Microcomputers in course development", Programmed (191 2b) "Responding to economic austerity. Can eco- Learning and Educational Technology, 23, (1),15-23, nomic models of distance teaching help us?" in Daniel, 1986. 1.5., Stroud, M.A., and Thompson, J.R. (1982) Learning at UNESCO, a distance. A world perspective. Edmonton, Athabasca, University /International Council for Correspondence 1977, The economics of new educational media, Paris, Education. UNESCO Press. Rumble, G. Wagner, L. (1985) "The cost-efficient management of resources for (1972' "The economics of the Open University", Higher the development, production, distribution and delivery of Education, 2, 159-83. courses", paper presented to the first international confer- Wagner, L. ence of the 13th World Conference of the International (1975), "Television Video-tape systems for off -campus Council for Distance Education, Melbourne, August education: . cost analysis of SURGE", Instructional Sci- 1985. ence, 4, 315-32. Rumble, G. Wagner, L. (1986a) Costing distance education, London, Common- (' 977) "The economics of the Open University revisited" wealthSecretariat,Human Resource Development Higher Education, 6, 359-81. Group, mimeo. Wagner, L. (1982) The economics of educational media, London, The Macmillan Press

Performance in relationto student and coursevariables in the Remedial Science Programme at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia ASSOC. PROF. DR. SHARIFAH ALWIAH ALSAGOFF ASSOC. PROF. DR. KARSONO AHMAD DASUKI Centre for Off-Campus Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY BACKGROU ND This paper is based on a research study that in- The Remedial Science programme lasts two years vestigated the academic performance of the Reme- and was started at the Centre for Off-Campus Stud- dial Science Students at Universiti Sains Malaysia ies at USM in the 1978/79 academic year. Its pur- (USM) in relation to personal student variables, pose is to increase the pool of indigenous students learning and course materials. The research was (Malay and tribal) proceeding to the degree pro- conducted in December 1986, during the residen- gramme. Every year about 120 students are inter- tial intensive period. The purposes of the study are viewed and screened before being admitted to the to Remedial ScienceI programme for a year, after (1) investigate sources of student problems that may which they are examined and if successful, proceed affect or influence their academic performance. to Remedial Science II, for another year before being (2) highlight factors related to students' learning admitted to the degree programme. and course materials that have a positive or The Remedial Science Programme consists of eight negative influence on academic performance. distance education courses offered by the Centre for (3) break down learning into a continuum of five Off-Campus Studies at USM. The centre was estab- phases and investigate the relevant factors of lished in 1971 and is the only public-funded in- each phase that affect academic performance. stitution in Malaysia that offers distance education The five phases are (i) student r" 'less (ii) self - in Remedial Science and degree programmes lead- learning using self - instructional course modules ing to B.Sc (Hons.), B.A. (Hons.) and B.Soc.Sc. (iii) learning during tutorials at the tutorial cen- (Hons.). Distance education students graduate with tres (iv) face-to-face learning at USM during the the same degree as their full-time counterparts with residential intensive period (v) self-learning after no distinction between the two. The degree pro- the residential intensive period prior to thc.. ex- gramme requires a minimum of six years to com- aminations. plete, five years by distance study and one year (4) evaluatecoursematerialsandinvestigate residential full-time study. Nevertheless, a three- course-related factors that influence academic week intensive residential course is mandatory ff_w performance. the initial five year period. All first year students are required to attend tutorials and labs at their nearest tutorial centre but all science students i.e. year one DEFINITION OF TERMS through five are required to attend tutorials and labs Academic performance is college attainment or the for the entire five year distance education period. To "actions of a person when given a learning task'' meei this requirement, we have ten tutorial centres (Page & Thomas, 1977, p. 262). In this sr.dy aca- in West Malaysia and two in East Malaysia. We now demic performance is measured by marks and the have 123 courses written in the self-instructional equivalent grades received in the examinations for modular :Jrm a t, out of which eight are Remedial the courses. Science, 50 Sciences, 28 Social Sciences and 37 Humanities courses. In the 1987/88 academic year 773r 0 Remedial Science programme was intended as a demic session from July to April is pilot for other courses and programmes and as an 412.78 hours. The majority of students aid to improving the academic performance of stu- (63.6%) study continously for 1-2 dents. hourseachtime.Moststudents (84.2%) do not study with their friends and those who do study together do so METHOD OF INVESTIGATION for about 1-2 hours at a time. 62.7% SOURCES OF DATA of the students have a regular study place, usually their home (79.1%) and Two questionnaires were used in the study, a gener- work place (36.7%). Many students al questionnaire with 20 questions and a more spe- (42.4%) live within 1-20 km of their cific questionnaire, one for each course, with 63 tutorial centre. questions. The two questionnaires encompass the five phases of learning stated earlier. Question 2: What are the factors of study readiness that influence academic performance? Students who registered a year earlier, DEVELOPMENT OF THE most of whom were doing the Reme- QUESTIONNAIRE dial Science II courses or repeating Re- The questionnaire structure was initially planned medial Science I courses did signif- and subsequently vetted by an Adhoc Committee for icantly better (0.05 prob.) than the Re- Course Evaluation at the Centre before pretesting medial Science I students. There is a and improvement. significant positive correlation (r=0.1220, 0.01 prob.) between study time in groups and academic perform- RESULTS OF SURVEY ance. Students who spent more time discussing course materials together A total of 215 students registered for the Remedial did significantly better (0.01 prob.) Science courses, of which 158 completed the ques- than those who spent less time doing tionnaire. This is a response rate of 73.48%. so. However there are no significant differences in performance between students who study alone or in groups. DATA ANALYSIS Phase II: Self-Learning Using The Self-Instructional The completed questionnaires were coded for the Modules SPSS computer analysis. Marks and the equivalent For this phase, only academic performance as it grades in the course examinations were matched relates to learning in the various aspects of the with the questionnaire data and entered into the course modules is reported. computer programme. Appropriate variables in the questionnaire were analysed for significant differ- Question 3: What are the factors pertaining to the ences related to academic performance by using the self-instructional modules that influ- t-test or the analysis of variance (ONEWAY and ence academic performance? ANOVA in SPSS) and correlations. Students' performance is positively correlated with academic performance (Table I) and no significant differences or correlations are observed (Table II) for SUMMARY OF FINDINGS the following areas of the self-instructional modules The findings are presented in answer to questions as perceived by students. related to the purposes of the study. They are given Phase III: Tutorial Learning And Services At The in the order of the phases of learning that our dis- Tutorial Centres tance education students undergo. Question 4: What are the perceptions of students of Phase I: Study Readiness the tutorial services offered at the tuto- Question 1: How ready are the students for their rial centres? learning tasks? Tutorial materials are not easily avail- Most students (88.6%) organise and able at the tutorial centres (54.5%) and plan their studies. 67.7% make daily references are not readily available at

plans while30.. G make weekly public libraries (67.5%). The students' plans. The average daily study time is perception of their tutors is punctual 2.65 hours, averaging 16.5 hours per (87.0%),creditable(73.4%),and week. Average time required for the these perceptions are not affected by study of all courses during the aca- the tutors' qualifications (56.5%), but

74 71 TABLE I TABLE II: Course variables with significant positive correla- Course variables with no significant differences or tions in relation to academic performance correlations with academic performance 0.01 level 0.05 level Paper quality Clear/unclear lab di- Appropriate print lay- Clear/unclearillust- rections out - Clear printing quality ration Sufficient/insufficient Clear course objecti- Attractive printing Ignore, skim or study 'ab directions ves product objectives Accurate/inaccurate Interesting course Pact course content Organized/disorgani- lab directions content - Wide scope course zed course content Sequential/unsequ- Simple course con- content Always/often/someti- ential lab directions tent - Related course con- mes/seldom clear Succint/longwinded Clear course content tent concepts language Accurate course con- Clear illustrations Sufficient/insufficient Formal/informal tent Sufficient exercises illustrations language Current course con- Simple exercises Useful/uselessillust- Interesting/boring tent - Accurate guide to ex- rations language Easy to understand il- ercises Complete/incomple- Each study sitting (ti- lustrations - Meaningful answers to illustrations me) Clear exercises Clear answers Relevant/irrelevant il- Pages covered each Sufficient guide to ex-- Related additional lustrations time ercises materials Sequential/unsequ- Weeks to finish per Meaningfuladditio-- Language easy to un- ential exercises module nal materials derstand Varied/unvariedex- Completion/incomp- Easy additional mate- Interesting additional ercises letion of exercises as rials materials Sufficient/insufficient they appear Language, easy to fol- Current language answers to exercises Completion/incomp- low used Easily/uneasilyavai- letion/partcomple- C000rdinated langu-- Simple language use lable additional mate- tion of exercises after age use rials completing module Students complete all Current/outmoded Reference to answers exercises as they ap- additional materials before answering ex- pear Complete/incomple- ercises te additional materi- Reading of reference als materials provided ratherbythetutors'experience Use of supplementary (59.6%,.The students concur that they gave complete attention during their materials tutorials (84.6%), and perceived the tutor as hardworking (57.8%) or just Question 5: What are the factors pertaining to tuto- doing a job (34.7%). However 75.8% rial services at the tutorial centres that of the students were given special at- influence academic performance? tention by their tutors if they faced Students' performance is significantly problems, tutorials are well scheduled affected (0.05 prob.) by the availabil- (78.7%), the teaching methods used ity of references at public libraries, ad- were appropriate (73.9%), the tutors herence to tutorial schedules, the tutor repeat important facts (42.2%), or re- reviewing parts of the module, and . iew part of their modules (43.1%), positively correlated at the 0.01 level felt that the tutorial teaching is effec- with the students giving undivided at- tive (33.6%), but 56.7% felt that it is tention during tutorials. effective with some methodology improvement. The most effective com- Phase IV: Organization And Actual Face-To-Face ponent of the course was the tutorial Learning During The Residential Inten- (76.5%) while the laboratories were sive Period rated only 25.3% and personal dis- Question 6: Is the present organization of the resi- cussions with the tutor only 32.1%. dential intensive course satisfactory?

75 72 An overwhelming majority of students academic performance for those who (96.2%) felt that the residential inten- felt a sense of belonging to the uni- sive course is very useful in terms of versity and those who do not (0.05 lab use (62.7%), lectures (84.2%), prob.). consultation with lecturers (76.6%), Phase V: Self-Learning After The Residential Inten- meeting of friends taking the same sive Period course (74.7%), use of the university library (72.2%), preparation of course- Question 10: What are the students' perceptions of work assignments (43.0%). However their own learning after the residen- 36.7% of the students had problems tial intensive period? during this time, of which 27.2% were After the residential intensive period financial. The other problems do not 84.2% of the students felt more confi- seem to loomlarge except food dent in their coursework preparation. (24.7%), possibly because many cafe- 79.8% felt more confident on their terias are closed during this time as the continous evaluation tests carried out full-time students are on vacation. The at the tutorial centres and 78.0% felt majority of students (77.2%) felt that confident about their final examin- the residential intensive course would ations. The learning process during be unsuitable if altered a level or a year theintensive courseperiodhas of study at a time. helped 85.1% of the students update Question 7: What are the factors in the intensive their learning skills, improve their course organization that may influen- ability to supplement course materi- ce academic performance? als (80%) and learn techniques to answer examination questions The academic performance of stu- (77.1 %). dents is significantly affected if they have problems at the intensive course Question 11: What are the factors in self-learning (0.05 prob.), and if their problem is after the intensive residential period separation fromthefamily(0.05 that affect academic performance? prob.). There were significant differences at Question 8: What are the students' perceptions of the 0.01 level in the academic per- advantages of their face-to-face learn- formance of students who felt they ing experiences? were more confident in their coursework preparation, continous evalua- The majority of the students perceive tiontests and final examinations the residential intensive course as very compared with those who did not beneficial(55.2%) and somewhat feel confident in these areas. beneficial (37.8%). Sufficient attention was given by lecturers (81.8%), their methods of teaching were very CONCLUSION effective 135.4%), and somewhat effective (50.8%). Lecturers were very This study has revealed the significant factors that encouraging (31.2%) and somewhat affect student academic performance. Efforts to im- encouraging (43.7%), tutorials and prove courses and services should concentrate on these factors. lecturescheduleswereadhered (97.4%) but more than half of the students (52.7%) felt that the time given by lecturers to solve problems was insufficient. 53.0% of the students took REFERENCES the opportunity to hold dicussions Alsagoff, S.A. with friends, only 33.8% made a lot of library references, 27.7% felt a be- "A Study Of Learning Styles, Student Characteristics And Faculty Perceptions Of The Distance Education Program longing to the university, 28.1 % made At University Sains Malaysia." Doctoral dissertation, Uni- new friends and 47.5% acquired new versity of Washington, 1985. learning techniques. Question 9: What are the students' perceptions of Page, G.T. and Thomas, JI.B. advantages of their face-to-face learn- International Dictionary Of Education. London. Kogan ing experiences that may influence Page, 1977. academic performance? Of ten variables examined in Question 8, there were significant differences in

76 73 Talking to New England: Interactive radio broadcasting in Australian distance education GEOFF ARGER Course development adviser Department of external studies University of New England Armidale, N.S.W. 2351, Australia

PREAMBLE School of the Air. It brings together the leading role in distance education enjoyed by the University of The University of New England is the major provider New England for 35 years; the popularity of talkback of distance education in Australia with over 6,000 radio in Australian society; the proliferation of com- external students. The Talki ng to New England inter- munity radio using FM channels in Australia; and active radio project is one of the programs being the fact that 45% of UNE %.xternal undergraduate developed by the University of New England to students are in the Sydney area and 6% in the Hun- facilitate interaction between academics and stu- ter Valley area centred around the city of Newcastle. dents. The project allows academics on campus in Armidale in Northern New South Wales (see dia- gram) to present material through local FM radio stations and then respond to questions from external PROJECT DESCRIPTION students in Sydney (550 kms to the south), New- The lecturer records a program on some aspect of castle (400 kms to the south) and Armidale itself the subject in the Audio Visual studio at UNE, Armi- live-to-air. dale. This segment of the program has varied from Cassette tapes of the total program are despatched eighteen to forty minutes, but an average is thirty minutes duration. The style of presentation shows by mail to students outside the broadca ing area. considerable variety between subject areas and in- An interesting spin-off occurs in Coffs Hal Jour 110 km to the east of Armidale. A local FM radio station dividual academics. Production techniques such as musical breaks and fade-outs are added at the time rebroadcasts one of our programs each week as a of recording. The tape is then sent to the radio community education project. The result is a unique use of interactive radio in distance education, or as station in Sydney at least a week before the broad- one newspaper called it "educational talkback". cast is scheduled. On the night of the broadcast this is played in the Sydney studio with live voice super- The project builds on Australia's long tradition of imposed on the music breaks to introduce the pro- radio in distance education with institutions like gram and give reminders of the talk-back telephone number. After this prepared session, the air-ways are open to students, and to the public (up to 20% of the calls to date) to phone the Sydney studio wf.:ch is linked by telephone land-line to Armidale, and discuss matters over the air with the academic in Armidale. During this time the announcer joins the academic in a discussion on the subject. This discussion will be partly bas:KI on a list of questions provided, but also partly from the announcer's own understanding of the subject. Where there is a lull in calls. project staff from the Department of External Studies (secretary, clerk, office administrator and course development assistant) cal I in with questions which have previously been solicited from students outside the broadcast area. Figure 1 Map showing the broadcast areas.

77 1tt TECHNICAL PRODUCTION THE SELECTION OF APPROPRIATE The broadcast program originates from the New COURSE MATERIAL South Wales Institute of Technology studios of Syd- Initially the choice of programs has been based on ney Educational Radio, 2SER-FM, owned by NSWIT self-selection. A general memo is circulated within and Macquarie University. The station's transmitter the University. So far, all academics who respon- is located on the roof of the NSWIT, 26th floor, ded, have subsequently offered a program. This has Tower Building, from which the station's signal pro- called for flexible budgeting but the response has to vides good coverage for the wider Sydney metropol- date not been unmanageable. itan area. Brief general advice is given to the academic about The station's talkback facilities are used, with a matters such as: the types of presentations that can separate three line switchboard to receive listeners' be used; how to encourage student participation in calls. The program is broadcast with a seven second talkback; use of anecdotes and references; and ad- delay. vising the academic to relax because this relates to To enable the "live" link with Armidale, a 10khz the quality of the presentation; but much is left to the line is used from UNE to the 2SER-FM studio. A academic's ingenuity. As a result, the format ranges second 3khz line is used to send the "pre-delay" from straight lectures to docu-dramas, from panel studio output signal back from 2SER to the UNE discussions to guidance on practical work, from studio. This line is also used for communication musical examples to prominent people interviews, between 2SER-FM and UNE's technical producers. and others. The range of subjects offered include A further 10khz line is used from 2SER-FM control history, music, english, psychology, financial man- room to Newcastle University Radio, called 2NUR- agement, biology, and education amongst others. In FM, in Newcastle. The Armidale relay is provided 1986, twenty-seven programs were broadcast. In by a split from the return line to radio station 2ARM- 1987, this was increased to forty-six. FM's studio in Armidale. A tape of the total broadcast is despatched to Coffs Harbour Youth Radio station, called 2CHY-FM, for rebroadcast. PLUGGING THE AUDIENCE IN As virtually all the program content is spoken word, The success of the series is dependent upon the the broadcasts are in mono. external students listening and participating. Incor- porating the broadcasts as part of course work is an Listeners to 2 NUR-FM and 2ARM-FM who wish tc important objective. participate in the talk-back are required to call 2SER-FM, where they are given priority "to air" All external students are given a broadcast schedule wherever practicable. This does not appear to dis- at the beginning of the semester. Students for each courage participation from such listeners to any not- subject are reminded of the broadcast in their teach- icable extent. ing material and by mail two weeks prior to the broadcast. If they are in the broadcast area they are asked to listen and then to phone in on the night, and if they are outside the area they are asked to send in questions before the broadcast. Students

FAPPOYEMENT HT EGRATEN WORTHYME OF TECHNIQUE OF T EOHOUE TEOHOUE SOUGHT It is itterestint to nete that after enplementattts sussestiens made after 1st semester the meter et suggestions so &MN.

20 I3 1100/DCAST AMA 10 I NoNuoGoarntio Figure 2 AREA A compari- 0 son of responses from 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd the broadcasting and Sem Sem Sem Sem gem Sem non-broadcasting area.

78 75 BROADCAST AREAS 8RCADC.AST AREAS 2ND SEMESTER. 1986 1ST SEMESTER. 1986 t00- 100 10 U 10 s 40

2o-

0 Corns 0 Course

NON-3ROAOCASTING AREAS NON - BROADCASTING AREAS 1ST SEMESTER. 1906 2ND SEMESTER. 1906

AFP1425 WI MO Us, um' 101, 25! E 0134AV STUD 244-1 aMC MIST 100 U AFM 421 MIST 110 6 PSYCH 100 ETHMMUSIC 110, 225/325 aMIST 140 GEOG 332, 100, 211 El ENG too ADM1N STUD 574, 577 B ECCN HIST 233/333

Figure 3 A comparision of the responses by subject area, semesters and broadcastarea.

enrolled in the subject are telephonedon the day of heavily ir.volved in prior educational talkback pro- the broadcast and reminded to participate. Threeor jects on the station. four assistants ill Armidale monitor the program and The number of staff working on the series as a major phone in when necessary with questions from stu- part of their work brief is seven in addition to general dents from outside the broadcast area to keep the assistance from the Department of External Studies talkback session moving. in terms of dispatch, clerical assistance, word pro- Planning for this audience includes a script that cessing etc. These human resources'plus a number accommodates the general listener. A typical script of other hardware resources, have been absorbed would read, "...a warm welcome to you all, parti-2- by the radio station and the University. ularly students of... but also others interested in this The direct financial cost is approximately $500 per subject, and we hope you will make the Armidale hour made up by $250 on production and airtime connection tonight... you are most welcome to for 2SER; $110 airtime for 2NUR, as well as $25 take part in some intelligent and stimulating talk- airtime for 2ARM; $100 for telephone lines; and back, even if you are not a student." $20 for technician overtime.

BUDGET & RESOURCES EVALUATION Talking To New England is an important priority for Evaluation of the series can be approached by ex- Sydney Educational Radio and two 2SER-FMpro- amining the number of calls received, and the re- ducers have been given the brief as a major part of sponses from academics, the broadcasting industry, their production duties. Both producers have been the students and the newspapers.

79 7 NUMBER OF CALLS RECEIVED Terribly unnerving talking on radio (but practice makes perfect so more talkback radio please). The numer of calls per program has varied from three to thirteen. The thirteen was for an Ancient The following statistics were obtained from 1986 History program on Sulla where the question and evaluation sheets. Note the positive response from answer session was very factual. Twelve calls were students in the non-broadcasting area. received for a program on cancer cells which There was no significant difference in responses seemed to generate calls associated with emotions between subject areas, between semesters, nor be- resticting discussion. Five to six seems to allow tween broadcast/non-broadcast areas as the graphs optimum discussion between student and academ- below show. ic. In 1987, to date of writing, the average has been five point five. The number of questions received from outside the broadcast area has varied from nil RECOGNITION BY THE to eight with the average being three point five. BROADCASTING INDUSTRY Talking to New England was judged by the 1987 ACADEMIC EVALUATION Pater panel as being the "best program on Austra- All academics involved in the broadcasts are sur- lian public/community radio". veyed at the end of the year. The responses have The Paters are awarded annually by the Australian been extremely encouraging. Although they stated Academy of Broadcast Arts and Sciences, spanning their preparation time as varying from one to thirty categories which cover commercial radio, the ABC, hours, all want to repeat the experience. It should be public/community radio, and international broad- remembered, however, that these were academics casters, including stations in New Zealard, the who had volunteered their service initially. USA, and Britain. In 1987 there were 862 entries in nine languages received from 270 stations in eighteen countries. It is a prestigious award and 'luly STUDENT EVALUATION recognises the University of New England's innovative approach to educational broadcasting and its All students in the broadcast area are sent an eval- work in increasing access to educational opportuni- uation form. They are asked to fill it in immediately ties for all Australians. after the program. Students in the non-broadcasting area are sent a different evaluation form with the cassette of the program and are asked to return it with the cassette. Typical comments were: BIBLIOGRAPHY The talkback section gave a broader view of how the lecturer feels about his subject matter. Gelonesi, J. & Arger, G. I feel this method of communicating greatly en- Talking to New England: Radio Talkback for Distance hances the course for external students and gives Learning. Sydney Educational Broadcasting, Sydney, them a better feeling of participation. 1986.

80 71 University education atadistance seen as an innovative educational technology for underdeveloped countries A Latin American view DR. MIGUEL CASAS ARMENGOL Universidad Nacional Abierta Venezuela

JUSTIFICATION FOR NEW TYPES rather improvised way, by recruiting very young OF EDUCATION university graduates, without actual professional or pedagogical experience, and often without the vo- The phenomenon of accelerated massification in cation necessary to fulfil academic tasks. Moreover, higher education has been present in the majority of new social, scientific and professional demands re- underdeveloped countries, especially during the quired a considerable transformation of the archaic last 30 years. Although this phenomenon has also structures found in the majority of traditional uni- had repercussions in other, highly developed coun- versities, and a better adjustment to the demands of tries, its origins and shape were different, so the national development. solution for it also turned out to be different. The conventional universities found it hard to face Some of the main factors which have contributed to up to the enormous challenge represented by the the massification of education are: demands mentioned above. In practice it turned out (1) important changes in social values; particularly that most of them were content with a dispropor- in ideas about the equality of citizens; tionate expansion of size, without modifying their (2) new political ideologies; old organisational structure or their ancient meth- (3) rapid and large scientific and technological pro- ods. This usually implied a serious and growing gress; deterioration of their academic qualities; restric- (4) accelerated processes of urbanisation; tions were put on research, post-graduate studies, (5) industrial expansion. the rigorous selection and updating of teaching staff, the selection of students and the offering of services Traditionally, higher education has been seen as for several programmes in a social context. And the something used only in the first part of a person's only objective of all these restrictions was to be able life; as a privilege, accessible purely to certain so- to grant a generally mediocre, teaching staff to large cial groups with a high status. The five factors stated groups of students. For many developing countries, above, threatened the continuity of these two sup- the insistence on rigidly maintaining a certain con- positions for all contemporary societies. In present- cept, nowadays obsoleteinuniversity studies, day third world societies, however, these factors caused a serious devaluation of knowledge, and and suppositions turned out to be more complicated favoured an unlimited and irrelevant "crave" for and more encompassing under the influence of oth- titles. The inorganic extension of quota for universi- er, additional factors characteristic of underdevel- ty students, supposedly justified by the wish to at opment. In these societies, the existing university ate more study opportunities for all social classes, infrastructure was very limited. The institutes of did not contribute to an effective process of demo- higher education were not prepared for the enor- cratisation. Various studies have demonstrated the mous andinopportunestudentmassification. existence of this paradoxical situation (Casas, 1981; Therefore the expansion of the existing university Cresalc, 1984-7; Tedesco, 1985). systems met with serious financial problems and little time to set up new programmes and institutes. At the heart of this process lies a grave historical The availability of intellectual resources at a high error concerning the real function of education in level, needed to fulfil the demands of researchers the development of backward countries. Education and trainers for the system, also resulted in a serious should have formed the starting point for the mod- bottleneck Attempts were made to resolve this in a ernisation of traditional societies, but in reality it

81 was used primarily to reproduce and continue the diminish the current exaggerated attention towards inequalities of existing social structures. The materi- enormous numbers of students in the first few years alisation of the idea of development is relatively and reorientate themselves towards the consolida- recent and typical of this century, especially of the tion of post-graduate studies, research, the exten- period after the second World War. Spectacular sion of the university and the careful selection and efforts have been made to carry out social and eco- training of teachers and students; in other words, the nomic reforms; programmes for the use of modern search for and obtaining of excellence, a necessarily technologies have been tried out and it was thought relative value for every society. To this effect, any that the success of an increase in the rates of school- strategy should contemplate the use of new teching or of the stock of human resources in profession- nologies, appropriate for conventional universities, al careers, would almost automatically bring about but it should also plan the emergence of new educa- a change for the better in the living conditions in tional options capable of handling large groups of developing countries towards the standard students with efficiency. This is where in the past reached in highly developed countries. few decades a new type of education has appeared, Uslar Pietri (1987) points out in this respect: called university education at a distance. Its rapid propagation in various developed countries, but es- "Some years ago the well known Swedish econo- pecially in many underdeveloped ones, can be ex- mist Gunnar Myrdal, proclaimed the failure of the plained by its possibilities to solve some of the most development plans and their impotence and inade- pressing problems already described (Rumble and quacy in finding a reasonable solution for the fright- Harry, 1982; Young et al., 1980). ful problem of world poverty. It can be said that the final balance, in extremely plain terms, has not been the development of the poor countries but thecre- POSSIBILITIES FOR "UNIVERSITY ation of the immense, crushing debt weighing them down at the moment. EDUCATION AT A DISTANCE" IN Myrdal pointed out that one of the reasons for this DEVELOPING COUNTRIES failure was that cultural factors had not been taken On a worldwide level it is clear that in the 1980s, the into account sufficiently. Development in the Eu- allocations of finances to the university sectors are ropean or North-American way is, in many re- becoming smaller, and everything seems to indicate spects, the fruit of a cultural peculiarity, which can- that this tendency will continue for a long time. This not be transplanted to other societies that have been is affecting many developing countries much more formed under a different set of values (p. 4)." seriously, because it comes at an awkward moment, If education does fulfil the important function of when on the one hand the demand for higher educa- safeguarding the continuity of culture, today more tion is growing rapidly, while on the other hand the than ever it can and should also fulfil another tran- need to transform and modernise the university sys- scendental function, which permits the transforma- tem is becoming more pressing every day. These tion ot said culture and its adjustment to new condi- two requirements (one quantitative, the other main- tions faced by every society. But in many underde- ly qualitative) imply the need for abundant addition- veloped countries, higher education is seenas a al financial resources. To try to stop the growth of superficial ornament; as a "passport" to imparting the number of students for any type of higher educa- privileges to limited groups of citizens. With this tion by means of absolute restrictions does not ap- restricted conception, knowledge in general and pear politically feasible nowadays, especially not in research in particular become superfluous. Without democratic societies. On the other hand, favouring the knowledge appropriate for every society, how- and infinite growth of some of the conventional ever, progress and development are impossible. university institutes would mean denying them ev- Even if the fact and the necessity of worldwide inter- ery possibility for restructuring, with serious social dependence are accepted, the exaggerated scien- and scientific costs as a consequence. tific, technological and economic dependence seri- In short, and seen from the point of view of a "plan- ously block attempts to take a step forward and rise ning strategy" developing societies should try to towards an effective, national development. find solutions that represent the reality and the ne- From the framework described earlier on it must be cessity of satisfying the three conditions indicated clear that the educational system needs to retrieve before, namely: its significance and contribution with the help of (1) limited financial means with little flexibility programmes and citizens which permit a substantial (2) increase in the social demand for higher educa- modification of current cultural limits in order to tion, especially by groups previously belonging develop social, scientific and technological values. to the margins of society and The possibilities of transformation and modernisa- (3) the imperative need for a complete transformation in many conventional universitiesin these tion of the existing system of higher education in countries will depend on whether or not they can order to modify its obsolete qualities and put it

82 into tune with the new and incessant social and tional universities but also the whole national sys- scientific demands. tem of education would be facilitated considerably. The solution to the problems mentioned above re- These possibilities are based on the experiences of quires great creativity on the part of politicians and numerous universities in Latin-America, Europe and planners from underdeveloped countries we Asia as well as various socialist countries, where this have already seen that attempts to solve these prob- new type of education is already having consid- lems with conventional and unimagi:-.ative solu- erable success (Rumble and Harry, 1982; Casas, tions would lead the university system into a "blind 1987) alley" and cause even more deterioration than is the case at present. It is essential that more attention be UNIVERSITY EDUCATION AT A paid to the possibilities of new options and educa- DISTANCE, SEEN AS AN tional forms whose characteristics can help resolve the problem, parting from actual conditions and INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL taking into consideration the objectives that are TECHNOLOGY wanted. To this effect there have been numerous University education at a distance is considered to experiences in the world with innovative forms of be a new educational technology and not just a education, whose possibilities need to be consid- simple modification of the present or conventional ered carefully in every case. university education. As a matter of fact even Without entering into a comparative and exhaustive though this form of non-traditional or non-scholar- analysis of the various new educational models isedlearning has hadillustriouspredecessors (Botkin, 1979; Hummel, 1877; Mood, 1973; Rich, (courses of cormspondence, adult education, recur- 1981; Toff ler, 1974), it can be argued that the so- rent education, radiophonic education, study cir- cal led university education at a distance in principle cles, etc.), it represents a serious attempt to innovate offers a rich variety of possibilities, which, if applied education in terms of: philosophy, theories, orga- carefully to the peculiarities of every country, could nisational structures, methodology of production offer an important contribution to the transforma- and teaching, means of information and commur.i- tion of university systems. Let us examine some of cation, individual autonomy, finance, cost tenden- the possible contributions to the three critical condi- cies and social repercussions. Holmberg (1981) tions pointed out earlier. adds in this respect: In the first place, with regard to the glowing demand "The innovative character of education at a distance for higher education, a system of education at a consists of: distance, an "industrialised" form, could attend ef- The basic ideas that a learning process can take ficiently to large masses of students, placed at very place without the presence of a teacher and that the diverse and distant points on national or even in- support given to the students can be adapted to their ternational territory. This population should be standards of knowledge (instead of insisting on their made up mainly of adults, who nowadays form one formal entry qualifications). of the new and important social groups that demand Its consistent use of non-contiguous means, for the their right to receive higher education. presentation of learning material as well as for the In the second place, institutions of higher education resulting communication. at a distance in the induitrial scale, can operate with The methods used to exploit the situation of non- costs that are comparatively much lower than those contiguous teaching/learning, in order to obtain the of a good, conventional university (Rumble, 1982; highest possible effect for the learning individual: Casas, 1987). Of course, as also happens in large structure and style of the presentation and commu- industries, the initial costs of establishing a uni- nication (didactical conversation), adequate use of versity of this kind are fairly high, but once certain the means available adaption to the living condi- requirements have been fulfilled these then tend to tions of the students, etc. be paid off soon. The special organisation which makes it possible to Finally in the third place, in order not to be tied to provide for independent, individual studying as prejudices of rigic: traditions, universities at a dis- well as for mass education, by means of personal tance could experiment freely with new technol- tutorials or industrialised methods of working. ogies and procedures that are particularly suitable for developing societies. Furthermore, the diversion The influence exercised by education at a distance of large numbers of students towards universities at and adult education, the additional training and a distance, would significantly alleviate the existing special conditions of the labour market, by means of pressure on the conventional universities, thus mak- opening up new opportunities to study as well as ing it easier for them to revaluate their original func- through its organisation and methods (translation tion of research, post-graduate studies etc. In this from Spanish) (pp. 125-6)." way, the feasibility of modernising not only conven- Others authors (Rumble and Harry, 1982) also argue

83 80 about the suigeneris character of this type of educa- ger exists that advanced models, such as the British tion, with its strong emphasis on learning; however, Open University, the University at a Distance in maybe because it has only very recently completed Hagen, West Germany, etc. wiil be "transplanted" its development, the definite structuralisation of a instead of "transferred", thus continuing a great but general theory to support it has not been reached. laborious historic tradition of universities that are This dais not prevent the use of partial theories important in their country of origin, but which be- about certain determining principles: adults, dis- come exotic and unfunctional when duplicated in tance. individualisation of instruction, independent underdeveloped societies in Africa, Asia or Latin- studying, theories and models of teaching and America. The most recent history of universities at a learning etc. On the other hand, and similar to other distance has shown, for instance in the case of the forms of "non-traditional" education, Wedemeyer British Open University, that its methods and in- (1981) points out a constant and accelerated-oc- structional materials encountered various difficul- ess: ties in being incorporated in universities at a dis- "During these years (from 1975 onwards), great tance in Spain, Costa Rica and Venezuela. Even progress has beer achieved in various aspects relat- when they were used in the United States it seems ed to non-traditional learning: aspects of how to that although the materials were highly appreciated, constructandevaluate non-traditionalpro- they were not used as much as expected. These grammes; the design and development of teaching examples, of which there are many more, empha- material; the development of co-operative pro- sise a fundamental truth, which also goes for other grammes for training and work, combined with kinds of technology, which is that science and its studying; the linking of the learning process to the principles are universal (although not immutable) resources of the community, which are different to but technology depends for a large part on the cul- those of the schools; the different ways of organising ture in which it is to be implanted. As we have seen knowledge and the disciplines that represent it, in other parts of this paper, there is an unavoidable through the construction of the curriculum, the de- interrelation between education and culture. That is velopment of materials and instruction, studies why it is risky to make simple replicas of educational about plans for adult education which have brought technologies that function successfully in other forth new information about the learning of said countries, especially if these are highly developed adults; the place of technology to provide opportu- countries. This point was presented by Casas (1987) nities of access to those who wish to learn; the trying when he examined the "Illusion and reality of plc- out and use of new technologies and means for grammes for higher education at a distance in Latin- teaching and learning (television, telephone, satel- America" especially in relation to cultural, socio- lite, cable, newspapers, cassettes, etc.); studies of economic, political, psychological and educational demography and of the market in order to determine truths of worldwide appearance and the communi- the needs of those who wish to learn; the coa- cational, organisational and administrative infra- lescence and consortiums of institutions combining structure. All these facts, which explains many of their resources to create non-traditional educational the present national circumstances, must be com- programmes on national and regional bases (trans- plemented by way of a clear insight into internation- lation from Spanish) (p. 134)." al relations and forces, which include various concepts like centre-periphery, cultural alienation, The considerable growth of this new form of educa- multinational firms and theories about dependence. tion by no means implies that it could substitute or nnly by understanding and taking into account all eliminate the present or conventional university these institutional, national and international condi- education that we all know. Both types of education tions, will it be possible to conceive a functional, have different and characteristic structures, func- educational technology, represented by a pro- tions, objectives and public, even if their final prop- gramme or institution of higher education at a dis- ositions of educating students coincide. Our central tance. thesis is that underdeveloped countries would benefit widely from a convergence of the two types of Finally, supposing one is thinking 'bout creating education, forming a national system of education and experimenting with a university system at a in which the institutes support each other. Taking distance, one must examine systematically all even- into account the arguments from the first se,-tion of tualities that innovations and their subsequent diffu- this paper, we can deduce that, given the present sion will be confronted with in any particular cul- limitations, this convergence would be very useful ture. in society. To launch an educational innovation, such as the Itis advisable to consider the fact that the rapid one we have analyzed, in an underdeveloped coun- extension of ideas and models of university educa- try, but without the appropriate precautions would tion at a distance from developed countries towards be an open invitation to failure. Even those people other, less developed, countries is an encouraging who accept innovations such as extremely ad- sign, but also raises important questions. The dan- vanced equipment and technologics (radio, televi-

84 s i sion, telecommunications, computers, etc.) are rot Holmberg, BOrje usually that receptive to,vards these new forms of (1981). Status and trends of distance education. (Kogan education, because of deeply rooted be:iefs in con- Page, London). servative educational formulas, which are though to Hummel, Charles be immutable. That is why, as was put forward by (1977). L'education d'aujourd'hui face au monde de de- Rogers (1983) the instal ition and its programmes. as main (UNESCO/puf, Paris). well as a permanent programme for the diffusion of innovation" need to be planned carefully. Mood, Alexander M. (1973). The future of higher education (McGraw-Hill New York). CONCLUSION Rich, John Martin This paper puts forward arguments for the justifica- (1981). Innovations in education: reforms and their crit- tion of making creative use of new educational tech- ics. (Allyn & Bacon, Boston). nologies in developing societies, and especially for Rogers, Everett M. the so-called higher education at a distance, provid- (1983). Diffusion of innovations. (The Free Press, New ed that its adoption is preceded by a careful study of York). the cultural characteristics of the society in ques- Rumble, Greville tion. The convenience of transplanting and copying (1982). "Responding to economic austerity: can econom- outstanding models of universities in the world, as ic models of distance teaching help us?"; in: John S. was done in the past, is rejected and it is recom- Daniel, Martha A. Stroud and John R. Thompson (eds.), mended that a programme especially adequate for Learning at a distance (Athabasca University/ICCE Ed- the diffusion of this innovative educational tech- monton). nology be conceived and developed. Rumble, Greville and Harry, Keith (1982). The distance teaching universities. (Croom Helm, London). REFERENCES Tedesco, Juan Carlos (1985). "5.380.000 preguntas al futu,..)" in magazine: Bntkin, James W., Elmandjra, Mandi, and Malitza, Nueva Sociedad.(Ed. Nueva Sociedad, San Jonse, Mircia MarchApril). (1979). Aprender horizonte sin limits (Santillana S., A. Madrid). Toff!er, Alvin (1974). Learning for tomorrow (Vintage Books, New Casas Armengol, Miguel York,. (1981). "Masificacion de la educacion Superior en Vene- zuela" (memo prepared at the International Institute of Uslar Pietri, Arturo Educational Planning, UNESCO). (1987). "El idol° del desarrollo" in Periodico El Nacional (Caracas, 29 March). Casas Armengol, Miguel (1987). Universidad sin clases. Education a distancia en Wedemeyer, C.C. America Latina. (Chapter IX, Kapelusz, Caracas). (1981). Learning at the back door (University of Wi nscon- sin, Madison). CRESALC (Regional Centre for Higher Education in Latin-America and the Carribean) Young, Michael, Perraton, Hilary, Jenkins, Janet, 1984-7. Monografias sobre educacion superior en Amer- and Dodds, Tony ica Latina (Mexico, Paraguay, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, (1980). Distance teaching for the third world (Routledge Argentina) (Cresalc, Caracas). and Kegan Paul, London).

85 ( Motives and values in distance education adifferential student perspective JARL BACKMAN Department of Education Umea University Sweden

INTRODUCTION in distance education, and a grouping of different subjects to areas will therefore be made. Motives There are a number of studies presenting character- and values will thus be examined in different subject istics of distance studer.'Ls today. Extensive studies areas. have tried to map out the student with regard to different kinds of background variables, often of a Earlier research has also shown that distance stu- socio-der ographic nature. These studies have for dents form a very heterogeneous group. Age is one example shown that distance students are a grer't of the variables with a very wide range. It has also deal older than traditional students, that they often influenced their performance. Studies show that age combine gainful employment with their studies and is also a factor. Another heterogeneity is to be found that they have families. However, few studies have in the students' earlier education, especially in Swe- analysed the motives of these students for their stud- den where there is an internationally unique admis- ies, an accusation which applies to some extent to sion rule (the 25:4 rule/. According to this rule per- traditional students also. The motives have perhaps sons who are 25 years )f age and can document at been taken for granted and it has perhaps been least four years of work ....xperience are given ad mis- assumed that they reflect or coincide with the politi- sion to distance studies. The Swedish admission cal arguments underlying the introduction and es- rules are thus very liberal and this makes distance tablishment of distance education, e.g. social and students an even more heterogeneous group. In this economic factors. This paper presents motives for study the students will therefore be differentiated distance studies from the students' point of view and according to both age 2nd earlier education. the students' value judgements of their studies. Dis- We can now formulate our problems as follows: tance students probably pay a certain (high?) price what are the motives and values of a group of dis- for their studies, their families and work suffering as tance students who complete their studies and a a result. It may also be that their age leads to certain group of drop-outs, and are the groups differentiated study difficulties. according to age and to earlier education? What are Studies of various characteristics of distance stu- the motives and values in different subject areas? dents have quite naturally used the traditional student as comparison. The traditional student has formed a kind of control group. The legitimacy o; DEFINITION AND SPECIFICATION such a procedure can sometimes be questioned, since the conditions and target groups a priori are so OF VARIABLES different. In the study presented here the compari- Motives son group consists of drop-outs. The choice of such a group enables us to work diagnostically and to Motives were grouped into three categories. One study possible differences in motives and values category concerned general education including between persons who complete their studies and motives like working for an examination, supple- drop-outs. mentary studies and general knowledge. Another category was made up of motives connected with Earlier research has shown ti :t thereare differences working life: to get more qualified work, higher between subject areas regard.ng studies and learn- wages, promotion within the work sector, a new ing in traditional university education. Ramsden occupation, in-service training and employment se- (1984) has for example demonstrated differences in curity. The third category was of a social nature, for approaches to learning and learning contexts in sci- example to meet other people, to study for enjoy- ence and art disciplines. There are reasons to as- ment, to make social contacts and to gain greater sume that such differences also manifest themselves self-confidence.

86 Values this study, amounted to 1,280 persons of /9.5 per cent of the total student population. Course satisfaction, investments and costs were the main categories for values. The first category in- Questionnaire cludes variables connected with the course being The questionnaire was based on the motives and studied and concerns values of course content, values described above of bipolar and approximate- teachers and persons on the same course. The two ly equidistant rating scales. latter categories are inspired by modern organization theory where it has often been empirically dem- Statistical treatment onstrated that, for example, work satisfaction and Arithmetic means wire computed for the various labour turnover are related to variables hi e invest- groups and they were subsequently analysed by ments and costs (see e.g. Rusbult and Farrell, 1983 means of multiple analysis of variance. When this and Schell and Thornton, 1985). Investments here analysis indicated reliable differences it was fol- refer to the stakes that the distance student has to lowed by a stepwise discriminant analysis in order make with regard to time and economy; time to to locate found differences. Detailed statistical data complete the studies, the convenience of the meet- (multivariate parameters and significance tests) are ings from the point of view of time, the strain of not included here. travelling and the economic situation during the study time. Costs refer to the sacrifices that have to be made with regard to family and work: family RESULTS AND DISCUSSION problems during the study time, changes at work, The results of the discriminant analysis show that all stress, etc. three motives (working life > social > education, in this order), contributed significantly to the differ- Drop-out ence between those who complete their studies This study used the somewhat unusual method of ("Normals") and those who break off their studies letting the students themselves define whether they (drop-outs). However, supplementary information have dropped out or not. The definition is therefore is obtained if a differentiation is made according to not dependent on any public register. educational background and age within the groups. Table 1 shows how the different motives contribute to differences in educational levels (upper portion). Subject area The motive of education is significant in both groups As regards subject grouping higher education in for persons with a middle educational background Sweden is organised in five different sectors roughly (upper secondary school). For "Normals' with a corresponding to a traditional division into faculties low educational background the social motive is and departments. Three of the five sectors were also a significant discriminator. The bottom of the chosen for this study: the administrative, economic table shows the result when the groups are differ- and social sector, the cultural and communicative sector and the technical sector. Table 1. Motives and values for students who comp- Age and educational background leted ("Normal") and drop-outs (EB = educational background). As regards the variables age and educational background the group was differentiated into three lev- Student Motivation Value els. Age consisted of: under 30, 30-40 and over 40 category years. Educational background consisted of: with- Normal Education for middle out upper secondary school (low), at least two years EB upper secondary school (middle) and with a uni- Social for low EB versity degree (high). Drop-out Education for middle Invest- EB ments for middle EB METHOD Costs for Population low EB Normal All students were in the Northern Region for Higher Education for under 30Invest- ments for Education (higher education in Sweden was at this point divided into six geographical regions) in 1984 under 30 and were admitted to separate single-subject cours- Working life or 30-40 Drop-out es as distance students, according to a special stu- Education for under 30Costs for under 30 dent register. The number of students who answered the questionnaire, which was the method used in Working life for 30-40

87 S' r entiated according to age groups. The same pattern The subject area analysis results for the adminis- is found for both groups. The educational motive IE trative, economic and .lcial sector, with age differ- the first significant motive for students under 30 entiation in the discrimination order put education years of age, followed by the working life motive for as a motive for those under 30 followed by the those between 30 and 40 years of age. To sum up the working life motive. Students under 30 also report- motive for education is thus the first significant dis- ed the greatest sacrifices regarding time and econo- criminator whether we differentiate according to my. No significance regarding motives was found age or educational background. This result would for the cultural and cr-mmunicative sector, but those be unambiguous if those with a middle educational under 30 expre., least satisfaction with the background were also under 30 years of age. How- course. For the technical sector the working life ever, this is the case since the correlation is not motive is highly dominating for students between 30 significantly separated from zero (r = .048). and 40 years of age. The discrimination order, investments > course satisfaction > costs, was obtained for values. It should here be borne in mind that the analysis is "diagnostic", that with regard to values Table 1 shows the negative "loadings" for values. A differentiation ac- REFERENCES cording to educational background shows that persons with a middle educational level think that they Ramsden, P. have suffered the heaviest losses regarding time and (1984). "The context of learning". In: F. Marton, D. economy and that persons with a low educational Hounsell and N. Entwistle (eds.). The experience of learning, (Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press). level make the greatest sacrifices (costs) with regard to family and work. A differentiation according to Rusbult, C.E., and Farrell, D. age shows that the greatest sacrifices regarding time (1983). "A longitudinal test of the investment model: the and economy are made by those who are under 30 impact on job satisfaction, job commitment, and turnover years of age in the group of ''Normals". The greatest of variations in rewards, costs, alternatives, and invest- sacrifices (costs) are reported by those who are un- ments''. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, (3), 429-38. der 30 in the drop-out group. This analysis of values Schell, B.H., and Thornton, j.A. probably gives us a supplementary, more detailed (1985). "A media course commitment study in a Cana- and refined picture of where the reasons for drop- dian university: empirical validation of an exchange mod- ping out of studies should be found. el". Distance Education, 6, (2), 209-22.

88 8 A distance education publishingstrategy for the 1990s PAUL BACSICH Team Leader, Electronic Publishing Project Team Open University Milton Keynes United Kingdom

INTRODUCTION students seem relatively unworried about quality; yet the OU is publisher in an increasingly compet- The British Open University each year generates itive world and quality is one of the weapons a more than 12 full-credit equivalents of material for publisher deploys. its undergraduate programme alone, together with continuing education material, administrative pub- We cut this interesing but unproductive debate short lications, and several newspapers and newsletters. by imposing the maintenance of existing quality as This means that some 30,000 different pages each one of the aims. Of course, I was fairly sure by then year need to be typeset, and then printed (in vol- that the incremental costs of doing th's were becom- umes ranging from lOs to 1000s of copies). We are ing relatively small, so that it was a fairly safe deci- probably the largest educational publisher in Bri- sion. tain. For many years we have run an in-house typesetting THE LOCAL CONTEXT department which handles a small fraction of our A local phenomenon is that we have two computing typesetting needs. In early 1986 it was decided, as a divisions on campus, whose responsibilities are be- result of a specific Government grant, to pursue the ginning to overlap: aim of producing the vast majority of our typesetting in-house within the next few years, without any Academic Computing Services, who run a cluster overall increase in staffing. The way of doing this of Digital Equipment Corporation VAXNMS sys- would be by through6oing use, by many categories tems: traditionally they have supported the stu- of staff, of electronic publishing techniques (or to be dents (via study centre terminals in the past, and preric.,, electronic pre-press techniques). now from home micros), and more recently the research community; AIMS AND THEMES Management Services Division, who run a Uni- As well as bringing typesetting in-house so as to sys (ie Sperry) 1100 mainframe: traditionally they have supported the administration. reduce external costs, a number of additional aims were identified: The following policies had already been decided: to reduce the elapsed time taken to produce that student micros would be MSDOS compat- course material ible to provide a more flexible mix of qualities, time- that the standard for the campus data network scales, costs was to be Ethernet to allow economical re-use of material that the standard for administration minicompu- to maintain, or even improve, the overall quality ters would be Unix of material Although these might seem local requirements, one I believe that with the possible exception of the last can produce good general arguments for them. aim, these would find general agreement among distance educators. Regarding quality, the whole STRATEGIC CHOICES issue has been extensively debated. On the one hand, it seems that typographic quality has little The main choice facing us was to decide on the effect on t.',e readability, or indeed the learnability, general approach towards publishing systems. of course material. On the other hand, many print- TraditionalPublishingSystemstypically use ing traditionalists maintain an almost mystical rever- "dumb" computer terminals linked to a minicom- ence for the current output of phototypesetters. The puter. They are not at all WYSIWYG ("What You See

89 8t, Is What You Get"). They produce what is generally IBM PC (and its clones), and the Apple Macintosh. regarded as high-quality typography. In particular, This was a political necessity in our environment, they are very good at pagination, ie breaking materi- but it is a potentially messy situation. However, we al into pages, taking care of widows, orphans, etc. have taken the sting out of the decision by standar- Desk Top Publishing Systems are by now well dising for software on Microsoft Word, which has known. They are typified by such systems as Aldus compatible versions on both machines. Pagemaker on the Apple Macintosh and Xerox's Given a "green fields" situation, would one choose Ventura Publisher on the IBM PC. They are fairly Apple or IBM? (I do not believe that there are any WYSIWYG. They produce medium-quality typog- other strategically sensible choices.) As we say: raphy and are not so good at pagination. One can "Apple is better, but IBM is safer". (It was until regard the better Word Processing Systems, such as recently, anyway.) If one is going to transfer material Microsoft Word on the Apple Macintosh, as a spe- into a Corporate Publishing System, the IBM route is cial case of these. quite sensible; but if one is trying to use IBM kit for a Corporate Publishing Systems have hardware based Desk Top Publishing System, it is not sensible. The on Unix workstations (very high-performance mi- problem is the lack of graphics capability (the text crocomputers from companies such as Sun), and capability of products like Ventura is perfectly ade- software based on the WYSIWYG philosophy with quate). "real-time" response. Typography is not always as A pure Apple Mac route is fine in isolation; but good as it should be, but software in this arena is slightly less good when it comes to linking to main- evolving fast, and is undoubtedly the way of the frames, and compatibility with student micros (now future. or in the future). I believe that distance educators should reject the One also has to consider the technical strategy for approach of the Traditional Publishing System. output; this is the famous "Page Description Lan- These are mainly designed for use by trade type- guage" debate. But if you accept the requirements setters and printers, and so have not taken into of (a) few barriers between authors and typesetters, account the fact that in an in-house situation, most and (b) various grades of output which are all com- keying will be done by the originators of the materi- patible (eg 300 dot/inch for drafts, 1200 dot/inch for al, not by compositors. They impose too large a final phototypeset work), then the only answer it barrier between author and final output. They are PostScript. also hard to link in to the broader thrust of one's IT strategy; in particular their networking is usually ad-hoc if it exists at all. THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN Thus the choice comes down to Corporate Publish- The project is divided into annual Phases. In each ing Systems or Desk Top Publishing Systems. If one Phase, we buy a large number of Macs and PCs, as is running a small distance education operation in well as specific equipment: in Phase 1, we bought an "IT-rich" environment such as in a major com- two typesetters; in Phase 2, a pilot Corporate Pub- puter company, then it makes most sense to provide lishing System; and in Phase 3, systems for electron- each author with a desktop workstation and Corpo- ic origination and processing of artw'rk. rate Publishing System software. However, most of We also have to ensure that specialised require- us are not so lucky. So is the choice to go Desk Top? ments, such as music, chemistry, and mathematics, Well, maybe: that depends on your perception of are catered for. The only real problem is maths, the quality factors. Many organisations will,I am since we have a considerable maths typesetting re- sure, go this way, and accept the (possibly only quirement. Currently it looks as though the TeX temporary) decline in quality compared with tradi- package, though not (yet) ideal, is the only sensible tional methods. way forward; and we have standardised on this for We chose a middle route: we intend to fuse the use our authors, while reserving judgement on the final of a Corporate Publishing System (for our compos- shape of the maths Corporate Publishing System. itors, illustrators and designers) with a Word Proc- etsing System (for out authors, secretaries, and editors). This will undoubtedly for us be by far the most RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER cost-effective and yet flexible route to get the quality "PUBLISHING" TECHNOLOGIES we want; on the other hand, it is not an "off the At the same time as our electronic pre-press project shelf" solution. I would recommend that you con- is going on, the OU is continuing to apply comput- sider it only if your organisation is fairly competent ers to various aspects of the teaching process. Sys- at computing and local area networking. tems underdevelopment include videotex, comput- But the term "Word Processing" covers a wide er conferencing/electronic mail, and CD-ROM. range of system. To start with, one has to specify a These are often, confusingly, called "electronic hardware type. We chose to focus on two types, the publishing" as well. So how do these technologies

90 87 fit in to a publishing strategy? At a simple level, the once per generation. Last time it was called video- fact that we are generating and storing text in a fully tex. I don't believe that this way of getting general electronic way gives us a basic capability to trans- material off screens will appeal to students. In any form it to fit any other technology; but there are case, a style-based word processor makes it rela- deeper answers. tively easy :o produce I pertext if needed. 04 VIDEOTEX RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER Although many of the early workers on videotex saw INSTITUTIONS it as merely a screer based version of paper publishing, reality soon dawned. Videotex has little to do CO-PUBLISHING with publishing, but a lot to do with providing ac- The use of electronic publishing techniques do not cess to on-line services registering for courses just turn one's in-house composition operation into and so on. Thus there is no value in considering the a more efficient version of outside typesetting requirements of videotex when developing textual houses: many of the benefits come from a close material. integration with the authoring side. Since most publishers are not yet geared up to routinely receiving COMPUTER CONFERENCING manuscripts on disc, let alone networking, this is likely to mean a change in the relationship between I see computer conferercing as an electronic en- us and a publisher interested in jointly publishing hancement of the tutorial process, not as a dissemi- material. In practice, it could mean that we our- nation medium for published material. At present, selvez tyneset the material rather than introducing a the public telephone network is too slow to allow third company into the equation. effective large-scale dissemination of published mate.ial; and in any case, people seem unwilling to red material from screens of the current functional- CO-OPERATIVE AUTHORING ity. No doubt these factors will change, but not for By this I mean the collaboration of authors at differ- several years as regards the pc pulation of distance ent institutions in the creation of educational materi- education students. al. It is an area fraught with the dangers of overkill by IT experts and psychologists. Some argue that noth- CD-ROM ing can be done until a completely new type of word processing system is introduced; and certainly the The situation with CD-ROM is somewhat different: current word processing tools leave something to be CD-ROM is a publishing medium already (for desired in this area. Others are blithely constructing database material) collaborative projects, assuming that the world is CD-ROM drives are likely to be adopted rela- already wired up with high-grade communications tively early by owners of home micros networks. Thus I believe that we have to consider the implica- The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in between. tions of CD-ROM on our strategy. One strand of Let's suppose that two of you want to co-operatively thinking, in Britain, at least, claims that it is essential author a course from your respective institutions. If to use SGML, the Standard Generalised Mark-up you both have "hard-wired" access to either a Language, as a method of "tagging" material for world-wide ele-tronic mail service such as Dial- production on CD-ROM. However, their case corn, or the world-spanning academic "metanet- would be much stronger if any of the successful work" consisting of ARPANET, JANET, EARN, CD-ROM production houses were actually doing CSNET, and six or seven others, then you have the this. Nevertheless, I have superficially accepted the basic wherewithal. In other words, you can ex- argument; conveniently, the cost of doing so was change raw text. effectively nil, for this reason: the typical Corporate If you want to exchange more than text, say dia- Publishing System software house is American and grams, drafts with layout, or finished material, then wants to sell to the Department of Defense, who in you have to agree on some common "de facto" their wisdom insist on conformance to GML, a pre- software standards. (I am afraid that there are no cursor of SGML. magic international standards that fix all this up for I would still see CD-ROM as serving a niche role in you.) PostScript is the only sensible standard for the publishing of reference databases, rather than finished material; for drafts you should use one of being used for general text material, I realise that at the more sophisticated (style-based) word process- the time of writing, this is an unfashionable view, ing packages such as Microsoft Word or TeX. Dia- with the recent announcement of Hypercard on the grams work best on a Mac. Mac, and the rediscovery of Ted Nelson's Hypertext I hope that this paper will encourage you to think concept obviously destined to be cEscovered more systematically about the IT tools you will need

91 R E.; in order to have a distance education publishing conclusions that the technology doesn't become a strategy fit for the 1990s. You probably won't come barrier to collaboration just when a number of the to exactly the same conclusions as we did; but I other barriers are breaking down. hope that enough of us came to the same sorts of

92 S .9 Reconceptualising and revaluing distance education through the perspective of self- direction RICHARD G. BAGNALL Department of Continuing Education University of New England Armidale, N.S.W. 2351 Australia

INTRODUCTION "internal educator") and another person (an "external educator"). There is a spectrum of education- As a form of education and as a field of applied al control from events that are, theoretically at least, scholarship, distance education has generally been entirely under the individual learner's control (who characterised and justified with reference to tradi- is then a fully self-directed learner) to events that tional "fate -to -face" (Keegan, 1980) or "contig- are, assuming an entirely passive learner, entirely uous" (Moore, 1972) educational events. It is in under the control of an external educator. This lat- the context of such events that distance education is ter, fully heteronomous type of educational event is generally described and evaluated, and it is in terms generally taken as the ideal standard in analyses and of the perceived limitations of traditional education studies of distance education events. that distance education is generally advocated (ref., e.g.: Cropley & Kahl, 1983; Gough, 1984; Keegan, However, it is the (idealised) self-directed type of 1986; Misanchuk, 1982; Pagney, 1983). Such com- event which is here taken as the appropriate educa- parisons by adopting traditional education as the tional standard. This idealised type will exhibit es- standard, imply and reinforce belief in its superiority sentially instantaneous communication in its trans- over distance education (Bagnall, 1987a). This actional processes between the learner as a learner mind-set must bias educational decisions against and as an internal educator as well as full self- providing distance education opportunities. awareness, honesty and responsiveness with no barrier to communication between the two roles or A radically different conception and valuation of to the learner's desired environmental perception. distance education may be obtained by adopting, as Any educational event should then be evaluated by the educational standard, the ideal of the fully au- the extent to which it attains this ideal. tonomous individual learner. This standard arises from the ccntral cultural (including educational) im- Any fully self-directed educational event will in- portance of individual autonomy or self-directed- clude: (1) a learner, (2) a controlling (internal) edu- ness in the Western, liberal, demo( atic tradition cator role, (3) some appropriate learninggoalsof the (ref., e.g.: Chen& 1983; Moore, 1983a; Wede- internal educator, (4) some appropriate interven- meyer, 1981). AccurLiingly there is a massive body tions by the internal educator, directed toward the of scholarship on self-direction in education (in- achievement of these goals, (5) a learning envi- cluding distance education) as both a normative ronment which will be selectively manipulated (as process and a normative goal (e.g.: Brookfield, educational "content" or "curriculum") by the in- 1985; Dearden, 1975; Gibbs, 1979; Lewis, 1978; ternal educator through these interventions, and (6) Phillips, 1975). some measure of learner success in the achievement of the learning goals. To the extent that the educator role is shared by the EDUCATIONAL EVENTS learner (as internal educator) with another person Important t) an adequate understanding of educa- (an external educator) so the conscious control of tional self-direction is the perspective of the educa- the intentional learning is passed to that person. tor as adopting a role position that of intentionally controlling (at least partly) appropriate sequences of learning (Bagnall, 1987b). It is evident that the role EDUCATIONAL DISTANCE may be shared between the learner (acting as the Against the standard of educational self-direction,

93 90 the externalising of any part of the educator role may temporal communicative distance through the use be seen as imposing some distance between the of multiple communication technologies; in other external educator and the learner (as both internal cases the most useful action may be to reduce envi- educator and learner). Importantly, this (essentially ronmental and psychosocial distance by residential i_erceptuah distance may arise in any educational schools or similar group meetings. However,it event traditional or distance. It may be either: (1) should not be a general goal to minimize education- "environmental distance" (between a learner and al distance and maximize face-to-face educational perceived key environmental elements "re- elements in distance education programs. On the source materials", etc.), or (2) "communicative dis- one hand it should not be assumed that the educa- tance" Moore's (1983a) "transactional distance" tional distance elements in the distance education (between learner and external educator). Communi- program are undesirable; on the other hand,it cative distance may be mediated by various envi- should not be assumed that traditional education ronmental elements, and expressed in three forms: programs are any less educationally distant and any spatial, temporal, and psychosocial distance. Psy- less desirably so than are distance education pro- chosocial distance embraces various forms of in- grams. tersubjective difference, such as those of values, maturity,beliefs,intelligence,personality, and emotional states.Spatial and temporal distance CONCLUSION comprise the standard conception of educational distance (Keegan, 1986; Moore, 1983b; Perraton, Using self-directed education as the educational 1983), but may also be evident in environmental standard, distance is a cluster of qualities which distance. may occur in various combinations as a normal component of any educational event whether Psychologicaldistance (or intrisubjective incongru- contiguous, self-directed, or at a distance. Educa- ence) between the learner as a learner and as the tional distance per se is an educationally neutral internal educator, may arise under inkmal educa- quality, which may be educationally either desir- tional direction; for example, when distance is cre- able or undesirable, depending on the circumstan- ated by limitations to self-awareness, to honesty ces of each given event. The self-educational per- with oneself, or to responsiveness to one's situation spective also forces more of a focus on the learner's and condition. situation, characteristics and requirements which is While none of these forms of distance is intrinsically educationally desirable (cf. Holmberg, 1977, 1981; either desirable or undesirable, any of them may Knowles, 1980; Moore, 1983a; Rogers, 1983; We- become educationally limiting through instances of demeyer, 1983). the following types of sub-optimal conditions: (1) In adopting educational self-direction as the stan- perceptual inaccuracies, (2) time delays in commu- dard we reduce the basic structural differences be- nication transmission or image perception, and (3) tween face-to-face educational events and distance perceptual noise a masking of the message or education,differenceswhicharefrequently image by other perceptual features (both process grounds for devaluing distance education. and object). Perceptual inaccuracies and noise are influenced by the type, quality, and balance of the perceptual or communicative channels that are involved aural, visual, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, kinaesthetic, chronemic, or proxemic (Tubbs & REFERENCES Moss, 1983). Although normal verbal communication draws essentially on aural and/or visual Bagnall, Richard G. channels, in "nonverbal" communication and in (1987a) Self-direction as the evaluative educational stan- general environmental awareness most channels dard: Upgrading distance education (Paper presented at are likely to be in simulataneous use. the Eighth Biennial Forum of ASPESA: Armidale, NSW, Australia; July, 1987). Problems with educational distance often arise Bagnall, Richard G. through perceptual noise and inaccuracies resulting (1987b) Adult education as manipulation: Three bases of from reductions in the number and/or the quality of authoritative injustice. New Zealand Journal of Adult the perceptual channels. However, problems aris- Learning, 19 (in press). ing from time delays are strictly independent of these channels. iv Brookfield, Stephen (1985) Self-directed learning: A conceptual and method- The problems arising from educationally disadvan- ological exploration. Studies in the Education of Adults, tageous distance may be diminished by reducing 17:19-32. the educational distanceon the relevant dimensions Chet* Adele of distance (identified above). In some cases, for (1983) The concept of autonomy: A philosophical dis- example, it may be best to reduce the spatial and cussion. Adult Educati, n Quarterly 34(1): 38-47.

94 Crop ley, Arthur J. & T.N. Kahl Moore, Michael G. (1983) Distance education and distance learning. Some (1972) Learner autonomy: The second dimension of inde- psychological considerations. Distance Education, 4 (1): pendent Iefrog. Convergence, 5 (2): 76-88. 27-39. Moors, Michael Dearden, R.F. (1983a) The individual adult learner. In Malcolm Tight (1975) Autonomy as an educational ideal I. In S. C. Brown (Ed.) Education for adults. Volume 1: Adult learning and (Ed.) ,Philosophers discuss education. London: Macmil- education. London: Croom Helm. lan. Moore, Michael Gibbs, Benjamin (1983b) On a theory of independent study. In Sewart, (1979) Autonomy and authority in education. Journal of Keegan and Holmberg (op.cit.). Philosophy of Education, 13: 119-132. Pagney, Bernard Gough, Eric (1983) What advantages can conventional education de- (1984) Towards a philosophy of distance education. In rive from correspondence education? In Sewart, Keegan Kevin Smith (Ed.) Diversity down under in distance edu- & Holmberg (op.cit.). cation. Toowomba, Qld.: Darling a-mos Institute Press. Perraton, Hilary Holmberg, Bode (1983) A theory for distance education. In Sewart, Keegan (1977) Distance education: A survey and bibliography. & Holmberg (op.cit.). London: Kogan Page. Phillips, D.C. Holmberg, Bode (1975) The anatomy of autonomy. Educational Philoso- (1981) Status and trends of distance education. London: phy and Theory, 7 (2! 1-12. Kogan Page. Rogers, Carl R. Keegan, Desmond J. (1983) Freedom to learn for the 80's. Columbus, Ohio: (1980) On defining distance education. Distance Educa- Charles E. Merrill. tion, 1 (1): 13-36. Sewart, D., D. Keegan & B. Holmberg (Eds) Keegan, Desmond (1983) Distance education: International perspectives. (1986) The foundations of distance education. London: London: Croom Helm. Croom Helm. Tubbs, Stewart L. & S. Moss Knowles, Malcolm S. (1983) Human communication (fourth edition). New (1980) The modern practice of adult education: From York: Random House. pedagogy to andragogy (revised edition) Chicago: Follett. Wedemeyer, Charles A. Lewis, Harry A. (1981) Learning at the back door: Reflections on non- (1978) A teacher's reflection on autonomy. Studies in traditional learning in the lifespan. Madison, Wis.: The Higher Education, 3 (2): 149-159. University of Wisconsin Press. Misanchuk, Earl R. Wedemeyer, C1.arles A. (1982) Correspondence vs. on-campus courses: Some (1983) Back door learning in the learning society. In Se- evaluative comparisons. In John S. Daniel, M.A. Stroud & wart, Keegan & Holmberg (op.cit.). J. R. Thompson (Eds) Learning at a distance: A world perspective. Edmonton: Athabasca University & the Interna- tional Council for Correspondence Education.

95 92 Distance education universities in federal states: a comparative analysis of Canada and West Germany JORN BARTELS Zentrum fur Fernstudienentwicklung FernUniversitat Hagen Federal Republic of Germany DOUG SHALE Office of Institutional Analysis The University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Canada

A distinguishing feature of national federal systems tion has been problematic essentially only in the of government is a constitutional vesting within the two aspects alluded to earlier: that is, with respect to constituent provinces (or states, or canton, or Lan- the funding arrangements between federal and local der) of legislative authority for educational matters. authorities and with respect to negotiating how and The advantages of such decentralized authority are to what extent national and local goals are to be many and are widely recognized, some of them supported. As substantial as these problems are, at being: an accommodation of regional cultural di- least the geopolitical bases of the universities have versity; responsiveness to the needs of local individ- been apparent and coincide with the geopolitical uals and regions; enhanced efficiency in govern- bases of the provinces or states. University distance mental administration; and the facilitation of partic- education, however, is not necessarily subject to ipation by local citizens in political processes and similar geopolitical constraints. This complicates decision-making directly affecting them (Bergen, the usual dilemmas arising from the divided juris- 1982; Romanow, 1985). dictions. University distant;; education, by its na- However, few would argue that decentralized au- ture, is meant to free students from the constraints of thority does not also have its disadvantages. For time and location and there is no reason (other than example, regional goals and priorities may not sup- the jurisdictional and funding issues) to expect it to port well the formulation and implementation of a observe geographical boundaries. In fact, because coherent national policy on education. And, as Ro- distance education stands to capitalize on econo- manow (1985, p. 5) points out, "Clearly, there is a mies of scale, there is a natural pressure and rational pressing need for national objectives in higher edu- argument for disregarding these boundaries. To the cation..." In addition, achieving consensus among extent that university distance educationis not the regional authorities and with the appropriate bounded to geopolitical areas but serves inter-pro- federal body, at best, is time consuming but may, in vincially, the case for regional jurisdiction over uni- fact, prove to be virtually impossible if appropriate versity education is less compelling. In fact, from consultative mechanisms have not been built into this point of view, there is much to support the the form of federalism which has been implement- notion that the federal authority is the appropriate ed. It is worth noting that whatever the federalist junsdichon for a fully fledged university-level, dis- system, the issue is not so starkly delineated, how- tance education enterprise. ever, as to entirely preclude federal "influence" of However, what has actually happened in practice educational matters. belies the apparent nicety of this point of view. The In university education as it has traditionally been purpose of this paper is to compare how distance constituted, the divided federal-regional jurisclic- education universities have come about in two fed-

96 eral systems: the Federal Republic of Germany and porting the service through taxes and those receiv- Canada. Such a comparative chronicle stands to ing the service. AU, on the other hand, early on provide some interesting insights into the provision branched into B.C. by virtue of a cooperative ar- of university education at a distance in a federal rangement reached with North Island College. In system. This account may also provide a substantive short order, students living in B.C. constituted up- basis for speculating about the rationalization of wards of one-fifth of the AU enrolments, prompting university distance education within divided re- informal conversations with government officials gional and national jurisdictions. regarding the appropriateness of serving so many out of province students with operating money pro- CANADIAN FEDERALISM AND vided by the Alberta government. UNIVERSITY DISTANCE Subsequently, AU has had discussions internally EDUCATION about formally declaring itself to be "Canada's open university" but has to date contended itself h!, as- Provincial responsibility for education in Canada is serting its area of interest to be B.C. Alberta, Sas- constitutionally assigned by a provision within the katchewan, the Northwest Territories and the Yu- BNA/Constitution Act (1867) which lays down that: kon. However, AU has no physical presence (such "... in and for each Province the Legislature may as regional offices) anywhere but in Alberta. In- exclusively make laws in relation to education ..." terestingly, this pressure to serve a wider geographic Although the federal government has often ex- area has largely originated from within the Uni- pressed a desire to intervene in higher education, it versity itself (although it needs to be said that ser- does not have the constitutional authority to do so vices tc the Yukon and the Territories is a somewhat directly. However, the federal government does ex- different dynamic). There has been no substantive ert some indirect influence by virtue of the sub- support for the establishment of AU as a national stantial revenues it returns to the provinces to sup- distance education university. In passing, it is worth port higher education. But, as Romanow (1985) has noting that for some considerable time the corre- concluded, "Such arrangements leave the federal spondence study service provided by some of the government with little influence in post-secondary conventional universities (for example, Waterloo policy, and with 'clumsy' steering arrangements" and Queen's) has been offered to people right across (p. 5). One of the consequences of such decentral- Canada and on this basis these institutions have ization is that, with the exception of vocational more of a national presence than AU. training (which is viewed as being within the pur- view of manpower planning and hence is a federal WEST GERMAN FEDERALISM AND responsibility), there is no national education policy, in general, and no national distance education UNIVERSITY DISTANCE policy, in particular. "Not unexpectedly, therefore, EDUCATION the conduct of all aspects of education including The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) is com- distance education differs somewhat from one prised of eleven Lander, three of which are city part of Canada to another" (Ellis, 1986; p. 25). provinces The constitution (Grundgesetz) binding Not surprisingly then, there is a great diversity over the Lander together was instituted in 1949 under the the provinces with respect to the emphasis given to direction and agreement of the allied occupation distance education and to the manner in which the powers. Unlike in the Canadian system, a mecha- enterprise is carried out. Because the focus of this nism exists for the formal participation of the Lander paper is the autonomous, university level distance government at the federal level through the Federal education institution we will concern ourselves on- Council (Bundesrat) which consists of delegates ly with Athabasca University (AU) in Alberta and the from the Lander governments as well as delegates of Open Learning Institute (OLI) in British Columbia. the federal government. Both AU and OLI were established by direct govern- During the 1960's there were several isolated initia- ment action in each of the respective provinces. tives to establish distance education in FRG but it In both these institutions, the operating grants are became clear by the early 1970's that some Lander provided by respective provincial governments (al- had no real interest in establishing distance educa- tl- ,,, tgh, as mentioned earlier, these are derived from tion nation-wide. Their politics were to stop the transfer of payment arrangements with the federal establishment of a central office at a national level government). The legislation behind these two in- while simultaneously centralizing every distance stitutions is silent with respect to the geographic education activity in their own Land. As a conse- mandates. Initially, both institutions restricted their quence of this, at the end of 1973 the Minister of interests to the host province, a position which the Science and Research of the Land North Rhine - OLI adopted as a point of formal policy. There was Westphalia presented to the public his plans for the political wisdom to this course of action because of establishment of a distance education university. the direct link between those perceived to be sup- This announcement of the foundation of a distance

97 9.t education it North Rhine-Westphalia came totally such participation. Also, participation of the federal unexpectedly for the other Lander. From one day to government would be a break in the educational the next, the discussion which had lasted for years politics as it would not conform to the federal sys- was finished. In December 1974 the parliament of tem. A participation of the other Lander would make North Rhine-Westphalia passed an act founding a it necessary to have a separate political organisa- distance education university which would be un- tion. This would mean that the FeU would have to der its own jurisdiction. Since October 1, 1975 the cooperate nation-wide. In this case, the Fell would FernUniversitat (FeU) has been in operation. unavoidably have to give up a part of its self-admin- The FeU was expected to serve three main aims istration (Gerhardt 1974). (Peters 1976; p. 160): Another possibility exists for the FeU to cooperate Supporting the reform of university teaching in with other locally established conventional univer- post-secondary education; sities to establish a national distance education net- Developing a system of academic continuing work. The FeU has such cooperation contracts with education; a small number of conventional universities. The Creating additional capacity for academic study. aim is the reciprocal support of research arid tuition. At present the FeU has concluded these cooperation Like the traditional universities in the FRG the FeU contracts exclusively with universities of those Lan- also is an autonomous institution with a similar der which support the FeU. Different political views system of governance. are the main reason, therefore, that no cooperation As we have seen the Fell is a local university since it contracts exist with universities in Lander without was founded and funded unilaterally by the Land study centers. There io expectations that the North Rhine-Westphalia. At the same time the FeU politics of obstruction of these Lander will change in is open for students from all over Germany and for the near future. While it continues, it is impossible students who are living abroad. In this respect the for individual universities in these Lander to cooper- FeU is a nation-wide distance education university. ate with the FeU. For such cooperation they need the agreement of the government of their respective Are there ways to have a real national distance Land. education university in the FRG? Up to now the FeU has been funcled exclusively by North Rhine-West- phalia. In itself, this is nothing special because the CONCLUSION conventional universities are also open to students In spite of the apparent advantages to rationalizing from the other Lander and the Lander have to pay for university distance education, enhancing its cost these costs too. The difference is that the proportion effectiveness, and providing a national presence in of students from other Lander at the FeU is much higher education, neither Canada nor the FRG has a higher than at conventional universities. A common national distance education university. This is also financing system is possible due to the existence of the case in Australia and the United States, two the so-called "Konigstein-Agreement". But apply- other federal states with a considerable amount of ing this model to the case of implementing a nation- regionally based distance education. This situation al distance education university would mean a lot of stands directly in contrast to such naiionally estab- coordinating work. The university in this case I ished institutions as the British Open University and would be dependent on the administration of the the Open Universiteit of the Netherlands. Why this eleven Lander and the federal government too. This is so is a matter about which we can only speculate. would be detrimental to the functioning of the in- However, from the two case studies presented here stitution. it is reasonable to argue that it is in the nature of the An advantage of a national distance education uni- federal systems to preclude the establishment of a versity would be the opportunity to implement study national distance education university. The Federal centers in other Lander. Th is would bean advantage Republic of Germany appears to have developed for those students who are living in Lander currently "the most comprehensive and sophisticated struc- without study centers. A number of the Lander ture of federal -state and interstate consultative coor- would in this case have to give up their politics of dinating agencienot only for education but in all obstruction. Also the number of towns where the matters of government" (Bergen, 1982, p. 18). In students could sit their exams would be increased. spite of this, the FeU began as a regional institution The distance education university would no longer and remains as such to this day in that it does not depend on the "good-will" of the conventional uni- serve a national policy of university education. versities to provide rooms for writing exams. However, the FeU does provide extensive service across the FRG and this undoubtedly is facilitated by Participation of the other Lander in the operation of the comprehensiveness and sophistication of these the existing FeU in Hagen is not possible under the consultative coordinating agencies. Moreover, not- law of the universities b the FRG. Autonomy in withstanding the inconclusiveness of the effort, it matters of education and culture doesn't allow for was at least possible to discuss the rationalization of

98 9 distance education at the national level. This has not been so in Canada, and again it might be attributed REFERENCES to the absence of an appropriate consultative mechanism. Bergen, J.J. (1982). "Federalism in education a comparative per- Maybe this state of affairs in federal systems is as it spective". Paper presented at the Annual Conference of should be. In Romanow's (1985) view, "...the fed- the Canadian Society for the Study of Education; Ottawa. eral role in education essentially must be supportive Ellis, John F. of provincial efforts, and not in competition with (1986). "Government policies". In Ian Mugndge and Da- them through direct federal programming. To bor- vid Kaufman (Eds.),Distance Education in Canada. row Claude Forget's phrase, Ottawa's role should Croom Helm, London. be that of a "lever and lubricant to encourage harmonization of provincial policies". (p.6) This Gerharlt, V. seems to have been the principle followed for uni- (1974). Grundsatzliche Bemerkungen zur Arbeit des Wis- senschaftlichen Beirats "Fernstudium im Medienver- versity distance education in the FRG, although pro- bund" (1970). In Studien and Berichte zum Fernstudium gress seems to have been achieved in fits and starts im Medienverbund, Schnftenreihe des Deutschen Insti- and remains inconclusive. However, progress there tuts fur Femstudien an der Univercitat Tubingen, Hrsg, has been and the opportunity for further advance- von Prof. Dr. Gunther Dohmen, Band 8, 76-82. ment clearly exists. In Canada, on the other hand, Peters, 0. progress has been due largely to the initiative of (1976). Die Fernuniversitat. Das Erste Jahr. Vor-der Lippe individual institutions. Some coordinated progress Verlag, Hagen. has been achieved at the provincial level particularly in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario. Romanow, Roy J. However, some "lever and lubricant to encourage (1985). "Innovation in higher education". Policy Op- harmonization of provincial policies" has been tions; May; 4-8. lacking. Itis interesting to speculate about what distance education in Canada might look like if such were provided.

rk -, 99 :It, The potential and realities of using satellites for distance education in Western Europe DR. A.W. BATES Professor of Educational Media Research Open University Milton Keynes United Kingdom

SATELLITES FOR DISTANCE ity to somewhere around 100 television channels EDUCATION: "2001 SPACE (CIT, Research, 1987). ODYSSEY" OR "PIE IN THE SKY"? ACCESS AND COSTS Will satellites prove to be a major communications Parallelling these developments in space, there is medium for distance education in Europe, or will expected to be a rapid expansion in the numbers of they prove to be yet another technology in search of people capable of receiving satellite transmission in a role? It is argued that the value of using satellites for Europe, either relayed through cable systems, or distance education depends not on the technology through direct reception. itself, but on the ability of distaice educators to Low-powered transmissions can now be received define appropriate trans-national educational needs on equipment costing around f1,000 (US$1,600), in Western Europe, and on the ability of different consisting of a 1.4 metre steerable dish, a 'black distance teaching agencies to plan and work togeth- box' of electronics to convert the signal for recep- er quickly and efficiently. tion on a standard domestic TV monitor, and a tuner to find the desired satellite and the desired channel SATELLITE PROVISION IN EUROPE on each satellite. DBS on the other hand can be There are basically two kinds of satellites, low-pow- received on much smaller aerials (between 0.5 and ered and high-powered (the latter usually called 0.9 metres in diameter). The total cost of DBS recep- Direct Broadcast Satellites or DBS). Essentially, tion equipment (in addition to a "standard" domes- though, DBS transmissions can be received directly tic TV monitor) is likely initially to be around f500 in homes using small and cheap dish aerials, while (US$800), dropping eventually to around f200 low-powered satellites require a larger and more (US$320). expensive dish, with television signals usually being In 1986 there were 10,000 satellite TV receivers in redistributed by cable or terrestrial transmitters to Western Europe. This figure is expected to rise to 1 people's homes. Satellites though can also transmit million shortly after 1990. By 1996, 46 million voice and data signals, using a fraction of the capac- (40%) of West European households are expected to ity of a television channel, and hence at far less cost, receive satellite services, either directly or via cable a point of particular significance for distance educa- (Tydeman, 1987). However, it will be at least 10 tion. years before a majority of homes in Western Europe The European Space Agency's launch rocket, Ar- can access satellite transmissions, a point of signi- iane, has the demanding schedule of one satellite ficance to those distance education institutions with launch a month from September, 1987 to August, a genuinely open access policy. 1988, of which a substantial proportion will be Transmission costs range for full bandwidth televi- European satellites, both low-powered and DBS. sion from free up-link and transmission facilities for Withal in 15 char,ce of a launch failure, a lot could educationalusers(on OLYMPUS),to f1,800 go wrong before the Oslo conference. Neverthe- (US$2,880) an hour on Eutelsat (including trans- less, there will almost certainly be a rapid expansion ponder charges) for peak evening transmission. in satellite capacity in Europe within the next five While not insignificant, transmission costs though years, from the current 21 television channel capac- will usually be minor compared to the costs of production, administration and ground support servic- cassettes (see Bates, in press, for a discussion of the es (for a full discussion of educational satellite costs, merits of television in distance education). see Bates, 1987). Neither reception nor transmission costs are likely to be a significant barrier to the EUROPEAN EDUCATIONAL use of satellites for distance education in Europe, SATELLITE INITIATIVES compared with finding suitable programming, and paying for it. There are several initiatives already underway for the use of satellites for distance education in West- ern Europe. HOW HAVE SATELLITES BEEN 1 OLYMPUS. This large and experimental satellite, USED FOR DISTANCE built by the ESA and able to cover 60% of Western EDUCATION? Europe with a single high-powered television transmission, is due to become operational in Several countries outside Europe already have ex- 1989. The ESA is offering free transmission on tensive experience of using satellites for distance Olympus to educational users. Because of the education, in particulai Canada, India, USA, Aus- multiplicity of European educational institutions, tralia, Indonesia, the University of the South Pacific ESA commissioned the European Institute of the (USP) and the University of the West Indies (UWI). Media (EIM) to conduct a study (Wedell et al., In addition, a number of countries have participated 1987) about how to organise an educational ser- in Project SHARE, a series of health and education vice on Olympus. Subsequently, ESA has ap- applications linking developed with developing pointed an educational programming committee, countries via the INTELSAT system. under the chairmanship of Dr. Alan Hancock, of From these experiences, it is important to distin- UNESCO, to allocate programming. To date, the guish between both the media used (TV, audio, ESA has received over 170 proposals for educa- data) and the configuration (point-to-multipoint or tional programming on Olympus, of which 40 are network): for distance education. 2 DELTA. Quite independently, the European Eco- 1 Broadcasting: the dissemination from one point nomic Commission (EEC) is funding a large initia- to many points, for teaching purposes, with no tive, totalling £14 million (20 million ECUs), to return communications via satellite, (e.g. TV: IN- start in 1988, to improve the technological and SAT, India). communication infrastructure for education and 2 Interactive broadcasting: one-way satellite televi- training within Europe. This project includes a sion, with terrestrial telephone used to allow stu- proposal for a satellite-based European educa- dents to call in (voice only) to the broadcast (e.g. tional communications network, suggesting that National Technological University, USA; Knowl- there will be opportunities for funding satellite- edge Network, Canada). linked activities within the DELTA programme. 3 Two-way audio communication between several 3 PACE. This is a consortium of multi-national com- points, for both teaching and administrative pu-- panies (including IBM, DEC, Hewlett-Packard, poses (e.g. USP, UWI, and Indonesia). British Telecom, Thomson etc.), using both satel- 4 Two-way audio communication between several lite and computer communications, to deliver a points, for both teaching and administrative pur- Programme of Advanced Continuing Education poses, supplemented by low-band graphics such in Europe to companies throughout Europe, as slow-scan TV or electronic writing (e.g. USP, drawing on key researchers in European universi- UWI, and Indonesia). ties and companies. This is being funded partly by 5 Satellites can also be used for carrying electronic sponsorship and partly by the sale of courses, and mail, computer conferencing, text transfer and begins in 1988, probably using Eutelsat. access to remote data-bases, at lower cost than 4 COMETT. This is another EEC initiative, designed even voice communication. to increase co-operation between European en- 6 There has been no major use yet in distance edu- terprises and universities, through the joint pro- cation of two-way full bandwidth television com- duction of courses and training initiatives. One munications (video-conferencing), presumably strand of the COMETT programme request bids because of the very high costs. for the use of multi-media technology (including Satellite is rarely the only comm..nication technol- satellites) and provide, funding possibilities for ogy; most systems using satellites in distance educa- joint programmes between European, distance tion also make use of terrestrial telephone services teaching universities. PACE has already received as well. As with terrestrial systems, two key ques- some ft.r-Is under the COMETT programme, and tions are: why does one need full bandwidth televi- a consortium of European distance teaching uni- sion, given the huge difference in cost, especially if versities and European enterprises (SATURN) has the satellite is merely relaying lectures; and why also received a small amount of funding under the does one need to transmit, rather than mail video- COMETT programme, but not for satellite use.

101 COMETT started in 1987, and is expected to con- 3 Establishing a distance education communica- tinue at least until 1989. tions network. Satellites could form the base of an There are therefore considerable opportunities for inter-institutional communication network (or funding distance education satellite projects ofa even for communications within a system). joint nature. Again, though, without a clear strategy for cooperation with other distance teaching institu- FOR WHAT PURPOSES SHOULD tions, it is not possible to determine either the role SATELLITES BE USED IN or the likely amount of traffic for satellites in networking. EUROPEAN DISTANCE In the meantime, while inter-institutional co-oper- EDUCATION? ation between the established European distance It is possible to think of many differentways in teaching institutions is slowly building up, new or- which satellites could be used, but they all depend ganisations such as PACE are stepping into the gap. on an institution's policy regarding activities in Eu- PACE is specially designed to exploit the European- rope. I shall use the British Open University tt., il- wide coverage of satellites and the funding require- lustrate the link between educational policies and ments of EEC initiatives. It is interesting to note that satellite use (or non-use). only 40 of the 170 Olympus proposals were for distance education, and few of these came from the 1 Extension of courses beyond national bounda- established European distance teaching universi- ries. There are two main obstacles to this at the ties. This suggests that there is a need for greater moment. The Open University does not have the urgency on the part of the established European resources itself to provide the ground support, distance teaching organisations to work out how such as registration, counselling and tutorials, at a local level, to any major extent outside the UK. they can best work together, and how satellites might help in that co-operative working. Secondly, it wants to work in co-operation rather than in competition with other distance teaching CONSTRAINTS institutions. Through the Association of European Distance Teaching Institutions and SATURN,a It is therefore possible to identify a number of con- policy for co-operation in credit transfer, joint straints hindering the greater use of satellites for course production and inter-institutional co-op- distance education in Europe. eration is slowly being developed, but until deci- 1 A policy regarding trans-national distance educa- sions have been made about what role, if any, the tion in Europe is a necessary pre-condition for any Open University will play in providingcourses distance teaching institution before it can decide within Europe, we have no rationale for usinga whether to use satellites. In parallel with defining European satellite facility to support courses, and the roles of each institution beyond its national no means to provide the necessary infrastructure. boundary, there is also a need to identify clear Consequently, the Open University has bid for educational needs and target groups for which only one hour a month on OLYMPUS for broad- the use of satellites would be appropriate. This casting a selection of its existing programmes. As requires careful market research into educational well as providing an alternative source ofpro- needs that transcend national boundaries, cult- gramming for the general public, this givesa Eu ures and languages. Co-operation between dis- ropean-wide shop window for the University. It is tance education institutions is likely to be essen- a very limited use of the potential of satellites, and tial to maximise the benefits of using satellites. does not support courses in any way. 2 Success is likely to go to those courses which use 2 Joint research and course production. Distance a combination of technologies and course design education courses cost a great deal to design. appropriate to a European-wide audience. This Given the high cost of design and production, suggests that as far as the use of satellites is con- there is great potential benefit in the design and cerned, there is a need to design courses specially production costs being shared between institu- for a European-wide audience, rather than the tions who would also use the materials. Also, use or even adaptation of existing courses. It also there may be areas where joint research activities suggests the need for new types of course design, between staff in different distance learning in- built round satellite and other technologies. stitutions, particularly research into distance edu- 3 Joint production of courses intended for interna- cation itself, could be developed. Satellitecom- tional use in Europe is likely not only to reduce munication could be used to facilitate such activ- the cost to any single institution, but also to avoid ities, allowing for the exchange of materials and cultural ethnocentricity. conferencing. However, no such co-operative 4 Experience in using broadcast television and ra- agreements are yet in place. Until they are, the dio for distance education indicates the need to Open University cannot commit itself to using provide adequate print and tutorial support and satellites for this purpose. follow-up, and the need for a clear educational

102 9;) rationale for using television, audio or data, for at the same time should allow new target groups to any satellite initiatives. be reached. 5 The supporting costs, and especially the cost of production, are likely to be far greater than the actual transmission and reception costs of satellites. REFERENCES 6 The restricted access to satellite reception for certain target groups must be remembered, partic- Bates, A.W. ularly where open access is paramount. (1987) "Satellite technology: some indications of costs", 7 Governments will need to ease PTT control over Media in Educatior, and Development, Vol. 20, No. 2. access to up-links and tariffs if educational use of Bates, A. W. satellites is to be encouraged. In particular, edu- (in press) "Television, learning and distance education", cational institutions need to be able to up-link ICDE Bulletin. directly from their sites. CIT Research As with other technologies, educational goals need (1987). New Satellite Communications in Western Eu- to be determined first, but are inevitably influenced rope. London: CIT Research. by the availability of a technology. Just as it would Tydeman, J. be a mistake for satellite technology to determine (1987) Cable and Satellite Television Reception in West educational priorities, it would also be a mistake for Europe. Luxembourg: Societe Europeenne des Satellites. distance education institutions to ignore the potential of satellites. Successful use of satellites will re- Wedell, G. et al. quire some adaptation of our teaching methods, but (1987). Education on Direct Broadcast Satellites in Europe Manchester: European Institute for the Media.

103 Tutor and Course Coordinator hierarchal relationship and mutual perceptions RUTH BEYTH-MAROM, SHMUEL ELLIS & MARGALIT GANOR Everyman's University The Open University of Israel

INTRODUCTION In addition to being provided with the written mate- The Open University of Israel (EU Everyman's rial students are assigned to tutors, usually in or near University) was established in 1976 to enable capa- their home town. These tutors constitute an impor- ble students from distant areas or without a matric- tant element in the learning system. Students may ulation certificate to study for a BA degree. The contact them by phone at designated hours each structure of the university as well as its study system week and meet them in non-obligatory group meet- were inspired mainly by those of the Open Uni- ings or tutorials held in the evening about once versity in Britain. EU awards a Bachelor Degree in every three to four weeks at the regional study cen- either Humanities and Social Sciences or in Natural ters. In these informal meetings difficulties in the and Life Sciences to those students who accumulate material or the assignments are explained, individu- 18 credits. EU has about 10,000 students each se- al guidance is given, and group discussions are led mester. These students are registered in over 200 by the tutor. As already mentioned, tutors are also courses, most of which award the students one cred- responsible for evaluating the TMAs. it for their successful completion. This complex learning-teaching system must be precisely coordinated. The instructional or course coordinator (CC) is the person with that heavy responsibility. Each course has one CC whose obligations THE LEARNING-TEACHING are: (1) to interview and select the best tutors he can SYSTEM find, (2) to write new CMAs, TMAs and examinations for each semester the course runs, (3) to deter- As the EU's learning-teaching system is based main- mine the number and schedule of TMAs, CMAs and ly on the self-study distance method, printed course group meetings, (4) to supply the computer and the material is its main medium. "The purpose of the tutors with the answers for the CMAs and the TMAs written text is threefold: to present the student with respectively, and (5) to guide the tutors in every source material; to replace the lecture, guiding the student to examine various approaches critically aspect relevant to their work, specifically with regard to the evaluation of TMAs. and analytically; and to encourage the student to think in an independent manner by means of well This learning-teaching system is based on a hie- designed questions and learning tasks within the rarchal structure in which every level has specific text" (Guri, 1986). academic, didactic and organizational responsibility towards its subordinate level. At the highest To encourage active learning (beyond the passive level are the staff members usually PhD's who reading of the course material) each course includes develop the course material. The CC is next in the several Computer-Marked Assignments (CMAs) and hierarchy, followed by the tutors in the third level. Tutor-Marked Assignments (TMAs). CMAs consist of multiple-choice questions which the students answer on a computer-optical scanning card. TMAs contain open-ended questions the answers for THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY which are examined by tutors. To be eligible to sit The smooth running r f this multiplex system neces- for the final examination, a student must complete sitates regular evaluations. These are carried out by at least 50% of the CMAs and TMAs. These together the Evaluation Department of the University. The account for approximately 40% of the course grade. present study was part of one such general eval- The remaining 60% of the course grade derives from uation. Specifically, we were interested in the differ- the final examination. Final examinations are con- ent manner in which tutors and course coordinators ducted at one of several regional examination cen- perceive various dements of the learning-teaching ters around the country. system and particularly the way in which they per-

104 10i ceive each other. The question of mutual perception garding the need for training before beginning work, is a very important one in a hierarchal system: Is the though most of the CCs (91%), but less of the tutors system perceived as hierarchal by members of its (64%), believe they need on-the-job training as different component levels? Are the CCs seenas well. The CCs are more convinced than the tutors authorities by the tutors? Do tutors accept CC au- about the importance of tutor training in each one of thority with regard to academic, didactic and/or four areas: course material, background material, organizational questions? Do the CCs use their hier- didactics, and facts about EU. Seventy-seven per- archal advantage over the tutors? The attitudes and cent of the CCs, but only 55% of the tutors think that mutual perceptions of the tutors and the CCs are it is important or even highly important to train the important because any discrepancies between the tutors in the course material. For the importance of planning and organization of the system and the teaching didactics the percentages are 79% and way it is reflected in the attitudes of its members may 55%, respectively. hinder its efficient functioning. While most of the CCs hold the view that the CC must be involved in the training of the tutors in the course material (58%), in the background material METHOD AND PROCEDURE (50%) and in didactics (64%), the tutors would prefer that those who wrote the course material or THE SAMPLE outside lecturers train them (the comparable percentages for the tutors are: 28%, 30% and 34%). In At the end of Semester 17 questionnaires were sent contrast to the CCs who have no preference con- to 150 tutors and 44 course coordinators of In- cerning the mode of tutor training (written, individu- troductory and Intermediate Courses in the Social al face-to-face interaction or group training), most of Sciences and Humanities. Twenty-seven CCs and the tutors favor organized group training (63.8%) 78 tutors answered the questionnaires. Of the CCs, with only a minority (11.6%) inclined toward face- about half have or are studying for their Master's to-face private interaction with the CC. degree, while the other half are studying for their PhD. Among the tutors only 25% are studying for a To summarize, it seems that the CCs believe that the PhD. tutors need more training than the tutors themselves think they need. Furthermore, the CCs are convinced they can provide the purported needed training while the tutors prefer more academically ad- THE QUESTIONNAIRES vanced trainers for that role. The questionnaires for tutors and CCs were nearly identical. The tutors answered 66 multiple choice questions (composed of 155 variables) and the CCs answered 61 (composed of 149 variables of which THE CC's CONTRIBUTION TO 148 were similar to those of the tutors). Each ques- THE QUALITY OF THE COURSE tionnaire was divided into the following sections: CCs are considerably free to change the emphasis of persona: questions (age, experience, etc.), evalua- different components in the course through the con- tion of the study units, evaluation of the quality and tent of the TMAs, CMAs and exams, and through the grading of CMAs, TMAs and final exams, evaluation group meetings. In addition, they can add subject of the group tutorials, and evaluations of tutor-CC matter, delete material and change it when they feel interaction and of tutor-student (or CC-student) in- it is necessary. teraction. CCs and tutors were asked whether CCs are entitled to augment, delete or change the course material (which they did not write), as well as whether they RESULTS actually do such revising. Tutors were more permis- sive than CCs concerning CC's right to emend mate- We will report here only about one small section of rial (33.3% vs. 16.6%) and to update it (57% vs. the questionnaire results that concerning tutor- 24%). With regard to the actual situation, many CC mutual perception (about 45 variables). more CCs than tutors believe they actually do change the course emphasis through the assignments (64% vs. 37%), through the tutorial meetings TUTORS' TRAINING (52% vs. 20.9%) and through the final exams (48% vs. 29%). Thus, although the tutors are more willing Tutors and CCs were asked about the necessity of than the CCs to permit the CCs to become involved tutor training and its timing and content, as well as in what should be taught, they also believe the CCs the mode of training and the type of trainer. There take less advantage of this privilege than the CCs was no disagreement between tutors and CCs re- themselves think they do.

105 4 --) I I )t, TUTOR-CC INTERACTION ently CCs perceive the tutor-CC interaction as they think it should be frequent interactions initiated Tutors and CCs were asked about the type and fre- by themselves. However, from the tutors' point of quency of the interaction they have with each other. view, the reality is less ideal: infrequent CC-tutor A higher percentage of CCs than of tutors claim such encounters, initiated mostly by tutors. Thus, tutors interaction concerning: subject matter (88% vs. not only express lack of confidence in the CCs, they 45%); problems with assignments (76% vs. 55%); also feel isolated. TMA and CMA evaluation (79% vs. 43%); students' personal problems (40% vs. 27%); students' admin- It seems, on the whole, that the hierai chal structure istrative problems (48% vs. 25%); and problems planned by the University is perceived as such by regarding tutorial meetings (86% vs. 34%). Thus, the CCs but not by the tutors. This situation should the whole actual interaction between tutors and CCs be a matter of concern for EU for it undoubtedly is perceived as much more frequent by the CCs than does not contribute to the tutors' and CCs' motiva- by the tutors. tion nor to the teaching-learning process. However, we need more study before any remedial steps can Similar discrepancies are expressed about the initia- be taken: Whose perception of the reality is more tion of tutor-CC interactions. When asked who initi- accurate, the tutors' or the CCs'? Are CCs conscious ates the interactions (CC, tutor or both), many tutors of tutors' needs? Are they capable of answering answered that they initiate the interaction (e.g. 45% those needs? concerning subject matter, 53% concerning assignments, 52% concerning the evaluation of the as- There is no doubt that the roots of some of the signments), while only a small percentage of CCs problems lie 'n the way the hierarchy is implement- believe the tutors are the initiators (4.5%, 30% ed into the system. Although on the average CCs are and15% respectively). CCs believe that they usually academically more senior than tutors, it often oc- initiate the interaction or at least that it is a joint curs that tutors are more qualified than their CCs. initiative. Frequently CCs are advanced MA students while the tutors they hire are al ready studying towards their With regard to the authority the CCs have toward the PhD. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the CCs tutors, they perceive themselves as having such au- have had more didactic experience than the tutors thority concerning EU's administration (90.0%), or more experience as EU staff. On the contrary, course subject matter (85.7%), and didactics (90%). often the tutors have been working for more years in However, far less tutors perceive the CC thus (65%, the EU teaching system and thus have greater work- 45.2% and 33.3% respectively). ing knowledge concerning distance education, the structure of the university and even the specific written course material. Such a situation can con- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS tribute to the attitudes expressed by the tutors in the The tutor-CC relationship constituted only a small present study. section of a broad and detailed survey concerning The question of hierarchy and authority is not limit- the different components of the learning-teaching ed to CC-tutor mutual perceptions and interactions. system in EU. Overall, there is a considerable gap Similar questions should be asked with regard to the between the observations of the tutors and their CCs top level the PhD staff members responsible for which appears to be related primarily to their dis- the written course material, and with regard to the parate perceptions of the role of the CC as a counsel- bottom level the students. or for the tutor. It seems that CCs perceive them- Distance educators and distance education institu- selves as being high in the course team hierarchy tions are becoming more and more sensitive to stu- and capable of training, teaching and supporting the dents' needs. Various student support systems have tutors. However, this perception is not shared by the been proposed and implemented. "In many ways tutors themselves. They perceive the CCs as quite tutors appear to be exposed to the same type of similar to themselves and prefer to be guided and isolation as Open University students, and need trained by more academically advanced PhD staff both academic and moral support to function effec- members. tively and confidently and to maintain their morale" The gap between tutors and CCs is not limited only (Student Research Centre, Institute of Educational to role perception i nd to the way tutors evaluate Technology, O.U., 1986). For the sake of the stu- their CCs. Both tutors and CCs perceive and in- dents, those who support them their tutors terpret the actual situation quite differently. Appar- must feel they are supported too.

I11,3 106 Portable computers and distance education J.P. BLACK, D.D. COWAN, V.A. DYCK, S.L. FENTON, C.K. KNAPPER, T.M. STEPIEN Computer Science Department and Computer Systems Group University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1 Research described in this paper has been supported by the University Research Incentive Fund of the Ontario Govern- ment, the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Bell Canada, Hewlett Packard (Canada), IBM Canada and the WATCOM Group.

INTRODUCTION The remainder of this document describes: Students who take their academic programs on the i) The scope and general approach of the cur- campus of a university or college, or at a secondary rent distance education program at the Uni- or primary school have a number of advantages over versity of Waterloo, peers who must acquire their education through ii) the expanding role of the microcomputer in correspondence or distance education. Students education, who can "attend" school have constant contact iii) the current integrated system at the University with teachers and fellow students and these contacts of Waterloo, are an important component in learning. Also, these iv) the plans to expand the integrated system to students have access to all of the resources of the include correspondence and distance educa- school and surrounding community such as librar- tion programs. ies and laboratories. THE DISTANCE EDUCATION Although students learning through distance educa- PROGRAM AT WATERLOO tion will always be at some disadvantage, it is possible to minimize these disadvantages with inexpen- Teaching by correspondence began at the Universi- sive communications and microcomi iter techno- ty of Waterloo in 1968 with an initial offering of four logy. Physics courses. Many of the early students were teachers wishing to upgrade their qualifications At the Univesity of Waterloo we are constructing an without taking leave of absence from their position. integrated computer system which will allow all Waterloo now offers over 300 different courses in students on campus to use microcomputers in their some 50 different disciplines, and three degrees (in academic program, wherever and whenever such Arts, Science, and Environmental Studies) can he use is appropriate. We are now expanding this sys- earned entirely by distance study. tem to the distance education program. Students in There have been over 190,000 registrations in cor- such programs will be able to use the data commu- respondence courses since the inception of the pro- nications capability of the telephone system in conjunction with microcomputers gram, and the University of Waterloo has one of the largest university credit distance education pro- i) to communicate with their teachers and fel- grams in North America. Current annual course low students, registrations are about 20,000, which represents ii) to have immediate access to teaching materi- about a fifth of the total university enrolment. als such as lecture notes, laboratory sessions, Although Waterloo has a reputation for "high tech", and assignments, especially in computer science and engineering, its iii) to have access to the tools which are com- distance program has not reflected this emphasis, monly made available to on-campus stu- either in the type of courses offered (which are main- dents, ly in Arts), or in the instructional approach adopted. iv) and to have access to many of the information Distance courses comprise audio-tapes, a variety of sources easily accessible to on-campus stu- print materials (course notes, textbooks), video cas- dents. settes and special kits where necessary.

107 There is also a set of from four to six assignments conferencing system can scan the board for infor- which must be returned for marking at regular in- mation and/or place their own queries and re- tervals throughout the term. A major difficulty arises sponses on the board. from the slow "turn-around" time for assignments and lack of timely feedback to students on their progress in the course. THE MICROCOMPUTER A PRODUCTIVITY TOOL The microcomputer is an excellent general-purpose THE MICROCOMPUTER IN productivity tool. There are now many software EDUCATION programs including writing aids such as word processors and text formatters, spelling checkers and Microcomputers play an ever-expanding role in the thesauri; calculation aids such as spreadsheets; and educational process. The computer is used in a information management tools such as data-base variety of ways: systems to assist the student. i) as a communications device and a mecha- Students can use the writing aids to make the prep- nism for delivering educational materials, aration of -eports and essays a more pleasant task ii) as a productivity tool, and can concentrate on the content rather than the iii) as a base for developing specialized learning appearance of the finished document. tools, iv) and finally as an object of study. Aids such as spreadsheets are extremely useful in almost all courses which require various tabular calculations. Because of their automatic calculation THE MICROCOMPUTER- capability they make excellent tools for simulating experiments and for checking postulates (so-called A COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE "what-if" questions). The microcomputer in conjunction with modern Information management tools allow the student to communications technology provided by the com- develop personal information systems and to ana- mon carriers is an effective communications mech- lyze data created by the student or provided by the anism. teacher. Teachers may send assignments, lecture and laboratory notes, data-bases and many other types of teaching materials to students by depositing these THE MICROCOMPUTER- materials in a central file server. These "notes" may DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL be made generally available to a class or sent to a MATERIALS restricted group. The students may then make electronic and/or printed copies of these notes for their Educational materials can be developed using the personal use. Such mechanisms are often called tools described in the previous section. Students can bulletin boards or electronic distribution systems. then use these tools to explore these educational materials. Students may reverse the process described in the previous paragraph and send assignments electron- Word processors can be used to prepare materials ically to the teacher for detailed criticism, discus- for distribution, students can often use the same sion and marking. Such electronic transmissions word processor to return modified materials to the minimizes the time needed to effect communication teacher. between students and instructor. Spreadsheets have been found by many teachers to Electronic mail systems are a special version of the be excellent simulation tools allowing the student to electronic distribution systems just described. These explore the consequences of changing the para- systems allow private communication between in- meters of a problem. dividuals and between individuals and groups. Fa- Teachers can purchase or create data bases and thus cilities also exist for immediate simple reply to a allow students to make extensive analyses. Students message, forwarding mail, registered mail and other will not need to be guided to a preconceived set of functions similar to those offered by conventional conclusions but may gain significant insights. mail systems. Many specialized educational software systems Conferencing systems are another effective means may be developed for historical simulations, and of group communication using the computer. All simulations of natural disasters and laboratory ex- messages sent to a conferencing system are time- periments which are too expensive or inaccessible. stamped and displayed on an electronic bulletin Such simulations are very important for distance board in different categories, and messages placed education students who do not have access to lab- on the board ran never be re,noved. Users of a oratory facilities.

108 1(15 THE MICROCOMPUTER- AN then it is necessary to provide an infrastructure that OBJECT OF STUDY will support both wired and wireless high-speed, high-volume data communication; this is one of the The microcomputer can also be an object of study in goals of this research project. Of course if this por- its own right. Students can study the many different table computational power becomes commonly application programs now available and thus be- available, then the way in which we use computers come more knowledgeable users of the computer. in education and business could and will change They can also study Computer Science, the imple- dramatically. mentation and analysis of algorinms.

THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM AT THE CURRENT STATUS OF PROJECT UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO ARIES INTRODUCTION Currently we have 350 lap portable computers which are distributed to students in various courses At the University of Waterloo we are conducting a in different faculties. The students use the comput- research project into the use of portable computers )ers in their courses and help us to evaluate the in education; this project is called Project ARIES concept of portable computing in a university set- the University of Waterloo Portable Computing Pro- ting. ject2, 3' 4. As part of this activity we are developing In order to provide file storage, printing and com- networks and software so that students at the Uni- munication facilities for these portable computers, versity of Waterloo may use powerful portable mi- we have installed a computer communications net- crocomputers (sometimes call lap portables) any- work across campus. Students can go to ten widely where on or off the campus and yet have access to dispersed points on campus (called Aries Service extensive software and data, high-speed and high- Centres) to fill their microcomputer with software quality printers, and centralized file storage. It is and educational materials or to dump accumulated anticipated that the primary function of the network data into more permanent file storage, onto printers will be to allow students to "fill" their computer or to communicate with their peers or teachers. The with software or data, to "dump" their finished network is being enhanced to provide other services work onto printers or plotters or into permanent essential to the long-term success of this project. mass storage, and to communicate with the faculty and their peers. As this project develops it is expected that more and EXTENSION TO DiSTANCE- more students may wish to obtain lap portables and use them whenever and wherever a computer EDUCATION PROGRAMMES would be a suitable tool. Computers will become INTRODUCTION common tools in all courses not just a requirement of specific courses; we will be moving from course- We are planning to extend the portable computing orientated to effective personal or student-orien- concepts in Project ARIES beyond the campus of the tated computing. University of Waterloo. In this way we can service distance education programs and hence provide the Our hope for the long-term is that students will carry distance education student with an educational set- a fully functional lap portable computer which will: ting which is closer to that experienced by students i) be light-weight, on the campus. Any modifications created for dis- ii) operate from solar cells, tance education will be integrated into the current iii) be as compact as a regular-size three-ring system developed for Project ARIES, so that the binder, faculty and students will not have to learn to use two iv) and be able to store and retrieve all software network systems. Such integration should make the and data using a wireless network. faculty more productive in the' development and Although this is only a hope at the moment, we distribution of teaching materials to both local and believe that such a time is not faraway. For example distance education students. the electronic calculator has evolved from a $1,000 The services that will be provided for distance edu- desk-top model the size of a typewriter to a $5 cation students will be somewhat different than model the size and wight of a credit card in just 15 those for students on or near the campus. We expect years. Several manufacturers are producing porta- to provide the following facilities to support those ble computers which come fairly close to providing services: the capability we have already described at the an ability to handle a large number of simulta- beginning of this paragraph. i) neous calls from remote computers through a If we are to use computers in this mode of operation, public data network,

109 Ii 1i; ii) a conferencing system so that students can The iNet 2000 service has been added to Datapac to communicate in an informal way with their provide appropriate user interfaces and connect us- peers and teachers, ers to various service providers. This service permits iii) an electronic mail system for private commu- data communication over Datapac from any tele- nication, phone in Canada. iv) a file transfer system so that students can sub- The feasibility of providing this service has already mit electronic copies of assignments and re- been proven but extensive work need.; to be perceive new educational materials. formed to make it function in combination with a local area network environment. RESEARCH OVERVIEW Various communication systems such as electronic In order to provide the environment necessary for mail, bulletin boards, and conferencing systems effective use of portable computers in distance edu- will need to be identified and installed on the net- cation a number of different activities must be com- work so tha' students can communicate with each pleted successfully. The next few paragraphs identi- other and with the faculty. fy and describe these activities. Manuals and software will need to be prepared so Courses will have to be identified which will be that users of the system who will be isolated from amendable to "computerization", and arrange- any direct help can learn enough to function and use ments will have to be made with faculty members to the basic features of the computer and the network prepare or modify these courses. Such courses system without reference to other users or to person- could be from the distance education program at the nel at the University of Waterloo. University of Waterloo or other universities or col- Although manuals will be prepared for the students leges. The first course offerings will originate at it will be necessary to have a telephone hotline Waterloo as this will minimize the logistics prob- service available during the day for students who lems in establishing the portable computing envi- have difficulty communicating with the network ronment. Initially, CS100 a course in microcompu- system by computer. As more experience with the ter applications will be chosen, since it has a high system is acquired and as the manuals improve, the degree of computer content and is likely to be quite need for such a hotline will likely diminish. There popular. CS100 is described in more detail in.") This will always need to be a telephone number that course should provide a thoraigh test of the remote students can call in case of operational difficulties or portable computing environment. equipment malfunction, although this can probably A number of portable computers will have to be be restricted to normal working hours after a suit- obtained for distribution to distance education stu- able time period. dents. Since this is an experiment we should not There will also be a need for a staff member to expect these students to purchase their own com- monitor the electronic mail and conferencing sys- puter. Desktop models of microcomputers could be tems. Since there is no experience with how stu- purchased for this project but portable computers dents will interact with the faculty and their peers, it offer several advantages: will be necessary to oversee the use of the electronic i) most portables today have capabilities com- communication systems to determine the usage pat- parable to those of a desktop model and are terns. quite adequate for this project, ii) shipping a portable comnuter to a student is CONCLUSIONS much easier, Although there has been much hope held out for the iii) because the computer is portable, students transformation of distance education by techno- will be able to be more mobile and even learn logy, so far most distance education is "low-tech" while on vacation or moving between jobs, (print, audio cassettes). Computers have been used, iv) and because of the portability factor, students but mostly in experimental settings since cost, logis- will be able to use the computer in a large tics and lack of standards in software and hardware variety of learning situations, even outside created problems for larger-scale programs. Recent- their course. ly costs of appropriate microcomputers have drop- The campus network for Project ARIES will have to ped substantially and reasonable standards have be modified to handle long-distance data communi- started to emerge, thus making this new round of cation using Datapac and the value-added iNet experiments feasible. 2000 Service.5 Datapac is the Canadian public data The innovation described here is one of the first by a network which allows long-distance data commu- large successful distance education program in a nication between computers at 300, 1200 and 2400 large established university. It will be interesting to baud over the telephone system. Datapac is an X.25 look back at the next ICDE conference in 1991 to network and it similar to Tymnet and Teleret in the see what impact this trial has had on the practice of U.S.A., Transpac in France, and P.S.S. in the U.K. distance education at the University of Waterloo.

110 1 0? 3. Cowan, D.D., Stepien T.M. BIBLIOGRAPHY Project ARIES A Network for Convenient Computing in Education, Computer Science Research Report CS87-51, 1. I.P. Black, D.D. Cowan, V.A. Dyck, S.L. Fenton University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Challenges of Teaching Computer Science by Dis- tance Education, Submitted to the 1988 CDE World Con- 4. Cowan, D.D., Stepien, T.M., Veitch, R.G. ference. A Network Operating System for Interconnected LANS with Heterogeneous Data-Link Layers, Computer Science 2. Cowan, D.D., Fenton, S., Graham, I.W., Stepien Research Report CS87-50, University of Waterloo, Wa- T.M. terloo, Ontario, Canada. Networks for Education at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. S. Telecom Canada The Solution to Information Management iNet 2000 The Intelligent Network, Telecom, Canada 1985.

1 1 1 The Jevnaker project: two experiments with live interactive television DAGNY BLOM NKS Institute of Distance Education Oslo, Norway TOVE KRISTIANSEN Norwegian Telecom's Research Department Kjeller, Norway

INTRODUCTION authorities and Hadeland glassworks agreed to start a training program for young people who wanted to Since 1984 the Norwegian Telecom's Research De- become glass-blowers. The trainees would receive partment has conducted a research project on cable their technical training at the glassworks and their technology at jevnaker, a small town just north of general training in subjects like Norwegian and En- Oslo. A cable network was built, partly coaxial and glish from an ordinary secondary school some 30 partly fiberoptic. The primary aim was to supply the kilometres away. community with new broadcasting services, but the Norwegian Telecom was equally interested in test- This was an arrangement which easily lent itself to ing out and experimenting with new services. an experiment with distance learning. For obvious Distance education was chosen as one field for reason the trainees were based at the glassworks at ievnakel. So for English and Norwegian lessons they experimentation. Co-operation with the Norwegian would either have to travel to the school or the Association for Distance Education (NADE) was es- teacher would have to travel to the glassworks. The tablished in 1985. A project team was formed, with final alternative was to organise a distance learning four members from NADE and four members from situation, using various kinds of telecommunica- the local community, )evnaker. Tove Kristiansen tions. from the Norwegian Telecom's Research Depart- ment was project manager. The team's mandate was In autumn 1986 we were ready to start the experi- to establish distance education programs that would ment with teaching and learning at a distance. be useful both for the community and for the experi- The experiment lasted for about six months and menters. involved two teachers and ten students (in their Two programs have been carried out. Both were early twenties). The class met with their teachers in televised teaching based on a one-way video and a the classroom every second week. One week they two-day audio connection. were taught Norwegian az a distance, the other The first, "the glass-blower program", was carried week English. Thus, teachers and students knew out in co-operation between the local school au- each other well, and they could easily compare the thorities, a glass works in Jevnaker and the Norwe- two different ways of teaching. gian Telecom. The technical set-up was simple. A camera was The second, "the French program", was carried out placed in an ordinary room at the secondary school in co-operation between the NKS Institute of Dis- and a monitor in the classroom at the glassworks. In tance Education, member of NADE, and the Norwe- that way the students cou Id see their teacher, but the gian Telecom. teacher could not see the students. Loudspeaking telephone equipment was installed at both ends, so that they could hear each other all the time. In THE GLASS-BLOWER PROGRAM addition they had the possibility of written communication by telefax. The largest and oldest Norwegian glassworks is situated in Jevnaker. In autumn 1985 the local school At the teacher's end no extra effort was made to

112 create a "studio" except for a pair of extra curtains As for the sound connection, it was difficult to get and some noise-breaking rru erial in the ceiling. used to the loudspeaking equipment. This allows The camera was focused on the teacher, who was only one end to speak at a time. If both ends peak at sitting in front of the blackboard. There was no one the same time, the one who speaks the louder, will there to help him or her run the camera. get through. It will also take the signal a little time to We chose this set-up in order to see how simply it shift direction. Thus, it is necessary to make small could be done and still achieve an acceptable learn- pauses. Otherwise you will get the feeling of being ing situation. No doubt it was sufficient in that it cut off at the beginning, or at the end of a sentence. established a dialogue, which in itself is an impor- In other words, this equipment makes it necessary tant experience. To many learning institutions with for the participants to discipline their talking more smallresources andwithstudentsscattered than they are used to. The pupils were especially throughout a big area the main thing is to get in frustrated about this. touch. This can be done with simple and rather Another problem was that the picture and the sound cheap equipment. Learning institutions should be were not fully syncronised. This was because the aware though, that with a solution like this, they sound was relayed by an ordinary telephone con- have limited possibilities for communication. nection, whereas the picture was coded and trans- We have raised the question how important it was to ferred at a slower speed (2Mbit/s, which is much use television when the picture transmitted only slower than an ordinary television signal). Thus, the showed the teacher and the blackboard. Watching sound came through slightly ahead of the video the teacher's face on the screen will itself be mea- signal. The students found this disturbing in the ningful in situations where the students are not ac- beginning. It seemed that it was something they got quainted with their teacher. It will then be important used to after a while. to them just to get an image of him or her. In our We should bear in mind, however, that this may be case, however, the students knew their teachers one of the small details in a complex situation that in pretty well beforehand. Watching their faces on a the long run has a tiring effect on the participants. As screen was in that situation not enough. The stu- many of them said, as long as the technology works, dents demanded something more from fir picture. you don't think of it as being something special. But Some of them even said that they found Cie picture it is quite clear that as soon as it doesn't work in one disturbing and that they might just as well do with- way or the other, you get an intolerable situation. out it. The technology is important, but the interesting To test this case we cut out the picture for a period of thing is to see what it does to the organising of four weeks, in the middle of the course, and most of education and what impact it has on communi- the students did not miss it. Actually, some of them cation patterns and social life. For instance, there found it easier to concentrate when there was only was a tendency for the more outspoken students to the sound connection. Where thoy did miss it, become more dominant in the class when the teach- though, was when they had discussions. It was then er was on the screen and not present. The quieter important to them to see if the teacher had got their students found it harder to get in contact with the point and whether he or she had any immediate teacher, and did not ask so many questions as they reaction. would have done othervise. Not all of them found What about the teachers? Did it make any difference this problematic though, for as they said, "all the to them, not being able to sae the students anyhow? questions I would like to ask, are being asked by They found it harder to concentrate when the cam- others". It is a reminder, however, to all teachers of era was running. As one of them said, knowing that distance education that they should be very con- the students watched him, made him a bit more scious about addressing every single student direct- upright in the chair. ly. Thus, the picture was important to a certain extent. Both the teachers and the students acted in a more To profit from it pedagogically, though, the conclu- disciplined way when they were meeting on the sion was that there should be two cameras, one screen. As a result of this, they managed to do the pointed at the teacher and one at the blackboard. same amount of work by distance education, even With one camera only, we didn't get a clue enough though these lessons were always shorter than the shot of the teacher or the blackboard. lessons in the classroom. During the experimental period the questions about The more disciplined lessons also resulted in less the function of the picture were highlighted. When small talk. This may or may not be a good thing. is the picture important? How can we profit from it Several of the participants said afterwards: "I think in distance education? What impact does it have on the small talk that we usually have is important". In the teaching and learning? These are the questions other words, they felt that one essential and valua- that we would like to try and find answers to in ble side of the social life that is part of all classroom further experiments. education was lost. As the students met w(11 their teacher every second by presenting the learning materials in new ways, week, the experiment with distance education was and by pacing them through the course. actually constructed to meet artificial needs. This is What we did not do, was to present video programs important, because the students thus experienced on television. The students met their tutor "on distance education as a deprivation instead of a screen", she became a real person, and not only a supplement. Nevertheless, they could easily see "tr aker" of their written assignments. that this kind of education would be of great value in places where they did not have local tutors. In addition, the students also saw a lot of still pictures, illustrating oral exercises for extra practice. Also the teachers had ordinary classroom education as their starting point. What ve did in this experi- The telephone served two functions. First,it was ment was to try to transfer 'heir well-known way of used for individual tutoring and support. The tutor teaching to the mediated form. In other words, we called all the students at least once during transmis- tried to make distance education as similar to class- sion. We had a loudspeaking telephone in the stu- room education possible. This does not fulfil the dio, so all the students could listen to the conversa- potential of the technology. tion. Once the students had gathered in a group they We believe that the use of technology in distance were given a group task to be discussed on the telephone during transmission. education represents a challenge to all known pedagogic thinking. The technology has potential as yet We had encouragec the students to telephone us in unknown to most educators, differing from medium the studio or afterwards, but only a few actually did. to medium. This takes time to explore. It should be But we got some feedback from two students after experimented with in new and untraditional ways of the first transmission, and one student called once to teaching. ask for a repeat of an exercise which had gone too fast. There were a few other calls as well. THE FRENCH PROGRAM The telephone also proved useful once when there The experimental group for the French program was was no sound connection and once when the satel- an alrealy established group of ten adult students of lite signals did not come through. The students French. They were in their second semester of phoned in and told us they could not hear and could French for beginners. They were correspondence not see. students at the NKS Institute of Distance Education The experiment was surprisingly successful. The ten and they also received local tutor support at weekly students had made every effort to parti,ipate whe,r night - classes - -the so-called combined study meth- the tutor was "on air". Most of them had watched all od. our programs and had found them very helpful. The For a period of seven weeks in spring 1986 they also students had cleared their families out of their sit- received weekly televised French lessons from their ting-rooms claiming this was "their hour" and they correspondence tutor, in their own homes, with the wanted to be alone so they could speak up aloud possibility of using the phone for two-way commu- when they were asked to. They enjoyed their tutor, nication. The set-up was similar to the previous and they were inspired to pick up their books and experiment in that it was using one-way video and audio-cassettes and do some studying. In fact, they two-way audio. But there were important differ- were seriously hoping that the experiment could be ences. For the French program the vide.) signal was continued. transmitted via satellite from the ..lorwegian Tele- These student responses were revealed when we com's studio in Oslo to Jevnaker. Secondly, there interviewed each one of them in summer 1986, after was no open sound connection. The students had to the experiment. We a.so asked them wh..' rer they phone in, or the tutor had to phone the students for might as well have received a video-cassette, but two-way communication. most of them very clearly expressed the advantage NKS had two important reasons for wanting to set up of a scheduled transmission time and the possibility this experiment: of live interaction. The students did not use the (1) we wanted to try out real-time communication telephone much but some, at lea, felt safe know- via television ing the opportunity was there. Some werE very (2) we wanted to test a certain program format. pleased to be called up by the tutor and they contributed well. Others felt too scared to talk much. The experiment was part of our development program for new support services for our distance lear- Some said that knowing that all the other students ners. Our objecti . _s were to: were watching at the same time gave them a feeling of togetherness even though they watched the intensify the communication between the lear- programs separately in their own homes. ners and the correspondence tutor, with an emphasis on making it more personal The project was small in scope, but the experiences help the students in the self-study process, both drawn from it undoubtedly threw light on significant aspects of live, televised teaching. Many choices We had taken the opportunity to use television as a had to be made concerning the program format, teaching medium based on our own premises and technological solutions and the arrangements for needs, independent of the monopoly of national two-way communication. Lots of things went broadcasting. This in itself was a large step. wrong, both technically and otherwise, but we strongly felt that the project had been worth while.

115 1 1 2 The NADE media and technology project: Newwaysof supporting distance learners in Norway DAGNY BLOM ANNE GRETHE M. KRANE NKS Institute of Distance Education Oslo, Norway TORSTEIN REKKEDAL NKI Distance Teaching Institute Stabekk, Norway

INTRODUCTION administrating and carrying out training in distance education have not had sufficient opportu- During the last 20 years we have seen a revolution in nity to keep up with the innovations. Conse- the development of media and communication quently, a decision to choose a certain medium technology applicable for distance learning. Ob- or technology for a given learning system is in serving these developments we find that: many instances taken without sufficient information and evaluation. 1. A number of media advocated by hardware and software dealers as well as by enthusiastic educators, have not lived up to promises and expectations. THE SITUATION AMONG 2. Media and communication technologies which NORWEGIAN DISTANCE have proved to be efficient, at least for some TEACHING INSTITUTES educational purposes, have often not been able In 1984-85 when the project was started, the sit- to justify their place in the educational system uation in Norway could be described as follows: because of relative costs. Consequently, media combinations that are reasonably successfull in a The distance teaching institutes in Norway had dif- research situation have been abandoned when ferent experiences concerning the use of new research or support funds have been withdrawn. media. The majority of the smaller schools had 3.It has been shown that well-known "traditional" mainly been using print-based material only. Some media such as the audio-cassette (Bates, 1983) of the institutes had experience from co-operation and even print (Daniel and Stroud, 1981) have with the State Broadcasting Company on multi- been and can be developed to compete favor- media courses involving the use of radio and televi- ably with newer media developments in a major- sion as well as video and audio-tapes. ity of learning situations. A number of schools had experience in combining 4. The application of new media for learning sit- audio-tapes with print, and not only fol language uations demands a development of well-found- courses. Some experiments had been carried out on ed didactics based on learning theory and empir- the systematic use of telephone for tutoring and ical studies here has obviously not been time counselling (Rekkedal, 1985). During the explosion for such development parallelling the rapid in- of interest in computer learning programmes in the troduction of new technological solutions during beginning of the 80s some schools had introduced the past three decades. the use of computer in some courses. Most Norwe- 5. The grass-root people responsible for planning, gian distance teaching institutes had extensive experience with combining distance teaching with and distribution of information about interna- local face-to-face teaching. tional development of new media in distance Parallelling the general international developments education. in media and communications technology, one 2. The telephone project: staff training, experi- change of specific interestwas the political decision ments and development programmes. to reduce the monopoly situation held by the State 3. The audio-tape project: staff training, experi- Broadcasting Company, allowing a large number of ments and development programmes. experiments with local radio broadcasting and local 4. The Jevnaker project: experiments with local ca- television cable networks. ble network applications. 5. The local radio and television project. THE TOTAL PROJECT The first project about international developments was mainly carried out as part of the planning of the GOALS total project and the information was used as necessary input for defining and shaping the other four The NADE Media and Technology Project was es- sub - projects. But it is also an on-going project. tablished on the mutual agreement that it would be in the member schools' interest to co-operate in The starting point for the project was a conference in developing knowledge, insight and experience in December 1984 organised by NADE and the steer- the use of new media. ing committee, and attended by all the participating schools and institutes. Four sub-project groups were This common understanding of the need to co-operate was, in our opinion, a significant condition for set up, with members from seven different institutes. Their first mandate was to work out a plan for the the success of the project. Such co-operation was all projects they wanted to engage in, giving attention the more challenging since the schools, to a large to pedagogical, administrative and economic as- extent, are competitors. As members of NADE, they pects of each project. The four groups presented were moving into a new field of co-operation. their plans at a second conference in April 1985. The following aims of the project were agreed upon: At this point some schools had realised that they did 1. 1 ne most important goal was a broad devel- not have the capacity to participate fully in any opment of both staff and organisations in the use project, and they withdrew from active involve- of new media. ment. However, it is of prime importance for the Rather than involving some educational theorists project that information and experience should be in a more scientific-like research, we aimed to spread and shared by al' members of NADE, wheth- involve a large number of academic and tech- er they take active part in the project or not. nical staff in all the participating institutions, so as to stimulate activ / and co-operation on RESULTS, SUCCESSES AND many levels. Inter-institutional exchange of ex- FAILURES periences was to be part of the project design. 2. We would rather try out any "little" media with Two and a half years later, in October 1987, some high accessibility that are fairly low-cost than projects are finished, some are still active and in concentrating on "big" media, which could eas- progress, some were aborted and some were never ily be seen as more exciting. We wanted to de- realised. We have gained experience in the use of velop the use of media that could have practical the telephone and the audio-cassette, and we have importance for the majority of the schools in the had some interesting results with the use of satellite immediate future, such as the telephone and the transmission for interactive television. Only tenta- audio-cassette. tive steps have been taken to reach out to the local 3. Some attention should, nevertheless, be given to radio and television networks, but one project is the new media, with regards to a more distant well on its way. future, e.g. satellite transmission, audio and vid- We have certainly learned something about the ba- eo conferencing, cable networks etc. In this con- lancing of co-operation and competition, and we nection the project established connections with have reached a deeper understanding of the need to the Norwegian Telecom's Research department co-cperate. which had already set up a project in the small town of Jevnaker, just north of Oslo, testing out applications of an advanced cable network. The THREE EXAMPLES OF NADE SUB- Research department was happy to enlarge their PROJECTS \ project by including distanceeducation as a field for experiments. The following describes aims, designs and some preliminary results from three of the sub-projects Thus, the following sub-projects were established: involved in the NADE co-operative project. These 1. International trends and experiences: collection are the NKS tutor/student audio-cassette project, the

1 1 7 NKS telephone project and the NKI telephone pro- course enrollments each year. Needless to say, ject. smooth routines are absolutely essential. A new computer system for the administration of students, tutor and courses is being developed, taking into THE NKS TELEPHONE AND account a higher degree of flexibility of tutor ser- TUTOR/STUDENT AUDIO- vices A fruitful interchange of experiences is taking CASSETTE PROJECT place: the pilot projects define new tasks for the administrative system, and the system sets limits for Besides being part of the NADE project, the two the project. NKS projects are also part of a large NKS project: developing student support services at NKS. NKS offers a range of courses, on many levels, from secondary school courses for adults up to university. THE TELEPHONE PROJECT level degree programmes. It has been important to The telephone project is in its third year and third organise projects that cover many courses and lev- phase in 1987-88. The project design has been els, so as to know whether strengthened tutor sup- modified each year since the project started in 1985, port may be more ci ucial for some course areas than but the basic design is the same. Students who enrol others. for a specific course at the NKS are contacted on the By August 1988 the telephone and the audio-cas- telephone by their correspondence tutor. The con- sette projects will be over and the results analysed. tact is kept up for as long as the student is actively Some tendencies already seem clear now in Octo- working on the course if the student wants to keep it ber 1987. They indicate that results vary with level up. The emphasis is on personal motivation, practi- and subject area, and that no clear general picture cal information and study guidance and of course emerges. on giving the student the chance to ask questions about any problem he or she may have. Judging from interviews and questionnaires, students seem pleased as do the tutors, but only after The results after one year showed a marked differ- some routines were altered and simplified. Cost is a ence in the completion rates in the experiment problem area. If completion rates do not increase, group and the two other groups. The test group we may have to ask students to pay for extra tutor students were far ahead (Blom 1986) but then only support, and we know very little about their willing- the students who positively accepted telephone ness to do so. support became part of the experiment groups. Our approach to research methods in pragmatic The second year's project did not ask the students rather than scientific. This means that the project whether they wanted telephone support, but they design needs to be well enough defined for us to be were divided randomly into ar. experiment group reasonably certain that the results can be trusted. and a control group. Preliminary results show that The primary goal of the project is to get a basis for the experiment group made slower progress at the future decisions about student support services. The beginning than the control group, but this has audio-cassette project has an additional aim and is evened out, and the test group is slightly ahead after therefore more scientific in its approach. It constitu- one year. It is too early to say whether the difference tes the experimental part of a thesis for an M.A. in is significant. Education at the University of Oslo. The third year's project was started just before the Many aspects have to be tested and studied: first of writing of this paper. One important change has all the students, but almost equally importantare the taken place in the design. This year the tutor only tutors, the administrative procedures and costs. makes an initial call to the student, and afterwards it is up to the student to contact the tutor. Each tutor The students are divided in experiment groups and has a fixed time period for telephone contact, two control groups. We measure completion rates, hours, once a week. grade distribution and attitude changes. We are eager to see whether the students will find For the tutors, making use of new media means a this year's arrangement useful. Will the initial call change in their tutor role towards wider responsib- give them an easier start? Will they call their tutors ility and less flexibility. A clear understanding of the even if they have the chance to do so only once a demands made on the tutors is necessary for further week? strategies and tutor acceptability is given much attention by the project managers. These are some of the questions we hope to answer in August 1988. An important question has been raised. Given that we expand the tutor role and functions, do we then have the tutors that we need? NKS is a large institution, with around 100,000new

118 1 1 5 THE TUTOR/STUDENT AUDIO- non-starters are not represented in these figures be- CASSETTE PROJECT cause all the students involved came into the project after having completed their first assignment. The NKS Tutor's Handbook divides a correspond- These figures seem to indicate that tutoring by au- ence tutor's work into four functions. The written dio-cassette has no influence on the completion comments on the student's assignment should in- rate. Looking into the figures for each course, how- clude: ever, we discover some interesting facts. One 1. Corrections course deviates from the rest; in the experiment 2. Counselling group 57 per cent completed the course, and in the 3. Encouragement, motivation control group as much as 89 per cent completed. 4. Evaluation Obviously, this surprising result influences the total The audio-cassette experiment concentrates on the picture. two functions "counselling" and "motivation" of For all the other courses, the completion rate for the the student. The tutor's comments are thus both experiment group is either higher or at the same oral, on cassette, and written, on the assignment level as the control group. There are great varia- paper. tions, but the average is an 18 per cent higher com- One ten-minute cassette is sent back and forth be- pletion rate for the experiment group. tween the student and the tutor, along with the We may assume that extra tutor support, given on an written assignment. The cassette has a tutor's side audio-cassette, influences the completion rate dif- and a student's side. Each new comment recorded ferently according to course. We may also assume by either of them erases their previous comment. that depending on the course chosen, an NKS stu- The point is that this is more of an informal dialogue dent may stand a better chance of completing the than actual teaching. Any comment that the student course with the extra tutor support on cassette. night need to refer back to when revising the course, should be a written comment. The project involves nine tutors, teaching nine dif- THE NKI TELEPHONE PROJECT ferent courses, 245 students in the experiment The NKI Distance Teaching Institute offers pro- group; and 125 students in the control group. The grammes primarily within the technical/vocational courses vary in level, subject area and length. The and management fields. The Institute recruits ap- tutors were carefully selected from among tutors proximately 12,000 students a year (approximately who proclaimed a serious interest in such an experi- 50,000 enrollments). For more than 15 years there ment. The students were selected randomly. has been a tradition of carrying out systematic re- In June 1987 the tutors received a questionnaire search within distance education. The project generally has been based on established principles of asking them to describe the joys and frustrations of research design and statistics. A number of projects being an audio-cassette tutor. They all felt they com- have been designed as experiments involving ex- municated better with the students, and particularly enjoyed it when the students talked back to them. perimental and control groups. Their main problems seemed to be technical rather As part of a previous NADE project NKI carried out than pedagogical. They emphasised their need for an extensive experiment on the concept of tutor and oral skills and preferably some ordinary teaching counsellor roles in distance education (Rekkedal, experience. 1985). In this experiment tutor initiated telephone The students receive a questionnaire when they instruction and counselling constituted one of the interrelated variables in the integrated tutoring and have completed the course. The students have not all completed their courses yet. But in September counselling system. Increased completion rates 1987 the answers on the questionnaires show that were reported from the experiment, as well as very positive student opinions towards telephone tutor- the experiment students are generally more pleased ing. with their relationship with their tutors and the control students, and 90 per cent of them would like to In the present NADE co-operative project NKI use the student/tutor tape if they were to enrol for wished to continue experiments with telephone tu- distance education courses in the future. toring, now with three broad aims: to evaluate practical and financial effects involved in establishing An analysis of the final marks given to the students telephone tutoring as a normal part of the part-time show that the students who have been supported by tutor's work; to see whether the systematic use of audio-cassettes have obtained slightly better results telephone would stimulate study progress and in- than the control group. crease completion ratesin the correspondence By September 1987, 46.5 per cent of the students in learning systerr ; and to get information about the the experiment grou p and 47 per cent of the students attitudes of the students towards telephone instruc- in the control group had competed their course. The tion. An experiment was designed involving three groups A preliminary summing up reinforces what we knew of students enrolled for a 17 unit programme on from the beginning, that inter-institutional co-oper- transport economy and technology. The experimen- ation on research and development has been a cnal- tal group received systematic tutor initiated tele- lenging experience. We have seen that competing phone instruction (75 students), one control group institutions are able to co-operate to all parties' ben- was taught by the same teachers by traditional col- efit. It is also true that in some institutes there is an respondence methods (55 students), while the sec- even greater willingness to co-operate now than ond control group was taught by another group of when we started. tutors (56 students). Personal relationships that have developed through A considerable number of students randomly select- the project will probably stimulate further exchange ed to the experimental group could not be reached of ides, knowledge and experience. by telephone, so the statistical differences on study An important goal was that staff development and progress variables were less than can be expected media development should go "hand-in-hand". We from a treatment variable having an influence on all still believe this to be the right approach, but it students involved in an experiment. Thus differ- means we must accept that things take time. Alto- ences in starting and completion rates were found in gether five institutes have been actively involved in favour of the telephone group, but these differences the project, and we are eagerly waiting for their were generally not statistically significant. The stu- reports, due to be published in the course of 1988. dents expressed extremely positive attitudes to- We started it by sharing ideas and plans and we will wards telephone tutoring. A majority of the students terminate the project by sharing results and experi- in all three groups (i.e. regardless experience with ences. telephone tutoring) reported that they would prefer to use the telephone to communicate with their tutor when encountering difficulties in their studies, and most students answer that they would like to have telephone tutoring included in the system of in- REFERENCES struction, even if they have to pay more for the course. Bates, T. (1983). "Trends in the use of audio-visual media in dis- The tutors reported that they experienced that the tance education systems". In: Distance education. In- telephone tutoring made their work as distance tu- ternational perspectives. Sewart, D., Keegan, D., and tors more inspiring. The extra work involved in us- Holmberg, B. (Eds.). (London, Croom Helm). ing the telephone and being called up by the students was not seen as a heavy task. It seemed that Daniel, D.S., and Stroud, M.A. the inclusion of telephone tutoring would not add (1981). "Distance education: a reassessment for the 1980s", Distance Education, 2.2. major costs to the system. Rekkedal, T. At the moment of writing the results from the experi- (1985). Introducing the personal tutor/counsellor in the ment are under evaluation, and NKI is now consid- system of distance education (NKI). ering different ways and the financial consequences of organising teiephone tutoring in different courses Blom, D. and programmes. (1986)."Tutor-initiated telephone support for correspondence students at NKS". Epistolodidaktika,1. SUMMING UP Blom, D., and Krane, A.G. The NADE project will, in its final phase, distribute (1987). "Developing student support services at NKS In- reports and set up workshops giving the participants stitute of Distance Education" (NKS). ample opportunity to learn from each other's experiences.

1 1 7 120 Helping behaviors of learnersina telephone-based instructiongroup DANIEL BOISVERT, PH.D. Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres Trois-Rivieres, Quebec Canada, G9A 5H7

The aim of this research was to identify the helping which of these behaviors were perceived as the behaviors of distance learners in a telelecturing set- most important and by classifying behaviors. ting. A review of the literature enabled us to draw up a list A review of the literature produced a list of helping of behaviors helpful for learners in distance educa- behaviors in distance education and telelecturing. tion and telelecture settings. Behaviors in the list The helping behaviors were classified onto one of were classified according to a reference grid based the two broad areas (social-emotional and task) on the Bales table for classifying behaviors of mem- used in the Bales Table, and were further classified bers of a group (1951), which comprises two areas into one of the three categories of behavior proper to (social-emotional and task), each containing three each area. This classification was verified by three categories. On the basis of this classification, we judges. developed a working hypothesis that distance lear- By classification of data existing in the literature, we ners would more often identify task-related behav- were able to formulate the hypothesis that of all the iors, particularly those concerned with communi- helping behaviors, task-related behaviors, especial- cation, than they would identify social-emotional ly those related to communication, were of the behaviors. greatest importance for the learners as members of a Three judges verified the grid for classifying the telephonebased instruction group. behaviors of learners in distance education or telelecturing settings. The questionnaire had two parts: th first contained questions designed to identify the personal charac- A two-part questionnaire was prepared. The first teristics of the respondents; the second dealt with part was designed to provide information on respon- helping behaviors and their importance in a tele- dents' personal characteristics; second part asked lecturing setting. The questionnaire was sent to all respondents to identify behaviors perceived as help- 304 people who took courses by telelecture at the ful to learners in a telephone-based instruction University of Moncton (New Brunswick, Canada) in group and to rank-order these behaviors. The ques- 1985 and 1986. 182 people or 59.8% of the group tionnaire was sent to the 304 persons who took answered the questionnaire. courses by telelecture at the University of Moncton in 1985 and 1986. A total of 85 different helping behaviors were noted by the respondents; 26 of these appear more impor- Completed questionnaires were received from 182 tant than the others. Three behaviors are exception- persons (59.9% of the target population). The ma- ally important: listening to others when they are jority (71.5%) were women under 36 years old who speaking, discussing ideas with others and paying had 13 years' schooling or equivalent even before attention to others. registering for the telelecture courses. the majority were part-time students (64%) with paying jobs The results show that task-related helping behaviors (59.3%). Reasons for registering for the courses are more important for the respondents than social- were primarily of a cognitive nature (58.7%) and emotional behaviors and that the most important of 77.5% of the respondents preferred group studies. all behavior categories is that of communication in task-related behaviors. The respondents also answered open questions (research variables) with 853 responses, representing The main objective of this research was to answer 86 different behaviors. Responses and behaviors the following question: What are the helping behav- were classified by the author, and the classification iors of learners as members of a telephone-based was submitted to three judges for verification. The instruction group? This objective was attained by responses and behaviors were them compiled and identifying helping behaviors cited by learners and ordered according to number and importance. Table I: Order of categories, behaviors and responses, by area Areas and Number of Total and Number of Total and Categories Behaviors Percentage Responses Percentage Task-related 47 (55%) 520 (61%) Communication 23 337 Control 16 139 Evaluation 8 44 Social-emotional: 38 (45%) 333 (39%) Reintegration 17 144 Tension reduction 11 126 Decision 10 63 TOTAL 85 (100%) 453 (10J%)

An analysis of the results reveals that, whether number or importance is considered, the order of behaviors is almost idertical.

Table II: Importance of categories and behaviors, by area

Areas and Number of Total and Importance Total % Categories Behaviors Percentage of 2193 Task-related: 47 (59%) 1427 65.1% Communication 23 931 Control 16 390 Evaluation 8 106 Social-emotional: 33 (41%) 766 34.9% Reintegration 13 324 Tension reduction 10 271 Decision 10 171 TOTAL 80 2193 100%

Using the criterion of the importance average which The third degree of importance (28 to 45 points) was calculated by dividing the total number of comprised the following 10 behaviors, which were points of importance by the number of important termed important: behaviors identified by the respondents, 26 helping helping each other behaviors were identified as being the most impor- accepting feedback from others tant. This list of 26 behaviors fell naturally into three speaking so as to be understood divisions, or degrees of importance. The highest discussing problems brought up degree (125 points or more) comprised three behav- participating in social life through participation iors termed exceptionally important, namely: in the group listening to others when they speak chatting with others discussing ideas with others giving feedback paying attention to others recognizing one's strengths and weaknesses The second degree of importance (63 to 100 points) helping to channel discussion consisted of seven behaviors termed very important, offering information useful to the discussion namely: commenting on a statement that has been made arriving on time for the class participating seriously and actively in classes showing team spirit giving examples to clarify the meaning of ideas helping someone else asking questions about the subject adapting to the way in which the course in orga- engaging in specific individual activities nized expressing one's opinion creating and maintaining a good work climate For the respondents, task related helping behaviors paying attention to what is said were the more important of the two types, both in

122 1 Category Area Weight number Percentage out of 2193

Communication task 931 42.4 Control task 390 17.8 Reintegration social-emotional 324 14.8 Tension reduction social-emotional 271 12.4 Decision social-emotional 171 7.8 Evaluation task 106 4.8

terms of number of responses elicited (61%) and in the variable "Reasons for registering for courses", terms of the weight accorded (65.1%). The most too large a number of categories was used which important behavior category, in terms both of num- made it difficult to pinpoint respondents' principal ber of responses (39.5%) and weight accorded reasons. For the variable "Respondents' attitude to- (42.4%) was that of communication in the task area. ward cooperation and competition", the response., Analysis made it possible to classify the various proposed allowed little room for expressing atti- categories of behavior in order of importance. tudes favorable to competition. 32 new behaviors (i.e. behaviors not included in the The results of this research provide, for the first time, classification grid) were identified by the respon- a detailed list of helping behaviors specifically relat- dents and placed in one of the following categories: ed to learners in a telelecturing setting. Wafters' communication (4), control (7), reintegration (5), research had already made the tasks and functions tension reduction (6), decision (6) and evaluation of a telephone-based instruction group known. The (4). present research led to the identification of 85 behaviors which help the learner in this type of group One methodological problem arose from the fact carry out these tasks and functions. that the classification grid was based on the Bales table. During the classification of results, it became Waters (1985), for example, had identified Asking evident that it would be difficult to classify certain as an important task for this group of learners. The behaviors proper to a telelecturing setting without exact nature of this task becomes clearer when the accepting a broader interpretation of certain cate- helping behaviors related to it asking others ques- gories that had been designed for observing face-to- tions, asking for the floor, asking others to explain face groups. For example, doing the appropriate difficult concepts and asking for feedback are textbook readings before a class, a task-related be- specified. havior, is above all an individual behavior, engaged The significance of these results must of course be in outside class-time. However, the judges consid- measured against the relatively small number of ered it a useful category to retain, because it contrib- respondents (182, or 59.9%), of the 304 persons uted important information on the helping behav- taking telelecture courses at the University. iors of the learners in question, and because this The questionnaire had a number of open questions behavior did in fact promote active participation in to reveal the group's perceptions about helping be- the group and task - relater' group work. haviors.These questions allowed respondents Another problem was presented by the classifica- themselves to help define ideal ways of acting for tion of the responses. It was sometimes difficult to members of a telephone-based instruction group. establish a hard-and-fast distinction between the The number and quality of the responses of this category of reintegration and that of tension reduc- group of learners enriched the classification grid by tion as well as between the control and decision providing it with 32 new categories of behavior, an categories. Several responses in these categories increase of almost 38%. could be considered interchangeable. A slight dif- This research could serve as a point of departure for ference in the perception of a response, or the use of a future study which would compare the helping a qualifier after an action verb, often influenced the behaviors ic:entified by respondents in the present decision to classify the response in one category study with helping behaviors identified by distance rather than another. The seriousness of this problem learners involved in instructional settings in which was mitigated by the judges agreeing to verify the the participants (i.e. professors, tutors and learners) classification of behaviors and responses and at- transmit nonverbal meE ages. Telelecturing forces tempting to reach a consensus on contentious those involved to take the limitations of the tele- points. The judges were able to make various com- phone into consideration and adjust their behaviors ments which proved useful in the analysis and in- accordingly; communication must be based on ver- terpretation of the results. bal language, which is the principal medium for A third problem was two descriptive variables. For social-emotional and task-related interactions.

123 1 2 (- ) Our study could also enable researchers to identify In the face of the many limitations imposed on dis- other factors in instruction by telelecture, for exam- tance education cost, flexibility, accessibility, ple teaching methods adopted by the professor and efficiency telelecturing appears to be a promising the type of task required of the learners (problem- option, and administrators and adult students are solving, case studies, discussion, etc.). naturally interested in it. Recent technological de- In a telelecturing setting the learner be,...ries in velopments in telephone communications, and the effect the principal agent in the educational process. increasing interest in small learning groups, make Also as members of a telephone-based instruction telelecturing an interesting area to explore for re- group, learners must consider themselves, others, searchers in adult education, distance education and the group as a whole if they are to make their and genagogy.. learning situation viable.

'The word genagogy,from the Greekgenos,for "race", "family", "kind" in the sense of "group" is patterned after the word "pedagogy ". It designates the science and art of rendering group activity effective. A program in genagogy was established at the Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres in 1969 by Reynald Rivard, in collaboration with Nicole Bourget. As a study, genagogy is concerned with the communication phenomena which influence the effectiveness of individuals within a group, and of groups interacting with other groups. The professional goal of the practitioner in genagogy is to improve the functioning of the individual through the group aswell asrelations between groups.

124 121 Ways to develop the unique strengthsof distance education for globalprogress GARY McI. BOYD Professor of Education (Educational Technology) Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1M8 Canada

INTRODUCTION very well. Also my own experience taking the Na- tional Schools Radio Electronics correspondence GLOBAL TRANSFORMATIVE course when I was eleven years old, is fresh in my OPPORTUNITY memory as an experience of wonderful connexion Sensible priorities are obtained by looking at the to a "brave new world" at 4000 South Figueroa st. context of our work. If we start by looking at the Los Angeles California (Glamourfomia!) The situa- whole living mantle of this little planet, what Love- tion in which I actually lived and suddenly contract- lock calls GAZA, then it is clear that its viability is ed: through the deaths of my Great Aunt and Grand- now in doubt. (Macy, 1983) All other educational mother, who were like additional mothers to me, aims are necessarily subordinate to the continuation and due to our forced move which cut me off from of GAIA's desire and ability to survive. Surely this is my erstwhile chums. Under these circumstances the true even if you take the individualist position that regular fortnightly arrival in the morning mail of each of us has a right to happiness now, inour own packets of nicely printed electronics lessons, and occasionally of real parts to build oscillators, ampli- lives, because we are evolved biologically in sucha way that human beings cannot be really happy at fiers etc. was an exciting other-world connection any given "now" without some intimations of a utterly divorced from the bullys at school and the future. However, if our survival protection machin- tiresome tasks at home. That correspondence ery becomes so complexly hierarchical that there is course was not just another situational constraint, no freedom for each of us to create our own individ- like the cranky old landlord downstairs, it was an ual contributions to life, then the desiie to survive escape and a catalyst enabling me to mobilize part collapses, and the huge security system is meaning- of myself which otherwise would have been held in less and futile. suspension or might perhaps even have atrophied. It seems that in fact it is possible by undertaking Some sort of educational transformation shoulden- a able people to act more creatively, andmore coop- distance-education course to distance oneself from eratively as world-makers, as the consciousness of both the home & work worlds, and also from th.. Gaia; or to put it in Buckminster Fuller's terminol- school world. There is a distancing, due to the post- ogy: as the navigators and crew of "spaceship al or broadcast media, from the world of schoolor earth". university life, as well as a distancing from the daily life of family and the routines of work. From both sides, one can say to oneself: "I am in this world but UNIQUENESS not of it! ". This new space which "really isn't anywhere; it's somewhere else instead", can give extra UNIQUE STRENGTHS OF freedom of action to one's deepest self to develop DISTANCE EDUCATION: aid mobilize new personae. The SITUATIONS of 1) C-In xt-distancing everyday life, and of conventional school lifeare often so demanding, by continually insisting that Distant__ education frequently seems to the student usy-work be done, as to leave no room for deeper as though it is a connection to another world, in growth tasks. Distance education because of its some sense an higher and better world. The film of looser articulation, because of the distances in time Willy Russe "'s play "Educating Rita" conveyed this and space and personal relations involved, can pro-

125 -I c.01 vide such badly needed growing space. Open Uni- courage to point out directly the sexual and erotic versity course-work provides a respectable reason aspect of education. (Goodman, 1962, p. 103) A for even a mother to absent herself from some family dialectical educational marriage of minds, is often duties, as well as providing a variety of new in- (and perhaps should more often be) accompanied formation and new role models to try out in her by at least the h tasy of total conjugation. In the formative imagination. situation of an ordiAary school intellectually erotic 2) Mentor-intimacy connections between learners and teachers tend to explode and ruin one or both parties. But in distance One of the curious things about the National education learning letters can be at least implicitly Schools electronics correspondence course was the love letters, without so much risk. The taboos of our way in which the iessons tests and workbooks were society make this kind of thing difficult to discuss, interspersed with wise and humorous aphorisms but it is so fundamental and so important that it written or quoted by the president, one J. K. Rosenk- needs to be publicly debated more often. We are ranz. They continually encouraged you to think of fundamentally sexually procreative beingsnot the learning enterprise as one of building confi- merely at the level of genes, but also at the levels of dence and character not just technical skills. The memes, and meme-complexes. We conjugate each flavour was closer to Horatio Alger than to Maimo- others' ideas to recreate and propagate them. This is nides but nonetheless it had an impact. Again the a very personal and romantic process, not a cold university of Chicago correspondence course which cognitive-machine process. Again, the play and I worked through when I was living on an Arctic film: "Educating Rita" dealt with this aspect of dis- island (Alert N.W.T.) in the fifties provided some tance education reality which has scarcely been friendly encouraging support through the letters sent touched upon in the distance education literature back to me with my corrected assignments by the (but, see Holtzclaw, 1986). tutor. Many distance education organisations at- There are other unique strenrhs of distance educa- tempt to provide similar kinds of encouragement tion (C. Amundsen, 1987) but these two are what through TV personalities, published material, postal will be considered further here. counselling, or local tutoring. (Sewart, 1983) Perhaps such support is only the beginning of what STANDARD DEFINITIONS OF is really possible in distance education. Here, I am thinking of those long personal correspondences DISTANCE EDUCATION which are essentially an exchange of programmatic The main well-accepted definitions of the field of and critical ideas, as well as being love letters, distance education are empirical ones put together which we know from history and if we are fortunate, by practitioners working in organisations which from personal experience. The letters exchanged provide correspondence, and or broadcast educa- between: Heloise and Abelard, Elizabeth Barrett tion, who find that they have common interests and Robert Browning, and those of numerous less which are different from those of other educators. celebrated friends and lovers have formed an essen- One of the most widely quoted is that of Keegan tial part of the mutual education of many people. (1980), who specifies these six defining character- They have provided space to privately cultivate per- istics: "1-separation of teacher and learner, 2-influ- sonae transcending the mere everyday addiction to ence of an educational organisation, 3-use of tech- prevalent meme-roles. They can and often do in- nical media, 4-provision of two-way communica- volve 'transformative'-emancipative & visionary, tion, 5-possibility ofoccasional meetings, learning at a distance from others. They certainly 6-participation in an industrialized form of educa- involve distancing the learner from everyday sit- tion". For professional organisational and many re- uational pressures. What they obviously don't in- search purposes Keegan's approach is excellent. volve is any collectively organized institutionally However, the contention here is that to align our supported programme. On that basis the are tech- enterprise with the deepest and most urgent pri- nically not examples of what Keegan (1980) defines orities of this planet's living mantle, and with the to be distance education, but they do have some- deepest eclu-ational struggles of each learner, dis- thing to teach us about the possibility for deeper tance education should also be defined theoretical- growth through loving mentorship at a distance. In ly in terms of the uniquely relevant kinds of trans- my own life I have participated in four protracted formative learning process which it permits. correspondences with distant intimates which were largely dialectical exchanges of ideas and trials of Distance education should permit deeply transfor- new ways of being (rather than being the conven- mative education for large numbers of people all tional newsy letter exchanges, such as the term over the world, because it can provide even the very correspondence tends to evoke). These were anoth- timid learner with flexible escape from immediate er kind of distance education for me. contextual pressures, as well as intellectual nourish- ment, and suitably distanced mentorial friendship. Paul Goodman was one of the few people with the The last is jy.,:cibly the most important from the

126

1 2OPP emancipative standpoint since, in addition to the people have very small regions of real autonomy. safe private space in which to grow new personae, Most of the time they just play out some one or there is a need for new role models and various another of their meme-roles, selected automatically kinds of guidance which may or may not be nrovid- as it were, by the immediate situation including the ed by the more mechanized and standardized parts other actors around them. At the very least a good of distance education. This is already recognized by education should help us make deeply intentional, eminent leaders in the field such as Kevin Smith: and largely autonomous choices of the appropriate "...distance education is more likely to succeed if personae (meme-roles) to bring onto the various the individual student is made the central focus 14 playing fields of public life. A conscious under- our endeavours and we respond to his or her needs standing of meme-role addiction, and mernP push- notjust as a learner but as a whole person who needs ing (which is analogous to drug "pushing") should a variety of forms of support in addition of academic be developed as a normal and necessary hygienic guidance." (Smith, 1982) aspect of emancipative education. A commonplace notion of education is that it pro- BASIC THEORY vides factual knowledge, procedural skills, and useful acquaintances. There are also "motherhood" It seems that in general our actions at any given time aims of education concerning the building of char- are fully controled by four sub-systems: -i) Arguably acter (self-discipline, civic spirit etc.) which in our (Brissett & Edge ly, 1975), the most important is the age of faith in technical rationality we tend to down- SITUATION in which we find ourselves (the phys- grade as vague (non-operational izable) products of ical spaces-"set", other actors and especially their weaker souls. In my view the general aims of legiti- immediate demands, etc.) ii) Probably the next most mate public education, and they are interdependent important is our INTERNAL "CAST" of actors ones, should be: cultural rootedness, a cooperative (ROLE-MEMES, super-ego, ego, Id, or "p" individu- integrative predisposition and abstract and con- als),iii) then comes the cargo of other parasitic crete, knowledge and skill based cuitural potency. memes which we host and which burst forth to try to There is a certain, more apparent than real, dis- propagate themselves at the slightest opportunity. junction between such aims and let us say Charley's iv) Finally the most crucial (though often inactive) is immediate need for an accounting course to help the substratal free-will "Self" which can suddenly him learn the skills to keep his garage from going well-up to alter the balance among the other com- bankrupt. Distance education can serve all three of ponents. (Boyd & Meyers, 1987) Here I will call it the posited legitimate education,.) aims. And also the radical free-willing locus of Self or "FWSelf" serve both Charley and a would-be academic. whatever deep and strange mechanism enables us Moreover it can serve our collective need to create a to exercise some momentary non-physically deter- more viable society. mined free-will to choose which of our "actors" are to be on-stage and how they shall communicate From an Olympian standpoint one might consider there. distance education to be just another part of the SITUATION, but usually for the learner, it is not just Most of the time the situation and whichever mem- a part of her or his mundane situation but rather it is ber of our internal cast is onstage seem to combine a special safe and private place where fledgling new mechanically to generate habitual actions. Trans- personae chosen by our deeper free-will locus can formative education, drama, and psychotherapy all be nurtured. Distance education has a unique mode attempt to involve the deeper free-will locus, so that of address, unlike the other forms of education, it may choose to provoke transactions among our theatre, and therapy there is no immediate syn- internal "P" individuals (Pask, 1975) which will chronous dependency on other people. Moreover, result in our setting about with much gre2tP, :,.c.ir- there is a dislocation from the context of daily life. confidence, at learning to plan, and planning to go This dislocation limits the pressure that can be put on learning. on the learner by educational agents, but not so as to invalidate the educational process. What is more MERE MEME REPRODUCTION AS important is that it emancipates the learner from the traps of everyday life so that there is the time and MIS-EDUCAT!ON privacy to learn and grow new ways of learning. Education inescapably involves the reproduction Also it can provide a kind of safe personal connec- and propagation of what Richard Dawkins calls tion to some (in a sense intimate the sense that "memes" (by analogy with genes) and mutually- one will tell ones lifestory candidly to strangers on a reinforcing "meme-complexes" (Dawkins, 1976, foreign train, in a way that one never would to 1983). Unfortunately indeed, much of what is acquaintances) growth-oriented mentors. called education involves little more than mere meme reproduction (Bordieu & Passeron, 1977). One danger arising from this situation is that many

127 1 2.; NEW THEORETICAL DRAFT work of Robert Boyd and I. Gordon Myers (1987) DEFINITIONS who have been developing a conceptualization of "transformative" adult education based on the work Let us define: "Emancipative Distance Education" of Erik Erikson and upon Jung's concept of the (E/DE) as that form of systemically organized re- "Self". This E/DE definition also owes much to Ken- sponsible education which distances the learner neth Burkes's "life-as-theatre" perspective (Brissett from the pressures of situation, and also provides and Edgley, 1975), and to various catalytic concep- optimallydistanced transformativementorial tualisationsof viral-informatione.g.Dawkins' friends. MEMES & MEME-complexes(vid.Hofstadter, 1985). Critical theory and Habermas' ideas of life- And let us define: "Responsible Education" as any world forming meta-discourse are also implicit in publicly-organised support process provided to en- this conceptualization of emancipative distance able persons to develop greater: culturally-rooted, education (Habermas, 1984). responsibly co-operative, personal potency. Aside from the illumination they shed on the subject Legitimate (in Habermas' 1984, sense) public edu- and its proponents, attempts at definitions can be cation must be concerned as much with whether useful in helping us to see new alternatives, and new learners are pre-disposed to make responsible coop- implications of our choices, when we are confront- erative use of enhanced powers, as with how to ed with decision-making and planning situations. engender such powers. There is a general belief that the more open learning is the better. But "good TECHNIQUES & TOOLS closings" are just as important as "good opening" (Klapp 1978). Contemporary technology can pro- If we build on its unique strengths Distance educa- vide terrible opportunities for irresponsible action, tion can be much more than remediation for the such as those for the automatic machine production failures of schools, or technical band-aid know- of new viruses, or those provided by the new com- ledge dispensing. If there is an emancipative vision, punications facilities so easily usable for fraud and and if appropriate soft, hard, and systemic tech- blackmail. The term potency is chosen delibrately nologies can be chosen and mobilized much more to emphasize the re-productive and propagative should be achievable soon. quintessence of human action. Like artistic and ar- Perhaps enough has been stated here about the ticulate animals we create, conjugate and compet- vision, but some of the techniques and tools for its itively propagate cultural forms. But what sets us realization need to be outlined, at least briefly. Each apart is that we can choose to break a habit, we can of these techniques and tools could easily involve a imagine futures and choose moral/ethical roles in whole paper in itself. When they have been written preference to ones merely triggered by the situation. about elsewhere references are given below. To express it rather crudely; we are not just addicts In order to grow a better world through distance and pushers of patterns which feel pushable. We are education some of the options are: able to rise above merely reproducing meme-complexes, by exercising moral judgment. To a signi- i) to help people emancipate themselves from ficant extent, with the help of friends, we are able to addictions (such as meme-role and meme-complex choose which of our role-memes we will propagate, addictions, as well as chemical addictions) which and how we will change what has been t1:. Est upon generally are both debilitating, and supportive of us. We can choose to learn adaptively as we teach, larger forms of domination. This can partly be done thus "pushing" the meta-pattern of long-term mu- by educationally employing some of the techniques tual assistance, which has a chance of going on of therapy (reflection, paradoxical juxtaposition, being propagated indefinitely in the human soup. multi-modal communication etc.) in distance education. In particular role-play dramas could be car- For society to exist coherently it must, and awk- ried on by audio teleconferencing, and endless- wardly does, constrain the range of patterns propa- story script dramas can be made up using computer gated to limit suicide and homicide conducing ac- mediated text conferencing. These enable commu- tivity (e.g. cigarette smoking, junk-TV?). More so- nication among personae who otherwise are forced phisticated societies can seek to cultivate some of into stale-mating isolation or conflict. Psycho-ther- the responsible creative and mutually nourishing apy has been conducted successfully using a video- variety of every person by helping people to rise teleconferencing link. When such links become above mere addiction, so as to consciously re-shape cheap these techniques may be worthwhile includ- the forms which they/we propagate. In the defini- ing for distance education students. tion above, this is what is meant by "responsibly cooperative potency". ii) to help people model the systems which include them, in order to determine: where change is The approach taken here to formulate and propaga- needed, where leverage is possible, which extend- te a deeper theoretical definition of "Emancipative ed connections are necessary, and which must be Distance Education" was partly informed by the filtered, or cut. Prescriptive cybernetic system mod-

128 125 elling techniques (Boyd, 1982) can be most helpful form of capital to be reproduced, and some in- in this task. Certain computer applications software vestment in distance education is made to that end. such as Mildred Shaw's KITTEN (1987), and W.M. But more insight would show that it is really affil- Jaworski's ABLNV4 1-Maps (1987) which allow for iative distance networking and emancipative mod- group participation in modelling, can be most use- elling which are the crucial factors in obtaining ful. socio-economic catalysis from educational invest- iii) to arrange and sponsor long-term growth ori- ments.Affiliativeeducation(credibilitystatus ented affiliations. "human capital" is not just "know-who"-forming connections into the net- competence, it is connected competence. There- works of interpersonal relevant reputation cogni- fore match-making operations which build net- zance) is what truly constitutes the most important works of people who can appreciate each others' component of human capital, and therefore should capabilities and trustworthiness are as important as constitute the basis for any realistic development the knowledge and skills training operations of dis- programmes, if these are to lead toward a more tance education. Conventional Alumni associations viable world. such as that of the UK Open University this to an The thrust of this paper is that with wide acceptance appreciable extent now. But one new way to dc of a more systemic, emancipatory and visionary match-making is for the distance education orga- conceptualization of distance education such as the nisation to use computer communications to link- one sketched out above, more truly globally worth- together students, tutors, graduates, and potential while distance education undertakings should be employers (Boyd, 1985a). possible. iv) We need to actually try to shape the new digital Pattern Perceiving, Processing and Propaga- ting (P4) technologies to fit our educational process needs. For example: Personal Assistant Linker and REFERENCES Shield Systems-PALS together with Personal Attri- bute Tracking and Handshaking Systems-PATHS, Beer, Stafford, along with Performance Learning Activity Cybernet- Designing freedom; CBS Massey Lectures 1973, CBC, ic Environment Spaces-PLACES may be better forms Toronto, 1974. of computer-communications technology for dis- Boyd, Gary M. tance education than what is available now (Boyd & "Essential Elements of Prescriptive Models in Educational Jaworski, 1985b). Cybernetics" pp. 341-347 in Trappl R. Ricciard L, Pask G. (eds.) Progress in cybernetics and systems research, SUMMARY McGraw Hill Intl./Hemisphere, London, 1982. LIFE-WORLD-MAKING THROUGH Boyd, Gary M. (1985a) "Providing for Life-long Affiliation with Distance DISTANCE EDUCATION Education Institutions, and the Feasibility d Doing So As Jerome Bruner (1987) puts it: " 'world-making' is With Computer Communications" Canadian Jo:mai of the principal function of mind, whether in the sci- Educational Communication, 14,1,8-27 January 19,15. ences or in the arts." Boyd, Gary M. & Jaworski, Wojciech M. Distance education is: an aspect of change, a (1985b) "PALS, PATHS, PLACES and Producers; four more appropriate forms of Computer Aided Education" change agent, and something whichisbeing pp. 614-616 in Proceedings of Compint85, IEEE. Wash- changed, perhaps radically by the combined work- ington DC, 1985. ings of econo-politics and technology. Boyd, Robert D. & Meyers Gordon J. The politics of curriculum and the techniques of "Transformative Education" (Pre-print, private communi- instruction throughout most of the world are appar- cation July, 1987). ently quite inadequate to ensure the cooperativity and capacity needed to keep life viable on this Bordieu, Pierre & Passeron, Jean Claude, planet. The ordinal), econo-politics of curriculum is Reproduction in education society and culture, Sage, too myopic, too pragmatic, too opportunistic. Here- London, 1977. tofore most distance education, with the exception Brisset, D. & Edgley C. of some of the vast Chinese and Burmese projects Life as theater, Aldine, Chicago, 1975. has been too timid about its aims too peripheral in its Bruner, Jerome S. self conception for the programmes and projects to "Life as Narrative" Social Research, 54, 1, 11-32, Spring have had much real impact on the global situation, 1987. on Gaia's chances for survival through the twenty- first century. Dawkins, Richard, "Replicators and Vehicles" Kings College Sociobiology To put it another way, specific technical knowledge Croup (ed.) Current problems in sociobiology, Cam- and skills are seen by governments as an important bridge U.P., Cambridge, 1983.

129 1 2,-; Hohtadter, Douglas R. Pask, Gordon "On Vint Sentences and Self-replicating structures" The cybernetics of human learning and performance, chap. 3 in Metamagical Themas, Bantam, N.Y. 1985. Hutchinson, London, 1975. Habennas, Jurgen Rumble, Greville The theory of communicative action (T. McCarthy trans.) "The Contribution of Distance Education in Providing Boston Ma: Beacon Press, 1984. Education for a lust Social Order" Paper presented to the Ho Itatlaw Louis R. Fourth Triennial World Conference on Education of the World Council for Curriculum and Instruction, Edr onton "Human Development and the Distance Learner" ICDE 26 July 1983. Bulletin, 10, 1, 17-19, 1986. Sewart, David Jaworski, W.M. Ficocelli L. O'Mara K.S. "Counselling in Distance Education an Overview" "The ABL/W4 Methodology for System Modelling, Sys- International Workshop on Counselling in Distance Edu- tems Research vol 4. 1, 23-38, 198/. cation, Selected Papers po 7-11, The !COE and the Open Keegan, Desmond, J. University N.W. Region Manchester, (1983). "On Defining Distance Education" Distance Education 1, Shaw, M.L.G. 1, 13-15, 1980. "A Knowledge System for Group Learning and Decision Klapp, Orrin E. Making" Proceedings of the International Conference on Opening & Closing, Cambridge U. P., Cambridge, 1978. Computer Assisted Learning in Post-secondary Education, pp. 197-203 University of Calgary, Calgary, 1978. Macy, Joanna Rogers, Despair and personal power in the nuclear age, New Smith, Kevin Society Pub. Philadelphia, 1983. "Putting the Student First: Som,, Personal Perspectives; A Tale of Two Serpents" Keynote Address International Council of Correspondence Education (now ICDE) Trien- nial meeting, Vancouver, Spring 1982.

130 1 2 7 A model of attrition for distance education JANE E. BRINDLEY Athabasca University Edmonton Alberta, Canada

INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND: MODELS OF Distance education universities throughout the ATTRITION world appear to have high attrition rates relative to A few conceptual models have been introduced in those of campus-based institutions (Losty and Bro- the attrition literature. Some of these are narrow, derson, 1980; Holmberg, 1982; Shale, 1982; van taking only one or a few factors into consideration. Wijk, 1983). It is a dilemma, from an institutional Others are much wider, encompassing the interac- perspective, that so many distance education stu- tion of student, institutional and environmental fac- dents choose not to continue towards a goal which tors. The latter tend to be more useful for research they have chosen for themselves. Distance educa- purposes and for planning retention strategies. tors are very concerned about the drop-out issue and have devoted considerable time and other re- Spady (1971) is usually credited with introducing sources to address it. Indeed, it has been said that the first model of attrition. He used Durkeim's theo- the rate of drop-out constitutes the most significant ry of suicide as an analogy for drop-out. His model criterionfor decisions about improvements or described the assimilation process of a student into changes to systems of distance education (Rekkedal, an educational institution, taking into account stu- 1981). dent characteristics and the institution's social and academic demands. Spady's theory was that if the A great deal of research has been conducted regard- student could meet the demands of the institution ing attrition in all educational settings. By far the and felt rewarded in the process, it was likely that largest portion of drop-out research consists solely successful assimilation and persistence would be of descriptions of causal factors attained through the result. empirical research. However, there is now general agreement that what is needed are conceptual mod- Tinto (1975) developed a theory similar to Spady's els of attrition which recognize the complex in- but went beyond description of the process to build terplay of variables which interact over a period of a predictive model. Tinto viewed the educational time to produce drop-out. These models lend them- institution as a social system into which the persist- selves to multivariate and longitudinal pawn, nalyses ing student became integrated over time. He de. which are required in order to isolate and measure scribed the integration process as a series of interac- the relative importance of various factors during the tions between the person and the social and aca- drop-out process. demic systems of the institution. The person entered with certain completion goals and institutional This paper proposes a conceptual model of attrition commitments which, over time, were modified by for distance education adapted from one developed the quality and frequency of social and academic by Bean and Metzner (1985) for campus-based, interactions. Depending upon whether the students' adult, part-time students. Variables used to adapt goals and commitments were strengthened or weak- the model are drawn from a study by the author of ened by this process, they would drop out or persist. students' experiences in their first distance education courses at Athabasca University (Brindley, A number of studies have tested the Spady and Tinto 1987). Significant factors affecting course comple- models. The best known of these are the validation tion emerged from the study as did findings about studies of Pascarella eid Terenzini. They have the similarities and differences between the experi- found support for the Tinto theory in a variety of ences of completers and non-completers. The data ways. In a study of freshman year students at one were used to adjust the variables in the Bean and college, they were able to show, to some degree, Metzner model to represent more accurately the that student characteristics and academic experi- distance education context. ences interacted to produce persistence or drop-out decisions (Terenzini and Pascarella, 1978; 1979a).

131 I2,..., In another study, they were able to isolate student- particular student population, and what students faculty contact as a variable and showed how this perceive and experience as being important to their contributed to both social and academic integration persistence. In a study conducted at Athabasca Uni- of the student according to the Tinto model (Pasca- versity from 1984-86 (Brindley, 1987), significant rel la and Terenzini, 1979b). Another of their studies factors affecting completion were identified by stu- looked at the construct validity of Tinto's concep- dents. A summary of the results is presented below. tual framework (Terenzini and Pascarella, 1980) Forty students enrolled in their first course at Atha- and found support for it. Although they felt that basca University were chosen at random from eight Tinto overstated the importance of student charac- courses (five students from each course). This proc- teristics, they found that the model's two major ess was carried out soon after the start date without constructs, social and academic integration, were regard for the students' progress in the course, their significant in distinguishing between persisters and demographics or any other factors. Although the voluntary leavers. Pascarella and Terenzini (1980) students were chosen through simple, random se- also found support for the predictive validity of so- lection, and the sample was relatively small, their cial and academic integration for attrition and com- demographics matched those of the student pop- pletion by developing and testing a multidimension- ulation of the university in a number of important al measurement instrument to assess the major di- ways (age, gender, educational background and mensions of the Tinto model. They concluded that motivations for studying). In the final analysis, the the model was useful for theoretical and research completion rate for the sample also matched that of purposes, as well as for practical purposes of plan- the population. Students were interviewed by tele- ning retention strategies. phone eight to ten weeks after their start date using Adult part-time students do fit the Tinto model Flanagan's (1954) Critical Incident Technique, a because they have much less interaction with facul- method for eliciting incidents (defined as a thought, ty and fellow students than younger part-time stu- feeling or experience) which hinder or facilitate dents who spend much more time on campus. some aim, in this case, course completion. Hence, social integration as defined by Tinto does not contribute in the same way to their goals and The 40 students in the study reported a total 265 institutional commitment. The significant others in incidents, 113 facilitating and 152 hindering in- adult students' lives are usually the same ones they cidents. The average number of incidents reported had before commencing their studies family, per student was 6.6 One student reported that noth- friends, employer and co-workers. This is partic- ing had hindered his progress while two students ularly applicable to distance education students could identify no facilitating incidents. Of the 40 who study in their own homes and have even less students, 15 (37.5 percent) completed their courses, contact with faculty and other students than do cam- and 25 (62.5 per cent) did not. The 15 completers pus-based part-time learners. Bean and Metzner reported 108 (40.75 per cent) of the total 265 in- (1985) developed a conceptual model of the attri- cidents, 50 (46 per cent) facilitating and 58 (54 per tion process for adult part-Ime students. They pro- cent) hindering. The non-completers reported 157 posed that withdrawal decisions were based on four (59.2 per cent) of the total 265 incidents, 63 (40 per sets of variables: (1) background and defining var- cent) facilitating and 94 (60 per cent) hindering. iables of the student such as age, enrolment status Although the total number of incidents reported by and gender; (2) academic variables such as study each of the two groups (completers and non- habits and course availability; (3) environmental completers) was consistent with their size (i.e. variables such as finances, hours of employment, completers made up 37.5 per cent of the group and outside encouragement and family responsibility; reported 40.75 per cent of the incidents), there were (4) psychological outcomes such as perceived utility noticeable differences within particular categories (of studies),satisfaction, goal commitment and of incidents. stress. These sets of variables can contribute direct- The 265 incidents were sorted into groups of com- ly, indirectly or can interact to contribute to the mon mear,'ng until 13 basic categories emerged. drop-out decision. Two raters were used after the final sort to determine reliability af the basic categories. Both achieved SIGNIFICANT FACTORS IN DROP- interrater reliability of over 90 per cent. The basic OUT FROM DISTANCE categories are bipolar, having the potential to include both hindering and facilitating incidents. A EDUCATION: WHAT STUDENTS description of each of these categories is provided TOLD US AT ATHABASCA below: UNIVERSITY (1) Student Interaction with the Institution It is clear that the content of the sets of variables and This category excludes the student's instructional the relative importance of variables in an interac- contact (i.e. with the tutor) but includes all other tional model of attrition is entirely dependent on the contact by telephone, mail/print, or in-person.

132 1 2i) (2) Personalized Instructional Support (9) Marks Received Personalized instructional support is given in addi- These incidents are ones where the marks received tion to the learning package and is usually provided in the course had a direct effect on the way the by the tutor and/or course co-ordinator by tele- student felt about doing the course. Although no phone. It includes instruction on course content students in this group reported hindering incidents, including feedback on assignments, guidance in students in the circumstances other than this study approach to learning and encouragement. have reported negative or hindering effects from (3) Discovery about the Course/Support Materials/ marks received. Approach (10) Change in Time Available/Circumstances This category includes incidents where students dis- This is the largest category and includes all those covered something about the course, their ap- incidents where students reported that something in proach to it, or support materials which made a their life changed which made a difference to the difference to them. amount of time spent on their course. It includes (4) Pre-Course Preparation/Prior to Expectations such things as illness, vacation, work changes, The incidents in this category either happened be- death of a relative, season changes and move of fore the student started the course or are related to residence. expectations held before the course began. (11) Course Content (5) Received Encouragement/Support from Source This category includes those incidents which stu- Outside of the University dents directly attributed to the subject matter of the Encouragement, support and instruction were given course as opposed to the design. by family, friends and colleagues outside of the (12) Course Design University. This category has to do with the design of the learn- (6) Deadlines and Schedules ing package: the instructions given, support materi- This category includes incidents resulting from als, examinations and general layout. deadlines and schedules imposed by students, their (13) Practical Application of Learning circumstances or the institution. This category includes incidents where students re- (7) Personal Realization ported being able to relate the course to their experi- These are incidents when students realized some- ence. It facilitated them in their course if they saw thing about themselves such as their ability, their this as being helpful, and hindered them if they saw progress in the course, their approach to learning it as being redundant. and feelings about the course. Tables 1-3 summarize the major findings of the (8) ThoLghts About Longer-term Goals study. These are incidents where students thought about The participation rate indicates the strength of the how the course related to their longer-term goals, categories by showing the extent to which different usually career and educational. participants in the study reported the same kind of incidents as hindering or facilitating their goals. Ta-

Table 1 Basic Categories Participation Rate Category % of students No. of incidents reporting in- Facili- Hinder- cidents in tating ing each category

1. Student interaction with the institute 20 % 6 4 2. Personalized instructional support 50 % 15 12 3. Discovery about the course 43 % 9 18 4. Pre-course preparation/prior expectations 35 % 5 13 5. Encouragement/support from outside the Uni- 43 % 20 2 versity 6. Deadlines and Schedules 25% 10 3 7. Personal realization 63 % 16 21 8. Thoughts about longer-term goals 10 % 2 2 9. Marks received 20 % 9 0 10. Change in time available/circumstances 80 % 4 52 11. Course Contact 23 % 7 5 12. Course design ?8 % 5 15 13, Pactical application of learning !O % 5 4

133 I 3t) Table 2 Comparison of Participation Rates in Categories Between Completers and Non-Completers Category Completers (15-38%) Non-Completers (25 62% % of completers (out % of non-completers of 15) reporting in- (out of 25) reporting cidents incidents

1. Student Interaction with the institution 6%(1) 28 %(7) 2. Personalized Instructional support 47%(7) 52 %(13) 3.* Discovery about the course 53%(8) 36 %(9) 4.* Pre - course preparation/prior expectations 27%(4) 40 %(10) 5.* Encouragement/support from outside the Uni-60%(9) 32 %(8) versity 6.* Deadlines and schedules 40%(6) 16%(4) 7.* Personal realization 53%(8) 68 %(17) 8. Thoughts about longer-term goals 6%(1) 12%(3) 9.* Marks received 33%(5) 12 %(3) 10. Change in time available/circumstances 87%(13) 76 %(19) 11. Course content 20%(13) 24 %(6) 12. Course design 60%(9) 24 %(6) 13. Practical application of learning 20%(3) 20 %(5) * Categories where there are noticeable differences between the two groups' participation rates.

ble 1 shows the participation rate by percentage of ess is a comp;icated mix of student, institutional and students reporting incidents in each category. The environmental variables which interact over time to actual number of incidents which the percentages produce a drop-out decision. So far, the conceptual represent are shown also. model which appears most useful in describing this Table 2 shows a comparison of participation rates process in the distance education context is the one between completers and non-completers for each developed by Bean and Metzner (1985), specifically category. For both groups, there is at least one sub- for adult, part-time commuter students. ject in each category. There are noticeable differ- Their model proposed that withdrawal decisions ences between the groups' participation rates in 7 of were based on four major categories of variables: (1) the 13 categories. The participation rates are partly a background and defining characteristics of the stu- reflection of the relative importance attached to dent such as age, enrolment status and gender; (2) each category and for these reasons it is important to academic variables such as study habits and course compare persisters and non-completers. availability; (3) environmental variables such as fi- Table 3 compares completers and non-completers nances, hours of employment, outside encourage- in another way. It shows the ratio of facilitating to ment and family responsibility; and (4) psycholog- hindering incidents in each category for the two ical variables such as perceived utility of studies, groups. There are noticeable difforences in only four satisfaction, goal commitment and stress. categories. In general it can be said that the kind of Bean and Metzner proposed that these four sets of incidents which held the non-completer back, also variables could contribute directly or indirectly, or hindered the completer. Apparently, the completers could interact to produce outcomes of performance responded differently than the non-completers to (marks) and/or an intention to lEz.ve which could these incidents. Of particular interest is Category 10 lead to a drop-out decision. They described four Change in time available or circumstances. ways in which the model was interactive. Throughout distance education literature, this is cit- Firstly, there were direct effects between variables ed as the most often provided reason for drop-out or between variables and outcomes, such as that (Woodley and Partlett, 1983). This study shows that which a lack of course availability might have on a persisters experience just as many instances of this decision to drop out. Secondly, there were direct type of hindrance. effects presumed most important, such as the impact of study habits on marks. Thirdly, there was A MODEL OF ATTRITION FOR provision for the possible effects of lesser variables such as Tinto's (1975) social integration variables. DISTANCE EDUCATION Lastly, and probably the most importantly, were the It is clear from the findings of the Athabasca study compensatory interaction effects among sets of var- and other drop-out research that the attrition proc- iables. The simplest way to define these is to il-

134 13i lustrate with an example used by Bean and Metzner. gory under "Academic variables" is "absenteeism" It has been shown that environmental variables are (Bean and Metzner, 1985; 491). This is obviously an important factor in persistence for adult students. not appropriate to the distance education context. At the same time, it has been shown that academic It is proposed that the four major categories of var- variables are an important factor in persistence for iables in the model could be modified as follows, almost all students. Bean and Metzner proposed using findings from the Athabasca study. Additions that when both of these sets of variables were favor- are marked with an asterisk and proposed deletions able to persistence, the students would most likely are noted. Some factors have been left unchanged. drop out. However, ff academic variables were fa- This recognizes the appropriateness of the rationale vorable but environmental variables were not, adult for inclusion given by Bean and Metzner to the students would still be likely to drop out because the student population addressed in this study. The ra- academic variables would not compensate for poor tionale for changes to the model is provided imme- environmental support. On the other hand, if there diately below the following summery of the mod- were favorable environmental conditions but poor ified categories. academic variables, the adult student would still be likely to persist because, for them, environmental (1) Background and defining variables support could overcome the academic variables. age The factors which were reported as being critical to enrolmentstatus(*specifyprogram/non-pro- persistence by students in the Athabasca study can gram) be used to modify the Bean and Metzner model to residence (*urban/rural) reflect the distance education context. The four ma- educational goals jor categories of variables, the outcomes and the high school performance (*if applicable) interactional effects of the model appear appropri- *highest level of education achieved ate, but some of the content within the major cate- ethnicity (delete, unless studying special groups) gories requires change. For example, one sub-cate- gender

Table 3 Comparison of Ratios Between Facilitating and Hindering Incidents in Categories for Completers and Non-Completers Category No. of incidents No. of incidents reported by reported by completers non-completers Facilita- Hinder- Facilita- H inder- ting ing ting ing

1. Student interaction with the 0 1 6 3 institution 2. Personalized Instructional sup- 5 3 10 9 Port 3.* Discovery about the course 7 6 2 12 4.* Pre-course preparation/prior 2 3 3 10 expectations

5. Encouragement/Support from 10 1 10 1 outside the University

6.* Deadlines and schedules 7 1 3 2 7. Personal realization 6 7 10 14

8. Thoughts about longer-term 0 1 2 2 goals 9. Marks received 5 0 4 0 10. Change in time available/cir- 2 23 2 29 cumstances

11. Course content 2 1 5 4 12.* Course design 2 10 3 5

13. Practical Application of learning2 1 3 3 TOTALS 50 58 63 94

* Categories where there are noticeable differences between completers and non-completers with regard to the ratio between hindering and facilitating incidents.

135 I 3t., (2) Academic variables ous educational backgrounds than at institutions study habits with more specific entrance requirements. Since major certainty past educational achievement and experience are *information) (intended to address "Pre-course consistently noted throughout the literature as being Preparation/ important to persistence, this characteristic was *orientation) prior expectation" and "Discovery added to the model. High school performance was about course") left in because it has been shown to be an important academic advising variable but students at an open university may not *study skills assistance necessarily have attended high school. *assessment (intended to partially address "Dis- Ethnicity has never been an important defining char- covery and self") acteristic of Athabasca University students nor does *career planning it appear as an important factor in the distance edu- *deadlines and schedules/pacing cation literature. For this reason, it should be delet- *personalized instructional support ed unless special groups are being studied. *course content A number of factors have been added to the "aza- *course design demic variables". These all fall into the category of course availability retention strategies to be tested. Bean and Metzner absenteeism (delete) suggest that if major efforts are being made by an (3) Environmental variables institution to address attrition through particular finances programs, these should be added as variables in this hours of employment category. The retention strategies chosen reflect the outside encouragement findings of the Athabasca study but the rationale is family responsibilities not addressed by this paper (for a more complete *change in time available/circumstances discussion of retention studies see Brindley, 1987). opportunity to transfer Change in time available aldcircumstances was the (4) Psychological outcomes only factor added to "Environmental variables". This was the factor from the study which had the utility (*includes "Practical application" and highest proportion of students reporting incidents. It "Longer-term goals") is also the factor affecting persistence in distance satisfaction education which is most often cited in the literature. -- *personal realization Interactional effects between this and other varia- goal commitment (*defined as importance of bles need to be studied given that the persisters completing the course) reported an equal amount of hindering incidents in stress (delete in favor of more explicit variables) this category as did the drop-outs. The first category, "Background and defining var- Under "Psychological outcomes", there was one iables", was modified using the information about addition and two clarifications of definitions. "Per- defining characteristics of the population. In the sonal realization" was added because this was re- Athabasca University context, enrolment status can ported by 63 per cent of respondents to the study be widely defined as program and non-program. and it was seen as a psychological outcome of their Since commitment to a program of studies has been experience in their courses which had a direct im- seen as a factor in persistence in the literature, this pact on their persistence. An example of this was a wide definition was seen as an important variable to realization about being capable of university work. test. Utility was redefined to reflect the way in which Residence is defined as either urban or rural. It is students in this study described it, which included commonly thought that distance education students immediate practical application of studies and rela- are mainly from rural areas which do not have a tion to longer-term goals. Goal commitment was campus-based institution, but, in fact, over 60 per redefined as commitment to completing one course cent of the Athabasca University student population as opposed to a program because this more accu- are from urban areas. It is speculated that the two rately reflected the aspirations and behaviours of the groups are different in their motivations for choosing student population. The defining characteristic of distance study, and in the outside resources which program/non-program was also included in the first are available to them, such as library facilities. For set of variables. this reason, location is commonly used as a defining characteristic in institutional analyses of the student IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER body, so it is important to test its significance for STUDY persistence. With the modifications described above, the Bean The Athabasca University open admissions policy and Metzner model appears appropriate to the dis- means that students have much more heterogene- tance education context and, as such, can be used

136 33 as a framework to set out more clearly what is al- Pascarella, E.T., and Terenzini, P.T. ready known about attrition and as a guide for future (1980. "Predicting freshman persistence and voluntary studies. Some caution is warranted in generalizing dropout decisions from a theoretical model". Journal of the findings of the Athabasca study and the resultant Higher Education, 51, 60-75. model across institutions. Major institutional differences in areas such as entrance requirements and (1979a). "Interaction effects in Spady's and Tinto's conceptual models of college drop-out". Sociology of Educa- intentions of students to transfer or complete a de- tion, 52, 197-210. gree should be considered. (19796). "Student-faculty informal contact and college In order to develop the model further, research is persistence: a further investigation". Journal of Educa- needed to confirm or reject factors found to be tional Research. 72, 214-18. significant to persistence and to determine their relative importance. For example, evaluative research Rekkedal, T. is needed to test the efficacy of the suggested reten- (1981). Introducing the personal tutor/counsellor in the system of distance education. Paper presented at the an- tion strategies. Work is also required to understand nual conference of the European Home Study Council, better and to test the interactional effects which Madrid. occur among variables. Shale, D. (1982). "Attrition: a case study". In: IS. Daniel, M.A. Stroud and'. R. Thompson (eds.) Learning at a Distance: a world perspective (Edmonton: Athabasca Universitylln- REFERENCES temational Council for Distance Education). Spady, W. Bean, 1,P., and Metzner, B.S. (1985). "A conceptual model of nontraditional under- (1971). "Dropouts from higher education: toward an empirical model". Interchange, 2, 38-62. graduate student attrition". Review of Educational Re- search, 55, 485-540. Terenzini, P.T., and Pascarella, E.T. Brindley, I.E. (1980). "Toward the validation of Tinto's model of college student attrition: a review of recent studies"., Research in (1987). Attrition and completion in distance education: Higher Education, 12, 271-82. the student's perspective. Unpublished thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of (1978). "The relation of students' precollege character- Master of Arts. (Vancouver: University of British Colum- istics and freshman year experience to voluntary attri- bia). tion". Research in Higher Education, 9, 347-66. Flanagan, 1.C. Tinto, V. (1954). "The critical incident technique". Psychological (1975). "Dropout from higher education: a theoretical Bulletin, 51, 327-55. synthesis of recent research". Review of Educational Re- Holmberg, B. search, 45, 89-125. (1982). Recent research into distance education. Hagen: van Wijk, T. FemUniversitat, 1982. (1983). Drop-out in distance education: fallacies and re- Losty, B.P., and Broderson, D.D. medies. Unpublished paper, Pretoria: University of South Africa. (1980). "Who succeeds? A comparison of transcripts of graduates and inactive students of a nontraditional bache- Woodley, A., and Parlett, M. lor of arts program". Alternative Higher Education: The (1983). "Student drop-out". Teaching at a distance, 24, Journal of Nontraditional Studies, 25, 91-9. 2-23.

---137 Using distance constructively: indicators ofsuccessfor continuing education ELIZABETH J. BURGE The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Toronto, Ontario Canada HELEN KNIBB The Ontario Museum Association Toronto, Ontario Canada

When a professional association adopts a low tech Mezirow's (1981) conception of the competent lear- distance mode for one of its courses, the drop-out ner; and a learner centred view of territories (Rog- rate is 3 per cent and the students express high levels ers, 1986; Boud and Griffin, 1987; Brookefield, of satisfaction with the course, it is time to pause and 1986). reflect. How does one explain such a success? Taking a learner centred view in adult education is This paper identifies the problems, contextual fac- not easy, especially for distance modes in which tors and events that created one four-month course. one is attending to differing levels of learning proc- It outlines the major planning assumptions, their esses (both cognitive and affective) (Cagne, 1977; relationships to what actually happened and the Bloom, 1977; Mager, 1975) and types of learning results of the first two components of a responsive outcomes (e.g. instrumental, dialogic or self-aware) evaluation process. A responsive evaluation ap- (Mezirow, 1981). proach (Stake, 1983) was used in preference to oth- This paper claims a place in the distance education er models in order to expand, not limit our ideas and landscape because of its: interpretations. (a) focus on adulthood without loss of academic The work outlined here is grounded in a particular rigour, "soft andragogy" landscape of values and practice. Part of the topog- (b) refusal to accept that distance mode learning is raphy is associated with existing distance education qualitatively different from learning in other arguments for structure and two way communica- contexts tion e.g. the "guided didactic conversation" con- (c) independence from the concept of industrial- cept (Holmberg, 1983) and student needs for dis- ised mass-scale education tance learning (Moore, 1987). (d) potential for extrapolation by colleagues inter- Another area is grounded in our concerns that dis- ested in lov., budget, responsive and successful tance learning designs may perpetuate inappropri- programming geared to small student numbers. ate levels of teacher control and reduced levels of authentic choice and self-responsibility for stu- 1. THE PROBLEM AND ITS dents. This concern is not new (Daniel and Stroud, CONTEXT 1981; Fates and Burge, 1984; Jarvis, 1981; Taylor and Kaye, 1986) but it does not yet command prom- A province of 1,000,000 square kilometers, Ontario inence in the discussions of course design and eval- has over 1,100 museums, galleries and archives, uation models in distance education. staffed by 9,000 salaried workers and 7,000 volunteers. Training needs for this diverse group have The final topographical aspect is grounded in select- been addressed by two provincial associations. ed assumptions about adult learning: Knowles's Each has offered short, intensive, face-to-face work- (1985) ideas on supportive and collaborative cli- shops in regional centres but with no consistent mates as well as learner needs and self-imposed standards and little follow-up activity. Some dis- limitations and strengths (humanistic psychology); tance mode courses were also avai labk but they did

138 135 not focus on Ontario conditions, nor on theoretical (c) apply them under personal/local conditions and conceptual issues. Additional aspects of the (d) analyze their existing practice and local education problems were: contexts (a) insularity and the isolation of staff from adequate (e) problem solve in case studies or reallife professional resources situations (b) lack of time, money and encouragement to at- (f) use effective communication skills tend workshops (g) interact productiv&y -vizh peers. (c) neglect of theoretical and critical perspectives Affectively, the learners would be encouraged to (museology to inform practical museum func- deal with the emotional aspects of the ideas and tions adequately). This issue has long polarised values they held vis-a-vis museum work, as well as the museum community: "professionals" argue about learning as a process in itself. Risk taking, for the "mastery of both learning (theory) and getting a rapid sense of achievement, identifying methcd" (Coleman 1939); while those in the with a group, taking responsibility, not being judged "field" argue for hands-on techniques by a superior omniscient authority all were con- (d) a recognition by museums of the need to in- sidered important affective processes. Stress in adult crease levels of public awareness white not hav- learning was another consideration: perceptions of ing the tools to do so. information overload, fear of failure, threats to self- concept and self- esteem all would likely interfere 2. ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM with informative acquisition and elaborate cogni- The Ontario Museum Association hired two writers tive processing. The tutor would escape the role of to develop a printbased course: to be run as a pilot to information transmitter and instead focus on the test the usefulness and acceptance of distance mode four "c"s: confirmation of learning, correction of delivery. when necessary, contribution of new information as appropriate, and challenging the learner to more sophisticated thinking. COURSE CONTENT Course content focused on mastery of historical and THE LEARNING PROCESS AND ITS theoretical issues in museum development. Two key areas were context and societal relevance by RESOURCES grounding the macro theory in the micro context of The final mix of course materials and learning proc- the learner's own museum, abstract ideas were per- esses was the inevitable compromise between qual- ceived as practical and relevant. The aim was also to ity and resource constraints: challenge or "jolt" the learner, even if that meant An introductory manual, one learning guide and contention and resistance; to encourage recogni- reading resources for each of the 11 units. tion and application of personal experience and, Each guide contained a brief synopsis of content; most important, to question to ask "why" from a learning otiectives; guide to the reading materi- basis of critical knowing and analysis of personal als; sr-aested site visits and a series of self-reflec- experience. tive and dialogical questions (not self-assessment questions). These moved from the simple to the COURSE PROCESS DESIGN complex, introducing global issues within rele- We drew on neo-behaviorist and cognitive psychol- vant contexts. They were equally suited to the ogy and human approaches to identify the appropri- individual working alone or within a learning ate roles and responsibilities for learner and tutor partnership or group. and the integrated functions of the resource materi- Reading resources included specially written als. The learner would organise information and notes from an acknow ledged critical and contro- construct meanings via expository and experiential versial perspective. modes. The climate, of which the tutor is a major Assignments, written or verbal, designed to: part, would offer empathy and respect for the lear- (a) build awareness and establish and maintain ner's own experience and her or his implicit theories learning dialogue about the world, legitimise anxieties of learning and (b) pace the development of writing and re- foster self-esteem and self-competence as both a search skills learner and museum worker. (c) facilitate more sophisticated cognitive activity Cognitively, in the course design, learners were en- (d) allow students a vehicle for research (a rare couraged to: opportunity in the museum community) (a) articulate other people's facts, concepts, (e) offer students the responsibility of instigating theories, principles and rules original research on local museum develop- (b) recognise their application by others in dif- ment and contributing personally to the fering contexts evolving body of knowledge (with the added

139 I t incentive of it being incorporated back into with you, you gave me the encouragement to the course materials). move ahead. One face-to-face workshop for socialization, In summarising her learning experience one stu- peer support and learning, help with assignments dent wrote: and sheer fun. It's been fun and exciting... This course has been Student newsletter. the most positive thing to happen to me in the way of education ever! 3. COURSE IMPLEMENTATION As soon as students jettisoned habitual second- guessing of tutor expectations for assignments and The course ran from June to September 1987, tradi- developed their own ideas, they regarded the as- tionally very busy months for museums. Enrolment signments much more positively and constructively. had to be limited to 90 students. Two registrants Predictably, many students displayed perfectionist dropped ot for reasons that were not related to the tendencies and took on unrealistic work loads, de- course. spite advice to the contrary! Some students expect- Students were widely scattered across the province ed the tutor to be inflexible and authoritarian and at the farthest located 3,200 km from the tutor and first seemed prepared to live out a role of depend- the closest working in the same office. ence. As the course progressed, students were encouraged also to have fun and not to feel stifled by Of the students 78 per cent were women, the major- their own fears about deadlines in short, to let go ity aged between 25 and 35 years; 50 per cent had of their conventional and inappropriate expecta- university degrees (B.A. to Ph.D.); 56 per cent were tions about the course. curators working in small, community museums; 9 per cent were volunteers. At first, 75 per cent of the tutor's interaction with students was spent in counselling and other affec- As part of relationship building at the start of the tive activities "stroking" and helping students course, a "norm setting" procedure asked students: integrate the course into their day-to-day work. The What are your aims in taking the course? extent of reassurance and legitimization of anxiety What, if anything, is worrying you about the dis- was based on the need to reduce learner stress with- tance mode of delivery? out denying autonomy and the legitimate processes What aspects of the course are you looking for- of discomfort in learning. ward to? The following selected specific results are based on The responses were textbook conditions for facil- analysis of tutor-kept records from a mid-course itation of adult learning they were taken seriously written feedback (response rate 50 per cent). by the tutor and students alike. HIGHLIGHTS OF EVALUATION Contact between tutor and individual students was intensive and frequent, and included many unsolic- 71 per cent indicated high, or very high, levels of ited comments. Students explained their enthusi- satisfaction with the course generally. asm in terms of being able to use their initiative or Tutor feedback (both audio and written) also was work with peers: rated at a high or very high level of satisfaction as was the adequacy of access to the tutor. Our learning group of four has met three times so 63 per cent of respondents rated their work load far and the exchange of ideas has been useful. I as either reasonable or "it varied, but generally have found it very helpful to have people to dis- O.K." cuss aspects of the course with. Most students spent 3-6 hours per week on their Exploring new material was of equal importance: course work as predicted. With all the readings many ideas are confirmed As anticipated, time problems were most often and new ones come to light and more thoughts on cited as the low point of the course. the subject evolve... 4. DISCUSSION As was relating comfortably with the tutor: In short, the course content and process has worked I sincerely appreciate the fact that you have taken extremely well. the time to really read my assignments... you What have we learnr.,1 at this stage? could have just skimmed but you didn't that is very important to me... 1. The adherence to an ,.-cult learner centred view is crucial, but the tutor has to be prepared to Your words of encouragement... gave me a re- make fast and radical changes to meet learner newed incentive each time I started a new (assign- needs. ment). 2. The integrated set of design assumptions and Thank you for... understanding my concerns... I principles drawn from cognitive and neo-beha- really was feeling inadequate, but after talking viouralist osychology and humanist psychology

140 1 ::,1 7 were appropriate for this example of continuing Gagne, R.M. education. (1977) The conditions of learning. 3rd ed. (New York: R. 3. For the learners, the social, interactional and & W. Holt). learner support functions and skills of the tutor Holmberg, B. were very important. (1983. "Guided didactic conversation in distance educa- 4. In such a learner centred design the accessibility tion". In: Stewart, D., Keegan, D., and Holmberg, B. of the tutor is pivotal in human, as well as cogni- (eds.), Distance education: international perspectives tive and logistical, forms. (London: Croom Helm). 114-22. No doubt new areas for study will emerge when Jarvis, P. final evaluations have been received. We need to do (1981). "The Open University Unit andragogy or peda- more work in certain areas for example, how to gogy?" Teaching at a Distance, 20, 24-9. improve service to those registrants from the far Knowles, M.S., et al. North (13 per cent), who still felt isolated? What are (1984). Andragogy in action (San Francisco: jossey-Bass). the long-term support structures needed to facilitate delivery of further training? Finally, what is the lea' Mager, R.F. cost of establishing and maintaining maximum tutor (1975) Preparing instructional objectives 2nd ed. (Bel- support to a group diversified by need, resources mont, CA: Pitman) and ability? Mezirow, J. (1981). "A critical theory of adult learning and education". Adult Education, 32, (1), 3-24. REFERENCES Moore, M.G. Bloom, Benjamin, S. (1987) "Learners and learning at a distance". ICDE Bulle- tin, 14, 59-65. et al. (1977)A taxonomy of educational objectives. Hand- book I: the cognitive domain (New York: Longman). Rogers, A. Brookefield, B.D. (1986) Teaching adults (Milton Keynes: Open University Press). (1986). Understanding and facilitating adult learning (San Francisco: jossey- Bass). Rogers, C.R. Coleman, Laurence Vail (1983). Freedom to learn for the 80's (Columbus) (1939) The museum in America: a critical study, 3 vols. Stake, R.E. (Washington, .C.: American Association of Museums). (1983)."Program evaluation, particularly responsive Daniel, John S. and Stroud, Martha A. evaluation". Chapter 17 in Madans, G. et al. Evaluation Models (The Hague: Kluwer-Nijhoff Publishing). (1981). "Distance education: a reassessment for the 1980s." Distance Education 2 (2), 146-61. Taylor, E., and Kaye, A. Fales, A.W., and Burge, E.J. (1986). "Andragogy by design ?Control and self-direction in the design of an Open University course". Programmed (1984) "Self-direction by design: self-directed learning in Learning and Educational Technology 23 (1), 62-9. distance eduction. Education Journal of University Con- tinuing Education X (1), 68-78.

141 1 3 ,-; The application of discrepancyanalysis to the developement of existing universitycourses for distance education DIANA R. CARL, ED. D. Division of Continuing Education The University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2 Canada

Distance educators are still defining their roles in both on-campus and distant students or to the use of traditional universities offering courses ata dis- distance procedures combined withsome oral tance. The usual response is to develop new courses classes with distant students. Haughey (1983) and for distance education using a systems approach. Catchpole (1985) describe the delivery of videron- But the sheer numbers of courses available in the ferenced courses exclusively for distant students. university affect the decisio 1 to develop anew course or adapt existing courses to distance educa- Parker and Olgress (1980) recommend that forau- tion. Creating new courses for distance education dio teleconferencing the instructor haveno students has the effect of creating a separatecourse and in the same room lest the instructor mold the pre- administrative structure instead of using those al- sentation to the face-to-face group. ready in place. However, is a separate section really needed? Can Distance education is still regarded by manyas a faculty be trained to manage both face-to-face and peripheral activity in the university and is vulner- distance groups simultaneously, so engaging in dis- able (Carl, 1986, 1984; Hackman, 1984; Harring- tance education while carrying out their on-campus ton, 1977). Distance educators should be aware of duties? this vulnerability and integrate distance education Faculty are most familiar with face-to-face teaching. with the core programs of the university. Making They have been reluctant to adopt changes which distance education course development part of the separate them from their students and are skeptical routine activity of academic departments is one way about incorporating advanced technologies into of achieving integration with coreprograms. This teaching. Even with interactive technologies there is means the campus course is the basis for the dis- a problem when the students are visible by the tance education version. professor. There is no visual feedback showing how Technology facilitates integration. Thenewer inter- the students are responding to the instruction and to active technologies of videoteleconferencing,au- the technology. dioteleconferencing, and computer conferencing favour integration more than noninteractive tech- Few models or case descriptions in the literature nologies. could serve as guides for the systematic analysis of an existing course for adaptation to distance educa- Carl (1986) argued for "piggybacking" the distance tion. Barrow and Meachem (1983) adopted the course on the on-campus presentation to students. "science of muddling through" described by Lind- Examples of this approach can be found throughout blom, Stubbs, Lumsden, and Knapper (1985) de- North America but very little information about the scribe muddling through at the University of Water- preparation of faculty and courses for this tandem loo. Holloway (1984) gives a model for adaptation distance education/on-campus education format (based on grounded theory) in very general terms. was found in the literature. Vedros and Foster (1981) and Kaufman (1972)pre- Few researchers have explosed the combination of sented models for removing defects from instruc- distance and face-to-face presentation. Holmberg tional programs at a macro-system level but provid- (1985) discusses combination, but itis unclear ed little guidance about individual interactions be- whether he is referring to the instructor teaching tween teacher, subject matter, and students. Mager and Pipe (1970), Harless (1971), and Gilbert

142 1.13 (1974) described a method for detailed analysis DISCREPANCY ANALYSIS termed discrepancy analysis. While the names of these three models may appear different, the analy- Figure 1. ses are strikingly similar. All compare the actual sit- Performance Analysis uation with a model situation. Gilbert's model fo- AGENT S R Sc cused on the elements of the interaction to determine EnvironmentInputs are InterferenceConsequences where in the learning transaction the problem is. not clear prevents theof behavior are Gilbert stressed the importance of viewing a system response out of balance as an entity whose components combine to achieve Student's Cannot Lacks the Student gets no the goals of the organization. He called his method Repertory ofgeneralize orskill to makeconfirmation of "mathetics", which is "the systematic application Behaviour discriminatethe responseher/his beha- of reinforcement theory to the analysis and recon- the stimuli viour struction of those complex behaviour repertories Students Unable to Unable to Doesn't care usually known as 'subject-matter mastery'." (Gil- perceive themake the bert, 1962, p. 8). He recognized the need to estab- stimuli response lish a model of performance to which the actual By focusing on the observable behaviors of the stu- performance can be compared. In establishing the dent, a visible referent is provided for discussing model the extant values in the performance can be examples of adequate and inadequate performance articulated and assessed for appropriateness as a and for evaluating performance and proposed solu- basis for performing. (He notes that establishing the tions. As the model of performance has been de- standards for performance can be one of the more scribed in observable and articulated terms, it be- interesting c,,itributions the ID can make to an or- comes easier for faculty and IDs to observe the ganization.) effects of the solution and to discuss them. This has The simplest unit upon which mathetics builds is as been the most valued aspect of discrepancy analysis fol lows: in redeveloping courses for distance education and in building faculty involvement in the redevelop- S R Sc ment process. where S is the stimulus (or presentation to the stu- Discrepancy analysis has been used for a variety of dent), R is the response the student gives to the learners and subject areas. The most notable use is stimulus, and Sc is the reinforcer which becomes in assessing the need for instruction (McNeil, 1983). the stimulus for the next responsethus setting the In recent years it has not received much attention stage for chains, discriminations, and generaliza- because it has been viewed as too behaviorally- tions. oriented for the intentions of learning. If the model is "Gilbert suggests preparation of a behavioral 'pre- applied in a purely technical sense, these criticisms scription', a map of all the separate behaviours that are valid. Learning suoercedes behaviorism. Dis- make up mastery of the task being analyzed." (Ro- crepancy analysis as it is used here is intender' to misowski, 1981, page 89) This map defines the create a more conducive learning er,vironmer,By wanted outcome of the instruction and the system- analyzing each component of the learnii:g experi- atic relationship of all performance elements to that ent.e in terms of the arrangement of resources for outcome. learning (e.g., presentation, print and non-print resources), the kinds of reaction/interaction desired Using a discrepancy analysis, it is possible to find between the student and resoarce, and the benefits/ the where gaps in the instruction occur and to locate detriments attached to participating in the experi- where in the performance chain the problem is oc- ence, one refines the blueprint so that it better ac- curring. Gilbert's "areas of causation" for non-performance are as follows: complishes what is intended. Although one will never know the full effects of an educational experi- the environment: the environment i:- preventing ence on a student, through observation and analy- clear perception of 5, interferes with R, or pre- sis,it is possible to confirm where problems in a sents a competing Sc which is stronger than the Sc student's performance lie. associated with a model performance; Using the scheme for existing university instruction, the student's repertory of behavior: the student one begins by constructing a model of the ideal has not learned to perceive the S, lacks the know- performance of a student who would have success- ledge of how to respond, or has no knowledge of fully completed a course. By "backward-chaining", the Sc. one can determine the relationship of various sub- the students themselves: the students have diffi- behaviours, presentations, and assignments to the culty perceiving the 5, have physical difficulties ideal performance, mapping the links and gaps in which prevent R, or do not see the Sc as impor- the existing instruction. tant. Figure 1 shows the matrix of performance The intentions, presentations, interactions, assign- analysis. ments, and tests are categorized in obser ,'able terms

143 1 40 which the instructional designer and professor can DISCUSSION use in determining the effect of the transaction. In total, through this process the existing course is Developing separate, parallel courses for distance education in a traditional university may pose more (1) analyzed for soundness in its present version, problems than it solves. It is difficult for academic (2) translated into terms which are more discernible departments to assess the effects of the distance to both the instructional designer and the profes- course. This is partly due to the vagueness of the sor, learning intentions for the existing course, which (3) mapped to determine the relationship of the makes it hard to find usable criteria for the devel- various stimuli, responses, and reinforcers to the opment of distance versions of the course. Discre- overall outcomes and to uncover gaps, ineffec- pancy analysis accepts the values underlying the tive stimuli, irrelevant responses, or ineffective classroom presentation as a basis for developing the reinforcers. distance course. The existing course is analyzed to (4) prepared for adaptation to distance delivery us- determine how the values are operational ized in the ing videoconferencing. on-campus course, and existing class dynamics are analyzer' the changes due to the use of distance technologic,. HOW THE MODEL IS APPLIED TO DISTANCE EDUCATION Using this approach it is possible to integrate some distance education into the routine teaching respon- The next phase is to determine the effect of distance sibilities of faculty. Such integration may have im- technologies on the existing instruction and to plan plications for remuneration practices for distance for effective distance delivery. The distance tech- courses if this kind of on-campus/distant course be- nology interacts with the elements of the course: the comes a realistic possibility. In terms of preparing S, R, and Sc and alters them. To examine system- greater numbers of courses for distance education, atically the effects of the technology a second layer discrepancy analysis appears to allow further per- is added to the discrepancy analysis. The intent of meation than current development paradigms now this phase is threefold: permit. (a) to determine the effects of the technology on each element; (b) to arrive at a prescription to ensure the distant student has 1. adequate perception and understanding of presentation as it occurs using the technology, REFERENCES 2. opportunity for responding comfortably via Barrow, B. and Meacham, D. the technology; and (c) to identify and use valued and recognized con- (1983, July). Instructional design and academic planning. Collected Papers of the 6th Biennial Forum of the Austra- sequences to using the technology for instruc- lian and South External Studies Association. tion. Carl, D.R. Each cell of the discrepancy analysis is examined to (1986). Developing faculty to use videoconferencing to determine the effect of the tecnnology on that cell. deliver university credit courses over cable and satellite. By examining each cell, the estimated and observed Canadian Journal of Educational Communication 15 (4), effects of the technology can be diagnosed so that a 235-250. prescription can be written for a more effective edu- Carl, D.R. cation experience via the technology. (1984). Using video teleconferencing over open broad- The model has been applied with three types of cast satellite to deliver university credit courses. The Can- interactive technologies: videoconferencing, au- adian Satellite User Conference Proceedings. Ottawa, dioconferencing, and computer conferencing. Re- Canada, Telesat, 14-18. sults of evaluations over several semesters have in Catchpole, M.J. dicated that courses developed using this model (1985). An instructor's guide to producing and hosting a give equivalent outcomes and acceptability of the live-interactive telecourse. Proceedings of the 13th Bir course for both on-campus and distant students. nial Conference of the International Council for Distance Education. Melbourne, Australia, La Trobe Micropublish- In 1985 structured interviews were conducted with ing, no. 2266. faculty involved in the videoconferenced distance education program which used discrepancy analy- Gilbert, T.F. sis. Interviews were conducted with 9 faculty whose (1974). Levels and Structure of Performance Analysis. courses had been prepared for distance education Praxis Technical paper no. 1. Morristown, NJ: Pt axis. using this method. Eight indicated that the process Gilbert, T.F. was acceptable and they would be willing to repeat (1962). Mathetics: The technology of education. Journal it. of Mathetics. 1, 7-73.

144 141 Hackman, J.D. Kaufman, R.A. (1985). Power and centrality in the allocation of resources (1972). Educational System Planning. Englewood Cliffs, in colleges and universities. Administrative Science Quar- NJ, Prentice-Hall. terly 30.61-77. Lindblom, A., Stubbs, J., Lumsden, B. and Knapper, Harless, J. C. (1971). An Ounce of Analysis (Is Worth A Pound Of (1985) Education in Bi-Modal Institutions. Proceedings Programming). Washington, D.C.: Harless Performance of the 13th World Conference of the International Council Guild. for Distance Education. no. 1280. Melbourne, Aa;:ralia, Harrington, F.H. LaTrobe Micropublishing. (1977). The Future of Adult Education. San Francisco, CA: Mager, R.F., and Pipe, P. Jossey-Bass. (1970). Analyzing Performance Problems, or You Really Haughey, M. Oughta Wanna. Belmont, CA, Fearson Publ. (1983). Teaching and learning via interactive satellite: A Parker, L.A. and Olgress, C.W. (eds.) Janus view. Australian and South Pacific External Studies (1980). Teleconferencing, An Interactive Media. Madi- Association, 6th Biennial Forum, Collected Papers Vol. II. son, Wisconsin, Extension Centre for Interactive Pro- 443-453. grams, University of Wisconsin. Holloway, R.E. Romiszowski, A.J. (1985). Educational Technology: A Critical Perspective. (1981). Designing Instructional Systems: Decision Mak- NY: Clearinghouse on Information Resources. ing in Course Planning And Curriculum Design. London: Ikenberry, S. Kogan Page. (1972). The organizational dilemma. Journal of Higher Vedros, R. and Foster, R.E. Education. 43.23-34. (1981). Trouble-shooting instructional programs. Educa- tional Technology. 21 (4), 9-17.

145 1 4 Z, Introductory accountingon DUET acomparative evaluation DIANA R. CARL, ED.D BRUCE DENSMORE, C.A. Mt. St. Vincent University Nova Scotia, Canada

INTRODUCTION i ng was found to support the contention that face-to- face presentations are inappropriate for adaptation The combination of cable television service, 'ive to distance education and videoconferencing. television signals, telephone, and audio conferencing bridges into a "educational videoconierencing" What happens when an instructor addresses two service has been used to expand access to university similar but distinct groups simultaneously? Most discourses. Some previous work has examined video- tant students are mature people attending university conferencing exclusively to distant students, i.e., part-time. (Holmberg, 1983). Full-time university where the professor is alone with no students in the students tend to be younger. The instructor address- room and addresses students over television and es these two distinct groups simultaneously when an telephone. Little has been done, however, to exam- on-campus course, is videoconferenced. ine classroom presentations delivered to both on- Mature students generally perform better than campus and distant students at the same time. younger ones (Brown, 1978; Jevons, 1984; Harring- Parker and Olgress (1980) recommend that the in- ton, 1978) but what effect does technology have on structor have no students in the same room when the performance of mature students? giving an audio teleconference as there is a tenden- This paper compares two modes of presentation of a cy to mold the presentation to those present in per- course: Business 200; Introduction to Accounting. It son. It is doubtful whether this advice is valid for was delivered by videoconference to distant stu- videoconferencing. The lack of visual stimuli may dents with on-campus students in the classroom. affect the quality of interaction between the audio The same professor also gave the course to an on- instructor and students (Graham, 1984). campus group in a "normal" classroom without Videoconferencing to both an on-campus group videoconference. and a distant group raises several questions. Some concern distance education in general, while others BACKGROUND relate directly to videoconferencing. Parity of outcomes for distance education and on-campus DESCRIPTION OF DUET courses is still debated (Jevons, 1984; Shaw and DistanceUniversityEducationviaTelevision Taylor, 1984; Dodds, Lawrence and Guiton, 1984; (DUET) uses one-way videoconferences to deliver Smith, Daniel, and Snowden, 1984). The ability of courses to distant students. One-way full-motion videoconferences to effectively deliver a university videoconferencing combines a live television signal education is controversial and may vary with con- sent to students at distant locations with a return tent. telephone link to the studio classroom. The televi- With an adapted classroom videoconference pre- sion signal can be sent by land lines, micro-wave, sentation questions about effects extend into the open transmission, or satellite. DUET uses cable classroom itself. What impact does the technology and direct - broadcast satellite. have on both the in-class and distant groups? Is the experience different from a "normal" university The classroom presentation given to an on-campus group is delivered live to distant students. DUET classroom? courses are existing courses offered on-campus so Should a face-to-face presentation be the basis for a professors teach simultaneously to students in the videoconference course? Criticisms of university classroom and to distant students. Distant students courses and instructors are rife. Often separate participate in the class by a telephone connected structures for distance education that by-pass through a teleconference bridge to the professor, to "problematic" on-campus traditions have been set students in the studio classroom, and to students at up. (Harrington, 1977; Holmberg, 1983; Carl, other locations. Distant students complete the same 1985). In fact, however, there has been little analy- requirements as on-campus students on the same sis of the traditional face-to-face presentation. Noth- schedule.

146 1 43 One-way full-motion videoconferencing was cho- Haughey (1983) examined instructor-student inter- sen because it enabled the university to reach dis- actions in videoconferenced nursing and educa- tant students without investing in a separate course tional administration courses. These interactions structure for distance education or expensive tech- were more serious, more centred on administrative nology. By adapting a standard university classroom matters, and more controlled than in the classroom. for videoconference it was possible to deliver in- In a related study Collins (1983) concluded that the struction economically within the existing academ- educational outcomes of videoconferenced and ic and administrative structures. The administration classroom courses are comparable. wanted individual professors to be responsible for Carver and McKay (1986) described the use of distance education as they are for courses-on cam- DUET by Dalhousie University Schoc! of Nursing. pus. The instructor taught exclusively to distant students. Achievement was comparable to that of students on-campus. EFFECTS Carl (1984) presented evaluations for DUET courses It has been established that the educational effects of taught to both face-to-face and distant groups, not- face-to-face and televised instruction are not signif- ing distant students normally performed at par with icantly different (Mac Lennon and Reid, 1964; or better than face-to-face groups. Some professors Mielke, 1971; Perrin, 1977) but evaluations of informally noted a trend for the average of DUET videoconference courses are difficult to find. sections (i.e., distant and face-to-face combined) to In Canada educational videoconferencing has been be higher than for other sections they taught of the developed mainly for distant students (eg., Holm- same course. berg, 1983; Haughey, 1983; Catchpole, 1985; It appears videoconferencing is viable for distance Croft, 1986). At Carleton University, Wilfred Laurier courses. Most studies dealt with videoconferenced University, and the Universite de Moncton, class- courses delivered exclusively to distant groups. The room presentations have been videotaped or broad- effects of videoconferencing on the on-campus cast without mechanisms for interaction with the group have not been compared to the situation in a distant students. In the United States TAGER, a con- normal classroom. sortium of universities in Texas, uses videoconferences. There are few studies of videoconferenced courses DISTANCE ACCOUNTING presented to both distant and face-to-face groups. COURSES TOTE at North Carolina State University distributes videotapes to distant students whose progress is not The literature on distance education for accounting synchronized with the on-campus calendar (Rus- courses is sparse. Brown (1976) compared perform- sell, 1984). Russell and Russell (1983) evaluated ances of distant and on-campus students taking in- language teaching by videotapes of classroom pre- troductory accounting from the State University of sentations and found no differences in learning be- Nebraska. (Scigliano (1978) described the use of tween those viewing the videotape and those in the this course at Nova University.) The course differed classroom with the instructor during the recording. from that described here because the package was Although all receiving the videotape said they per- pre-produced with a mixture of videotapes and ceived the key elements of the presentation easily, media. The Nebraska study compared the perform- more than half indicated they did not learn as much ance of three groups: distant students taking the as in a classroom setting and missed not being able pre-produced course, on-campus students takin to ask questions. A strong majority, however, said the pre-produced course, and on-campus students they would take another TOTE course. Those in the taking the traditional classroom course. Distant stu- classroom with the instructor during the taping said dents were allowed to take the course at their own they learned as well as in a regular classroom and pace while on-campus students were required to would take another TOTE course. Slightly over half adhere to academic timetables. indicated the technology improved their learning. Brown concluded that the distant learners who Kirman and Goldberg (1982) tested the effective- completed the course did as well or better than the ness of a videoconference course in teacher educa- on-campus learners using the same materials. Per- tion against the face-to-face course given to a conformance for both groups and those in the normal trol group. They found no significant difference be- classroom was comparable. He also noted that ma- tween the performances of the groups and noted ture learners performed better than younger stu- that the video group was primarily mature students dents. while the face-to-face group was composed of The present study differs in several respects. Busi- younger, mainly full-time students. The video group ness 220 was a full year, one unit, introductory expressed some discomfort with the technology. accounting course. The same course content and

147 14; format was used to teach all students. The inde- The section which met in the DUET classroom re- pendent variable was the technology. In the tradi- ceived a face-to-face presentation augmented with tional classroom normal technology was employed visuals on television screens placed around the (chalkboard and overhead projector). In the DUET classroom. Distant students were heard over speak- classroom (DUET in-class group) the presentation ers. was the same except that visuals normally viewed as Distant students received the same class simultane- overheads were on the television screens. Students ously by television, viewing both presentation and in both groups participated in face-to-face ex- visuals on the television screen. A telephone next to changes with the professor. Distant students re- the television gave students a link into the originat- ceived the classroom presentation and all visuals ing classroom. through television. They participated using a telephone linked to the DUET classroom. All class ma- Students in the normal classroom received a normal terials, assignments and examintions were the same on-campus class. Visual material was presented us- for both the DUET and normal classroom sections. ing an overhead projector and the chalkboard. All students had to meet the same deadlines for There were 26 DUET in-class students; 11 distant assignments, examinations and the course itself. students; and 32 in the normal classroom. There Introductory Accounting was a compulsory course were no mature students in the normal on-campus for all Business Administration and Office Adminis- classroom, three in the DUET classroom and all 11 tration programmes at Mount Saint Vincent Uni- distant students were mature. versity. The DUET in-class group and the normal Each group was compared to the others using an classroom group consisted of approximately equal ANOVA for unequal n's. The same procedure was numbers of Business Administration and Office Ad- used to compare the performance of mature stu- ministration students. The other on-campus students on-campus with that of mature distant students took the course as an elective (one in the dents. DUET in-class group, two in the normal classroom). All distant students were in the Business Adminis- Student performance was compared on eight mea- tration Programme. sures: first semester assignments, first midterm examination, Christmas examination, Christmas mark On the basis of the results obtained by Brown for the course, second semester assignments, sec- (1976), the following hypotheses were generated. ond midterm examination, final examination, and final mark for the course. HYPOTHESES 1. There will be no significant differences in performance on assignments, tests, and final grades RESULTS between the DUET group and the section taught in the DUET classroom. The results revealed significant differences between 2. There will be no significant difference in per- the performance of the DUET distant student pop- formance on assignments, tests, and final grades ulation and both the on-campus DUET group and between the DUET group and the normal class- on-campus normal group. There were no differ- room group. ences between the performances of mature students 3. There will be no difference in performance on on-campus and of mature distant students. The assignments, tests, and final grades between stu- magnitude of the differences were greater during the dents in the DUET classroom and in the normal first semester than they were during the second se- classroom. mester. 4. There will be no difference in the performance of On the first mid-term exam distant students did sig- mature on-campus students and mature students nificantly better than the on-campus DUET group at taking the distance course. the .05 level. Comparison of the distant student performance with that of the group in the normal METHOD classroom yielded a slightly higher significance level, .001. There was no difference between the per- Two sections of the course were offered by the same formance of the distant student population and that professor. The students self-selected themselves into of the on-campus mature population. each section: the DUET section as either a distant or an in-class student; or the normal classroom sec- The same results were obtained for first semester tion. The sessions were taught on the same day, the assignments. Comparison on the Christmas mark DUET section in the morning, the nth.-nal classroom yielded similar results. section in the afternoon. All assignments and tests Comparison on the Christmas examination revealed were administered at the same time. Midterm and a significant difference in the performance of the final exams were administered to both groups simul- distant student group with that of both the DUET taneously in a common test sitting. on-campus section and the normal section at the

148 145 .001 level. Again, no differences were found be- mature on-campus students, so it is difficult to assert tween the performance of mature on-campus and that the performance of the on-campus mature mature distant students. group is comparable to that of the distant students. Magnitudes of difference were noticeably smaller This might be so. There was no significant difference for the second semester work. Performance on as- in performance between the DUET in-class group signments revealed no difference between distant and the regular classroom group. These two findings students and on-campus DUET students nor be- suggest that technology has no differential effect on tween on-campus DUET and the on-campus normal learning. Both traditional and mature students per- section. Comparison of the performances of distant formed the same regardless of the treatment. students with the on-car pus normal showed a tend- Levels of significance are slightly higher for the first ency towards significance at the .25 level. No differ- term than for the second. This may indicate a Haw- ences were evident between the two mature student thorne Effect. P levels did remain high during the groups. second semester which may give a better estimate of On the second midterm examination, the distant the differences between the groups. student group performed better than the on-campus Levels of significance are also slightly higher for the DUET section at the .01 level, and better than the distant student/normal class comparison than for on-campus normal group at the .025 level. Again no the distant student/DUET on-campus comparison. differences were found between the two on-campus This may be due to the three mature students in the groups nor for the mature student groups. Dt JET on-campus section. No mature students were On the final examination the distant student group enrolled in the normal classroom section. As the performed better than the normal on-campus group performance of the distant student group appears at the .01 level but only tended towards significance comparable to that of the mature student group, the (.25) in a comparison with the on-campus DUET performance of mature students looks to be the basis section. Again, no differences between the mature of this trend. Significant differences were found be- on-campus students and distant students were evi- tween DUET in-class and normal classroom so ma- dent. ture students may explain the discrepancy in levels of significance. The final grade revealed significant differences between the distant student population and the DUET The study shows that with the same course materials on-campus (.05) and the normal on-campus (.025). and videoconferencing distant students can be ex- There were no differences between the on-campus pected to perform better than on-campus traditional groups nor for the comparison of the mature distant students and perhaps as well as mature on-campus and mature on-campus students. students.It would appear that the credit courses developed for on-campus can be effectively trans- Tables 1 and 2 summarize the comparisons. In total, mitted by videoconference for mature distant stu- there were no differences across the measures be- dents. tween the performances of DUET on-campus and on-campus normal classroom. There were no differ- Videoconferencing did not affect adversely the per- ences evident in the performances of mature on- formance of the DUET on-campus group, so video- campus and mature distant students. There were conferencing is viable for teaching distant and on- significant differences found between the perform- campus students simultaneously. The professor has ances of distant students and the performances of on-campus students in the classroom to provide on-campus DUET and that of on-campus normal on feedback and other important non-verbal cues. most measures. Distant students performed better This poses the question whether special materials than their on-campus counterparts and as well as need to be developed for distant students. Here the mature students in the on-campus version of the materials and presentation were slightly modified course. for delivery using live video but no special materials Confidence levels were higher for comparisons of were generated. distant students with the on-campus normal class- Performance measures were analyzed but attitudes room group than they were for comparisons of dis- toward the courses were not studied. tant students with the DUET classroom group. Since "Piggybacking" a distance course on one devel- the only on-campus mature students in the compari- oped for on-campus delivery is attractive for uni- son were in this section, the differences may be versities with few resources. Existing structures can attributable to the effect of the mature students on be used to enable professors to teach more students. the overall performance of that group. Integration of distance education with on-campus teaching avoids problems associated with a sep- DISCUSSION arate distance course structure. Distantstudentsobtainedsignificantlyhigher grades than on-campus students. There were few

149 TABLE 1 SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANCE LEVELS ON PERFORMANCE MEASURES FIRSTSEMESTER midterm Christmas First term 0.7istmas exam exam assignments mark distant/DUET .005 .001 .005 .005 in-class distance/ .001 .001 .001 .001 normal in-class DUETin-class NSD NSD NSD NSD normal in-class distant/on-campus NSD NSD NSD NSD mature

TABLE 2 SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANCE LEVELS ON PERFORMANCE MEASURESSECOND SEMESTER

midterm Final Second term Final exam 2 exam assignments grade distant/DUET .01 .25 NSD .05 in-class distance/ .025 .01 .25 .025 normal in-class DUETin-class NSD NSD NSD NSD normal in-class distant/on-campus NSD NSD NSD NSD mature

150 147 Kirman, J.M. and Goldberg, J. BIBLIOGRAPHY (1982). Distance education: simultaneous one-way tv and group telephones. Alberta Journal of Educational Re- Brown, L.A. search. 28 (1), 51-57. (1976). Employment of an Open Learning Course with Traditional and Nontraditional Learners, Working Paper Lee, J.A. No. 13. Lincoln, Nebraska, Office of Public Affairs and Mentors and monitors: mass media in the Canadian class- Information Services, University of Mid-America. room. Communications in Canadian Society. Carl, D.R. Mielke, K. (1984). Using video teleconferencing over open broad- (1971). Evaluation of learning from televised instruction. cast satellite to deliver university credit courses. The Can- Instructional Television: Bold New Venture. R. Burke, ec'. adian Satellite User Conference Proceedings. Ottawa, Bloomington, Indiana, Indiana University Press. Canada, Telesat, 14-18. Parker, L.A. and Olgress, C.W. (eds.) Carver, J. and MacKay, R.C. (1980). Thieconferencing, An Interactive Media .adi- (1986). Interactive television bangs university classes to son, Wisconsin, Extension Centre for Interactive Pro- the home and workplace. Canadian Journal of Education- grams, University of Wisconsin. al Communication. 15 (1), 19-28. Perrin, D.C. Catchpole, M.J. (1977). Synopsis of television in education. Instructional (1985). An instructor's guide to producing and hosting a Television: Status and Directions. J. Ackerman and L. live-interactive telecourse. Proceedings of the 13th Bien- Lipsitz, eds. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Educational Tech- nial Conference of the International Council for Distance nology Fublications. Education. Melbourne, Australia, La Trobe Micropublish- Russell, T.L. ing, no. 2266. (June 1984). The TOTE Program. American Association of Dodds, A.E., Lawrence, J.A., and Guiton, P.C. Textile Chemist and Colorists Philadelphia Printing Sym- (1984). University students' perceptions of influences on posium Proceedings. No. 34. external studies. Distance Education 5 (2), 174-185. Russell, T.L. and Russell, J.D. Harrington, F.H. (1983). An experiment in language (Japanese) teaching (1978). The Future of Adult Education. San Francisco, CA: by television. Gaikokugo Kyoiku Kiyo No. 8, p. 27-33. Jossey-Bass. Scigliano, V.S. Haughey, M. (1978). Telecourse by Cablevision. Coral Springs, Flor- (1983). Teaching and learning via interactive satellite: a ida, Nova University of the Air. Janus view. Australian and South Pacific External Studies Shaw, B. and Taylor, J.C. Association, 6th Biennial Forum, Collected Papers Vol. II. (1984). Instructional design: distance education and aca- 443-453. demic tradition. Distance Education 5 (2)277-285. Jevons, F. Smith, W.A.S. Daniel, J.S. and Snowden, B.L. (1984). Distance education in mixed institutions: woi king (1984). University distance education in Canada. The towards parity. Distance Education. 5 (1), 24-37. Canadian Journal of higher Education. 14 (2), 75-81.

151 14 The educational challenge of optical storage technology ANGELA CASTRO Institute of Distance Education, Deakin University, Victoria 3217, Australia

THE COMING OF THE CD-ROM Optical storage technology and related terms like CD-ROM, WORM, CD-I, DVI are obviously things In the last two years, a small silver platter called the about which we shall hear more. What follows is a CD-ROM (Compact disk, read-only medium) which layman's overview of this powerful new medium of uses optical storage technology, has made inroads teaching and learning. into academic libraries, art galleries and museums. This small disk measuring only 12.5 centimetres, and made from heavily coated polycarbonate plas- A BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF tic which renders it extremely hardy, is capable of OPTICAL STORAGE holding information equivalent to the contents of Optical storage technology uses finely focused laser 1,500 floppy disks, or 500 average sized books or beams to cram at least 50 times more data onto a the equivalent 250,000 pages. It is now possible to given number of square centimetres on a chosen have the entire Grolier Encyclopaedia or the ERIC surface which is usually a polycarbonate plastic education database on a CD-ROM for searching and disk, called a compact disk. CD or compact disk is reading on a microcomputer at home or in one's therefore a generic term that refers to any digital office. The latest from the United Kingdom open storage technology that uses 12.5 centimetre optical learning community is that the videotext-based na- disks. tional course directory ECCTIS has been put on a Data stored on CD can be output as sound, text and CD-ROM disk to enable people to search the course graphics or mutif.m. The last is not yet available on titles in a more effective way (that is, quicker search- the market at the time of writing. This is because ing capabilities without incurring telecommunications costs). The cost of CD-ROM, now around producing digital-based video is a complex process that requires a large amount of data which CD-%0M A$500 each, is expected to drop to about a tenth of disks cannot adequately handle at this stage. this price in a few years time. When a standard screen of analog video measuring Compact disks, currently thought of as only a stor- 512 by 400 pixels is converted into digital form, the age device of catalogues, directories, library-related information takes about 600 kilobytes of data per type of databases, will exert a very visible influence image per frame. CD-ROM capacity is huge but is on computing and education in the next five years. still not sufficient for that purpose. Also, CD-ROM We shall have a very powerful tool for introducing reads data out at a rate of 150 kilobytes per second, computer-assisted learning on a big scale. it is not fast enough to show video at its real-time While most of us are still deliberating whether we speed. CD-ROM will take more than one hour to should get a Macintosh or an IBM as our teaching or show 30 seconds of digital video. In television, learning aid, the systems people are already talking about 30 frames of video must be displayed each about backing up computer centre disks not with big second in order to portray full-motion effects. spools of magnetic tapes, but with a type of compact disk called WORM (Warren 1987). So in a few A breakthrough announced by the General Electric Company's RCA Laboratories, Princeton, New Jer- years' time, we can expect to see less of the now sey in March 1987 is going to change all that for familiar floppy disks but may actually be using a optical storage technology, making it more even shiny silver disk for our daily computing. New de- more powerful. RCA has introduced a new tech- velopments in optical storage will also make com- nology known as digital video interactive (or DVI), pact disk erasable and hence re-usable, enabling us which can put one whole hour of motion on a CD- to put voice, text and graphics, and motion on the same disk which can be controlled by some pro- ROM disk. The secret is using a very large-scale integration (VLSI) chip set to compress data on a CD- grams built into the computer system that plays the disk. ROM disk (to make it hold even more) and then decompress it fordisplay resulting in real -time video.

152 14i) DVI technology combines the interactivity of the able to both the teacher and the student at a reason- graphics capabilities in personal computers with the able cost. realism of high-quality motion video and multitrack audio in an all-digital integrated system. Because of its varied and flexible display and sound capabil- READING A CD-ROM DISK ities, DVI will create new opportunities for applica- Currently you need a special drive and a microcom- tion developers in the area of real simulations, edu- puter system (with a monitor) to read and display the cation, training, video paint, animation, editing and data. The drive can be external or within the micro- special effects. computer. THREE CLASSES OF OPTICAL In today's terms of hardware, the minimum set-up cost is about A$5000 per system. Apart from the STORAGE MEDIA CD-ROM disk, the basic units required are: We shall now look at the production and use of the One microcomputer system $3500 CD. Optical storage can be broadly classified into One CD-ROM drive three types or three stages of development. internal/external $1500/1700 The first class is the read-only optical media. The The requirement of a microcomputer system is: product of the last decade in this class is the 30 cm big videodisk, which to all intents and purposes is 512K Random Access Memory a hard disk on the way out even though some of us have only a colour graphics adaptor (CGA) or an enhanced seen it briefly at demonstrations. It failed to make an graphics adaptor (EGA) impact on the commercial or home market. Now, in a colour monitor or a monochrome one if colour its wake comes the smaller 12.5 cm silver platter is considered unimportant which goes by the name of CD-ROM. Industry prediction is that this will have a place in the home a colour inkjet printer or a black and white printer because people have already taken to the music compact disks and finding them increasingly prefer- THE CD MARKET able to the old gramophone record or the audio Currently CD-ROM technology is used primarily by cassette. electronic publishers and large database operators. The second class is the write-once disk, which has They are largely databases of bibliographical or sta- just started to appear on the market, and is produced tistical data and mostly originate from the United by a small number of Japanese and American firms States in a wide range of subjects. for specific applications or as part of a dedicated Most CD-ROM disks run on microcomputers, main- package. With this type of medium, a user can write frames, miniframes, workstations using the MS- information onto the disk and then read it. Because DOS, or VMS or UNIX operating systems. Most disk the information makes a physical change on the vendors offer customers a few configurations of sup- surface or II, ';gk, like the permanent grooves on a port services. For example, ERIC, the education phonograph record, it cannot be altered although it database, can offer the database indexes and search can be read as many times as possible, hence such software, documentation and telephone guidance disks are called WORM (Write Once, Read Mostly) and updates. disks. The following* is the approximate production costs The third class is the erasable optical storage. This is from a Melbourne agent of a Japanese CD-ROM still being developed in laboratories in Europe, Ja- manufacturing firm, charged on a wholesale basis pan and America. It means that you can erase a disk with the client supplying correctly-formatted master section by section, or an entire disk and put in new magnetic tapes containing the information to be put information. The concept is similar to that of copy- on disk. ing and deleting files on a floppy and re-using the WORM disks are now on the specialist market but space. they generally hold less data (200 megabytes) be- The above have great cost and production implica- cause they do not pack the data as closely as CD- tions for education. Some educators believe that CD ROM. Their main drawback is that they have no will only take off and become a viable teaching and standards currently. Disks manufactured by differ- learning medium when disks can be erased, re- ent companies are not the same size and their plastic used, and played on a system that is widely avail- protective shells are not the same shape.

Data volume 100 Mb 200 Mb 300 Mb 400 Mb 500 Mb 500 disks $35 each $39 each $44 each $48 each $55 each 1000 disks $25 each $28 each $30 each $33 each $36 each

153 1 5t"; CD-ROM presumes the presence of a computer. But our educational delivery. Bates (1984) in a work- a new product that might reach the market in 1988 is shop on the old videodisk at the Open University, something called the CD-I, or Compact Disk Inver- asked these questions: active. This is a product design proposed by Sony 1 Overall objectives: what do you want to teaco; and Philips and the concept was introduced official- how do you want to teach it (e.g. didactic or ly in February 1986. It will be marketed as an en- discovery); and to whom do you want to teach it? hanced CD record player. It has a compact disk 2 Accessibility: how accessible is the medium for reader, a 68000 microprocessor running under the both teacher and learner; how can the teacher get 0S-9 operating system and a simple device like a learning material to the learner, how easy is it for mouse or a joystick. CD-I is designed to be a mass- the teacher to use and design such a medium, will market consumer product that does not require a the learner be able to access easily such material computer to access the data on the compact disk. It and where will the learner use it home, a is aimed at the home consumer who is not a com- centre, summer school? puter programmer or a serious computer user. 3 Teaching functions: what special educational People supporting the CD-I predict that it will be roles will each medium play; and what can the popular and will be bought for use as both an inter- chosen medium do better than the other media? active viewer and an alternative audio entertain- 4 Ease of production: how much time does it take ment source at home. But others think that CD-ROM for the teacher to design or produce materials in (expected to be strengthened by DVI) has more fu- this medium; how much professional help will ture as the price of microcomputers drop. So far, this the teacher need; how easy willit be for the camp appears to be gaining gi, Inds as the manu- teacher to design the material himself or herself, facturer of CD-I does not seem to be able to keep its or will it require a team effort? promise of delivering the system to American and 5 Costs: how much does it cost to design and pro- Japanese stores by Christmas in 1987. The obscure duce one hour's teaching material; how much OS-9 operating system used fcr CD-I also means does it cost to deliver; what does it cost the stu- that it cannotOt used with the huge number of ,i i terms of equipment, travelling or other software applications compatible with the .BM PC costs? or any other popular microcomputers which are 6 Learner's control: how easy is it for the learner to being used for the existing CD-ROM disks and CD control the medium; does the medium allow for drives an important consideration in the rapidly interaction and feedback; is it a "friendly" medi- expanding work-at-home market for the more tech- um will it be easy for the learner to use? nically-oriented consumers. These questions, which must also be looked at in the DVI promises to be a stiff competitor for CD-I. Its case of compact disk, are particularly difficult to arrival has sent the whole optical storage technical consider currently as there are no institutions yet community into a state of excitement and the CD using compact disks for teaching, and we do not yet producers into one of uncertainty. RCA is reported know enough about the final product of CD-I or DVI to be planning to release a DVI development kit for and the consumer acceptance of such a product. the IBM PC AT, compatibles and newer microcom- Will it be a source of confusion if the student has not puters and workstations popular with the business been adequately prepared for learning by that mode community; if so, this will speed the development of (Loud I lard, 1984)? Also, consumer acceptance does DVI-based applications. not guarantee that we, as educators, will necessarily There are now pressure and official groups already use CD for teaching our students. If most teachers pushing for industry standards for compact disks, will only use print (and not use it well, in the view of e.g. thc. High Sierra Group in North America, Sony many instructional designers), and have ignored the and Philips, with poweful software houses like Mi- humble telephone, radio, audiotape, videotape, crosoft having a very important say in the devel- films, photos, will they use CD (Hutton 1984)? opment of standards. But I suspect that optical storage offers advantages and opportunities which big teaching institutions in EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE the developed countries will find hard to igl9re. A The above is a rather technical overview of the university, for example, can putal I its course materi- history and future of optical technology. What is al (whether its is print, video, or audio), or may be coming is a powerful product that will integrate even its library catalogue and recommended readings, on one disk. While the upfront costs of prepar- sound, motion, graphics and text, whichcan be mailed to a student by post without fear of damage, ing the material for the master tape are high, once it and which can then be played on a microcomputer. is done, the replication costs for vast numbers of Are we ready for it? Are our students ready for it? copies are exceptionally cheap. Our institutions may force us to think of using optical storage medi- We will be confronted with the same kind of educa- um for teaching, even if the reason behind the pres- tional considerations as in the choice of media for sure is more economic than educational. 154 Iii Laurillard, D.M. REFERENCES (1984). interactive video interaction. in R.G. Fuller (ed) Using interactive videodisks in open education courses. Bates, T. institute of Educational Technology, Open University, (1984). Se le ling media and possible roles for interactive Milton Keynes. video in the Open University. in R.G. Fuller (ed.) Using interactive videodisks in open education courses, institute Warren, C. of Educational Technology, Open University, Milton (1987). Internal report by Craig Warren on United King- Keynes. dom university visits and International Gould User Group Meeting. Submitted to the Computer policy Committee, Hutton, D.W. Deakin University, for its consideration and acceptance at (1984), Video technology in higher education: state of the a meeting on September 7, 1987. art? in 0. Zuber-Skerritt (ed) Video in higher education Kogan Page, London, pp.11-25.

155 152 Studentresponse to adistance educationcourse incorporatinglive, interactive television MICHAEL J. CATCHPOLE, Ph. D. North Island College British Columbia, Canada

An analysis of the use of television in distance edu- not State College and California State (Chico) which cation reveals three distinct phases. Initially, as gave positive evaluations of live, interactive televi- Munshi (1980) has reported, "Traditional television sion. Catchpole and MacGregor (19e 4) report posi- courses have presented a lecturer, supported by a tive student feedback to a distance education course blackboard, artifacts and, perhaps, slides. The incorporating print (text, study guide and student teachers on such 'television courses' essentially manual), telephone tutor, pre-recorded telecourse brought their classroom to the television studio. and live, interactive television components. Per- They delivered a talk and supported it, by and large, sons and Catchpole (1987) report completion rates with reading assignments in their favourite texts" !p. (counting only those students who submitted the 3). Such tele-lectures were not entirely ineffective first assignment) of ninety-percent in a live, inter- but, as open learning/distance education methodol- active television course and observed, in an experi- ogy advanced, they began to give way to the more mental manipulation, that the addition of audio- elaborate, pre-recorded telecourse. teleconferences for half of registrants did not significantly boost completion rates. They concluded that Telecourses, the second phase in the use of television to reach students at a distance, are produced in the interaction provided by phone-in segments of consultation with subject experts and may include live, interactive telecasts already met the interaction needs which audio-teleconferences can provide. the latter in "bit parts" but often prefer to use professional television hosts. While some telecourses use Reasons for the success of live, interactive television the television as the primary vehicle for course con- are inferential at best. Catchpole (1986) has stressed tent delivery, most form part of an integrated multi- that, since interactive television courses use regular media delivery system including print (text, study instructors, adequate training in the move from guide, and additional readings) and perhaps other classroom to television studio is critical. The notion media (e.g. floppy disk, audio cassette). Ostman of enhanced communication (e.g. Keegan, 1980; and Wagner (1987) among others have emphasized Daniel and Marquis, 1980; and Holmberg, 1985) the value of using multiple communication chan- may prove to be another significant factor. Shale nels to reach students. Since telecourses are re- (1987) has noted that "... as various technologies usable, and often widely marketable, they can be evolve to a point where they support better two-way assigned substantial production budgets. communication and allow students to interact in the instructional process, they will come to occupy a Studies of the effectiveness of telecourses (e.g. more central role." (p. 21) In order to gather further Schramm 1977) have shown positive results. Sha- data as to salient features of multi-modal distance velson, Webb and Hotta (1987) recently concluded education courses incorporating live, interactive that "... students will learn about as much from a television the following study was undertaken. As telecourse as from a traditional course" (p. 29).. Bates (1981) and Prosser (1984) have argued, case The third, and most recent, use of television in studies are valid at this phase in the evolution of distance education involves using live television distance education and are critical for pin-pointing and having audio linkage between teacher and stu- key variables for study using more rigorous experi- dent. Whittington (1987) says "Live, interactive tel- mental or quasi-experimental techniques. evised instruction is that which is offered via satellite or microwave delivery systems in real time to stu- METHOD dents who have immediate talk-back capability Subjects The subjects were 92 respondents to a with the instructor" (p. 47). He goes on to cite questionnaire mailed to 138 students who enrolled several studies done with students at Stanford, Mi- at home in an Introductory Psychology televised

156 course. They came from 55 communities in British students cited "University transfer" as their primary Columbia, Alberta and the Yukon. Students who reason for enrolling. enrolled from the North Island College region (ap- 59% of students thought they would be unable to proximately four percent of the Knowledge Network take a similar course locally without the Knowledge television coverage area) were not included in the Network. In fact, British Columbia's Open Learning study since the college provides additional services Institute offers a very similar course via a print plus (local learning centres and tutors) not available to telephone tutor delivery system anywhere in the the other 138 registrants. Kember and Dekkers province but it seems the majority of registrants (1987) have recently addressed this local study cen- were unaware of this option. The relatively higher tre issue. profile of television may have Fr- la factor. Those Materials and Procedure Students enrolled in the who responded that a similar course was available course after watching a Nye introductory preview/ locally gave various reasons for taking the course via registration telecast (calling in if they had questions) television such as Travel and childcare problems as and mailing in the course fee. They were mailed a well as convenience and lesser expense. print package containing text, study guide, student Strategies used to advertise the course included manual and pacing schedule. Each week they could posters sent to all 14 regional colleges in B.C. and a tune into the telecasts which alternated between 60 second instructor-hosted, promotional spot live instructor-hosted presentations incorporating which ran roughly twice a day on the Knowledge lecture, guest interview and phone-in segments Network for three weeks before the first class. Re- and, on alternate weeks, instructor-hosted pre-rec- sults showed the Knowledge Network ad to be the orded, in-depth interviews with guest experts. In most effective. addition to tollfree telephone access during the telecasts students could call their instructor/tutor toll- 74% watched ten or more telecasts. 33% video- free at his office at any time during the sixteen week taped four or more telecasts and 18% audio-taped course. Students also were advised to watch the the telecasts. Increasing availability of VCR's will series Understanding Human Behavior. These 30 presumably increase the number of students who minute tapes were played on Knowledge Network at video-tape telec lasses. the rate of one per week and covered text material. 47% of students had a friend, not registered in the The tapes are produced by Coastline Community course, who also watched some of the telecasts. The College in California and utilize high production signal quality was rated as "Same", "Better" or values. "Much Better" than other channels by 97% of re- The questionnaire was mailed to students with a spondents. Over 95% of respondents also watched stamped addressed envelope. Included with the other Knowledge Network programming. questionnaire was a letter from the instructor/tutor Five questions were designed to assess students' encouraging students to return the questionnaire as reactions to the phone-in portion of the telecasts as quickly as possible and thanking them for their par- well as reaction to toll-free telephone contact with ticipation. Questionnaire were mailed out four the instructor/tutor at his office. 40% felt the live weeks after the final telecast (i.e. 20 weeks after phone-in segment was not important to course com- registration). pletion and 59% felt it was. 42% did try to call in one or more times on-air and 2G% were successful. This was probably because any viewer (registrant or RESULTS AND DISCUSSION not) could phone in to the live discussion groups. A number of interesting fact emerged. Firstly, a ma- Those students who didn't phone felt "too nervous" jority of students (52%) enrolled for general interest while others mentioned that they "enjoyed nearing rather tho.icredit and a further 19 percent switching comments form other students". If, as other distance from credit to general interest. This high rate of educators (e.g. Holmberg, 1985) have suggested, general interest registrations is interesting since dis- isolation is a problem for some distance learners the tance education courses not incorporating live-in- chance to hear one's classmates and make compari- teractive television attract very few non-credit en- sons may have been a key asset of the phone-in. rollments. Clearly the big plus here (bolstered by Students varied in their enjoyment of the phone-in Nielsen survey data indicating that a further 15,000 discussion groups. 43% said they enjoyed the to 18,000 people turned in to the weekly telecasts phone-in "Much" or "Very Much", 19% said "Lit- without registrering) is that the addition of television tle" and 36% said "Average". Positive comments attracted many more students than print plus tele- included "classroom atmosphere breaks down iso- phone alone. Several credit registrants, at the time lation" and "good to see how others were reacting of registration, indicated they had followed the pro- to the course" while a negative comment was "time grams the previous year and were now ring to try could have been better spent on interviews and the course for credit. Self-improvement vas the instruction". Perhaps individual differences in Mur- most popular reason for enrolling. Only 19% of ray's concept of "need for affiliation" (see Persons

157 and Catchpole, 1987) play a role here. Particularly interesting was a student who "didn't phone, but my REFERENCES questions were asked and answered". Bates, T. Overall course design was rated "Excellent" or (1981) Towards a better research framework for evaluat- "Good" by 91% of respondents. The printed mate- ing the effectiveness of educational media. British Journal rials (text, study guide, student manual and pacing of Educational Technology, 12,215-233. schedule) were rated "Good" or "Excellent" by Catchpole, M.J. 92% of respondents. The Coast Community College (1986) A guide to prodocing and hosting a live, interactive "Understanding Human Behavior" tapes were giv- telecourse. Distance Education, Vol. 7 No. 1. en these same two ratings by 76%. The live classes were rated "Good" or "Excellent" by 93% and the Catchpole, M.J. and MacGregor, A. instructor-hosted pre-recorded interviews by 87%. (1984) British Columbia's Knowledge Network: Macro When asked to rank the various course components and micro perspectives on the use of television in educational delivery. the live classes were rated most useful to learning Telecommunications and Electronic Communications Ill, University of Wisconsin. (48%) with the text second (36%), instructor-hosted pre-recorded interviews third (10%) followed by the Holmberg, B. Understanding Human Behavior tapes (6%). In light (1985) The feasibility of a theory of teaching for distance of the very low production costs of the instructor- education and a proposed theory. Paper presented at the hosted live and pre-recorded programs (especially I.C. D.E. Thirteenth World Conference, Melbourne, Aus- tralia. in comparison with the very high budget and elaborate Understanding Human Behavior tapes)it Keegan, D.J. would appear that instructor/student contactwas (1980) Drop-outs at the Open University. The Australian preceived as much more important to learning than Journal of Education, 24, 44-55. an elaborate and expensive video presentation. In Kember, D. and Dekkers, I. this regard, responses indicated that were all course The role of study centres for academic support in distance components ava:lable (print package, telephone ac- education. Distance Education, 8, 4-17. cess to tutor and Understanding Human Behorior Munshi, K.S. videotapes), except the weekly instructor-hosted (1980) Telecourse reflections '80. Corporation for Public programs, 90% of students reported they would Broadcasting. have learned "Not as Much" or "Not Nearly as Much" while when asked how they would have Ostman, R.E. and Wagner, G.A. enjoyed the course 95% said "Not as Much" or (1987) New Zealand management students' perceptions "Not Nearly as Much". of communication technologies in correspondence education. Distance Education, Vol. 8, no. 1,47-63. Persons, H.J. and Catchpole, M.J. CONCLUSIONS (1987) The addition of audio-teleconferencing to interactive telecourses: An experimental analysis of drop-out Positive student feedback to an integrated distance rates. Distance Education, in press. education course incorporating live-interactive tel- Prosser, M.T. evision indicates that, if feasible, it is worth adding (1984) Towards more effective evaluation studies of edu- as a course component. Reduced feelings of isola- cational media. British Journal of Educational Technol- tion, more pleasure in taking a home-study course ogy, 15, No. 1,33-42. and enhancement of the personal relationship between student and instructor/tutor are among the Schavelson, R.J., Webb, N.M. and Hotta, J.Y. benefits of a live television course component. The The concept of exchangeability in designing telecourse evaluations. Journal of Distance Education, 2, No. 1, results indicate that this enhancement of the student 27-40. instructor/tutor relationship is a more important motivational and learning factor than elaborate tele- Schramm, W. vision production. (1977) Big media little media: Tools and technologies for instruction. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications. Shale, D. Innovation in international higher education: The open universities. Journal of Distance Education, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 7-24. Whittington, N. (1987) Is instructional television educationally effective? A research review. The American Journal of Distance Education, Vol. No. 1,47-52.

158 1,55 A cognitive approachto the design of distance education materials FABIO J. CHACON Universidad Nacional Abierta Venezuela

THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM COGNITIVE RESEARCH AND THE In distance education we are usually concerned DESIGN OF TEXT with indirect methods of interacting the !earners, The main tasks we have set for ourselves in this mostly using the written word. During the decades paper is to examine research evidence on tech- of the sixties and seventies, most of the existing niques that facilitate learning from text, and to de- distance education programs at the postsecondary rive guidelines for text design from that evidence. level intended to solve the problem of inducing The subject of the discussion will be divided accord- effective learning by using the behavioristic recipes, ing to the main areas of inquiry in this context. such as: defining objectives in terms of conduct, breaking down the tasks, setting specific achieve- (1) PREPARATION OF THE ment criteria, reinforcing after each unit of practice and so forth. These devices are considered by Mac- LEARNER donald-Ross (1979) to be the "cultural descend- One point of agreement between the old tradition of ants" of programmed learning; they have been memory research and cognitive theorists is that the found extremely restrictive when applied to com- recall of prior knowledge (Gagne, 1978) improvns plex learning. Our aim in this paper is, then, to comprehension and further recall. Schallert (1982) review some recent contributions of cognitive psy- would call this process activation of existing sche- chology that can provide alternative insights to the mas. Ways of invoking previous knowledge in a elaboration of instructional materials. distance text may be pre-test questions, summaries To start with, we will assume that distance learners of theories or facts that are necessary to understand in order to be successful require certain pre- the current reading, and rapid reviews of concepts dispositions such as: fairly high level of reading studied up to that point. A caveat in respect to prior ability, high motivation to read and capacity to orga- knowledge is that, as pointed out by Schallert, old nize independent study projects. However, itis structures may hinder a full understanding of new known that many students lack a proper develop- information. ment of these characteristics. In view of this problem it becomes necessary to (2) LANGUAGE TREATMENT design the distance education texts to stimulate the Knowledge of the vocabulary being used in the text student's reading skills. Every aspect of the reading is an important factor for comprehension of the material must be considered: the sequence of pre- reading material. In this respect, Stahl (1983) has sentation, the style in which it is written, the orga- shown that vocabulary instruction given prior to nization of content, the aids given to students for reading enhanced comprehension in students. This improving comprehension, the clarity of layout of does not necessarily mean that every reading unit the printed page and so forth. There are divided should be preceded by a list of definitions of the key opinions about how much "design" must be put terms. A better way of doing it can be to explain the into a text in order to help the student and how much meaning of key terms and their relationships in the must be left to his or her individual effort. Some unit introduction. This can help especially the slow practitioners of distance education think that the learner who is unable to infer the meaning of certain student should receive basically standard textbooks key concepts just by reading the text. plus some sort of study guide, indicating the parts of Other studies have been carried out on the uses of the texts to be read and the purposes of reading. In verbal redundancy in the text. In other words, ex- our view this treatment is unfair to distant learners, pressing the same concept with different proposi- because they have less opportunities for receiving tions, use of summary paragraphs and repetition of orientation from instructors or peers. key ideas (Gagne, 1978). In general, redundancy is

159 1St, recommended to help students understand the ideas be presented. They allow students to "access the contained in the text, but it should not be so fre- structure" of the chapter or book without reading quently used that the text becomes dull. It may be the whole material. Reviews, in order to be effec- advisable, for instance, to use high redundancy in tive, require a trained reader and one who has cer- the initial units of a text when the learner is not yet tain familiarity with the material. proficient in handling the new concepts and then The use of adjunct aids has been investigated by gradually reduce redundancy as the text goes on. It Rothkopff (1982:115-16) in conventional instruc- should be remembered that redundancy is partially tion settings. He uses the term to identify any addi- a function of the preparation of the reader, the more tional element of information such as a dictio- he or she knows about something the more redun- nary, a map, a handout that is introduced by the dant additional readings on the same topic will be. instructor in the reading situation to enhance the In a different order of language treatment, we may effectiveness of learning. In distance education, we quote McConkie's (1977) staging devices, meaning cannot rely on this flexibility of the teacher for pre- ways of differentiating two or more levels of impor- senting additional materials, but we can think of tance in the text. One common staging method is to adjunct aids as incorporated into the learning pack- put the central idea of a paragraph at the beginning. age that is delivered to the student. Some elements More subtle forms can bethought of: to group all the that can be used in this way are the following: sentences referring to attributes of an object in a glossary cf important terms, list of cases or problems paragraph, to use adjectives or phrases that denote `Ir applicaiion of the theory under study, short read- importance when speaking about the point that has tog on a relevant topic but not related to the main to be "staged", and some others. There is good purpose of the unit. evidence that all these elements improve retention A special case of adjunct aids are adjunct questions too (Riche and Slater, 1983). (Rothkopff, 1982: 127-9), which are conceived as highly abstract questions introduced during the (3) MATHEMAGENIC AIDS process of reading in order to strengthen the recal I of important information and influence mathemagenic Mathemagenic aids, a term coined by Rothkopff or reflective processes. They intend to make the (1982) means a series of devices used to activate reader "work" intellectually on the material and thought processes with the purpose of enhancing increase the number of useful conceptual associ- learning. These include adjunct aids, questions, ations being activated by reading. One problem of verbal directions, task demands and other elements applying this technique in distance education is that that apparently have the same "mathemagenic" the student may skip the questions or just read them function. but not intend an answer because they are too long. In the first place, there is widespread evidence that However, this can be remedied by establishing a the use of advance organizers (Ausubel and Rob- policy that some questions of the official exams are inson, 1969:316) is a powerful tool for comprehen- related to the adjunct questions in the texts. Further, sion. The term describes deliberately structured sets adjunct questions can be seen as tools to manipulate of ideas presented to learners prior to the material to the disparity between the current understanding of be learned. They provide a conceptual framework concepts and principles by the student and the de- that facilitates comprehension and retention by sired understanding. Each question evidences as- making available an organization of old familiar pects of disparity and urges the student to look for ideas to which the new ideas can be related or more relevant information in the text or outside; in anchored. In general, there are two kinds of ad- other words, the questions encourage active partici- vance organizers: expository, recommended when pation by the students. the material is completely new to the students, and Cognitive research has provided a new view of comparative, recommended when the material is learning objectives that attaches to them a new not completely new. Examples of expository orga- meaning in contrast with the behavioristic tradition. nizers would be: a conceptual map of the reading Instead of assuming that all students are able to use unit, a well-structured example of the principles to descriptions of objectives to match them with learn- be discussed and an overview of the text put in ing outcomes, authors Rothkopff (1982:122-6) and simple language. Among comparative organizers, Marland and Store (1983:84-8) have inquired what we can quote analogies, models brought from dif- the students do with objectives in natural settings. ferent fields to the area of study and comparisons. Their results are problematic, but at least the follow- Similar to advance organizers are reviews (Marland ing points became clear: (1) students use objectives and Store, 1982:81), but they differ from the former as selection devices to read information some- in the level of condensation of content. Reviews are times incidental that has some resemblance with written like a precis of the subsequent material. the objectives; (2) the effectiveness of objectives as Their main purpose is to familiarize students with selectors is inversely proportional to their number; the scope and structural features of the material to (3) the effectiveness is related too to the relative

160

c - ..., i1a closeness of the objective to the relevant material in niques. (hey are the following: the text; (4) objectives are pathways to the structure amount of control over the learner of the text, when they are used as categories to activation of relationships divide the reading material. level of text structure being processed. Finally, a powerful technique of eliciting mathem- The amount of control over the learner is given by agenic processes is the use of task demands or task the restrictions that the technique imposes over the structures(Rothkopff,1982:120-2; McConkie, decisions made by the reader. There are highly ob- 1977:32-3). They are verbal requests made of the trusive techniques such as staging devices, advance student to do something with the reading informa- organizers, reviews and lists of objectives; less ob- tion. Examples of task demands in higher education trusive techniques are task demands and adjunct would be case studies, complex exercises, and in- questions. The last group gives more room for per- structions for doing summaries or comparison of sonal organization of the material. A process of theories. According to Rothkopff, these devices teaching adults at-a-distance might start by using generate deep processing or interpretive responses. highly controlled techniques in the initial stages of We can state, as a guideline for distance text design- each program but then progressively substituting ers, that they have to dedicate certain parts of the them by less obtrusive forms as the learner becomes text to present complex, integrative tasks, suitable to more competent. elicit the student's utilization of a variety of concepts and facts to generate a new personal product. Activation of relationships refers to the amount of significant connections in the learner's cognitive (4) METACOGNITIONS structure that are elicited by the instructional device. There is low activation in vocabulary reviews, To what extent can knowledge of the reading proc- redundance and staging techniques, but high acti- esses and strategies, by itself, improve the effective- vation in reviews, adjunct questions and task struc- ness of the reader? If readers can be made aware of tures. The preference of techniques depends on the how their memory operates, how they make infer- course content and the familiarity of the student ences, how their attention determines what they get with such content. If the student does not have fairly from the text, can they then become better readers? good fami I iarity, he or she would not be able to meet The answer of the experimental research is yes (An- the criteria of d technique that demands a lot of dersson and Armbuster, 1982). However, it is diffi- linkages between concepts. cult to introduce this kind of aspect into the in- Level of text structure being processed refers to structional text by itself, because it would be seen as whether the student grasps the surface structure of foreign material. the text (passages), or the knowledge or deep struc- As an alternative solution, many distance education ture. Techniques such as redundancy, staging de- programs introduce specific courses on reading or vices and learning objectives are pathways of the study skills, but they are not as effective as expected, surface structure; while other techniques that em- because they are separated from the mainstream phasize deep processing permit to access the programs of the institution. It seems that more cre- knowledge structure. ative solutions have to be sought. This setof dimensions applicable to the reading aids We think that a feasiblesolution in a distance educa- can be used to provoke further research on the tion system would be to have a series of tasks in- effectiveness of several devices and the impact that cluded in the regular textbooks, with the purpose of variations of each dimension have in the cognitive evaluating the processes used to learn. Questions and related affective processes of the adult reader. would be addressed to such topics as what kind of outlines of the structure were made by the student ?; what aspects of the text generated more reflection ?; what passages were easier or more difficult? The REFERENCES student would review these questions in order to diagnose potential or actual difficulties and then Aaronson, Doris and Fewes, Steven stress the practice of those reading techniques that (1984) 'Reading Strategies for Children and Adults: Some can be more useful. Empirical Evidence". Journal of Verbal Learning and Ver- bal Behavior 23, pp. 189-220. Anderson, Thomas H., and Armbuster, Bonne CONCLUSIONS (1982) "Reader and Textstudying Strategies". In Otto, W, The techniques that have been reviewed present a and White, S. (Eds.) Reading Expository Material (New complex and challenging picture of the problem of York: Academic Press), pp. 219-42. designing text that was not envisioned two decades Ausubel, D.P., and Robinson, F.G. ago. In spite of that complexity, we can abstract (1969) School Learning: An Introduction to Educational some dimensions underlying the cognitive tech- Psychology (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston).

161 Baith, John A. McConkie, George W. (1982). Distance Student's Learning: Empirical Findings (1977). "Learning from Text". Review of Research in Edu- and Theoretical Deliberations". Distance Education, 3, cation, 5, lthasca, IN: Peacock, -1 3-41. 1, pp. 6-27. Meyer, Bonnie J. Daniel, John S., Stroud, Martha A., and Thompson, (1975). The Organization of Prose and Its Effects on Mem- John R. ory (New York: American Elsevier Company). (1982). Learning at a Distance: A World Perspective (Ed- Otto, Wayne and Sandra White monton, Canada: Athabasca University Press). (1982) (Eds). Reading Expository Material (New York: Gagne, Ellen S. Academic Press). (1978) "Long Term Retention of Information Following Riche, Gene L., and Slater Wayne H. Reading from Prose. Review of Educational Research, 48, 4 (Fall), pp. 629-65. (1983) "Predicting Learning from Text: A Comparison of Two Procedures". Journal of Reading Behavior, 15,1, pp. Holmberg, Blirje 43-56. (1981). Status and Trends of Distance Education (London: Rotkopff, Ernst Kogan Page). (1982). "Adjunct Aids and the Control of Mathemagenic Keegan, Desmond J. Activities During Purposeful Reading". In Otto, W, and (1980). "On Defining Distance Education". Distance White, S. (Eds.) Reading Expository Material (New York: Education, 1,1, pp. 13-36. Academic Press), pp. 109-38. Kintsch, Walter Schallert, Diane Lemonier (1982). "Text Representations". In Otto, W, and White, (1982). "The Significance of Knowledge: A Synthesis of S. (Eds.) Reading Expository Material (New York: Aca- Research Related to Schema Theory". In Otto, W, and demic Press), pp. 87-102. White, S. (Eds.) Reading Expository Material. (New York: Academic Press). Macdonald-Ross, M. (1979). "Language in Texts". Review of Research in Edu- Stahl, Steven cation, 6, lthasca, IN: Peacock. (1983). "Differential Word Knowledge and Reading Com- prehension., Journa' of Reading Behavior, 15,4, pp. 33- Mager, Robert F., and Beach, Kenneth M. 46. (1967). Developing Vocational Instruction (Palo Alto, Calif.: Fearon). Wilson, John P. (1983) (Ed.). Materials for Teaching Adults: Selection, Marland, Percy W., and Store, Ronald E. Development and Use (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass New (1982). "Some Instructional Strategies for Improved Directions for Continuing Education). Learning from Distance Teaching Materials". Distance Education, 3, 1, pp. 72-106.

162 Creating the National Open University in Taiwan: the influence of cultural and educational factors

DR. SHIH-MIN CHEN National Chengchi University Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

After five years of discussion and exploratory work, The effect of Confucianism has been reinforced by the National Open University (NOU) in Taiwan, the high population density and lack of natural re- Republic of China, was founded in 1986, amid sources in Taiwan, which are regarded as negative growing interest in many parts of the world in pro- aspects in the development of the country's econo- viding broader access to higher education for vari- my. Therefore, higher education and/or better train- ous segments of the adult population. The time it ing, and consequently higher productivity, seem to took to create this new institution is not particularly be the only solution. Still, no one is quite sure long when compared with Taiwan's Asian neigh- whether it is higher education or a university degree bours such as Japan and Korea in their efforts to do per se that is desired. Given the fact that for most the same. But the timing is perhaps of interest to people a degree is desired but opportunities for those involved in distance education at the uni- vocational training are often ignored, it seems that versity level. Why, we may ask, has Taiwan lagged for most people only the university degree counts. behind not only many of the newly industrialised This background is worth noticing when observing societies but also quite a few developing ones in the creation of NOU. 7tursuing this kind of education innovation? What are the features uncommonly found among distance teaching institutions elsewhere? Finally, and not the least, what is NOU's future? Will the NOU get established? THE DECISION At the outset, in 1981, NOU was initially designed neither to cater for a huge amount of high school CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL graduates who want to go to university, nor to meet BACKGROUND the need for vocational training amid a growing economy. Instead, the goal of NOU was to provide The pattern of the project finally adopted for NOU is opportunities for on-the-job training at the universi- of course based on Taiwan's cultural and education ty level, and to enhance the cultural level of the milieu. The Chinese tradition of according prime people (the Executive Yuan, 1981). importance to school ingas an ideal way of preparing for adulthood is rooted deeply in the mind of most The idea of the project dated back a few years when people here on the island known as Formosa. It is Mr Hoi-san Chi was Minister of Education. Mr Chi, believed that this is part of Confucian heritage. For himself an elementary school teacher, a principal better or worse, this tradition has been transformed and several times an administrator of various local into an ever increasing zeal in competing for school and central educational authorities, was committed entrance in general, and in struggling towards a uni- to higher education in non-traditional ways, and he versity degree in particular. This does not necessarily was able to push the idea of distance education mean that there is a scarcity of educational opportu- forward up to the planning stage. NOU would not nity or a squeeze in the number of school entrants. In have existed if it were not for Mr Chi's insistence. fact, the proportion of school-aged children going The idea initially met with skepticism because dis- into elementary schools is near 100 per cent at the tance teaching was not only an innovation virtually beginning of the nine-year compulsory education, unheard of at the time in Taiwan, but it was also a and the literacy rate is one of the highest in the world. concept somehow inconsistent with traditional Chi- The proportion of adults with a college diploma or nese philosophy of education. The Confucian belief university degree is around 10 per cent, lower than is that the value of teaching stems more likely from a that in the United States and Japan but higher than teacher's deeds than from his words. Teaching by that in most Western European countries. deeds is as important for children as it is for adult

163 16;; students. Since distance educatio- home-based, credits and the amount of time spent on earning a self-instructed and often in the ab _e of a teacher, credit must be the same as in conventional uni- it is widely considered of little pedagogical value. versities. Any applicant must hold a high school While this concept of distance education may be diploma or its equivalent to be qualified to take the held elsewhere in the world, in Taiwan distance entrance examination. Detailed comments on the education is accepted only to the extent of teaching Act are available elsewhere (Chen, 1985; Hsu, through audio-visual means or giving lectures by 1987; Hwang, 1987). electronic media rather than in classrooms. This, in It can be seen that the traditional Chinese philoso- fact, turned out to be a Pandora's box for the NOU. phy of education is in force. Also in force is the effect The Committee on Distance Education, a small of already strong competition for higher education team under the Ministry of Education, was given the opportunity in this newly industrialised society. planning job. Its members visited many distance These two factors seem to shape NOU into a unique teaching institutions in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Aus- entity unparalleled with either local conventional tralia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Latin universities or distance teaching universities in the America and others for field research. The commit- rest of the world. tee proposed that an institution similar to the Japa- nese University of the Air and the British Open University should be set up at higher education level THE EFFECT OF THE NOU ACT and given full university status. Partly due to Mr While the draft of the NOU Act was being discussed Chi's commitment to education, the committee's in the Legislative Yuan, criticisms of the idea and proposal was adopted with little outside input. In- organisation of NOU were heard within educational deed, the committee members, who were mostly and intellectual communities, often with reference administrators at the Ministry of Education, under- to conventional universities and the Chinese philos- went periodic personnel changes each time there ophy of education as points of departure. Yet the was a structural adjustment within the organisation. idea of open learning or distance education were This is perhaps why knowledge about distance edu- hardly mentioned. For example, Dr T Y Wu, a phys- cation was not accumulated and disseminated to icist and presidentof Academic Sin ica, saw NOU as the rest of the society after so many working trips to an institution to give away credits and degrees... foreign countries were made. Suffice it to say that in The student has come for diploma, not for pursuing the eyes of the committee members, distance edu- knowledge... Frankly, NOU isa diploma mill cation was but a means to teach students through which has downgraded the value of education (Wu, the use of audio-visual media and some supple- 1984). mentary printed materials. This has considerably Dr Wu was right in predicting that the number of affected the structure and organisation of the NOU, students would be greatly reduced. Yet the reason as will become clearer later. for decreasing enrolment was not due to the condition that the degree would not be given as incentive, but that the percentage of passes was extremely low THE LEGISLATIVE ACTION for the seven courses offered on a 'vial basis prior to To give NOU its legitimacy, the University Law was the inception of NOU. The figures were between amended by adding an article which states that the 12.6 percent and 49.6 per cent in the first semester. Ministry of Education may in due course set up a It was after the failures were disqualified for attend- distance teaching university. This is the legislative ance to the second semester that the percentages of basis for the NOU Act. passes were raised to as low as 60.6 and as high as It is to be remembered that the University Law gov- 80.6 per cent (Hwang, 1987). erns the operation of all the universities in very The NOU was set up in 1986. One year later the broad terms.It has never been so specific as to NOU Act was finalised and the decision not to grant authorise the establishment of any existing universi- a degree to the students upon their graduation was ties as in the case of NOU. At this time the Ministry made clear, still NOU attracted 36,908 applicants came under pressure and the opponents began voic- among whom 20,756 were admitted. Again, the ing objections as we shall see below. pass rates (ratios of number of passes/number of According to the NOU Act, NOU is expected to students registered) for the first eight courses were follow all the requirements asked of any conven- surprisingly low, ranging from 14 to 57 per cent tional university, in matters such as the degree struc- (Chen, 1987). ture, the credit system and selective admission of This year. there were 12,190 applications and the the students. The students will be conferred all the number of entrants has yet to be decided at the time privileges normally granted to a university graduate, of the writing of this paper. Clearly, the degree issue except a degree, upon completion of their six to did not scare the enthusiastic and promising stu- seven-year programme. The number of graduation dents away, but the extraordinary low pass rates had

164 the effect of holding back those who misperceived In sum, NOU started small amid scepticism. There NOU as an institution they could take advantage of. is no doubt a demand for adult lifelong education as Yet social criticism did affect NOU institutionally, the country heads towards industrialisation. The which in turn might deter some potential students NOU received quite a number of applications for from entering. Firstly, article 2 of the NOU Act the entrance examination even after the decision defines the goal of NOU as a university aimed at not to confer a degree was made clear. If the quality implementing adult continuing education in order of education is shown comparable to other uni- to upgrade educational-cultural standards and qual- versities, then there will be room for the legislators ity of manpower through mainly the use of audio- to give a second thought to the degree issue in due visual media. The concept of open !earning is com- time (Chang, 1987). To be sure, this is but one of the pletely missing, and the concept of distance educa- uncertainties facing Taiwan's NOU. tion is barely mentioned in this article and throughout the rest of the NOU Act. Secondly, NOU is the tenth national university in Taiwan. It is staffed poorly, with 150 people, facul- REFERENCES ties and administrative assistants included. The source of its operating cost is student fees. Unlike all Chang, Shih-jer other national universities that have been heavily ( I 987). "The Future of the National Open University: A subsidised, no pian has yet been formed for the Perspective of Law", NOU Bulletin,15-16. government to increase its staffing and financial Chen, Shih-min assistance to NOU to the level normally granted to a (1985). The Future of Adult Lifelong Education. Paper national university. presented at Seminar on the Future of Higher Education (Tamkang University, Taipei). CONCLUSION Chen Shih-min (1987). Personal communication to NOU, September. As a new distance teaching university, Taiwan's Chen, Shih-min National Open University is based more on the traditional wisdom of teaching by audio-visual (1987)The Plan to Improve Recruitment, Cultivation, and Utilization of Administrative Personnel at Government media than on open learning. It is seen merely as a Organisations. (Taipei: author.) kind of correspondence instruction which is useful only under otherwise very unusual circumstances, Hsu, James and which is inconsistent with the Confucian con- (1985). "The Direction of Distance Instruction in Taiwan: cept of education because it is trying to teach by A Review and a Critique", in: Association for Distance Teaching Research of the Republic of China (ed.), Assays words, not by a teacher's deeds. The idea of dis- on Distance Teaching. (Taipei: author), 26-52. tance education developed elsewhere in the last 20 years has not yet gained ground in Taiwan. The issue Hsu, Mei-ling centres upon granting degrees. Culturally, a uni- (1987). Distance teaching for Adult Higher Education in versity degree is respected to the extent that any Taiwan: A Case Study of the National Open University. (M A thesis, Department of Communication, the Uni- granting of degree on a large scale is seen merely to versity of Hawaii). foster so-called diplomaism, the mentality that a degree or a diploma counts, not the learning process Hwang, Cheng or the knowledge gained. Educationally, NOU is (1987). "Planning and Setting up the National Open Uni- trapped between the University Law and the NOU versity", NOU Bulletin, 3, 2-9. Act in so far as the degree issue is concerned. Final- Wu, Ta-yu ly, but not the least is the problem of under-staffing (1984). Interviewed by reporter of the United Daily News, and limited financial support for the government. 1 July, 1984.

165 I Student support and counselling services in distance teachingprogramme:the Indian experience SUKHDEV SINGH CHIB Directorate of Correspondence Courses Panjab University Chandigarh. India -160 014

INTRODUCTION Delhi University in 1962 on the recommendations of the government yet some privately organised in- Iniia is a vast country characterised by extremes in stitutes had already been producing similar courses its physical, economic, ethnographical, social and in the country. The International Correspondence cultural milieu. Unprecedented population growth, School, Bombay and the British Institute, Bombay, rapidly depleting resources and a disrupted ecolog- are two such bodies that have long been active in ical balance are the root causes of India's underde- non-traditional and diversified education. Both velopment. Only mea.tingful education aimed at these institutes enjoy more popularity and esteem the mass of the educationally and socially deprived than their government and University counterparts. population can promise economic and social pro- There are now three dozen University-run corre- gress. The New Education Policy of India has clearly spondence course institutes besides two Open Uni- emphasised this: versities in the country that conduct distance teach- Education is .-he most effective instrument to meet ing courses in traditional as well as some non-tradi- these challenges. Only education can imbue people tional job oriented courses at the degree and post with the knowledge, the sense of purpose and the degree levels. However 88 per cent of the students confidence essential for building a dynamic, vibrant in such institutes pursue traditional courses only and cohesive nation capable of providing its people (Shah, 1986:55). with the wherewithal for creating better, fuller and At the school level, the Open School New Delhi and more purposeful life. a couple of courses started by State School Educa- But it is an enormous task to start formal schools, tion Boards have also been developed. Most of colleges and universities to meet the challenges. For these institutes call their courses correspondence instance, India needs to open five colleges every courses, but, "almost everywhere, Correspondence week to meet the demand for college education. To education is supplemented by personal guidance to provide college buildings, teachers, libraries, lab- students, facilities for the supply of books and jour- oratories, sports equipment and other infrastructure nals, radio and television programmes, contact pro- would require huge expenditure which the country grammes and the use of audio-visual aids (Goel, at present can ill afford. However, the country took 1973:50). Thus it would be more appropriate to call the prudent step of launching the Correspondence them distance teaching institutes. study programme in 1962 "to provide an efficient and less expensive method of educational instruction at a higher level in the context of the national SUPPORT SERVICES AND development of India" (Report of Education Com- COUNSELLING mission, 1960). Printed words is the mainstay of distance teaching everywhere. Even in advanced and economically THE PRESENT PICTURE RELATED developed countries such as the UK, Canada, USA, TO DISTANCE EDUCATION IN Australia, USSR and Japan printed material makes INDIA up 45 to 50 per cent of distance teaching courses and open education programmes. Radio, televi- Alongside correspondence courses, are evening sion, telephone, week-end schools, Sunday classes, colleges, adult education and continuing education personal contact programmes, postal library ser- programmes. The evening courses initially started vice, guided study centres, evaluation of home as- by some universities were ultimately appreciated by signments and rapport with the students however, most colleges. The postal courses were started by provide support services for the students. Besides,

166 1r "counselling at a distance is a natural and necessary IGNOU the study centres are visited only by about development for an institution which teaches at a 20 per cent of the enrolled students. Ironically stu- distance" (Watkins: 39). Counselling can be pre- dents at these centres do not come for any of the admission counselling, counselling during the aca- above cited lofty objectives. They instead insist on demic session, examination counselling and post classroom teaching wherein no interaction is seen. course counselling etc. Thus counselling pertains The students are just silent listeners who sit taking both to the academic and administrative functions. notes. Radio and TV are very good support services for THE INDIAN SCENARIO distance learners everywhere provided the timing of In India, till now with the exception of the Indira broadcasts and telecasts suit the convenience of Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi (IG- such listeners and viewers. A distant learner prefer- NOU), there are no guidance and counselling cen- ring an open pattern of education often fails to fit in tres run by any of the institutes. Only at the head- with Radio-TV schedules. No wonder even in ad- quarters, are there Enquiry Counters (not regular vanced countries like Japan and UK students prefer features in all cases) which get very crowded during audio- and video-cassettes to radio and TV (Singh, admission days. Often a junior administrative func- 1986:38). In Japan alone 77 per cent of such lear- tionary (mostly a clerk) who may not be well versed ners possess video and 99 per cent possess audio in all the rules and regulations of the institute attends cassette players. to the queries of students. In India, however, the picture is different and far The position of remotely and distantly located stu- from satisfactory. Only 6 (out of the total numer of dents who desire counselling through post is much 40) correspondence courses institutes provide radio worse. A pamphlet containing the gist of study pro- broadcasts for their students. Even this support ser- grammes and admission rules, carrying no illustra- vice does not reach all the students who are scat- tive explanations is sent to them. Once the student tered all over the country. Moreover, these radio has sought admission, more often than not, his talks are broadcast only by one particular radio queries (never mind counselling) remain unattend- station whose range because of inherent reasons is ed to. Nonetheless, the one-day Orientation Pro- quite limited. The surveys conducted by the Panjab gramme conducted by the Panjab University Corre- University reveal that only 5 per cent of students spondence Courses at the Headquarters at the be- regularly listen to such broadcasts. A majority of the ginning of the academic session has proved to be students take the view that the talks broadcast before very useful to local students at least. Postal rapport 8 am and between 5 to 6 pm do not suit them for between students and their tutors is minimal, partly many reasons. On the other hand, the radio stations because of the uninterested teachers and partly be- have their own problems and are unable to provide cause of the apathy of the students themselves. talks at times convenient to students because during However, duirng week and classes, personal con- those hours they have their popular programmes. tact programmes and other such contacts students Moreover, not more than three or four radio talks are are provided with counselling mostly related to ex- devoted to a course during the year and such an aminations. insignificant number obviously drastically affects the enthusiasm of a student. Very often the radio talk As stated above some institutes have study centres, does not provide extra material on the topic: it is but only in name. These are merely part-time book merely a repetition of the related printed material. loaning counters where no counselling or guidance Also nearly half of the taiks are substandard with services are provided. Wherever such centres were regard to their content and presentation. As far as started, the objective was to create a nucleus for: telecasts are concerned only recently have the Uni- (a) providing a personal contact for the stu- versity Grants Commission sponsored telecasts dents; been initiated. Since these telecasts are targetted (b) providing a forum to students for discussing towards formal university students they fail to cater among themselves their academic prob- fully to the needs of distant learners. Although dis- lems; tance teaching is 35 years old in India, no distance (c) providing an opportunity to students for as- teaching institute has been allowed to use any TV sessing their way of working and allaying Channel and there are no such prospects in the near their fears and apprehensions; future. (d) creating a spirit of teamwork among off- The IGNOU and the Panjab University Correspond- campus learners; ence Courses have recently started preparing audio- (e) finding solutions to the academic and ad- cassettes which can be played during contact class- ministrative problems of the students; and es. The IGNOU has, however, extended this facility (f) using library and audio-visual aids. to those students who visit their study centres. How- Unfortunately such activities have so far eluded the ever, in the light of the ever thinning numbers of so-called study centres. Even in the case of the learners in contact classes and study centres the

167 benefit reaches only a handful of students. No doubt NOU was provided witn a budget of Rs. 700 million there are plans to sell these cassettes to learners on a in the first year whereas even the leading corre- no-profit basis but the step is unlikely to have much spondence courses institutes catering to many more impact. The reason is that an average Indian distant students than the IGNOU have been provided with learner cannot afford to Nrchase a number of cas- budgets of Rs. 10 to 20 million after being in oper- settes or a cassette player. ation for 15 to 35 years. The IGNOU was allotted Personal Contact Programmes are a device "of ex- Rs. 700 million during 1986-87 whereas it ran only tending human and personal touch to the students two Diploma Courses and enrolled 3300 students. who are seeking and striving learning through Cor- On the other hand the Directorate of Correspond- respondence" (Chib, 1977:97). Almost all related ence Courses of the Panjab University which has institutes in India witnessed crowded contact pro- continuously been catering to about 9,000 students grammes during the first three to four years of their on an average since 1971 (running a dozen of cours- existence. Thereafter this support service also start- es including 7 Post-graduate Courses) was allowed a ed dwindling. For example the Panjab University budget of about Rs. 10 million only. The latter was Correspondence Courses conducted such pro- also required to curtail expenditure on some facil- grammes at 13 or 14 places in the first three to four ities and services on the plea of economy measures. years of their existence and now they are held only The plight of all other such institutes is no better. It at two places. Such a state of affairs is partly the may be worse in some cases. The condition is still result of waning interest of the learners and partly worse in institutes which have no faculty members the reluctance of the institutes to conduct more (they are operated by borrowed faculty when need- programmes because of mounting costs and admin- ed) or which have only one faculty member per istrative problems. Postal Library Service intro- discipline. Even in organisations where support ser- duced only by the Panjab University has also not vices exist, resources are not being properly man- become very popular with the students. Only 8 to aged and channelled for the benefit of their learners. 10 per cent of the total students use this service in It is also true conversely, since the majority of stu- the Panjab University Correspondence Courses. dents do not have the will and desire to avail them- This percentage includes even those students who selves of even the skeleton -vices. Counselling is borrow books in person while visiting the institute almost non-existent in all its facets. Nonetheless, for Personal Contact Programmes, but return the the situation can be remedied by implementing the books later on through post. The Postal Library ser- following suggestions: vice in its strict sense has never had more than 2 per (a) The Union Government, the State Govern- cent use. 50 to 60 per cent of students fail to return ments, the University Grants Commission the books notwithstanding repeated reminders from and the related universities should be liberal the Directorate. Nonetheless, steps are being taken in according grants to distance teaching in- to strengthen this service and it is hoped that it may stitutes. become an effective service one day. Lack of habitu- (b) The institutes should, instead of winding up al reading (other than the lecture scripts) and the some service or facility, restructure, reacti- postal expenditure involved in returning the books vate and renovate it. For instance the rea- are the major reasons for non return of books. sons for fast thinning attendance in Personal Response Sheet Assignment (RSA) is ar important Contact Programmes should be properly link and fruitful contact between teachers and stu- probed and effective steps should be taken dents provided the learners demonstrate their seri- to counter them. ousness and sincerity in preparing the responses and (c) The entire correspondence with learners the evaluator reciprocates (Chib, 1977:83). Howev- should be done in the language they have er in India the RSA has been treated as a burden by chosen for instruction. At this time the ma- students and teachers alike. The students by and jority of Indian students have started receiv- large make a half-hearted attempt to earn eligibility ing instruction in vernacular languages and to sit the examination while the teacher only tick the institutes provide them printed material marks it and awards a score with some genral rein the language of their choice. However, mark only. Telephone as a support service or coun- ironicaily enough, the rest of the corre- selling device is almost non existent in India. spondence (including counselling guidance if any even by the IGNOU) is in English. Many of the students do not understand the CONCLUSION AND contents of such material. To motivate dis- SUGGESTIONS tant learners, it is essential that the teachers It is a hard fact that with the exception of the IGNOU and other related persons communicate no institute provides adequate support services. The with them in the language which they have IGNOU can afford to do so because it enjoys the chosen as their medium of study. Communi- political patronage at the national level. The IG- cation should be encouraging, polite and

168 1 R,: comprehensible. Unless these institutes care occasion which is quite challenging and at for the language of the learners, no amount variance witht! leir other duties (Chib, of instructional guidance and counselling 1977:174). material sent in a foreign language can bring fruitful results. (d) To make support services like Response Sheet Evaluation Personal Contact Pro- REFERENCES grammes (including week-end classes), radio talks,etc.,effective and attractive, Report of the Education Commission, (1960). Govern- teachers dealing with them need to be in- ment of India. structed and t :fined for the particular job. At Shah, Gunvant present almost all teachers recruited by the (1986). "Distance education for the Third World", "ICDE related institutes in India are themselves the Bulletin, 12, Sept. product of the formal system of education and they carry the formal bias with them. Goel, S.C. Hence a continuous programme for the edu- (1973), "Education by correspondence in theory and cators is also needed. The IGNOU and the practice", in D.V. Urs, HAMSA, Proceedings of the first National Seminar on correspondence education (Institute Andhra Pradesh Open University can tackle of Correspondence Courses and Continuing Education, the "problem of teacher obsolescence". University of Mysore). (e) The universities and i.,....citutes pursuing distance teaching must work in close collab- Watkins, R. oration with regard to counseling and sup- "Counselling in continuing education (1)" Teaching at a port services instead of functioning in isola- Distance, 6. tion,asatpresent.They could have Singh, Bakshish common study centres, share radio and tele- (1986), "International seminar on "Distance education: vision programmes and also the services of experience of open universities" Indira Gandhi Na- personnel operating such centres. tional Open University, New Delhi, India", ICDE Bulle- (f) In a distance teaching organisation the lear- tin, 11, May. ner has to deal not only with teachers as in Chib, Sukhdev Singh formal colleges but with a number of admin- (1977), Teaching by correspondence in India, New Delhi. istrative functionaries as well. These functionaries also need to be trained to rise to the Patterns of distance education for in- service training of third-world teachers GARY COLDEVIN Concordia University Montreal, Canada

INTRODUCTION developing areas increased about 4 per cent. Sub- Saharan Africa led the way with 7.3 per cent annual In the majority of developing countries, population increases, followed by Latin America with about 4 increases have accelerated pressures on already per cent and Asia with 3 per cent. In contrast Eu- limited educational resources, particularly at the rope's primary school enrolment decreased by 1.2 primary level. The extent of the problem may be per cent during the period, as clic. North America's quickly demonstrated by comparing developed ver- by 2.3 per cent. sus developing country demographic trends. The current world population (mid-1987) is estimated at The immediate results of Third World population slightly over 5 billion (Haub and Kent, 1987). Pop- bulges in the under fifteen years age bracket have ulations in the developing areas, which out-number been strains on physical facilities, provision of cur- those in industrialised countries by about four to ricular materials and supplies of trained teachers, one, however, are growing at a rate three and a half particularly in the rural areas where over 70 per cent times faster than developed countries. Further,if of the people reside. Faced with requirements un- one examines the bulk of the primary-age cagetory, able to be met through traditional means, many less developed nations have an average of 40 per governments have had to choose between either cent of their populations under 15 as opposed to 22 reducing the level of publicly supported education per cent for the developed world. Africa as a conti- or trying innovative solutions. Many of the strategies nent leads the list with 45 per cent of its citizenry adopted have revolved around meeting the problem under fifteen years old, but Latin America at 38 per of certified teacher shortages stemming from the cent and Asia at 34 per cent are also very high. inability of teacher colleges to keep pace with demands. A close-up view of population doubling times of selected countries more graphically highlights the exponential dimensions of the mushrooming statis- TEACHER SHORTAGES IN tics. Kenya ranks foremost among the nations of the DEVELOPING COUNTRIES world with an incredibly short doubling time of 18 QUANTITATIVE DIMENSIONS years, but Tanzania at 20 years is close behind. So too are Liberia and Nigeria at 22 and 25 respec- Teacher shortages are caused by continuing high tively. (Nigeria, in fact, is expected to become the birth rates, but also stem from government policies third most populous country in the world after China to achieve universal primary education. The precip- and India by 2035.) Other examples may be drawn itous introduction of such a plan for Nigeria in 1976 from Latin America (Honduras and Guatemala each resulted in 3 million new students entering the sys- at 22 years) and Asia (Pakistan and the Philippines at tem in one year alone. It also called for the imme- 24 and 25 years respectively). When compared to date hiring of 33,000 new teachers, a 25 per cent figures of 102 years for the United States and 408 increase in the teaching corps. Altogether 290,000 years for Norway or 462 for the United Kingdom new teachers were required by 1982. Tanzania ex- the reality of trying to provide quality education perienced similar problems in 1977 when school iii the Third World takes on a new perspective. By fees were abolished and mandatory enrolment was and large, 90 per cer,)f the world's population legislated for Standards I through VII. Thirty thou- growth is occurring in.)or countries that can least sand new primary teachers were required over a afford to cope with rapid increases. two-year period, or a doubling of the primary teacher corps. Other cases may be cited from Lesotho, Another interesting comparison can be made with Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Perhaps the most dra- regard to average annual primary enrolment in- matic example occurred in Algeria after independ- creases. In the 1970-80 period, for example, the ence in 1963 when student numbers were suddenly mean increase in enrolment in develLoed countries doubled while the majority of the expatriate French actually declined about 1 per cent wh iP that in the teaching force returned home. Shortages have also

170 resulted from the desirability of reducing the high INCREASING FEMALE teacher-pupil ratios. UNESCO figures for 1980 indicate that teacher-pupil ratios in the Third World PARTICIPATION are about double thoce in industrialised countries A particularly acute problem in many Afrfcan and which average about 1:20. Trends suggest that the Asian countries has been the low participation of 1:40 ratio found in the Third World is likely to persist female teachers, especially in the rural areas. ILO in the foreseeable future as teacher shortages will (1981) reports that in the 1976-79 period women extend at least until the end of this century. accounted for less than 25 per cent of the teaching force in 20 African and Asian countries; in Bangla- desh, Chad, Mauritania and Nepal, the figure was QUALITATIVE DIMENSIONS less than 10 per cent. The qualitative aspects of teacher shortages refer to The lack of women teachers has also had an inhib- the engaging of untrained, unqualified or under- iting effect on access to education for female stu- qualified teachers. On a regional basis the problem dents. Parents in rural areas are reluctant to send is most acute in Africa. Thompson (1984) refers to a their daughters to schools with only male teachers. survey in the early 1980s that showed that the pro- The shortage of female teachers thus risks perpetu- portion of unqualified teachers ranged from 70 per ation as fewer girls receive a formal education recent in Liberia and 68 per cent in the Gambia to sulting in an overall dearth of women available to about 20 per cent in Malawi, Zambia and Uganda. enter the teaching profession. In Nigeria the proportion ranged from 94 per cent in the Northern States to over 50 per cent in the South. In other countries the situation is only marginally OUT-OF-SCHOOL HOME OR better. An ILO (1981) report estimated that 40 per COMMUNITY BASED cent or more of all primary teachers in Bangladesh (1975), Guyanna (1975), Jamaica (1977), Sri Lanka EQUIVALENCY PROGRAMMES (1973) and Trinidad and Tobago (1977) were un- Several countries have recognised that the likeli- trained. India's proportion is also high with half of its hood of providing school buildings and fully qual- primary teachers and 90 per cent of its middle ified teachers is remote and have looked for other schools teachers listed as unqualified (Brophy and solutions. ACPO in Columbia uses radio programs, Dudley, 1982). supplemented by text materials and village co-ordinators to bring basic and primary education to almost two thirds of young people and adults in the STRATEGIES TO REMEDY country not served by the formal education system. TEACHER SHORTAGES Jimenez (1986) reports a potential of 20 million students which may be reached by the service. DOUBLE SHIFTING AND Other notable examples include Telesecundaria in INCREASING TEACHER-PUPIL Mexico which broadcasts television programs at the RATIOS junior secondary level, to learning groups in existing structures like churches and village meeting In a number of countries, the immediate solution to halls. Tele-courses are supported by textbooks and teacher shortages has been a double shifting of stu- co ordinators, who in this case are certified primary dent attendance (eg. 7.00-12.00 for one group of school teachers. A similar system (RADECO) is op- students and 13.00 -18.00 for another) with an in- erating in the Dominican Republic but substitutes creased teacher-pupil ratio in each. This response radio for television to bring primary education to has mainly served to qualitatively undermine al- youngsters who must work in agricultural produc- ready weak systems with increased staff loads and tion during the day. decreased individual student attention. On the other side of the world the Korean Air Corre- spondence High School (ACHS) uses radio broad- EXPATRIATE TEACHERS casts and regular textbooks to deliver the last three Although this solution has beer. largely applied at wars of high school. Students study at home but secondary levels, many countries continue to invite meet with tutors at .egular high schools every fort- expatriate teachers to fill gaps in qualified primary night for formal instruction and to discuss their teacher corps. Apart from the cultural integration course progress. About half of the eligible high problems, high turnover rates cause inconsistencies school students who are unable to enter regular in teaching patterns. Foreign teachers recruited un- classes are handled by ACHS. der local contracts are usually paid about twice the All of the foregoing systems are highly cost-effective amount as a national with the same qualification. (25 per cent of conventional expenses for both Tele- Replacement of expatriates frees budgetary re- secundaria and ACHS; see McAnany et al, 1983) sources to hire and train more local teachers. and provide opportunities for thousands of learners

171 who would not otherwise have access to formal identified, although in many programs they may be education. combined: (1) up-grading courses that bring teachers from one IN-SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY qualification level to another and lay the basis PROGRAMS for career patterns. For untrained teachers, these A more direct approach has been to place untrained courses are intended to bring them up to certifi- teachers or monitors into schools to lead and follow cation up direct instruction via television. Up-graded or (2) specialist courses concentrating on one subject rewritten text materials accompany the broadcasts or area of competency (eg. New Mathematics) Such was the case for the first 8 grades in American (3) refresher courses which introduce teachers to Samoa from 1964 to 1980, with expansion to in- discipline advances and refined pedagogical clude high school as well from 1966. The Ivory techniques. Coast underwent a similar process from 1970 to The advantages of distance education (DE) for 1980 with 80 per cent of primary school children in teacher education are manifold. From the teachers' the country (grades 1 through 6) being taught by point of view, training in situ means that they can television. Other notable projects include the ongo- attain certification without interrupting their earning TV Maranhao system in Brazil for children in ings, a significant point in developing countries upper primary schools and the Mauritius College of where many teachers have small farms. Removal to the Air for secondary students which ran from 1973 college-basedtraining programs would imply to 1980. In the latter case the system was reinforced stand-ins, where available, often with qualifications by qualified high school teachers. In the American even lower than those they were replacing. A further Samoa and Ivory Coast examples in-service teacher problem with bringing trainees from rural areas to training operated in parallel with school instruction. urban colleges is that they typically have difficulty settling into courses; and once they are established SCHOOL BROADCASTS they may not want to return to their original posts. Another variation to improve the quality of school DE programs imply that teachers are immediately offerings has been the use of school broadcasts, available to schc,,,,. Large numbers can be accom- mostly by radio, to enhance teacher lectures. In modated at any one time, with no discrimination for contrast to the in-school equivalency programs those who live in remote areas. DE print materials mentioned earlier, the teacher has the option to use also frequently serve as valuable references in loca- or not use the broadcasts depending upon his or her tions where access to libraries is minimal. And train- perceived value of a given program. ing costs are typically half as expensive as campus based instruction. Normally, broadcasts are accompanied by teacher notes and auxiliary, manual type, print material for In general, certification appears to have positive students. Outstanding examples of this form of benefits on teaching. Guthrie (1985) conducted an teaching enhancement include the Schools Broad- extensive review of the literature and concluded casting Service in Kenya (Coldevin, 1980) and the that credentialing does have a significant relation. Radio Mathematics Projects in Nicaragua and Thai- ship with student achievement. An additional trend land (Galda, 1984). The latter programs nave been uncovered was that the lower a country's per capita particularly successful through encouraging active income, the greater the effects of teacher quality. student participation, what is now termed "inter- Most of the studies reviewed were based on conven- active radio", with superior results routinely occur- tional training. The evidence which does exist, ring to radio supported classrooms. however, suggests that DE trained teachers are as good as their college trained counterparts (Brophy IN- SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING and Dudley, 1983). THROUGH DISTANCE Large-scale DE projects in teacher training range from those carried out in the Ivory Coast, Tanzania, EDUCATION Sri Lanka and Nigeria to medium and smaller ones In the wake of severe teacher shortages, all coun- in Nepal, Malawi, Botswana, Lesotho and Swazi- tries have as a matter of course tried to increase the land. In addition, many of the DE universities have output of their training colleges. In some c'ses low- in-service certificate programs (e.g. Costa Rica, Pa- ering of entry standards have been paralleled by kistan, Thailand and Columbia). shortening of college preparation. The most preva- Among the many examples which might be selected lent strategy, however, has been the recruitment of for in-depth analysis, this paper concentrates on untrained or underqualified teachers, pressing them representative models of current practice. Within into service and then bringing them up to certifica- this framework, Kenya, Nepal, Lesotho and Pakis- tion or qualification through in-service programs. tan will represent national systems using terrestrial - Basically, three types of in-service courses can be delivered radio broadcasting and text materials. The

172 universities of the West Indies and the South Pacific Guthrie, G. are included as regional systems, serving a number (1985). "Current research in developing countries: teach- of countries, through satellite relayed tele-lectures, er credentia credentialling and distance education". texts and a variety of other media and interpersonal Teacher and teacher Education, 1, 1, 81-90. support. Holmberg, B. The paper concludes with the observation that once (1985). "Applications of distance education in Kenya". DE systems are up and running with in-service Distance Education, 6, 2, 242-47. teacher training, they are cheap and cost-effective. ILO And in the majority of cases, they are the only (1981). Employment and conditions of work of teachers. feasible alternative to traditional Third World train- ILO, Geneva. ing patterns. Jimenez, J.H. (1986). "Columbia could have the biggest school in the world." Development Communication Report, 53, 13. REFERENCES Keegan, D. Brophy, M., and Dudley, B. (1986). The Foundation of Distance Education (Croom (1982). "Patterns of distance teaching in teacher educa- Helm, London). tion". Journal of Education for Teaching, 8, 2, 156-62. Kent, M., and Haub, C. Brophy, M., and Dudley, B. (1987). World Population Data Sheet (Population Refer- (1983). "Teacher training in the third world". Teaching at ence Bureau, Washington, D.C.). a Distance, 23, 40-5. McAnany, E., Oliveira, J., Orivel, F., and Stone, J. Coldevin, G. (1983). "Distance education: evaluating new approaches (1980). "Broadcasting development and research in Ke- in education for developing countries". Evaluation in nya". Journal of Educational Television, 6, 2, 61-7. Education, 6, 289-376. Coldevin, G., and Amundsen, C. Sedlak, P. (1985). "The use of communication satellites for distance (1987). "Teachers interact with radio in Nepal". Devel- education: a world perspective". Canadian Journal of opment Communication Report, 56, 1-3. Educational Communications, 14, 1, 4-5, 10-12. UNESCO Galda, K. (1986). Statistical Yearbook, 1986, (UNESCO, Paris). (1984). "The radio mathematics project: new examples of Young, M., Perraton, H., Jenkins, J., and Dobbs, T. technology transfer". Development Communication Re- (1980). Distance teaching for the Third World (Routledge port, 45, 1-3, 14. and Kegan Paul, London).

173 -I - -, t ii Evolving principles ofcourseand programdevelopment in distance education at the University of Alberta DAVE COLLETT, Ph. D. Professor, Faculty of Education JANET C KERR, Ph. D., Professor, Faculty of Nursing JEAN WATTERS, Ph. D., Director, Faculte Saint-Jean University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Canada

The enrolment of mature students in Canadian uni- nel from the distance centres involved, a number of versities has increased steadily in recent years while guiding principles for a distance delivery system the numbers of students of high school leaving age have emerged. This paper outlines a number of has stabilised following earlier decline. This group these principles, gathered from the literature and of more mature students is the source of increasing from experience, which we have found must be pressure for non-traditional access to university-lev- addressed for the successful offering of distance el education. Characterising the province of Alberta education courses. are considerable distances separating large urban centres sufficiently populated to support the oper- COLLABORATION ations of a university. This then explains, in part, the Basic to our view is the point that collaboration is pressures for continued expansion of the "wall" of essential to successful distance education oro- universities to anow for the offering of courses and grams, perhaps more so than in traditional offerings. programs in a distance format. The offering of cours- Collaboration among institutions,administrative es by teleconferencing has become an important units and professors, as well as careful attention to mode in distance education. the effects on regular programming has been found At the University of Alberta the first courses using to be very important. teleconferencing were offered in 1984 in three faculties the faculty of Education, the faculty of COLLABORATION OF Nursing and Faculte Saint-lean. Students who en- INSTITUTIONS AND rolled in these courses were located in many centres ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS throughout Alberta. In 1985 out first use of video- enhanced teleconferencing was in courses offered Collaboration with other universities, colleges, vo- by the Department of Industrial and Vocational Edu- cational centres and the provincial Department of cation. Subsequently, all three faculties have been Advanced Education has been -.-ritical to the devel- engaged in providing courses to students in many opment of the current enterprise. It was often neces- centres by this means. sary to share facilities, equipment and in some cases personnel in order to achieve program goals in the The development of programs and courses for dis- best possible way. tance delivery requires very careful planning and preparation. Structure and organisation foi learning As it became clear that it would be important to are key elements in programs of all types. In a dis- enhance the technology available to support the tance program, structure and organisation assume delivery of instruction through teleconferencing, increasing importance because of the fact that stu- our three faculties were drawn together by common dent and professor are separated geographically, goals. Each had a strong interest in designing a and limitations on the amount of two-way interac- technical system that would support current and tion are perhaps more evident than in traditional future programming needs, and also in maximising success in delivery of courses and programs. It was settings. Therefore, planning for courses well before they are offered is important. evident to those responsible for ongoing operations in the three faculties that the University would bene- As a result of our three years of trial, collection of fit through a collaborative approach to equipment data and extensive interaction with various person- acquisition. A university-wide Distance Education

174 171 Group, comprising of faculty and staff of the three ence necessary to continue alone. Our feedback faculties and other university support units, has also shows that learners appreciate the diversity of a evolved, sharing and helping in the development of course taught by a team. distance education approaches. Co-operation between the three faculties and vari- PLANNING, PREPARATION AND ous vocational centres, colleges and universities in COURSE DELIVERY Central and Northern Alberta has been necessary in order to obtain classroom facilities where courses Concerns about programs of distance education of- can be offered. The assistance of audio-visual tech- ten address that elusive area known as "the human nicians to ensure that equipment is assembled and element". This can be described as a feeling or an ready to operate at class times has been essential. expectation on the part of the students that the pro- Library facilities of the colleges as wellas hospitals fessor is a person who demonstrates human qual- in various areas of the province have been important ities of thinking and reasoning as well as compe- to enhance the educational experience for students. tence in the particular subject. Also encompassed is The availability of the government telephone com- the idea that the professor is interested in the learn- munication system after 1630 hours has made it ing needs as well as the learning problems and/or possible to operate programs at minimal cost. achievements of the student at an individual level. The professor is seen as someone knowledgeable in a particular area who monitors, evaluates and as- RELATIONSHIP TO REGULAR ON- sists the student in learning. Ensuring that human CAMPUS COURSE OFFERINGS feeling characterises the learning encounter is an The courses and the professors involved in teaching issue in all instructional situations; in distance pro- teleconference courses are the same as those for the grams, one needs to approach this issue utilising on-campus courses. The kinds of graphic materials additional support mechanisms. It is no less pos- which have been produced for teleconferencing sible, however, in a distance program than in a courses have enhanced the regular program and traditional one. The human element is also impor- have encouraged thinking and discussion about tant in student-to-student interactions and relation- course content. The need to plan for distance deliv- ships. These may be achieved in different ways ery has provided the impetus for rethinking all of our off-campus but are as possible there as elsewhere. regularly scheduled courses. With careful planning, An evolving andragogical approach to distance significant organizational renewal can be the by- education has helped to implement an effective in- product of expansion into delivery modes of integrated multi-media approach with the emphasis struction. on the creation of a proper climate for learning and on the particular roles, tasks and functions of the TEAM DEVELOPMENT OF various personnel involved: professors, local facil- COURSES itators, and learners as a group. Course design, structure, modification and delivery is best shared by teams of faculty. ATTENTION TO LEARNING Planning and delivery of courses within the three STYLES faculties were carried out by teams of professors. The results of a number of research projects (Waft- Often, the team is headed by a professor from the ers, 1985; 1987) particularly with regard to the pre- faculty and includes experts from other universities, ferred learning styles of the learners involved in government agencies and other institutions. The team of content experts is assisted in the devel- educational teleconferencing, have shown that (1) only 5 to 8 per cent of students preferred learning opment process by a specialist in adult and distance alone; (2) 14 to 17 per cent preferred learning in a education and 2 media technologist. This approach classroom or group situation, and (3) the majority provided the support system and sharing of abilities (75 to 81 per cent) preferred a combination of (1) that made the transition from the lecture hall toa and (2). These types of results, which have remained variety of sophisticated and complicated communi- virtually constant in surveys conducted over the past cation technologies feasible. Collaboration by indi- six years, are fundamental to the design of tele- vidual professors in the development and delivery of conferehcing courses offered at the University of courses also had a side benefit in 'he consideration Alberta. of the content to be included in eachcourse. Our experiment has demonstrated that team teach- PLANNING FOR A VARIETY OF ing also offers advantages, especially if it involvesa first course for a professor. Working in a teamper- LEARNING STRATEGIES mits the instructor to become familiar with thenew Variety in learning strategies must be provided for, approach and to acquire the confidence and experi- both within courses and as the particular require-

175 !7L. ments of each individual course are considered. The students have difficulty in getting to the university need for variety in teaching and learning approach- library.Alternatively,instructions regarding the es is as true in the distance mode as it is for tradition- availability of resources must be provided. Comput- al delivery settings. Varied educational methods ers at most sites have helped to alleviate the problem and experiences in distance courses are important as students can use data banks such as ERIC etc. in that they tend to help the learner view the subject in more depth and from a number of different perspectives. Since the professor most often is not vis- PROVIDING FOR AND ible to students enrolled in distance courses, it be- FACILITATING STUDENT GROUP comes much more important to use a variety of ACTIVITIES methods for stimulating students' interest and think- Learners themselves play a vital role in the learning ing during teleconferencing sessions. process. As members of a groups, in their respective Learning activities that should initially be consid- locations, they act as consultants and consultee ered include self-study, on-site presentation, tele- among themselves and help to motivate each other. lectures, tele-discussions, tele-tutorials, written as- Learner groups help to develop camaraderie, allow signments and local study groups. Decisions were for "comparison notes" with each other, and en- made to include at least three different modes of courage a sort of positive competition which Thiag- instruction during any given course. Weightings arajan (1978) has identified as important. Group placed on each mode should vary from course to activity eliminates the feeling of isolation often ex- course depending on the nature of the course and Is perienced by students learning through a distance place in the sequence of courses to be delivered. education mode. The group dynamics established Some measure of personal contact was considered have been found to improve retenton rates. imperative: therefore, on-site visits were made by Groups of students in local centres who participate the professor, who made presentations to groups. In in classes together establish relationships which can this way professors are able to work to know the facilitate learning, and the use of a teleconferencing students that they will be dealing with later over the bridge which allows for simultaneous discussion teleconferencing network. groups between students in a number of locations is Teleconferencing sessions provided the opportunity helpful as well. Local facilitators are generally re- of delivery of course material by professors as well quired to help establish discussion groups and lead as giving tutorial assistance to students with respect planned discussions. The role of local facilitators is to their self-study progress. Teleconferencing ses- discussed in more detial later. sions were enhanced through the use of the "Telew- riter" as well as previously distributed overhead MOTIVATION, FEEDBACK AND transparencies or mini-lectures on videotape. The REINFORCEMENT provision of a comprehensive learning guide provided overall structure as well as directing a signif- Research by Waters (1985) conducted with over icant portion of self-study by students. 400 learners, demonstrates the important role that the local facilitator can play in providing for motivation and feedback. Bath and Wangdahl (1976) SELF-STUDY AND THE have stated that the stimulating, supporting and PROVISION OF LEARNING strengthening of students' motivation is the most GUIDES important role of the tutor or instructor. Self-study is an important component of courses The facilitator's function of motivation and feed- delivered at a distance. Because of the reduction of back is one of the most important identified in educ- instructor-student contact the distance delivery tional teleconferencing. In traditional correspond- mode requires much more guidance to the learner ence education the rate of student drop-out has than in the traditional setting. Outlining course con- always been substantial. The feeling of isolation tent and expectations so that students can readily experienced by the learners and the absence of anticipate requirements over the period of the immediate feedback are the main causes. course become essential. Designated opportunities As a result of the presence of group dynamics and for the student to discuss matters pertaining to the the ability to receive and to give immediate feed- course, assignments and expectations with the in- back, these two problems do not exist in education- structor are also important. al teleconferencing. Learning should be guided by carefully planned and Through motivation and feedback the professor, the prepared "Learning Guides" (outlines of learning local program facilitator and the learners them- activities) with clear specifications of objectives, selves are able to accomplish a number of tasks: content, activities and evaluations. Reading materi- establish a dialogue, ask and answer questions, pro- al often has to be included, as most off-campus voke discussion, learn together and be humanistic

176 and enthusiastic. This helps create the climate con- of Alberta by implementing an annual instructional ducive to learning. According to Baath (1976) moti- review process, keeping comparative data with the vation is often created through the dialogue and regular on-campus course offerings, and through feedback between the facilitator and the learner. extensive gathering of student feedback. The pro- tectionist fears of many academics would require us to do much more. EVALUATION STRATEGIES Evaluation in distance courses must take into ac- INSTRUCTIONAL REVIEW count the andragogical principle that the learner must be responsible for individual progress. Lear- Course content, materials and presentation need to ners should be encouraged to reflect on their learn- be reviewed and modified after each offering. The ing performance and on the underlying beliefs they University of Alberta has been conducting extensive hold about learning and teaching.This implies that research on distance eoucation and particularly on there must be an element of self-evaluation in all educational teleconferencing. Results of this ongo- work submitted by the student, and the learning ing research have helped to improve the delivery of guide should facilitate this. The keeping of a class courses. Consideration has been given to ways of journal during the teleconferencing course is one eliciting student feedback regarding content, deliv- andragogical tool which can be used to encourage ery etc. on both a formative and summative basis. reflection and decision-making based on the professor's presentations, the course readings and the dis- COMPARISONS WITH cussions. TRADITIONAL OFFERINGS In the programs developed thus far at the University STUDENT MANAGEMENT of Alberta, students in off-campus centres receive SYSTEMS the same courses of instruction as those students who are studying on the main campus of the Uni- In the distance delivery of courses, some traditional versity. In many instances a group of students in the application and registration procedures, as implemented on-campus, prove a major problem; for classroom with the professor at the main site interact with students at other sites off-campus. example, deadline dates for applications. New and innovative approaches to these long-standing traditions have been experimented with. A new tele- SUPPORT MECHANISMS phone registration system instituted by the universi- The three academic facilities offering programs of ty allows a students to sign up for credit courses from distance education at the University of Alberta have any location. come to realise the importance of support for students and faculty embarking upon teleconference ENSURING ACADEMIC RIGOUR teaching and learning for the first time. The fact that sophisticated equipment provides the vehicle by Pressures to maintain academic standards are prev- which the instruction takes place, may be intimi- alent and important. Also, distance delivery of uni- dating to some. Even more problematic may be versity-level courses is met with skepticism by many initial start-up problems and systems failures. To academics. Hence,it is important to look at the faculty and students who have had no previous meaning of quality and the factors which lead to experience with other than face-to-tace teach ing- positive learning outcomes for students in distance learning, the frustration that accompanies a situa- as well as other programs. The concept of quality is tion where difficulties have arisen with the bridge, always an elusive one and difficult to define and the telephone lines or local equipment in centres describe. Is it the number of hours spent in a class- may seem overwhelming. Therefore it is important room listening to a professor? Is it twc-way commu- to plan for ways to allay feat and anxiety in both nication the interaction between professor and students and professors in order to facilitate the student? Is it the amount of independent reading and success of courses and programs. thinking about the subject done by the student that makes the difference? How important is the role of the professor in motivating and stimulating the stu- AT THE UNIVERSITY dent to think critically about the subject? What envi- At the University of Alberta, we have found that a ronments are the most conducive to learning? What support network for faculty is a key ingredient for is the role of affective factors in the teachinglearn- successful courses and programs. From the point of ing situation? It is clear that there are many difficult view of the faculty member, a teleconference tech- questions and few easy answers to questions about nician has been an important part of this network. the quality of the educational endeavour. When computer-based transmission was initiated, it These issues have been addressed at the University was decided to hire a technician to work with the

. 1 177 I i .it equipment, prepare graphics for faculty and teach which are difficult if not impossible from a distance. faculty and students about the use of the equipment. This role includes: advance in class activities, the This decision was made when the faculty enlarged direction of activities and discussions that follow the scope of its operations to include the use of teleconferencing sessions, as well as motivating and computers and telewriter software. Although the encouraging the learners within the learning proc- use of the equipment is not particularly complex ess outlined by the professor. Particular attention and can be mastered by anyone, the importance of needs to be paid to the design of the materials to be having a technician prepare the instructional mate- utilised; facilitators (teachers, local program facil- rials for use during the class and have the equipment itators or students) need to receive training in teach- up and running when required has been reinforced ing and learning through this mode, particularly in over and over again by those who have used the relation to their functions of motivating and giving equipment for the first time. The most important adequate feedback and the importance of group result of having a competent and responsible tech- dynamics. As a result of this approach to distance nician may well be it allaying the fears and anx- education, Faculte Saint-Jean has achieved the ieties experienced by those new to the method and highest student retention rate possible 94-100 the equipment. Unless those who are to use it devel- per cent of the learners complete their respective op a belief that they can do so successfully there will courses successfully. be difficulties. In general it can be said that facilitators seem to fulfil The collaboration with other departments, faculties their role most successfully when they are hired by and institutions concerning scheduling, the avail- the academic unit offering the particular education- ability of telephone lines and bridges, arrangements al session in question. to transport the equipment from centre to centre as necessary and mailing disks to each centre to be A SUMMARY OF COURSE AND down-loaded onto the equipment for use in class all PROGRAM DESIGN PRINCIPLES take considerable time and effort. It is thus essential to have someone designated to assume responsib- (1) Collaboration among faculties and with other ility for these functions, that is a program co-ordina- institutions. tor. (2) Team development of courses. (3) A variety of learning strategies. (4) Attention to student learning styles. AT RECEIVING LOCATIONS (5) Provision of learning guides. Facilitation at the various receiving sites is of para- (6) Facilitation of student group activities. mount importance and has been addressed by vari- (7) Instructional review. ous positions such as Local Teleconferencing Aide (8) Course and program evaluations. (LTA) or Local Program Facilitator. Whether the re- (9) Support mechanisms at sending and receiving sponsibilities are held by one person or more, we sites. have identified three facilitative roles to be of importance: (a) technical facilitation, REFERENCES (b) administrative facilitation, and Biath, J.A. (c) learning facilitation. (1976) "How to optimize the learning conditions of corre- In some instances students within the class have spondence education". Workshop given in Paris. been able to fill one or more roles. Baith, J.A., and Wingdahl, A. Technical facilitation involves the scheduling of (1976) "The tutor as an agent of motivation in correspond- rooms and equipment, setting up and testing the ence education". Pedagogical Reports, No. 8 (1:,nd: Uni- communications equipment. versity of Lund, Department of Education). Administrative facilitation ensures liaison between Chapman, D.E. the university and the learners, attends to applica- (1987) Evaluation Report: Outreach Pilot Project (The tion and registration forms, communications, pro- University of Alberta, April). gram counselling, distribution of materials, publici- Thiagarajan, S. ty, collection and mailing of assignments, as well as (1978) "The loneliness of the long distance learners", providing for the proctoring of exams. This role can Audio-Visual Instruction, 23. No. 1,22-39. be especially helpful, if it is clearly understood that Walters, Jean. part of the role is to foster positive relationships (1987) "An introduction to educational teleconferenc- between students and faculty and to report any diffi- ing". Alberta Modern Languages Journal, 24 (2), 12-16. culties to the professor. (1985) The tasks and functions of facilitators in educa- Learning facilitation is required to provide for some tional teleconferencing. Prix Gregoire. Phd. dissertation: of the duties normally expected of the instructor but University of Montreal.

178

I `--rc.) Anewadult student: learning by interactive satellite VALERIE A.C. COLLINS and PETER J. MURPHY University of Victoria Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

ABSTRACT elaboration that the learner employs. It may be the case that learners have not one but many styles and Modern communication technology is being ap- strategies for learning and that they move amongst plied more extensively in continuing education. them as the task demands. The article asks whether adult students receiving their learning experiences by modern communi- Recent advances in communication technology cation technology differ from those who receive have extended adult education activities especially their education by traditional delivery methods. for people who reside at a distance from post-secondary institutions. This new adult student is more autonomous than his or her on-campus counterpart LEARNING STYLES and is potentially at greater liberty to employ the The introduction of new teaching technologies rais- learning strategy considered appropriate for the es the question of whether different learning styles tasks to be accomplished. However, adult learners are needed for students to cope. Within any evening with "rusty" learning skills and who lack the sup- class, students respond differently to the same in- port of a peer group and informal contact with their struction. Often differences in response relate to the instructor, may experience difficulty in establishing cognitive styles of the learners (Wittrock, 1980). their preferred learning style, or in deciding which Some individual- nay be convergent thinkers while method is best suited to the particular problem. others are divergent thinkers. For the former, thinking is directed towards finding the one "right" answer. In contrast, for the latter, thinking branches METHODOLOGY outward in several directions and no single right We know very little about how adult students are answer will be sought or found. coping with the new distance education courses Pask (1976) classifies adult learners into two distinct being offered by modern technology. Are the pro- groups "serialists" and "holists". The serialist lear- grammes attractive to certain individuals and not to ner is one who is a low-order worker who operates others? What new learning skills must students ac- in careful, ordered steps to reach a conclusion; the quire to understand the information delivered by holist is a high-order thinker who works downward certain modes of communication? from an overall conception of the field, rather than Do more or fewer students complete the new types upward in a series of incremental stages. A similar of courses than in traditional ones? Does the manner classification system distinguishes individuals as be- in which information is presented by the new media ing "inductive" and "deductive" learners. The in- have a significant impact on learning? These are a ductive thinker works from examples towards a gen- few of the questions to be researched. eral thesis statement or conclusion; the deductive The investigation described in this report was under- thinker works from a general statement to the particular. taken to study the impact of modern communication technology on the distance education system The implications of these research findings for edu- evolving in British Columbia. More specifically, the cators is that thinking and learning styles can be enquiry addressed two specific issLes, namely: differentiated and instruction sometimes improved by matching learners' cognitive sty!es to appropriate (1) the effect the new technologies were having on methods of presentation and to the type of mental the educational experiences being offered to

179 adult education students by provincial universi- terviewed by telephone. Evaluation questionnaires ties; and completed by students enrolled in one of the first (2) the impact the new technologies were having on new distance education courses were reviewed and the organizational structure of provincial uni- comments directly related to the issues being exam- vers'ties. ined noted. A selection of video-taped broadcasts To facilitate analysis and to arrive at some tentative were viewed and analyzed using a set of criteria conclusions regarding these important issues, the established for this specific purpose, drawn from the scope of the investigation was restricted to studying professional literature. the satellite-based, live interactive, television pro- After the data for the investigation being discussed grammes broadcast by the Knowledge Network for in this report had been summarized and organized the University of Victoria. The issues were delineat- for review, it was analyzed using an illuminative ed to several subsidiary areas. Of the educational evaluation approach developed by Parlett and Ha- experiences offered by courses, the process (teach- milton (1972) for studying innovative programmes. ing and learning) and product (content) were given Data from a variety of sources is cross .checked to separate consideration.Theorganizational struc- establish information profiles for the examination of ture was viewed as consisting of internal and ex- the issues under scrutiny. The aim of illuminative ternal functions. evaluation, according to Parlett and Hamilton, is During 1982, two exploratory studies were com- "to sharper discussion, to disentangle complexities, isolate the significant from the trivial and to raise the pleted at the University of Victoria to discover what impact the introduction of communication tech- level of sophistication of debate" (p. 2). nology was having on the educational experiences The relationships among institutions usually change being offered by the post-secondary institutions of as a consequence of a substantive intervention. British Columbia. The first enquiry, coordinated by Pask's (1980) Conversation Theory served as a con- Haughey and Potter (1983), examined the princi- ceptual framework for examining the changes ples and practices of teaching by television. The which occurred in the relationships among institu- second study, a survey supervised by Forsythe tions by the creation of the Knowledge Network. (1983), reviewed how modern technology was be- One of the principal mandates of the Network was ing integrated into the higher education system of to nurture greater cooperation and collaboration British Columbia. The findings and conclusions of within the British Columbia post-secondary system. this survey were included in a report commissioned Most provincial institutions of higher education, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and have endeavoured to take advantage of the new Development (Collins and Forsythe, 1983), which technologies without relinquishing a significant described how contemporary communication tech- amount of self-governance or autonomy. The term nology was being utilized by education ..!institu- "co-operative individuality" is often used to de- tions in various nations. Data banks established for scribe the balance between the shared and autono- these studies served as the information base for the mous aspects of the relationships among institu- investigation under discussion. tions. This balance is not static but is a dynamic evolving structure which can be easily disturbed by The data included in the banks was obtained from planned or unplanned interventions. The Know- many sources. Professional literature on learning ledge Network, as Collins (1983) points out, estab- theory, communication theo adultlearning lished a creative tension among institutions in- through educational television, visual literacy and volved in the new distance education system. Pask's experiments with communication technology were (1980) Conversation Theory provides an effective reviewed and important findings, theories and con- framework for studying this phenomenon. cepts noted. Government documents, research reports and unpublished manuscripts on the distance FINDINGS education system evolving in British Columbia were examined and important facets of the developmen- The television broadcasts and printed matter re- tal process recorded. Similar documents were ob- viewed suggests that the focus of instruction was on tained from other provinces of Canada, the United content. All instructors appeared to be primarily Kingdom, the United States and Australia for com- concerned with providing students with knowledge parative purposes. about a specific subject. Learning packages were comprehensive, detailed and well produced. Gen- Face-to-face interviews were completed with senior e'ally, minimal attention was given to encouraging government officials, educational administrators, reflective thinking, creativity and further enquiry. university schllars and adult educators associated Several students commented upon the comprehen- with or intere :ed in the development of educational siveness of the programmes which they perceived experiences by the new modes of communication. could produce information overload. Most of the A small group of adult students, who had been students, however, did appreciate being provided involved in one adult education course were in- with learning packages prior to broadcasts com-

180 mencing. By possessing material in advance, stu- is common in a traditional university lecture setting dents were able to read over professional literature and appears to create few problems for instructors. at their leisure and acquire an overview of the sub- Such an observation may or may not br. tree. Per ject being studied. haps, faculty members who teach regular on-cam- There was general consensus among the respon- pus classes would welcome more information about dents that the university lecture format was inappro- their students. Research needs to be undertaken to priate for satellite broadcasts. Even if the presenta- examine this issue. tion was interesting, students quickly became bored Insufficient information about students is a serious and inattentive. Many instructors dominated the deficiency for distance education instructors. When learning environment by speaking for most of a instructors did endeavour to discover more about broadcast. This situation occurred as a conse- their students, such enquiries were very welcomed. quence of a number of factors. Owing to insufficient Recently, this situation has been improved by en- preparation for the television, instructors tended to couraging students to participate in teleconference employ teaching methods, evaluation procedures calls, to telephone instructors for assistance, to con- and assignments which they had used successfully tact counsellors and to use information lines. in a traditional unversity classroom setting. Like Modern communication technology possesses the new teachers, many instructors were concerned capacity for presenting material visually as well as they would not cover all the material in the time verbally. Film animations, video inserts, role play available. Fear of failing to deliver sufficient in- and analogies can be effectively employed to ex- formation meant instruction often occurred at a rap- plain concepts, to discuss issues or to report reid pace. search findings. Verbal language tended to be the The students generally did not participate in televi- primary method of communication in many early sion discussions; which only encouraged instruc- broadcasts. Minimal use was made of visuals in any tors to control the learning environment and to cov- form. Discussions with administrators and distance er as much material as time permitted. Why didn't educators revealed that many instructors were per- the students interact with the instructors or with ceived as being visually illiterate. Also, instructors each other? Dialogues with the students, instructors usually resented technicians giving them advice on and coordinators seemed to indicate that most of the how to present material. Requests to "smile" and to students were "professionally shy". To speak in a look "aesthetically pleasing" were not received public arena is not an easy talk for most people. A warmly. number of the students who commented on this Production managers are aware of the need for pro- subject reported that they were embarrassed to grammes to be technically well-produced and pro- voice their ignorance on the television network. fessional looking. Adult students do not expect edu- Early in a series of broadcasts opportunities should cational programmes to compete with commercial be provided for students to gain confidence and television but they anticipate that broadcasts will be experience with the media. Not all students want to well produced. The interviews indicated that in- speak during a broadcast. Several students empha- structors, technicians and distance education co- sized that they had no desire to participate in con- ordinators needed to discuss their differences so versations because they possessed a good under- compromises could be reached. Recently, project standing of the material presented. They thought teams have been established to produce pro- some dialogues a waste of time. Without appropri- grammes which has reduced the tension and resent- ate control, some students can use a distanceeduca- ment among production staff. tion course as a platform for expressing their person- Many of the technical problems associated with al biases. early broadcasts have been eliminated. One human Under these conditions, instructors who take a cog- factor which continues to generate problems for a nitive approach to teaching encounter difficulties. production team is the ability of an instructor to When in a counselling programme an instructor project a warm and friendly personality through the endeavoured to explore alternative ways of coping medium. Students seemed to respond much better with psychological issues there was a minimal re- to presentations, according to many of the individu- sponse from the students. Similarly, attempts to en- als interviewed, if instructors were relaxed and per- courage students to develop skills of "learning to sonable when teaching on television. As one coor- learn" were only marginally successful. Neither the dinator noted, it would appear that a special type of printed matter nor the learning climate were condu- scholar is needed to teach by the new medium. The cive to a cognitive approach. selection of instructors may have to be undertaken The majority of the instructors possessed minimal with greater care than that given at the moment. knowledge of the students they taught. Prior to the broadcasts, instructors were rarely provided with COMMENT any information about their students. This situation Recent applications of communication-technology

181 1 7:, at the post-secondary level have shown it to possess Forsythe, K. great potential for offering adults in non-urban areas (1983). The learning systems working groups: A democra- a multitude of learning experiences. If contempo- cy of networking. Victoria: Knowledge Network, Uni- rary modes of communication are to attain their versity of Victoria. potentiality, more consideration must be givento Haughey, M. & Potter, G. the special needs and unique characteristics of the (1983). The principles and practices of good television new adult distance education student, and of the teaching. Unpublished manuscripts. Available from M. medium itself. Haughey, University Extension Division. University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia. Parlett, M. & Hamilton, D. (1972). Evaluation as illumination: A new approach Irr the REFERENCES study of innovatory programmes. Occasional paper 9. Edinburgh: Department of Comparative Education, Uni- Collins, V.A.C. versity of Edinbu.gh. (1983). The Impact of Satellite Te'ecommunications on Pask, G. the University System in British Columbia: Its effects on (1980). The limits of togetherness. In S. H. Lavington (Ed.), Institutional Organization and Curricula at the University Information Processing 80. Amsterdam: North Holland of Victoria. Unpublished thesis. Victoria: Faculty of Edu- Publishing Co. cation, University of Victoria. Pask, G. Collins, V.A.C., & Forsythe, K. (1976). Style_ Pnd Strategies of learning. British Journal of (1983). British Columbia Higher Education and the Educational Psychology, 46 (2). 128. Integration of New Technology In Organization for Eco- nomic Cooperation and Development. Education and Wittrock, M.C. (Ed) New Information Technologies Area B: Changes in Cur- (1980). The Brain and Psychology. Los Angeles: Academ- ricula and Institutional Structures. Paris: Centre for Educa- ic Press, University of California. tional Researc.4 and Development Organization for Eco- nor. ,ic Cooperation and Development. Note: 7172 authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Peter Evans, Faculty of Education, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, in the completion of the investigation.

S f q 182 1 i ' ) Resourcing distance education for rural identity I. CONBOY Educational Technology Centre, Ministry of Education State Government of Victoria, Australia J. V. D'CRUZ Centre for the Study of Cultural and Education Practice School of Education La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

There is a risk that policy makers and administrators lines for the widespread application of that tech- of education systems become patronising and pater- nology in rural schools. nalistic when they seek to overcome perceived edu- For ten years, the Country Education Project in Vic- cational problems existing in rural areas. In the toria has been seeking to redress rural disadvantage wake of what has come to be called "distance edu- by using technology to provide better education in cation", what is often sought after in the application small schools (Conboy, 1982). The key feature of of technology .n remote schools is a more equitable the Country Education Project philosophy has been sharing of resources. What may be overlooked are its emphasis on local participation and decision the seconu-order consequences of government ac- making. "In the Australian context, some of the tions. There are potential dangers associated with most vital rejections of such a centralist and ar- government intervention in any society, especially bitrary philosophy have come from rural people in the rural sectors of societies. Because of their isola- isolated areas. The irony is that, while rural people tion, the rural sectors of society are very susceptible are systematically disadvantaged by an urban-ori- to change from metropolitan sources sometimes entated, academic curriculum, they are also remote trading off worthwhile things in their community for from the central power bases that they can and do, what they perceive as improvements emanating indeed must, adapt the curriculum to make it rn re from the cities. Since all educational enterprises are locally relevant. Country people have a direct hon- interventions with the ever-present danger of be- esty that sees through academic pretence, that re- coming intrusions, it is crucial that the recipients, veals the absurdity of teaching the same things in the especially those in the rural sectors, are aware of same way in every part of the nation, that defies what they are trading off and what they are receiving attempts at arbitrary control. Yet they also often lack in return. This paper is not advocating an anti-tech- the confidence, the organisational know-how, the nology stance, but is alerting the reader to some ability to articulate their ideas, those forms of com- issues which we believe have not been debated petence necessary to a successful rejection of edu- sufficiently either by those who implement distance cation that is not locally relevant" (Edgar, 1979, 99). education programmes or those who would like to see a body of research built up around distance At the heart of the Country Education Project proc- education. ess is the belief that education is much wider than what happens in schools. Educational disadvantage The approach used in this paper is to place tech- grows from community isolation and to remove that nology in a cultural context. Cultural purpose will disadvantage we must work on the total community. determine content selection, processes, strategies, "We believe thatitis political know-how that resources and methodologies. If the cultural pur- counts, a sense of efficacy as people acting in the pose is seen to be shared value and retention of an real world". (Edgar, 1979, 103). identity of a community which is rural based, within a wider national cosmopolitan framework, then Giving people resporsibility for making decisions content, processes, strategies, resources and meth- about the education in their community wi.I partly odologies will fall into line.It is argued that this ensure that the decision makers have access to some approach can provide some substantive criteria for of the information on secondary consequences rath- the selection of appropriate technology and guide- er than information solely about whether they are

183 achieving primary goals. Education is a cultural en- edge the validity of both rural and urban heritages. terprise which is concerned with continuity and There has been little attempt to capitaliseo,. some of change. These are handed down and developed. the positive features of rural schools. Any interven- Purposes are derived from the historical culture of tion in rural cultures runs the risk of destroying "the Australia. Therefore, education is not entirelycon- concrete and exclusive kinship ties end its concom- ducive to democratic processes at every point in the itant ideology of personal service and group loyalty formulation of its aims and its decision making proc- of an extraordinary extended kind involving groups esses. that at best could only be intuitivrlknown" (D'Cruz, 1986). The current Victoi.project, TECHNOLOGY AND RURAL Commonwealth Resource Agreement: Using Tech- IDENTITY nology to Improve Retention in Years 11 and 12 in Rural Schools presents a challenge to educational A more pressing concern, at least in the short term, planners. It is a centralist intervention implemented is the threat of communication technology to the by small schools. In order to become something autonomy of some schools and their communities. other than a centralised initiative, considerable care Generally, we are aware of the more prominent in planning is necessary to prevent the second-order characteristics of rural cultures the greater em- consequence of the loss of rural autonomy emerg- phasis on personal relationships, stronger religious ing. and kinship affiliations, and stronger commitment to communities in general. This is reflected in rural Generally, there appears to be disillusionment in the education with parents in general having closer community about education's use of resources and contact with their schools particularly at primary governments now are less willing or unable to make levels. This generic type of culture has been dis- funds available without constraints attached to hov. cussed in relation to ethnic minorities in Australia they will be spent. This is not necessarily and alto- (D'Cruz, 1986). This analysis is valid for rural cultur- gether a bad thing. Reduced resourcing will encour- es. After allowances are made for differences in age individual schools to look to other schools, to degree, even kind, there are strong similarities be- their communities and industry generally to supple- tween the cultural orientation of those sectors of ment their resources. Australian society designated as rural andas ethnic. Lived culture can be classified as either concreteor HUMAN RESOURCING abstract. In more concrete cultures, there is empha- It is our contention, and that of others, that the most sis on the group as distinct from emphasison the important resource available to the learners in a individual which is found in more abstracted cultur- distance education system is teachers (Kaushal, es. Autonomy and independence are valued more 1995). It seems logical to develop resources already in abstracted groups, while a sense of belonging and in existence rather than rush headlong into trying to interdependence are valued higher in concrete cul- use new resources which may not be appropriate in tures. It is important for rural communities to know the short term. There appears to be a shortage of (by surveys, discussions and inventories) whatex- preservice courses throughout the world to train actly characterises their distinctiveness vis-a-vis the distance education teachers in planning, designing, urban centres and other rural centres. Otherwise writing and editing course materials; in using audio- they will not be in a position to assess the nature and extent of changes that education and/or technology visual materials as supplements to written materials; and in developing dialogue with students in dis- may be contributing to in their midst. There is a danger of being carried away by the promise of tance education modes. There is only one tertiary course in Victoria, the Graduate Diploma of Educa- technology and distance education to deliver education to large numbers of learners, freeing them tional Technology offered by Victoria College-Tor- rak, which addresses these issues. Some content is from the trammels of space, time andage (Yu Xu, picked up in courses provided by other institutions 1985, 96). This is a recipe for an abstracted culture but in general, tertiary teacher training institutions with no seise of history or locality. What might be have been slow to teach graduates skills such as seen as providing flexibility to a labour force may interacting with students in the distance education give rise to a range of social problems when people mode. One reason at least in the indian context and in traditional cultures are removed from their com- most likely Australia as well is that decisions about munities. Yu Xu mentions the problem in China ofa distance education are taken by senior university mismatch of TV college graduates and the type of staff in traditional institutions and imposed on dis- work they are expected to do (Yu Xu, 1985, 102). tance learning institutions (Datt, 1985). While the In general, Australian education systems have made resource Agreement has encouraged regions to li- little distinction between urban and rural schools. aise with local tertiary institutions and some pro- The Listening and Responding Report (1983)pre- gress has been made (Bendigo College of Advanced pared by the Education Commission of New South Education are investigating introducing a course in Wales indicated that there was a need to acknowl- distance education and have requested access to the

184 v i 81 communication technology in schools), the Minis- selves has yet to be demonstrated. An issue here has try of Education needs to take some central initia- to do with the tendency of technical systems and tives in this area. processes to create patterns of dependency and lack of autonomy through their very effectiveness. Re- COURSE AND SOFTWARE phrased, the question is, would a stunningly effec- RESOURCES tive device eventually determine, even dictate, the Some writers regard high quality software as the types of social and other relationships that is pos- most important resource in distance education. It is sible and desirable within the wider community that argued that at least for computer-assisted instruction is Victoria. Our hunch is that people in rural regions and probably film and television as well, it is the are far more interested in talking to each other than shortage of adequate software which has prevented they are in listening to their metropolitan counter- educational technology achieving its full potential parts a tendency that might be a justifiable de- (Levin and Meister, 1985). In the past, the focus has fence mechanism to retain the integration and iden- been on the equipment rather than on software and tity of rural communities against continual on- other requirements for providing educational ser- slaughts from the metropolitan and cosmopolitan vices. Firms are inhibited from undertaking invest- thrusts of individualism. ment in software because of a lack of market information, and the need for large amounts of initial INSTRUCTIONAL SETTINGS capital. The decentralised nature of school purchas- ing decision, the range of equipment in schools and The most neglected aspect of distance education illegal copying are further difficulties. Schools are and a potential resource is its instructional settings. inhibited from making decisions about buying soft- These can vary enormously individual homes, ware by a lack of clear adoption policies and an hospital beds, prisons, the many work places and in irregular funding base. the case of the Victorian Resource Agreement, post- primary schools in small rural towns. Ten years ago Because computers at this stage of their develop- the Country Education Project began to appreciate ment process data and information more effectively the importance of communities in assisting the edu- than abstract concepts and theories, there is a tend- cation .3f children and ensured that it had communi- ency to concentrate on their administrative function ty representatives on all its committees. We have rather than their educational role. There is an under- addressed the importance of rural communities standable tendency for some developers of comput- elsewhere (Conboy and D'Cruz, 1987). The present er systems to see curriculum uses as complex and Resource agreement will provide communication confusing. If education systems are to develop ade- facilities in schools which will be available to the quate amounts of instructional software as distinct community in non-school hours. Such a facility from administrative software, then incentives must should bind the community closer to the school and be provided for teachers to design the materials and bring groups other than parents to the schools. The make t!-,em freely available throughout the system. potential for mutual benefits from such an arrange- The Victorian Resource Agreement is establishing ment are considerable. Rural schools are largely an Electronic Curriculum Materials Library which staffed by teachers who have no close cultural links will be a facility for teachers to deposit materials with the area in which they teach. While they bring they have designed and found effective, and for a beneficial range of skills to a rural community and other teachers to access for their own classes. Be- give country children insights into a world beyond cause most private firms are unlikely to take the risks the confines of their community, they do not have to develop software, strategies 4nd administrative the benefit of a lifetime of personal interaction with- structures like this Electronic Curriculum Materials in the community in which they work. They may Library must be developed to encourage education exist as an intellectual island in some rural commu- systems to produce education software.Itis at nities and any development which brings them clos- points like this that technical innovations like VIS- er to their community should be encouraged. TEL, as a support system, could be crucial in the transmission and spread of what has been deemed desirable in the areas of curriculum, culture and CONCLUSION understanding. While undoubtedly we see the po- While there is a greater emphasis on using tech- tential of VISTEL as a support system, some worrying nology to develop a more highly skilled and versa- aspects of its full effectiveness in regard to rural tile workforce to achieve largely economic goals, schools remain. planners should not lose sight of the cultural context While we accept VISTEL's potential efficiency in in which these changes take place. This is partic- terms of transferring and receiving feedback be- ularly relevant in some of the more vulnerable and tween the cosmospolitan centre and the rural cen- disadvantaged cultural groups such as the poor and tres,its ability to develop and even generate in- the isolated. In the face of declining educational tercommunication between the rural centres them- resources, planners should ensure that funding is

'I Q '1 185 I (1 r, available to develop links between teachers in other Daft, Ruddar schools and between schools and their communi- (1985). "Development of distance education in India ties. The Country Education Project has provided the principal impediments". Paper delivered at the Thir- the model for these links in rural areas. Technology teenth World Conference of the International Council for will transfer expertise and locally produced educa- Distance Education, Melbourne, August 1985. tion materials readily to all schools. We need to D'Cruz, J.Y. develop frameworks for this co-operation anduse (1986). "Ethnicity, Multiculturalism and the Public Cul- technology for linking the network together. It is ture: Some Experiences, Some Issues". Keynote address only through such co-operation between regional delivered to First National Conference of the Network for schools in the rural area that sufficient educational Intercultural Communication, Sydney, August. resources can be available for children who live and Edgar, Don learn at a distance. The criteria for expenditure have (1979). "Locally relevant education". Paper delivered at to meet the two not-negotiable needs (with whatev- Conference on Rural Education and Development, Kuu- er else may be considered): firstly, the need for samo, Finland. Organisation for Economic Co-operation appropriate technology promoting a desirable edu- and Development. Centre for Educational Research and cational context for the teaching and learning of Innovation. students in more distant parts of the state; secondly, Education Commission of New South Wales the further need to promote and develop education- (1983). Listenir g and Responding: A Review of Education al and social interaction of clusters of schools in the in Rural New Scuth Wales, November. regions to enable them to provide each other with mutual support in their attempt to retain their rural Kaushal, Joginderkk cultural identity. (1985). "Human resources in distance education: The teachers their role and their training". Paper delivered at the Thirteenth World Conference of the International Council for Distance Education, Melbourne, August 1985. REFERENCES: Levin, Henry M and Meister, Gail R. Conboy, Ian (1985). Educational technology and computers: prom- (1982). Teleconferencing in education. Evaluation of the ises, promises, always promises. Stanford Education Pol- Charlton Pilot Project. Report prepared for the Country icy Unit.School of Education, Stanford University. Education Project, Melbourne. Yu Xu Conboy, I. and D'Cruz, J. V. (1985). "A look at some aspects of distance education in (1987). Distance education and rural development the People's Republic of China". Paper delivered at the second order consequences of technology. (Forthcoming) Thirteenth World Conference of the International Council for Distance Education, Melbourne, August 1985.

186 1N 3 Students supporting students apersonal perspective KERRY COOKE c/- Extramural Students' Society (Inc) Massey University Palmerston North New Zealand

Throughout New Zealand, important liaison work become an ongoing, challenging and deeply satis- with extramural students is done via the Massey fying learning experience with gains in many as- University Extramural Students' Society's network pects of life beyond just academic achievement. of volunteer Area Communicators. Predominantly When asked in 1982 if I was interested in joining the extramural students themselves, these yr iunteers volunteer student support network administered by play a significant role in supporting students at a the Extramural Studen -:' Society, I readily agreed local level in the regions of New Zealand where pleased to be able to retuni something of use to the they live. To provide effective assistance these sup- system that had given me so much. Today almost 60 porters of other students must be supported too. In Area Communicators, along with 15 contact peo- recognition of this need the Extramural Students' ple, act as resource people for students in their Society invited Communicators to Massey Universi- areas. As well as putting students in touch with each ty in November 1985 for the first on-campus train- other (making use of the Area Class Rolls provided ing workshop. for them by the University), Area Communicators This paper describes the students' support network, provide a sympathetic and understanding ear, as the role of the Area Communicators and the effec- necessary. Often more practical advice is needed: tiveness of the workshop in improving skills and when to enrol I? where to buy text books? how to find providing support. sufficient time in a busy day to study? Area Commu- As the major provider of distance tertiary education nicators often provide the first point of contact when in New Zealand, Massey University caters for ex- problems arise and information and/or support is tramural students throughout the country. The ex- required. The needs of students are many and varied tramural programme offers 400 separate papers and the empathetic response of Communicators can which may be credited to a range of 10 degrees, 20 help students over the hurdles of studying at a dis- diplomas and 4 certificates. Massey is a bi-modal tance. multi-faculty university; the extramural courses are For Communicators, contact with students is usu- correspondence counterparts of internal courses ally by telephone, with occasional home or work taught by the same staff and assessed in the same visits, plus two or three area group meetings each manner. Most students are able to complete a qual- year. For me, the benefits of being an Area Commu- ification through Massey University entirely through nicator outweigh the time spent on the telephone extramural study. and, on occasions, the disruption, of my limited free It is difficult to identify the typical extramural stu- time. Not only have I met many interesting people, dent. Extramurals range in age from 17-70+, and some of whom have become valued friends, I have come from a diversity of backgrounds and occupa- also gained effective listening and communication tions. They enter extramural study with varying skills. During the two years I spent as a full-time needs and many need encouragement to gain confi- stu Jent, when it was necessary to reduce severely dence, and assistance to develop the rPcessary outside activities, the ongoing contact with other study skills. I enrolled at Massey in 1979 on 'provi- extramural students provided me with valuable sup- sional admission", that is, like approximately a third port and social contact. Of immense practical bene- of all enrollees, I did not possess a recognised enrol- fit was the ready access I had, through my frequent ment qualification. Over the next six years, all bu. contact with other students, to study aids such as one spent as an extramural student, I studied for and secondhand text books, study groups, and helpful completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. In background information and opinions concerning specific courses. the process, I gained considerably more than I anticipated. My initial uncertainties rapidly changed to Unlike most other support networks the Massey Stu-

187 dent Society model operates independently of the I would really appreciate a time not associated with Univ%. sity and is funded entirely by the Extramural vacation courses when roles, contacts, administra- Students' Society. Most of the Area Communicators tive aspects, etc could be discussed. are, or have been, extramural students and it is this In response to this demand, the Society invited concept of students supporting students that is the Communicators to Massey University for the first unique feature of t;se support network. Student ini- on-campus training workshop in November 1985. tiative conceived the network, as shown by Wil- Over two days, forty four Area Communicators and liams and Williams in their ICDE funded research contact people gathered with University staff and project "The Evolution and Function of a Student- auxiliary personnel to exchange information, share Operated Support Network for Distance Students": experiences and revital ise enthusiasms. All costs for Many (students) felt the need for readily available the weekend were met from the Society's funds. support to compensate for their isolation and initiated local activity by organising study groups For me, the greatest benefit of the weekend was the interaction with and shared learning between Com- amongst students studying the same subject. municators. The frequent discovery that others (Williams & Williams, 1985, p. 6, Report) shared similar experiences helped to lessen my own Later the Society accepted the responsibility for the sense of isolation. Areas vary in size and student establishment and maintenance of a network of vol- numbers, and have different needs and resources. unteer "Area Communicators" throughout New For example, Dargaville has about 40 students Zealand. The main responsibility for developing spread out over approximately 100 kilometres, and servicing this network fell on the shoulders of while my area of Hawkes Bay, roughly comparable the Society's newly appointed Liaison Officer, Barry in size to Holland, has two Area Communicators to Buckton, in the late 1970s, and in 1983 passed to cater for approximately 700, predominantly urban his successor, Maureen Williams. students (1987 figures). There are advantages in using students, rather than Qualities of an effective Communicator were dis- University employees, to support other students: a cussed, and again it was emphasised that more im- sense of identity and empathy rr sults from group portant than "expertise", are qualities such as ap- membership Communicators and students meet proachability, being a good listener, and a basic on an equal basis with Communicators being able to familiarity with and understanding of the demands offer advice and support built on a common experi- of extramural study. The limitations of the role were ence. Or, as one Communicator sum: red it up: stressed, much to the relief of some Communica- My assurances and advice is seen as kosher because tors, who felt inadequate in the shadow of a few I'm handling it... the same conditions they have to highly active others. Yet as one Communicator ex- face. pressed it: (Williams & Williams, 1985, p. 35, Report) I think it is important for us to realise that we are just Furthermore, as Meacham (1984) points out, "con- Communicators and not mini Masseys all over the tact with peers serves a socialising function" and the nation. aim of student support should be to help students (quote from workshop transcript) develop "a view of learning which is satisfying to Another summed up the role as: "Commonsense the inuividual and acceptable to the institution". based on experience". But, in order to provide effective support for other The two days spent together, and away 'Tom all less experienced students, Communicators need other demands, helped foster a sense of belonging: supporting too. A recommendation from the re- of group membership and identity. It was also a search report, "The Evolution and Function of a chance for University staff, both teaching and ad- Student-Operated Support Network for Distance ministrative, to explain their individual roles, con- Students" was: cerns and future plans. Communicators were That the Society should investigate further the need brought up to date on the functioning of the Uni- for training for Area Communicators, and the form versity system and given a clearer idea of the best such training should take. person to refer an individual student to when prob- (Williams & Williams, 1985, p. 62, Report) lems arose. It was also an opportunity for Communi- A questionnaire, to gauge interest, was sent to all cators to explain their roles to University staff, and to Communicators and responses indicated a clear emphasise that, as student volunteers, they should preference for a weekend seminar. Although ongo- not be expected to perform tasks for staff that should ing support was available in the form of regular be the responsibility of paid, University officials. newsletters, on-campus meetings during the vaca- An ongoing issue over the two days concerned the tion courses, and bi-ennial visits to all areas by the most effective way of informing students of the sup- Societys' Liaison Officer, Communicators wanted port network. While Communicators can, and at an extended opportunity to meet. To quote one: times do, initiate contact with individual students,

188 this is too much to ask of Communicators on a held in November 1987. For new Communicators, regular basis, especially in large student populated this weekend should provide an invaluable intro- areas. It was agreed that, ideally, students should duction to the role. "Old hands" will be able to initiate contact with Communicators, and that the share knowledge and develop some new skills. The high withdrawal rate might be reduced if students Society's support system depends on the sharing of experiencing difficulties contacted Communicators experiences amongst its members. before problems overwhelmed them. How to en- The Extramural Students' Society's support network courage contact was the major issue. was initiated by students to compensate for the iso- Of the many options discussed, two have since been lation of distance education and the lack of any put into effect while others are still being consid- formal regional support. An interesting develop- ered. One is an information sheet comprising the ment in recent years has been the University's move first page of the Students' Society Newsletter, out- to decentralise its services away from Palmerston lining in dear, concise language what the Society's North by developing its own support network of Area Communicators can do for students. I especial- Regional Course Advisers. To date, four region?l ly like the final statement, which follows on from P officers have been employed to act as official repre- comprehensive list of ways in which Area Commu- sentatives of the University on a part-time basis. nicators can assist students. It reads: Some University Departments, such as Nursing Your area Communicator cannot Studies, Education, History and Sociology, also em- a. Act in any capacity as an offi_er of the Unive;-sity ploy part-time Regional Tutors to assist their stu- b. Sit your exams for you (tough). dents. These three services the Society's Area Communicators, University Regional Course Ad- Approval was given by the Management Committee visers and Departmental Tutors have a common to the suggestion that funding be provided to allow objective, which is to bridge the gap between the Communicators to send introductory letters to new University and the student, to provide help when enrollees in their areas. Seri at the start of the new and where it is needed. However, the Extramural year, these letters introduce the Communicator and Students' Society, through its Area communicators, outline the resources availabln, with perhaps an can give the kind of support not possible from paid invitation to a forthcoming meeting. The effective- representatives of the University. As Sewart (1983) ness of these letters as "icebreakers" can be seen in pointed out, there can be a "barrier to rapport and the increased numbers of students attending area trust" on the part of individuals who are employed meetings. For example, attendance at the regular by the Institution. Area Communicators truly repre- February meeting in Hawkes Bay increased about sent the interests of students, being, or having been, 20% over previous years to about 70 students, the students themselves. majority of whom were first year students. To increase knowledge of the services the Society provides, a poster has been produced and book- marks, bearing the words "We Support 'rob ', were included with the Society's introductory Newsletter REFERENCES in 1987. For the future, a publicity pamphiet is Meacham, D. planned. (1984) The Making of a Student. Distance Education Sup- Those attending the weekend workshop also support Systems: Workslop Papers, ASPESA Workshop, ported two proposals to give students greater oppor- Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand tunity to voice their opinions and concerns. One is Sewart, D. the Comments Book now available at on-campus (1983) Counselling in Distance Education An Over- courses in which the students can recorJ both posi- view. Selected Papers: International Workshop on Coun- tive and negative comments. These are later collat- selling in Distance Education, Cambridge, U.K., Pp. 7 ed, and conveyed to the appropriate people by the 1 I . Society's Liaison Officer. The second innovation Williams, M. & Williams, j. has been the awarding of merit certificates to staff (1985) The Evolution and Function of a Student-Operated nominated by students as being particularly effec- Support Network for Distance Students: Research Paper. tive. These merit awards have been well received by Massey University Extramual Students' Society (Inc), all recipients and have an added value, as the Socie- Palmerston North, New Zealand. ty publicises in the University's staff newsletter and Williams, M. & Williams, J. in the Students' Newsletter, the list of recipients and (1986) A Student-Operated Support Network for Distance the reasons whythey were deserving of recognition. Learners. 1CDE Bulletin, Vol 13, January 1987, Pp. 51- Thus, there is an increased awareness of the needs 64. of extramural students. But what of the future? The first Communicators' Workshop fulfilled expectations and another was

189 I s i, Developing Scottish studies fordistance education DR. IAN DONNACHIE The Open Universitl) in Scotland Edinburitotland

This paper describes the deign and development of resources to look to the short-term development of course materials for Scottish Studies -- history, liter- pilot materials for self-study on history and litera- ature and culture by the Open University in ture, which could be incorporated in a low-resource Scotland. The Scottish Studies Project sprang from strategy. In 1981 a start was made with Scottish the desire of faculty in Scotland to develop teaching History. material with a specifically Scottish content, since In a sense the development of the Scottish History UK-generated courses for both undergraduate and 1560-1980 component was a relatively soft option, continuing educational levels almost inevitably given the availability of standard texts on the subject are concerned with wider issues. Scotland has a and period. It was decided that the "wrap-round unique history, culture and institutional develop- approach" would be most appropriate and that by ment which has for long been recognised in school, using four set texts (one of which was a useful refer- college and university curricula though some- ence work) students could be provided with a com- times with the same degree of "cultural cringe" prehensive overview of Scottish historical devel- which typified the more recent discovery of, say, opment. But by focusing on a number of key themes distinctively Australian Studies on the other side of and issues a problem-centred approach would let the globe. students escape the traditional view of Scottish his- While the majority of the conventional universities tory as a series of dramatic events (usually involving teach Scottish History and Literature and a few more the English) or an stage across which strut the specialist topics or periods; while there is consid- great historical figures of Mary, Queen of Scots, erable international interest especially in the United John Knox and Bonnie Prince Charlie. Using the State and Canada; while there are several research critical background provided by the set books, Scot- institutes, such as hese at Edinburgh, Aberdeen, tish History in its modest way would try to strip Old Dominion and Texas (U.S.A.) and Guelph the subject of some of the myths whichave dogged (Canada) devoted to the subject; and while many new interpretations of the past, notably such major university extra-mural departments offer classes in themes as the Reformation, the Union on 1707, the Scottish Studies, until 1986 no attempt had been Highland Clearances, or "Red C!ydeside" politics made to offer a broadly based course by distance during or after the First World War. education (DE). The success of the OUS Scottish Scottish History would therefore cover 16 topics Studies Project has however led to the subsequent and be designed for study over either a 16-weekc development of Master's Degree programmes in 32-week period, depending on the time available to Scottish Literature by distance education at the Uni- the user. The themes are listed here in the Appendix. versity of Glasgow, and several co-operative en- Each topic is introduced in a short essay, preceded terprises between the OU in Scotland and other by a clear statement of objectives and set reading to institutions such as the University of E inburgh and which the student is immediately directed. The Langside College, Glasgow. course material then focuses on the main issues and The Scottish Studies Project began in 1980 whena debates, reviewing current thinking where appro- group of academics at the Open University in Scot- priate. The student's attention is drawn to deficien- land met to discuss the development of a courseon cies in the set texts where such exist and a sectionon Scotland, designed for the OU's rapidly expanding up-to-date further reading provided. Finally a series continuing education programme. An ambitious of self-assessment questionscan be used by the scheme sought a curriculum that would int ude student as follow-up exercises. The level throughout study of the erwironment, history, economy, politi- was pitched at the intelligent general reader with the cal institutions, education and culture emphasis- continuing education market in mind. ing their distinctiveness in the UK context. While Scottish Historywas prepared in camera-ready copy this remains a long-term objective it was thought for printing and publishing in 1982, andwas publi- exptiient given available personnel and potential cised via the OU system and more generally via the

190 1S7 media,libraries and other educational outlets. The third element in the package, Scottish Society Some favorable reviews were received and the level and Culture, was therefore designed to link the two of direct sales thereafter encouraged Stage II of the existing Study Guides. It would achieve this by fill- Project, the development of a Scottish Literature ing in critical historical and cultural background Study Guide. and covering some additional themes, such as art, As an exercise in the creation of DE material Scottish architecture and educational developments, ne- Literature posed several problems. Unlike Scottish glected in earlier course material. It would have no History for which a range of suitable texts was read- set book as such and although seen as a critical link ily available, standard works in literary criticism between Scottish History and Scottish Literature was were hard to come by, being mostly out of print. also conceived as a stand-alone publication. The Given the format and workload already established format was much as before, with four sections cov- by Scottish History it also seemed unlikely that a ering culture and history before 1560; Reformation broad sweep of Scottish literature could be encom- and Union cultural effects; Enlightenment and passed. Would the student be expected to read out Romanticism; and Scotland in the modern age. of date works of literary criticism and a potentially Scottish Society and Culture was published in 1986 daunting list of novels, poems and drama in Scots, and was immediately followed by the launch of the English and Gaelic? (Some out of print.) Scottish Studies open learning pack. Again this was So an early decision on approach and content in- widely publicised throughout the country and favor- dicated a series of case studies some period- ably reviewed. Sales have been constantly sus- based but the majority reviewing the works of the tained by further promotion and the pack achieved great scottish writers since the medieval era, con- UK wide recognition by its adoption into the Open centrating on the Modern Scottish Novel and poet- Opportunities programme of the Open University in ry. Most of the works would be readily available in 1987. local libraries. The one set text, as events transpired, A major reprint in the same year permitted a mea- was soon joined by another the only modern sure of updating. While the OU itself does not offer review of Scottish literature generally available. But tuition the course being designed for self-study-- the Scottish Literature guide was not a "wrap- several institutions have provided student support round" development, because students are expect- and others are being encouraged to do so. ed to read much more widely than the set texts. Having launched this modest, low-resource initia- Conventional wisdom suggested the preparation of tive the project development team foresee further a Course Reader incorporating out-of-print texts but improvements in print quality, format and content. this was ruled out on grounds of costs, and the They would greatly like to produce the more sophis- potentially thorny problem of copyrights. ticated materials and extended treatment which the The topics chosen (see Appendix) began with a subject-matter merits and are looking forward to discussion of early Scottish Literature, the great Re- achieving this in the future. naissance poet, Henryson, the literature of the sixteenth century and that of the seventeenth and eigh- APPENDIX teenth centuries. Much of this is in Scots so care had Scottish History: Themes to be taken in the selection of texts and to ensure comprehension. This was less of a problem with (1) Scotland on the eve of the Reformation later themes, the majority being covered by modern (2) The Scottish Reformation editions. Finally, the problem of literature in Gaelic (3) Mary, Queen of Scots was solved by pointing students to some editions (4) James VI and I which included English translations; though never- (5) The Crown and the Kirk, 1625-8; theless encouraging those with some knowledge of (6) Scotland on the eve of the Union Gaelic to use it and enhance their appreciation of (7) The Union of Parliaments and its aftermath the literature. The approach in each theme followed (8) The Lowlands and the agricultural revolution (9) The Scottish Enlightenment that already established in the Scottish HistoryStudy Guide. The development team would be first to (10) The Highlands to 1880 admit that there are problems in student usage ac- (11) The industrial revolution centuated by difficulties of access to texts but the (12) Government and politics, 1789-1918 feedback to date at least demonstrates that users are (13) Victorian Scotland: Workshop of the Empire? encouraged to search out and read many of the (14) People, towns a.nd cities (15) The inter-war years recommended texts. Publication took place in 1984 and good sales were immediate and sustained fol- (16) Post-war Scotland, 1945-80 lowing favorable press coverage and reviews. Tutor Scottish Literature: Themes notes were produced suggesting how the two Study (1) Some aspects of early Scottish literature Guides might be used in tandem (see Appendix). (2) Robert Henryson (ca. 1420-90) (3) Scottish Literature in the sixteenth century

191 1 80 (4) Scottish Literature from Reformation to Enlight- (8) Finally we welcome comments on the Guides enment and news of how they have been used (and (5) Robert Burns received) by individuals and study groups. This (6) Enlightenment and feeling 1746-1832 will help us improve the materials in the future. (7) Scott, Galt and Carlyle Scottish Studies Project Course Team (8) James Hogg (9) Robert Louis Stevenson Dr. Angus Calder, Staff Tutor, Literature (10) The kailyard and reactions Dr. Ian Donnachie, Staff Tutor, History (11) Hugh MacDiarmid Dr. William Donnelly, Assistance Staff Tutor and (12) Lewis Grassic Gibbon Course Tutor (13) The modern Scottish Novel Dr. George Hewitt, Senior Lecturer in History, (14) Modern Scottish poetry Langside College, Glasgow, and Course Tutor. (15) Gaelic Literature Dr. Sheila Lodge, Course Tutor (16) Scottish Drama Dr. Glenda Norquay, Course Tutor Notes for Tutors Consultants: (1) Clearly these Guides are primarily designed, Professor Gordon Donaldson, H.M. Historiogra- like other Open University materials, for self- pher Royal for Scotland study using the Lackground reading recom- Dr. Rory Watson, Department of English Studies, mended. In the case of History this is pretty University of Stirling self-contained in four texts; while Literature (quite understandably) requires wider reading. Students could certainly work through the Guides at their own pace, but we estimate that a REFERENCES reasonable appreciation of the ground covered Consultative Committee on the Curriculum, could be obtained in 16-20 weeks. Working at Scottish resources in schools (Dundee College of Educa- a more leisurely pace, 32 weeks of study (the tion, 1985). standard OU period), a fairly deep study could be made in each Guide. Council for Museums and Galleries in Scotland/ (2) Over the 16-week structure these Guides would S.E.D. be ideal for a two-term course in adult educa- A directory of museum education Scotland (H.M.S.O., tion, the tutor introducing the tonic each week, 1981) developirg the theme along his or her own Craig, R., and Gerver, E. lines, raising points for discussion (the selas- (eds.). Light in the darkness: Scottish libraries and adult sessment questions (SAQs) are so designed) and education (Scottish Institute of Adult Education, 1985). giving guidance on follow-up reading. Moody, D. (3) The SAQs could be used as potential topics for Scottish local history: an introductory guide (Botsford, discussion as essay topics (with appropriate 1986). guidance on reading) or as small individual or Ritchie, W.K. group projects. Educational guide to the National Trust for Scotland (BP (4) Opportunities exist for documentary source ap- Educational Service/NTS, 1982). praisal (on History), textual analysis, poetry reading and drama (on Literature) and such ac- Scottish Central Committee on English tivities would clearly extend greatly the stu- Scottish literature in the secondary school (1976). dents' study experience in either Guide. S.C.E.T. (5) Tutors using the material should be prepared to A directory of open learning opportunities in Scotland extend the debates and discussions raised in the (1987). Guides both of which cover the "facts" but S.E.D. are also "problem centred", dealing with de- Distance no object: examples of open learning in Scot- bates and controversies in both Scottish history land ( H.M.S.O, 1982). and literature. (6) Updating of bibliographies is clearly important Scottish Studies: an open learning pack (Open University and this can be done in giving guidance on in Scotland, 1986). further reading. (7) The Guides could be used in tandem, providing an excellent introduction to Scottish Studies.

192 i 8 D and enthusiastic. This helps create the climate con- of Alberta by implementing an annual instructional ducive to learning. According to Baath (1976) moti- review process, keeping comparative data with the vation is often created through the dialogue and regular on-campus course offerings, and through feedback between the facilitator and the learner. extensive gathering of student feedback. The pro- tectionist fears of many academics would require us to do much more. EVALUATION STRATEGIES Evaluation in distance courses must take intoac- INSTRUCTIONAL REVIEW count the andragogical principle that the learner must be responsible for individual progress. Lear- Course content, materials and presentation need to ners should be encouraged to reflect on their learn- be reviewed and modified after each offering. The ing performance and on the underlying beliefs they University of Alberta has been conducting extensive hold about learning and teaching.This implies that research on distance education and particularly on there must be an element of self-evaluation in all educational teleconferencing. Results of this ongo- work submitted by the student, and the learning ing research have helped to improve the delivery of guide should facilitate this. The keeping of a class courses. Consideration has been given to ways of journal during the teleconferencing course is one eliciting student feedback regarding content, deliv- andragogical tool which can be used to encourage ery etc. on both a formative and summative basis. reflection and decision-making based on the professor's presentations, the course readings and the dis- COMPARISONS WITH cussions. TRADITIONAL OFFERINGS In the programs developed thus far at the University STUDENT MANAGEMENT of Alberta, students in off-campus centres receive SYSTEMS the same courses of instruction as those students who are studying on the main campus of the Uni- In the distance delivery of courses, some traditional versity. In many instances a group of students in the application and registration procedures, as imple- classroom with the professor at the main site interact mented on-campus, prove a major problem; for with students at other sites off-campus. example, deadline dates for applications. New and innovative approaches to these long-standing traditions have been experimented with. A new tele- SUPPORT MECHANISMS phone registration system instituted by the universi- The three academic facilities offering programs of ty allows a students to sign up for credit courses from distance education at the University of Alberta have any location. come to realise the importance of support for students and faculty embarking upon teleconference ENSURING ACADEKC RIGOUR teaching and learning for the first time. The fact that sophisticated equipment provides the vehicle by Pressures to maintain academic standards are prev- which the instruction takes place, may be intimi- alent and important. Also, distance delivery of uni- dating to some. Even more problematic may be versity-level courses is met with skepticism by many initial start-up problems and systems failures. To academics. Hence,it is important to look at the faculty and students who have had no previous meaning of quality and the factors which lead to experience with other than face-to-face teaJiing- positive learning outcomes for students in distance learning, the frustration that accompanies a situa- as well as other programs. The concept of quality is tion where difficulties have arisen with the bridge, always an elusive one and difficult to define and the telephone lines or local equipment in centres describe. Is it the number of hours spent in a class- may seem overwhelming. Therefore it is important room listening to a professor? Is it two-way commu- to plan for ways to allay fear and anxiety in both nication the interaction between professor and students and professors in order to facilitate the student? Is it the amount of independent reading and success of courses and programs. thinking about the subject done by the student that makes the difference? How important is the role of the professor in moti, ding and stimulating the stu- AT THE UNIVERSITY dent to think critically about the subject? What envi- At the University of Alberta, we have found that a ronments are the most conducive to learning? What support network for faculty is a key ingredient for is the role of affective factors in the teachinglearn- successful courses and programs. From the point of ing situation? It is clear that there are many difficult view of the faculty member, a teleconference tech- questions and few ea, y answers to questions about nician has been an important part of this network. the quality of the educational endeavour. When computer-based transmission was initiated. it These issues have been addressed at the University was decided to hire a technician to work with the

177 equipment, prepare graphics for faculty and teach which are difficult if not impossible from a distance. faculty and students about the use of the equipment. This role includes: advance in class activities, the This decision was made when the faculty enlarged direction of activities and discussions that follow the scope of its operations to include the use of teleconferencing sessions, as well as motivating and computers and telewriter software. Although the encouraging the learners within the learning proc- use of the equipment is not particularly complex ess outlined by the professor. Particular attention and can be mastered by anyone, the importance of needs to be paid to the design of the materials to be having a technician prepare the instructional mate- utilised; facilitators (teachers, local program facil- rials for use during the class and have the equipment itators or students) need to receive training in teach- up and running when required has been reinforced ing and learning through this mode, particularly in over and over again by those who have used the relation to their functions of motivating and giving equipment for the first time. The most important adequate feedback and the importance of group result of having a competent and responsible tech- dynamics. As a result of this approach to distance nician may well be in allaying the fears and anx- education, Faculte Saint-Jean has achieved the ieties experienced by those new to the method and highest student retention rate possible 94-100 the equipment. Unless those who are to use it devel- per cent of the learners complete their respective op a belief that they can do so successfully there will courses successfully. be difficulties. In general it can be said that facilitators seem to fulfil The collaboration with other departments, faculties their role most successfully when they are hired by and institutions concerning scheduling, the avail- the academic unit offering the particular education- ability of telephone lines and bridges, arrangements al session in question. to transport the equipment from centre to centre as necessary and mailing disks to each centre to be A SUMMARY OF COURSE AND down-loaded onto the equipment for use in class all PROGRAM DESIGN PRINCIPLES take considerable time and effort. It is thus essential to have someone designated to assume responsib- (1) Collaboration among faculties and with other ility for these functions, that is a program co-ordina- institutions. tor. (2) Team development of courses. (3) A variety of learning strategies. (4) Attention to student learning styles. AT RECEIVING LOCATIONS (5) Provision of learning guides. Facilitation at the various receiving sites is of para- (6) Facilitation of student group activities. mount importance and has been addressed by vari- (7) Instructional review. ous positions such as Local Teleconferencing Aide (8) Course and program evaluations. (LTA) or Local Program Facilitator. Whether the re- (9) Support mechanisms at sending and receiving sponsibilities are held by one person or more, we sites. have identified three facilitative roles to be of importance: (a) technical facilitation, REFERENCES (b) administrative facilitation, and Math, J.A. (c) learning facilitation. (1976) ''How to optimize the learning conditions of corre- In some instances students within the class have spondence education". Workshop given in Paris. been able to fill one or more roles. Baath, J.A., and Wingdahl, A. Technical facilitation involves the scheduling of (1976) "The tutor as an agent of motivation in correspond- rooms and equipment, setting up and testing the ence education". Pedagogical Reports, No. 8 (Lund: Uni- communications equipment. versity of Lund, Department of Education). Administrative facilitation ensures liaison between Chapman, D.E. the university and the learners, attends to applica- (1987) Evaluation Report: Outreach Pi'ot Project (The tion and registration forms, communications, pro- University of Alberta, April). gram counselling, distribution of materials, publici- Thiagarajan, S. ty, collection and mailing of assignments, as well as (1978) "The loneliness of the long distance learners", providing for the proctoring of exams. This role can Audio-Visual Instruction, 23. No. 1, 22-39. be especially helpful, if it is clearly understood that Watters, Jean. part of the role is to foster positive relationships (1987) "An introduction to educational teleconferenc- between students and faculty and to report any diffi- ing". Alberta Modern Languages Journal, 24 (2), 12-16. culties to the professor. (1985) The tasks and functions of facilitators in educa- Learning facilitation is required to provide for some tional teleconferencing. Prix Gregoire. Phd. dissertation: of the duties normally expected of the instructor but University of Montreal.

1 78 19i Anewadult student: learning by interactive satellite VALERIE A.C. COLLINS and PETER J. MURPHY University of Victoria Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

ABSTRACT elaboration that the learner employs. It may be the case that learners have not one but many styles and Modern communication technology is being ap- strategies for learning and that they move amongst plied more extensively in continuing education. them as the task demands. The article asks whether adult students receiving their learning experiences by modern communi- Recent advances in communication technology cation technology differ from those who receive have extended adult education activities especially their education by traditional delivery methods. for people who reside at a distance from post-secondary instikk'on:. This new adult student is more autonomous 0 Pr his or her on-campus counterpart LEARNING STYLES and is potentially at greater liberty to employ the The introduction of new teaching technologies rais- learning strategy considered appropriate for the es the question of whether different learning styles tasks to be accomplished. However, adult learners are needed for students to cope. Within any evening with "rusty" learning skills and who lack the sup- class, students respond differently to the same in- port of a peer group and informal contact with their struction. Often differences in response relate to the instructor, may experience difficulty in establishing cognitive styles of the learners (Wittrock, 1980). their preferred learning style, or in deciding which Some individuals may be convergent thinkers while me..iod is best suited to the particular problem. others are divergent thinkers. For the former, thinking is directed towards finding the one "right" answer. In contrast, for the latter, thinking branches METHODOLOGY outward in several directions and no single light We know very little about how adult sturlts are answer will be sought or found. coping with the new distance education courses Pask (1976) classifies adult learners into two distinct being offered by modern technology. Are the pro- groups "serialists" and "holists". The serialist lear- grammes attractive to certain individuals and not to ner is one who is a low-order worker who operates others? What new learning skills must students ac- in careful, ordered steps to reach a conclusion; the quire to understand the information delivered by holist is a high-order thinker who works downward certain modes of communication? from an overall conception of the field, rather than Do more or fewer students complete the new types upward in a series of incremental stages. A similar of courses than in traditional ones? Does the manner classification system distinguishes individuals as be- in which information is presented by the new media ing "inductive" and "deductive" learners. The in- have a significant impact on learning? These are a ductive thinker works from examples towards a gen- few of the questions to be researched. eral thesis statement or conclusion; the deductive thinker works from a general statement to the partic- The investigation described in this report was under- ular. taken to study the impact of modern communication technology on the distance education system The implications of these research findings for edu- evolving in British Columbia. More specifically, the cators is that thinking and learning styles can be enquiry addressed two specific issues, namely: differentiated and instruction sometimes improved by matching learners' cognitive styles to appropriate (1) the effect the new technologies wei-n having on methods of presentation and to the type of mental the educational experiences being offered to

179 1:12 adult education students by provincial universi- terviewed by telephone. Evaluation questionnaires ties; and completed by students enrolled in one of the first (2) the impact the new technologie' vere having on new distance education courses were reviewed and ( the organizational structure of provincial uni- comments directly related to the issues being exam- versities. ined noted. A selection of video-taped broadcasts were viewed and analyzed using a set of criteria To facilitate analysis and to arrive at some tentative established for this specific purpose, drawn from the conclusions regarding these important issues, the professional literature. scope of the investigation was restricted to studying the satellite-based, Eve interactive, television pro- After the data for the investigation being discussed grammes broadcast by the Knowledge Network for in this report had been summarized and organized the University of Victoria. The issues were delineat- for review, it was analyzed using an illuminative ed to several subsidiary areas. Of the educational evaluation approach developed by Parlett and Ha- experiences offered by courses, the process (teach- milton (1972) for studying innovative programmes. ing and learning) and product (content) were given Data from a variety of sources is cross-checked to separate consideration. The organizational struc- establish information profiles for the examination of ture was viewed as consisting of internal and ex- the issues under scrutiny. The aim of illuminative ternal functions. evaluation, al:cording to Parlett and Hamilton, is to sharper discussion, to disentangle complexities, During 1982, two exploratory studies were com- isolate the significant from the trivial and to raise the pleted at the University of Victoria to discover what level of sophistication of debate" (p. 2). impact the introduction of communication technology was having on the educational experiences The relationships among institutions usually change being offered by the post-secondary institutions of as a consequence of a substantive intervention. British Columbia. The first enquiry, coordinated by Pask's (1980) Conversation Theory served as a con- Haughey and Potter (1983), examined the princi- ceptual framework for examining the changes ples and practices of teaching by television. The which occurred in the relationships among institu- second study, a survey supervised by Forsythe tions by the creation of the Knowledge Network. (1983), reviewed how modern technology was be- One of the principal mandates of the Network was ing integrated into the higher education system of to nurture greater cooperation and collaboration British Colum'oia. The findings and conclusions of within the British Columbia post-secondary system. this survey were included in a report commissioned Most provincial institutions of higher education, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and have endeavoured to take advantage of the new Development (Collins and Forsythe, 1983), which technologies without relinquishing a significant described how contemporary communication tech- amount of self-governance or autonomy. The term nology was being utilized by educational institu- "co-operative individuality" is often used to de- tions in various nations. Data banks established for scribe the valance between the shared and autono- these studies served as the information base for the mous aspects of the relationships among institu- investigation under discussion. tions. This balance is not static but is a dynamic evolving structure which can be easily disturbed by The data included in the banks was obtained from planned or unplanned interventions. The Know- many sources. Professional literature on learning ledge Network, as Collins (1983) points out, estab- theory,communication theory,adultlearning lished a creative tension among institutions in- through educational television, visual literacy and volved in the new distance education system. Pzsk's experiments with communication technology were (1980) Conversation Theory provides an effective reviewed and important findings, theories and con- framework for studying this phenomenon. cepts noted. Government documents, research reports and unpublished manuscripts on the distance FINDINGS education system evolving in British Columbia were examined and important facets of the developmen- The television broadcasts and printed matter re- tal process recorded. Similar documents were ob- viewed suggests that the focus of instruction was on tained from other provinces of Canada, the United content. All instructors appeared to be primarily Kingdom, the United States and Australia for com- concerned with providing students with knowledge parative purposes. aoout a specific subject. Learning packages were comprehensive, detailed and well produced. Gen- Face-to-face interviews were completed with senior erally, minimal attention was given to encouraging government officials, educational administrators, reflective thinking, creativity and further enquiry. uiriversity scholars and adult educators associated Several students comclented upon the comprehen- with or interested in the development of educational siveness of the programmes which they perceived experiences by the new modes of communication. could produce information overload. Most of the A small group of adult students, who had been students, however, did appreciate being provided involved in one adult education course were in- with learning packages prior to broadcasts com-

180 I 9L3 mencing. By possessing material in advance, stu- is common in a traditional university lecture setting dents were able to lead over professional literature and appears to create few problems for instructors. at their leisure and acquire an overview of the sub- Such an observation may or may not be true. Per- ject being studied. haps, faculty members who teach regular on-cam- There was general consensus among the respon- pus classes would welcome more information about dents that the university lecture format was inappro- their students. Research needs to be undertaken to priate for satellite broadcasts. Even if the presenta- examine this i,sue. tion was interestIfig. students quickly became bored Insufficient information about students is a serious and inattentive. Many instructors dominated the deficiency for distance education instructors. When learning environment by speaking for most of a instructors did endeavour to discover more about broadcast. This situation occurred as a conse- their students, such enquiries were very welcomed. quence of a number of factors. Owing to insufficient Recently, this situation has been improved by en- preparation for the television, instructors tended to couraging students to participate in teleconference employ teaching methods, evaluation procedures calls, to telephol.p instructors for assistance, to con- and assignments which they had used successfully tact counsellors and to use information lines. in a traditional unversity classroom setting. Like Modern communication technology possesses the new teachers, many instructors were concerned capacity for presenting material visually as well as they would not cover all the material in the time verbally. Film animations, video inserts, role play available. Fear of failing to deliver sufficient in- and analogies can be effectively employed to ex- formation meant instruction often occurred at a rap- plain concepts, to discuss issues or to report reid pace. search findings. Verbal language tended to be the The students generally did not participate in televi- primary method of communication in many early sion discussions; which only encouraged instruc- broadcasts. Minimal use was made of visuals in any tors to control the learning environment and to cov- form. Discussions with administrators and distance er as much material as time permitted. Why didn't educators revealed that many instructors were per- the students interact with the instructors or with ceived as being visually illiterate. Also, instructors each other? Dialogues with the students, instructors usually resented technicians giving them advice on and coordinators seemed to indicate that most of the how to present material. Requests to "smile" and to students were "professionally shy". To speak in a look "aesthetically pleasing" were not received public arena is not an easy talk for most people. A warmly. number of the students who commented on this Production managers are aware of the need for pro- subject reported that they were embarrassed to grammes to be technically well-produced and pro- voice their ignorance on the television network. fessional looking. Adult students do not expect edu- Early in a series of broadcasts opportunities should cational programmes to compete with commercial be provided for students to gain confidence and television but they anticipate that broadcasts will be experience with the media. Not all students want to well produced. The interviews indicated that in- speak during a broadcast. Several students empha- structors, technicians and distance education co- sized that they had no desire to participate in con- ordinators needed to discuss their differences so versations because they possessed a good under- compromises could be reached. Recently, project standing of the material presented. They thought teams have been established to produce pro- some dialogues a waste of time. Without appropri- grammes which has reduced the tension and resent- ate control, some students can use a distance educa- ment among production staff. tion course as a platform for expressing their person- Many of the technical problems associated with al biases. early broadcasts have been eliminated. One human Under these conditions, instructors who take a cog- factor which continues to generate problems for a nitive approach to teaching encounter difficulties. production team is the ability of an instructor to When in a counselling programme an instructor project a warm and friendly personality through the endeavoured to explore alternative ways of coping medium. Students seemed to respond much better with psychological issues there was a minimal re- to presentations, according to many of the individu- sponse from the students. Similarly, attempts to en- als interviewed, if instructors were relaxed and per- courage students to develop skills of "learning to sonable when teaching on television. As one coor- learn" were only marginally successful. Neither the dinator noted, it would appear that a special type of printed matter nor the learning climate were condu- scholar is needed to teach by the new medium. The cive to a cognitive approach. selection of instructors may have to be undertaken The majority of the instructors possessed minimal with greater care than that given at the moment. knowledge of the students they taught. Prior to the broadcasts, instructors were rarely provided with COMMENT any information about their students. This situation Recent applications of communication-technology

181 at the post-secondary level have shown it to possess Forsythe, K. great potential for offering adults in non-urban areas (1983). The learning systems working groups: A democra- a multitude of learning experiences. If contempo- cy of networking. Victoria: Knowledge Network, Uni- rary modes of communication are to attain their versity of Victoria. potentiality, more consideration must be given to Haughey, M. & Potter, G. the special needs and unique characteristics of the (1983). The principles and practices of good television new adult distance education student, and of the teaching. Unpublished manuscripts. Available from M. medium itself. Haughey, University Extension Division. University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia. Parlett, M. & Hamilton, D. (1972). Evaluation as illumination: A new approach to the REFERENCES study of innovatory programmes. Occasional paper 9. Edinburgh: Department of Comparative Education, Uni- Collins, V.A.C. versity of Edinburgh. (1983). The Impact of Satellite Telecommunications on Pask, G. the University System in British Columbia: Its effects on (1980). The limits of togetherness. In S. H. Lavington (Ed.), Institutional Organization and Curricula at the University Information Processing 80. Amsterdam: North Holland of Victoria. Unpublished thesis. Victoria: Faculty of Edu- Publishing Co. cation, University of Victoria. Pask, G. Collins, V.A.C., & Forsythe, K. (1976). Styles and Strategies of learning. British Journal of (1983). British Columbia Higher Education and the Educational Psychology, 46 (2). 128. Integration of New Technology. In Organization for Eco- nomic Cooperation and Development. Education and Wittrock, M.C. (Ed) New Information Technologies Area B: Changes in Cur- (1980). The Brain and Psychology. Los Angeles: Academ- ricula and Institutional Structures. Paris: Centre for Educa- ic Press, University of California. tional Research and Development Organization for Eco- nomic Cooperation and Development. Note: The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Peter Evans, Faculty of Education, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, in the completion of the investigation.

182 Resourcing distance education for rural identity I. CONBOY Educational Technology Centre, Ministry of Education State Government o' Victoria, Australia J. V. D'CRUZ Centre for the Study of Cultural and Education Practice School of Education La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

There is a risk that policy makers and administrators lines for the widespread application of that tech- of education systems become patronising and pater- nology in rural schools. nalistic when they seek to overcome perceived edu- For ten years, the Country Education Project in Vic- cational problems existing in rural areas. In the toria has been seeking to redress rural disadvantage wake of what has come to be called "distance edu- by using technology to provide better education in cation", what is often sought after in the application small schools (Conboy, 1982). The key feature of of technology in remote schools is a more equitable the Country Education Project philosophy has been sharing of resources. What may be overlooked are its emphasis on local participation and decision the second-order consequences of government ac- making. "In the Australian context, some of the tions. There are potential dangers associated with most vital rejections of such a centralist and ar- government intervention in any society, especially bitrary philosophy have come from rural people in the rural sectors of societies. Because of their isola- isolated areas. The irony is that, while rural people tion, the rural sectors of society are very susceptible are systematically disadvantaged by an urban-ori- to change from metropolitan sources sometimes entated, academic curriculum, they are also remote trading off worthwhile things in their community for from the central power bases that they can and do, what they perceive as improvements emanating indeed must, adapt the curriculum to make it more from the cities. Since all educational enterprises are locally relevant. Country people have a direct hon- interventions with the ever-present danger of be- esty that sees through academic pretence, that re- coming intrusions, it is crucial that the recipients, veals the absurdity of teaching the same things in the especially those in the rural sectors, are aware of same way in every part of the nation, that defies what they are trading off and what they are receiving attempts at arbitrary control. Yet they also often lack in return. This paper is not advocating an anti-tech- the confidence, the organisational know-how, the nology stance, but is alerting the reader to some ability to articulate their ideas, those forms of com- issues which we believe have not been debated petence necessary to a successful rejection of edu- sufficiently either by those who implement distance cation that is not locally relevant" (Edgar, 1979, 99). education programmes or those who would like to see a body of research built up around distance At the heart of the Country Education Project proc- education. ess is the belief that education is much wider than what happens in schools. Educational disadvantage The approach used in this paper is to place tech- grows from community isolation and to remove that nology in a cultural context. Cultural purpose will disadvantage we must work on the total community. determine content selection, processes, strategies, "We believe thatitispolitical know-how that resources and methodologies. If the cultural pur- counts, a sense of efficacy as people acting in the pose is seen to be shared value and retention of an real world". (Edgar,1979, 103). identity of a community which is rural based, within a wider national cosmopolitan framework, then Giving people responsibility for making decisions content, processes, strategies, resources and meth- about the education it their community will partly odologies will fall into line. It is argued that this ensure that the decision makers have access to some approach can provide some substantive criteria for of the information on secondary consequences rath- the selection of appropriate technology and guide- er than information solely about whether they are

183 1 SC, achieving primary goals. Education is a cultural en- edge the validity of both rural and urban heritages. terprise which is concerned with continuity and There has been little attempt to capitalise on some of change. These are handed down and developed. the positive features of rural schools. Any interven- Purposes are derived from the historical culture of tion in rural cultures runs the risk of destroying "the Australia. Therefore, education is not entirely con- concrete and exclusive kinship ties and its concom- ducive to democratic processes at every point in the itant ideology of personal service and group loyalty formulation of its aims and its decision making proc- of an extraordinary extended kind involving groups esses. that at best could only be intuitively known" (D'Cruz,1986). The current Victorian project, TECHNOLOGY AND RURAL Commonwealth Resource Agreement: Using Tech- IDENTITY nology to Improve Retention in Years 11 and 12 in Rural Schools presents a challenge to educational A more pressing concern, at least in the short term, planners. It is a centralist intervention implemented is the threat of communication technology to the by small schools. In order to become something autonomy of some schools and their communities. other than a centralised initiative, considerable care Generally, we are aware of the more prominent in planning is necessary to prevent the second-order characteristics of rural cultures the greater em- consequence of the loss of rural autonomy emerg- phasis on personal relationships, stronger religious ing. and kinship affiliations, and stronger commitment to communities in general. This is reflected in rural Generally, there appears to be disillusionment in the education with parents in general having closer community about education's use of resources and contact with their schools particularly at primary governments now are less willing or unable to make levels. This generic type of culture has been dis- funds available without constraints attached to how cussed in relation to ethnic minorities in Australia they will be spent. This is not necessarily and alto- (D'Cruz, 1986). This analysis is valid for rural cultur- gether a bad thing. Reduced resourcing will encour- es. After allowances are made for differences in age individual schools to look to other schools, to degree, even kind, there are strong similarities be- their communities and industry generally to supple- tween the cultural orientation of those sectors of ment their resources. Australian society designated as rural and as ethnic. Lived culture can be classified as either concrete or HUMAN RESOURCING abstract. In more concrete cultures, there is empha- It is our contention, and that of others, that the most sis on the group as distinct from emphasis on the important resource available to the learners in a individual which is found in more abstracted cultur- distance education system is teachers (Kaushal, es. Autonomy and independence are valued more 1985). It seems logical to develop resources already in abstracted groups, while a sense of belonging and in existence rather than rush headlong into trying to interdependence are valued higher in concrete cul- use new resources which may not be appropriate in tures. It is important for rural communities to know the short term. There appears to be a shortage of (by surveys, discussions and inventories) what ex- preservice courses throughout the world to train actly characterises their distinctiveness vis-a-vis the distance education teachers in planning, designing, urban centres and other rural centres. Otherwise writing and editing course materials; in using audio- they will not be in a positirn to assess the nature and visual materials as supplements to written materials; extent of changes that education and/or technology and in developing dialogue with students in dis- may be contributing to in their midst. There is a tance education modes. There is only one tertiary danger of being carried away by the promise of course in Victoria, the Graduate Diplor.ia of Educa- technology and distance education to deliver edu- tional Technology offered by Victoria College-Tor- cation to large numbers of learners, freeing them rak, which addresses these issues. Some content is from the trammels of space, time and age (Yu Xu, picked up in courses provided by other institutions 1985, 96). This is a recipe for an abstracted culture but in general, tertiary teacher training institutions with no sense of history or locality. What might be have been slow to teach graduates skills such as seen as providing flexibility to a labour force may interacting with students in the distance education give rise to a range of social problems when people mode. One reason at least in the Indian context and in traditional cultures are removed from their com- most likely Austraija as well is that decisions about munities. Yu Xu mentions the problem in China of a distance education are taken by senior university mismatch of TV college graduates and the type of staff in traditional institutions and imposed on dis- work they are expected to do (Yu Xu, 1985, 102). tance learning institutions (Uatt, 1985). While the In general, Australian education systems have made resource Agreement has encouraged regions to li- little distinction between urban and rural schools. aise with local tertiary institutions and some pro- The Listening and Responding Report (1983) pre- gress has been made (Bendigo College of Advanced pared by the Education Commission of New South Education are investigating introducing a course in Wales indicated that there was a need to acknowl- distance education and have requested access to the

184 197 communication technology in schools), the Minis- selves has yet to be demonstrated. An issue here has try of Education needs to take some central initia- to do with the tendency of technical systems and tives in this area. processes to create patterns of dependency and lack of autonomy through their very effectiveness. Re- COURSE AND SOFTWARE phrased, the question is, would a stunningly effec- RESOURCES tive device eventually determine, even dictate, the Some writers regard high quality software as the types of social and other relationships that is pos- most important resource in distance education. It is sible and desirable within the wider community that argued that at least for computer-assisted instruction is Victoria. Our hunch is that people in rural regions and probably film and television as well, it is the are far more interested in talking to each other than shortage of adequate software which has prevented they are in listening to their metropolitan counter- educational technology achieving its full potential parts a tendency that might be a justifiable de- (Levin and Meister, 1985). In the past, the focus has fence mechanism to retain the integration and iden- been on the equipment rather than on software and tity of rural communities against continual on- other requirements for providing educational ser- slaughts from the metropolitan and cosmopolitan vices. Firms are inhibited from undertaking invest- thrusts of individualism. ment in software because of a lack of market information, and the need for large amounts of initial INSTRUCTIONAL SETTINGS capital. The decentralised nature of school purchas- ing decision, the range of equipment in schools and The most neglected aspect of distance education illegal copying are further difficulties. Schools are and a potential resource is its instructional settings. inhibited from making decisions about buying soft- These can vary enormously individual homes, ware by a lack of clear adoption policies and an hospital beds, prisons, the many work places and in irregular funding base. the case of the Victorian Resource Agreement, post- primary schools in small rural towns. Ten years ago Because computers at this stage of their develop- the Country Education Project began to appreciate ment process data and information more effectively the importance of communities in assisting the edu- than abstract concepts and theories, there is a tend- cation of children and ensured that it had communi- ency to concentrate on their administrative function ty representatives on all its committees. We have rather than their educational role. There is an under- addressed the importance of rural communities standable tendency for some developers of comput- elsewhere (Conboy and D'Cruz, 1987). The present er systems to see curriculum uses as complex and Resource agreement will provide communication confusing. If education systems are to develop ade- facilities in schools which will be available to the quate amounts of instructional software as distinct community in non-school hours. Such a facility from administrative software, then incentives must should bind the community closer to the school and be provided for teachers to design the materials and bring groups other than parents to the schools. The make them freely available throughout the system. potential for mutual benefits from such an arrange- The Victorian Resource Agreement is establishing ment are considerable. Rural schools are largely an Electronic Curriculum Materials Library which staffed by teachers who have no close cultural links will be a facility for teachers to deposit materials with the area in which they teach. While they bring they have designed and found effective, and for a beneficial range of skills to a rural community and other teachers to access for their own classes. Be- give country children insights into a world beyond cause most private firms are unlikely to take the risks the confines of their community, they do not have to develop software, strategies and administrative the benefit of a lifetime of personal interaction with- structures like this Electronic Curriculum Materials in the community in which they work. They may Library must be developed to encourage education exist as an intellectual island in some rural commu- systems to produce education software.Itis at nities and any development which brings them clos- points like this that technical innovations like VIS- er to their community should be encouraged. TEL, as a support system, could be crucial in the transmission and spread of what has been deemed desirable in the areas of curriculum, culture and CONCLUSION understanding. While undoubtedly we see the po- While there is a greater emphasis on using tech- tential of VISTEL as a support system, some worrying nology to develop a more highly skilled and versa- aspects of its full effectiveness in regard to rural tile workforce to achieve largely economic goals, schools remain. planners should not lose sight of the cultural context While we accept VISTEL's potential efficiency in in which these changes take place. This is partic- terms of transferring and receiving feedback be- ularly relevant in some of the more vulnerable and tween th-_' cosmospolitan centre and the rural cen- disadvantaged cultural groups such as the poor and tres, its ability to develop and even generate in- the isolated. In the face of declining educational tercommunication between the rural centres them- resources, planners should ensure that funding is

185 1 available to develop links between teachers in other Daft, Rt'ddar schools and between schools and their communi- (1985). "Development of distance education in India ties. *fhe Country Education Project has provided the principal impediments". Paper delivered at the Thir- the model for these links in rural areas. Technology teenth World Conference of the International Council for will transfer expertise and locally produced educa- Distance Education, Melbourne, August 1985. tion materials readily to all schools. We need to D'Cruz, I.V. develop frameworks for this co-operation anduse (1986). "Ethnicity, Multiculturalism and the Public Cul- technology for linking the network together. It is ture: Some Experit. Ices, Some Issues". Keynote address only through such co-operation between regional delivered to First National Conference of the Network for schools in the rural area that sufficient educational Intercultural Communication, Sydney, August. resources can be available for children who live and Edgar, Don learn at a distance. The criteria for expenditure have (1979). "Locally relevant education". Paper aelivered at to meet the two not-negotiable needs (with whatev- Conference on Rural Education and Development, Kuu- er else may be considered): firstly, the need for samo, Finland. Organisation for Economic Co-operation appropriate technology promoting a desirable edu- and Development. Centre for Educational Research and cational context for the teaching and learning of Innovation. students in more distant parts of the state; secondly, Education Commission of New South Wales the further need to promote and develop education- (1983). Listening and Responding: A Review of Education al and social interaction of clusters of schools in the in Rural New South Wales, November. regions to enable them to provide each other with mutual support in their attempt to retain their rural Kaushal, Joginderkk cultural identity. (1985). "Human resources in distance education: The teachers their role and their training". Paper delivered at the Thirteenth World Conference of the International Council for Distance Education, Melbourne, August 1985. REFERENCES: Levin, Henry M and Meister, Gail R. Conboy, Ian (1985). Educational technology and computers: prom- (1982). Teleconferencing in education. Evaluation of the ises, promises, always promises Stanford Education Pol- Charlton Pilot Project. Report prepared for the Country icy Unit.School of Education, Stanford University. Education Project, Melbourne. Yu Xu Conboy, I. and D'Cruz, J. V. (1985). "A look at some aspects of distance education in (1987). Distance education and rural development the People's Republic of China". Paper delivered at the second order consequences of technology. (Forthcoming) Thirteenth World Conference of the International Council for Distance Education, Melbourne, August 1985.

186 19.,z) . Students supporting students apersonal perspective KERRY COOKE c/- Extramural Students' Society (Inc) Massey University Palmerston North New Zealand

Throughout New Zealand, important liaison work become an ongoing, challenging and deeply satis- with extramural students is done via the Massey fying learning experience with gains in many as- University Extramural Students' Society's network pects of life beyond just academic achievement. of volunteer Area Communicators. Predominantly When asked in 1982 if I was interested in joining the extramural students themselves, these volunteers volunteer student support network administered by play a significant role in supporting students at a the Extramural Students' Society, I readily agreed local level in the regions of New Zealand where pleased to be able to return something of use to the they live. To provide effective assistance these sup- system that had given me so much. Txlay almost 60 porters of other students: must be supported too. In Area Communicators, along with 15 contact peo- recognition of this need the Extramural Students' ple, act as resource people for students in their Society invited Communicators to Massey Universi- areas. As well as putting students in touch with each ty in November 1985 for the first on-campus train- other (making use of the Area Class Rolls provided ing workshop. for them by the University), Area Communicators This paper describes the students' support network, provide a sympathetic and understanding ear, as the role of the Area Communicators and the effec- necessary. Often more practical advice is needed: tiveness of the workshop in improving skills and when to enroll? where to buy text books? how to find providing support. sufficient time in a busy day to study? Area Commu- As the major provider of distance tertiary education nicators often provide the first point of contact when in New Zealand, Massey University caters for ex- problems arise and information and/or support is tramural students throughout the country. The ex- required. The needs of students are many and varied tramural programme offers 400 separate papers and the empathetic response of Communicators can which may be credited to a range of 10 degrees, 20 help students over the hurdles of studying at a dis- diplomas and 4 certificates. Massey is a bi-modal tance. multi-faculty university; the extramural courses are For Communicators, contact with students is usu- correspondence counterparts of internal courses ally by telephone, with occasional home or work taught by the same staff and assessed in the same visits, plus two or three area group meetings each manner. Most students are able to complete a qual- year. For me, the benefits of being an Area Commu- ification through Massey University entirely through nicator outweigh the time spent on the telephone extramural study. and, on occasions, the disruption, of my limited free It is difficult to identify the typical extramural stu- time. Not only have I met many interesting people, dent. Extramurals range in age from 17-70+, and some of whom have become valued friends, I have also gained effective listening and communication come from a diversity of backgrounds and occupations. They enter extramural study with varying skills. During the two years I spent as a full-time student, when it was necessary to reduce severely needs and many need encouragement to gain confidence, and assistance to develop the necessary outside activities, the ongoing contact with other study skills. I enrolled at Massey in 1979 on "provi- extramural students provided me with valuable support and social contact. Of immense practical bene- sional admission", that is, like approximately a third fit was the ready access I had, through my frequent of all enrollees, I did not possess a recognised enrol- contact with other students, to study aids such as ment qualification. Over the next six years, all but secondhand text books, study groups, and helpful one spent as an extramural student, I studied for and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. In background information and opinions concerning specific courses. the process, I gained considerably more than I anticipated. My initial uncertainties rapidly changed to Unlike most other support networks the Massey Stu-

187 dent Society model operates independently of the I would really appreciate a time not associated with University and is funded entirely by the Extramural vacation courses when roles, contacts, administra- Students' Society. Most of the Area Communicators tive aspects, etc could be discussed. are, or have been, extramural students and it is this In response to this demand, the Society invited concept of students supporting students that is the unique feature of the support network. Student ini- Communicators to Massey University for the first tiative conceived the network, as shown by Wil- on-campus training workshop in November 1985. liams and Williams in their ICDE funded research Over two days, forty four Area Communicators and contact people gathered with University staff and project "The Evolution and Function of a Student- auxiliary personnel to exchange information, share Operated Support Network for Distance Students'*: experiences and revitalise enthusiasms. All costs for Many (students) felt the need for readily avai!able the weekend were met from the Society's funds. support to compensate for their isolation and initi- For me, the greatest benefit of the weekend ated local activity by organising studygroups was the amongst students studying the same subject. interaction with and shared learning between Com- (Williams & Williams, 1985, p. 6, Report) municators. The frequent discovery that others shared similar experiences helped to lessen my own Later the Society accepted the responsibility for the sense of isolation. Areas vary in size and student establishment and maintenance of a network of vol- numbers, and have different needs andresources. unteer "Area Communicators" throughout New For example, Dargaville has about 40 students Zealand. The main responsibility for developing spread out over approximately 100 kilometres, and servicing this network fell on the shoulders of while my area of Hawkes Bay, roughly comparable the Society's newly appointed Liaison Officer, Barry in size to Holland, has two Area Communicators to buckton, in the late 1970s, and in 1983 passed to cater for approximately 700, predominantly urban his successor, Maureen Williams. students (1987 figures). There are advantages in using students, rather than Qualities of an effective Communicator were dis- University employees, to support other students: a cussed, and again it was emphasised that more im- sense of identity and empathy results from group portant than "expertise", are qualities such as ap- membership Communicators and students meet proachability, being a good listener, anda basic on an equal basis with Communicators being able to familiarity with and understanding of the demands offer advice and support built on a common experi- of extramural study. The limitations of the rolewere ence. Or, as one Communicator summed it up: stressed, much to the relief of some Communica- My assurances and advice is seen as kosher because tors, who felt inadequate in the shadow of a few I'm handling it... the same conditions they have to highly active others. Yet as one Communi,ator ex- face. pressed it: (Will:ams & Williams, i985, p. 35, Report) I think it is important for us to realise fiat we are just Furthermore, as Meacham (1984) points out, "con- Communicators and not mini Masseys all over the tact with peers serves a socialising function" and the nation. aim of student support should be to help students (quote from workshop transcript) develop "a view of learning which is satisfying to Another summed up the role as: "Commonsense the individual and acceptable to the institution". based on experience ". But, in order to provide effective support for other The two days spent together, and away from all less experienced students, Communicators need other demands, helped foster a sense of belonging: supporting too. A recommendation from the re- of group membership and identity. It search report, "The Evolution and Function of was also a a chance for University staff, both teaching and ad- Student-Operated Support Network for Distance ministrative, to explain their individual roles, con- Students" was: cerns and futureplans. Communicators were That the Society should investigate further the need brought up to date on the functioning of the Uni- for training for Area Communicators, and the form versity system and given a clearer idea of the best such training should take. person to refer an individual student to when prob- (Williams & Williams, 1985, p. 62, Report) lems arose. It was also an opportunity for Communi- A questionnaire, to gauge interest, was sent to all cators to explain their roles to University staff, and to Communicators and responses indicated a clear emphasise that, as student volunteers, they should preference for a weekend seminar. Although ongo- not be expected to perform tasks for staff that should ing support was available in the form of regular be the responsibility of paid, University officials. newsletters, on-campus meetings during the vaca- An ongoing issue over the two days concerned the tion courses, and bi-ennial visits to all areas by the most effective way of informing students of the sup- Societys' Liaison Officer, Communicators wanted port network. While Communicators can, and at an extended opportunity to meet. To quote one: times do, initiate contact with individual students,

188 2 0 i this is too much to ask of Communicators on a held in November 1987. For new Communicators, regular basis, especially in large student populated this weekend should provide an invaluable intro- areas. It was agreed that, ideally, students should duction to the role. "Old hands" will be able to initiate contact with Communicators, and that the share knowledge acid develop some new skills. The high withdrawal rate might be reduced if students Society's support system depexls on the sharing of experiencing difficulties contacted Communicators experiences amongst its members. before problems overwhelmed them. How to en- The Extramural Students' Society's support network courage contact was the major issue. was initiated by students to compensate for the iso- Of the many options discussed, two have since been lation of distance education and the lack of any put into effect while others are still being consid- formal regional support. An interesting develop- ered. One is an information sheet comprising the ment in recent years has been the University's move first page of the Students' Society Newsletter, out- to decentralise its services away from Palmerston lining in clear, concise language what the Society's North by developing its own support network of Area Communicators can do for students. I especial- Regional Course Advisers. To date, four regional ly like the final statement, which follows on from a officers have been employed to act as official repre- comprehensive list of ways in which Area Commu- sentatives of the University on a part-time basis. nicators can assist students. It reads: Some University Departments, such as Nursing Your area Communicator cannot Studies, Education, History and Sociology, also em- a. Act in any capacity as an officer of the University ploy part-time Regional Tutors to assist their stu- b. Sit your exams for you (tough). dents. These three services the Society's Area Communicators, University Regional Course Ad- Approval was given by the Management Committee visers and Departmental Tutors have a common to the suggestion that funding be provided to allow objective, which is to bridge the gap between the Communicators to send :ntroductory letters to new University and the student; to provide help when enrollees in their areas. Sent at the start of the new and where it is needed. However, the Extramural year, these letters introduce the Communicator and Students' Society, through its Area communicators, outline the resources available, with perhaps an can give the kind of support not possible from paid invitation to a forthcoming meeting. The effective- representatives of the University. As Sewart (1983) ness of these letters as "icebreakers" can be seen in pointed out, there can be a "barrier to rapport and the increased numbers of students attending area trust" on the part of individuals who are employed meetings. For example, attendance at the regular by the Institution. Area Communicators truly repre- February meeting in Hawkes Bay increased about sent the interests of students, being, or having been, 20% over previous years to about 70 students, the student.; themselves. majority of whom were first year students. To increase knowledge of the services the Society provides, a poster has been produced and book- marks, bearing the words "We Support You", were included with the Society', introductory Newsletter REFERENCES in 1987. For the future, a publicity pamphlet is Meacham, D. planned. (1984) The Making of a Student. Distance Education Sup- Those attending the weekend workshop also support Systems: Workshop Papers, ASPESA Workshop, ported two proposals to give students greater oppor- Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. tunity to voice their opinions and concerns. One is Sewart, D. the Comments Book now available at on-campus (1983) Counselling in Distance Education An Over- courses in which the students can record both posi- view. Selected Papers: International Workshop on Coun- tive and negative comments. These are later collat- selling in Distance Education, Cambridge, U.K., Pp. 7- ed, and conveyed to the appropriate people by the 11. Society's Liaison Officer. The second innovation Williams, M. & Williams, J. has been the awarding of merit certificates to staff (1985) The Evolution and Function of a Student-Operated nominated by students as being particularly effec- Support Network for Distance Students: Research Paper. tive. These merit awards have been well received by Massey University Extramural Students' Society (Inc), all recipients and have an added value, as the Socie- Palmerston North, New Zealand. ty publicises in the University's staff newsletter and Williams, M. & Williams, J. in the Students' Newsletter, the list of recipients and (1986) A Student-Operated Support Network for Distance the reasons whythey were deserving of recognition. Learners. 'CDE Bulletin, Vol 13, January 1987, Pp. 51- Thus, there is an increased awareness of the needs 64. of extramural students. But what of the future? The first Communicators' Workshop fulfilled expectations and another was

189 --.) 4r",0, , Developing Scottish studies fordistance education DR. IAN DONNACH!E The Open University in Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland

This paper describes the design and development of resources to look to the short-term development of course materials for Scottish Studies history, liter- pilot materials for self-study on history and litera- ature and culture by the Open University in ture, which could be incorporated in a low-resource Scotland. The Scottish Studies Projectsprang from strategy. In 1981 a start was made with Scottish the desire of faculty in Scotland to develop teaching History. material with a specifically Scottish content, since In a sense the development of the Scottish History UK-generated courses for both undergraduate and 1560-1980 component was a relatively soft option, continuing educational levels almost inevitably given the availability of standard textson the subject are concerned with wider issues. Scotland has a and period. It was decided that the "wrap-round unique history, culture and institutional develop- approach" would be most appropriate and that by ment which has for long been recognised in school, using four set texts (one of which was a useful refer- college and university curricula though some- ence work) students could be provided with a com- times with the same degree of "celtural cringe" prehensive overview of Scottish historical devel- which typified the more recent discovery of, say, opment. But by focusing on a number of key themes distinctively Australian Studies on the other side of the globe. and issues a problem-centred approach would let students escape the traditional view of Scottish his- While the majority of the conventional universities tory as a series of dramatic events (usually involving teach Scottish History and Literature and a fewmore the English) or an ill-lit stage across which strut the specialist topics or periods; while there is consid- great historical figures of Mary, Queen of Scots, erable international interest especially in the United John Knox and Bonnie Prince Charlie. Using the State and Canada; while there are several resea'ch critical background provided by the set books, Scot- institutes, such as these at Edinburgh, Aberdeen, tish History in its modest way-- would try to strip Old Dominion and Texas (U.S.A.) and Guelph the subject of some of the myths which ave dogged (Canada) devoted to the subject; and while many new interpretations of the past, notably such major university extra-mural departments offer classes in themes as the Reformation, the Union on 1707, the Scottish Studies, until 1986 no attempt had been Highland Clearances, or "Red Clydeside" politics made to offer a broadly basedcourse by distance during or after the First World War. education (DE). The success of the OUS Scottish Scottish History would therefore cover 16 topics Studies Project has however led to the subsequent and be designed for study over eithera 16-week or development of Master's Degree programmes in 32-week period, depending on the time availableto Scottish Literature by distance education at the Uni- the user. The themes are listed here in the Appendix. versity of Glasgow, and several co-operative en- Each topic is introduced in a short essay, preced-ea terprises between the OU in Scotland and other by a clear statement of objectives and set read irgto institutions such as the University of Edinburgh and which the student is immediately directed. The Langside College, Glasgow. course material then focuses on the main issues and The Scottish Studies Project began in 1980 whena debates, reviewing current thinking whereappro- group of academics at the Open University in Scot- priate. The student's attention is drawn to deficien- land met to discuss the development ofa course on cies in the set texts where such exist and a sectionon Scotland, designed for the OU's rapidly expanding up-to-date further reading provided. Finallya series continuing education programme. An ambitious of self-assessment questions can be used by the scheme sought a curriculum that would include student as follow-up exercises. The level throughout study of the environment, history,economy, politi- was pitched at the intelligent general reader with the cal institutions, education and culture emphasis- continuing education market in :nind. ing their distinctiveness in the UK context. While Scottish History was prepared in camera-readycopy this remains a long-term objective it was thought for printing and publishing in 1982, andwas publi- expedient given available personnel and potential cised via the OU system and more generally via the

190 21)3 media, libraries and other educational outlets. The third element in the package, Scottish Society Some favorable rev:ews were received and the level and Culture, was therefore designed to link the two of direct sales thereafter encouraged Stage II of the existing Study Guides. It would achieve this by fill- Project, the development of a Scottish Literature ing in critical historical and cultural background Study Guide. and covering some additional themes, such as art, As an exercise in the creation of DE material Scottish architecture and educational developments, ne- Literature posed several problems. Unlike Scottish glected in earlier course material. It would have no History for which a range of suitable texts was read- set book as such and although seen as a critical link ily available, standard works in literary criticism between Scottish History and Scottish Literature was were hard to come by, being mostly out of print. also conceived as a stand-alone publication. The Given the format and workload already established format was much as before, with four sections cov- by Scottish History it also seemed unlikely that a ering culture and history before 1560; Reformation broad sweep of Scottish literature could be encom- and Union cultural effects; Enlightenment and passed. Would the student be expected to read out Romanticism; and Scotland in the modem age. of date works of literary criticism and a potentially Scottish Society and Culture was published in 1986 daunting list of novels, poems and drama in Scots, and was immediately followed by the launch of the English and Gaelic? (Some out of print.) Scottish Studies open learning pack. Again this was So an early decision on approach and content in- widely publicised throughout the country and favor- dicated a series of case studies some period- ably reviewed. Sales have been constar.tly sus- based but the majority reviewing the works of the tained by further promotion and the pack achieved great scottish writers since the medieva; era, con- UK wide recognition by its adoption into the Open centrating on the Modern Scottish Novel and poet- Opportunities programme of the Open University in ry. Most of the works would be readily available in 1987. local libraries. The one set text, as events transpired, A major reprint in the same year permitted a mea- was soon joined by another the only modern sure of updating. While the OU itself does not offer review of Scottish literature generally available. But tu;tion the course being designed for self-study the Scottish Literature guide was not a "wrap- several institutions have provided student support round" development, because students are expect- and others are being encouraged to do so. ed to read much more widely than the set texts. Having launched this modest, low-resource initia- Conventional wisdom suggested the preparation of tive the project development team foresee further a Course Reader incorporating out-of-print text) but improvements in print quality, format and content. this was ruled out on grounds of costs, and the They would greatly like to produce the more sophis- potentially thorny problem of copyrights. ticated materials and extended treatment which the The topics chosen (see Appendix) began with a subject-matter merits and are looking forward to discussion of early Scottish Literature, the great Re- achieving this in the future. naissance poet, Henryson, the literature of the sixteenth century and that of the seventeenth and eigh- APPENDIX teenth centuries. Much of this is in Scots so care had Scottish History: Themes to be taken in the selection of texts and to ensure comprehension. This was less of a problem with (1) Scotland on the eve of the Reformation (2) The Scottish Reformation later themes, the majority being covered by modern (3) Mary, Queen of Scots editions. Finally, the problem of literature in Gaelic was solved by pointing students to some editions (4) James VI and I which included English translations; though never- (5) The Crown and the Kirk, 1625-85 theless encouraging those with some knowledge of (6) Scotland on the eve of the Union Gaelic to use it and enhance their appreciation of (7) The Union of Parliaments and its aftermath the literature. The approach in each theme followed (8) The Lowlands and the agricultural revolution (9) The Scottish Enlightenment that already established in the Scottish History Study Guide. The development team would be first to (10) The Highlands to 1880 (11) The industrial revolution admit that there are problems in student usage ac- (12) Government and politics, 1789-1918 centuated by difficulties of access to texts but the (13) Victorian Scotland: Workshop of the Empire? feedback to date at least demonstrates that users are (14) People, towns and cities encouraged to search out and read many of the (15) The inter-war years recommended texts. Publication took place in 1984 (16) Post-war Scotland, 1945-80 and good sales were immediate and sustained following favorable press coverage and reviews. Tutor Scottish Literature: Themes notes were produced suggesting how the two Study (1) Some aspects of early Scottish literature Guides might be used in tandem (see Appendix). (2) Robert Henryson (ca. 1420-90) (3) Scottish Literature in the sixteenth century

191 (4) Scottish Literature from Reformation to Enlight- (8) Finally we welcome comments on the Guides enment and news of how they have been used (and (5) Robert Burns received) by individuals and study groups. This (6) Enlightenment aid feeling 1746-1832 will help us improve the materials in the future. (7) Scott, Galt and Carlyle Scottish Studies Project Course Team (8) James Hogg (9) Robert Louis Stevenson Dr. Angus Calder, Staff Tutor, Literature (10) The kailyard and reactions Dr. Ian Donnachie, Staff Tutor, History (11) Hugh MacDiarmid Dr. William Donnelly, Assistance Staff Tutor and (12) Lewis Grassic Gibbon Course Tutor (13) The mociarn Scottish Novel Dr. George HewiV, ' nior Lecturer in History, (14) Modern Scottish poetry Langside College, Glasgow, and Course Tutor. (15) Gaelic Literature Dr. Sheila Lodge, Course Tutor (16) Scottish Drama Dr. Glenda Norquay, Course Tutor Notes for Tutors Consultants: (1) Clearly these Guides are primarily designed, Professor Gordon Donaldson, H.M. Historiogra- like other Open University materials, for self- pher Royal for Scotland study using the background reading recom- Dr. Rory Watson, Department of English Studies, mended. In the case of History this is pretty University of Stirling self-contained in four texts; while Literature (quite understandably) requires wider reading. Students could certainly work through the Guides at their own pace, but we estimate that a REFERENCES reasonable appreciation of the ground covered Consultative Committee on the Curriculum, could be obtained in 16-20 weeks. Working at Scottish resources in schools (Dundee College of Educa- a more leisurely pace, 32 weeks of study (the tion, 1985). standard OU period), a fairly deep study could be made in each Guide. Council for Museums and Galleries in Scotland/ (2) Over the 16-week structure these Guides would S.E.D. be ideal for a two-term course in adult educa- A directory of museum education Scotland (H.M.S.O., tion, the tutor introducing the topic each week, 1981) developing the theme along his or her own Craig, R., and Gerver, E. lines, raising points for discussion (the self-as- (eds.). Light in the darkness: Scottish libraries and adult sessment questions (SAQs) are so designed) and education (Scottish Institute of Adult P'acation, 1985). giving guidance on follow-up reading. Moody, D. (3) The SAQs could be used as potential topics for Scottish local history: an introductory guide (Batsford, discussion as essay topics (with appropriate 1985). guidance on reading) or as small individual or Ritchie, W.K. grovp projects. (4) Opportunities exist for documentary source ap- Educational guide to the National Trust for Scotland (BP Educational Service/NTS, 1982). praisal (on History), textual analysis, poetry reading and drama (on Literature) and such ac- Scottish Central Committee on English tivities would clearly extend greatly the stu- Scottish literature in the secondary school (1976). dents' study experience in either Guide. S.C.E.T. (5) Tutors using the material should be prepared to A directory of open learning opportunities in Scotland extend the debates and discussions raised in the (1987). Guides both of which cover the "facts" but S.E.D. are also "problem centred", dealing with de- Distance no object: examples of open learning in Scot- bates and controversies in both Scottish history land (H.M.S.O., 1982). and literature. (6) Updating of bibliograpt 'es is clearly important Scottish Studies: an open learning pack (Open University and this can be done in giving guidance on in Scotland, 1966). further reading. (7) The Guides could be used in tandem, providing an excellent introduction to Scottish Studies.

192 - A.,i i , a Direct broadcast satellites: New technology for distance education SUZANNE G. DOUGLAS and LOUIS A. BRANSFORD Public Service Satellite Consortium 600 Maryland Avenue SW Suite 220 Washington, DC 20024 USA

INTRODUCTION tricts indicated a need for distance education opportunities for staff development and faculty in-service There has been rising concern expressed in the Uni- training. PSSC, a nonprofit public service organiza- ted States by both public officials and educators tion, was -reated to assist educat:onal and other over the ability of public schools to offer today's nonprofit agencies in planning and using advanced students the type of education necessary to compete telecommunications technology. PSSC member or- in tomorrow's global marketplace. For many school ganizations represent a wide range of distance edu- districts, particularly in rural America, funding for cation users in the fields of education, health and beefed up curricula is scarce and existing resources medicine, state government, public broadcasting, are stretched to the breaking point. Increasingly, and civic, trade, and professional associations. both educators and the U.S. Government are looking at distribution alternatives for distance educa- Debate over how best to move from rhetoric to tion as a possible solution to the dilemma. mak, in integrating telecommunications technology into the U.S. public education system has heat- At last year's National Governors' Association Con- ed up and is fueling renewed interest in distance ference, Time for Results: The Governors' 1991 Re- education, using low-cost direct broadcast satellite port on Education made a strong case for use of (DBS) technology. The evidence is clear: satellite technology in the schools with particular reference technology existing or soon-to-be is widely to two-way interaction via telecommunications. perceived as the solution to deficiencies in today's The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on educational system. The challenge is to come up Education and Labor has commissioned a study by with a workable implementation plan for distance the Office of Technology Assessment on current education that will ultimately enable the 108,000 issues in educational technology. On April 23, public schools, colleges, and universities in Amer- 1987, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed Sen- ica to offer a much wider variety of high quality ator Edward Kennedy's "Star Schools" legislation affordable curricula. Although it is generally accept- (S.778), which proposes "a program under which ed that distance education can best serve geograph- grants are made to educational telecommunications ically isolated or special populations, PSSC believes partnerships to develop, construct, and acquire its applications and benefits are much broader in telecommunications facilities and equipment in or- scope. der to improve the instruction of mathematics, science, and foreign languages ..." Support for expanded distance education programs in the U.S. is THE YES NETWORK implicit in each of these initiatives. In response, PSSC is in the process of planning and In a survey recently conducted by the Public Service implementing a dedicated satellite network using Satellite Consortium (PSSC), among 340 rural DBS technology with distance education as its pri- school districts, 76 percent of those questioned re- mary thrust. Tentatively dubbed the YES (Your Edu- sponded that they were interested in receiving satel- cational Service) Network, this distance education lite-delivered educational programming. the sub- system will focus on curricular needs at the primary jects most in demand are math, science, Spanish, and secondary levels. Using a satellite dish less than French, advanced English, political science, art and one meter in diameter costing $400 or less, even music appreciation, and courses for the gifted and isolated schools will be able to otter courses in talented. In addition, 80 percent of the school dis- calculus, advanced English, and foreign languages.

193 i A.: I /1, The network will also be available for adult contin- CONCLUSION uing education through local hospitals or community colleges, and for professional development by Over the last 1(1 years there have been repeated calls teachers and school administrators. in the U.S. for some type of dedicated educational programming distribution service. However, technical problems, lack of programming, and manage- DBS TECHNOLOGY ment deficiencies have contributed to the prema- DBS technology, using high-powered satellites op- ture demise of more than one proposed system. The erating at the upper end of the Ku-band spectrum key to successful implementation of a DBS distance (12/14 GHz), is taken for granted in many European education network is a coordinated planning effort countries today. In the U.S., however, DBS propo- well in advance of the actual satellite launch. This nents have fought an uphill battle to develop oper- effort will enable network managers to acquire ap- ational systems. Competition from cable companies propriate programming and determine pricing and the lack of a defined market for 0135 services structures and technical considerations in time for have stymied the industry and caused numerous schools to use this information in planning their own setbacks for would-be OBS carriers. Today's DBS budgets and curriculum strategies. PSSC, in collab- companies, after five years of trial and error, are oration with interested educational agencies, has taking a long, hard look at what the technology can undertaken a study to: 1) determine technical re- do best. Although entertainment is still a major part quirements for tying a DBS system to existing sys- of the picture, the proliferation of private networks tems; 2) compile data on available programs and for professional and continuing education has pro- strategies and guidelines for filling programming ven the educational field a promising market for voids; 3) develop a business and management plan new satellite technologies. for a DBS educational network. Although satellite-delivered instructional television The concept of a dedicated satellite educational has been used for a number of years, the high cost of network has been the subject of much discussion in conventional satellite dishes and the lack of innova- the U.S. since 1969, when NASA first made avail- tive quality programming have given U.S. schools able its experimental satellites for distribution of little incentive to invest in the technology on a broad health and educational programs. Other than short- scale. The advent of DBS technology high-pow- term demonstrathns and a handful of ad hoc state ered satellites; small, low-cost earth stations; digital networks, a dedicated nationwide satellite educa- transmission; in combination with increasingly so- tional network for distance education has not phisticatededucationalprogramming has evolved, because of the autonomy of local and state changed all that. In addition, digital signals produc- educational agencies. This stumbling block is less of ing superior quality video and audio reception, and a factor in countries with nationalized educational an addressability feattse mean that schools can or- systems. As we approach the 1990's the U.S. has an der programming on an individualized, per school excellent opportunity to remedy this situation, be- basis. Through a DBS dedicated educational net- cause of new technology, expanded program re- work service, high quality, affordable curricula sources, and a more enlightened constituency. If could be available to every learner in the country. such a network is to materialize, now is the time to reflect on the past and, more importantly, plan for the future.

194 A.,'7111 ,," Home study, keepingwomenini their place? KARLENE FAITH Simon Fraser University Burnaby, British Columbia Canada V5A 156 REBECCA PRIEGERT COULTER Athabasca University Athabasca, Alberta Canada TOG 2R0

INTRODUCTION bility and success rates for all people. Access to education is a key demand of women However, in a changing social context much influ- around the world as they struggle to achieve the enced by the international women's movement, equality promised them during the International some institutions around the world have established Decade for Women (United Nations, 1979; 1985). initiatives which do explicitly take women's inter- In thi.; context, distance education (i.e. home study) ests into account. A collection of case studies titled is an attractive option for governments seeking to Toward New Horizons; International Perspectives meet their commitments, and adult women have on Women in Distance Education,' published in become an increasingly larger client group for many 1987 under the auspices of the ICDE Women's In- distance education institution:. Yet despite the im- ternational Network (WIN), documents these initia- portant function of home study in expanding wom- tives and provides the groundwork for defining en's educational options, only recently have re- more clearly the challenges faced by institutions searchers begun to consider the extent to which this and individuals committed to equity in education. mode of education meets women's learning needs The contributors represent thirteen countries, in- or accommodates their learning styles. cluding many developing nations, and the issues they raise reveal universal patterns in women's ex- In the past decade, feminist learning theory and periences as distance educators and students. Clear- teaching practice as developed in the contexts of ly distance education is having an impact on many campus-based universities and non-institutional al- women's lives around the globe and, although there ternative programmes have been reasonably well- are institutional differences in priorities and meth- examined (see, for example, Bunch and Pollack, ods from one culture to another, there are also re- 1983; Bowles and Klein, 1983; Culley and Portug- markable similarities in women's experiences and es, 1985). In addition, feminist critiques of tradition- expectations. al theories in developmental and learning psychology (Gilligan, 1982; Belenky et al., 1986) emphasize a need to reassess approaches to women's educa- HOME STUDY: BANE OR BOON tion. The growing body of scholarship on women's education, however, has not generally considered TO WOMEN'S LIBERATION? distance education.' This fact, coupled with the Distance educators commonly observe that their lack of an empirical knowledge base regarding mode of teaching is especially appropriate for wom- women's experiences in distance education has fa- en who are homebound with children because it cilitated a tendency to ignore women's concerns enables these women to further their education and to downplay the specificity of women's needs without compromising their family responsibilities. relative to course development and delivery and to It is further apparent that mot mothers who are also academic policy decisions. This situation is no long- employed outside the home would have little or no er acceptable in educational institutions which opportunity to pursue further education were it not claim for themselves the goal of enhancing accessi- for home study. However, these observations often

195

21 ) : accept uncritically the view that women's place is in ized patterns of male dominance and authority, the home and that women ought to be the primary or both in societ.,, as a whole and more specifically in sole caretakers of children. This traditionalist per- educational institutions, have taken their tollin spective, even when it recognizes that some women terms of women's abilities to value their own may be employed outside the home because of achievements and derive maximum benefit from economic necessity, makes education into a luxury formal learning experiences. Home study, howev- for women. Women can indulge themselves in their er, ameliorates some of the most difficult aspects of "free" time as long as this does not interfere with classroom education for women by eliminating in their domestic responsibilities. large measure elements of the cut-throat competi- From a feminist perspective this raises an interesting tion and hierarchical ordering associated with patri- problematic: Does distance education, then, rein- archal forms of learning which many women find force women's confinement to the home and col- especially difficult (Maher and Dunn, 1984; Klein, lude with gender role tradition, or does it provide 1987; Rich, 1979). the means for realizing women's aspirations for so- Distance education, however, is not a panacea for cial and economic equality? The answer is not sim- women intent on studying but wishing to avoid the ple for distance education, like other forms of edu- sexism of the classroom. The same attitudes that cation and like many social reforms, can be a two- govern male-female relationships on campus are edged sword with both conservative and radical prevalent in distance education course materials, possibilities. Nonetheless, in a world where two- delivery systems, research activities and adminis- thirds of the population which is illiterate is female trative policies and structures. As observed by the (UNESCO, 1984) and significantly greater numbers contributors to the WIN book, women are often of nv.ies continue to dominate classroom space (Si- virtually absent in course content. Female students vai d, 1985), distance education directly challenges cannot identify in any personal way with history the traditional exclusion of women from formal courses which fail to acknowledge women's past. schooling while at the same time recognizing the Literature courses which predominantly or exclu- many concrete realities of women's daily lives. sively present male writers likewise deny female Homemakers, whether or not they are working out- significance to the construction of knowledge. The side the home for income, require time flexibility in insidious devaluation of women through simple their studies and this is a key feature of distance omission has a negative impact on women's self- education. Women who are mothers often either esteem and on their ability to imagine themselves as lack access to childcare or cannot afford the cost of able people.Similarly,male-centredresearch such services. Also lacking in many instances is the which fails to distinguish between male/female ex- means of transportation required for regular class- perience, and which presumes the distance learner room attendance. For these women home study is, be male, reflects attitudes which not only deni- in many senses, an ideal solution for obtaining an grate women but which also decrease the validity education, and education, we would argue, pro- and usefulness of that research (Smith, 1978; Rich, vides women with some of the essential tools need- 1979; Spender and Sarah, 1980; Spender, 1980, ed to challenge the traditional assumptions about 1981, 1982; Thompson, 1983; Bowles, 1984; Fen- their role and status and to transform their lives. nema and Ayer, 1984; McIntosh, 1984; Chisholm and Holland, 1986). OVERCOMING SILENCE AND Course delivery systems and the administrative INVISIBILITY structures which govern them also influence wom- Angela Mandie-Filer of Papua New Guinea, a con- en students and can silence them or help them find tributor to the WIN book, has observed that one of their voice. Study guides and other instructional the reasons women in her country might fare better tools must be designed so as to welcome all students in home study than in the classroom is that women to the academic enterprise. Tutors also play a cru- have not been socialized to express themselves ag- cial role in determining whether or not a woman gressively and competitively, so they are unable to feels integra! study a programme instead of a hold their own with males in a classroom setting. marginal outsider. A reiterated theme among the They learn throughout childhood to remain quiet WIN book case studies is the common need for and submissive. The process of silencing is rein- women in distance education courses to receive forced in schooling environments and women be- personal encouragement and a sensitive apprecia- come afraid to express their opinions because they tion of the obstacles they must overcome to achieve ilay be made to feel stupid or even unfeminine if educational goals. Indeed, male students would they do speak out. This has the effect of even further benefit as much as females from a nurturant tutor diminishing their self-confidence and decreases who is able to demand high scholastic achievement their ability to speak. without causing unnecessary stress or destroying Coulter (1987) makes similar observations in the student self-confidence. Canadian context and argues that well-institutional-

196 4) A.I;;1 CONCLUSION room: A Review Essay of the Teaching Practice of Wom- en's Studies in Higher Education." Women's Studies We are only just beginning to understand distinc- International Forum, 10,187-206. tions between female/male psychology and how Maher, F. and K. Dunn gendered experiences of social reality affect learn- (1984) The Practice of Feminist Teaching: A Case Study of ing needs. Nonetheless, research to date surely in- Interactions Among Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Female dicates that a reconsideration of our approaches to, Cognitive Development. (Working Paper No. 144). Wel- cur development, instructional design and lesley College Center for Research o., Women. evaluation, course delivery and institutional re- McIntosh, P. search is in order so that distance education can (1984). "Interactive Phases of Curricular Revision." In become gender-inclusive.Itis only by applying Bonnie Spanier, Alexander Bloom and Darlene Boroviak conscious attention to gender issues that problems (Eds.). Toward a Balanced Curriculum: A Sourcebook for can be identified and resolved so that all students, Initiating Gender Integration Projects. Cambridge, Mass.: regardless of sex, find their education to be an eno- Schenkman Publishing Company. bling and empowering experience. Peacock, G., M.S. Hurley and J.F. Browr (1978). "New Opportunities for Women: A Loup Entry Project at Newcastle Upon Tyne."Teching at a Distance, REFERENCES 12,33-42. (1979). "New Opportunities for Women: A Progress Belenky, M.F., B.M. Clinchy, N.R. Goldberger, Report". Teaching at a Distance, 1t,, 68-89. and J.M. Tarule (1986). Women's Ways of Knowing; The Development of Rich, A. Se:f, Voice, and Mind. New York: Basic Books. (1979). "Toward a Women-Centred University". In On Lies, Secrets and Silence. New York: W W. Norton. Bowles, G. (1982). "The Uses of Hermeneutics for Feminist Scholar- Sivard, R. ship". Women's Studies International Forum 7 (3), 185- (1985). Women - A World Survey. Washington, D.C.: 88. World Priorities. Bowles, G. and R.D. Klein (Eds) Smith, D. (1983). Theories of Women's Studies. London: Rout ledge (1978). "A Peculiar Eclipsing: Women's Exclusion from & Kegan Paul. Man's Culture". Women's Studies International Quarter- ly,1 (4), 281-96. Bunch, C. and S. Pollack (Eds) (1983). Learning Our Way: Essays in Feminist Education. Spender, D. and E. Sarah (Eds) Trumansburg: The Crosiing Press. (1980) Learning to Lose: Sexism and Education. London: The Women's Press. Chisholm, L. and J. Holland Spender, D. (1986). "Girls and Occupational Choice: Anti-sexism in Action in a Curriculum Development Project. "British (1980). Man Made Language. London: Routledge & Ke- Journal of Sociology of Education 7 (4), 353-65. gan Paul. Coulter, R. - (Ed) (1987). ''Women and Distance Education: Towards a (1981) Men's Studies Modified: The Impact of Feminism Feminist Perspective." Invited paper, ,:repared for Cana- on the Academic Disciplines. Oxford: Pergamon Press. dian Journal of Education/Revue Canad enne de ('educa- -(1982). Invisible Women: The Schooling Scandal. Lon- tion, special issue on distance education in Canada, don: VW LYS and Readers Publishing Cooperative Society. Spring, 19P8. Swarbrick, A. Culley, M. and C. Porte ges (Eds) (1978). "A Discourse on Method: Interviews in a Prelimi- (1985). Gendered Subjects: The Dynamics of Feminist nary Study of Women Graduates in the Yorkshire Re- Teaching. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. gion". Teaching at a Distance, 12,62-64. Faith, K. (Ed) - (1980). "To Encourage the Others: Women Studying (1987). Toward New Horizors: International Perspectives Technology." Teaching at a Distance, 18,2-14. on Women in Distance Education. London: Croom: Helm. Thompson, J.L. Fennema, E. and M.J. Ayer (Eds) (1983). Learning Liberation: Women's Responses to (1984). Women and Education: Equity or Equality. Berke- Men's Education. London: Croom Helm. ley: McCutcheon. Thornton, N. Gilligan, C. (1986). "A Model for Interinstitutional Collaboration: The (1982). In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Studies Inter-University Course Program." Dis- Women's Development. Cambridge: Havard University tance Education 7 (2), 214-236. Press. Tremain, M. and J. Owen Klein, R.D. (1984). "The Female Majority: Women Who Study Ex- (1987). "The Dynamics of the Women's Studies Class- tramurally". Teaching at a Distance, 25,45-50.

C.)i 197 P-0iiII United Nations UNESCO (1979). "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of (1984). Statistical Yearbook. Paris: UNESCO. Discrimination Against Women." (1985). Report of the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace."

NOTES

' The earliest published articles on women in distance education include the works of Peacocket al. (1978 and 1979) and Swarbrick (1978 and 1980I. See also Tremaine and Owen (1984) and Thornton (1986). 2 See, Faith (1987). This collection includes contributions from Australia, Canada, England, Fiji, India, Israel, Kenya, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Sweden, Turkey and West Germany.

2 i i 198 Evaluation of distance education programs

CHARLES E. FEASLEY Oklahoma State University Oklahoma, U.S.A.

INTRODUCTION DEVELOPMENTAL TESTING AND Evaluation has greater significance to distance MONITORING learning than it has had in traditional education for A concise history of the evolution of program eval- at least four reasons: (1) innovative proposals re- uations methods at the British Open University quire more documentation; (2) distance learning pointed out that in the earlier years students and systems involve such fixed costs of production and course tutors were surveyed every week or two on distribution that they are not easily revised and must various course components. This standardised in- be used for a considerable number of years; (3) formation did not always tell why certain programs authors do not come in close contact with students were successful and others were not. Accordingly, using the materials, making it hard to know when an additional procedure emerged after several years revisions are needed; and (4) visibility to the public that centred on the developmental testing of in- reinforces the need for careful planning and analysis structional materials on a pilot basis. Revisions were (MacKenzie, Postgate and Scupham, 1975:46). then possible prior to full-scale implementation In general, the focus of evaluation in distance learn- (Gallagher, 1977). ing programs, as in classroom-based instruction, is The first article of a five-part series that was intended on either the student or the instructional process to describe the most comprehensive individual itself. Measurements can be taken prior to the proc- course evaluation ever undertaken of a British Open ess for planning (needs assessment) during the proc- University course, was an overview discussion of ess to identify the need for adjustments in that proc- the Open University's two major models for em- ess (commonly called "formative evaluation") or at ploying evaluation in course development and revi- the end of the instructional process to gauge the sion (Nat nenson et al., 1981). The first type of eval- level of accomplishment (commonly called "sum- uation is critical commenting by content and course mative evaluation"). design experts, which occurs prior to student use. Rowntre, (1986) lists specific questions that have NEEDS ASSESSMENT been raised about content matter or instructional effectiveness during such critical commenting. Stu- A valuable way to put into perspective the reason- dent tryout represents the other type of evaluation ableness of proposed cour3e goals and learning ob- data. The student trial can be developmental testing jectives is to conduct a needs assessment. Since prior to full scale implementation or careful mon- there are excellent books describing the importance itoring of all students for one or two years, with of a needs assessment process for determining what needed revisions leading to a total shelf-life of eight should be taught (Kaufman and English, 1979, Mag- years (the 1-7 and 2-6 models). The feedback er, 1972), it should be sufficient here to illustrate the methods need include computer surveys of student critical role that both faculty and students can play opinion,item analyses of students' assessment in identifying entry behaviors and needed entry scores and in-depth interviews with students and competencies. While content and employer experts course faculty. from outside a distance education program can provide very useful observations that help determine Some sound principles that will be of considerable what completers of the program must be able to do, value to individuals wiio are beginning instructional only faculty and students have direct, recent experi- program evaluation efforts have been offered: start ence with the instructional program to estimate out simply, use a variety of existing instruments what minimum entry competencies are needed by when appropriate, employ informal indicators of students to benefit from that particular instructional program success widely, begin activities on a trial program and achieve the specified exit competen- basis on the edge of the institution, separate pro- cies. gram evaluation from personnel evaluation and en-

199 l)i--) 1...i4., courage widespread involvement by program staff ity of students responded) to the use of 5-8 paid and participants in the evaluation (Lehmann, 198! ). student evaluators per course was described by Von In a recent survey of 42 Amer' an and 15 Canadian Prummer (1983). While the student evaluators were distance learning programs, it was found that course initially all given a second set of course materials in valuations by students were requested by 61 per which to write comments, more recently some stu- cent of the institutions. In addition, evaluation of dents have been allowed the option of sending in instructors was done in 53 per cent of the programs. comments on audio-cassettes. In addition to indi- Of those instructor evaluations, 47 per cent were by vidual evaluations, unanticipated information is al- students alone, 43 per cent by staff alone and 10 per so collected from group interviews with students cent by other groups (Hegel, 1981). These data who had completed those unit evaluations. demonstrate the usual importance placed on student participation in the evaluation process. EVALUATION BY STUDENTS EVALUATION CRITERIA Published evaluation reports are available that de- A number of criteria for determining the success of tail the many ways in which independent/corre- an open learning program have been recommend- spondence study course completers are very satis- ed. An access criterion can indicate how many and fied with their experiences. As an illustration, 76 per what kinds of people are served. A second criterion cent of the 316 respondents at nine midwestern and is the relevance of the distance education services to southeastern universities answered a common 15- the needs and expectations of the community. Addi- question survey and reported that they would take tional criteria are the calibre of learner outcomes another course by correspondence study (Lev- and program offerings; their cost-effectiveness; and erenze, 1979:9). Furthermore, only 11 per cent of institutional impact, which consists of influences the completers in the survey indicated that the over- upon the goals, policies and practices of other in- all quality of their correspondence courses was fair stitutions and society in general (Gooier, 1979). or poor. More current evaluation studies are avail- One instance of this latter criterion would be the able from single institutions that include comments generation of new knowledge. from both course completers and course drop-outs The economic performance of institutions has been (terminators). receiving increasing attention. An article that ap- Copas and Ross (1986) recently provided one of the pears in the Australian journal, Distance Education, more complete published reports describing the de- aims to help distance education program adminis- velopment and analysis of a set of evaluation in- trators determine break-even points for specific ac- struments by which course completers and course tivities (Markowitz, 1987). Such calculations repre- terminators could systematically comment on their sent an important component of thn concern about independent/correspondence study course exneri- cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Two additional ences. After completing their final examinations, criteria are the time it takes to produce a graduate 665 students answered 61 statements about the and the number of graduates as a proportion of the course instructor, instructional materials, assign- number of students admitted (Keegan and Rumble, ments and examinations and the self-assessment 1982). level of learning. Of students who terminated the course prior to completion (885), 19 per cent an- USE WITHIN ACCREDITATION swered an instrument of 29 items which reported Special efforts have been made to have distance reasons for enrolling, reasons for not completing the learning programs evaluated in a comprehensive course and support needed to complete the course. and accurate manner for regional and state accred- Those students who viewed feedback from the fac- Raton. For example, important focus areas in the ulty member as untimely or inadequate (usually sell. study efforts by institutions that are members of noncompleters) reported not knowing how to pro- the National University Continuing Education Asso- ceed in the course. The most frequent complaint ciation (NUC.EA) and have independent/corre- about examinations was not having a detailed pre- spondence study programs include philosophy, view of what each exam would cover. No surpris- mission, administration, staff, faculty, instruction, ingly, those students who terminated the course had services, research and evaluation(Burcaw, far more trouble in obtaining materials, compre- 1982:293). An excellent example of a successful, hending the textbook and securing adequate direc- comprehensive self study using these standards is tion from the study guide. The use of scheduled due the report for the 1979 accreditation of the Uni- dates was viewed as a promising method of in- versity of Minnesota by the North by the North creasing course completions. Central Regional Association (Horgan, Nelson and The evolvement of course evaluation from a system Young, 1979). In addition, program evaluations at wherein all students were asked to comment on many different organizational levels have been de- every instructional unit in every course (but a minor- scribed by Feasley (1980).

200 , COMPARISONS WITH CAMPUS REFERENCES INSTITUTIONS Comparisons between traditional and nontradition- Burcaw, S.S. al institutions have proven invaluable in demonstra- (1982) "Standards for independent study: the American ting their strengths and weaknesses. For example, a experience in higher education". In: Learning at a distance: a world perspective, edited by J.S. Daniel, M.A. comparison of the effectiveness and costs between a Stroud, and J.R. Thompson. (Edmonton, Alberta: Atha- noncampus institution (Whatcome Community basca University). College in Washington state) and three similarly sized, campus-based colleges found that the non- Copas, M., and Ross, J.M. campus institution: (1) seemed to perform as effec- (1986). "Toward the improvement of independent study tively in most operational areas; (2) performed no instruction: an analysis of student evaluations of inde- better in determining and satisfying the needs of pendent study courses, Continuum, 50 (1), 1-18. target groups; and (3) spent 10 per cent less per Feasley, C.E. student and 6 per cent less per course than the (1980). Program evaluation (Washington D.C.: American campus-based institutions (McIntyre and Wales, Association for Higher Education). 1976). Gallagher, M. In another study, an estimation of costs of the Uni- (19771. "Program Evaluation Methods of the Open Uni- versity of Mid-America (UMA) was contrasted to versity". In Evaluating educational television and radio, those of a sample of 37 traditional colleges and edited by A.W. Bates and J. Robinson (Milton Keynes, England: The Open University Press). universities in Indiana, projecting that UMA would be cost competitive if it had more enrollments (Kies- Gooier, D.D. ling, 1979). Unfortunately, many published cost (1979) "Evaluating distance education programs", Cana- comparisons are based on estimated costs. The fact dian Journal of University Continuing Education, Sum- that the UMA never did obtain those greater enroll- mer, 6 (1), 43-55. ments is a significant limitation on the use of esti- Hegel, E.J. mated costs. (1981)Survey of Policies in University-Level Correspond- As an example of the more reliable use of mea- ence Programs in Canada and the USA. Saskatoon: Uni- versity of Saskatchewan. surable data, a comparison of the post-course achievement of distance learners and those in class- Horgan, D., Nelson, D., and Young, R. room universitites demonstrated their equivalence (1979). Self-evaluation report department of independent in multiple-choice and essay examinations in eco- study (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Continuing nomics (Lumsden and Scott, 1982). Even more re- Education and Extension Division). cently, some careful work has been done on the Kaufman, R., and English, F.W. concept of exchangeability as an approach to estab- (1979). Needs assessment: concept and application. (En- lishing realistic control groups for distance learning glewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Educational Technology Pub- (Shavelson, Webb and Hotta, 1987). lications). Keegan, D.J. and Rumble, G. (1982). "The DTU's: an appraisal". In: The distance SUMMARY teaching universities, edited by G. Rumble and K. Harry This paper has described how distance education (New York: St. Martin's Press). programs utilise evaluation processes for planning Kiesling, J. (needs assessment) for making operational adjust- (1979). "Economic cost analysis in higher education: the ments (developmental testing) and for determining University of Mid-America and traditional institutions value (sum mative evaluation). It has also described compared", Educational Communications and Technol- the differing evaluation roles that are played by stu- ogy Journal, Spring, 27 (1), 9-24. dents, faculty members, and outside experts. Lehmann, T. To meet the needs of internal and external audi- (1981) "Evaluating adult learning ,:nd program costs". In: ences, various evaluative criteria were identified in The modern American college, edited by A. Chickering this paper: accessibility, relevance, quality, cost- (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass). effectiveness, completion rates, efficiency, impact Leverenze, T.R. on other educational institutions and impact on so- (1979). Student perception: of instructional quality of ciety in general. Such comparisons may be made correspondence study courses (Lexington, Kentucky, In- with other similar institutions or with regard to the dependent Study Program, University of Kentucky). same institutions at an earlier point in time. Lumsden, K., and Scott, A. (1982) "An output comparison of open university and conventional university students". Higher Education 11, 573-91.

201 't MacKenzie, N., Postgate, R., and Scupham, j. Rowntree, D. (1975). Open Learning Systems and Problems in Post (1986). Teaching through self-instrucion: a practical Secondary Education (Paris: UNESCO Press). handbook for course developers (New York: Nichols Pub- Mager, R.F. lishing Company). (1972) Goal analysis (Belmont, California: Fearon Pub- Shavelson, R.j., Webb, N.M., and Hotta, J. Y. lishers). (1987). "The concept of exchangeability in designing Markowitz, J. jr telecourse evaluations". Journal of Distance Education 2 (1), 27-40. (1987). "Financial decision making calculating the cost of distance education". Distance Education, 8 (2). von PrOmmer, C. McIntyre, C., and Wales, C.A. (1983). The development of standard procedures and recent trends in course evaluation (Hagen, West Germany: (1976). Evaluation of a non-traditional college: costs and FemUniversitilt). effectiveness (Seattle: Washington Board for Community Colleges) ED 131 881.76 pp. MF PC. Nathenson, M., Brown, S., Kirkup, C., and Lewsey, M. (1981). "Learning from evaluation at the Open Universi- ty: a new model of course development". British Journal of Educational Technology 12 (2), 120-39.

202 fs.) .v A.,It.j Distance educationprimarylevel: apossible alternative SILVIA FERNANDEZ DE GACIO Coordinator of Distance Education Service Argentine Republic

PRIMARY EDUCATION FOR ALL HOW DOES SEAD WORK? Th., transfe, mation of education, to offer equality of A systemic approach was sele- zed, because it sim- opportunity for all, must be a priority not only in plifies the development of a system based on this methodology and curriculum, but also in the func- type of education. tion and structure of schools and colleges so that The system is described in Figures 2 and 3. they can meet the needs of various sections of the population. In the Argentine political system, which stands for Figure 2. justice, freedom and involvement, education must work for cultural values, the sense of patriotism, natural interest, mutual understanding, peace and solidarity. With these principles in mind, the Direc- tion Nacional de Educacion Pre-Primaria y Primar- ia,* formed its service for Distance Education (SEAD) from 1st to 7th grade, aimed at the children of Argentine citizens residing abroad. Besides promoting Argentine cultural values SEAD encourages the children to practise their mother tongue and favours the possibility of their joining the Argentine educational system. It allows children to follow their studies at home, without wasting time or the taking of exams which generally turn out to be difficult for them. (See figure 1) Although SEAD started as far back as 1981, through an agreement with the Foreign Office, it was aimed at the children of diplomats and for those who were living abroad due to legally justifiable reasons (work, for instance). In 1984, the service was rear- /66;;;;;I:s ranged, in respect to organization, methodology /- comrol-malaria andN ingtsbc and intended beneficiaries: children of all Argen- Formulaacon evaluation and I Cats tines living abroad, no matter why they had decided MOON, Racouraos Admissoona to leave Argentina. Sencang and Eno-vv.> \,Sx$:Q.In".9a:brilahMOZ:SO/ *ct copbon Ed Of NIIIRSIDOCIt Admmatraton Figure 1 10rni'm°.roakes 01 evaluations die pa:OG=10ft :Staityliapripet Facilitate the Promote the Facilitate reincorporation values of 4-- 40the practice Educational lcpons at the common Argentine of language school r OuSIne culture \ s ProduebOYOrscluCatanal rltalenala Followalcansuaing and evatualion Ns.

Nfradbadt Continuity of Affirmation the studies of Argentine Co-orchnanonlothmeal-P0010000,001 with Argentina's identity school curriculum Figure 3.

National Direction of Pre-Primary and Primary Education.

203 In the chosen system, four subsystems can be identi- instruments that will show very clearly what our fied: aims are and what we intend the students to attain. It (1) Decision-making and control: corresponds to is also important that students can re-enter the edu- top level decision making cational system, so the course should reflect existing (2) Logistic: deals with the assignment of resources curricula. human, fina.*al, material With these ideas in mind, a curriculum was worked (3) Students: manages and checks students' pro- out in which all are ?, are integrated in theoretic- gress Also, admission, enrolment and follow- practical learning activities, in a milieu of guided up, the sending and reception of material, the research. Thus, the student will discover the validity administration of tests of learning and its applicability to real life. (4) Courses: responsible for the design and produc- When selecting the contents, we took into account tion of educational material, correction and fol- their relevance to realistic, scientific and social lowup of students' work. needs and practical methods of learning. Subsystems (3) and (4) are dealt with particularly by The proposals were: the SEAD team. The other two, though related, are not under the control of the team. to stimulate the cognitive processes of all children We shall start with a description of planning and to use contents which have a connection with the research. environment (whenever possible, bearing in After research and using the results obtained, SEAD mind the characteristics of the service) was restructured and the technical staff attended to use contents that might help to solve problems training courses. arising in their daily lives, as a way to connect school, family, community.

FEEDBACK. ITS PRESENTATION OF PRINTED SYSTEMATIZATION MATTER As is the case in all systems, SEAD requires constant Contents are organized in the form of problematic assessment of its service. One of the precise in- situations, with the purpose of stimulating the child dicators of the quality of the service is the perform- in the search for meaningful answers. ance of students who, having used it for a certain period of time, must rejoin the ordinary primary Modules are not self-sufficient. Different areas are school or secondary courses. integrated in them to obtain a chain of objectives. The students' performance in either of the two levels The service has a follow-up system that also assesses will show how well their basic education at a dis- the students. This consists of evaluation tests that are tance has worked. In order to assess this perform- returned to the students, as well as a permanent ance, research instruments have been made up for consultant service, carried out through correspond- parents, teachers and students to fillin, a few ence, telephone or personal interviews, whenever months after the children have rejoined the school the situation allows. system. The results of the tests are used: At present 1st grace, which was included in the to establish suggestions for revision for students, service last August with a new methodology, is be- as a cause for promotion, ing assessed. The difference in methodology is due to credit students rejoining the school system, to the fact that the children must start reading and to assess the system. By this, we mean it serves to writing; as the service uses printed matter only, this validate the material and to show the possibility is addressed to parents, guiding them in their role of integration in the formal education system on and tutors. students' return to Argentina. Tutors correct tests and keep in touch with pupils and parents. Parents, who act like the teacher in THE DESIGN AND PRODUCTION regular education, receive guides to help their OF MATERIAL AND ITS work, in an effort to attain better results. SELECTION Although the purpose of the service is to offer primary education to Argentine children who cannot Although functions of distance education have attend the regular system, an idea arose regarding points and characte:istics in common with the usual another population: children who live in our coun- school system they have their own peculiarities that try but who do not have easy access to traditional force a very careful selection of contents, a qualified education. proposal of activities and the use of strategies and DISTANCE EDUCATION AT a fundamental part in SEAD, because most of the PRIMARY LEVEL WITHIN feedback process is done through it. Also, the organization helps the motivation or users and their ARGENTINA learning processes. Factors, other than those related to the school sys- Based on the characteristics of education at a dis- tem, such as low socio-ecoromical level, "golon- tance, the tutorial service is offered in several differ- drina" population,' or regions where it is difficult to ent fields and is of varied nature. reach the populated zones, prevent education for a! I. In general, the role of a tutor is to: How is it possible to give education to everybody in create an atmosphere of confidence and friend- a country which has large regions with adverse liv- ship that will foster processes and situations of ing conditions, and children who have to work and interpersonal communication, according to the are forced to leave school at an early age? conditions and circumstances th.- students are in, with the aim of helping to remove the different Answers can be found in distance education meth- obstacles that interfere with learning, ods. This type of education permits the democra- intensify the basic motivations of students, in the tization of teaching, because it helps produce equal search for answers adequate to their natural ex- opportunities, as it enables a greater number of pectations, people to make use of educational facilities. It also induce processes of reflection and organised ac- removes restrictions, exclusions and privileges, tion so that the student will work on his or her which are frequent in conventional forms of educa- own, will try, experiment, rehearse, identify facts tion, where student and teacher must attend at a and situations in the learning activities, and also pre-set place and time. discover new knowledges, using experience and We propose to offer the material produced by SEAD previous knowledge. to all regions that might require it, whatever circum- guide and support autonomous development, stances they are in: critical and creative, related to the understanding of reality. pluri-grade schools (one teacher-schools), guide and advise the learning process in relation schools in zones of difficult access, to the methodology, providing the student with "Golondrina" population and others. techniques of study, help with using basic materi- In these cases, the SEAD would offer "self educa- al (printec) and/or complementary material (ration" material to help the teacher in one-teacher dio), schools, or to serve as an alternative to school- assess objectively; systematically and perma- families, when the physical conditions of the region nently the learning process, make it very difficult for the children to attend promote and stimulate processes of interaction school regularly. and particciation, through the work of dynamic We believe it is important to note that although our groups starting from the identification of com- service provides an educational strategy that per- mon needs and objectives, mits a flexible approach to the time of learning, define and apply processes and procedures, use- duration, intensity, etc and that also overcomes bar- ful for the follow-up of the students. riers such as distance or unfavorable zones, we consider that school as an institution is of fundamental value for those children, and we do not want KINDS OF TUTORIAL SERVICE them to leave it. The tutorial service varies ac -ording to the targetted It can be seen that SEAD could meet the needs of the population and the characte, istics of the region. children in the country, who cannot attend school In some cases, the tutor may be the teacher of the regularly, offering them the same quality of educa- school the students attend. This may lead to difficul- tion and promoting the democratic characteristics ties where road conditions, climate etc., are poor. of education in Argentina. Where this will happen the tutor will personally supervise the use of materials with which the student will work at home, thus making it possible for TUTORIAL ORGANIZATION them to attend school less. Distance education methods imply new roles, both In other cases, in regions far away from urban cen- for students and for teachers, new attitudes and new tres, the teacher will go round different communi- opproac hes. ties, helping a certain number of students. This help From this point of view, the tutorial organization has refers to the identification of possible problems,

"golondrina" (lit: swallow) population: refers to families that are forced to migrate to find work: cotton, tea, tobacco, harvest collection.

205 ,--, ,

...".., . , learning of habits of study, research methods. Heor she will have to answer the students' anxietiesor BIBLIOGRAPHY worries, and will give them work and material to Ausubel work together with their family or their community Psicologia Educativa (Editorial Trillas, Mexico 1976). during a certain period of time, thus organisinga system of alternatives: family-school. Almandoz, Maria Rosa. Apportes para la reflexion acerca de los sistemas oper- A different group, already mentioned, is that of chil- ativos y la estructura formal de centro de educacion a dren who, due to work, are forced to stop going to distancia (Universidad del Nordeste, Coased. Bs. As., school temporarily. They find themselves ina very 1983). difficult situation, because when they return,a few Cal: )(me, Graceiela. months later, they are so far behind that they either have to do the course again or they simply drop out. Algunas propuestas para la elaboracion de un modelo curricular. (Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Coased In these cases, two kinds of tutors would be neces- Bs. As., 1983). sary: one, the teacher of the school they usually Gimeno, Sacristan, Perez Gomez. attend. His or her task, besides the one he or she "La ensenanza su teoria y su practicia ", AKAL (Madrid, usually does, will be to teach the children touse the 1984). material they will need while they are away from school. The other tutor will be a member of the Holmberg, B. working community or a senior student where the Educacion a distancia. Situation y perspectivas (Editorial parents cannot perform the role. This tutor must be Kapelusz, Buenos Aires, 1985). willing to help, and be able to read and writecom- Joseph, A., and Perazzo, M. prehensively. This implies the organization of re- Hacia un modelo de educacion a distancia teoria y practi- gional centres or school centres, whose structure cia. Buenos Aires, 1983. and functioning will be important if they are to be Nassif, et., Rama, G., and Tedesco, J. useful. El sistema educativo en America Latina (Editorial Kape- It is our proposal that SEAD offers primary education lusz, Buenos Aires, 1984). to all Argentine children who are unable to attend Stenhouse. school regularly (and in this way, favour education Investigacion y Desarrollo del curriculo (Editorial Morata, for all), a strategy in which the family might partici- Madrid, 1984). pate actively, with the subsequent benefit for everybody.

206 4.9 1 I./ ;) Assignment construction and evaluation in distance education MARGALIT GANOR Everyman's University, Israel

THE ROLE OF HOME tional functions within a course are distributed ASSIGNMENTS IN DISTANCE among several teachers: The course coordinator constructs assignments and exams and the tutor EDUCATION to whom each student is assigned marks the as- Everyman's University of Israel (E.U.) has establish- signments and supplies feedback to student and ed an academic distance teaching system which to the system. Furthermore, these teachers start to aims to enable students to study on their own, any- function after the course has been produced. where. The system consists of a set of study compo- They were not necessarily part of the original nents such as: written material, audio visual aids, production team and have no tenure, particularly home assignments and final exams. Most of the the tutors who are hired on a semester basis. material is especially designed for distance study. This structure might lead to gaps in the didactic and :ontextuaf perception of the course, as well Assignments play an important role in such a dis- as to lack of continuity and integration in ACE. tance teaching system. Being based on a question- The nature of distance education One of the answer strategy, they constitute a dynamic tool for a main characteristics of distance learning is the didactic dialogue with the student. They initiate lack of immediate interaction among teachers active and meaningful participation of the student and students. This necessitates construction of a and provide a tool for monitoring progress and as- multi-feedback system which could function at a sessing achievement. distance and would be an integral part of assess- The paper presents some of the features of assignment. The student who is supposed to study ment construction and evaluation (ACE) in E.U., alone needs detailed feedback on performance in and discusses theoretical and practical problems assignments diagnosing mistakes and instructing involved in turning them into an assessment system how to continue. Coordinators and tutors need which could be harnessed to the process of teach- additional feedback which refers to the quality of ing-learning at a distance. their instruction and gives indications for futire ACE. CHARACTERISTICS OF ASSIGNMENT CONSTRUCTION AN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ACE AND EVALUATION AT E.U. AT E.U. There are about 160 courses at E.'J., taught during a The department of evaluation and didactic training four-months semester. For these courses about at E. U. dealt intensively in the last few years with the 13,00n questions are constructed each semester. issues mentiuned above, offering counseling to These constitute about 600 tutor marked assign- course coordinators and tutors. ments (T.M.A.$), 200 computer marked assign- Three major issues are outlined and discussed: ments (C.M.A.$) and about 350 final exams. Each course is a basic unit of study with a separate set of assignments and tests which are re-designed 1. PREPARING A THEORETICAL each time the course is given. In order to get credit FRAMEWORK for a given course, students have to submit a certain number of home assignments which count for up to In order to establish more systematic ACE within 40% of their final grade, and pass the final exam each course it became imperative to define a theo- which counts up to 60% of the grade. retical framework for assessment. Initially, the content of a given course was analyzed along with the Two main issues have to be considered with regard scientific skills required for its study. Such an analy- to ACE at E.U. sis was based on L. Guttman's Facet Theory', imple- The structure of the instructional systeili. Instruc- mented by mapping sentence technique' and pre-

207 ...... ,I ) rented in the form of a "course map". The faceted The following is an example of a "course map" in definition presents simultaneously various TYPES of History. In it there are twelve facets, each of which items for assessment together with the criteria for presents a possible classification of the material: evaluation of the answers.

Margalit Ganor 1987

A MAPPING SENTENCE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT IN A HISTORY COURSES

A B C

student (x) a, describe historian's 1 b, description I of c, itself is required a, define b, interpretation c, research to a, give example a. give reasons a, sum up a. classify a, compare a. conclude a, evaluate

E of I d, primaryD source of e, philosophical nature f, themselves lister's' d, secondary source e, historical with ft occurrances phenomena d, research e, biographic regard f, processes based on I d. study material e. artistic to f. attitudes e, instructional phenomenaft opinions e. official f. unspecified e, persok.ai e. essay e, epigraphic

G H I with g, persons In h, ancient period In i, Europe reference g, groups h, transition period Is:amic countries to g, institutes h, modern period both

K In j, personal life area of k, antra community frameworks j, cultural k, inter communities j, religious k. all J. social .1, economic j, fiscal i, political J. all

I. very high performance to according to very low scientific criteria

208 As can be seen in the map, the following classifica- being correct, complete and in accordance with tions were reached: A classifies types of cognitive the given task, while correcting T.M A.s. tasks; B and C classify specific tasks in History Feedback on group results This kind of in- studies; D and E classify types of source material; formation is particularly importan' to the various I to K classify the contents of course material; 1 teachers of a course. The guiding principle was to gives the range of evaluation. supply rapid feedback of diagnostic nature with Each type of item is called a construct and it includes regard to the quality of the questions as well as one element of each, or of some of the facets. the level of achievement. Since all assessment results are fed into a central computer, it was The outcome is a cartesian product: possible to design computerized reports that A B C D EF G H I JK would be based on that data and could be regu- 9 x2 x2 x4 x9 x6 x6 x3 x3 xi; x3 larly produced and distributed to the relevant = 5,037748 types of items parties. The mapping sentence reads as follows: The following reports have so far been developed at E. U .: student (x) is required to fulfill a cognitive task (A) referring to Historian's task (B) dealing with histor- analysis of C.M.A. results the report presents ical phenomena (C) based on source material (D) of the achievement of students in a course and sup- nature (E) with regard to historical subject (F) to plies data on the quality of the questions. It has group of reference (G) in time (H) in place (I) in life two parts: area (J) in framework (K). The students performance The first refers to the level of difficulty of the is evaluated from high to low, according to scientific questions, the quality of the distractors and the criteria. index of discernment between weak and good Three TYPES of facets were mostly sought for: students. The second part includes a histogram showing the distribution of the questions accord- Facets classifying the tasks required of the stu- ing to their level of difficulty, i.e., the percent of dent; i.e., to describe, to analyze, to define, etc. those who answered correctly. These facets are supposed to be hierarchically analysis of T.M.A. or final exam results the ordered and could be based on known theories report presents details about the grades of the such as dloom's Taxonomy', or Guttman's theory of intelligence'. various study groups (by tutors) on each question and on the test as a whole. The second part of the Facets defining specific scientific skills, such as report gives a histogram which portrays the distri- the analysis of historical documents or drawing bution of grades of all the students in that course. economical charts. Here again existing models of particular reports dealing with open- 3nded ques- classification could be used. tions have been designed on an experimental Facets defining the content of the course such as basis. In some of the courses there is a report on time and place in history or range of theories in psychology. the means of each study group and a report presenting profiles of students (In each question. Several course teams in various study areas such as a summary report conniving achievement of history, art, statistics and social sciences have al- study groups and all course students, in C. M.A.s, ready analyzed their material and prepared "course T.M.A.s and final exams This report presents maps". the number and percent of those who took the The prepared maps constituted a conceptual frame- final exam. For them the following data is calcu- work for a more systematic preparation of assign- lated:means andstandarddeviationsin ments while at the same time setting the criteria for C.M.A.s, in T.M.A.s and in finals; gaps among evaluation by the tutors; i.e., linking the definition grades in the various assessment tools; correla- of course aims with assessment of their achieve- tion between achievement in assignments and ment. finals and data about the number and percent of credits achieved in the course. Computerized feedback required a large invest- 2. FEEDBACK ment in programming. Nevertheless all regular Feedback systems were planned to be on two levels: reports are now being produced and distributed that of the individual student and the group level. each semester. Both teachers and system heads use them for purposes of reevaluation of teach- feedback to the student Supplying such feed- ing, decision making, and didactic training of back is usually within the jurisdiction of the staff. course teachers: the coordinator who could add computerized remarks to the C.M.A.s, an option which is not used enough, or the tutor who is supposed to refer to subjects such as the answer

4)) *-.) 209 #4. S. , .,6., 3. A BANK OF QUESTIONS REFERENCES The quantity of questions produced each semes- 1. Canter, D., ed. terand the frequent change of "teachers" and sometimes their lack of didactic training brought about Facet Theory, Approaches to Social Research, Spring, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1985. the necessity for establishing a computerized bank of questions. The bank would make use of all the 2. Shye, S., ed. information which is being stored in the computer. Theory Construction and Data Analysis in the Behavioral The bank would contain a collection of questions Sciences, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1978. for each course, classified according to various 3. Bloom. B., characteristics, together with accumulated informa- Taxonomy of Educational Objective, (Book 1: Cognitive tion on the quality of the questions and the level of Domain), Michigan, 1972. achievement on each of them. 4. Guttman, A.L., One of the main classification systems in the bank is "The Structure of Interrelations Among Intelligence based on the "Course Map", which has so far served Tests", Invitational Conference on Testing Problems Edu- as a basis for the preparation of the questions, and cational Testing Service, Princeton, N.J., 1964. could now be utilized for the purpose of storage, 5. evaluation and retrieval of questions. "A Faceted Definition of Intelligence", Studies in'sy- The bank raised many questions at first, most of chologyScripta Hierosolymitana (Hebrew Unive'.3ity), them concerned the role of the teacher in the con- 14 (1965), pp. 166-181. struction of tests. It way made clear that the bank would not make question production automatic but is meant to assist course coordinators in preparing systematic and varied ACE.

210 9 4) The perspective of distance education in China GAO KE MING Shanghai TV University Shanghai China

Today all the countries in the world are faced with livestock husbandry and freshwater fish-farming the challenge of the technological revolution and have been developed for 830,000 participants. By have all considered the development of education the end of 1985, 75,000 students had graduated as an important measure to meet that challenge. In from the school. the light of its national condition, China must set Higher education by broadcasting has occupied a great store by distance education and fully develop dominant position in distance education in China. it so as to enhance the scientific and technical qual- In addition to the central Radio and TV University ity of the whole nation and to improve the present and Central Radio and TV Normal College, there situation where the standards of education lag be- have been 38 provincial and municipal TV uni- hind economic and social development. Practice versities (among them ten are to be independent, shows the development of distance education in municipal TV universities). Six courses of scienc'i China with its 10 billion people not only has an and engineering, teacher training, Chinese lan- important immediate significance but a long-term guage and literature, finance and economy, man- perspective. agement, politics and law have been provided with 19 academic majors and nearly 1,000 specialties THE CURRENT SITUATION OF offered. Thus a network of broadcast and TV educa- DISTANCE EDUCATION IN CHINA tion has taken shape based on urban districts and rural areas throughout the nation. Statistics in 1986 China started correspondence education in the mid- show that 303,400 students graduated from higher dle of 1950s and some provinces and municipalities distanceeducationinstitutions(among them established radio and TV universities in the ,nrly 54,700 students were from correspondence higher 1960s. In the last ten years there has been great education institutions), equal to 77.2 per cent of the progress of distance education in China. total number of the regular university and college TV secondary specialised schools started in 1'179. graduates in the same period; and the higher dis- By 1985, there were 95 of these kinds of scl- ools tance education institutions had an enrolment of with 230,000 students enrolled and many subjects 1,051,100 students which made up 55.9 per cent of offered, including mer ianical engineering, electri- the total number of enrolled students in regular cal engineering, architectural engineering, finance higher education institutions. It shows that distance and economy, secretary, science, law, teacher education has been an important component of the training and so on. whole educational system in China. The central broadcast School of Agriculture was set up in 1981, and was followed by the establishment THE NEED TO DEVELOP of branch schools in more than 2,300 counties (and state farms) in 28 provinces, autonomous regions DISTANCE EDUCATION and municipalities and more than 24,000 villages In China distance education is in the ascendant and and rural towns have organised classes. Four aca- will surely have a growing importance on account demic majors of agronomy, agricultural economy, of the Chinese national situation.

Table 1: The number of university si:idents per ten thousand people

Country USA Japan France USSR W.Ger Mex. India Pak. China

Number 524 210 197 193 138 87 58 17 11 Year 1977 1976 1976 1976 1976 1975 1976 1974 1982

211 ,1 ) Aft. .' t Table 2: The number of illiteracy per ten thousand people Country The number Proportion of The Lowest AgeThe year of in- illiteracy ill iteraty vestigation China 23,583 23.5 % 12 1982 India 21,164 66.6 % 15 1971 USSR 0.2% 15 1979 USA 143.5 1.0 % 15 1969 Indonesia 2,880 43.4 % 15 1971 Brazil 1,564 24.3 % 15 1976 Japan 142.5 2.2 % 15 1960 Pakestan 2,898 79.3 % 15 1976

Firstly, China is devoting itself to realising the four according to their local situation, offer courses of modernisations, so it is in urgent need of a large continuing education in all specific fields to satisfy number of specialised personnel. But compared those who hope to update and supplement their with some other countries, the number of university knowledge. students per ten thousand people shows the scarcity of high-le 1 specialised personnel. See Table 1. FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS OF Secondly, China has the largest population in the THE DEVELOPMENT OF world: it makes up 22 per cent of the population of DISTANCE EDUCATION IN CHINA the world. Though a large population brings advantages in the form of labour resources, the quality Distance education in China has spread all over the of the labour force will be poor if the level of educa- country in a very short time. This is because of the tion is not very high. There is still a lot of illiteracy in obvious educational need, and the socialised co- China, in comparison with some other countries, operative school operation, both of which can be see Table 2. described as the Chinese characteristics of the development of distance education. In order to complete the task of eliminating illiteracy in a short time, it is not enough merely to rely on China has the material conditions for the expansion conventional education but it is necessary to place of distance education. We have launched an educa- hope on distance education. tional satellite and set up broadcast stations and TV stations in provinces, autonomous regions and mu- Thirdly, China is still very poor at the present stage. nicipalities which have installed the special educa- In 1980 the World Bank published a list of poor tional channel. Statistics in 1984 show that in China countries, China being one of them. Our per capita over 200 million families have radios and 30 per national income is only $200$300 (US) and even cent of families have TV sets. The institutions and by the end of the century, our per capita educational organisations with distance education departments investment will only have reached 70 (Ren Ming Bi) generally have circuit TV or TV receivers and trans- (equal to $19 (US) ) every year; while in America mitters. All these have provided us with the material and Japan it was $1,000 (US) in 1984. One of the foundation for the development of distance educa- advantages of distance education is to be able to tion on a large scale. train more personnel with less money. Therefore, it is all the more necessary for China to develop dis- What's more important is the great attention to distance education. tance education paid by the Chinese government. Its leaders have for a long time stressed the necessity Fourthly, without continuing education, even a de- of the development of distance education. Premier veloped country would have difficulty in maintain- Zhao Zi Yang once pointed out: "It is suitable for ing its economic position in the light of the techno- China to set up TV universities, which is a greater, logical revolution. Being a country short of trained faster, better and more economical way to train personnel, China will undoubteuiy set great store by talented people." continuing education for all kinds of specialised personnel and consider it as an effective measure to In recent years, millions of people have actively keep them abreast of new developments. China participated in study via distance education schools no% transmits teaching programmes of continuing of various kinds and various levels, showing their education in engineering by communications satel- great enthusiasm in the improvement of their scien- lite, which are generally welcomed by engineers tific and cultural accomplishment and demonstra- and technicians. The radio and TV universities in ting that distance education is unprecedentedly well provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, received and valued in China.

212 9i I AvO 17. II ) World Economic Herald BIBLIOGRAPHY 8November,1982 Acommunique of the state Bureau ofStatistics,1981UNESCO, World population datum, Proceedingsofthe study group meeting on evaluationof from the Population Information Agency of America. distance learning project under APEID. Zhou Peilong People's Daily The future and study of higher education (Issue1, 1986) 20 September1985. "Some problemsofthe developmental strategyofhigher Statistics Sectionofthe Planning Departmentofthe state education in our country". CommissionofEducation.

213 0 -) Electronic tutorialsystem for distance education PROFESSOR V.X. GLED9ILL and MR. C.P. DUDLEY Macquarie University Sydney, N.S.W. 2109 Australia

INTRODUCTION simple word processing package enabled the students to enter and edit their material for communi- The academic tutorial is central to the traditional cation. process of higher education (Papert, 1980). During tutorials, students meet with an academic teacher and, in a comparatively unstructured session, ask student questions, make comments and explore the domain of knowledge within the discipline. Students also learn from each other, under guidance of the teacher. These tutorials not only impart information but also form attitudes to scholarship and learning which provide a further dimension to academic development which cannot be learnt readily from printed material alone. Distance education students may not have these same privileges of access to a tutor. At best, distance education students meet for intensive tutorial sessions two or three times per semester at study centres or on campus. At worst, the only academic feedback they receive results from the return of marked assignments submitted as part of theiras- ELECTRONIC TUTORIAL sessment process.

This paper reports the development of an electronic Figure 1. tutorial system which provides students withaccess to their tutor, and other students, at any time during semester. The tutor initiates the matters to be dis- Student access. The students and tutors were pro- cussed in the tutorial and guides its evolution. The v;ded with a Microbee Teleterm and a printer. This students have no constraints on access or comment. device was an intelligent computer terminal which The system is designed for students and staff with no stored the complete protocol to alloy. connection of previous experience of this type of technology. the terminal to the computer through the switched telephone circuit network. The Teleterm also sent METHODS automatically the logon procedure to provide connection to the system. General description: The students and tutors gained ar.ess to the electronic tutorial system from com- In order to start the electronic tutorial system, the puter terminals which connected to a central com- participants switched on the terminal and pressed puter through the switched telephone network (fig. appropriate function keys. The terminal dialled a 1). A computer program helped the participants to toll-free number which provided connection to the ask questions, make comments, or send messages to computer. The stored commands initiated the elec- each other. It provided a file storage system to allow tronic tutorial program which displayed an initial for the retention and retrieval of tutorial material. A selection menu (fig. 2) on their terminal screen.

214 4I-: c.. (,) -1i When S was selected a second numbered list was displayed with the names of all the participants in the tutorial. The person to whom the message was WELCOME TO YOUR ELECTRONIC TUTORIAL to be sent was chosen by number and the comput- you may 0 ask a Ouestion er system requested details of the message to be entered. The system responded when it received C make a Comment the .END terminator by confirming that the mess- semi a private message 5 age had been sent to the selected person. R Read the latest tutorial material R. Read. This option allowed the participants to T review your saved Tutorials read all of the questions and comments that had H ask for Help been made as part of the tutorial system and any

F .... Finish personal mail that may have been sent.

select by typing the letter and RETURN The system listed the headings of all the questions, comments and mail that had been sent to the participant since the previous connection. The detail was then displayed one message at a time for review. Pressing a particular function key on the terminal allowed the information to be Figure 2. printed out as well as being displayed. As each item was displayed, the participant had the option The Tutorial. The design of the electronic tutorial of saving it for later review. was intended to reflect the processes of a normal T Tutorial Review. The material that had been tutorial. If a student or tutor used the system to ask a saved while reading could be reviewed at any question or make a comment through their terminal, time by selecting the T option. A summary list of that question would be received (heard) by all other saved messages was displayed. Selected items participants when they connected to the tutorial. could be printed out or shown on the terminal When a student or tutor answered a question from screen. Any item may could be retained or delet- their own computer terminal, the answer was sent ed from the saved material. automatically to all participants in the tutorial. There was also facility for sending private messages H. Help. A comprehensive HELP function al- from one participant to another. Any of the material lowed the user of the electronic tutorial to obtain could be stored for later reference. on-line assistance regarding the operation of the system. The actions resulting from the initial selections were as follows: F. Finish. The selection of this item concluded the electronic tutorial and released the telephone cir- Q. Question. Either the students or the tutor could cuit for another student who may wish to con- ask a question by selecting this option from the nect. list. The computer responded with a request for a The Participants. Students were selected from a heading which was used to identify the question non-technical course in order to test the principle of ;Mater displays. The computer then requested the ease of use. Students from a senior law course were text of the question, which should have been selected to provide a mix of age, location and aca- prepared previously with the word-processing demic ability as measured by their grade point aver- program. The question was terminated by .END age. These students were matched with a control on a new line. group in order that any quantitative change in aca- The question was "heard" by all members of the demic performance which might be attributed to the tutorial that is, it was automatically broadcast electronic tutorial system could be measured. A to the tutor and every other student participating training session of 3 hours duration was held for all in the electronic tutorial. participating students. C. Comment. A comment was treated in the same An initial questionnaire was answered by all stu- way as a question that is, when the tutor or a dents in the study and in the control group. This student enterer' a comment it was received by requested details of their past experience with com- every member of the tutorial group. Students puters and keyboards, and sought to determine their were encouraged to comment on questions asked attitude towards the use of an electronic tutorial by the tutor and on the answers provided by other system. A second questionnaire was sent to all stu- students. dents during the course and again at its conclusion in order to assess changes in attitude as the study S. Send. This allowed a participant to send a progressed. personal message to any other member of the tutorial. The grade point averages of the study and the con-

215 . 4..0, )' trol groups, which were matched at the commence- identified in previous external courses at the uni- ment of the study, were compared at the time of final versity. assessment to determine if there was any significant Problems of lack of contact with tutors. difference between the two groups. Delays in return of assignments and the accom- A summary of all use of the electronic tutorial sys- panying feedback provided. tem was maintained automatically on computer Lack of interaction with other students. files for later analysis. This summary included the Residential schools with no clear objectives be- type of message sent, the subject of the message, ing given well in advance of the school. and the time of sending. This data was used to assist The danger that students would miss the "hidden in establishing a pattern of use of the electronic agenda" in a course because of lack of contact tutorial system. with students and staff. A general questionnaire regarding computing and Domination of on-campus tutorial groups by a few members. keyboard skills was given to all students in the Re- medial Law course. Being unable to reach tutors by phone and feeling unwilling to intrude on their time anyway. When asked to consider the advantages of external RESULTS study students nominated: A study group of 7 students was selected from the Ability to do everything in their own time and at overall course enrolment of 57 students. Each of their own pace these 7 students had been matched in age, sex, Non-attendance at lectures location, and ability as measured by grade point Freedom alid flexibility of study hours average (G.P.A.) with students in a control group. Ability to determine own study program and ad- The average G.P.A. of the study group was 2.57 and just when necessary to take into account other that of the control group was 2.54 (possible range priorities 0-4). The overall class G.P.A. was 2.36. The study The fostering of self-reliance, and reliance on group consisted of 3 males and 4 females with ages one's own judgement and understanding ranging from 51 down to 24 years and an average The encouragement for students to work things age of 34. Four of the students were country-based out for themselves and 3 were in the metropolitan area of Sydney. A greater opportunity available for personal reflection on course materials. The initial questionnaire sought to establish their level of keyboard skills, and previous experience Asked to identify the problems they anticipated in with computers. using the electronic tutorial system responses from study group members included: Understanding the terminc!ogy and sequence of REVIEW OF RESPONSES steps to be followed. Initial use of software and different function key Five members of the study group claimed to be able arrangements. to type proficiently, one member claimed to be a "2 Fully understanding and taking advantage of the finger" typist and the other student had no keyboard system. skills. Similarly, the questionnaire for all students in A concern about lack of typing skills. the general class group showed tha; approximately Lack of technical advice if problems emerged. 80% claimer' proficiency, 20% claimed to be "2 A concern whether they would disappoint the rest finger" typists and 10% had no keyboard skills. of the group. Four members of the study group I ad never used computers, one had limited experience of using a microcomputer, one hade regular experience of us- USAGE OF THE SYSTEM ing a microcomputer and the other student claimed Following the training day which had sought to regular use of both terminal and mainframe comput- quickly establish a minimum level of keyboard skills ers. Responses from the general class group indicat- and some ease with the microcomputers, several ed that 20% had never used computers, 60% had students required assistance with a range of minor limited experience of using a microcomputeror problems which emerged. However the enthusiasm terminal, 10% were confident users of microcom- of the student group provided sufficient encourage- puters and 10% claimed to be regular users of main- ment from them to carry on despite these early frame terminals and microcomputers. difficulties. The following responses to the questionaire were Overall 66% of connections to the tutorial by stu- relevant to the design and operation of an electronic dents occurred after 5.00 p.m. 22% of these con- tutorial system. nections were between 10.00 p.m. and 11.00 p.m. The students listed the main disadvantages they had and 6% were between 11.00 p.m. and midnight.

216 34% of the connections were in the morning and with the mode of operation. There was an initial normal working hours. tendency for the tutors to propose matters for dis- A survey of student reaction to the system mid- cussion that were lengthy and contained a number waythrough the project produced the following of issues and questions. It was difficult for the stu- comment: dents to respond without submitting a major essay. Good conferencing practice suggests that questions "This is now my fourth year of studying external- should confine themselves to a single issue which ly, so I'm used to working alone." allows the participants to focus their responses in One of the two tutors commented: the ensuing discussion. The students and tutor real- "We are learning how to ask questions in this ised this as a result of their early experience and format (shorter ones, with a variety of possible modified the style of communication. Such experi- responses, rather than multi-part ones)." "Those ence suggests that there is need to advise users of the of you without previous experience in computers system on appropriate technique. These ma.: be are presumably obtaining a skill which you have subject dependent. not previously had, an intangible benefit which is The participants also experienced difficulty with important as the practice of law in heading in this equipment failure. The telephone lines were often direction." unreliable and the transmission of characters was The most enthusiastic participant was a student who corrupted. This not only made some of the material indicated a strong background in computing. Very difficult to read but, at times, caused the system to mobile because of his commitment as Director of disconnect or made it difficult to send single charac- his own business which had a number of regional ter commands to the computer. offices, this student took his Teleterm with him and The computer used to operate the system was based connected from a wide variety of locations. He on old technology. At the halfway point of the study adopted a very encouraging and supporting role the computer developed a fault that could not be with the other members of the experimental group. remedied and caused major disruption. Fortunately the system was designed to be "portable" and it could be returned to a fully operational state on DISCUSSION another campus a short time later. However, this did Experience with this initial operation of the elec- cause a loss of momentum in the level of contribu- tronic tutorial system has identified certain advan- tion. In future, the system will operate on a reliable tages of the system and has also highlighted a num- computer with communication via AUSTPAC, the ber of problems. PTT supported packet switching system which provides error free transmission (Tran and Northcott, The electronic tutorial reintroduces the feeling of 1985). discovery or group learning for distance education students. The responses from different students, and CONCLUSION the comments by the tutor can be considered at the students' leisure, followed up in the reference texts, This initial project has demonstrated the feasibility and then a careful comment can be made to be of operating an electronic tutorial system for dis- received by all students. It allows this considered tance education students with no prior experience response to be made to matters raised in the tutorial of this technology. The qualitative assessment of the because of the increased time available to consider outcome is sufficiently encouraging to broaden the the issues. study to other academic areas. The experience of this system will allow certain modifications to be Students who are inclined to be reticent to speak in a made for improvement. The erect of the system on live tutorial find it easier to contribute to an electron- academic achievement as measured by grade point ic tutorial. This is consistent with published experi- average will be reported when available. ence in the operation of electronic conference systems where a dominant personality is not in a more privileged position to communicate than the other participants (Parker and Olgren, 1984). REFERENCES A normal tutorial is limited in time, and all students Papert, S. do not have equal opportunity to participate in dis- (1980) The Computer in the School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee. cussion. The electronic tutorial is available at all Simon and Schuster, New York. times during the teaching semester and all students Parker, L and Olgren, C. have equal access to enter their questions and an- (1984) The Teleconferencing Resource Book. North Ho!- swers. land, Amsterdam. The electronic tutorial experienced difficulties of a Tran, N. and Northcott, P. procedural nature and with the reliability of the (1985) Telecommunications Networks for Distance Edu- system. The tutors and students were unfamiliar cation. Open Campus10, pp. 46-55, Deakin University.

217 Partnership with aboriginal peoples: Some implications for distance educators JEAN-GUY GOULET Native Studies and BARBARA SPRONK Anthropology Athabasca University Athabasca, Alberta Canada TOG 2R0

OBJECTIVES won the enshrinement of native rights in the Cana- dian Charter of Rights of 1982. And in education, it This paper has two objectives: to define and differ- appears that the assimilationist framework, which entiate between two frameworks for providing edu- rested on the assumption that aboriginal tradition, cation for aboriginal peoples in Canada, assimila- were bound to die out, is gradually giving way to tionist and interactional; and to suggest some impli- what we propose to call an interactional framework, cations for distance educators of working within an with its associated premise that aboriginal traditions interactional framework, drawing examples from are "dynamic, adaptive and adapting, not limited to some recent work at Athabasca University. the past" Couture 1985:6). Intrinsically valid and creative, aboriginal traditions are capable of generating intiatives necessary to ensure and strengthen a ASSIMILATIONIST AND INTER- people's survival. ACTIONAL FRAMEWORKS Aboriginal peoples are unanimous in declaring their Until very recently, aboriginal peoples within Cana- right and aspiration to take "things" (education, da have been expected to enter and assimilate into social services, industry, local government) in to the so-called mainstream of Canadian society. This their own hands, and their conviction that educa- expectation has generated countless disputes be- tion must be involved in transferring this control to tween a government pursuing the assimilation of the people (Archibald 1986; Cardinal 1977; Cou- aboriginal people and the elimination of their rights, ture 1979; Kirkness 1986; National Indian Brother- and aboriginal populations intent upon preserving hood 1973). As a consequence, a new kind of edu- their identities and rights. Education is a major arena cation is needed, one sensitive and responsive to in which this ongoing battle has been fought, and in this shift. Aborginal groups want education that will which assimilationist policies have failed most dis- benefit the people collectively, and that will have mally, in spite of the existence and proximity to people as the most important element. native populations of many schools, institutions and This assertion of native rights presses upon Cana- programs. Physical proximity does little to ensure dian society and the educational institutions it sup- psychological or socio-cultural proximity. ports a two-fold challenge: first, to re-examine the There is evidence, however, in both political and validity of past assumptions and current practices; educational arenas, that a major shift is underway. and second, to evaluate these assumptions and Past patterns of relationship are giving way to a practices, in terms of their contribution to a socio- healthier and more demanding partnership. On the economic development formed by the aspirations political front, native peoples have fought for and and rights of aboriginal peoples. An interactional

1.", , 218 4..1 t framework calls upon Natives and Euro-Canadians the context of peers with whom they share a distinct to come together to determine effective solutions to cultural heritage. As a result, native run educational the pressing social and educational needs of native institutions have pressed upon AU the need for a people. mode of delivery other than home study. As detailed in other papers (Minnis 1986; Spronk 1985), native students are now provided with a IMPLICATIONS FOR DISTANCE classroom tutor whose job is to interpret and explain EDUCATORS course content, establish a pacing schedule for groups of students, and provide individual tutorials What implications does such a framework have for outside normal classroom hours. By means of this distance educators? The remainder of this paper wi II personalizing of delivery of homestudy packages, suggest several, based on Athabasca University's and development of a climate conducive to learn- experience since the mid-1970s in providing pro- ing, with an emphasis on dialogue, drop-out and gramming for native people. absence rates have been reduced, and students As the growing literature on distance education for have become more articulate and vocal. Recent aboriginal peoples suggests, distance educators are data suggest that the completion rates of native stu- frequentiy cal led upon by aboriginal groups to pro- dents in this mode match those of the overall AU vide courses and services at a variety of levels (e.g., student population. Indeed, given native students' Blood 1985, Lipka 1985, Robertson 1985, Spronk lower levels of education upon entry and typically and Radtke 1987), in part because distance modes younger age, they could probably be considered as are more likely than conventional modes to offer having bettered the overall average (Hotchkis flexibility and personal autonomy to the learner, 1987). and cost efficiency to the administrator (cf. Carter 1982, Perraton 1983). Certainly native groups appear to perceive Athabasca University as more flex- LEVELS OF ADAPTATION ible than its conventional counterparts because of University faculty and administrators have ac- its distance education mode and its openness. Be- knowledged that this approach to delivering courses cause "off-campus" delivery is AU's typical mode, to native groups is more or less necessary for suc- and because breaking down the barriers that stand cess. What is challenged now is the assumption that between adults and university education is written the format and content of course packages need not into AU's mandate, faculty and administrators need change appreciably when deliveredtonative not be convinced that taking courses to native com- groups. At present, "mainstream" students and na- munities is anything out of the ordinary. tive students receive the same packages of AU Yet even distance educators, at least those at AU, course materials. Written with the Euro-Canadian, have discovered that in providing courses for native homestudy student in mind, they come in glossy, people, they are engaged in something far from bound formats, which assure students that they are ordinary, and that in order to operate effectively getting a quality product, but also make anything within an interactional framework with native but total revision difficult. groups, they must question and reassess many of When students in a classroom setting open these their assumptions. study guides and readers, they find an array of devices such as questions to be used as note-taking devices, suggested points to be discussed with tu- THE INTERDEPENDENT LEARNER tors, and quizzes to be administered by the tutor Primary among these assumptions is that of the au- over the phone. These strategies work well in guid- tonomous or independent learner, on which AU's ing individual students through the course, but are models of course development and deliver" are not particularly useful in a classroom. based. AU courses are designed for individual lear- With the agreement and cooperation of the faculty ners who work at their own pace, assisted by a member who has overall responsibility for a given telephone tutor and by phone-in or walk-in counsel- course, an instructor in a native classroom can deal ling and advising services. This mode works moder- more or less readily with features like tutor quizzes, ately well for "mainstream" home study students; by substituting other means of evaluation. More after a decade and a half of tinkering with course problematic is the content of the courses, which is development systems and support services to stu- more or less culture-bound, depending on the sub- dents. AU's course completion rates are edging to- ject area. Instructors with experience in native com- ward 50 per cent. For native students, however, this munities can adapt courses somewhat as they go independent mode works not at all. Reasons range along, to make them more relevant to the native from the absence in many native homes of tele- context. Again this assumes the cooperation of fac- phones and private, quiet study spaces, to a marked ulty supervisors who will allow instructors this free- preference on the part of native students to study in dom. Minor changes, such as in the examples used

219 0 -, 4..,4-_, to teach concepts, present little problem. Even the and leaders of native political and service groups most facilitative supervisor, however, is reluctant to throughout northern Alberta. This proposal enta' allow instructors to tamper too much with a pack- the joint development of university level prograi aged course, especially in the ad hoc way in which that are culturally sensitive to the social heritage am the changes tend to get made, given constraints of aspirations of native peoples. Second, at the time of time and funding. Faculty members, as course au- writing the authors have a proposal before AU's thors, invest a great deal of time and care in devel- faculty councils for a Certificate in Health Devel- oping integrated learning packages, and are under- opment Administration, worked out jointly between standably reluctant to see that integrity destroyed. AU, a council of five Indian bands, and the federal There is another, more deep-seated, reason, howev- Department of Health and Welfare. er, for faculty members' suspicion of the kind of Both proposals include a model of adaptation of revisions required of their courses by the native existing AU courses that would entail hiring in- setting. Within an interactional framework, a con- structors for a number of months preceding and frontation of sorts is unavoidable between academ- following the instruction period. During the initial ics and learners who come from distinct cultural period, under the supervision of AU course coor- traditions. As AU exposes its courses to native stu- dinators, instructors would make whatever adapta- dents, the cultural assumptions and biases are re- tions were required in the course they were hired to vealed. For example, native institutions are run effi- teach. They would then test these adaptations in the ciently and effectively without recourse to "man- classroom, and in the remaining three months com- agement by objectives"or the confrontation mit them to paper in the form of an "adaptations approach advocated in western-based courses in manual", so that the adapted course package could management. A history of Western Canada written be used again in another community, by another from the perspective of aboriginal peoples differs instructor. sharply from one written from the viewpoint of the Ideally, this process of adaptation or "regeneration" non-aboriginal population settled on traditional ab- should involve faculty and instructors in the joint original territory. creation of course content between and acrws cul- In such instances, what the interactional framework tures, which is, as far as we are aware, an uncharted calls for is a revision of courses that compares and area for educators, whether at a distance or in con- contrasts native and non-native values, practices ventional modes. Experience in working within an and viewpoints. Such a revision will explicitly re- interactional framework, however, leads us to ex- veal the cultural assumptions, native and non-na- pect that joint creation will commit us to opening up tive, that are built into any given course. The result our most cherished assumptions about our academ- of such a revision should be a regeneration of cours- ic disciplines and our pedagogy to scrutiny and es that would benefit all students. Native leaders challenge of the most fundamental kind. Among the have repeatedly asked us not to water down our issues that will have to be faced i!; liative spirituality, courses to meet their needs, nor to produce courses which is fundamental to native ways of knowing with exclusively native-related content, since such about the world. What role are we, as Euro-Cana- courses have no currency and open no doors in the dian, educators and academics, willing to assign to "white" world in which they must operate. Rather, prayer and meditation as part of an addictions coun- these leaders have challenged us to expand our selling degree program? How will our native part- paradigms to include them as well as ourselves. As ners react to our insistence that if we must open our one leader phrased it, what is needed are courses assumptions about the world to scrutiny and chal- that will equip learners, native and non-native alike, lenge, so must they? for both Wall Street and the Reserve. At this point we have no answers. What we do have, Two projects may soon provide a context within as a result of having worked within an interactional which we can atempt a creative resolution to the framework with our native counterparts, are some tension between the needs of culturally distinct lear- significant and increasingly powerful questions. ners and faculty members on the one hand, and the Our hope, based on the assurances of our native academic standards of university education on the colleagues, is that as our questions grow, so too other. First, a proposal for a Special University Ac- does our wisdom. cess Project calls for the development and delivery, in a number of remote native communities, of degree programs in band and small business management, community development and addictions REFERENCES counselling. The proposal, which received the unanimous approval of AU's decision-making bod- Archibald, P-Ann ies, was unique for AU, and probably for most other 1986. "Locally Developed Native Studies Curriculum. Canadian universities, in that it was worked out by a An Historical and Philosophical Rationale." In Establish- Joint Task Force consisting of university personnel ing Pathways to Excellence in Indian Education. H.A.

220 04 AW GI II) McCue, ed. Vancouver: Faculty of Education, University Lipka, Jerry of British Columbia. 1985. "The Development of Native Alaskan Teachers." Blood, Charles Paper presented to the 13th World Conference, Interna- 1985. "Bridging the Distance: Everything Which Rises tional Council for Distance Education. Melbourne, Aus- Must Converge." Paper presented to the 13th World Con- tralia, Aug. 13-20, 1985. ference, International Council for Distance Education. Minnis, John Melbourne, Australia, Aug, 13-20, 1985. 1986. "Organizational Climate and Program Effee,ve- Cardinal, Harold ness: The Experience of Athabasca University with Native 1977. The Rebirth of Canada's Indians. Edmonton: M.G. Students." Paper presented to a Joint Conference of the Hurtig Ltd. Pacific Association for Continuing Education and the Northwest Adult Education Association, Vancouver, May Carter, John F. 16, 1986. 1982. "Instructional Design for Distance Training." Paper National Indian Brotherhood presented to the Annual Meeting of the American Educa- tional Research Association, New York, N.Y., March. 1973. Indian Control of Indian Education. Policy Paper presented to the Minister of Indian Affairs. Couture, Joseph Perraton, Hilary 1979. Secondary Education for Canadian Registered Indi- ans: Past, Present and Future. A Commentary. 2nd Provi- 1983. "A Theory for Distance Education." In Distance sional Report. Manuscript. Education: International Perspectives. David Sewart, Desmond Keegan, Borje Holmberg, ed. London: Croom 1985. "Troditional Native Thinking, Feeling, and Learn- Helm. ing." Multicultural Education Journal, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 4-16. Spronk, Barbara 1985. "The Face to Face Component in Distance Educa- Hotchkis, Richarl tion." In Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Conference of 1987. Report on Completion Rates, 1985 aril 1986, Na- Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. June 16-19, tive Students Enrolled at Athabasca University. Manu- 1985. Patrick Babin, ed. Ottawa: University of Ottawa. script. Athabasca: Centre for Distance Education, Atha- basca University. Spronk, Barbara and Donna Radtke 1987. "Problems and Prospects: Distance Education for Kirkness, Verna J. Aboriginal Women." In Toward New Horizons: Interna- 1986. "Indian Control of Indian Education: Over a Dec- tional Perspectives on Women in Distance Education. ade Later." In Establishing Pathways to Excellence in Indi- Karlene Faith, ed. London: Croom Helm. an Education. H.A. McCue, Ed. Vancouver: Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia.

0 .4 221 .... . 6. t Education and the individual student: the convergenceof distance and conventional education DANIEL GRANGER Director, Center for Distance Learning SUNY Empire State College Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, U.S.A.

Distance learning has developed rapidly because it ports have descried loss of quality and effectiveness, serves large numbers of students, often geograph- the separation between the curriculum and the rest ically dispersed, effectively and efficiently. Conven- of students' lives, and the institutional emphasis on tional higher education which, at least in the United scholarship at the expense of good teaching. (Na- States, is increasingly constrained by declining re- tional Commission, 1983; NIE, 1984; NEH. 1984; sources and concerns about effectiveness, has be- MC, 1985; AASCU, 1986). These reports assume gun to focus on many of the pedatogic issues which the classroom as the dominant mode of instruction. have long concerned distance educators. The com- They express concern about students' lack of full mon focus is the successful education of the individ- engagement with their education not only in terms ual student within the student's own context. of content mastered, but of values learned, and Distance education has always recognized that it cultural perspectives acquired. More recently a must deal with students as individuals because of number of educators have begun to make recom- their iso!atioo. Though much distance education mendations about modifications to foster more suchas developed on an "industrial" model to serve cessful student engagement (Gamson, 1984; Astin, large numbers of students, educators recognize that 1985; Boyer, 1!7). These recommendations are some of the "assembly line" implications of that not limited to one type of institution or specific model had to be resisted. In launching new pro- academic areas; they are concerned with the gener- grams, especially those with a substantial invest- al state of higher education in the United States. ment in technology, the initial focus is understan- (One recent report is called simply College: The dably on the creation of delivery systems and prep- Undergraduate Experience in the United States aration of materials. Yet most distance education (Boyer, 1987?). programs attempt at some point to personalize edu- So classroom setting, or even face-to-face contact in cation. Flexibility of time and place recognizes indi- some other format (tutorial or advisory sessions) vidual differences and permits access for many, but does not in itself ensure quality or effectiveness of the active engagement of the student in learning learning. Instead, both conventional and distance requires more. The most common way to person- educators are emphasizing the importance of en- alize learning further is some form of face-to-face gaging students in ways that involve them actively in contact, either tutoring or counselling. This aspect learning. (The similarity of these recommendations of distance education comes closest to traditional may be one of the strongest arguments against the residential education, whether students meet in a establishment of distance education as a separate group with the tutor or in individual counselling discipline.) sessions. These recommendations are (1) students' engage- Some distance educators insist that face-to-face per- ment in the discourses of learning, (2) connecting of sonal encounters are essential but others consider learning to students' personal contexts, and (3) of- they compromise the aims of distance education. fering a range of learning modes. As to the first, there They suggest that education at a distance is not is increasing recognition of the social nature of entirely adequate, and in some cases such face-to- knowledge. As Thomas Kuhn put it. all knowledge face contact is virtually impossible. "is intrinsically the common property of a group" (Kuhn, 1962). Consequently students must engage Since direct face-to-face contact resembles tradi- with that group. As William Perry argues, education tional classroom practice, current concerns about today involves not assimilation of knowledge, but educational effectiveness in conventional circles assimilation into a community of knowledgeable are instructive. In the United States numerous re- peers (Perry, 1970).

222

9, ..... 4. 0 t) This leads to a common concern of some kind of ing at a distance and also the capacity further to engagement with a community of learners: through tailor either of these to the needs of individual stu- academic dialogue with a faculty tutor, collabora- dents. The current interest in "modularizing" dis- tion with fellow students, or son-,e other communi- tance learning materials to increase their adaptabil- cative exchange (Wright, 1987; Astin, 1985; Chick- ity is an example of such movement; as are efforts to ering, 1987; Holmberg, 1986). Such communities restructure the relationships between students on of learners develop students' awareness of the in- campus, the content they study, and the context in terrelated and interdependent nature of knowledge which they will use it. There is agreement on the and, paradoxically, makes them more effective as need to design assignments and assessment to en- active, independent learners. The key is the autono- gage and provide feedback to students, thus in- my with which students conduct their own studies. volving them individually, actively, and deeply in In fact it seems clear that the "community of lear- learning. ners" can be metaphorical as well as literal. Some Whether faculty and students are face to face or such communities rarely or never meet face to face. communicating with the latest technology, the fun- Both Bruffee (from a traditional perspective) and damental issues and goals are the same. Keeping the Rebel (a distance educator) point to the potential real learning needs of students as the primary focus shortcomings of classroom meetings in limiting au- will ensure not only movement towards those goals, tonomy and fostering a non-collaborative competi- but a merging of the efforts of all educators. tion (Bruffee, 1987; Rebel, 1987). Students come from a range of backgrounds and "learning communities" are an effort to create a context conducive to learning. WORKS CITED

Recently both traditional and distance educators American Association of State Colleges and have recognized that the context for learning to be Universities fully effective, must include practical experience (1986). To Secure the Blessings of Liberty. Report of the familiar to the student. This will reinforce the learn- National Commission on the Role and Future of State ing process through application problem-solv- Colleges and Universities. Washington, D.C.: American ing, simulations, apprenticeships, or actual "real Association of State Colleges and Universities. world" operation which provides bridges from Association of American Colleges old learning to new and learning resources for fel- (1985). Integrity in the College Curriculum: A Report to low students and even faculty (Holmberg, 1986; the Academic Community. The Findings and Recommen- Jarvis, 1987; Ingham, 1987; Boyer, 1987; Chicker- dations of the Project on Redefining the Meaing and Pur- ing, 1987; Wright, 1987; Rebel, 1987). Linking pose of Baccalaureate Degrees. Washington, D.C.: Asso- studies to as much of students' full context as pos- ciation of American Colleges. sible enhances, intensifies, and integrates new Min, Alexander learning and skills within the texture of their lives. (1985). Achieving Educational Excelience. San Francis- Most educators now agree that there are many roads co: jossey -Bass. to learning and that the diversity among the learners Boyer, Ernest themselves should be reflected in the learning (1937): College: The Undergraduate Experience in Amer- modes available. At this point we find a common ica. New York: Harper and Row. interest in individualizing instruction and in shaping Bruffee, Kenneth A. both content and pedagogy to the needs of individu- (1987). "The Art of Collaborative Learning". Change, al students (Boyer, 1987; Chickering, 1987; Astin, XIX, 2,42-47. 1985; Holmberg, 1986; Wright, 1987; Rebel, 1987; Bruffee, 1987). One reflection of this is the Chickering, A., and Gamson, Z. wider use of "the learning contract" which individ- (1987). "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Under- ualizes content, pedagogy, time, and resources. graduate Education", American Association of Higher Education Bulletin, XXIX, 7, 3-7. The argument for individualization is advanced not only by distance educators like BOrje Holmberg, but Gamson, Zelda by leaders of mainstream education, such as Alex- (1984). Liberating Education. San Francisco: lossey -Bass. ander Astin. Astin argues that the instructor should Holmberg, BOrje "focus less on content and on teaching techniques (1985). Status and Trends of Distance Education. Lund, and more on what students are actually doing..." Sweden: Lector Publishing. This is very close to the facilitative model of tutoring (1986). "Improving Study Skills for Distance Students." advocated by many distance educators. Open Learning, I, 3,29-33. In practice, then, we should hope for both dual Kuhn, Thomas mode institutions, in which students can choose (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: between classroom lectures and prepackaged learn- University of Chicago Press.

223 0 4,1 National Commission on Excellence in Education Perry, William Jr. (1983). A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational (1970). Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in Reform. A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Edu- the College Years. New York: Holt, Rinehardt, and Win- cation. Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Ex- ston. cellence in Education. Rebei, Karlheinz National Institute of Education (1987). The Role of Group Learning in Multi-Media Dis- (1984). Involvement in Learning: Realizing the Potential tance Teaching, Op?n Learning, //,1, 19-24. of American Higher Education. Report of the Study Group on the Conditions of Excellence in American Higher Edu- cation. Washington, D.C.: U.S.: Department of Educa- tion.

224 . es,. 'l ' kw.. I Learningeconomics through televised instruction: An empirical analysis of the economics USA project PAUL W. GRIMES, Ph. D. Assistant Professor of Economics Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS 39762 JOYCE E. NIELSEN, Ph. D. Director, Independent Study Program Western Illinois University Macomb, IL 61455 JAMES F. NISS, Ph. D. Professor of Economics Western Illinois University Macomb, IL 61455

INTRODUCTION Nearly 100 institutions used the course during the first semester it was available (Fall 1986), with al- The increasing importance of nonresidential college most 1,600 students enrolled. The viewing audi- degree programs in the United States has led to the ence for the 28 video lessons was not confined to development of a growing number of professionally students seeking college credit, but also included produced telecourse series. These courses, general- persons viewing for self-improvement. Given the ly developed and produced by large educational large number of students taking the course for credit foundations and consortia of colleges and universi- and the size of the potential viewing audience, the ties, have a technical quality superior to earlier gen- importance of determining the effectiveness of Eco- erations of televised instruction. nomics USA becomes obvious. Economics USA was developed and funded by the Annenberg/Corporation for Public Broadcasting THE EXPERIMENT Project and was first aired in the fall of 1986. The Economics USA course centers around 28 half-hour An evaluation of Economics USA was conducted at video lessons that cover both the macro and micro Western Illinois University to determine if students aspects of the traditional Principles of Economics in this course learned as much as traditional stu- course sequence taught at the sophomore level in dents in normal classrooms. The Economics USA most U.S. colleges and universities. Each video les- telecourse was offered by WIU during the 1986-87 son takes the form of a television news report with a academic year with the video lessons broadcast in correspondent presenting facts and issues about a weekly installments. Using a classic experimental major economic topic. Not only is contemporary design, four experimental groups and one control and historical footage liberally used, but interviews group were selected. are conducted with key participants in the events DISTANCE A "traditional" telecourse format en- covered. Several times in each lesson an academic rolling externai degree students.Students and provides economic analysis and interpretations of teacher are geographically separate. All video les- the issues. A standard principles of economics text- sons are viewed at home. book was modified to correspond to the video les- OFF-CAMPUS A telecourse class for nonresident sons. Additionally, audiotapes, a telecourse study students in the local geographic area of the Uni- guide, and a text review guide were developed to versity. provide students with a comprehensive package of learning materials. The final budget for the entire ON-CAMPUS A class of traditional college stu- course is estimated at more than $2.6 million. dents enrolled on-campus taking the telecourse as part of their degree program.

225 .. .,* , II TEACHERS A class of professional teachers from that the course would generate economic learning, the local geographic area taking the telecourse in t-tests were conducted to determine significant dif- preparation for teaching economics at the elemen- ferences between pre- and post-course TUCE mean tary and secondary levels. scores. The resulting t-values and their level of sta- CONTROL A traditional lecture course in the tistical significance are reported in Tables 1 and 2 principles of economics. Classes meet for fif4 min- (the data reported for Total in these Tables result utes three days a week. from pooling the results across all groups). Statisti- cally significant differences exist between the pre- In order to avoid instructor bias caused by variations and post-course overall TUCE score for each group in teaching style and content selection, one teacher during both semesters. Therefore, the statistics sug- was charged with overseeing the five class groups. gest that students in the Economics USA telecourse Each class was structured to parallel the other class- sections demonstratedsignificant absolute im- es with regard to course objectives and grading provements in their overall economic ability. procedures. Students in all groups received identical sets of homework and took the same midterm For both semesters, the On-Campus and Control and final examinations. groups demonstrated statistically significant improvements in each of the three question types. The The following five hypotheses were developed and Off-Campus and Teachers groups also show signif- tested: icant improvement across the board for the Fall 1. Completion of a coarse of study in elementary semester. For the Fall, the only instances where no economics will result in measurable increases in significant improvements are found occur in the economic knowledge and reasoning. cases of Explicit and Implicit Application for the 2. The On-Campus class will demonstrate a signif- Distance group. icantly greater degree of learning and attitudinal The only clear pattern observed is that significant change relative to the Control class. improvement in Explicit Application ability was not 3. Increased student-teacher contact and instruc- found in four of the ten groups tested in the two tional support will result in increased student semesters. Further, in each case the lack of improve- learning for the nonresident groups. ment in Explicit Application occurred in nonresi- 4. Increased contact and support will result in more dent telecourse groups. This suggests% possible positive attitudes toward economics as a dis- weakness of the telecourse material to impart the cipline. ability to solve explicitly stated economic problems 5. The study of economics will result in increased with standard economic tools and techniques. Such verbal and quantitative skills for all student a weakness may occur as an externality caused by groups. the material's heavy focus on "real world" rele- In order to evaluate these hypotheses, information vance and the case study approach. While graphi- was collected from each student using standardized cal techniques are used to demonstrate relation- examinations and questionnaires. The course's ef- ships in the video lessons, students are forced to fect on economic learning was estimated usinga learn the graphical manipulations through the use ot pre- and post-course administration of the Revised the course's print material. Thus, telecourse stu- Test of UnderstandinginCollege Economics dents in Economics USA receive very little instruc- (TUCE). tion on the use of common economic techniques The TUCE is a 30 question multiple-choice test that applied to explicit problems. uses three types of questions to measure different The telecourse groups with significant improve- levels of cognitive economic learning. Theseare ments in Implicit Application scores recorded a pos- recognition and understanding, explicit applica- itive change that exceeds that registered by the Con- tion, and implicit application. Each category is giv- trol groups. Thus, students exposed to the "real en equal weighting on the TUCE (10 questions per world" case study approach of the Economics USA category). video lessons appear better able to recognize and The influence on student attitudes toward theeco- solve problems with the economic relationships im- nomics discipline was measured using the Attitudes plicitly stated. This conclusion is strengthened by Toward Economics (ATE) dimension of the Survey the statistical results shown in Tables 3 and 4. In on Economic Attitudes. order to evaluate the relative effect of the telecourse material, t-tests were conducted to uncover any The two-part School and College Ability Test (SCAT) statistical differences between the mean improve- was used to estimate the course's impact on general ments in the TUCE scores of the experimental verbal and quantitative skills. groups and the Control group. The results of these tests are reported in the first portion of Tables 3 and THE RESULTS 4. As can be seen from the Tables, significant differences arc found in the Fall between both the On- Economic Learning To test the first hypothesis Camp. s and Teachers groups and the Control group

226 9 with respect to improvements in Implicit Applica- tative scores was reported for the Distance and Off- tion. The On-Campus group improved their average Camous Fall groups, no statistically significant dif- Implicit Application score by 2.000 points while the ferences were uncovered by the t-tests. However, Teachers score rose on average by 2.045. These the negative change in quantitative ability or the levels of improvement compare to 1.040 for the Distance group is statistically different from the pos- Control group (see Table 1). The results thus indicate itive change observed for the Control group (see that the Economics USA material has a strong posi- Table 3), tive impact on student ability to recognize and solve For the Spring semester no significant changes are economic problems when they are not explicitly found in verbal SC Ii scores for any group. It is of stated. The "real world" flavor of the case study interest that the only significant improvements in approach appears to strengthen student insight into group quantitative ability occur during the semester economic problems when general issues are dis- that microeconomics is taught. Microeconomics is cussed. generally more mathematical and graphical in na- Changes in Attitude Toward Economics The ture than macroeconomics and thus may force stu- mean differences between the pre-course and post- dents to sharpen their quantitative skills to a greater course ATE index for the student groups are shown degree. in Tables 5 and 6 for each semester. These tables No significant differences were found between the report the change for each group along with the resulting t-values testing for significant differences Spring experimental and Control group SCAT changes. (Table 4) between pre- and post-course attitudes. The Fall semester results (Table 5), indicate that The results for the hypothesis that completion of the positive changes in attitude were achieved for the course would improve student verbal and quantitative ability are thus mixed. The macroeconomics Control, On-Campus and Teachers groups while course seems to have had a greater impact on verbal negative changes resulted in the Distance and Off- Campus groups. The only statistically significant skills, and the microeconomic course a greater im- differences occur for the Control and Teachers pact on quantitative skills. Improvements in skill groups. were not observed across all groups, however. Sig- nificant improvements in SCAT scores were not rec- Turning to the attitude results for the Spring semester orded for the Control group either semester. This (Table 6), the Control, On-Campus and Off-Campus suggests that the Economics USA course may have groups all reported a decrease in their attitude index an advantage in improving general verbal and quan- while the Distance group reported no change at all. titative skills relative to a traditional course. The only improvement in ATE for the Spring semester is recorded for the Teachers group. Tests for statistical differences between the pre- and post- CONCLUSIONS course attitude measures show that only the Control The impact of the Economics USA telecourse on group's negative movement in ATE is significant. student learning and attitudes can be briefly summa- General Verbal and Quantitative Skills The mean rized with respect to the stated hypotheses. improvements in SCAT scores are shown in Tables 7 All sections studied did demonstrate significant im- and 8 along with the results of t-tests for statistical provements in their overall understanding of eco- differences between pre- and post-course scores. nomics. However, differences across question types The data reveal that all groups entered the course were observed between groups. There is some in- each semester with relatively similar verbal and dication that telecourse students achieved greater quantitative backgrounds. It was assumed that the improvement in their ability to solve implicitly nonresident telecourse groups might have been at a stated economic problems than students in a regular disadvantage with regard to quantitative abilities class. Further, general telecourse students appear to due to longer periods between formal training in score lower on explicit problem solving than regular mathematics and enrollment in Economics USA. students. This, however, was not the case according to the Hypothesis two must be partially rejected. While pre-course SCAT results. As expected, the Teachers the On-Campus group demonstrated significantly group reported the highest verbal and quantitative higher Implicit Application scores on the TUCE for pre-course scores both semesters. the Fall semester, no significant differences are Looking at the change in SCAT scores, it is apparent found in the other categories of economic learning that relatively small differences were recorded in or in attitude. No differences in any area are uncov- most instances, and positive changes dominate ered for the Spring semester. Thus, it appears that overall. During the Fall semester, statistically signif- the Economics USA telecourse material performs as icant improvements in verbal skill were found for well as more traditional instructional devices in the the Off-Campus, On-Campus, and Teachers tele- normal classroom. course groups. While negative movement in quanti- The results for the third and fourth hypotheses are

227 2.i 0 somewhat mixed. A direct relationship between student-teacher contact and student learning and atti- TABLE 2 tudes is not clearly seen in the data. The magnitudes MEAN IMPROVEMENT IN RAW TUCE SCORES BY of changes in TUCE scores are fairly comparable GROUP across joups. Attitudes appear to be more affected Microeconomics Spring 1987 by the degree of student-teacher contact. Tele- course students generally left the class with lower All Recog-Ex- Im- attitude levels toward the discipline than traditional nition plicit plicit students. Distance 2.571 0.714 1.000 0.857 Finally, the results for the fifth hypothesis are also (2.870)"(1.179) (1.225) (1.441) mixed. The Fall semester appears to have had a Off -Campus 4.500 1.800 0.800 1.900 stronger impact on verbal achievement relative to (5.783) (2.290) "(1.272) (4.670) quantitative achievement. Just the opposite is found in the Spring semester. This finding is likely the On-Campus 4.059 1.559 0.912 1.588 result of the differences in the type of material cov- (5.206)(4.471)(2.351)"(4.626)" ered during each of the respective semesters. Teachers 3.067 1.133 0.600 1.333 Overall the Economics USA telecourse performed (3.691)"(2.241)"(1.457) (4.641). quite well. Students taking the telecourse received Control 3.659 1.773 0.659 1.227 an educational experience comparable to tat of (6.104)(6,477) (2.114)"(4.050) students who took a more traditional class. Total 3.709 1.555 0.764 1.391 (10.089)"*(8.374)w(3.925)(8.025) TABLE 1 0 t-values test for significant improvement in raw score (post - pre) MEAN IMPROVEMENT IN RAW TUCE SCORES BY GROUP " significant at the .05 level Macroeconomics Fall 1986 significant at the .01 level All Recog-Ex- Im- nition plicit plicit TABLE 3 Distance 4.333 2.667 0.111 1.556 COMPARISON OF IMPROVEMENT BETWEEN EX- (2.354)"(3.024)"(0.130) (1.730) PERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP SCORES: Off-Campus 5.391 2.696 1.478 1.217 INDEPENDENT GROUPS t-TEST VALUES (5.136) (6.916)(2.699)(2.826) Macroeconomics Fall 1986 On-Campus 5.389 2.250 1.139 2.000 (6.291)*"(4.909) (3.297)(5.445) Distance Off- On- Teachers Campus Campus Teachers 6.818 2.682 2.091 2.045 (6.751)"(4.464)" (6.015) (5.012)" TUCE All 0.572 0.072 0.217 1.559 Control 5.180 2.560 1.580 1.040 Recognition 0.154 0.417 0.636 0.223 (9.627)*(10.267)"*(6.030)"(2.992) Explicit 2.060" 1.321 1.036 1.116 Total 5.471 2.529 1.436 1.507 Implicit 0.571 0.008 2.000' 2.045' (14.022)(13.138)w(8.120)w (7.819) ATE 0 t-values test for significant improvement in raw score (post - Attitude 1.101 1.770' 0.241 0.915 pre) SCAT " significant at the .05 level Verbal 0.379 1.689' 2.639" 1.930' w significant at the .01 level Quanti- tative 1.842' 0.874 0.515 0.780

' significant at the .10 level " significant at the uJ level

228 241 TABLE 4 TABLE 6 COMPARISON OF IMPROVEMENT BETWEEN EX- MEAN IMPROVEMENT IN ATE BY GROUP PERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP SCORES: Microeconomics Spring 1987 INDEPENDENT GROUPS t-TEST VALUES Microeconomics Spring 1987 Group Change int-value attitude Distance Off- On- Teachers Distance 0.000 0.000 Campus Campus Off-Campus -0.400 0.375 TUCE All 0.700 0.639 0.414 0.521 On-Campus -1.029 1.274 Recognition 1.452 0.040 0.490 1.155 Teachers 0.267 .343 Explicit 0.403 0.196 0.514 0.101 Control -1.705 2.538 Implicit 0.464 1.008 0.788 0.194 Total -1.000 2.463 ATE Attitude 0.948 0.869 0.647 1.590 () tvalues test for significant improvement in raw scores (post - pre) SCAT Verbal 0.042 0.588 0.742 0.457 significant at the .05 level Quanti- tative 0.407 0.794 0.802 1.100

' significant at the .10 level TABLE 7 significant at the .05 level MEAN IMPROVEMENT IN RAW SCAT SCORES BY GROUP Macroeconomics Fall 1986 TABLE 5 Verbal Quantita- MEAN IMPROVEMENT IN ATE BY GROUP tive Macroeconomics Fall 1986 Distance 0.667 -4.000 Group Change int-value (0.450) (0.977) attitude Off-Campus 1.783 -0.870 Distance -0.556 0.189 (2.633) (0.376)

Off-Campus -0.435 0.345 On-Campus 2.639 0.361 (2.334) (0.314) On-Campus 1.639 1.220 Teachers 3.045 2.682 Teachers 3.818 1.825 (1.87) (1.247) Control 2.020 2.179 Control -0.100 1.120 Total 1.636 2.602 (0.123) (1.195)

0 t-values test for significant improvement in raw scores (post - Total 1.457 0.514 pre) (2.847) (0.710)

significant at the .10 level t-values test for significant improvement in raw scores (post - pre) ! ignificant at the .05 level significant at the .05 level " ' sisigicara at tha n1 level significant at the .01 level

229 ...944., TABLE 8 MEAN IMPROVEMENT IN RAW SCAT SCORES BY GROUP Microeconomics Spring 1987

Verbal Quantita- tive

Distance 0.857 0.857 (0.915) (1.216)

Off-Campus 1.800 1 300 (1.536) (1.816)' On-Campus -0.147 0.971 (0.150) (0.691)

Teachers 0.133 1.467 (0.216) (2.442)"

Control 0.773 0.182 (0.983) (0.281)

Total 0.500 0.145 (1.091) (0.280) t-values test for significant improvement in raw scores (postpre) significant at the .10 level "significant at the .05 level

230 0 A 4 .1) The Open College of the United Kingdom DAVID GRUGEON Student Services Director The Open College, 101 Wigmore Street London W1H 9AA, United Kingdom

I am writing this paper on 22 September 1987. since, from Henley Distance Learning, ICI, ORT and Yesterday the Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher, was so on. interviewed on the first television programme for the Open College. Last night Government Ministers, HOW WILL IT WORK? senior civil servants, captains of industry, heads of broadcasting companies and leaders in education The Open College is not another large organization. and training celebrated the launch of the UK's next For our courses, we commission TV and radio pro- major development in open learning. A three page grammes, audio and video cassettes, practical kits, special supplement in The Times included welcom- printed workbooks and readers, from experts. For ing advertisements from publishers, broadcasters, the learners, we have negotiated local services on a the Engineering and Construction Industry Training self-financing basis from 350 Open Access Centres Boards, City and Guilds of London Institute, the in existing public and private institutions across the National Extensior College and the Open Universi- UK. These centres provide a range of services, spec- ty. We now wait to see whether we reach our first ified by ourselves, from information, guidance and year target of 50,000 students. (Yesterday's publicity counselling of enquirers, to handling payments brought over 6,000 requests by telephone for the when learners join, to recruiting, training and super- prospectus). vising tutors. In addition to local level, Regional Managers with a WHAT IS IT FOR? small team of part-time advisors are visiting small, medium and large companies who are interested in To improve vocational training throughout working developing their training programmes on open life. The UK has a poor record in adult training. Of learning lines, often with in-company or in-house ten million adults working in private industry in centre's where their employees can take Open Col- 1985, 69% had received no training in the previous lege courses. A further agency arrangement is for year. The training that was produced was often con- The National Distance Learning Centre which pro- sidered to be inadequate. vides distance tuition for those Open College learners who are unable or do not wish to use the HOW DID IT START? services of a local centre. The Manpower Service- 'ommission (MSC), under WHAT IS AN OPEN COLLEGE the Department of Emproyment, is the UK's largest training agency. Between 1983 and 1987 its Open COURSE? Tech Unit spent f45 million on projects of technical Our first 50 courses are at several levels, from basic and vocational open learning, mostly on materials. skills (numeracy, literacy, keyboard), to advanced In May 1986 MSC called together an expert group, managerial. A typical course is planned to last about including broadcasters, NEC, and OU, to look at the 30 hours, with workbooks, cassettes, two assign- next steps. They recommended a "College of the ments for a tutor and two for the computer. The Air", linking broadcasts, print materials and local learner may receive a letter of course completion and regional student services, concentrating on and accumulate credits towards a national qual- short courses for training in vocational skills. By ification. September the Chairman of the Board of the independent company, now to be called "The Open College", was announced and the first advertise- MARKET RESEARCH ments for staff appeared. In January and February Our preliminary market research has indicated that 1987 the first senior staff took up post, drawn from theis a substantial interest in the adult population, the BBC, the NEC and the OU. More have joined across social and economic groupings throughout

231 0 4" 4. 4 -t the UK, men mainly from 16 to 44, women from 25 and the National Health Service have paid for a to 45. A potential of Fix million adults is indicated, series of television programmes on "Catering With and the Government have set a "modest target of 1 Care". Discussions are taking place with the top million adults in the first five years." Telephone 200 companies (with 42% of the private sector em- interviews with 1200 employers suggested some ployees) and the signs are encouraging once they dissatisfaction with existing open learning but high have judged the quality of our courses and services. expectations for The Open College. THE FUTURE FUNDING September 1987 has seen The Open College open Preliminary pump priming by Government, f15 for business. We now have to see whether the Unit- million over the next three years, is to lead to a ed Kingdom can use this latest instrument for bring- self-financing operation. We have to raise our re- ing vocational open learning into the home and the maining income from fees, sales, sponsorship and workplace. By the time of the OSLO Conference in especially co-funding and co-production of pro- August 1988 we shall have almost a year's experi- grammes and courses. Already Trust House Forte ence to report on.

232 Survey of distance education in Indian schools MS. NIRMALA GUPTA M.A. Senior Teacher, Ramjas Girls Senior Secondary School New Delhi, India

Distance Education is already a legitimate mode of for students on Sundays and holidays between Sep- instruction in a number or Indian universities. The tember and December every year. For final students Schools of Correspondence Courses, University of i.e. Class X & XII, however, the school also holds Delhi introduced correspondence as early as 1962. Remedial Classes in January and February. The It was introduced comparatively recently in Indian school prepares students for All India Secondary Schools and is now offered by two institutions in and All India Senior Certificate levels of the Central Delhi viz. the School of Correspondence Courses Board of Secondary Education. and the Open School. The Open-School was established by the Central Patrachar Vidyalaya (Correspondence School) was Board of Secondary Education in July 1979 as an established in Delhi by the Ministry of Education. alternative to formal schooling and makes educa- Government of India in 1968. Its main objective is tion available through distance teaching methods at to provide education to working adults, school the secondary stage.Itis designed for working drop-outs, housewives, defence personnel and rth- adults, housewives, school drop-outs and second er needy people. Admission to the School of Corre- chance learners with emphasis on education of dis- spondence Courses is open to all irrespective of age, advantaged sections of society.It offers another sex or nationality. chance for education. Through its print materials The School prepares students for the Secondary Ex- and personal Contact Programme the Open School amination (at the end of Class X) and Senior School takes education to the doorstep of the learner. Certificate Examination (at the end of Class XII) of The aims of the Open School are to offer bridge/ the Central Board of Secondary Education, New preparatory courses leading to the Secondary Level Delhi. Course; Secondary, Senior Secondary Technical, The School provides instructional material to its Vocational and Life Enrichment Courses and to pro- students in the form of Correspondence Lessons, mote an open and distance learning through rewritten by experts in a very simple language, on all search, publication and dissemination of informa- the subjects chosen by the students. The Lessons tion. cover the Course of studies prescribed by the Cen- The Open School has an open entry system with no tral Board of Secondary Education. The first package upper age limit. It is the first institution in India to of study-material is given to the students at the time introduce the open entry system at the school level. of admission. Other sets are sent by registered post Any person over 14 can join its school level courses, soon after printing at planned intervals so that stu- provided he is motivated, can read and write and dents can learn and assimilate the previous ones. has adequate ability to understand and benefit from Exercises are appended to each lesson for further the instruction imparted by the School. practice. The students are required to solve prob- The Open School provides a bridge course for those lems in the form of "Assignments". Their answers learners who do not have formal qualifications or (called Response-Sheets) are sent back to the School have not passed class VIII but can read and write, and checked, corrected, evaluated and returned to know basic arithmetic and possess the competence the students and with suggestions for improvement. equivalent to at least class V. It also provides Sec- This is the most important part of distance education ondary Level Course/Core Course leading to Sec- and every student must send the response sheets of ondary School Examination Class X (Open School) the required assignments. Performance of the stu- of the Central Board for those iearners who have dents is taken into account for internal promotion to passed class VIII from a recognised school. the next higher class. The Open School provides a flexible scheme of The Personal Contact Programme is an important studies under which learners can study the subjects part of distance education and classes are organised of their choice. They can select one or more topics

233 0 i--, .... ' t at a time and be free to learn at thei. own pace. A range their own accomodation. Attendance is, student must choose up to five subjects from the however, optional. following: provided at least one of them is either Many recognised institutions and voluntary orga- Hindi or English. Hindi, English, Mathematics, Sci- nisations also provide help o, i a voluntary basis to ence (with/withotit Practicals), & Typewriting Hin- students enrolled in the Open School. Such institu- di/English. tions are accredited by the Open School for spon- The Open School has designed a flexible exam- soring candidates. The Open School through its ination system. Examinations are held twice a year Student Sponsorship Scheme takes education closer in April and October. As many as nine (9) attempts to the learners by making use of the resources avail- in five years can be made from the date of regis- able within established institutions. Students of the tration to pass the required five subjects. Credits for Open School get themselves admitted in the accred- subjects passed accumulate till all five are cleared. ited institutions nearest to their home to receive the Instructionisprovided through printed lessons benefits. where the subject matter is explained step by step in It is regrettable that in this age of sophisticated mass simple language. An attempt is made to make the communication media, no serious efforts have been material interesting, attractive and suitable for self- made to explore the use of audio-visual teaching learning, by including sketches, diagrams, pictures media for distance education in Indian schools. etc. wherever necessary. The Course in each subject Whereas lessons and books use only students' read- is divided into 9/10; mailings. Each mailing consists ing skills, audiovisual media stimulate otht.r senses, of several lessons depending on the size of the unit. provide higher motivation than tradition?: methods The lessons i a mailing have the following main of instruction and make learning more interesting features: (a) A brief introduction drawing attention and pleasant. The most important of these media is to what the learners have already experienced or television. Its main advantage is its accessibility. It observed and leading them to the main topic. (b) reaches every home and it can be entertaining Objectives eotailing salient points that the learner and attractive. It can also make available resources would comprehend after carefully stucn ' les- that would be difficult to provide in any other way son. Subject matter is split into topics, suo-topi zs s.tch as films of overseas countries, ingenious and learning points with a step by step treatment for and expensive graphics, and access to world leaders quick grasp and easy learning. (c) Significant points in politics and education. It is the duty of the Gov- are highlighted in boxes to facilitate learning. (d) ernment to provide special channels for the educa- Intext and Terminal questions are provided in the tional programmes of distance education isntitu- lessons to strengthen, recapitulate and reinforce the tions. Although wa have not yet been able to devel- points already learnt. (e) At the end of each mailing op an effective television network, it should be assignments are given which are known as Re- possible to make a beginning. Television and radio sponse Sheets. These are assessed and returned to programmes are a mainstay of the U.K. Open Uni- the students with suggestions to help them judge versity which has broken new ground in education. their progress. Students can also get help from the teachers at Resource-cum-Study Centres or through Much therefore needs ir) be done by the Central correspondence with the Open School. Board of Secondary Education and the Ministry of Education to streamline the system of distance edu- For further help Personal Contact Programmes for cation in Indian Schools.Liberal budgetary provi- face-to-face teaching are held on certain Sundays sion should be made for the development of anc.,- and holidays at Resource-cum-study Centres at se- lary services and mass communication media as an lected locations. Those who attend the contact pro- integral part of the correspondence courses. grammes bear their own travel expenses and ar-

234 A.., IPit The potential contribution of distance education for improving academic teaching in conventional universities SARAH GURI-ROZENBLIT Everyman's University Tel-Aviv Israel

MAXIM"SING THE ADVANTAGES at DTU requires a different approach from OF DISTANCE EDUCATION that required for preparing a lecture or writing a conventional textbook. Academics have always en- This article deals with the potential contribution of couraged criticism of published research, but rarely distance education (DE) to the improvement of aca- does the criticism relate to the quality of teaching or demic teaching in conventional universities. It fo- study materials. In many cases the appraisal process cusses mainly on the experience of Everyman's Uni- of course proposals or curriculum packages is no versity (EU), the Open University of Israel. more than "a rubber stamping formality at faculty or Distance educators tend to be on the defensive senate level which ensures the outward forms of when comparing DE procedures with traditional proposal, title, syllabus and examination arrange- university teaching (Jevons, 1984). There is often ments are consistent with the prevailing practices" even an assumption that face-to-face learning (Adelman and Alexander, 1982:9). In contrast to the should be used as a touchstone when designing professional autonomy model of the conventional courses for self-study (Perraton, 1983). The need to universities, many of,e DTU use control proce- compensate for the shortcomings of DE is frequently dures for the evaluation of self-study materials. The discussed in the DE literature. But because distance design and development of distance learning cours- learning opens up possibilities not available in more es at EU, for example, are subject to several stages of conventional settings it might be more constructive quality control, from the very early phase of defining for distance educators to consider how to maximise the theme of a sr,..cific course to its final stage of the advantages of DE rather than focusing on how to editorial and graphic layout (Guri, 1987). minimise its disadvantafts. A course proposal in EU is usually sent to three or DE has the potential to widen and expand the signi- four experts in the field, working at other Israeli ficance of higher education in numerous ways. In universities or abroad. The advice of the outside this article we discuss briefly seven potential contri- experts provides different perspectives and helps butions of DE to improving the academic teaching EU's internal subject committees to discuss and crit- of traditional universities. icise proposals constructively. The authors of the (1) improving the quality of university level text- course proposals are also asked to write sample books materials. This is because of a series of failures in the (2) enhancing independent study past, in which written units did not meet the struc- (3) improving the pedagogy of university teaching ture and format requirements of instructional self- (4) F omoting inter-disciplinary courses study units. Around 30 proposals are discussed in (5) contributing to inter-university collaboration the various subject committees each year. Approxi- (6) advancing the integration of multi-media into mately 20 per cent are rejected on the grounds of the learning/teaching systems of the universities inadequacy or poor quality materi-1-, and another (7) promoting research on adult learning. 20 per cent require redrafting. A c, ,se development generally takes 18-48 months, the greatest IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF proportion of that time being devoted to the writing and rewriting of the course materials. Each study UNIVERSITY-LEVEL TEXTBOOKS unit is evaluated by three to five counsellors, either One feature which is common to almost all distance internal staff or external experts. The evaluation teaching universities (DTU) is the use of printed aims to analyse the content and the instructional material as the main medium of instruction (Rumble quality of the learning materials carefully and crit- and Harry, 1982). The design of learning materials ically.

235 Such stringent quality control mechanisms used in IMPROVING THE PEDAGOGY OF the design and development of self-study courses contribute to the production of high quality uni- UNIVERSITY TEACHING versity-level texts. EU's student body is not the only Most of EU's courses are prepared by collaboration beneficiary of this process: faculty and students at with academics from the conventional universities. the other seven Israeli universities (and ever some From the very outset, EU intended to base its aca- abroad) use course material prepared by EU as text- demic work upon a nucleus of internal faculty mem- books in conventional university courses, because bers working together with outside contributors. Its of its clarity, integrated structure and overall appeal- planners determined that it was impractical for the ing design. Moreover, in several subjects it is the new institution to build the kinds of specialised only university-level material available in Hebrew. faculties which characterise traditional universities. None of the other universities has the organisational In 1987 EU has a full-time senior academic staff of infrastructure and the suitable conditions for devel- 24 lecturers and professors. But several hundred oping such study materials. In this respect, the inde- scholars from other universities are utilised on short- pendent DTU that develop and produce self-study term contracts to consult, write and rewrite various courses, such as the British Open University and portions of courses. Obviously, writing distance EU, contribute significantly to the improvement of learning texts requires skills which are often quite university-level textbooks. different from those associated with lecturing. Even brilliant scholars with an outstanding reputation in the academic world can fail to transmit their know- ENHANCING INDEPENDENT ledge and expertise into an instructional written STUDY discourse. Some external authors are shocked and In general, the intention of conventional university surprised when they are presented with challenges teaching is to enhance students' critical thinking to their assumptions about teaching and are forced and independent study habits (McMillan, 1987). In to rethink how they should present their subject. this respect DE students, because of their separation By the intensive involvement of outside professors from a teacher, are close to the ideal of the inde- in writing self-study texts, EU provides substantial pendent or autonomous or self-directed learner (Jea- potential for improving instruction in the traditional vons, 1984). An Australian survey of the information universities. In a comprehensive study of EU's activ- needs of DE students (Winter & Cameron, 1983) ities, Halperin concludes that EU contributed to found that students who studied from textbooks with Israeli higher education "by paying pre-eminent at- the assistance of self-study guides made more use of tention to effective pedagogy and by addressing the almost every other source of library material or in- crucial question, "what is quality in higher learn- formation as compared to students in conventional ing?" As hundreds of professors from around the settings. country have come to be involved in EU's work, the The fact that many self-study courses prepared by spin-offs for improved teaching elsewhere cannot DTU are used as textbooks in conventional uni- be doubted" (Halperin, 1984:99). versities provides the students of these institutions In mixed institutions in which the same professors with self-study tools and directions which might be teach on-campus and off-campus students DE also utilised and transferred to learning from traditional contributes to improving the pedagogy of university textbooks and study materials. teaching. in general. Jevons (1984) concludes that Moreover, around 20 per cent of the 12,000 EU in the mixed institutions of Australia the tough dis- students are soldiers who take several courses cipline of preparing DE materials makes pedagogic (mainly introductory courses) during their three problems more explicit and teachers more expert. years of military service. Most of these students do Beaudoin (1987) of the University of Maryland pre- not intend to complete their undergraduate degree dicts significant increase in distance learning within at EU, but transfer their academic credits to other the framework of traditional universities in the USA, universities after completing their military service and as a result of this trend, a drastic change of the (mainly because they wish to major in specific dis- university professors' instructional roles. ciplinary areas, which do not exist at EU). Many of these students indicate that studying at EU helped PROMOTING INTER- them significantly to tackle the academic requirements at conventional universities. The influence of DISCIPLINARY COURSES DE methods in promoting independent study consti- Academic teamwork in DTU, such as the British OU tutes an interesting topic for further investigation. and EU in Israel, enables the development of interdisciplinary courses, which are very difficult to plan and manage in a system based on courses which are taught single-handedly. Each course proposal in EU has to get the final approval of the Academic Com-

236 mittee, EU's higher academic authority. The Aca- PROMOTING RESEARCH ON demic Committee is made up of EU's academic faculty members and representatives of the other ADULT LEARNING Israeli universities. The fact that the Academic Com- Last, but not least, DE opens up rew avenues for mittee is comprised of people from a broad spec- research into adult learning. Most of the DE students trum of disciplines enables its members to perceive are older than the students attending conventional the development of a specific course in the context universities. The average EU student is over 30, of the total system. This is especially beneficial working and married. EU's student population is when dealing with an interdisciplinary course. EU heterogeneous in age (17 to 70 plus) and in previous has developed several such courses combining as- level of education (eight years of education to docto- pects of history-literature-arts, philosophy-science, ral degrees). Such diversity led to several research etc. projects investigating various components of adult learning, textual presentations and the impact of support systems. Many other DTU carry out re- CONTRIBUTING TO INTER- search into adult learning. This research might contribute significantly to a better understanding of var- UNIVERSITY COLLABORATION iables affecting students' learning within the broad- Obviously, the intensive co-operative between EU's er context of higher education. internal staff and outside scholars contributes significantly to inter-university collaboration. EU does REFERENCES not compete with the other universities, but provides a basis for mutual development. Academics Adelman, C., and Alexander, R. tend to co-operate mainly in research projects, but (198;.). The self-evaluating institution (London. Meth- rarely do they share ideas in preparing their teaching uen). curricula. DTU may encourage growing collabora- Beaudoin, M. tion between universities in various teaching pro- (1987) 1 he Distance Educator (a paper presented at the jects. thirteenth international conference on Improving Uni- versity Teaching, under the auspices of the University of Maryland and the University of Haifa). ADVANCING THE INTEGRATION Guri, S. OF MULTI-MEDIA INTO THE (1987) "Quality control in distance learning", Open LEARNING/TEACHING SYSTEMS Learning, vol. 2 no. 2,16-21. OF THE UNIVERSITIES Halperin, A. (1984). Any home a campus: Everyman's University of Since the total structure of the DTU learning system Israel. (Washington: The Institute for Education. Leader- is much more open than that of a traditional uni- ship). versity, it is possible to generate a variety of models for multi-media course development, which might Jevons, F. penetrate gradually into conventional campuses. (1984). "Distance education in mixed institutions: work- Moreover, DTU can take advantage of technologi- ing towards parity". Distance education, vol. 5, no. 1, 24-37. cal innovations and incorporate them quite easily into the learning/teaching system. Rapid develop- McMillan, J. H. ment in the field of microcomputers challenges the (1987). "Enhancing college students" critical thinking: a concept of traditional academic teaching based review of studies", Research in higher education, vol. 26, solely on face-to-face interaction. EU is currently in no. 1,3-29. the process of developing a comprehensive School Perraton, H. of Technology, based mainly on computer sciences. (1983). "A theory for distance learning", in Sewart, D., Nowadays, it is clear that we stand on the threshold Keegan, D., and Holmberg B. (eds.), Distance educa- of a microcomputerised world. In this sense, the tion: international perspectives (London: Croom Helm). learning systems of DTU might be the pioneers in Rumble, G., and Harry, IC. (eds.) the academic world. (1982). The Distance Universities (London: Croom Helm). Winter, A., and Cameron, M.A. (1983). External students' attitude to and the use of library services (Draft Report to the Commonwealth Tertiary Edu- cation Commission, Deakin University, Geelong).

1 237 4.., 0t / Electronic information exchange: the dream and the reality DR KEITH HARRY International Centre for Distance Learning, c/o the Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom MRS ANGELA CASTRO Institute of Distance Education, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3217, Australia

1985 ICDE CONFERENCE AND INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES AFTERMATH Since the 1985 Conference, several important in- During the Thirteenth World Conference of the In- ternational initiatives have been launched or an- ternational Council for Distance Education (ICDE) nounced. Each has implications for educators look- in Melbourne in 1985, the authors convened a ing after information provision or dissemination and meeting of conference participants interested in retrieval. The fo I lowing are some of the most recent. electronic mail and in bibliographic databases. We The European Association of Distance Teaching are pleased to report that ths: meeting has seeded the Universities was established in January 1987. In its establishment of two networks of educators. introductory brochure, the Association includes The first network is AOLIN (the Australian Open amongst its objectives: "to support bilateral and Learning Information Network), a primarily Austra- multilateral contacts of the academic staff of the lian on-line network built on a national system participating institutions", "to support cooperation called Key link T. AOLIN has over 120 members in the field of research, course development, course from some 50 Australian and overseas organisations transfer and credit transfer", "to develop new meth- in the tertiary, government and adult education sec- ods and techniques for higher distance education, tors, and is being actively exploited by technology including new technologies and media" and "to researchers as an international forum for the ex- organize common projects in these fields in cooper- change of views and news in a conferencing mode. ation with European authorities". The Association is currently collecting data for a directory of member The second network is an informal bibliographic institutions which will subsequently be expanded database working group, which seeks to promote into a directory of European higher distance educa- the use of national, regional and international docu- tion. mentation centres for the exchange of information on distance education institutions and courses and A second initiative is the proposal for the creation of on research literature. The nehnork includes mem- a University of the Commonwealth for Cooperation bers from Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, in Distance Education (Commonwealth Secretariat North America and South America, who communi- 1987). The Commonwealth Heads of Government cate through whichever means are available to meeting in Vancouver in October 1987 approved them, for example, through electronic mail, facsim- the creation of an institution to promote multilateral ile, telex, telephone, postal services and personal or bilateral arrangements designed to further Com- visits. A standard format for cataloguing distance monwealth cooperation. The British Government education literature which was produced by the indicated its willingness to provide support through group has been incorporated into a custom-made funding the expansion of the International Centre for database system designed and developed by the Distance Learning to cater for the distance educa- Open University Academic Computing Service tion information needs of Commonwealth member Educational Software Group for the International nations. Centre for Distance Learning, which is based on the A third initiative concerns the recommendations of Open University campus. The group has also dis- the Consultation on Higher Distance Education or- cussed the subject indexing of distance education ganised by Unesco in Geelong, Australia, in Sep- literature (Harry 1987). tember 1987. The draft "plan of action" draw.lup at the Consultation includes the following as one of

238

2 5k five immediate objectives: "Databases of current to fund, maintain and use them. Developing coun- information and of information on the literature of tries should be involved wherever possible and pri- higher level distance learning should be developed ority service should be given to them through the and made available to users worldv+-3e. Bodies established means of communication by informa- such as the International Centre for Distance Learn- tion providers. ing of the United Nations University and the In- ternational Council for Distance Education could be possible partners in this initiative." Most of the addi- WHAT IS ALREADY POSSIBLE: tional four immediate and five longer term objec- ONE TO ONE COMMUNICATION tives concern the more effective use of technology We think it helpful to report in some detail the and networking for collection and dissemination of activities of a dozen or so ICDE members since 1985 information on distance education in developing in the establishment of informal electronic network- and developed countries. ing. They have been communicating on a one to Central to the development of these services is the one basis. This is done in two ways: use of computer communication. The establish- 1 By registering on similar systems which have in- ment of major networks such as the European Asso- terconnect facilities. ciation of Distance Teaching Universities and the equally recently-formed Asian Association of Open The systems can be commercial electronic mess- Universities, alongside longer-established organisa- aging systems. For example, some ICDE members tions such as the Canadian Association for Distance are registered on the Dialcom systems (e.g. Britain's Education, many of whose members are already Telecom Gold, Australia's Keylink D) and Telemail linked electronically, makes it particularly impor- systems (e.g. America's Telemail and Mail and Aus- tant that an international organisation should take tralia's Keylink T). The system forwards the mail for on or sponsor a coordinating function to enable them without any hassle or effort on their part. De- distance educators to communicate electronically livery reliability is excellent but the cost is rather as widely and as easily as possible. We suggest that high. the International Council for Distance Education A cheaper alternative is by using existing regional or should be that organisation. national computer networks accessible from institutions. For example, members of the Open Universi- AN IDEAL ELECTRONIC ty can use JANET to send mail to colleagues at N ETWORK Deakin University, which is on ACSNET, and to North American educators on BITNET. The oper- What exactly might an international electfonic net- ation mode is quite simple: an Open University staff work provide? In the best of all possible worlds, an member composes a message on a microcomputer extensive electronic network of individual users in or a terminal, then uploads it to the Open University distance teaching institutions will be able to com- VAX machine which is connected to JANET. The municate readily and inexpensively throughout de- machine will send the message automatically to veloping and developed countries. JANET without the user being aware of how it is The network will have bulletin board and computer done. JANET will then route the message through conference facilities as well as access to specialised several other networks which will then, in a relay databases containing, for example, bibliographical fashion, deliver the message to its destination. information on distance education literature and These cooperative networks are in turn linked to data on distance courses available in different in- thousands of other networks around the world, e.g., stitutions. Bulletin boards will carry for example, ARPA Internet, CSnet, NETNORTH (North Amer- details of forthcoming conferences, newly publish- ica), JUNET (Japan), SPEARNET (New Zealand), and ed titles, staff exchanges, and projects in progress. Eunet (Europe). Reliability of delivery and address- Computer conferences devoted to specific aspects ing format, however, can be occasionally problem- of distance education will operate in different lan- atic. In addition, such networks are dominated by guages depending on the host and the participants. computer professionals and can therefore be some- Ideally, each country will have a national node what daunting. Most educators are not aware of the which is linked to the other nodes in the same existence and availability of this resource in their region, with the regional node linked to the in- own institutions (Castro 1987 a, b). ternational coordinator's top node. It is also desir- 2 By reciprocal registration on each other's com- able for any node to be able to bypass intervening puter system. nodes to go to one another directly. The Open University has been given an account on The obvious non-technical obstacle to the devel- the Deakin University central computer and vice- opment of worldwide networks is the difficulty of versa, thus it is possible to dial to Deakin's main- developing countries gaining access to the relevant frame to use all the facilities there (including con- technologies and obtaining the necessary resources sulting the Library catalogue), apart from mail.

239 252 Some Deakin members can do the same when they large information or bibliographical databases of sign on to the Open University computer (Castro & an international nature, which are, in our view, Stirzaker, 1986). powerful tools for distance education research. This type of access depends on the good will of 6 Telecommunications costs for systems like Dial- institutions, is very expensive, and demands some com, Telemail, CoSy and AOLIN, for example, technical expertise since communicating via inter- are invariably too high for naive users who have national packet-switched networks and then using a not acquired the necessary skill to use them effi- strange host system is not easy. ciently. 7 Telecommunications costs are seldom listed as a legitimate item in institutional budgets. As a re- WHAT IS ALREADY POSSIBLE: sult, researchers who are given grace-and-favour ONE TO MANY usage of some systems have not been able to COMMUNICATION exploit the medium more effectively for fear of having that usage removed if the account be- Another method which allows greater group inter- comes too high. action is for a number of people to agree to register on a single system which has computer conferenc- These problems, however, are not generally appre- ing and bulletin board facilities. ciated except by researchers anxious to promote and exploit the potential of computer communi- For example, a growing number of users are on the cation. In our view, they can be overcome in time Co Sy system at the University of Guelpin Canada, and with concerted effort by dedicated researchers and on AOLIN in Australia. Such communication ready to lobby their respective institutions, and systems require the users to actually sign on to the computer networks and telecommunications au- machine, so overseas telecommunications costs are thorities in their own country. a big problem, but the systems are very easy to learn and use. CONCLUSION CoSy has more sophisticated conferencinfacili- ties, and AOLIN, being a fully managed network, An international electronic network for educators has many more centrally offered facilities like elec- can be built using either or both of the above access tronic publishing, a bibliographical database and a methods provided that some interconnecting and detailed international members directory. management functionalities are put in place and maintained efficiently. By this, we mean people as well as network protocols. There are more and more CURRENT PROBLEMS communications specialists appearing on the scene The above examples together provide a very simple to help with network protocols, interconnection, overview of the various types of networks which and making the systems more user friendly. But we distance educators are using. But such information also need to start to identify users and to design exchange is not without its share of problems. contents. Can we identify the potential members of such a network? Who will be willing and able to Our dissatisfactions with current developments and take on a regional management task, if that is need- operations of such networks are: ed in the design of such a network? Who are the 1 Systems often exist in isolation with little or no people who can provide the basic or standard con- interconnection arrangement in the hands of re- tents on such a network? These are some of the sponsible management teams. questions which we feel can be effectively ad- 2 There is very little cooperation between the com- dressed if ICDE takes on an international coordinat- mercial systems offered by public telecommuni- ing role in relation to electronic information ex- cations authorities and computer networks oper- change between distance educators. ated by university-based people. 3 There is no international co-ordination of networking efforts or usage. What is being done relies on the piecemeal efforts of a few pioneering REFERENCES individuals; and we have no idea who is on which system. Castro, A.S. 4 There islittle institution-initiated user training (1987a). An "AESNET" (Australian External Studies Net- and education; most people learn the basics by work)? A paper presented at CALITE -87, University of courageously knocking on the doors of a few Sydney, November 29 December 2, 1987 and published sympathetic communications experts in their in- by the Australian Society of Computers in Learning in stitutions. Tertiary Education. 5 None of the proprietary systems or networks have Castro, A.S. included powerful database management pro- (19876). An introduction of major Australian and over- grams which could be used to design and install seas computer networks. 'Unpublished paper)

240 '') rir 4 43 Castro, A.S. and Stirzaker, L.R. Harry, K. (1986). The use of Austpac at Deakin University for dis- (1987). Current trends in information and documentation tance education AOL1N, Australia. work in distance education. Paper written for distribution Commonwealth Secretariat at the Unesco International Consultation on Higher Dis- tance Education, Geelong, Australia, September 6-11, (1987). Towards a Commonwealth of Learning: a propos- 1987. al to create the University of the Commonwealth for Co- operation in Distance Education. Report of the Expert Group on Commonwealth Co-operation in Distance Edu- cation and Open Learning. London, Commonwealth Sec- retariat.

241 ..... ; tit Distance education for Minnesota prison inmates FREDRIC J. HILLENGASS Assistant Education Coordinator Minnesota Department of Corrections St. Paul, Minnesota U.S.A. DEBORAH L. NELSON Associate Director Department of Independent Study University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota U.S.A.

INTRODUCTION UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA After a brief overview of the Minnesota Department DEPARTMENT OF INDEPENDENT of Corrections and the University of Minnesota De- STUDY partment of Independent Study, this paper describes the two principal distance education programs at The Department of Independent Study at the Uni- the college level for prison inmates in the state of versity of Minnesota is recognised for its excellence Minnesota. These are called "Insight" and the in distance education. Offering 498 courses by cor- "Higher Education Consortium". The paper then respondence, television and radio, it is the second largest degree credit independent study program in describes suggested improvements in courses and programs to serve the inmate population better. the United States. The Department registered 8,418 students in 1986-87. Of those registrations, 195 This paper defines distance education as all educa- were from inmates. tion offered in an off-campus setting. Since inmates are unable to attend classes on campus, all their courses are delivered by distance education. The INSIGHT methods of delivery include correspondence, tele- Two of Minnesota's prisons are homes to a unique vision and radio courses, and courses held on-site and successful experimental program called Insight. where college faculty members are allowed to enter One of these prisons, Stillwater, is a turn of the the prisons to conduct classes. century maximum security facility where half of Minnesota's inmates reside. The other, Lino Lakes, OVERVIEW OF THE MINNESOTA is a medium security institution with 260 inmates. According to a promotional brochure circulated to DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS inmates, Insight is "a non-profit corporation found- The Minnesota Department of Corrections houses ed and administered by inmates for the purpose of 2,400 inmates in nine correctional facilities, three providing post-secondary educational opportuni- juvenile and six adult, one of which is for women. ties to inmates". It was founded in 1975 by two Minnesota's incarceration rate per capita is the sec- inmates then at Stillwater: 1.P. Morgan, who contin- ond lowest in the United States, and each institution ues as the president and chief executive officer, provides a program-rich environment for its resi- though his office is now in the medium-security Lino dents, including well-funded and strongly support- Lakes institution where he was transferred after ed educational options. Those educational opportu- more than a decade of "good behavior" and Jimmie nities range from individualised literacy training to Johnson, now released. These two founders, after full-time college programs, depending on the type intense lobbying, convinced the Minnesota prison of institution and the needs of the inmates it ser- administration to approve their idea. Insight is run vices. like a business and has an 18-member volunteer Board of Directors consisting of professionals from the prison staff and from the outside community.

242 ,),:. .. I ;j Although Insight was initially funded by grants from Inmates want to be in this demanding program. Minnesota-based corporations, with Control Data There is a waiting list of from 2 to 20 at any given Corporation as the largest contributor to respond to time, and the "game players" who want to get into grant requests written by the inmate founders, J.P. an easy program says Detzner, "either don't make Morgan realised that if Insight were to become a the grade or they are transformed". Of those accept- long-term business, it would have to be self-sup- ed into the program, 20 per cent don't make it. The porting. Two years ago, after developing businesses 80 per cent who do make it do so in part because within the prisons to provide telemarketing and they learn to set and achieve goals, a skill that many computer programming services to companies out- of them had never been challenged to develop beside the prison, it became self-supporting, and in fore. They live in a supportive and learning envi- 1987 it has a projected income of $300,000. ronment. A cell block, set aside exclusively for In- The 56 inmates (44 at Stillwater and 12 soon 16 sight, is furnished with a library, typewriters, coun- at Lino Lakes) in the program are required to do seling services and other types of academic support. two things. First, they must work full-time in prison Morgan notes that the prisons are "jammed with industries. The 20 most fortunate meet this require- negative thinkers", but Insight gives its members a ment by working in the Insight businesses. Those 20 chance to turn a negative experience into a positive include ).P. Morgpn, Brad Vogelpohl, whosuper- one, and results show a positive impact on its mem- vises the Stillwater part of the program, 2 academic bers and on society as well. advisors, 12 telemarketers, and 4 computer pro- gramers. Whereas workers in other prison industries HIGHER EDUCATION earn $1 per hour, those in Insight earn a minimum CONSORTIUM wage of $3.50 per hour. The income generated by Insight businesses goes, in part, to pay its staff. The Three of the prisons in Minnesota receive educa- balance of the income pays for tuition and books for tional services from the Higher Education Consorti- program expansion. According to Morgan, "the um, comprised of six Minneapolis/St. Paul colleges, businesses exist for the benefit of the academic pro- universities and vocational schools, which is ad- gram" and Insight businesses generate the $3,500 ministratively based in Continuing Education and per year required to keep a student in school. Insight Extension at the University of Minnesota. These does not cost the taxpayer anything and, in fact, schools provide courses in a format for the general Insight workers pay taxes on their earnings. population inmates, who are not eligible for the Insight program. By combining resources, the The second requirement of Insight members is that schools are capable of increased program diversity, they take full credit loads each quarter from the since one is a private four-year college, two are University of Minnesota or Metro State University, two-year community colleges, one is an upper divi- maintaining a C average or better for all course sion, competency-based school, and one is a voca- work. Two courses per quarter (eight per year)are tional training school. offered on site, and the remaining 60 per centare Independent Study courses. The completion rate is At Oak Park Heights, a new state-of-the-art maxi- over 95 per cent with a B+ average. In 1986-87 50 mum security facility, the Consortium delivers the Insight students enrolled in 184 Independent Study entire education program, using existing staff and courses from the University of Minnesota. Of those faculty to provide four different credit courses a enrolled 92 are still in progress, but of the 92com- quarter from the participating colleges, in addition pletions, inmates earned 39 As, 37 Bs, 15 Cs and 1 to a computer analyst course, a computer-assisted D. Al Christianson, academic advisor at Stillwater, drafting class, credit art instruction, and a Skills explains the high completion rate and grade point Center to develop the basic reading, writing, math, average: "They either make the grade or they're out and how-to-study skills of the students. of the program". At Stillwater, the Consortium offers a supporting Insight is a successful academic program. Thirty- Skills Center and three on-site classes per quarter in eight inmates have received baccalaureate degrees the evening to minimize competition from institu- and one a masters degree. The recidivision rate for tional industry jobs and to maximize participation students who have been in the program a year or by those who are most interested. more is less than 10 per cent compared with 35-70 Lino Lakes receives on-site courses, correspond- per cent, depending on interpretation of statistics, ence courses and a Skills Center from the Consorti- for non-Insight inmates. They succeed when they um. Because it serves the two maximum security are released, according to University of Minnesota institutions from which the Lino Lakes inmates are Professor Daniel Detzner, a member of the Board of selected, the Consortium is able to provide continu- Directors, because "they have a degree, they have ity and transition for the inmates as they progress money in the bank, and they have job training expe- through the system. The transition continues as the rience". inmates are released, with the program coordinator making admission and financial aid arrangements at

243 /..... tu, the Consortiu hool of the student's choice. Be- grounds and interests. The writing course will ex- cause each of ...,, schools accepts the credits offered pand the institution's offerings and give Independ- in the institutions by the other schools, as establish- ent Study an opportunity to test the new course ed in the original plan, the student can choose a design. school on the basis of considerations such as pro- Although George Hatcher, Academic Advisor at Li- gram strengths and location. no Lakes, calls Independent Study "the best thing FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS we have going for us", he has suggestions for ways Independent Study can serve them better. He wants Insight plans to introduce a halfway house for stu- faculty to provide quick and thorough written feed- dents who are released from prison before their back on assignments and suggests that faculty mem- degrees are completed. It will not be a residential bers hold telephone office hours for students. Brad house, but students will work there for a year or two Vogelpohl underscores the importance that tele- in this new branch of the telemarketing business to phone contact would have but suggests setting up a earn income for ongoing payment of tuition and central clearing house, perhaps at an Independent books so they can complete their degrees. Study administrator's desk, where inmates could The Consortium is considering plans to create an leave messages requesting instructors to return their interactive television link connecting Oak Park calls. This system would eliminate the fear some Heights and possibly Stillwater with the vocational instructors have of giving their phone numbers to school and one of the community colleges. A simi- inmates. We suggest that faculty members be polled lar link currently connects the new women's prison for their willingness to participate, and that Insight at Shakopee with a vocational/technical center and and Consortium leaders be given a list of faculty the local high school. This system greatly expands members willing to participate. the classes available to the inmates and allows them Quick feedback on assignments is important to mo- to be active participants in courses taught at a dis- tivate students to continue but also because the tance. academic advisors in Insight set up a schedule for DEVELOPMENTS IN THE their students to complete one lesson per week. These schedules cannot be met if instructors delay DEPARTMENT OF INDEPENDENT in returning lessons. Faculty members are being STUDY trained to understand the importance of the timely We are working on two plans for course devel- return of lessons and to understand the special opment in Independent Study programs. One is to needs of this particular audience. Hatcher also urg- adapt courses that are already available in the Inde- es Independent Study to develop basic courses re- pendent Study program for use in the prisons. Adop- quired in most degree programs (such as composi- tions we are considering include putting the video tion and mathematics) and courses to meet distribu- component of broadcast television-assisted courses tion requirements so there can be more variety on cassette for delivery on the prison closed-circuit among the eight on-site courses offered each year. television stations and augmenting correspondence A final suggestion, this time for the benefit of the courses with several on-site visits by the instructors. Independent Study program, is that we listen to our Our second plan is to design new courses to use inmate audience. They can provide a "consumer equipment already available in the institutions. index" to our program, indicating which courses Such a project is currently under discussion at the are out of date, which are exciting or dull,which University of Minnesota. It involves developing a faculty members are responsive, and which are not. composition course with a word-processing component. This course will be availat-,:e to all students with access to word processors but designed particularly for use in the prisons, where such equipment CONCLUSION is available. It will be tested at the Shakopee prison and augmented with on-site visits by its author, The success of the programs described in this paper Professor Lisa Albrecht, a veteran instructor of com- encourage us to continue to refine and develop position courses at that institution. Currently only educational services to inmates and to glean from one course is offered there per quarter, since few those services advantages for the general distance Shakopee inmates have college-level skills, back- education audience.

...... 244 ,... 1) i Is distance educationamode of education in itsownrightoris ita substitute for conventional education? PROFESSOR DR. BORJE HOLMBERG Zentrales Institut fur Fernstudienforschung (ZIFF) FernUniyersitat Gesamthochschule Hagen, Federal Republic of Germany

The question asked in the title is fairly seldom expli- ing quotation, which reports on a study based on citly answered. As a matter of fact many distance research initiated by Torstein Rekkedal in Norway educators do not seem to ask themselves the ques- (Rekkedal 1983). The latter had found a distinct tion at all or else find it irrelevant. However, there is correlation between assignment turn-round time a fundamental difference between the alternate ap- and course completion. This caused an internation- proaches indicated by the question. As this differ- al study, for which data were collected from five ence has bearings on methodology and procedures distance-teaching organisations. it will be looked into here. During the course of Rekkedal's study, turn-around time was manipulated experimentally so that one IMPLICIT REPLIES group of students, classified as the "Quick Group" had a median turn-around time of 5.6 days, while Whereas the view of distance education as a sep- the other group (the "Delayed Group") experienced arate entity as opposed to regarding it as an in- a turn-around, which had as its median 8.3 days. strument for replacing conventional education is The overall range of turn-around times in the experi- rarely either propagated or argued against, there is ment was between 2 days and "10 days or more" ... implicit evidence galore about entrenched positions representing these two views. In the present study, the notion of integration of students was investigated in light of the number and A comparison of the following two quotations will timing of required contacts between the faculty and illuminate these. Both are concerned with the eval- students. These required contacts were investigated uation of distance-education projects. in terms of the number of assignments submitted, The first runs like this: the turn-around time on these assignments, and the Three groups were established: a traditional control "feedback interval" between assignments, which group which met three times per week with an was defined as the elapsed time (in days) between instructor using lecture and discussion procedures, the receipt of feedback on consecutive assignments. an exempt-control group consisting of students Such required contacts were therefore examined in whose frist semester Freshman composition require- terms of the pace of interaction (turn-around time) ment was postponed (this group concentrated on and the density of feedback (feedback interval). study of literature) and an experimental group con- (Barker, Taylor, White et al. 1986, pp. 18 and 19) sisting of students who met with an instructor once a The very research design described in the first quo- week and fulfilled requirements of the course pri- tation makes it clear that "correspondence study" as marily through correspondence study. The experi- investigated is seen as fully replaceable by learning ment continued through the years 1963-64, 1964- supported face-to-face. In fact, distance education 65, 1965-66 and 1966-67. Forty students were is here merely a distribution vehicle for subject mat- involved in the experimental group the first year, 80 ter to be learnt. the second, and 160 each of the last two years. Numbers in the control groups were comparable. The study reterred to is only one of many comparing Tests were given to all students at the beginning and the effectiveness of distance-education methods end of each semester o id papers from all groups and those of face-to-face methods. They were par- were evaluated and compared. ticularly common at a time when distance education(correspondence education, home study) (Childs, 1971, p. 240, on a study by Willingham) fought for recognition as a useful approach to reach- The view of distance education implicit in this re- ing and learning. The usual design of such studies search design should be compared with the follow- was an arrangement with two comparable groups of

245 students made to learn the same subject matter, one al study: limited geographical coverage, classes of by working through a correspondence course, the limited size, pacing, division of the year into terms other by taking part in ordinary classroom teaching; of study, regular meetings, prescribed examination the achievements of the two groups were then com- dates, vacations etc. To the extent that in systems pared. Peters refers to research of this kind as rela- adopting these limitations the type of distance edu- tively advanced statistical work combined with a cation applied is felt to be innovative, it is what Ross complete lack of theory ("ein relativ fortgeschrit- 1976 calls innovation within the accepted para- tenes statistisches Treatment bei v011iger Theorielo- digm. Cf. Holmberg 1985 Chapter 8. Several large- sigkeit") (Peters 1973, p. 17). The lacking theoret- scale systems also apply some restrictive practices ical orientation meant is one concerned with the of this kind, thus for example the British Open Uni- special character of distance education. versity and the German FernUniversitat. We shall return to "theory" in this context, but let us Once distance education is applied outside the or- first consider the second quotation above. Here dis- ganisational and administrative framework of con- tance education is investigated independently of ventional schools and universities its potential for settings parallel to those of face-to-face education. extraparadigmatic innovation becomes evident. Its Students' possibilities or willingness to take part in claims to be a mode of education in its own right is classes is irrelevant for the study; learning can be based on this potential. entirely individual and there are no classes to be The innovatory character of distance education considered nor physical presence in any other form. emanates from the underlying ideas that learning can occur APPLICATIONS OF THE TWO without the presence of a teacher and that the support given to students can be adapted to indi- A.PPROACHES vidual knowledge levels; The view of distance education as a substitute for the consistent use of non-contiguous media both conventional educations as represented by the first for the presentation of learning matter and for the quotation discussed is by no means of rare occur- ensuing communication; rence. It represents what I have elsewhere (Holm- real, mediated dialogue and simulated didactic berg 1985 p. 9) called a small-scale application. A conversation, appropriate use of media availa- small-scale application occurs in the cases when, ble, adaptation to students' conditions of life, for technical reasons (because of travel require- etc.; ments, difficulties in arranging classes on days or at the methods used to exploit the non-contiguous hours that suit potential students, lack of teachers teaching/learning situation so as to attain the etc.) courses are offered at a distance as a substitute. highest possible effectiveness for the individual While there can be no objection to this use of dis- learner: structure and style of presentation and tance-education procedures, they utilise a small communication part of the potential of distance education. This can the particular organisation which makes it pos- be said about some well-known and highly success- sible to provide for both independent individual ful set-ups, for which the Australian New-England learning and mass education through personal system (Smith 1979) can be regarded as a prototype. tutoring and more or less "industralised" work- The Canadian University-of-Waterloo teaching is ing methods; interesting in this context: the possible liberation from organisational and "... we have fixed starting times for a course, a fixed administrative restrictionsisually inevitable in schedule of assignments, a fixed duration of a face-to-facc education, geog, aphical limitations, schools or university terms, keeping prescribed course, and a fixed examination schedule. Our ap- pace etc. proach is to treat students as members of a class, although that class is distributed geographically. the possibilities if offers for economies of scale Thus our students start a course together at the same the influence distance education exerts on adult time and have to submit assignments and write ex- education, further training and labour-market conditions, by opening new study opportunities aminations on a schedule in exactly the same way as a class on campus is required to do." as well as through its methods and organisation. (Leslie 1979, p. 36) A POSSIBLE BASIC CHARACTER In fact, the insistence on classes and pacing seems to represent a typical characteristic of the view of dis- OF DISTANCE EDUCATION tance education that sees it as a substitute for educa- Distance education as a separate mode of education tion face to face. Conventional views of educational has, de facto, a mass-communication character in planning and organisation induce spokesmen of this the large-scale systems. Individual courses are de- school of thought to impose the same restrictions on veloped for thousands of students. Thus in a staff- distance study as is usually unavoidable in tradition- development course for teachers 50 000 copies of

246

() ..- ri A:-,.) 0 the learning material were produced (Holmberg doxical combination of elements of individualisa- 1973). This mass-communication aspect is some- tion and industrialisation, dialogue and mass com- thing of a paradox as, unlike the small-scale systems munication are inevitably immanent in distance referred to above, large-scale distance teaching ad- education. However, they are present to different dresses the individual rather than a group or class. degrees in individual distance-education systems. Individualisation occurs in the two-way communi- While contrasting large-scale and small-scale sys- cation process, i.e. in the non-contiguous interac- tems illuminates the extreme poles of an existing tion between students and their supporting orga- continuum, a number of intermediary positions are nisation, its tutors and counsellors. It is in this con- possible and de facto occur. text that the industrial approach is important. Otto It would be unrealistic to try to ascribe to either of Peters, the originator of the view of distance educa- the categories large-scale and small-scale distance tion as an industrial type of teaching and learning, education all the kinds of distance education which stresses rationalisation and division of labour in the occur in universities, schools and companies as interest of quality and economics. This view is wide- individual programmes. We have to count with an ly accepted. Cf. this Canadian statement: infinite number of applications which make use of The extra effort required in the development of dis- traits typical of both. Deakin university in Australia tance education courses pays off when the same may be a case in point (Castro & Holt 1985). An materials can be used to teach any number of stu- interesting application is the training (staff devel- dents at any number of different institutions. The opment) of university lecturers as a distance that the creator of the course need not be involved in deliv- University of Surrey runs in South East Asia. While ery, and the tutor who deals with students "ceasesto the study is here independent of time and place and be the master of the content and must become the is based on pre-produced courses, which makes it guide, mentor and catalyst to aid the student's jour- similar to the large-scale approach discussed, the ney through a pre-structured or open-ended learn- number of course participants is small (an intake ing experience". (Forsythe 1983:163) Communi- 1981-1985 of between 17 and 50 students) and cating with distant students requires special skills for individualisation aiming at personal relevance to which training may be provided. (Williams 1980; each student is brought about by references to stu- Cochran and Meech 1982; Sturrock 1983; Kaufman dents' experiences in the submission assignments. 1984a) This is an area that would benefit from fur- Students are asked "to relate the general to their ther attention by researchers. particular experience" (Elton et al. 1986 p. 30). (Calvert 1986, p. 102) Industrialisation in this sense implies using first- CONCLUSION class specialist authors, editors, media specialists, There is no possibility to refer to distance education designers etc. for the development of courses to be exclusively either as a mode of education in its own :Adduced in large editions, other specialists for right or as merely a substitute for conventional edu- counselling, tutoring, assessing, administrating the cation. In reality both types occur and are successful work etc. High quality is attained by the division of as can be shown by the simple reference to, on the the work among specialists for each individual task.' one hand, the British Open University, other large- This approach is fully or partly applied by the large scale distance-teaching universities and corre- distance-education organisations, whereas small- spondence schools, on the other hand the small- scale distance education in many cases favours prose: le approach of, for instance, the Australian Uni- cedures more in line with traditional face-to-face versity of New England. education. Both usually aim at individualising their Nevertheless we seem to be entitled to claim that tuition. Cf. Thorpe 1979 who says about one large- distance education of the type that uses its full po- scale organisation, the British Open University, that tential can only to a limited extent be described, "the course teams provide the reading material understood and explained in terms of conventional (texts, broadcasts, kits) for hundreds or thousands of education and must thus be regarded as a separate students in general and the course tutors and tutor - mode of education. This is, in fact, one of the main counsellors teach the students as individuals"(p. 1). conclusions of Otto Peters' by now classical analy- It is evident that the industrial approach in this sense sis of the "industrial" character of distance teaching does not preclude individualisation or personal as compared with traditional teaching (Peters 1973 communication. pp. 309-310). Peters ignores the small-scale type of There can be little doubt about the validity of the distance education. above brief characterisation of distance education Not only typical large-scale and small-scale types as a mode of education in its own right. The para- occur, however; so do a number of applications

There are strong arguments in favour of consistent coordination of these tasks, thus, e.g., in order to facilitate simulated dialogue to make one author (course-team leader) address the students in a personal way. Cf. Holmberg 1983.

247 partly resembling either or both of these. Diversity Holmberg, B. rather than uniformity characterises distance educa- (1983). Organisational models for course development. tion. Nevertheless the paradox that distance educa- Epistolodidaktika 1983:2, pp. 14-27. tion includes elements of both mass communication Holmberg, B. and individualisation, of industriakation and dia- (1985). Status and trends of distance education. Second logue remains a bmic characteristic. revised edition. Lund: Lector Publishing. Leslie, J.D. (1979). The University of Waterloo model for distance education. Canadian Journal of University Continuing REFERENCES Education VI, 1, pp. 33-42. Peters, 0. Barker, Li., Taylor, J. C. & White, U.J. (1973). Die didaktische Struktur des Fernunterrichts. Un- (1986). Student persistence in distance education: a tersuchungen zu einer industrialisierten Form des Lehrens crosscultural multi-institutional perspective. ICDE Bulle- tin 12, pp. 17-36. and Lemens. TObinger Beitnige rum Femstudium 7. Weinheim: Beltz. Calvert, I. Peters, 0. (1986). Research in Canadian distance education. In Mu- (1983). Distance teaching and industrial production: a gridge, I. & Kaufman, D. (eds.), Distance education in comparative interpretation in outline. In Sewart, D., Kee- Canada, pp. 94-110. London: Croom Helm. gan, D. & Holmberg, B. (eds.), Distance education. In- Castro, A. & Holt, D. ternational perspectives. pp. 95-113. London: Croom (1985). An introduction of the Open Campus Program at Helm. Deakin University. ICDE Bulletin 9, Sept. 1985, pp. 13- Reldcedal, T. 24. (1973). Innsendingsoppgaveneibrevundervisningen. Childs, G.B. Hvilken betydelse har det a redusere omlopstiden? With (1971). Recent research developments in correspondence an English summary: The written assignments in corre- instruction. In MacKenzie, D. & Christensen, E.L. (eds.), spondence education. Effects of reducing turn-round The changing world of correspondence study, pp. 229- time. Osh- \110. 249. University Park: Pennsylvania State University. Ross, R.D. Elton, L, Oliver, E. & Wray, M. (1976). The institutionalization of academic innovations: (1986). Academic staff training at a distance a case two models. Sociology of Education 49. study. Programming Learning and Educational Techno- Smith, K.C. logy 23, 1, pp. 29-40. (1979). External studies at New ',:lgland. Armidale, NSW: Holmberg, B. The Univers,ty of New England. (1973). The Swedish Delta Project a case study. In Thorpe, M. Cranholm, G. (ed.), The selection of relevant media/ (1979). When is a course not a course? Teaching at a methods for defined educational purposes within distance Distance 16, pp. 13-18. education. EHSC. Oslo: NKI.

248 , ) ..... Independent learning: What the studentssay PAUL INGLIS School of External Studies, University of Queensland St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 4067

INTRODUCTION 10. Analysis of Data and production of Guidelines for developing distance learning autonomy. From 1983 to 1986 I carried out an investigation of the development of learning autonomy by tertiary This paper deals with Phases 1 to 6 and concentrates distance students. The primary task of my research on the method and the evidence procured. was the 1, rmeneutic explication and mediation of divergent forms of thinking about external students, current states and factors contributing to their HERMENEUTICS growth in learning autonomy. The vehicle for this Hermeneutics is interpretation through reflection. understanding was at first the basic language of the The philosophy of reflection relies on a model that participants and ultimately their metalanguages underlies the methodological connection of experi- through interviews. The process of researcher affin- ence, expression and understanding. The goal in ity with this language was essential to the interpreta- hermeneutical reflection is to reconstruct the expe- tion. The interpreted evidence was submitted to rience through valid symbols in which the partici- further enquiry for explanation by survey of all of the pants are embedded. The objective structure of distance students in Far North Queensland. The these symbols can be understood when we revert to data from the survey was submitted to Discriminant the process in which the meaning of the symbols Analysis for a prediction of factors most likely to was generated. Understanding is consequently an- produce student growth in the affective domain and chored on prior understanding. consequent independence in learning. Therefore, There is a circular character about this understand- both cultural and empirical sciences were called on ing and interpretation: to aid the erAication of evidence. "Any interpretation which is to contribute under- PHASES IN THE HERMENEUTIC standing must already have understood what is to be interpreted." (Heidegger, 1962:194). EXPLICATION OF EVIDENCE At the outset I knew that I was seeking to understand In summary the phases in this ex-' *ion appeared what conditions would promote affective and au- as: tonomous development of external students. The 1. Establishing the language of independent learn- circle was to close with an understanding and expla- ing of the participants (through Key Informants). nation of these factors as well as the many issues 2. Immersion of the researcher in this language. related to their promotion. 3. Establishing the metalanguage of independent learning of the participants (by Sampling of HERMENEUTIC INTERPRETATION Opinion). 4. Immersion of the researcher in this metalan- Whereas positive science is predicated by a resolve guage. to achieve a pre-suppositional or spontaneous be- 5. Reflection on the evidence (Second set of Key ginning what it asserts is independent of any re- Informants). liance other than what it declares at the outset, the 6. Interpretation of th,:i Issues through the exam- circle of understanding and interpretation in herme- ination of perceptions provided by the Key In- neutics seeks to clarify through reflection what is formants. already, but incompletely, understood. Habermas 7. Design of a Survey based on this int,,, pretation. (1980:186-188) has shown how the hermeneutical 8. Presentation of the Survey to a wider audience circle is useful to social enquiry as: to seek confirmation of the evidence. (i) ...,itical theoretical value showing how posi- 9. Seeking direction for analysis of the Survey tivism neglects the subjective nature of the (Sampling of Opinion). knowing subject; and

249 2C2 (ii) methodological value generating new meth- THE KEY-INFORMANT FACTOR IN ods of enquiry in the human sciences such as critical theory. INTERPRETATION It must be remembered that the crucial goal of crit- Key informants were used twice in this investiga- ical theory is human emancipation and distance tion. Key Informants are a feature of ethnographic ,tudents are recognised as disadvantaged and de- research which relies for its basic data on the testi- serving of educational emancipation. mony of individual informants. In anthropological accounts of ethnographic work, the informant and Hermeneutics is a discipline that has been primarily the informant's role is seen as a central part of eth- concerned with the elucidation of rules for the in- nographic research. terpretation of texts. More and more it is being uti- I was fortunate in making contact with key inform- lized as a tool for interpreting oral language suchas is manifested in interviews. John Thompson in his ants from the outset and at an appropriate stage in Critical Hermeneutics, a critique of the work of the refining of evidence. The initial field study was Habermas and Ricoeur, points out that "it is by centred on interviews with officers tutors, and stu- language that the world as an historical phenom- dents in regional study centres throughout Queens- enon is conveyed". (1981:41) But language is de- land. These informants taught me about their cir- veloped by individuals out of a cultural and social cumstances. They gave me assistance with "know- tradition. What one is attempting to understand or ledge on different social contexts, in providing interpret is not an historical amalgam of facts but a explanation (A situations that have been observed, "meaningful content immersed in a tradition of its and in giving the researcher some sense of the his- own" (ibid). This 'historicity of being' is a central torical events...". (Burgess, 1985:80) Later, after theme in the work of Gadamer (1975, quoted in forty interviews in Cairns I was able to employ a Thompson). The assertion is that human beingsare team of key informants to assist me with the in- locked into the flow of history and may aspire to terpretation of their evidence. rational self-determination but cannot break with tradition which defines the reality and the finitude of SELECTION OF KEY INFORMANTS their being (ibid:40). Interpretation of language The initial field study was intended to be a focussing therefore cannot ignore the historical realities and phase. The three informant types officers-in- tradition-bound nature of the dialogue of the in- charge of centres, tutors and students were per- terviews. It becomes imperative that the interpreter ceived to be representative of audiences in Queens- becomes equally absorbed in the culture of the par- land tertiary distance study. Small groups of inform- ticipants to reach any semblance of real understand- ants were identified by the local officer-in-charge ing. and met with me in informal conversations at a local Paul Ricoeur, whose hermeneutic phenomenology venue after arrangements were made and purposes has influenced much of the direction that this in- of my visit were explained in correspondence. All vestigation has taken, concurs with these themes informants attended the informal interviews on a and argues that to overcome the interpreter's preju- voluntary basis. dices one must submit the subjects' affective and Five key informants who supported the investigation volitional processes of will to an independent phe- after the forty Cairns interviews were identified by nomenological analysis. Such an approach must me as being reasonably representative of the dis- initially be structural but ultimately depends onre- trics' external students with a range of qualifica- flection. tions, years of study experience, courses being stud- Ricoeur's theory of interpretation seeks to integrate ied or completed and/or tutoring responsibilities in explanation and understanding in a constructive the mode were invited to meet with me informally to dialectic which is rooted in the properties of the text reflect on the evidence I had gathered at that stage. (in my study it is the language of the interview which is opened to reflection). He attempts to establish a THE ROLE OF THE KEY complementarity between explanation and under- INFORMANTS standing by making the text into the central problematic of hermeneutics rather than the intentions of In the initial phase of the study the key informants were able to present perspectives from their regional its ;, nor (interviewee). What is guiding a Ricoeur- ian .nalysis is the discourse itself. In my analysis i and personal status positions. Coming from widely have attempted, I believe successfully, to speed up scattered areas of Queensland, they presented some the process of interpreter familiarization with the similar concerns about their study experiences and culture of the participants by the use of "Key Inform- some unique to their location based on aspects of ants" and "Sampling of Opinion". The latter also distance, environments and support. Representing add to the validity of the interpretations of interview students, tutors and officers-in-charge, they also evidence and language. brought to the discussions varied perspectives of how the institutions could aid their development.

250 9 ,...,63 The perspectives from the initial phase key inform- team of key informants played out their role of guid- ants became the pivotal issues in the exploration of ers and interpreters. affective and autonomous growth of external terti- The final stage culminates in understanding ren- ary students. However, at no time was this evidence dered by explanatory procedures of structuralist given the status of parameters on further discussion. analysis. The object of the understanding is identi- The information gathering technique that followed fied as a potential reference released by the explana- allowed for new elements to appear at any stage. tion. Suspension of all professed significance appar- Nevertheless, these initial informants influenced my ent in the discourse creates the opportunity for a thinking about the topics for further discussion and second order of reference to arise a disclosing of a survey. possible world. The possiFe world identified in my The second phase of key informants played a more research is a series of heuristics for the enhancing of extensive role in the investigation. They acted for personal learning autonomy. me, as they did for Burgess (ibid:91), as "guides, assistants, interpreters, providers of historical narrative and contributed to my preliminary data analysis". They were given access to all of my taped VALIDITY AND TRUTH evidence from the forty Cairns guided interviews Validity and truth are approached from two direc- and corporately reflected on the information. tions in the dialectic of interpretation: (i) An attempt is made to construe the meaning of THE SAMPLING-OF-OPINION the text as an individual and articulated whole. Ricoeur maintains that the method for FACTOR IN INTERPRETATION validation of competing accounts is through On two occasions I sampled opinion from larger the logic of subjective probability rather than groups than the key informant groups. The forty empirical verification. So, Cairns interviews were a mostly urban sample of an "an interpretation must not only be probable, estimated 500 university and college of advanced but more prc.able than another. There are education external students in Far North Queens- criteria of relative superiority which may eas- land. A further 50 students representing all the ex- ily be derived from the logic of subjective ternal tertiary students resident in Weipa assisted probability." (Ricoeur in Thompson, 1981) with the direction that the analysis of the survey of all students took. In adopting Ricoeur's approach, I have employed Key Informants (practitioners) to submit the discourse to argumentation. THE PROCESS OF INTERVIEW (ii) As with the final stage of the dialectic of in- ANALYSIS terpretation, the second aspect of analysis of Since the object domain of Ricoeurian Fermeneut- the problem of validity and truth focuses on ics is the discourse, the first activity of the dialectic the method of interpretation. The truth attain- of interpretation is the imagination of the meaning of able by the discipline is bound to the methods what is said and he separation of this from the of interpretation which it employs. The impli- intentions of the speaker. This stage represents pos- cations cannot be abstracted from the meth- sibilities for several interpretations for odological assumptions. "it is always possible to argue for or against an This aspect of dialectic action does not purport to be interpretation, to confront interpretations, to arbi- neutral and descriptive, but is openly ethical and trate between them and to seek agreement ..." - prescriptive or in Thompson's words it (Ricoeur: 1976:79) "does not limit itself to an analysis of the motivated The elimination of inferior interpretations is not an action of an isolated individual, but attempts to empirical matter of verification and proof, but a comprehend the relations between motivated and rational process of argumentation and debate. such rational action, between practical and theoretical was the style of the sessions I conducted with the key reason, between individual and collective will." informants. The tone of such sessions was one of :op cit:62) cordial but critical debate. Like Ricoeur, I have conducted my investigations The second stage in the dialectic of interpretation is with an undisguised commitment to democratic to sever the discourse from the interlocutor and the processes within a context of rational belief in the situation of the dialogue. This renders possible ei- fallibility of human responses. Truth is inseparable ther the suspension of the interpreter's opinions from being, so my interpretation of the discourses and/or the actualizing of the non-ostensive refer- can be regarded as a reference to the reality per- ences in this discourse. In this investigation the sec- ceived jointly by myself and the participants as be- ond stage of the dialectic occurred when the second ing a part of our world.

251 2F4 LEVELS OF ANALYSIS The role of intermediaries such as part-time tutors and librarians in the promotion of effective inde- Ricoeur distinguishes several levels at which such pendent learning. an investigation must be conducted: Appropriate sources of information for students (i) At a conceptual level describes everyday compiling assignments. reason and motive. (ii) At a propositional level declares purposes and intents. PROPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS (iii) At a discursive level the relations between A desire to relate informally and conversationally statements concerning action are specified. . with lecturers. The notion of discussion with lecturers and tutors THE EVIDENCE as a follow up to receiving written assessment in What follows is a compilation of the interview data the form of debriefing and remediation. from Stage 1, the Initial Field Study which estab- Communication through lecturer-initiated phone lished the language of independent learning at a calls, face-to-face visits and correspondence of distance by these Queensland students; followed by an informal nature. an establishment of their metalanguage, or Ian- Lecturers could provide personal profiles to al- guage that was used to discuss in less than objective low the student to better estimate their values terms what the students meant objectively, by sam- positions. p!ing the opinions of forty Cairns-based distance Need to promote closer and more effective rela- students. This information, together with tapes of tionships between students and lecturers to clar- the interviews was made available to a consultative ify content emphases. team who acted as the second set of key informants The idea of being oriented to a subject with week- providing a critical response to the information so end symposia. far. The outcome of the latter exercise was the cre- External Studies needs to adopt modern teaching ation of a survey document based on the discursive strategies with motivating presentation of materi- validity of the collective issues raised so far. als and supplementation of the traditional notes with visual aids. THE LANGUAGE OF Increase the availability of resources and re- INDEPENDENT LEARNING FROM source personnel in regional centres. Provision of training in the negotiation of compo- KEY INFORMANTS nents of library organization at the outset of a Key Informants representing Officers in Charge of Course of Study. Study Centres, Part-time country tutors based in The provision of more experience with the use of these centres and students in provincial towns pro- loudspeaker/conference phone seminars. vided the initial concepts as reported previously. All The provision of time saving strategies to aid of these concepts and the discussion that ensues students in their searches for appropriate litera- existed as contested notions and open to further ture. debate and analysis. Reflecting on this evidence in Tutors would be more effet.tive with training, Ricoeurian categories, it was possible to identify orientation to the lecturer's values. three formations of opinion: conceptual, propositional and discursive. DISCURSIVE ELEMENTS CONCEPTUAL ELEMENTS a desire by some students to avoid close contact Inequality in relationships between the distance with lecturers or other students. students and institution-based lecturers. Notion of lecturers understanding the nature of Systemic communication that involves all par- the distance adult learner. ticipants and the materials. The recognition that students have varying goals The nature of the distance adult learner. including enjoyment, personal development and The role of evaluation in distance learning. professional development components. The impact on student performance of lecturer's Evaluation emphases create concerns such as personal bias or principles of operating in the how to satisfy the unknown values framework of subject? a lecturer, the level of achievement considered The effect of jargon in lecture notes. desirable, how much of personal opinion and The effect of presentation of lecturer notes. local input is desirable. The effects of geographical and urban isolation. The question of students being able to negotiate The effect of expenses directly related to study at differing styles in lecture material, especially a distance. contemporaneously. The effect of decentralization of resources and How to provide support for the geographically support personnel. isolated student who was riot able to attend tuto-

252 r 3 rials, receive first hand advice from face to face Many family (especially children and/or non- contact with lecturers and faced with extra com- supportive partner) and personal factors con- munication and mailing costs and problems. strain comfortableness with tertiary study and What resource factors promote effective growth specifically with external study where the partici- in independence as a distance learner? pants are adults. How to overcome the vacuum existence of tutors Study groups need to be organized and led with and to establish an appropriate relationship be- considerable deftness. tween tutors and lecturers/students. Much of the written material provided by the Is it appropriate to develop an understanding that institutions could be improved for presentation books are not the only source of information? and interest. Time management and lack of time i !present ESTABLISHING THE serious concerns for students. METALANGUAGE OF The taking-on of too many units of study has PARTICIPANTS created serious concerns about coping, in some cases resulting in total withdrawal for the year. The forty interviewees selected for sampling opin- For several participants study and assignment ion assisted in the identification of the metalan- writing was conflicting with lifestyle. guage of distance learning autonomy by offering the Work and study were often in conflict. fol lowing discursive elements: Not personally knowing the lecturer or the assignment marker caused insecurity. AUTONOMY-RELATED Many expressions indicating belief that students STRENGTHS AND SUCCESSES IN have about some lecturers not being sensitive to DISTANCE STUDY the special needs of adult distance learners and advocacy of training lecturers for distance teach- The fulfillment of personal goals and enjoyment ing. or satisfaction from study. The tiring nature of the large amount of reading in Gaining of personal social confidence through distance study. study achievements and study with small groups Some examples of being extremely worried of fellow students. about sitting for exams. Opportunity to live in a favoured location (Far North Queensland) and still be able to study. Greater understanding of self. CONCLUSION Able to continue study when no other way to do it. These issues, several audio segments of interviews, A convenient form of study which allows the anonymously presented profile data on the forty interviewees and my own reflections were present- continuation of social and sporting li,. Fitting in with work, family and friends is not ed to the consultative group for advice on the design difficult because study time is flexible of essential survey questions. My earlier notion that A financial return from employment opportuni- the promotion of affective elements in distance ties through gaining qualifications and skills. learning would enhance the growth of learning au- Improved writing skills have paid off in personal tonomy was upheld by the panel. Accordingly, from terms with a fuller and more satisfying life. this point I was seeking to find the elements in the An opportunity to be personally productive, to students' study and life worlds that they perceived to utilize talents hitherto untapped. be contributing to or hindering affective and auton- Personal motivation from good assignment re- omous growth. The consultative panel were very sults and comments. responsive to the material presented to them and a survey was drafted from the "subjectively probable" and "relatively superior" arguments establish- AUTONOMY-RELATED PROBLEMS ed in the deoate that ensued. WITH DISTANCE STUDY The survey has been administered and data ana- Study that is worthwhile offers personal enrich- lysed and presented to support a thesis on devel- ment, interest, and/or career development. oping learning autonomy in distance education. Many students seek out courses that offer reasonable study and evaluation expectations. Credit values on units need to be equitable within and across courses and relative to quantity of REFERENCES content. Guidelines to units of study provided in hand- Burgess, R.G. books often do not give clear indications of work- (1985). Strategies of Educational Research: qualitative loads or even content. methods. The Palmer Press, London.

253 --) ,-,---, - r; 6 Habermas, Ricoeur, P. (1980). The Hermeneutic Claim to Universality inj. (1976) Interpretation Theory: discourse and the surplus of Bleicher (ed.) Contemporary Hermeneutics, Rout ledge meaning. Texas Christian University Press, Forth Worth. and Kegan Paul, London. J. Heidegger, M. (1981) Critic al Hermeneutics: A Study in the Thought of (1962) Being and Tim-. Harper and Row, New York. Paul Ricoeur and Jurgen Habermas. Cambridge Universi- ty Press, Cambridge.

254 7 Focussingonthe learner JANET JENKINS Director International Extension College Dales Brewery Gwydir Street, Cambridge United Kingdom

Distance education is learner-centred. The dictum als, but it is also likely to include some advisers, is familiar. What does it mean? The theory is that such as eminent experts in the subject to be taught. distance education depends on self-instructional The planning group is therefore likely to be larger teaching materials, designed so that the content is than the group who will work on the materials, it is related to students' needs. Several media may be likely to contain a number of people for whom this is used print, audio, video and there will be an their first contact with distance education, and it is appropriate student support system, which may use probable that the experts are numbered amongst the for example correspondence or face-to-face tuition, newcomers; thus, those who will have most say in computer-aided instruction, self-assessment and course planning, by virtue of their seniority, may counselling. All these aspects of distance education have least experience of distance education. As a ought to be taken into account when courses are result course outlines often reflect the view of those designed. Often, however, the final product sug- who know little of distance students and their char- gests that course developers concentrated merely acteristics and who do not recognise their needs. on ensuring materials were self-instructional, and (Worse still, are those subject experts who gave up courses fall short of expectations. Why does this teaching long ago, aid now depend on their emi- occur? What happens during the process of course nence and research.) Moreover, those who know development to create this gap betaeen intention notoing of distance education lack media literacy; and performance? This article attempts some sug- they have little idea of the respective strengths and gestions, arising from my experience of distance weaknesses of print, audio and video, or of the teaching institutions in several countries. educational potential of an integrated mix of media. A distance-teaching institution can therefore en- THE STRANGLEHOLD OF THE sure, by the very structure of its planning team, that TRADITIONAL SYLLABUS it produces conservative and pedestrian courses. All too often, the institution makes things even worse by Course outlines are often modelled on existing prescribing before planning starts which media are school,universityorprofessionalsyllabuses. to be used and in what quantity. Course planners may intend a course to cover the same material or may use syllabuses they are famil- ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING: iar with as a source of ideas. But how satisfactory as models are such syllabuses? Often school or uni- AN EXAMPLE versity syllabuses are the bland compromise of a I take the example of English taught as a second committee. The best teachers try to make a syllabus language. Many people complete their education their own, a difficult task even when teaching face- using the medium of English even though it is not to-face. In the changeover from face-to-face to dis- their mother tongue. In distance study, English is tance-teaching methods, there is naturally a tenden- often an enabling subject, the means to study effec- cy to take the safe way, to emphasise the traditional tively in other subjects. Let us look at some of the parts of the syllabus, to rely on rote learning, and difficulties which arise in designing such English avoid those aspects that are controversial and diffi- courses. cult to teach. This may be partly because the chal- First, planners often fail to realise the functional lenge of preparing distance-teaching materials is nature of such English courses. Conventionally, we itself dauntin; and course writers choose to in- recognise four language skills: talking, listening, terpret the syllabus in the way that looks easiest. But writing and reading. A syllabus will seek to ensure the tendency to traditionalism can also be accentu- the development of these four skills according to ated during the process of course planning. students' needs. Some course outlines betray a lack Let us consider who plans courses. Usually it is of thought about this. There may be plenty of read- some kind of planning group. The group may in- ing and comprehension work important and easy cl ude those who wi II eventually develop the materi- to present at a distance. But what about writing? If a

255 2C8 student is taking other courses, he may have to write OU has become the lead institution in the devel- essays for assignments. Is it not a priority to develop opment of integrated multi-media courses. Today writing skills fast? And what about seminars? The we are all too familiar with the shortcomings of the student will need to understand the tutor, ask ques- team, its expense and heavy time requirements, but tions and hold discussions with other students. we should recognise its importance and seek to Second, distance students will have a different lan- develop suitable analogues. In particular, continui- guage background to students in the formal system. ty between the planning team and the course devel- Their language skills may be rusty. They may have opment team helps avoid the problems described at used English little since they learnt it at school. They the start of this paper. may, too, have been poor in English at school; limited language skills can lead to failure in the THE DEPERSONALISATION OF formal system and thus to reentry later via distance DISTANCE EDUCATION education. All these factors mean that special care is Academic dominance seems to be typical of uni- needed in designing English courses. versity-based distance education. Another kind of None of this is easy, and it becomes worse when bias is common in the business and technical sec- planners face the problem of teaching listening and tors, an over emphasis on learning materials. There speaking at a distance with limited resources. is a tendency to talk about learning packages, as These problems can be overcome, but the inexperi- though teaching materials are consumer goods, as enced may lack the courage to try. I once attended a naturally nutritious to the mind as a packet of fish meeting where planners were on the point of elim- fingers is to the body. This tendency seems to be inating all oral work because they could not think of associated with open learning, the idea that materi- a practical means of testing students' performaace. als should be accessible for use in a number of ways On another occasion, an English course had been and thus need to be somewhat freestanding. But planned without an audio component, and unit such freedom is often at the expense of getting the writing was far advanced before the writers saw right mix between learning from materials and there was a mismatch between the course objec- learning from a tutor or peers. There may be no tives and print, the medium chosen too late to organised support system. How "open" is such change. learning, we may ask. Open, presumably to those with the confidence and competence to learn with- ACADEMIC DOMINANCE out support, and closed to the rest of us. How often does idealistic waffle about openness provide cover Subject specialists naturally have a central role in for poor education? course planning and development. In distance education, however, administrative efficiency is as important as academic competence. There is a sym- BACK TO THE LEARNERS biotic relationship between teaching materials and This paper is not meant as a diatribe against the the learning support system, and a danger in over- worst in distance education. I am more concerned valuing the academic side at the expense of the with those who have tried and failed, or at least have administration. In particular, many distance teach- produced courses which do not quite live up to ing institutions are weak in their management of expectations. I do not wish to end on a bleak note. course development: materials may take years to Rather I want to stress that a great deal of second rate produce and the elements in a package may be distance education is quite unnecessarily so. I have pot. ly integrated. outlined some of the factors that adversely affect You may be familiar with Otto Peters' comparison of course design in the hope that we can find ways to distance education and industrial processes. In overcome these difficulties. My main message is, course production procedures we can sometimes however, an old one: the first step in course design, see the most impersonal side of distance education, before any planning takes place, must be to get to a production process with a firm division of labour know the students. An understanding of distance planner to writer to editor and so on and students and their characteristics is essential, along minimal communication between each stage.It with a knowledge of the educational needs and may happen that a lecturer writes a unit, and a environment of potential students for that particular television producer then tries to prepare a comple- course. mentary programme. The lecturer sees the pro- I will end with an unfashionable suggestion: can we gramme, and is angry because it does not corre- aim to consult our potential learners, so that they spond with his intentions. But is the producer to can participate in the planning and development of blame? The two have never met or tried to commu- courses? That way, we can ensure that the curricu- nicate. The system is to blame. The course team, as lum relates to their needs, the media choice is ap- developed by the British Open University, success- propriate, the support system adequate and our edu- fully avoided such dislocation, and as a result the cation truly learner-centred.

256

,,IC 9 The role of the editoras a course developer, at the College of Adult and Distance Education (CADE), University of Nairobi JUDITH KAMAU University of Nairobi Kenya

INTRODUCTION the course developer, is part of the team which includes: There has been a great up-surge in distance education in Kenya. Government departments and private the principal who advises on the necessity and organizations have established distance education other logistics of the programme; systems to deal with increasing educational needs academic members of the distance teaching de- that cannot be met through the traditional school partment; systems. These distance education systems have ba- subject specialists who will write the lessons; sically been influenced by local needs and local a students' counsellor; and environmental issues, among them: the constantly the course developer who advises on course de- rising population; the constantly rising education velopment, management and production. costs that constrain the national budget annually; Teamwork begins at the planning stage. The plan- and the need to provide educational opportunity to ners have to consider the following aspects of both children and adults which all call for the ex- course development among other thing.'It is their pansion of educational facilities while financial duty to: means remain limited. identify the educational needs of the programme Distance education systems work towards a com- and decide how they will be met; mon goal. They: identify the learners' needs and describe the lear- provide access to educational opportunities to ner characteristics and how they will affect the people who cannot go to school for onereason or programme; other. These opportunities currently range from identify the available resources and constraints; post-secondary to undergraduate studies; identify media; use innovative theories of teaching and learning; outline the programme. produce instructional materials that are interest- The programme outline includes: ing and stimulating to learners, and which aim to what form the materials will take, whether they sustain the interests of the learners from begin- will be study guides or self-contained units; ning to the end; media to be used whether radio/audio, print or build in active learning in study materials which face-to-face puts into consideration the needs and autonomy duration of the programme; of the learners; number of learners to be enrolled; use a two-way communication system to support administrative structure; and facilitate student learning as well as assessing collecting feedback information and how it will students' progress. be used; COURSE DEVELOPER AS A budget for the programme. MEMBER OF THE COURSE The role of the course developer in course planning and development is partly educational and partly PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT administrative. Very often the subject specialists TEAM who are contracted on a part-time basis have very Developing materials to meet the above objectives little knowledge of distance teaching. at CADE involves teamwork. The editor, who is also The course developer must work with them to ascer-

....._257 r)e'lri ,....I X I tain the teaching effectiveness of the course pro- TRAINING COURSE WRITERS duced. In this regard, the course developer assumes the role of the future student. The writers are recruited from institutions of higher learning, local secondary schools and from any oth- THE FUNCTIONS OF THE er relevant institution. The writers must be qualified in the subjects for which they are appointed to write. COURSE DEVELOPER IN COURSE DEVELOPMENT During recruitment the course developer makes sure that the writers meet certain requirements. For The functions of a course developer at CADE in- example: clude: Do the writers know their subjects well? finding, briefing and training course writers; Do they have teaching experience at the level for working with writers to improve the quality of which they are being recruited to write? their materials by ensuring that they teach well Do they have previous writing experience? and that the language and instructions are clear; Do they understand the needs of distant learners preparing a production schedule; or the target group? preparing materials for print and checking that Are they reliable and able to keep agreed dead- they are clearly linked with other course compo- lines? nents; Do they have enough time to write? structuring the text and checking details so that it Are they willing to attend frequent meetings to is ready for printing; discuss their work? controlling the process of course development. Once the writers have been recruited, the course CADE is currently running a number of distance developer then explains the process that CADE uses teaching programmes namely: before materials are approved for use, including The External Degree Studies Programmes. This vetting or reviewing of manuscripts. The writer is programme was launched last year. It has about told that once he or she submits the first draft, it is 600 students all taking the Bachelor of Education taken to a subject specialist who advises CADE of degree at a distance; any inadequacies. The writer is then asked to revise The untrained teachers In-Service programme. the draft incorporating all the suggestions made by This course is for untrained primary school teach- the reviewer. The course developer also reads and ers teaching in various elementary schools all explains the contract or agreement that the writer over the republic. About 5,000 students are cur- will sign binding him with CADE. rently taking this course. During training the course developer introduces the Foundations course in Adult Education. This writers to the format, stye, approach and methods course is for Literacy teachers and other frontline of the course. They are also urged to observe dead- workers working with local communities. About lines. Training is usually done in a series of work- 3,000 students are enrolled on this programme. shops, which last at least two weeks. After training All the above courses last from three to six years. the writers are given correspondence manuals for reference as they write the courses at home. Basical- ly the new writers cover the following topics: DETAILED PLANNING OF what it is like to learn at a distance; COURSE MATERIALS writing course/topic outlines The course developer is also involved in the syn- including activities and providing feedback; chronization of the three media used: print, radio/ writing objectives; audio and face-to-face contact. Once the course writing clearly and precisely; structure has been defined the course team then the administration of the course. apportions certain subject areas to the appropriate As the writing progresses t'ie course developer as- medium. Usually the print medium carries over sumes the role of a course designer. He or she three-quarters of the course load. The audio pro- checks written drafts to see if the writer is applying gre rimes are written and recorded by the corre- the principles of writing distance teaching materials spondence course writers. This is done to ensure covered during the training. When helping the writ- that the students hear the voice of their lecturers. er, the course developer discusses the following The face-to-face sessions are utilised to teach practi- with the writer: cal areas of the course. Students find these sessions extremely rewarding. The role of the course devel- reviewing course/subject outlines; opers in the selection and use of media is to syn- explaining and checking whether the writer is chronize all the media used and to ensure that all applying house style format; portions of the course allocation to each medium checking the introduction, which is ideally writ- are treated. ten after the whole lesson is complete;

258 establishing link of unit with other units in the HEADINGS course; assisting the writer to maintain balance of the The course developer also works with the writer to unit. establish a well balanced Heading scheme which tat'es into account the major topics, sub-topics, sub- Once the writers have produced the first section of sub-topics and even sub-sub-sub-topics in the les- the planned unit (lesson), they can then work on son. For example. their own. However, the course developer and writers must agree on dates for follow-up so that the 1. main topic writers have optimum support during the writing 1.1. sub-topic process. During the follow-up the course developer 1.1.1. sub-sub-topic checks that the unit (lesson) is written at the right 1.1.1.1. sub-sub-sub-topic level of the learners in terms of content and lan- This is found difficult by some writers butonce the guage difficulty. course developer has explained that all the levels of the main topic have to be identified and converted into an outline, then the writers find their way. Once THE COURSE DEVELOPER AS A the heading scheme has been agreed upon, the DESIGNER: PREPARING THE course developer discusses with the writers the format they should take. MANUSCRIPT FOR PUBLICATION During the writing process, the course developer ILLUSTRATIONS will have explained certain rules thatgovern the The course developer encourages the writers touse general layout, heading scheme, illustrations,cap- illustrations where they are necessary and relevant. italization, spellings and abbreviations. This is im- The illustrations used should be self-explanatory, portant because if these aspects of the unit are left capture the reader's interest, have instructional val- until the copyediting stage a lot of work will need to ue and be an integral part of the text. The course be done, which may waste valuable time. developer then works through the lesson with the writer to: specify the spaces needed for the illustration; GENERAL LAYOUT indicate where they should be; At CADE the general layout of the lesson is designed ensure that captions and labels are provided; so that the students will find the text not only attrac- decide whether the illustrations are to be framed, tive but also well-balanced to work through. The and/or numbered. This last decision not only course developer therefore works with the writer to adds aesthetic value to the illustrations but it also see that the chapters begin in a new page; that the makes them easy to identify in the text. content is evenly and logically distributed to maintain a balance and a logical sequence of the major CAPITALIZATION, SPELLINGS topics; that exercises have a symbol attached to AND ABBREVIATIONS make them stand out clearly for the student to identify. Listed below are examples of the symbolswe To a person who has not written before, this topic have developed: sounds obvious. It is not until people start to write that they realise that they are, for example, mixing stands for SAQ or self-assessment questions American and Britishspellings. (SAQs) which are reflective questions; Therefore the course developer at CADE has drawn up a list of is a symbol to identify objectives or take note; rules for writers concerning capitalization, spelling and abbreviation. If the writers follow these rules is used to identify emphasised or important then editing becomes less difficult. The writersare points that are not to be missed; therefore briefed on: written activity; when to use capitals which spellings to use (CADE prefer British spell- 0 open book to suggest further reading; ing system); when abbreviations can be used and how they closed book is used to identify summaries in are used. 0each chapter or subsection. The course developer encourages writers to under- All the above student activitiesare meant to create line foreign words and technical terms, for exam- variety in the text so that the student participates ple... actively when studying the lesson. You should plant sukuma wiki before the onset of The course developer therefore instructs the writer the long rains....what does the term random sam- to make these activities stand out in the printed text. ple mean? Then the underlined words are either put

259 272 in italics or bold type in the final copy for learners to During proof-reading, paste-up is also done. After notice easily. that the lesson goes for final corrections and then the Finally writers are encouraged to use a friendly and course developer submits it to the printing section conversational style that draws the students close to for running off and dispatch to the learners. the study text. THE ROLE OF THE COURSE ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS DEVELOPER IN TESTING AND In distance education, the learner must be actively EVALUATING DISTANCE involved in the learning process. In order to do this, TEACHING MATERIALS the course developer encourages writers to write so The aim of testing and evaluating instructional ma- that they are more Or less talking to the learner in a terials at CADE is to assess their quality before they friendly and encouraging dialogue. This dialogue reach the students. should advise students on what to do and how to do it, and encourage learners so that they do not give However, CADE has found it difficult to carry out a up studying. pre-test survey though this would be ideal with the target group. The major constraint here is time Some of the devices used in the text to sustain lear- and lack of financial and human resources to pre- ner interests are: test materials in good time before they go to the (a) objectives which guide the student as to students. Therefore CADE verifies the validity and where he or she is going; readability of the instructional materials during the (b) underlining or printing in bold or in italics; writing process and by using expert judgement. (c) prerequisites of the lesson; During the writing process, the course developer (d) using symbols; urges the writers to explain all difficult and technical (e) using bullets to break prose; terms and to illustrate their definitions using exam- (f) in-text questions, i.e. self-assessment ques- ples that are familiar to the learners. The course tions (SAQs) which are reflective questions developer also wants to know fromabject special- meant to keep the student alert. ists whether the writer has included the content (g) self-test questions which help the learner to elements necessary in writing instructional texts for review and apply knowledge and which distant learners. In doing this, the course developer break up content into manageable chunks; asks the subject specialist to comment on a number (h) summaries which help the learner to see if of things in the lesson. These include: he or she has understood the content; and (i) written assignments whose role is both diag- 1. Objectives nostic and pr3gnostic. their clarity, simplicity, specificity: and whether they are stated in a behavioral way The students are instructed to return their completed which will help the students to manifest the written assignments to the college for marking. Writ- required behaviour; ten assignments are used for continuous assessment of the students and to identify any flaws in the 2. Content outline and treatment course. This leads to evaluation of the programme. sequence and completeness in relation to the Written assignments provide a good tool in giving topic; the learners feedback in distance education; the whether content is ordered in logical se- learner must be guided constantly in how to get quence; correct answers and on how to identify and correct whether balance has been maintained; and his mistakes. Written assignments play this role very whether there are adequate examples to ex- well. plain the theories being put forward. 3. Inclusion of motivational and instructional de- BRIEFING TYPISTS, PROOF- vices READING, PASTE-UP AND whether SAQs, self-tests, summaries, sym- PRINTING bols, take notes and other forms of quick checks are appropriate to the target group. Once the lesson is written and is ready for production it is the duty of the course developer to brief the 4. Language level typists to lay out the pages correctly. Giving the level of difficulty; typist instructions on page layout, how to maintain appropriateness of the language; clarity, sen- the agreed heading scheme and leave necessary tence structure patterns, dialogue and wheth- spaces for illustrations and symbols, reduces the er important points have been highlighted; editing load and any subsequent typing. The typist is readability, and links of lessons, topics and also briefed on the agreed rules of capitalization, paragraphs in the entire correspondence text. spelling and abbreviations. 5. Assignments

260 . ) IP./j As mentioned earlier the role of assignments is that connection the tutors are encouraged to coun- both diagnostic and prognostic. The course de- sel students on how to study, when and where to veloper wants to know from the subject special- study and how to combir.e their correspondence ist whether: studies with their other economic and social com- the questions and instructions are clear to the mitments. student; Jointly with other members of the distance teaching the questions cover the entire lesson and department, the course developer explains the whether some sections are not tested? marking scheme to the tutors. This is important be- instructions on submitting the assignments for cause tutors need to be co-ordinated in the award- marking are clear. ing of marks to similar lessons. Co-ordination is The comments made on student assignments are ensured through one or two-day seminars where useful to the course developer during course revi- tutors mark dummy scripts and compare their sion. Such comments are also useful in the devel- marks. The questions are then moderated until the opment of the subsequent lessons in the programme tutors reach a consensus. They can then carry live because the course developer will use them to im- scripts to mark at home. prove the writing of other lessons in the course. Finally the aim of generating data on instructional materials from subject specialists is to enable the MONITORING STUDENTS' writer and the course developer to revise the draft texts incorporating the subject specialists' suggesti- ASSIGNMENTS ons before the lesson goes to the students. This Students' assignments are handled by the depart- feedback on study texts also goes to the other writers ment of the administrative assistant. This officer re- who are writing subsequent lessons in the same ceives the assignments from students and allocates programme. them to tutors according to subject specializations. Once the assignments are marked, the tutor returns the marked script to CADE. The records clerks work- THE ROLE OF THE COURSE ing in the Records Section enter the marks and DEVELOPER IN COURSE grades into Master cards for each student. The grad- TUTORING ed assignment is then returned to the student. The role of the course developer in monitoring the as- As we all know the interaction between the student signments is to check from the records that all the and the tutor is the backbone of the correspondence lessons have been tested. Where a written assign- study method. This interaction which provides a ment is missing which is very rare the course two-way communication enables the tutors to give developer contacts the writer to supply it. individual counselling to students on some problems that would otherwise be difficult to tackle through correspondence. This can be done through marking assignments and meeting students at resi- CONCLUSION dential sessions. At CADE tutors work on a part-time This article explains the role of the course developer basis and are eagaged to mark and assign grades to as a team member of the course planning and devel- students' written work and also to conduct the face- opment team at CADE. During the course planning to-face sessions. The tutors, like course writers, are process, the course developer advises the team on recruited from relevant institutions of learning. They the structure of the course and the type of staff who must be adequately qualified in the fields for which will be required to write the lessons. CADE engages them to tutor in. The tutors who are When preparing the manuscripts for publication, recruited to mark students' assignments are trained the course developer advises on editorial proce- by the course developer in: dures as well as editing some of the texts until the how to work through the lesson on which the drafts are ready for printing. written assignments are based; The course developer is also interested in feedback how to comment and guide students towards from students' assignments. This feedback is useful better performance (negative comments on stu- to the course developer for identifying flaws that dents' work are discouraged); may make the course difficult for learners. The how to give comments that suggest fresh ideas course developer uses this feedback to revise the and different opinions that may not have oc- course and to improve future programmes. Tutorial curred to the student; comments generate feedback on continuous assess- making comments that explain the mark or brade ment activities which are built in the study texts. The awarded to the assignment. feedback generated by tutorialsis used by the With the help of the student counsellor, the course course developer to improve on the lessons in pro- developer explains to the tutors about the course. In gress.

.) -, 261 ,....i 4 J. Jenkins BIBLIOGRAPHY Writing for distance education: manual (Cambridge, In- ternational Extension College, 1979). J. Kamau (Ed.) The external degree programme 'raining manual (University of Nairobi, 1984).

262 I -I D The role of al-Quds Open University in national development WALID KAMHAWI al-Quds University Amman Jordan

INTRODUCTION problems of the Palestinian and Arab peoples. In this paper the implications of the shortcomings of Education at all levels, including higher education, the educational system in the Arab countries are is the most important instrument for development. discussed. The effective role which distance educa- More and more countries place education as a top tion in general, and QOU in particular, can play in priority for national development. The reason for the development of human resources towards na- this lies in the fact that education is the major proc- tional development is given. ess in developing human resources which, in turn serve as creative forces for the transformation of CONSTRAINTS AND IMPEDING social institutions and natural resources. FACTORS The traditional thirst for knowledge and the growing There are several obstacles and constraints which awareness of the importance of education in devel- weaken the role of the prevailing educational sys- opment, employment and social status, has caused an upsurge in the demand for higher education. tems in the development of the Arab world. Some of these obstacles and constraints are as follows. Apart from increased individual demand for higher education, Arab states are themselves placing grea- (1) Demographic Factors ter emphasis on it. Accordingly there is a growing The population of Arab countries increased perception of the need for higher education, life- from 122 millions in 1970 to 188 millions in long education and vocational training. 1985, and is expected to increase up to 280 Between 1970 and 1982, the number of Arab uni- millions by the end of the century, (average versity students jumped from 444,000 to 1.4 mil- annual growth is taken as 3 per cent, 55 per cent lion.For the 3million Palestinians dispersed of this population is in th, under-20 years age throughout Arab and other countries, and the 2.2 group). million living in their homeland under Israeli occu- (2) Unfavourable Socio-Economic Structure pation, a figure of 60,000 university undergraduate The socio-economic structure of the A.-ab coun- students was estimated by UNESCO for the academ- tries suffers from many weaknesses, some of ic year 1977-78. This figure is expected to exceed which are related to the educational system, 100,000 by the end of the century. This means that only 10 per cent of the 18-30 age group were such as the underdevelopment of the technological capacity, the underutilization of the existing enrolled in an institution of higher education. facilities, the shortage of qualified personnel From this it can be seen that conventional universi- and the "brain drain'' which robs the region of ties and institutes cannot cope with the increasing its best qualified personnel. This caused an in- demand for higher education. Their inability to cat- crease in the percentage of unemployment in er to these needs, coupled with socio-political and/ these countries. Side by side with this, there or socio-economic factors, makes the open uni- exists an acute shortage of appropriately qual- versity an urgent necessity to Arab countries in gen- ified manpower. Failure to increase employ- eral, is Palestinians in particular. It is in response to ment opportunities in the Arab countries, is an- such concerns that al-quds Open University (QOU) other weakness in the socio-economic struc- has been established. ture. With its headquarters based in Amman (Jordan), (3) System and Qual4 of Education QOU is a pioneer open learning system in the Arab Despite the fact that there has been a great im- countries. It intends to utilize modern educational provement in the literacy ratio in the Arab technology and innovative concepts of distance world, 50 per cent of the population remains learning in solving the educational and cultural completely illiterate (not to mention the even

263 _" ..; 76 higher rate of functional illiteracy). Apart from I. Academic programmes of studies and training this, the educational system in Arab countries is II. Improvement the quality of education marked by the following characteristics: Self-employment (a) The methods of teaching at all levels are V. Adoption and transfer of technology heavily weighted in the direction of making VI. Regional and world-wide institutional co-op- the pur:.;I, memorize texts. eration. (b) Teachi ig tends to be dogmatic and author- I. ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES OF itarian.It does little to encourage critical attitudes or interest in self-education. It dis- STUDIES A ' TRAINING courages independent thinking and the A cursory look at programmes offered at Arab uni- growth of an inquisitive and experimental versities, reveals that the distribution of undergradu- frame of mind, that is so essential for devel- ate students between the scientific and technologi- opment. cal studies on the one hand and the more theoretical (c) A university degree became the object of areas of humanities and social sciences on the other, does not respond to national manpower needs. This pursuit, and a mere licence to get a job, thus shadowing the knowledge and skills to situation has resulted in serious problems in em- which the degree should testify. ployment, with acute shortages in the scientific and technological areas, co-existing with growing un- (d) Graduatesdevelopeda contemptfor employment of graduates in humanities and among manual work and most of the educated peo- "white collar" professionals. ple regard their education as a relief from fieldwork. Even when colleges of engineer- In contrast to such trends, QOU will play a pivotal ing and other technologica, institutes were role, not only in orienting students to assume pro- established, graduates were (and still are) ductive roles as defined by current market forces, commonly expected to become deskmen but to enable them to meet the challenges of a and office employees. changing society and the emerging socio-economic realitites. QOU programmes, being task oriented, On the whole it can be concluded that the traditional educational systems in Arab countries cannot will establish a closer link between the content of produce the manpower that can contribute effec- curricula and the actual needs of the society. This tively to national development. Hence, an innova- promotes practicality and direct contribution to native approach to educating and training manpower tional development. One of the most central objectives, which is emphasized by QOU, is to edu- should be considered as a critical catalyst for solving cate and generate a new kind of student and citizen the problem. The prominent approach which is rapidly spreading throughout the world is the use of in the Arab World, one who is (a) trained in a profession, vocation or skill that allows him to assume a distance education techniques, which are regarded as means to broaden access to higher education, productive role in the society, and (b) trained to be a and achieve equity at a relatively low cost. learner, an innovator, a self-sufficient and productive human being, who is able to meet the various The main purposes of introducing and applying dis- challenges of a changing society and overcome the tance education techniques are: hardships of living under abnormal and difficult (1) to supplement, augment and bridge the gaps conditions. between targets and resources. The Foundation Courses are designed to ;moan (2) to make education and training accessible to the awareness to the student of the achievements of deprived massive groups of people, humanity, past and present, and to expose him/her (3) to establish a system of imparting education to the social environment and variable problems. which is centrifugal and diffusive in nature, Among the Foundation courses are: "Human Civi- (4) to stimulate the knowledge, skill and capacity ii..ation", "Learning How to Learn", "Analytical according to learners' needs and choices. Thinking" and "Contemporary Challenges". Having concluded that distance education was the QOU plans to respond to two levels of educational most appropriate method for meeting Arab educa- needs: degree programmes leading to the B.A./ tional needs, the establishment of al-Quds Open B.Sc., and courses in continuing education and vo- University became a necessity. cational training and other skills, which will enhance the socio-economic positions of individuals EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION OF and contribute to social development. AL-QUDS OFEN UNIVERSITY TO In addressing the individual and developmental NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT needs of Palestinians and Arabs, QOU plans to offer In this part of the paper, the role of QOU in the degree programmes in five key areas: national development of the Palestinians and Arabs (a) Land and rural development is dealt with under the following headings: (b) Home and family development

264 (c) Technology and applied sciences to be an educated, cultured and self-employed pro- (d) Management and entrepreneurship ductive member, not only socially but also econom- (e) Educational and in-service leacher training. ically. The distinguishing features of the degree programmes are: (c) TECHNOLOGY AND APPLIED (i) flexibility in the choice of courses SCIENCES PROGRAMME (ii) vocationalization of courses Most Arab countries are trying to industrialize. (iii)social orientation of curricula However, without a clear industrial policy their (iv) self-employment. plans will not be fulfilled. In theory, appropriate The emphasis in these programmes is on the in- technology must be used innovatively by Arab engi- terdisciplinary approach. There are two main ob- neers, but the reality for graduates is different. Engi- jectives that underlie such a selection: first, that they neering courses in Arab universities are given to respond to actual environmental and societal produce designers rather than applied engineers. needs, and second, that they encourage self-em- This situation is illogical in developing countries ployment. By fostering individual initiative and in- where applied engineers and technicians are need- dependent and critical thinking, QOU is intention- ed in much greater number than designers. With this ally departing from the traditional rote system of in mind, the Technology and Applied Sciences pro- education, and is concentrating on offering programme was set up. It consists of B.Sc. special- grammes in fields that are vital to the region's devel- izations in Energy, Electronics, Informatics and opment. Electromechanical Engineering. (a) LAND AND RURAL By responding to the needs of the job market, the programme aims at producing applied engineers DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMML who are capable of some design work, and useful Despite the fact that the Arab economies are pre- for employment or self - employment. It also aims at dominantly agricultural, and that a large segment of improving the practical capabilities of engineers, by the population lives in rural areas, the Arab coun- providing them with in-service training courses and tries have failed to achieve self-sufficiency in food- practical field work in workshops, crafts and indus- stuffs. For such countries, no development strategy tries. will succeed unless farm economies are diversified, rural institutions developed and rural youth gainful- ly employed. (d) MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP QOU's programme of Land and Rural Development is designed to provide incentive, self-employment, PROGRAMME further training and career opportunities for students National development requires not only high-qual- and people living in rural areas and villages. ity manpower, but also a democratic organizational The programme lays great emphasis on relevant milieu for the promotion of effective and efficient learning and task-oriented training.It combines management of development projects. This require- courses in agriculture, the environment, rural so- ment is very crucialin Arab countries. QOU, ciology, rural industries and farming projects. By through its Management and Entrepreneurship pro- this it plays an important role in the development of gramme, aims to give courses in Management, Busi- agriculture and rural societies in Arab countries in ness Administration, Principles of Law, Economics, general, and the Occupied Territories in particular. Accounting, Statistics etc. The philosophy behind This programme motivates rural students to stay in this programme is to produce managers with initia- their villages and develop their communities, in- tive, practical abilities, teamwork spirit and capable stead of migrating to cities and becoming slum of founding a private enterprise or coping with ma- dwellers or unemployed urbanites. naging a public institute. (b) HOME AND FAMILY (e) EDUCATION AND IN-SERVICE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME TEACHER TRAINING This programme is directed mainly, but not exclu- This programme aims to: sively, towards the female half of the population. It (1) provide teachers with the opportunity of extend- combines, among others, courses in home econ, -n- ing their professional competencies, thus qual- ics, family relations, principles of hygiene, nutri- ifying those who are not professionally qualified tion, child rearing, care of the elderly, as well as despite the fact that they hold degrees home industries and handicrafts. (2) upgrade the skills of teachers and supervisors to This will serve in strengthening the family unit, im- enable them to contribute to the promotion of proving its relationships and enabling the housewife meaningful learning

265 (3) contribute to the improvement of the technical, multi-media instructional system including elec- supervisory and administrative standards of tronic media such as audio-cassettes, video-tapes practitioners, through task-orientated in-service and computer-assisted learning. A long-term goal training programmes, designed to meet specific involving the use of Arab satellite (ARABSAT) by professional needs of target population, espe- QOU is also considered. The use of computer-as- cially pre-school (KG) teachers, and teachers sisted learning (CAL) requires some modifications, involved with the mentally retarded and phys- due to lack of standardization in Arabic codes in the ically handicapped hardware and software. Such use of technology, (4) provide in-service education and training to together with the graduates from the Technology teachers who were unable to complete their and Applied Sciences programme, will form a tech- academic study and thus enable them to attain nological basis which, in turn, will help the area in the first university degree B.A. or (B.Sc.). the adoption and transfer of the appropriate technologies. II. IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION V. REGIONAL AND WORLD-WIDE The effectiveness of any university is largely determined by the nature and contents of its courses, yet INSTITUTIONAL CO-OPERATION in the case of QOU, individualized instructional QOU has no aim of becoming a separate entity materials that lend themselves to self-directed learn- functioning apart from existing higher education ing are of the paramount importance. Application of institutions in Arao countries and the Occupied Ter- these materials in QOU programmes through a mul- ritories. On the contrary, it seeks to develop a func- ti-media approach will promote discovery learning tional and integral relationship with these institu- and critical thinking processes. Thus, learners will tions. Part of this co-operation involves the partici- become research minded and problem solvers and pation of their professionalsinpreparing the hence better contributors to national development. curricula and instructional material and using their To achieve these goals, QOU is tapping the re- libraries, laboratories, workshops and other facilities. QOU, on the other hand, will make its in- sources and skills of the best professionals in their structional materials and expertise available to the respective fields, who can produce the instructional staff and students at Arab conventional universities. material to the standard of quality and excellence. Although this material is primarily for QOU pro- QOU is building bridges of co-operation with other grammes, it is expected to be used by other uni- distance education institutions, through the ex- versities in Arab countries. change of programmes and is benefiting from their In addition to this, QOU adopts the national lan- experience in training and curriculum development. By this QOU is saving money and time in guage (Arabic) as the basic medium of instruction. developing educational material, which has been or This Arabisation makes higher education accessible to almost all of the target population. Moreover, it is being produced by Distance Education Institutes world-wide. In this aspect there is a lot to be grateful contributes to the preservation and revival of their for, but much more to be desired. cultural heritage. QOU hopes that Distance Education Institutes in III. SELF-EMPLOYMENT different countries will co-operate more in the ex- While it is true that the creation of jobs depends change of educational material and the transfer of upon the state of the economy, and the vitality of the expertise. Thus creating a global distance education social and political institutions of a particular coun- network of co-operation and goodwill for the best try, education has a big responsibility. QOU, interests of mankind and peace on earth. through its programmes, hopes to respond positively to the needs of national development, and to strengthen the motivation for self-employment. Fur- thermore, students in QOU will be economically BIBLIOGRAPHY productive, as they could work during their studies. Similarly, workers of all categories, who need to Blackburn, D.A., and Neil, M.W. update their knowledge and professional skills, or Relationship between Distance Learning University and develop new competencies, can do this without Residential University (QOU, Amman, 1986). leaving their job. Calvert, Jocelyn Facilitating Inter-institutional Transfer of Distance Cours- IV. ADOPTION AND TRANSFER es. (OLI, B.C., Canada, 1986). OF TECHNOLOGY Harry, Keith Distance Higher Education: Institutional Systems (QOU, Beside the printed material, QOU has opted for a Amman, 1986).

266 .tivel .,( :i Course Material: Information, Adaption and Collab- Timmers, Shannon and Mugridge, Ian oration (QOU, Amman, 1986). Open Learning Institute (OLI, B.C., Canada, 1986). Kamhawi, Walid UNESCO "Plans and Prospects for Palestine Open University", in: Palestinian Open University, Feasibility Study (Paris, M. Bashur (ed.). The Role of the University in Extension 1980). Education (AUB, Beirut, 1981). Statistical Yearbook, (Paris, 1984). al -Quds Open University International Consultation on Distance Education (Deakin University, 1987). Regional Office in Asia and Oceania (Bulletin, UN- ESCO, Bangkok 1978-87). Morrison, T.R. 'Challenging Success" Towards the Future of Distance Wichit, Srisa-an Education, (R. U., Bangkok, 1987). Distance Education: The STOU Approach (STOU, Bang- kok 1986). Mugridge, Ian, and Kaufman, D. (ed.) Distance Education in Canada (London, 1986). Wilson, Kevin The Student in Open Learning University (QOU Amman, Osman, O.M. 1986). Perspectives of the Development of the University in the Zahlan, A.B. Arab Region to Year 2000 (UNESCO, Paris, 1983). An Introduction to Open Learning Systems of Higher Edu- Swift, D.F. cation (QOU, Amman, 1986). The Global Village Realize-:?? (Hong Kong, 1986).

267 Language learning atadistance: adynamic sector of university continuing education in Canada ROBERT KARPIAK University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

INTRODUCTION Group 4: The languages of antiquity: Latin, An- cient Greek, and New Testament Greek. The convergence of language study and distance delivery methods has, within the past decade, The teaching of these twelve languages nine evolved into one of the most dynamic sectors of modern and three ancient is taking place through university continuing education in Canada. Today, 94 distance delivery courses which serve combined thirty-one Canadian universities operate distance course-registrations of approximately 21,000 stu- education programs, offering a total of almost 1400 dents annually. Translated into full-time equiva- credit courses in about 200 subjects and discipli- lents, the enrolment figure of 4,200 would equal the nes.Quite significantly, not less than 17 percent of entire student population of one of Canada's smaller all these cour,es are either pure language or lan- universities. guage-related courses (e.g. literature, culture, practical translation) which have been developed by THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: university language departments. In Ontario, where FRENCH twelve universities operate distance education programs, language and language-related courses cur- The expansion of French language instruction in rently comprise 23 percent of all teledidactic cours- recent years has been truly outstanding. Between es offered in that province (Council of Ontario Uni- 1984 and 1986 the number of universities teaching versities, 1986). French courses through their distance education programs has grown from nine to thirteen, representing a 45 percent increase in just two years, while OBJECTIVE the number of courses has risen from 32 to 40 a Since developments in Canadian distance educa- 25 percent increase. The steady expansion of tion are now being intensively observed and docu- French language courses over the past decade offers mented (Mugridge and Kaufman, 1986), we shall an indication of the energetic response of distance examine the language disciplines in a national per- education to the Canadian_"quiet language revolu- spective. tion" (Stern, 1984). In a constitutionally bilingual country where less than one-third of the population claims French as its mother tongue, university lan- THE NATURE AND DISTRIBUTION guage departments have for the most part recognized their responsibility for providing language OF LANGUAGE COURSES learning opportunities not only to the recent high For the purposes of this paper, iti:-. convenient to school graduate, but also to the mature part-time classify the languages currently taught through dis- student who elects to study in the distance educa- tance delivery in Canada into four r,ups, although tion mode. Consequently, the number of French there is some degree of overlap: language courses has more than tripled in the last Group 1: The official languages of Canada: En- ten years and now represents 43 percent of the total glish and French. of language courses. The annual French language Group 2: The major languages of international enrolment figure of 14,500 students represents 70 communication: German, Russian and percent of the total yearly registration in university - Spanish. level teledidactic language study in Canada. Group 3: The languages of Canadian ethnic mi- All but two of the fifteen universities providing lan- nc :Ries: Dutch, Italian, Polish, and Uk- guage instruction at a distance offer at least one rainian. course in French language. Currently among the

268 PS1 most affluent is the CoursAutodidactique de Fran- tongue in view of the occupational and recreational cais Ecrit (CAFE) Program developed at the Uni- advantages it offers North Americans. The trend in versite de Montreal and designed primarily for the the teaching of Spanish is one of expansion. Four improvement of French writing skills. Operating at universities located in Ontario, Quebec, and Nova that university since 1976 and adopted recently by Scotia presently enrol over a thousand students in the Universite Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia, the CA- about twenty university-level courses every year. FE Program's sequence of three ten-weekcourses The eleven university courses in German language now draws over 12,000 registrants per year. Signif- are shared by the distance education programs of icantly, more than 75 percent of these learners are three universities: the University of Waterloo, the female office workers who, in the light of federal University of Western Ontario, and Queen's Uni- and provincial language policies, have recognized versity, the latter offering a full concentration in the need to upgrade their proficiency in written German leading to the B.A. degree. The University French. of Waterloo has developed distance delivery cours- French language courses intended primarily for es designed for scientific and technical rer..ling. francophones are, however, in the relative minority. The study of Russian, despite its importance as a The larger proportion of French language instruc- major world language, remains under-represented tion is aimed at the anglophone population and in Canadian distance education. Distance courses takes piacc in the form of comprehensive se- in this language are presently available only through quenced r curses designer' to take the learner sys- the University of Waterloo Correspondence Pro- tematically through the elementary, intermediate, gram. Soon to be supplemented by courses in scien- and advanced levels of language study. In fact, an tific Russian, the Waterloo program will offer stu- entire degree program with specialization in French dents and workers in science-related fields an eco- is attainable ent:rely through distance education at nomical alternative to the expense and delay of Athabasca University. Although it has not yet ap- professional translation. proved a full undergraduate degree concentration in French for distance delivery, the University of Wa- terloo Correspondence Program has become one of THE LANGUAGES OF CANADIAN Canada's largest providers of French language in- ETHNIC GROUPS struction with its nine French language courses serving over 1500 students annually. The study of the languages of several Canadian eth- nolingual groups, including Dutch, Italian, Polish Another notable development in the teaching of and Ukrainian, has established its viability primarily French at a distance is the methodological and tech- through the University of Waterloo's distance edu- nological redesign of long-standing courses. The cation program. These courses allow Canadians to University of Saskatchewan's Independent Studies explore their cultural heritage, to discover the an- Program offers a fine example of such quality con- cestral languages of their fellow citizens, and to trol and innovation: a French language course with promote minority language retention in accordance a history of some forty years was completely rede- with the principle of multiculturalism entrenched in veloped and modernized in 1982 using the course the Canadian constitution. team approach involving a content expert and a professional instructional designer. THE ANCIENT LANGUAGES THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: The study of Latin and Greek originated at the dawn ENGLISH of correspondence education in Canada and continues to affirm its vitality through a variety of courses. In contrast to the preponderance of French language The appeal of such languages is increasing and in instruction, the teaching of English as a second lan- 1985 the University of Waterloo added New Testa- guage by teledidactic methods is noi common. Nev- ment Greek to its offering of Latin and Ancient ertheless, the four-course sequence of English lan- Greek, and Mount Allison University introduced guage study for francophone learners provided by Ancient Greek in that same year. Tele-Universite is highly popular in the province of Quebec and enrols almost 5000 students annually. LANGUAGE SKILLS ACQUISITION AND COURSE DELIVERY MEDIA THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGES Of the 94 language courses presently offered through university distance education programs in The distance teaching of German and Spanish has a Canada 58 courses, or 62 percent of the total, are fairly long history in Canada, with the origins of comprehensive courses which strive to impart the several courses going back at lust twenty-five four basic language skills: listening comprehension, years. Spanishis a particularly popular foreign oral fluency, reading facility, and writing accuracy.

269 '41 This methodological approach is particularly appli- CONCLUSIONS cable to the teaching of modern languages wherea balance of writing and speaking knowledge isa The response of Canadian distance education to primary objective. In such courses the most fre- language legislation, to new attitudes toward lin- quently adopted medium for providing oral-aural guistic versatility and toward language study in gen- training is the audiocassette (Karpiak, 1986). eral, has been energetic and extensive. With fully half of Q iada's distance education universities Due to its low cost and universal availability, the now engaged in language teaching, the learners of audiocassette functions as the principal medium in today have an unprecedented choice of methods, audiotape-based courses and as an auxiliary medi- media, and independence levels in their studies. um in course delivery systems based on print, radio, Furthermore, experience has shown that distance and television. In Canada, 83 percent of all distance teaching methods are effective in language instruc- language courses use audiocassettes asan integral tion (Karpiak, 1982; Holmberg, 1985). As a result, component of the course package. This compares the viability of distance language study has become very f-avourably with the results of an international firmly entrenched in the Canadian continuing edu- survey of distance delivery language courses con- cation system. ducted by Athabasca University, which reporteda 64 percent rate of audiotape use (Stringer, Shale and Abrioux, 1982). In addition to audiotape and print, distance language courses are also delivered by television and radio (Abrioux, 1982). REFERENCES Abrioux, D. (1982) "L'Utilization des me dias dans l'enseignement a STUDENT SUPPORT SYSTEMS distance des Iangues: Une programme de l'universite d'Athabasca", Canadian Journal of University Continuing In language courses the mainstay of in-course sup- Education, 8, 2, 48-50. port is the two-way communication process between the learner and the course instructor or tutor. Council of Ontario Universities The educational media and technology of the sup- (1987). University Education at a Distance: Opportunities in Ontario, 1987-88. port system range widely. Thus, in addition to print, courses presently utilize, in various combinations, Holmberg, B the audiocassette, the telephone, the audio-tele- (1985)." Teaching Foreign Languages at a Distance", Dis- conference, and face -t, -face sessions. tance Education, 6, 1, 79-90. The telephone provides the standard channel of Karpiak, R. synchronous two-way communication, and provi- (1982) "Modern Language Teaching by the Correspond- sion for its use is a feature of virtually every distance ence Method: One University's Experience", The Cana- education program in Canada. The audiocassette dian Modern Language Review, 38, 4, 658-664. also serves as a medium for the support of language Karpiak, R. students. Learners and instructors use cassettes in a (1985) "Language Teaching Through Distance Education: variety of ways: to get acquainted at the start, to talk Some Approaches to Two-Way Communication", Cana- on an individual basis during the course, to provide dian Journal of University Continuing Education, 11, 2, and discuss feedback on assignments, to conduct 17-33. oral drills, etc. The audiocassette is also used in Karpiak, R. certain courses to integrate distance learners into a (1986) "The Technology of Teaching Languages at a Dis- geographically distribut "class", that is, to add- tance: Recent Developments at Canadian Universities", ress supplementary and remedial material to an en- in Picot, I. (ed). Communications Technology in Higher tire group in the form of an audio-tutorial (Karpiak,, Education. Moncton: University of Moncton, 178-194. 1985). Mup,ridge, I. and 16. .fman, D. Audio-teleconferencing has only been used experi- (1986) Distance Education in Canada. London: Croom mentally in several language courses at the Uni Helm. versity of Waterloo, and there are no reports on the Stem, H.H. applications of col nputer-assisted language instruc- (1984) "A Quiet Langua ,e Revolution: Second-Language tion in distance education courses. However, re- Teaching in Canadian Contexts Achievements and Di- search and experimenta 'ion is taking place ata rections", The Canadian Modern Language Review, 40, number of universities io the computerization of 4, 505-524. on-campus language courses 2nd this technology Stealer, M., Shale, D. and Abrioux, D. may soon be integrated into computer-based dis- i 982) "tangy Jge Learning at a Distance: International tance language instruction. Comparisons", Teaching at a Distance, 21, 52-56.

270 R3 Australian distance educators: innovatorsi orprofiteers? MAVIS E. KELLY School of External Studies and Continuing Education University of Queensland St Lucia

INTRODUCTION the Private Overseas Student Policy, known as the Goldring Report. Profiteer: A person who makes excessive profits, especially by taking advantage of times of difficulty A major recommendation of the Jackson Report was or scarcity. (The Everyday Oxford Dictionary, Ox- that: ford University Press, 1981). Education should be regarded as an export indus- Since 1985 moves by the Australian federal govern- try in which institutions are encouraged to comment to promote the selling of higher education to pete for students and funds... Scholarship funds overseas students, principally in the regions of would be simultaneously provided through the South-East and North Asia have stimulated new di- aid vote to promote development and equity (p. rections for those institutioas engaged in distance 87). education. It is no accident that the early players in With regard to full cost recovery by charging fees to the off-shore marketing stakes have been institutions overseas students, the Goldring Report comes to the which have already been promoting their courses opposite conclusion: within Australia over the past decade, largely as a survival measure. As well, some distance education While a market-based ful l cost recovery approach unitsinlargemetropolitaninstitutionshave to overseas students is a possible alternative to the glimpsed the possibility of raising their profiles with- present system, such an approach could not be in their institutions by pursuing the goal of market- easily accommodated into the Australian educa- ing courses overseas. tion system as presently structured... a market- based approach would also upset many educa- Until 11486, two categories of overseas students tional, cultural, foreign policy and other interests were permitted to study in Australia: which surround the programme, based as it is on 1. Fully sponsored students a view of education as a commodity which can be 2. Private, subsidised students who paid a propor- bought and sold in accordance with the dictates tion of full fees. of the market (p. 85). In 1985 the federal Minister for Education took the When in 1985 the Minister for Education took the decision to allow marketing of courses to overseas decision to allow marketing of higher education students on a full-fee basis while pledging to main- courses her approach was generally seen as sup- tain the two categories of students above. porting the spirit of the Goldring report, but events since that time have shown the government to be higher education can now be marketed to overseas oriented towa- 's the free-market view of the Jack- students in two ways: son report. 1. By attracting students to study on Australian In the years that followed. several Australian in- campuses stitutions were swift to respond to the Minister's 2. By sale of distance education courses to students initiative. The Commonwealth Tertiary Education who continue to reside in their own countries. Commission (1987) noted in its Report for the 1988- Two reports, both presented to the government in 90 Triennium that in 1986, 500 full fee payi.ig over- March 1984, addressed the issue of Australia's pol- seas students were enrolled in Australian institutions icy on overseas students within the context of Aus- with the majority off-shore and in 1987 some 1600 tralia's overseas aid programme. These were the enrolments were expected in higher education Report of the Committee to Review the Australian courses with about 60 percent studying by distance Overseas Aid Programme known as the Jackson education. The years 1986 and 1987 also saw vigor- Report and the Report of the Committee to Review ous representation by Australian institutions at vari-

271 4r..."Q4 ous education fairsin the region, as well as stantial market exists. A survey was scarcely needed representation by the International Development to indicate a very high level of unmet demand for Programme which represents universities and col- higher education in South-East and North Asia. The leges of advanced education and by AUSTRADE, problems is, however, one of identifying the kind of the Australian Trade Commission. demand and the extent of the demand for Australian While most institutions have been restrained in their qualifications in particular. approach to marketing, others have moved with In 1985 the Australian government sent an Educa- some haste to establish a base in specific countries, tion Mission to this region to survey the commercial unaware of the lessons to be learned from the British opportunities for Australian education. As a result of experience in the early 1980s (see for example this survey, the Mission concluded that by 1988 Belcher, 1987) or perhaps unwilling to benefit from Australian educational institutions could develop this experience. markets for services and other activities in the vicin- ity of A$100 million per year in foreign exchange WHY MARKET HIGHER earnings. This would mean that foreign exCiange EDUCATION? earnings from marketing education would be comparable with leading manufacturing sectors. The reasons for marketing Australian education to overseas students are complex but may be summar- There was some account given of attitudes towards ised as follows: distance education in the report, principally in In- 1. To boost export earnings for Australian goods donesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong. It seems that and services; distance education has some potential as a market- 2. To enable institutions to cope with reduced gov- able commodity in the region surveyed but it would ernment spending on education; be more a matter of developing courses tailored to 3. To enhance the viability of small regional in- suit local needs rather than enrolling students in stitutions. existing courses. Given the heavy investment required to develop new distance education pro- Behind these arguments lies a clear ideological pref- grammes, the argument for economies of scale erence for an economic stance which views small brought about by marketing existing courses dis- government and the deregulation of the economy as appears if there is no substantial market for these highly desirable and which argues that an invest- courses. ment in education should be borne by the individual since the primary benefits accrue to the individual. Furthermore what we sometimes choose to ignore in our discussions of marketing distance education The case for marketing distance education in partic- to Asian populations is that it is not often considered ular seems to rest on the fact that Australia has a to be a viable alternative to campus-based educa- large pool of qualified school leavers who are un- tion within these countries. Potential students may able to find places in the institutions and courses of well need a good deal of convincing and their po- their choice. It would be undesirable if fee-paying tential employers may regard qualifications ob- overseas students were seen to be occupying places tained in this way with some suspicion. which might be filled by Australians who are currently denied access to higher education. Since tui- There are as well the attitudes of governments in the tion fees cannot currently be charged to Aust, alian region to consider. In spite of an acknowledged students, they could not buy a place even if they unmet demand for higher education, they are not wanted to. generally willing to relinquish control over their education systems to the extent of allowing provid- The cost structures of distance education as itis ers from other countries to fill the educational gap practised are such that the fixed costs of course without close scrutiny, and in some cases, without preparation are best spread over as large a number formal registration. of students as possible. If the additional students in a course are overseas students paying full fees, so IMPLICATIONS much the better. Market Control versus Central Control At an attitudinal level, distance educators have Perhaps few educators have seriously considered made it easy to conceptualise this mode of educa- the implications of substituting market control for tion as a commodity: they typically refer to the central control of higher education. "industrial" nature of distance education to "consumers" who are provided with a "package" or a Some possible outcomes are worth considering by "product" which is "delivered" and "maintained". those educators who believe they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by entering the educa- THE NATURE OF THE MARKET tional market place: Any proposal to market Australian higher education 1. A focus on commercially viable courses at the on a large scale rests on the assumption that a sub- expense of traditional higher education courses.

1 72 , ci 2. Reduction in the overall number of institutions number of overseas students who study on Austra- by closure of those that are not commercially lian campuses. viable. Without adequate financial support, distance edu- 3. Reduction in the range of courses offered by cators may well be forced into a situation where institutions. they are providing a service to overseas students 4. Larger class sizes or reduced lecturer contact to which they know to be inadequate as is some- ensure commercial returns on investment. times the case with Australian students because 5. Fluctuation of courses offered by institutions in their institutions refuse to commit funds for the pro- line with market pressures. vision of adequate support services (such as pre- 6. Introduction of courses without adequate plan- enrolment and post-enrolment counselling, tutorial ning and funding in response to market de- support, good feedback on assignments, support mands. with English language) or for the development of As McCullough (1986) points out: courses tailored to suit the requirements of clien- Market based systems, by their nature, seek to teles. Some students may persevere under these maximise the return of capital and labour invest- circumstances because this represents their only ed and therefore tend to skew resource allocation chance of attaining a higher education; others may to areas which generate the highest rate of return. choose to buy their education elsewhere. In neither Demand and resource allocation are exclusively case will the reputation of Australian distance edu- mediated by the price mechanism and the oper- cation be enhanced. ation of market signals (p. 52). If the Asian market for distance education courses It is difficult to believe that the possibi I ity of taking in proves to be short-lived or unreliable, then itis A$100 million per year from the sale of courses to distance educators who will bear the brunt of this overseas students will not produce some winners economic failure. Where does that place our claims and some losers in the educational marketing stakes for distance education as a viable alternative to or that it will not distort the higher education system mainstream education in the eyes of the educational as a whole in spite of the rejuvenation that it might establishments? bring to some sectors. The Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commis- CONCLUSION sion which has the role of planning for Australian Are Australian distance educators the "new profi- tertiary education has been charged with a co-ordi- teers"? nating role and with the responsibility of approving Certainly at the behest of government many are fee levels for overseas students. At the time of writing, however, no general policy guidelines had attempting to take financial advantage of a scarcity of higher education in the region close to Australia. emerged. Already a degree of secrecy has entered But could we predict that their profits will be exces- into the situation and often the best way to find out sive? By control of fee levels the Commonwealth what Australian institutions are doing is to visit the Tertiary Education Commission (1987) seems deter- countries which they have targeted for marketing. mined to ensure that profits are "modest": IMPLICATIONS FOR DISTANCE The Commission supports the introduction of full EDUCATION fee overseas students as a means by which higher education institutions can increase, at least in Distance education could quite easily be thrust into small measure, the income they derive from other the limelight in Australian higher education in a way than government sources (p. 112) (Emphasis add- that was unimaginable even three to four years ago. ed). Demands for the skills possessed by distance educa- This is bureaucracy speaking and precisely the kind tors could increase dramatically and those who of bureaucratic control that has engendered a swing work in the field of education might easily come to of attitudes towards a market-based approach to believe that at last their educational enterprise was education It :, difficult to imagine that institutions, understood and valued in its own right by the rest of hard pressed for funds, will tolerate such control. the educational community that they had at last Likewise itis difficult to believe that the federal -hieved "parity of esteem". government with its current emphasis on small gov- On the negative side, however, there is room for ernment, will accept such a modified free-market caution. view of the marketing of educational services. We must remember that in the context of this dis- Besides, once a fee is set, there appears to be no limit cussion distance education is being seen by govern- on the numbers of students that an institution can ment and by higher education institution,- as a enrol at a distance and no provision for ensuring that means to an end: to boost expert earnings and de- the courses offered are appropriate for those students rive income for institutions while containing the or that they receive adequate support services.

273 I do not suggest that Australian distance educators McCullough, G. are by nature unethical in their practice quite the (1986). "The Privatisation of Higher Education" in R.R. reverse. Neither do I suggest that they are exception- Gillespie and C.B. Collins (eds) Education as an Interna- ally naive in their approach to the marketplace. tional Commodity, Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual What I do suggest is that the desire for recognition by Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Compara- the educational establishment which is long over- tive and International Education Society, University of due may lead us to acquiesce to institutional and Queensland, Volume 1, pp. 51-88. governmental demands to market our wares without Minister for Education due regard for the consequences. (1985) News Release. New Policy on Overseas Students, Canberra, 22 March. Minister for Education (1985) New Release, Higher Education Institutions' Full Fee Courses for Overseas Students, Canberra, 5 July. REFERENCES Mutual Advantage Belcher, j. Report of the Committee of Review of Private Overseas Student Policy, March 1984, Australian Government "The Recruitment of International Students: The British Publishing Service, Canberra. Experience, 1979-1987 and the Way Forward.", Key- note Address to the International Development Pro- Report of the Ccrnmittee to Review the Australian Over- gramme of Australian Universities and Colleges Confer- seas Aid Programme, March 1984, Australian Govern- ence on Overseas Student Recruitment, Canberra, August ment Publishing Service, Canberra. 24. Report of the Australian Government Education Mission Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission to South-East Asia and Hong Kong, (1985), Australian Report for 1988-90 Triennium, Volume 1 Part 1, Austra- Government Publishing Service, Canberra. lian Govemment Publishing Service, Canberra.

274 g ...... i Distance education and the older student PATRICK KELLY, NIGEL CUTRESS, FIONA PALMER The Older Students Research Group Regional Academic Services The Open University Walton Hall Milton Keynes England

A major demographic change is taking place in nities? The experience of older students i the U.K. many advanced industrialised societies. People are Open University indicates that distance education living longer thanks to better social welfare, health has considerable potential as a mode of study for care, employment conditions, and general living older people. environment. The Open University Older Students Research The number of older people and average life expec- Group was set up in 1981 to examine the experi- tancy have increased dramatically in the twent:eth ence and performance of the 3500 Open University century. In the United Kingdom ir. 1901, only 5°', t1 students aged 60 and over taking degree level cours- the population were over 65 and the average life es in order to assess the effects of the teaching sys- expectancy was 50 years. By 1981 the proportion of tem and identify any additional requirements older older people had climbed to 18% (10 million peo- students might have. A later project involved a more ple) and a woman who reached 65 could expect to detailed examination of students study methods and live another 16 years and a man another 12 years. In compared the attitudes of older students to study in the USA the number of older people rose from 3 the Open University and in a range of other educa- million to 25 million (11% of the copulation) be- tional organisations'. tween the turn of the century and 1 c ,ts0. In both the Responses to a postal questionnaire showed that USA and the UK the over-60s are the fastest growing students' main motives for studying were to make up group within the population'. The pattern is similar for the lack of university opportunities when they .r most western industrialised nations. More people were young and to keep their minds -ctive. The can now look forward to active years beyond the most important reason was to continue their own normal retirement age. For them retirement opens personal development and to stretch themselves°. up a new phase of life. Two thirds of the older students were apprehensive Over the past decades there has been a rapid expan- about returning to study and especially concerned sion of research into ageing and learning and in the about possible memory problems, coping with the provision of educational opportunities for and by demands of study and sitting written examinations. older people. In fact students had fewer difficulties than expected. This research has questioned common stereotypes The great majority were very enthusiastic about and myths about age' and reassessed the relation- their studies and said their expectations had been ship between age, physical decline and learning largely fulfilled. Students said they had enjoyed abilities'. This period has also witnessed the emer- learning, had been stimulated by new ideas and had gence of educational gerontology as an academic felt a sense of achievement. discipline and the formulation of concepts of life- Older students also attained a high academic stan- long learning.' The number of educational pro- dard. 1 he performance of older students compares giammes for older people has grown, with the es- favourably with all other Open University students tablishment of the first University of the Third Age in and there is very little difference in the overall pass Frances and the rise of self-help movements such as rate for courses (based on continuous assessment of the U3A in the UK°. assignments and a,1 end-of-year three-hour exam- Does distance education have a role to play along- ination). Students aged 60-64 are one of the most side other formal and non-formal learning opportu- successful of all student cohorts. Our study indicat-

275 ed that the University, particularly its tutorial and college. Distance education has many advantages: counselling staff, should be alert to the anxieties of the course is brought to the student who does not older students so that assistance can be given. We have to journey to classes. When asked why they concluded, however, that it was not necessary to chose Open University, most older students said treat older students as a special group. that they liked the concept of an open university and Why are older people attracted to distance educa- preferred to study at home. tion and what factors account for their success? It has been estimated that about300older people Partly it is the students themselves. are studying for higher educational qualifications in Most had good memories of their own schooling conventional universities and colleges in the U.K. In and in later life had taken other courses for personal contrast, m 1985, there were3227people aged 60 interest or in connection with their work. They ap- or over registered as Open University undergradu- proached Open University study with a very posi- ates out of a total undergraduate population of tive attitude and were determined to do well. This is 67,433and a further367older people were taking unlikely to be the whole answer. single degree-level courses. It is a measure of the appeal of distance education that approximately In most subject areas the academic discipline has 90% of all older people taking degree level courses changed since the time older students completed in the UK are studying with the OU9. their initial education. Few are likely to have recent experience of degree studies and fewer to be familiar with distance education. In addition, the Open University dit not aim to devise an educational pro- FLEXIBILITY gramme for older people nor make special provision Distance education gives students greater control for them. over their studies than conventional programmes Older people may be anxious about coping with with the institution's schedule of set classes at set times. undergraduate work and novel study methods but of course most of their worries are shared by all adults The modular structure of the Open University curri- returning to education. The suitability of distance culum is very flexible. Once students pass a founda- education for older people lies in the fact that most tion course there are no restrictions on course distance teaching programmes have been designed choice and someone could put together a degree specifically for adult students. They cater to the profile with courses from all six faculty areas (Arts, needs of adults re-entering education, possibly after Social Science, Education, Mathematics, Science many years absence, and lacking skills and confi- and Technology). In practice older students strongly dence. It is because the Open University is acces- favour Arts courses and the most popular subjects sible, flexible and supportive like many other dis- are history, philosophy, art history, religion and tance education institutions, that it has such appeal music. Students can also decide their own workload for the older learner. and may take courses worth between half a credit and two credits a year. If they have other commitments or want a break they can give up their studies ACCESS for a year or more and return when they wish. The Open University offers access for older people Perhaps the most flexible aspect of distance educa- in two ways. First, admission to the university is tion is the freedom to determine the place and pace open to any persol; over 18 and there are no aca- of study. The individual student decides when and demic entrance requirements. This is particularly how to learn, and establishes a pattern of study significant for a generation whose lives and educa- suited to lifestyle and other activities. Some older tion may have been disrupted by the Second World students felt they needed more time than younger War. Older students in the Open University are students because it took them longer to absorb the atypical of their generation with regard to their edu- course material and they found studying physically cational qualifications. In the national over60's tir:ng. Others thought they had more time available population less than 5% possess a degree compared and greater freedom to plan than those in employ- with 8% among older OU students, of whom a ment or with young families. Many older students further20%possess a university diploma or teach- regularly studied for two to four hours on most days ing qualification. This reflects the professional and each week. managerial background of many students. The Open University has also attracted some older a.iuits who have few educational qualifications in- SUPPORT cluding nearly20%who have no formal qualifica- Distance education has developed many strategies tions. to support the home-based learner studying largely Second, many students would find it difficult or or totally alone. The Open University teaching and inconvenient to attend a conventional university or student support system is designed to ensure that the

276 ';'' Cl ..., 0 undergraduate pro,amme is genuinely open to all with the low level of involvement in education. adults regardless of their educational background. Studies suggest that only 2% of the over 60s are All undergraduates begin with a foundation course engaged in any form of educational activity'°. A that introduces them to degree level study and dis- number of explanations for this have been suggested tance learning methods. A package of preparatory including negative experiences of education in the material for each foundation course is sent out well past and the failure of the educational system to before the start of the academic year. The Uni- develop relevant study programmes. It is also likely versity's thirteen Regional Centres also offer written that many are deterred from education because of and personal infnrmation and advice to enquirers stereotypes which associate old age with physical and applicants. and intellectual decline. The services provided for students with disabilities The Open University's combination of print and are also available to older students whose health is audio visual teaching media with local tuition and deteriorating. Many of the older Open University counselling appears well matched to the interests students have a hearing, visual or physical impair- and requirements of the older learner seeking a ment. One in eight of the 60-69 age group was stimulating educational programme. If there are in- disabled and nearly one in four of the 70 and over terested older people who succeed with undergrad- age group. To help students the written course units uate study then almost certainly there would be an have been put on audio cassette and transcripts of audience for a much broader range of courses at a television and radio broadcasts cna be supplied. variety of levels. Every effort is made to meet special educational or Distance education is an eminently suitable mode living requirements at summer school and measures of study for older people. If distance education can can be taken to compensate students who have a build on its existing strengths and respond to the medical condition which would affect their ability concerns and support needs of older students then to take an examination-on an equal basis with other there is a real chance of overcoming the inhibitions students. and anxieties which act as a barrier to large scale Tuition and counsel ling is a major component of the participation by older people. student support system. Students in their first year June 1987. are linked to a tutor-counsellor who grades assignments, holds preparatory sessions, runs a group- tutorial programme during the course and continues NOTES AND REFERENCES as counsellor throughout the student's Open Uni- versity career. 1. Central Statistical Office (1982). Social Trends 12. HMSO London. White House Though older students show a preference for learn- Conference on Ageing (1981). Chartbook on Ageing in ing at home, it should not be ....sumed that they wish America. US Government Printing Office, Washington to study in isolation. Most welcome occasional con- DC. tact and two-thirds of older students say they attend tutorials regularly. One-in-ten belong to student 2. See e.g. Phillipson C. self-help groups. Personal contact is an important (1982) Capital ism and the Construction of Old Age. Mac- millan, London. Butler R.N. (1975) Why Survive? Being dimension of Open University study for older peo- Old in America, Harper and Row, New York. Comfort A. ple and is reflected in higher tutorial attendance (1977) A Good Age, Mitchell Beasley, London. rates and greater satisfaction than younger students with tuition and counselling services. 3. See e.g. Giles K. and Allman P. (1981). Teaching at a Distance No. 20. The Open Uni- The benefits of the Open University's system for versity. Schaie K.W. and Labouvie-Vief G. W. (1974) Gen- outweigh the defects of an educational programme erational versus autogenetic components of change in which has not been geared to the older learner. adult cognitive functioning: a fourteen year cross sequen- Written examinations cause considerable anxiety tial study. Developmental Psychology 10. Chown S.M. among older students and it is probable that some (1983) Age Differences and Age Changes in Nicholson older people are at an inherent disadvantage in a and Foss eds. Psychological Survey No. 4, The British timed examination which puts a premium on sus- Psychological Society, London. tained concentration and effort for three hours. In 4. See e.g. Laslett P. general, ex.-..ninations may be inappropriate in (1980 Educating our Elders. New Society 13 Ma: ^h. Mid- study programmes for older people but in the Op-w. winter E. (1984) ed. Mutual Aid Universities. Croom University context it is clear that students wish to Helm, London. Allman P. (1982) New Peospecdves on the take a course under the same conditions as all other Adult: an Argument for Lifelong Education. International students and do not want concessions which might journal of Lifelong Education 1; . Falmer Prr.;s, Sussex. devalue their achievement. Glendenning F. (1976) Lifelong Education and the Over 60s in Jones S. ed Liberation of the Elders. Beth Johnson In the UK the main area of concern about older Foundation/Department of Adult Education. University of students is not with distance teaching methods but Keele, Stoke -on -Trent.

277 2 9i) S. Levet.Gautrat M. and Buras-Tugendhaft M. project examined the study methods and attitudes of older (1982) Les etudiants du troisieme age dans les universities students in the Open University and a range of other UK du troisieme age. University of Paris, Nanterre. providers and the U3A. 6. Norton D. 8. Older Students Research Group (1984) U3A in Britain: Developments and Testimonies, (1984) Older Students in the Open University, Regional Culture, Education and Society, Vo. 38, No. 1. Academic Services, Open University, Milton Keynes. 7. 9. Midwinter E. The group comprises current and former members of the (1982) Age is Opportunity: Education and Older People. University's central and regional academic staff. The first Policy Studies in Ageing No. 2, Centre for Policy on project irvolved the analysis of the demographic charac- Ageing, London. teristics and course progress data for all older OU students 10. Abrams M. (defined as those aged 60 or over); a postal survey of 1000 (1982) Education and Elderly People, Research Perspec- older students in four of the University's thirteen regions tives on Ageing, Age Concern Research Unit, Mitcham, and of a random sample of 1400 under 60s. The second Surrey.

278 4-)n A. ,I, Distance education: unique learning opportunities at the secondary and elementary grade levels HOWARD KIMMEL New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey U.S.A. MARK O'SHEA Fairleigh Dickinson University New Jersey U.S.A.

INTRODUCTION the classroom and school (Edwards, 1984; Kimmel and Manock, 1984; Manock, 1986; O'Shea, et. al., In this era, education is a continuing, lifelong expe- 1986). In addition, the acquisition, evaluation and rience. The United States is experiencing a resur- appropriate utilization of instructional materials, as gence of interest in adult education. A recent best- a critical aspect of the educational process, has seller in American popular literature has placed em- benefited from advances in microcomputer and phasis on a broadly accepted value: telecommunications technologies. The employability, dignity, security and self-respect of individuals, typically, and for the majority of men COMPUTERIZED now hinges on their education... A man's educa- COMMUNICATIONS tion is by far his most precious investment, and in Electronic messaging systems and bulletin boards effect confers his identity on him. Modern man is are now readily available to educators. Further de- not loyal to a monarch, ora land, ora faith whatever velopment of telecommunications utilities will re- he may say, but to a culture... (This) school-trans- sult from the failure of more conventional modes of mitted culture, not a folk-transmitted one, alone information exchange (telephone, mail, meetings, confers usability and dignity and self-respect on newsletters etc.) to meet the needs for disseminating industrial man (Gel I ner, 1987). the ever increasing body of information essential to For professionals, such as scientists, engineers, edu- successful teaching. We are now pursuing opportu- cators, the lifelong pursuit of education is critical for nities for more comprehensive applications of elec- the continual updating of skills and knowledge in tronic telecommunications to distance education their field. Unfortunately, continuing education for through the use of New Jersey Institute of Tech- teachers at the elementary and secondary grade nology's Electronic Information Exchange System levels is not an easy undertaking. The structured (EIES), a computerized conferencing system that can workday of grade school teachers leads to a sense of be accessed via telephone lines from an" location isolation from colleagues. Little opportunity exists where a microcomputer with modem ',:. available. for teachers to meet on a regular basis to share E'ectronic communications offer an innovative ap- instructional ideas and resources. Although many proach to improvilg instruction. They link educa- teachers have developed new methods and materi- tors to a wide spectrum of information sources, als for improving classroom instruction, the dissem- allowing for fast and widespread delivery of educa- ination of these innovations is limited to the students tional services and information. The information they teach. Teachers cannot readily exchange ideas storage, organizing and sharing capacities of EIES and resources with colleagues outside of their im- permit teachers to exchange ideas and instructional mediate place of employment. resources in support of on-going curriculum im- Distance education via computerized conferencing provement. Now teachers can "meet and work" can provide unique learning opportunities for with colleagues and experts in diverse settings with- teachers and their students within the boundaries of out leaving their schools.

279 292 Interaction between system users is through typed trieving, indexing, merging text and conducting communication. The ability to send text over lone surveys and evaluations. distances instantly permits teacher interaction on a global scale. Through this medium, students are LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES also becoming involved in stimulating activities that extend their imagination and interests beyond the THROUGH DISTANCE confines of the classroom, Keyboard and literacy EDUCATION skills are developed in many students who are high- Our efforts to apply the features of EIES to the in- ly motivated by the opportunities available through service education of teachers through distance edu- keyboard communications. cation has focused on a number of directions: Computerized conferencing not only brings the out- informing teachers of new developments in ped- side world into the classroom, it takes the student agogy, and updating their subject-matter knowl- and his classroom out into the world to discuss edge; topics of interest with students and experts at dis- helping teachers with curriculum improvement tance locations through participation in interschool and instructional materials development; activities (Edwards, 1984). Collaborative scientific fostering the involvement of students in distance experiments and projects usually involve the col lec- learning and student-to-student and student-to- tion and analysis of data from geographically dis- expert communications; persed locations and Interpretation of the results of pre-service informal teacher education as well as the experiments. formal coursework for academic credit. EIES is a computerized conferencing system, in op- Our past experiences and intended activities are eration since 1975, and is dedicated to exploring described below. Although our efforts focus on sci- the use of computers to facilitate group communi- ence education, these applications of communications and advancing the forefront of knowledge in cations technology can be extended to other dis- computer-mediated communication systems ciplines and age levels of learning. (Lerch, 1983). Now an international system, EIES has more that 2,000 users across the United States, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT the South Pacific, the Caribbean, and Europe. The AND CURRICULUM following services are available to users: IMPLEMENTATION Messages may be sent to an individual, a number of individuals or to a special interest group. All The New Jersey Institute of Technology and Fair- messages are retained in computer memory until leigh Dickinson University have been collaborating the intended recipient has the opportunity to dial on the application of EIES for the improvement of in to the system. Notification of message delivery elementary and middle school science teaching. is automatically sent to the originator. These efforts have concentrated on the continuing Electronic conferences permit groups with com- professional development of teachers at these grade mon interests to contribute to continuously de- levels. Our most recent efforts have dealt with the veloping "proceedings". Unlike the message, impediments to curriculum enhancement. Simply conference contributions are retained indefinite- put, we are using EIES to heighten opportunities for ly or until a chosen conference moderator has the teacher interaction and access to instructional re- opportunity to cull unneeded or outdated contri- sources. All of our work with teachers has empha- butions. The search and retrieval capacities of sized teacher collegial management for self-im- EIES permit participants to obtain particular con- provement. Traditional face-to-face meetings and ference contributions through nested searches. workshops ensure that participants in our projects Unlike typical face-to-face conferences, "late- identify their own needs and avenues to profession- comers" can access prior contributions. al growth and renewal. Professors in the universities Notebooks are personal computer memory allo- are their colleagues and resource persons, not man- cations for drafting and co-authoring material agers or mentors. Traditional meetings permit teach- which may be submitted or transferred to other ers to get to know one another in a way that is not parts of the system (perhaps to one or more con- possible over telephone lines. Additionally, labora- ferences, or as a message to a group or an individ- tory acitivities and demonstrations are explored ual). The ability to electronically transfer text files with peers on these occasions. Meetings are held at is a major feature of the system. Thus, laboratory six-week intervals. Large distances between teach- procedures or lesson plans can be developed by ers prevent more frequent scheduling of these ses- one or two teachers and then shared with other sions. colleagues by transferring the finished product to Much of the professional development and curricu- an appropriate conference. lum work takes place over telephone lines on EIES. Advanced features of EIES include databases and These communications keep the spirit of explora- mechanisms for such tasks as searching and re- tion and renewal alive between scheduled meet-

280 :293 ings. New and modified curriculum materials that collect, share and interpret data. Co-operative in- are initial ly explored in laboratory sessions continue terschool projects erase local and national bounda- to be studied in a group conference after teachers ries leading to the eventual elimination of the isola- have returned to their schools. What appears simple tion school faculties experience. These collabora- to teachers in a university laboratory on a Saturday tive projects are now underway involving authors morning can be far from successful on a Monday and science educators from the United Kingdom. morning in the classroom with 25 youngsters. Stu- dents may ask questions with respect to an activity PRE-SERVICE EDUCATION AND for which the teacher does not have an answer. Directions for an activity may reveal an unsafe prac- COURSES FOR CREDIT tice or lack necessary support materials. On-line The use of computerized conferencing (CC) in dis- communications help teachers with the implemen- tance education for the delivery of instruction can tation process when these problems do arise. be viewed in two modes: the "adjunct mode", Two years of workshop and computer communi- where CC is used in support of regularly scheduled cations activity has begun to reveal information class meetings, and the "on-line mode", where CC about teachers' in-service needs. A review of the is the total medium for the delivery of instruction. EIES conference transcript for this project demon- Although CC is perceived to have a great deal of strates that teachers do indeed ask questions related potential as a delivery system, we recognize that to theory and principles presented at workshops. some subject areas (e.g. science laboratories) must Moreover, teachers permit students to ask questions include some instruction requiring face-to-face of the university faculty during and after class time meetings. with teacher supervision. A great deal of attention The "adjunct mode" allows for augmentation of has been given to the task of preparing support traditional lectures, electronic course enrichment materials (worksheets, data sheets, quiz questions and tutorials. Typically, students access class mess- etc.) for the workshop activities experienced previ- ages containing such information as the dates of ously. These materials are retrieved at a later date by upcoming tests, comments that apply td recently other teachers as needed. A continuing dialogue has discussed material, questions and answers that did also developed within the conference related to not come up in class and suggestions by the in- evaluating our project goals and accomplishments. structor that will make assignments more under- The most consistent change evident through tran- standable (McConnell, 1987). script analyses is the growth in leadership exhibited The "on-line mode" (sometimes referred to as the by teacher participants. Professors at the New Jersey electronic university, or virtual classroom) involves Institute of Technology and Fairleigh Dickinson the combination of electronic mail, electronic con- University are quite pleased to see this intended ferences, electronic notebooks, privately shared development. files and selective document retrieval. All assign- STUDENT ORIENTED ACTIVITIES ments to be graded are sent electronically to the instructor. Through these media student work can School-based investigations that call for wide area be made available to the entire class as well as to the data collection now dominate the interests of many instructor for critique and discussion. On-line ex- student and teacher participants who use EIES. The aminations and tracking (the following of student system is used to pool data collected for projects progress and performance with class assignments) such as the collection and sharing of Radon detec- are possible. The use of electronic "visiting lection findings in participants schools; meteorological tures" by outside experts and team teaching are data related to storms crossing northern New jersey other possibilities. In addition, students can do case (amounts of precipitation, wind directions, duration studies, team projects and share their assignments of storms and pH of precipitation) and the use of with other students. The major benefits of this mode homemade astrolabes, short wave radios and chro- of instruction is that students can participate in nometers to determine the latitude and longitude of course activities at the time and place of their conve- participants' schools. In addition to the collection nience which is a great advantage in a modern fast and storage of data, teachers use the conference to paced, technological society. explain how the data are interpreted during their science lessons. Student involvement in these projects provides CONCLUSIONS them with a demonstration of the power of the com- The versatility of a computerized conferencing sys- puter and itsutilization in distance education. tem such as EIES makes for an effective utility to Classroom learning of basic concepts and theories enhance the educational goals and professional de- of science is enhanced by the performance of relat- velopment of teachers who are quite distant from ed experiments and the gathering of data on topics each other or a readily accessible educational setof interest to students in other schools who help ting. Secondary and elementary education are par-

281 294 ticularly enhanced by using computerized confer- Gellner, E. encing: (1987). "Nations and nationalism" in: Hirsh, E.D., Cul- as an aid in the dissemination of recently devel- tural literacy: what every American needs to know, oped curriculum materials and programs; (Houghton Mifflin Publishers, Inc. Boston, Mass.), 74. as a means for teachers to interact with curricu- Kimmel, Howard, and Manock, John 1. lum developers and teachers who have used spe- (1984). "Using a computer-mediated system for the inser- cific materials; vice professional development of teachers", Proceedings for planning training sessions tailored to the Exxon symposium computer-mediated systems and their needs of teachers and their students; potential impact on education (August). for sustained post-workshop interactions among Lerch, Irving A. workshop participants throughout the school (1983). "The movable conference", BYTE, 8 (May), 104- year as teachers implement curriculum materials; 29. and Manock, John J. for formative evaluation of curriculum materials (1986). "Assessing the potential use of computer-medi- during the implementation process including the ated conferencing systems as educational delivery sys- development of instructional strategies and im- tems", The Journal (April), 77-80. plementation plans. McConnell, David (1987). "Computer conferencing in the development of teacher inserviceeducation",Proceedings Second REFERENCES Guelph Symposium on Computer Conferencing Uune). O'Shea, M., Kimmel, H., and Kerr, E.B. Edwards, Mary D. (1986) "Accessing science information", Science Scope, (1984) "Taking electronic field trips in Hawaii", Electron- 9 (April), 9. ic Learning (Nov/Dec), 44.

o 282 ....90 Distance education and national development in Tanzania* BERNARD K.S. KIYENZE National Correspondence Institution Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

INTRODUCTION productively to the development of their societies. The program of the U.S. Agency for International 5. A certain portion of the adult population has a Development (AID Rural Satellite Program) carried basic education which can enable it to takc dis- out under the umbrella of Telecommu.iications and tance education courses where the regular edu- Rural Development presents striking lessons for de- cational system cannot serve it. Among these veloping countries like Tanzania. In particular: adults include middlelevel civil servants, peas- The need for distance education programs is partic- ant-farmers and private businessmen on whom ularly great in the Third World where expertise and the implementation of national development physical resources are limited and the bulk of the projects ultimately depends. Such adults are of- population is in rural or remote areas. Telecommu- ten inadequately educated and need special nications can be a powerful means for the sharing of training in specific subjects or fields of immedi- human resources and the management of wide- ate significance to their occupation. In most spread development projects.' cases, they have to be reached on the job and Two-way communication between student and tu- require specially tailored courses of instruction. tor who are at a distance is the outstanding charac- Only distance education can best serve such teristic of distance education. The communication adults. need not take the form of written messages but can G. Distance education effectively combines theo- be effected by telecommunications, tape-recording reticalstudies withpracticalrequirements, or other educational technology.' thereby avoiding the inherent gap between theory and practice. 7. Distance education is the key means for providing mass adult education in developing coun- DISTANCE EDUCATION AND tries. Properly adapted to learners, distance edu- DEVELOPMENT cation courses can be taken by semi-literates, The contribution of distance education tonational401' post-literates and, in combination with other ap- development is that: proaches (radio, TV, study groups, etc), by those seeking to learn at advanced levels. 1. Distance education provides cheap and efficient management of teacher training and up-grading in combination with other means of instruction. TRENDS IN TANZANIA 2. Distance education courses permit rapid curri- Tanzania has set out to build a self-reliant socialist culum reform. Since much of the teaching can society. One of the most important factors in socia- be handled by correspondence, it becomes pos- list transformation is education and training for Tan- sible to counteract the conservative influence of zania's population. This necessitates provision of teachers trained to reach different goals accord- education and training to more people than can be ing to an old curriculum. provided by face-to-face instruction. Since Tanza- 3. Distance education leads to an integration of nia's population of about 22 million people is wide- education with social reality. ly scattered, only a small proportion can take con- 4. Unemployed school leavers are an essential tar- tinuing education through face-to-face classes. get group for rehabilitating and re-educating by Thousands of people living in the rural areas cannot distance techniques so that they can contribute benefit from educational facilities other than dis-

Paper prepared for the 14th International Council for Distance Education (ICDE) World Conference on Developing Distance Education, to be held in Oslo, Norway 10-17 August, 1988. The author is Head of the Correspondence Education Department.

283 0 A.Rb tance education. The need for continuing education limited in number and time, and follow-up training through distance education is indicated in Table I. related to on-the-job experience was lacking.' Experience demonstrated that distance education could help meet many of Tanzania's needs. Com- TABLE 1 parative studies carried out in Lebanon an India A STATISTICAL CATEGORISATION OF EDUCA- showed that distance education could be provided TION IN TANZANIA, 1984 at a little more than one-third of the cost of classroom instruction. A comparative study in Tanzania Category Percentage showed the same result. Many Tanzanians were Primary Education 97.4 already satisfying their needs in distance education Secondary Education 2.1 courses which were offered by overseas institutions Teacher Education 0.4 such as the British Tutorial College. Many of those Technical Education 0.04 courses were, however, not designed for Tanzania's University Education 0.09 educational and training needs. A local Distance Education Institution could provide distance cours- Source: Basic Education Statistics in Tanzania, Mi- es written on syllabi designed for national needs and nistry of Education, 1985. cheaply.' Hence the birth of the National Corre- This situation has not changed to date. Out of all spondence Institution (NCi) in 1970. students who complete primary school (standard Indigenous distance education in Tanzania started seven), only 2 per cent are selected to enter Form in co-operative training. The Moshi Co-operative One (secondary school). The remaining 98 per cent College was established in 1963 and began to write can only advance their education through distance distance education courses in 1965 to give prospec- education. Table 2 illustrates the situation for 1969- tive students the basic knowledge required to be 1981. admitted into the College. The college also prepared distance courses geared at training the village committees and members so that they could under- !ABLE 2 stand their duties, responsibilities and rights. The STUDENTS SELECTED TO JOIN FORM ONE IN experience of distance co-operative education and TANZANIA, 1969-1981 training demonstrated that in a large country like Tanzania distance instruction provides relatively Year Number of Number of Percentage cheap means of instruction to cover a bigger student STD VII stu-students selected body.5 dents who set selected for Thus, the NCI was established to provide distance for exam- form one education to Tanzanians wherever they live or ination work. The aim of the NCI are: 1969 60,545 7,149 11.8 I. To enable Tanzanians to understand the coun- 1970 64,630 7,530 11.7 try's policies and development plans so that they 1971 70,992 7,740 10.9 can implement them. 1972 87,777 7,955 7.7 2. To contribute to manpower development in the 1973 106,203 8,165 7.1 country. 1974 119,350 8,472 7.1 3. To help accelerate national development. 1975 135,559 8,680 6.3 4. To release and disseminate new courses all over 1976 156,144 8,659 5.5 the country. 1977 169,106 8,706 5.1 1978 185,293 8,720 4.7 From the outset, the national image of the NCI was 1979 193,712 8,908 4.6 apparent. Although it relied on technical aid in fi- 1980 212,446 8,913 4.2 nance and skills from the government of Sweden, 1981 357,816 9,178 2.6 the NCI was designed to satisfy Tanzanian needs. Thus, all distance courses give instruction for Tan- Source: Ministry of Education, Annual Report, zanian syllabi. The courses are written and pro- 1982. duced by Tanzanians. The courses which are speci- In order to expand education facilities after attaining fically prepared for the masses who have little or no political independence in 1961, Tanzania needed formal education are written in Kiswahili, Tanza- more qualified, trained teachers, and many teachers nia's national language. All answers to enquiries, all who were already in service needed further teacher correspondence with students, and all face-to-in- education. Moreover, Tanzania's shortage of skilled terviews are in Kiswahili. All information to the manpower often prevented people from leaving public, and to enrolled students is written in Kiswahi- their job for full-time studies. Many face-to-face li. The entire manpower of the NCI is composed of training courses offered by the government were Tanzanians. That is, the department, with 170 em-

284 217 ployees is managed by Tanzanians. Table 3 shows The student-body pursuing distance education the courses which the NCI runs. with the NCI is composed of people with different levels of education. As Table 5 illustrates, the NCI TABLE 3 serves people from the functional literacy level to those with secondary education. Appendix 2 shows DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES RUN BY THE the number of students in each of NCI courses. NCI, 1987

Type of course Number of courses TABLE 5

Mass courses 5 LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF NCI STUDENTS Secondary Education Level 15 Professional courses 3 Level of educationNo. of students Percentage Up-grading CA for Teachers 5 Functional Literacy 809 1.3 In-service Teacher Training 2 Standard I-IV 4,204 5.8 Special Education (Braille for the Blind) 3 Standard V-VII 35,123 57.8 Total 33 Standard VIII 10,720 17.8 Form I-II 2,705 4.4 The levels of these courses are as follows: Form III-IV 5,614 9.2 1. Introductory courses, equivalent to primary edu- Not known 1,627 2.7 cation. Total 60,802 100.0 2. Stage One, equivalent to Forms One and Two. Source: NCI Statistics Sub-section. 3. Stage Two, equivalent to Forms Three and Four. 4. Stage Three, equivalent to Forms Five and Six. Following the implementation of the objectives of the NCI, the 1970 Plan of Operation stipulated that In line with the objectives of the NCI, the first cours- the NCI would introduce a programme of technical es were in Political education (Introductory), Ele- training. The preparation of short, simple distance mentary Bookkeeping (to help people in rural areas education courses to help the villagers produce bet- and towns to keep accurate records and accounts ter crops and livestock was given top priority in the for business management), Accountancy, and Man- Plan of Operation. The launching of this programme agement and Administration (to enable Tanzanians has been delayed but the NCI is about to complete to replace Europeans in managerial positions). preparations for initiating vocational distance train- Thereafter courses were prepared in Mathematics, ing courses starting with Trade Test Grade IIIin English, History and Geography to enable more Motor Vehicle Mechanics, Electrical Installation, Tanzanians to sit for the Forms Four and Six National Tailoring, Carpentry, Masonry and Plumbing. More Examinations. The list of courses has been extended than 3,000 people had applied for these courses by to benefit people doing varying occupations as July 1987. The NCI expects to release these courses shown in Table 4. Appendix I shows the number of as soon as printing materials become available and students who have completed NCI Courses. printing itself completed. Appendix 3 illustrates the stages of preparation. TABLE 4 The NCI has contributed significantly to Tanzania's OCCUPATIONS OF NCI STUDENTS, 1972-1986 development but faces several problems. First, a lack of printing materials (paper, plates, films and Occupation No. of students Percentage ink); second, some prieng machines have long Teachers 16,678 27.4 been out of order for lack of spare parts; third, Peasant-farmers 15,767 25.9 insufficient assistance for training technicians to Clerks 7,767 12 8 maintain the printing machines; fourth, distance Soldiers/ education technology is not diversified. The solu- Police 5,598 9.2 tion to these problems depends greatly on foreign Students (pure) 4,074 6.7 assistance since printing materials are not available Artisans 3,692 6.1 in Tanzania (except paper, which is too expensive), Politicians 1,552 2.6 spare parts must be imported, and technicians Nurses 1,438 2.4 trained outside the country. Religions 813 1.3 Other work 1,615 1.7 CONCLUSION Work not known 2,408 4.0 Education is a critica! factor in the development of Total 60,802 100.0 any nation. Distance education is particularly im- Source: NCI Statistics Sub-section. portant in developing countries because it serves

285 298 people who cannot be reached otherwise and it is "Correspondence Education in Co-operative Training in cheap. Consequently, developing countries should Tanzania", in Kabwasa, A. & Kaunda, M. (eds), 1973, give top priority to distance education in devel- Correspondence Education in Africa, Routledge and Ke- opment planning. The development of communi- gan Paul, London and Boston. cation networks should in particular be geared to the improvement of educational technology. APPENDIX 1 The challenge for distance educators in developing countries is to identify and demonstrate how educa- NUMBER STUDENTS WHO HAVE COMPLETED tional technology such as satellite technology can NCI DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES 1973- best be utilised for promoting national develop- 1986 ment. Many African leaders have expressed the de- Year Male Female Total sire to utilise satellites and other appropriate technologies to improve telecommunications services 1973 529 16 545 within the African continent, with special emphasis 1974 3,147 119 3,266 on the rural areas. To this effect, the Regional Afri- 1975 3,695 183 3,878 can Satellite Communications Project (RASCOM) 1976 3,956 206 4,162 should be managed properly in order to attain its 1977 2,781 150 2,931 goal. Distance education programs such as those 1978 2,591 192 2,783 run by the NCI would benefit considerably from this 1979 2,846 219 3,065 project. 1980 1,416 82 1,498 1981 1,652 127 1,779 1982 1,724 118 1,842 1983 2,098 195 2,293 REFERENCES 1984 2,282 205 2,487 1985 2,145 201 2,346 Shaw, W.D. 1986 1,549 171 1,720 1987, "Distance Education Via Satellite", in Telecommu- Total 32,411 2,184 34,595 lications and Rural Development: The AID Rural Satellite Program, The Academy for Educational Development, Washington. (Ir troduction) For further ideas on the definition, see Holmberg, B., APPENDIX 2 "Educational Technology and Correspondence Educa- STUDENTS IN NCI COURSES 1987 tion", in Erdos, R. (ed.), 1969, Proceedings of the Eight International Conference of the International Council for Cource No. of students Correspondence Education, UNESCO, Paris, p. 59. 1. Mass Courses 22,469 Erdos, R.F. 2. Secondary Education Courses (Braille) 34,917 1978, Nation! Correspondence Institution, 1970-1975, 3. Professional Courses 3,056 Dar es Salaam, p. 1. 4. In-service Teacher Training 17,071 Ibid. 5. Up-grading Courses for Teachers 6,303 See Kagaruki, G.E. & Mwakatobe, R. Y. Source: NCI Statistics Sub-section.

286 9 0 4.44,7 APPENDIX 3 NCI VOCATIONAL DISTANCE TRAINING COURSES POSITION OF THE PROJECT AS PER AUGUST 1987

Course Grades No. Written Edited Illustrations Final units units units 1. Motor Vehicle III 14 6 6 Under Nil Mechanics preparation 2. Electrical III 14 14 11 II II Installation 3. Tailoring III 12 16 12 II " 4. Carpentry III 12 8 6 II II 5. Masonry III 10 10 10 II " 6. Plumbing III 9 9 9 II II NB: 1. Average number of pages per unit 32 2. First printing requirement, 3,000 copies per unit 3. Printing materials not available 4. The first 3 courses are to take first priority 5. Total applicants already on list is above 3,000

(

287 300 Some obstacles to implement newinformation technologies in distance education DR. WOLFRAM LAASER Universitat Gesamthochsch u le Federal Republic of Germany

INTRODUCTION immediately to the advice given. (b) The system was expensive and complicated to In this paper we will briefly review some pilot pro- run To keep text modules up to date proved jects undertaken to implement or test electronic cumbersome. Organizational support was lack- media in support of distance learning. On the basis ing. of our experience we claim that cost-effectiveness (c) Developers of the program were familiar with and detailed user analysis have to be considered the handling but this did not apply to the admin- decisive factors that determine successful imple- istrative starf who were supposed to carry on the mentation. project. RECENT EXPERIENCE WITH (d) The project did not allow for significant reduc- TELECOMMUNICATIONS-BASED tions in costs, both on the part of the students or on the part of the university. DISTANCE EDUCATION Another interesting attempt !s the introduction of In a recent OECD publication we can find the fol- videotext in distance education. High initial expec- lowing statement: tations are today more down to earth. The fact is that ... new(information) techno!ogies themselves pro- P:cess to interactive videotext is still limited even vide the best means for coping with training needs; among our students of informatics (around 1 per flexibly deployed at home, office, factory and shop; cent) (Bartels and Raiser, 1985). rapidly developed as new needs become apparent; Equally the British Prestel system did not find ac- highly adapted to individual learner needs and sig- ceptance as expected among its users (Ceri, 1986). nificantly self paced (Ceri, 1986). Furthermore the quantity of information channelled How does this description of the merits of new through the system posed similar problems to those information technology compare to our experience reported with the student counselling service.It so far in distance education? Let us comment on proved unsound to use electronic devices to trans- some examples in German and British distance edu- mit great amounts of slowly changing textual in- cation. formation. Comparative advantages to print Pifer- mation are given by quick transport of actual in- One of our first projects at FernUniversitat, West formation and by feedback facilities. However, Germany, using computer based systems was in the quick information retrieval was hampered by cum- area of student counselling, the so-called STEB-pro- bersome search procedures. It was interesting to ject. Students who wanted to enrol had to fill in an note that students were interested in actual informa- additional questionnaire. They then received coun- tion about correction of course material or exam- selling through a series of different text modules ination schedules and in using the library borrowing selected according to students response patterns. service. The aim of the project was to correct wrong expectations thereby reducing later drop-out (Kuffner and Students' access to the university mainframe com- Staller, 1978). puter via videotext equipment is crucial for the use of videotex especially in the tutoring and teaching The project has not been implemented as a regular environment. There are various options for access, component of the universities counselling service e.g. via PC, videotex equipment or via a study cen- for several reasons: tre terminal. Also different networks can be used. (a) Usefulness to students has been limited. There All alternatives vary in fixed and variable costs. The was no real dialogue. Students could not react students' choice will depend upon their economic

288 30 1 situation, their location and their special user in- only advantage at present is the participation of the terests. In many cases the postal dispatch of disks remote learner through audio talk-back facilities. may suffice without using the interactive videotex However, a "teleclass" iize of 50 participants on system at all. For other purposes a PC at home or the spot obviously impedes frequent interaction study centre connected to mainframe by an elec- with the remote learner. tronic modem might be a reasonable and low-cost alternative. LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE Let us complement the German experience with Some of the critical issues found in the very diverse some of the outcomes of the BritishCyclops project projects are (Laaser, 1987) listed below. (Sharpies and McConnell; Bacsich, 1982). The idea was to offer tutorials in scarcely populated areas. (a) Advantages claimed in favour of new in- The equipment used consisted of TV-monitor, light formation technologies are often almost pen, modem, loudspeaker and two tekphone lines identical to those which are characteristics (sound and data). Up to now the Cyclopsstem has of any distance learning system, even those not been implemented as a regular component of which only use printed materials. This dis- the OU distance learning system. Bates cites four regards the necessary co-existence and mer- reasons for this (1984): its of different media-mixes for enhancement of learning and ease of study by a wide 1. Cyclops was an additional offer to students and variety of students. therefore increased costs had to be borne by the (b) Development has been directed more to- Open University wards acquisition of equipment, mostly at 2. the Cyclops equipment had been developed by greatly subsidised cost. Software develop- the Open University in co-operation with a man- merl,organizationalinfrastructure and ufacturer. The limited scale of this development man-power requirements are often regarded made the equipment too expensive as of minor importance. 3. in order to make use of Cyclops, students had to (c) Subsidising development, equipment and attend study centres, which is both time consum- transmission costs in the investment phase ing and expensive. Study centres are not the best can leat; to preference towards choice of solution to support systems in distance educa- capital intensive technologies, which un- tion, compared to learning at home. derestimates later recurrent costs. A similar 4. costs have been shifted from students to the phenomenon is well known from develop- Open University because participation at Cy- ment aid projects leading to under-utiliza- clops tutorials was free, and students saved tam- tion of capacity and the closing down of el costs. expensive projects. The fact that school These examples, taken from small-scale European computers in the U.S.A. are only used for 10 distance learning projects, reflect the experience of to 13 hours a week is striking (Ceri, 1986) large-scale telecommunications-based systems in (d) Forecasts about the spread of equipment the U.S.A. among users and the access to relevant public networks were over-optimistic (e.g. the The following 30-million dollar"Learn Alaska Net- use of "Videotex" in Germany and the UK). wotic"which connected 150 small communities Hardware prices and transmission costs will was closed down in 1986. Hershfield (1987) gave probably not decrease at the same rate as the following reason for the failure: they did in the past, even if they decrease at (a) a too small student population to justify the cre- all. ation and programming of a sophisticated televi- (e) System design did not take sufficient advan- sion-based distribution system tage of already existing user experience; nor (b) far too small an investment in program devel- did it benefit from analysis of the user in- opment for the special needs of the audience. terests in advance of establishnit of sys- In 1987 only the audio conference system is still in tems. use. (f) The pedagogic potential of new information technologies to attempt to make learning a Another very well known project is theNational more efficient process is mostly under-util- Technological University.Twenty-two universities ised (e.g. interactivity, independence, cre- offer their courses through the system (Baldwin, ativity, active involvement of the learner, 1986). The Natirnal Technological University uses easy data collection and analysis, easy text a satellite-bass 4 O.-livery system to connect 50 reorganisation,audiovisualrepresentation ceiving sites. Actually the system cannot be regard- (Ceri, 1986). ed as cost-effective. The number of students en- (g) Existing rest; ctions to the greater use of new rolled is very small (800 in 1986). In comparison to information technologies are not analysed the earlier established video delivery system the closely enough.

289 302 Many experimental projects were not continued af- Baldwin, j. ter the external subsidies ceased. This indicates that (1986), The NTU /AMCEE Instructional Satellite Network cost-efficiency has not been one of the objectives of ( Working Paper, Fat Collins). these projects. On the other hand, it is clear that Bartels, j. and Raiser, H. introduction of new information technologies is (1985), Rechnerzugang der Informatikstudenten (FernU- controlled by clearly expressed costs cc. sidera- nrversitat Hagen, April). tions. Bates, A.W. In di. ancelearning computer marked assignments (1984), Selecting and designing low-cost media for dis- were introduced in order to reduce the cost of per- tance education (ZIFF-papers 53, FemUniversitJt Hagen, sonal tutors who would otherwise have to mark the November). assignments. Use of mainframe computers found Ceri, S. ample application in tasks such as student enrol- (1986), New Information Technologies. A Challenge for ment, record keeping, dispatch and other data col- Education. (Paris: OECD report). lection. The advantages were rapid and easy storage, processing and retrieval of large quantities of Hershfield, A. data and information. The next step was to provide (1987) Distance Education: the promise and the confusion (proceedings of the !UT Conference, pp. 20-34 Hei- electronic storage and revision of correspondence delberg, University of Maryland). texts which was intended to reduce secretarial staff and ease the updating of course material. One may Ktiffner, H., and Staller, R. therefore expect that telecommunications-based (1978) PersOnliche Briefe per Computer (FernUniversitJt technologies be implemented in the teaching, tutor- Hagen, Oct.). ing and monitoring environment only if they pro- Laaser, W. vide cost-effective solutions in comparison to tradi- (1987). Effective methods for meeting student needs in tional technologies. Unfortunately, as the recent telecommunication .supported distance education,in OECD study puts it, costing is one of the areas where Bell, D.A., and Whiting, J. (eds.), Tutoring and monitc- lack of data is particularly apparent (Ceri, 1986), ing facilities for European Open Learning (North Holland, though costs are just one aspect of the 'ituation. Amsterdam). Sharpies, M. and McConnell Distance teaching by Cyclops: an educational evaluation REFERENCES of the Open University's telewriting system (IET Paper 202, Open University). Bacsich, P.D. (1982' Audio-Videotex teleconferencing (Open Univer- sity, Faculty of Technology Working Paper, September).

303 290 A comparison of the motivation of adult and distance studentsat the University of Windsor MARGARET LANDSTROM University of Windsor Division of Continuing Education Windsor, Ontario Canada N9B 3P4

I NTRODUCTION (c) to release the tension arising from the conflict between social freedom and duty and respon- The University of Windsor has a loll history of sibility. offering evening off-campus, and industry based courses for adult students. In 1984 an extensive The 1985 study concludes that the distance educa- study assessed the motivational needs of adult stu- tion student is motivated by three factors: dents enrolled in the university's programs. (a) to find opportunities for intellectual growth and Also in 1984, a distance education program was recognition of achievement; undertaken, using telecourses available on local (b) to provide new patterns of interaction with per- broadcast. Distance students and other adult stu- sonal and professional associates; and dents are similar in many ways. Their time is not (c) to provide a change in living patterns by aban- primarily occupied in their studies. They are young doning old undesirable habits. to middle-aged adults, mostly employed, or at home looking after young families, and usually have se- EXTERNAL MOTIVATION vere demands on their time. A study of distance The 1984 study reported the existence of two ex- students enrolled in the fall of 1985 was undertaken ternal or environmental factors motivating the part- to determine their motivation and to assess the value time student. of the media used, student contact strategies and support services. (a) The professor is perceived to be at the centre of the learning environment and a key element in ibis paper will summarize the results of the first the motivation of the student, and study, detail the results of the study of distance (b) Other students help create a motivating envi- students and compare the conclusions. ronment by the active social interaction that results from their getting together regularly. 1984 STUDY COMPARISON The 1985 study results are consistent with the 1984 The 1984 and 1985 studies used similar data col lec- results in that a primary motivating factor is the need tion instruments and statistical analysis techniques. to change one's relationships. The part-time student Therefore a comparison of the results is valid and can achieve this by going to a new place to be with meaningful. new and different people. The telecourse student can meet this need by stepping into a mediated learning environment. In the 1984 study, students INTERNAL MOTIVATION were successful in changing their patterns of social The 1984 study reported three primary internal or interaction. The telecourse student expressed a psychological 'actors motivating the part-time uni- need for such a change but could not achieve it. versity student: The 1984 study identified the need for social recog- (a) to provide a change in patterns of social interac- nition and status. This was manifested in a desire to tion. improve the employment situation. The 1985 tee- (b) to provide for a change in life patterns ci status course student expresses a similar need but De- and social recognition; and scribed it not in terms of promotion or job ch:Lnge, butinintellectual growth and recognition of achievement. The university has the power to give

291 304 such recognition and, for the telecourse student, The 1985 study results would rank this recommen- this appears to suffice. dation at the top of the list. Instructional materials are at the centre of the telecourse students' learning LEARNING ENVIRONMENT environment. The 1984 study reported that part-time students per- 5 The distance learner should have access to all of ceived the learning environment to have three pri- the instructional and recreational resources avail- mary dimensions: the professor at the centre, the able to regular university students. interaction with fellow students and the accessibil- Although impractical, this recommendation does ity of the university's learning resources comput- reflect a need expressed by the telecourse student. er, library, media centre, etc. The 1985 study in- The implementation of such a recommendation dicated that, although the telecourse student did not may be possible not in terms of the traditional mean- have the same access to the professor or other stu- ing of access, i.e., physical or in person access to dents or the university's learning resources, the places and people, but through the use of communi- need was still expressed even though it was unmet. cation technology. It may be possible to meet this The dimensions of the learning environment for the need through teleconferencing, computer network- telecourse student are perceived to be the quality of ing and audio and video cassette exchanges, thus print and non-print materials, the relevancy of the permitting the telecourse student to interact with the content and the quality of assignments. Meeting university community and to access its learning re- with the professor is not a significant element in the sources. This recommendation is then applicable motivation of the telecourse student. More impor- using media technologies to give access to the tele- tant is the need to have access to the university's course student. learning resources. In conclusion, the results of the 1985 study support DISCUSSION AND the earlier research project. The 1984 study made projections for distance learning students based on CONCLUSIONS research into the motivation of part-time students. The analysis and comparison of the two studies The 1985 study had as its subjects telecourse stu- indicate the elements which motivate University of dents who may be more specifically defined as dis- Windsor distance students, the subject of the first tance learning students. The assumptions of the research question. 1984 study have been tested by the 1985 project The conclusions drawn from the 1984 study were and have been confirmed and the conclusions and five in number: recommendations, with minor modifications, continued to be valid. 1 A program of study for distance learners should provide the opportunity for a change in the stu- The research has shown that University of Windsor dent's pattern of social interaction. students in distance courses are motivated by: This conclusion is appropriate for the 1985 study. 1) a need for intellectual growth and recognition 2) a desire for change in their habits and patterns of The telecourse student expresses a need for change in life routine. social interaction 2 The courses of instruction provided should be Distance students also desire assistance with their selected to support the career aspirations of the studies. In order to receive this help, students wish student. access to This conclusion must be modified in light of the 1) tutors and counsellors results of the 1985 study. Intellectual growth and 2) high quality instructional materials recognition rank high with the telecourse student, 3) other institutional resources suggesting a broader range of course offerings not The research demonstrates that career development limited to career goals. is not paramount for these students but they have 3 The distance learning program should provide other motivational needs which should be add- the student with ease of access to professors, ressed.It appears that an educational structure based on technology alone will be insufficient to tutors and counsellors. satisfy students needs in distance education. The 1985 study results would modify this recommendation. The telecourse students perceive a need `or access to tutors and counsellors. Access to the professor does not rank as high as it did for the part-time student. REFERENCES 4 Distance learning course content should consist Bates, A.W. (Ed.). of complete packages of high quality independ- (1984). The role of technology in distance education. ent study irstructional materials. London: Croom Helm. 305292 Coldeway, D. tion at a distance: A World Perspective. Athabasca: Atha- (1986). "Learner Characteristics and success" in Mu- basca University. gridge, Ian and Kaufman, David (ed.) Distance teaching Marzotto, Elio for higher and adult education. London: Crown Helm. (1984). A profile of the distance learning student resident Coldeway, D., Spencer R., & Stringer, M. in southwestern Ontario. Detroit: Wayne State Universi- (1980) Factors affecting learner motivation in distance 41. education: The interaction Athabasca: Athabasca Uni- Waniewicz, I. versity. Project REDEAL. (1979). "The possible use of educational television broad- Heine, T. casting for meeting some of the needs identified in the (1983). "The social and psychological milieu of distance study" Demand for part-time learning in Ontario", Toron- students". Distance Education 4 (1), 53-62. to: Ontario Educational Communications Authority. Jevons, F.R. (1982). "How different is the distance student?" Educa-

293 306 Distance education for liberalarts learning: The University of Wisconsin GreenBay Extended Degree Experience MARGARET A. LAUGHLIN Associate Professor of Education University of Wisconsin Green Bay U.S.A.

Over the years it has become clear that completion its), humanities and fine arts (9 credits), natural sci- of secondary education and/or technical education ences (9 credits), social sciences (9 credits), prob- is no longer sufficient due to changing life styles, job lem solving (4 credits), and complete an adult learn- requirements, and ever increasing technological ing seminar (2 credits). In addition, there are 61 developments. For example, many technological credits of elective courses which include any ac- changes are coming at such speeds that the notion of ceptable college level course. a "half life" of a technical degree is becoming com- The Extended Degree Program Requirements are mon place (Hartoonian and Laughlin, 1986). Spe- illustrated in the graph which follows. cialized knowledge may become obsolete in less than four years which often results in the need for retraining or technological unemployment. The purposeof many distanteducation programs isto allow adults to continue with their employment and other obligations and to work for a college degree or to learn new subject content for personal growth. Universities in many parts of the world have created extended or external degree programs to meet the needs of adult learners who may experience geographic, social, cultural, or urban isolation. These programs enable adults who were or are unable to attend conventional university programs to gain access to higher education. (See earlier studies by Medsker, Edelstein, Krepl in, Ruyle, and Shea, 1975). This paper explores one such program for adult learners at the University of WisconsinGreen Bay (hereafter identified as UWGB). This Extended De- gree program is designed to meet the needs of adults who live any place in the state and who want to continue to learn and earn a college degree but Illustration 1: Requirements in the UWGB Extended Deg- already have numerous other obligations person- ree Program. al, family, professional, civic and social. This program offers those who complete the required course of study an undergraduate bachelor's In order to meet the needs of the adult learner and to degree in "general studies". The interdisciplinary ensure a quality program,it was necessary for competency based curriculum is somewhat pre- UWGB to find ways to offer adequate learner access scriptive in that students are required to complete to faculty and other university resources, such as coursework in each of the following areas, and inan learning and reference materials. In this respect the area of emphasis. These requirements are business university librarians have been most helpful in secu- and economics (9 credits), communications (6 cred- ring needed resources for faculty and students. A

294 307 learning contract specifies the student's obligations At least one more time during the course the learner with regard to learning outcomes. and instructor meet in person to review completed The overall general goals of the UWGB Extended assignments, to explain future lessons, to discuss Degree Program are as follows: problems or concerns, and/or exchange ideas and a) To offer a General Studies degree program for perspectives. This feedback is critical so that lear- students who wish to work toward the devel- ners may experience success and/or satisfaction in opment of competencies which prepare the the course. The two meetings are the only direct individual to participate effectively in the fam- person -to- person contact between learners and in- ily, occupational, and community contexts. structors.i ney let the learners come to the campus b) To make available a baccalaureate degree and get a feel for the university, use the library program to individuals who find it difficult to resources, browse in the book store, and interact meet standard university residency require- with other students in the extended degree program, ments. and take part in other campus activities. c) To give mature students an opportunity to play High quality materials complement the instruction- a large role in the development of their aca- al expertise of the instructor and compensate for the demic program. limited learner-instructor face-to-face contact. The d) To provide an alternative approach to educa- instructional materials take the place of the tradition for individuals who find traditional learn- tional classroom lecture and help students under- ing contexts unsuitable. stand course objectives and faculty expectations, e) To offer a number of tracks within the basic the organization of the course, and ways to learn the General Studies format so that students may course content. Individual course materials within emphasize clusters of competencies which fit the program may include textbooks and other as- their needs or interests. signed readings, study guides, as well as audio and f) To give credit to students who have had aca- video tapes. This enables students to have some demically-creditablepriorexperienceor control over the pace of their learning. Learning is a training. personal affair and there is not necessarily a connec- The pedagogical objectives are expected tion between instruction and learning. a) To develop college-level proficiency in com- Who are the adult learners in the UWGB Extended munication skillsnumerical, writing, read- Degree Program? A recent survey of students ening, speaking, and listening. rolled in the program revealed that nearly 60% of b) To develop knowledge and skills for making the learners live more than 50 miles from Green the value judgments and factual decisions Bay. Some learners live at least 160 miles to the necessary for living in contemporary society. southwest (Richland Center) and some 185 miles c) To enhance the ability to function effectively west (Eau Claire). This means that it takes between with individuals and groups. one and three and a half hours driving time one way d) To equip each student with basic knowledge to travel to Green Bay for the required on-campus of the concepts and skills in major disciplinary meetings. The learners are primairly jobholders areas. (88%) with the majority employed in professional or e) To permit emphasis in one or more disciplin- managerial positions. The learners are approxi- ary or multi-disciplinary areas which fit the mately equally divided between females and males. students' needs and interests. Learner age ranges are from 22-72 years old with f) To develop the foundation for self-directed, the average age beirg 37 years old. Nearly one-third lifelong learning (UWGB: 1984, p. 1) indicate an interest in pursuing graduate work after In the program at UWGB students meet with the completing their undergraduate degree program. course instructor face to face at least twice during the course. These 3 hour seminars have several Since July 1978 when the program began with 67 objectives. At the first meeting the students receive a students, the UWGB Extended Degree Program has fairly detailed sequenced course syllabus, a study served over 1000 students. The enrollment during guide which describes the required readings and 1906-87 was nearly 500 students. Some extended writing assignments, suggests various approaches of degree students may decide to enroll for regular study, and specifies clearly defined learning out- classes at UWGB or at other 2 or 4 year campus of comes. This implies systematic preplanning on the the University of Wisconsin System. To date 39 part of the instructor, a knowledge of the discipline, students have graduated from the program. They and an understanding of adult learning theory. After completed the program in about five years. Some this meeting the learners work independently and/ student have only enrolled for specific courses or with assistance from the course instructor via a which met their immediate needs and goals. Nearly telephone conference call or by correspondence to-fifths of these enrolled receive financial support through the mails at the discretion of the student. A from their employers to cover expenses related to sense of excitement for learning needs to be made earning the degree. evident to the student.

295 308 Student evaluations are very positive. The folio- of an extended degree program. They also indicate wingchart indicates their degree of satisfaction with they have enrolled in the program because of their the program. need to work independently (UWGB; 1984, p. 20). Chart 1: Satisfaction for the UWGB Extended Extended degree students are self-directed and able Degree Program to establish priorities for studying, but at the same Area Satisfaction Percentages time they retain a sense of balance in their lives. Sufficient time to complete learning 96 % The UWGB Extended Degree Program is alive and activities well. Future growth of the program is anticipated. Professors available and responsive to 86 % The program serves the needs of those who enroll needs and is likely to be expanded in terms of courses and format. Contracts provide opportunity to 92 % acquire learning skills transferable to other academic or life activities Contracts designed to motivate 91 % completion of study BIBLIOGRAPHY Satisfaction with method used to eval- 92 % uate completed work Hartoonian H.M. & Laughlin, M.A. Mastered content and/or skills employ-97 % (1986) "Designing a Scope and Sequence",Social Educa- ed in area of study tion50 (7) pp. 503 ff. Learning outcomes (competencies are 91 % Medsker, L., Edelstekv, S., Kreplin, H., Ruyle, J., and relevant and important in their own Shea, 1. development) (1975)Extending Opportunities for a College Degree: Appreciate new perspectives 91 % Practices, Problems and Potentials.Berkeley, CA, Uni- Broadened their outlook 90 % versify of California, Berkeley, Center for Research and Gained an understanding of social 90 % Development in Higher Education. issue:, University of WisconsinGreen Bay (1984).Joint UW System Administration and UWGreen Students report insufficient involvement with other Bay Five Year Review of the Bachelor of Arts-General students (51%) but recognize this as a characteristic Stur",s.Author.

2009 Attitudes of external faculty towards distance education

DR. GOMATHI MANI Dept. of Adult and Continuing Education University of Madras India

DISTANCE EDUCATION: THE cost. Thus the developing countries have found dis- CONCEPT tance education to be the answer to the problem of taking education to the geographically isolated pop- Distance Education refers to the teaching and the ulation. Equally, developed countries need distance learning process where a space and time dimension education for people who cannot attend on-campus intervenes between teaching and learning. Distance classes. education, however, is a relative term that, in fact, updates the term, "correspondence education" which has been used in many countries for over a DISTANCE EDUCATION IN INDIA century. In practice distance education usually in- India made an early start in distance education by volves a combination of media to achieve the desir- using Radio in schools in the early 1950s to supple- ed result. Distance educators have found this use of ment the regular curriculum. TV was used in New media to be efficient and effective in handling both Delhi to support classroom teaching in selected sub- small and large groups of learners. The media used jects in 1975-76. India launched the Satellite In- in distance education are generally backed up by structional Television Experiment (SITE) to broad- correspondence lessons and face-to-face sessions. cast self-contained serial lessons for all viewers in The advent of mass media and the emerging role of the 6 to 11 years age range. Of the two and a half communications have proved that education need hours set aside for education every day the morning no longer be limited to classroom face-to-face learn- telecast was used for primary education. The pro- ing. For this distance education programmes should grammes were motivational and not strictly syllabus be flexible in response to market demands, such as oriented. continuing professional education, employment At the secondary level distance education started oriented education,non-traditionalneed-based formally in 1965, through the launching of corre- education etc. spondence courses. Printed materials remained the main form of instruction in these courses. Distance NEED FOR DISTANCE education at the tertiary level started with the in- EDUCATION troduction of correspondence courses at Delhi Uni- versity in 1962, in response to the increasing de- Traditional methods of education are now inade- mand for college and university education. Other quate. The formal system is no longer the sole influ- universities followed suit and today about 35 uni- ence on people's social attitudes. Mass media such versities offer correspondence courses at graduation as radio, TV and films play a major role with their and post-graduate levels. Distance teaching is car- advantage of wide reach and low cost. The decline ried out mainly through printed materials and face- in the quality of traditional education despite an to-face contact seminars, though very few universi- increase inits dissemination can be minimised ties have started using radio, TV and audio-visual through the mass media which respond quickly to cassettes. the varying needs of people. The demands for formal ;iistitutions has out-stripped the capacity of The first open university in India was established in many economies to supply them. Alongside this, Andhra Pradesh during 1982. There are now five technological changes in science, medicine, agri- open universities offering graduate, post-graduate culture and engineering offer new opportunities to and diploma courses. many adults, if only they had the relevant educa- The four regional colleges of euucation have been tion. The scale of the double demand for schools conducting summer school cum correspondence and adult education has led to a search for alterna- courses for the in-service training of teachers since tive methods of education that can reach a vast and 1966, through a combination of correspondence diverse population in remote rural areas at a lower instruction with two-months summer sessions of in-

297 310 tensive instruction on-campus and practice teach- material, supplemented by personal contact pro- ing. Thus distance education has proved its effec- grammes in selected centres. The institute has a tiveness by providing educational opportunities for number of core teaching faculty, and many external the geographically and socially isolated and for dis- faculty are also invited to teach contact seminars. advantaged groups. Women are an important target This study aims to find out the perception/attitudes group and distance education has a special rele- of the faculty towards external study in general, and vance for them. Topics which are appropriate for the institute's programme, in particular. women, such as skill training, can be brought into Procedures: A preliminary informal interview was their homes through distance training. held with half a dozen faculty of the institute and Some educators who have not been exposed to based on the interview, a questionnaire was devel- distance education use the physical distance factor oped to gauge the attitude of academic staff towards to devalue distance mode as a second rate method the various academic aspects of distance education. for second chance, lonely and isolated learners It was also expected that the results of this survey though the curriculum content and the method of would: evaluation are the same for both the systems. Many a) Identify the strong and weak points of the present teachers in distance education institutes feel that model and the aspects that need modification they are deprived of their traditional status by not b) enable recommendations to be made to the con- being in control cf a classroom. But they accept that cerned authorities for the improvement of the the experience gained by teaching distance learners system leads to professional development. The growth sce- c) indicate areas that need staff development pro- nario should not conceal the continuing existence grammes. of additional problems. This sample study attempts to measure the attitude of the faculty of the Institute The questionnaire focused its attention mainly on of Correspondence Education of the University of the process of teaching. The sample consisted of 50 Madras towards external study. members of staff selected at random from those who are currently involved in teaching distance learners. The questionnaire with 12 questions was distributed BACKGROUND by the investigator during the contact seminar and the completed questionnaire was collected later, at The Institute of Correspondence Education, Uni- their convenience. Table 2 indicates the frequency versity of Madras, was started in 1981-1982, of- of responses for each item. fering graduate and post-graduate courses in Histo- ry, Political science, Commerce, Public Adminis- tration, Economics, Tamil and English Literature. DISCUSSION Out of a total enrolment of 2.25 lakhs students at the Question 1 and 2 It is encouraging to note that only 26 universities in India offering distance education 10 per cent of the respondents indicated that they courses, the University of Madras accounts for would avoid teaching distance students if they about 17 per cent, ranking third largest in the coun- could. This counters the general opinion that the try. Also, the institute accounts for 50 per cent of the traditional teaching system is preferred. Most of the 1.38 lakhs of distance learners in the State of Tamil- staff have been deputed from the traditional system nadu. The pattern of enrolment in 1981-1984 is and they expressed an interest and willingness to shown in Table 1. continue in distance teaching. Only 13 per cent prefer teaching regular students. Table 1: Pattern of enrolment in 1981-84 at Univer- Questions 3, 4 and 80f the respondents 40 per cent sity of Madras found teaching regular students easier and less Sample Year Level En- strenuous, 62 per cent said that the seminar classes no. rolment were overcrowded and only 11 per cent felt that they are better satisfied while teaching regular stu- 1. 1981-82 undergraduate and 17,008 dents. Usually the seminar classes are held in places postgraduate which lack proper seating arrangements, accom- 2. 1982-83 undergraduate and 11,408 modation, ventilation, lighting, microphone facil- postgraduate ities etc. Where attendance is compulsory classes 3. 1983-84 undergraduate and 17,990 will be overcrowded. Naturally, there is more satis- postgraduate faction when the teacher-student ratio is less and each student gets individual attention. In spite of the number of problems the institute is Questions 6, 9 and 10 As experienced, working, faced with, the trend of enrolment seems to be responsible adults, distance students are in general increasing, due to the demand for higher education. self-motivated. But 28 per cent of the sample found Teaching is carried out primarily through printed the distance students less motivated than regular

2983 1 1 Table 2: Questionnaire (SA: Strongly Agrced, A: Agreed, UD: Undecided, D: Disagreed and SD: Strongly Disagreed)

SA A UD 0 SD Total

1 I would avoid teaching distance education stu- 2 3 1 18 26 50 dents, if I could 2 I prefer teaching regular students instead of dis- 5 8 2 15 20 50 tance education 3 It is easier and less strenuous to teach regular stu- 5 15 2 20 8 50 dents than distance education students 4 I get better satisfaction when I reach regular stu- 2 9 4 24 12 50 dents

5 Teaching distance education students lacks status 1 5 0 21 23 50 6 Distance education students are not as interested as 4 10 1 17 18 50 the regular ones 7 The support services to the distance students are 14 27 4 3 2 50 quite inadequate 8 The contact seminar classes are usually c. Prcrow- 13 18 4 1') 5 50 ded 9 It is difficult to maintain discipline in contact semi- 5 18 2 20 5 .)i. nar classes 10 There is no student participation during contact 8 22 5 13 2 50 seminar 11 I do not like marking assignments 6 14 2 20 8 50 12 Distance educators need orientation and training 12 20 5 5 8 50 to teach distance students 13 Which of the following have you made use of, in your distance education system? (a) Printed lessons; (b) Face-to-face teaching; (c) Radio; (d) Audio-tapes; (e) TV; (0 Video-tapes; (g) Any other. ones. The students were probably either unemploy- through its telecasts at school level. There is no ed and rather frustrated or overworked due to press- proper evaluation to see whether programmes reach ing problems. Due to overcrowding and the their target population. diversity of the students the seminar classes lack the In this age of sophisticated mass media and satellite type of balanced participation found in the regular communication there is an urgent need to make classes. The glaring difference in age, educational optimum use of all the appropriate and accessible qualifications, experience, level of understanding support services. and articulation makes interaction difficult. As the group is large, seminar classes short and the syllabus Questions 11 and 12 Of the teachers 40 per cent did vast, individuals do not always get an opportunity to not like marking assignments or response sheets as it participate (60 per cent) in any discussion and if they is a time consuming, monotonous and unrewarding try to it becomes difficult to control and maintain job. 60 per cent of the respondents wanted teachers discipline (46 per cent). to be properly trained in the areas of sustained interest, teaching methods, using a variety of media, Questions 5 and 7These items examine the percep- maintenance of discipline, and evaluation before tion of the staff of a system which caters to the needs facing the heterogeneous, motivated adult distance of a vast population. Though current orthodoxy learners. holds that teaching distance students lacks status, the responses are fairly encouraging, for most of the CONCLUSION respondents consider both systems equal. But in many instances, the degree obtained through ex- Self-motivated, adult distance learners are effective ternal study is considered second rate compared to and efficient only if flexible and varied processes, its traditional counterpart. quality products and skilled instruction are provided through a variety of approaches and media. Dis- Questions 7 and 13 It must be of concern that 82 per tance educators do not lose their status or impor- cent of the respondents pointed out that the support tance due to their new role and their new relation- services for distance students are inadequate. Apart ship with the learners. Learning is interactive and from printed lessons and face-to-face contact semi- sociable but learners should be allowed to work on nars, no other media are involved. Only a handful of their own. Flexible, non-formal education cannot institutions use radio and audio-tapes; UGC tele- be confined to place, time and method determined casts programmes for college students; and Madras by teachers alone. The needs of adults are entirely Dhoordharshansupplementsschoolteaching different from those of children and educators who

299 3 1 2 are not sensitive to these needs lack proper attitudes modify the teacher's role provided the teacher's and hence feel uncomfortable. Hence the faculty attitude towards external study is favorable and pos- need and in-service staff development programmes itive. in innovative and creative techniques of teaching and in providing academic and vocational counselling. Professional develornent of teachers is a con- BIBLIOGRAPHY tinuous process. Through modest fees and a flexible course credit Cotsorlas, N.J. and Kaiser, H.F. system, education can be delivered at a minimal (1962). "A factor analysis of students and administrators" cost. ratings of clinical teachers in a medical school, Journal of Educational Psychology (1962), 53, 219-23. Basic knowledge as well as advances in health, Hilderbrand, M. and Wilson, R.C. family welfare, nutrition and agriculture can be ef- "Effective university teaching and its evaluation" (Berke- fectively communicated through distance educa- ley: University of California, 1970). tion. The evening programmes on agriculture, health and family welfare and the morning school Holmberg, Bone broadcast under the SITE programme were well re- "Status and trends in distance education" (London: Ko- ceived by the target audience, and people preferred gan Page: 1981). information to entertainment through the media. jayagopal, R. Recruitment of teachers requires careful thought. "Adult Learning" (Department of Adult and Continuing There should not be any disparity between the ser- Education, University of Madras, 1985). vice conditions, salary structure and status of teach- Mani, Gomathi ers in university departments, and institutes of dis- "Learning support systems". Paper presented at the 13th tance education. World Conference of ICDE, Melbourne, Australia, 1985. "Participant evaluation of distance education". Ph.D. Distance education can increase student enrol- Thesis of Madras University, 1983. ment, improve the use of available resources and

313

300 Managing student services for mastery learning RAJESHWAR N. MATHUR Indira Gandhi National Open University C-4/16, S.D.A., New Delhi-16, India

Today in some universities students are at a great incorporate the entire study material. transactional distance although they attend classes The student studies on his own with the help of a regularly. The students merely go through the proc- study guide and tries to finish the unit before the date ess of taking notes in a face-to-face environment for the introduction of the next unit. When the stu- which provides neither dialogue nor structure to dent encounters any difficulty, he gets help from a meet their individual educational needs. By con- tutor on an individual basis. For every six students trast, in a system of education described in ancient there is a senior student who tutors on a volunteer Indian literature', more than 5000 years old, the basis. Only the better senior students who volunteer students were at a lesser transactional distance. The are involved as tutors in the IGSI class. In some English translation of a Sanskrit verse describing this institutions credits can be awarded for tutoring. This system is: encourages senior students to tutor their juniors. In Learn one-fourth from the teacher, the beginning of the IGSI course the teacher ex- one fourth by self-study, plains the system to tutors and gives hints for tutor- one-fourth from fellow pupils, and ing and grading of tests. Specifically, the tutors are one-fourth while applying knowledge from time to advised not to solve a complete problem for the time. students but to give hints and guidance so that they Most students lived in schools called "Gurukuls" are able to solve the problem by their own efforts. where the teaher catered to their individual needs. In the IGSI course the student learns to take the The interactions among peers and senior students initiative in self-learning activity. With the help of provided the much desired "dialogue". In addition, the tutor the student learns through the unit, works the learner interacted with the society and his out the assignment and takes the self assessment to knowledge increased as he gained more and more verify achievement of the objectives. After covering experience. the entire unit the student asks the tutor for a mastery test which is graded by the tutor in his presence. The Based on the results of modem research in educa- evaluation is both written and oral. The mastery tional technology, and taking cues from the above tests are used for diagnosis and also to determine verse, an Individually Guided System of Instruction (IGSI) has been developed.2 attainment of a pre-determined level of mastery. If the mastery level is achieved the pupil is allowed to go to the next unit, otherwise he is given a prescrip- DESCRIPTION OF IGSI tion for futher study (Fig. 1). After lore preparation In IGSI the course material is split into short units the student takes another test on the same unit. This such that one unit ca.. be covered in six to eight process is repeated until the pupil demonstrates periods of fifty minutes duration. The teacher mastery of the unit. The student is encouraged to spends up to two periods introducing the unit and finish a unit before the teacher introduces the next explaining difficult terms, concepts, derivations unit on a pre-announced date but no formal dead- etc., showing models, films, charts etc. and giving lines are imposed. Thus, pupils are allowed to pro- practical demonstrations as needed. The student is gress at their own pace using guidance when desir- given a study guide which contains an introduction ed. This is why we have named this system the to the unit to arouse interest and to link the present Individually Guided System of Instruction (IGSI). unit to previous and future units, behavioral ob- The IGSI requires the presence of a teacher who for jectives for the unit, suggested procedures for part of the time also assumes the role of a learning achieving these objectives, activities, assignments facilitator. Both teacher and tutors provide person- and self assessment. In the skeleton study guides the alised help to each student. But most of the teacher's student is instructed to read pages of different books. time is spent on the development of course material On the other hand the self-contained study guides supervision of tutors.

301 31es As the students progress to higher levels a greater system and to provide advice on good tutoring and proportion of learning takes place in the absence of marking, the organisation of course material, a teacher. Most distance education systems consid- checking the progress of students etc. er the student basically individual. Several other The foremost objective of a distance education sys- mastery learning systems have been developed tem is to democratise educational opportunities. To which are completely individualised and no formal lectures are given.''' democratise educational achievement by mastery learning, strong student support needs to be provid- The design of a distance education system today is ed. The best interactive support that can be provid- premised on the separation of teacher and student. ed to students is face-to-face tuition. This interaction Therefore, in this system the role of the teacher and can b-' provided by tutors who are not necessarily the nature of his transactions with the lea;ner arc lecturers or persons having high professional ranks. much different. The students can be taken toa high Even senior students who have recently taken a level of mastery in the absence of a teacher by similar course can provide effective tutorial help. providing strong student support services. This sup- Volunteers and other community social workers port will then not be supplementary, but will be an could also provide such help. This makes learning integral part of the educational programme. This co-operative and more enjoyable without increas- implies that an institution may decline to accept ing its cost. In countries where human resources are some eligible students on the grounds that it is un- abundant, distance education systems can provide able to provide them w,th a suitable studypro- high quality education by proper operations man- gramme backed by extensive student support. The agement. The proper provision of human resources distance education institutions which do not pro- alone can make distance education systems suc- vide support services to their students may not be ceed in providing high quality education. able to provide mastery learning to any of their students. REFERENCES Mastery learning requires an institution to use its capacity to provide student support services to its 1. Moolcerji, R.K. fullest extent. Student support includes study mate- "Ancient Indian Education" Published for Moti lal Ba- rial and assessment feedback, communication with narsidass, Delhi, 1974. students by telephone, letter or electronic mail; 2. Mathur, Rajeshwar N. and Prakash, B. (accepted face-to-face tutorial help at study centres, tutorials for publication) by telephone or satellite etc. Networking and elec- "Individually Guided System of Instruction (IGSI) A tronic mail technologies have considerable poten- Cooperative Learning Strategy", Educational Technolo- tial for improving the quality of tutorial and student gy, New Jersey, U.S.A. contacts in distance education. Using feedback 3. Mathur, Rajeshwar N. from the computer on computer marked assign- (1984) "Physics Teaching by the Individually Guided Sys- ments also would make the work of the tutor easy. tem of Instruction", Physics Education, India. But in the mastery learning systems described 4. Keller, F.S. above, good print material and regular help froma tutor are all that is required. The tutor is the major (1968) "Good Bye Teacher..." journal of Applied Beha- viour Analysis, Spring (1) 79. provider of support. The tutor's role is to reinforce learners' efforts to master the objectives in the study guide using the material given in the self contained units. The other student support would make it easier for the students to attain the mastery level. The objective of management is to provide tutors and to supervise their work. In most distance education institutions, it may not be possible to provide support to all students using the institution's tutors. This is possible only in sma'i enrolment courses where the students are local. Usually the tutors will be ;n the regions and hired locally. These distant tutors have to be supervised properly. Supervision can be done by visiting the tutors and observing how they conduct face-to-face sessions and what kind of relationship they are able Fig. 1. Showing reinforcement used in mastery learning to develop with students. Marking can be checked systems. The grades given in mastery assessments are PASS for demonstrating mastery, and NO PASS for for quality on a random sampling basis. It is desir- achieving a level less than mastery. Students who get a able to hold a training programme for tutorsat the NO PASS repeat the unit, while the students who get a beginning of the year to acquaint them with thenew PASS go on to the next unit.

302 31 Designing and writing distance education materials for basic education and development trainingprogrammes: the Kenyan experience B. MATIRU and D. GACHUHI

INTRODUCTION and other countries in the region, by way of training professional personnel in basic education, literacy Most African governments, in the two decades fol- and development. DSE, therefore, found it appro- lowing their independence, have attempted to propriate to develop a training package, in collabora- vide formal education for manpower development. tion with CADE, to train writers of distance educa- However, due to the tremendous demand for edu- tion materials. The package was to consist of a series cation, this could not be done through the formal of two-week workshops. school system alone. Distance education has become the most reliable alternative in meeting this The implf mentation of the series began in March need. Kenya is no exception to this trend. This is 1985, with DSE providing financial assistance and reflected in the increasing number of government external consultants and CADE providing local re- sponsored distance education programmes. source persons and support services. This co-operation which was to last for three years, has now Programmes offered by the College of Adult and completed three training cycles. Distance Education (CADE) of the University of Nai- robi, now enrol over 12,000 students who are The 1985-1987 workshop series had the following studying basic education and training courses. In main objectives: order to meet the demand for higher education, (a) to bring together writers of distance education CADE also offers an external degree programme. materials from formal and non-formal develop- Other government institutions such as the Kenya ment training programmes to share their experi- Institute of Special Education, the Co-operative Col- ences and learn together; lege of Kenya, the Kenya Institute of Education, Tom (b) to build a core of experienced designers and Mboya Labour College and Moi Polytechnic also writers of distance education materials who offer courses at a distance. In addition, some non- would disseminate their skills throughout East governmental and international organizations, in- Africa; cluding the African Medical Research Foundation, (c) to familiarize course writers with what is in- the Hadley School for the Blind and the African volved in a distance education system; Institute for Economic and Socia! Development, (d) to equip course writers with the necessary skills have ventured into this field. TIC;; demand for such to design a specific correspondence course; courses is increasing every year. (e) to have course writers plan, develop and write a unit for a specific course. The major reason for the growth of distance education in Kenya is the fact that the formal education The workshop series had external as well as local system is unable to cater for the great number of facilitators, all of whom gave inputs, led group dis- Warners who want to further their education. This is cussions and chaired plenary sessions. They also sc especially in the areas of teacher training and advised the writers individually on the development up-grading, secondary education and business of their materials during and after workshops. In studies. addition to working with the writers, the local facilitators also met with heads of institutions to discuss THE NEED FOR TRAINING institutional support for the workshops. DISTANCE EDUCATORS THE TRAINING MODEL USED AT The German Foundation for International Devel- opment (DSE), over the years, has sought to provide THE WORKSHOPS assistance to education programmes in East Africa The training model used for designing and writing

303 316 distance education materials consisted of three The workshops were evaluated on a daily basis by stages. the participants. They also completed a more com- Stage 1 prehensive questionnaire which was analyzed and The first stage consisted of a two week training the results discussed in plenary before the end of the workshop at the beginning of the year (March/ workshops. April). During these two weeks the participants were Basic documentation for the workshops was provid- informed on how to design a distance education ed by DSE. This included manuals on writing and unit and what is involved in writing such a unit. editing as well as texts on the theories of distance They completed a detailed topic outline for their education. unit, including the writing of unit objectives. The In addition to these, a specialized collection of refer- participants were guided on how to write the unit ence books, textbooks and monographs on the sub- and completed part of it at this workshop. After the ject of distance education was brought to the work- workshop, they returned to their institutions and shops for reference and use by the participants. completed the rest of the unit. They also came to the workshops with all the refer- Stage 2 ence materials they needed to write the subject During this stage participants were back in their content of their course. institutions and wrote the rest of the unit they designed and outlined in Stage 1. They sent their draft to the facilitators for comments. Facilitators visited TRAINING CONTENT OF THE as many participants as possible. All units were WORKSHOPS pre-tested during this stage. The following topics constituted the main inputs in Moreover, at the end of this stage (5 to 6 months) the fulfilling the objectives of the workshops: units were typed and duplicated in adequate num- 1. Essential elements of distance education bers for peer review and sharing. In addition, sug- 2. Characteristics and needs of distance learners gestions were made for illustrations and the units 3. Course development for distance education: were ready for detailed editing. a. The process of course development Stage 3 b. Selection of instructional methods After six months, the participants came together 4. Course production: again for another workshop of two weeks to present a. Principles and stages of course writing their units and to have them commented on by the b. Interactive Instruction other participants and facilitators. Each participant c. Presentation: style, format, language, illus- had a unit edited by a group and re-wrote it for final trations typing. All illustrations were planned, drawn and d. Principles of editing inked in. When the participants returned to their 5. Assessment of learners institutions, their units were ready for copy editing 6. Tutoring at a distance and printing. 7. Testing and Evaluating the course materials.

WORKSHOP METHODS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PROCEDURES WORKSHOP SERIES The participants were involved in negotiating some The workshops series realized major achievements of the objectives and procedures of the workshops. in several areas. Questions of areas of emphasis, treatment, sequence and application were decided only after the participants had met to discuss the purpose and UNITS WRITTEN procedures of the workshops. The major._ the workshop participants had never The core of the workshops was seen as a guided undergone an intensive training course in writing. It practicum in which the participants designed and is therefore a reflection of the success of this work- drafted one distance education unit and wrote the shop series that a total of 66 units of about 45 pages detailed text. and 23 lessons of about 12 pages each were de- Lectures, discussion groups, and individual consul- signed, written and illustrated in the three cycles of tancies were used to explain concepts, teach and the workshops held. Participants undertook to write reinforce skills and techniques and introduce the urgently needed materials for eight different pro- tasks of the practicum. Moreover, participants were grammes. Some of these materials are already print- encouraged to share their experiences and written ed and being used by distance education learners. materials with their colleagues and the faculty dur- The following table further summarizes these ing plenary sessions. achievements.

304 3 1 7 Table 1: Total number of units and lessons designed, Table 3: The number of writers trained ror various written, illustrated and edited institutions, 1985-1987 Course 1985 1986 1987 Total Institution Number 3f Writers In-Service Course for Prima-11 5 7 23 1985198E 1987 Total ry School Teachers College of Adult and Distan- Foundations Course for 5 4 10 19 ce Education 4 0 6 10

Adult Education Teachers Teachers Colleges 1 3 2 6 Co-operative Knowledge 6 2 3 11 Kenya Institute of Education0 3 5 8 1-lalth Learning Materials15 8 1 24 Co-operative College of Ke- Special Education 0 0 3 3 nya 6 2 2 10

KCE subjects C .., 3 1 4 AMREF 3 4 0 7 Trade Union History 0 1 0 1 Hadley School for the Blind0 2 0 2

Bridging Courses for Tan- 0 2 2 4 Tom Mboya Labour College0 1 0 1 zanian Adults Department of Adult Educa- tion 6 Totals 37 25 27 89 4 4 14 National Correspondence ILLUSTRATING THE UNITS Institute (Tanzania) 0 2 2 4 The production of these units would not have been Institute for In-Service Tea- complete without graphics. There were continuous cher Training (Somalia) 0 0 2 2 consultations between each writer and the graphics Kenya Institute of Special department during which suggestions for the cov- Education 0 0 2 2 ers, symbols and line drawings were discussed. Total 18 21 27 66 Writers were shown how to prepare an artist's brief which then became the basis for the artist to use to develop rough sketches. Once these were approved NEW SKILLS ACQUIRED AT THE by the writer and his group, the artists prepared the WORKSHOP final artwork. The total number of illustrations is As a result of all the inputs and practical sessions at shown in Table 2. the workshops, as well as the experience gained in the interim between workshops, all the writers are able to: Table 2: Completed graphics for the units define the educational needs to be met 131, their Type of graphic 1985 1986 1987 institutions; define learner's weds and characteristics; Cover 4 0 5 identify available resources for a particular dis- Symbols 17 2 8 tance education course; Line drawings 182 244 262 state objectives of the course; describe possible alterngive methods in order to The symbols developed at the workshop were found meet the objectives of the course within the limi- to be appropriate and have since been accepted for tations of the resources; use by many distance education institutions in East select the most suitable methods; Africa. work out the details of the chosen methods in the subject content areas by preparing a content syn- Although the majority of the writers at the work- opsis; shops had done a little writing, none had any in- plan the course format, cover design and illustra- tensive training on the writing of distance education tions; materials. Moreover 33 out of a total of 66 partici- work out the evaluation procedures for the pants in the two workshop series never wrote any course. distance education materials before coming to the workshops. It is therefore a major achievement that All the participants of these workshops have already various institution! in East Africa have 66 well applied these skills in the regular course of their trained writers who also have basic experience in duties at their places of work. editing. Table 3 shows which institutions have had writers trained in these workshops. ESTABLISHMENT OF A SUPERIOR It should be noted that the writers who are working LIBRARY in teacher training colleges and KIE are all writing courses for CADE (14). As a result of the research done by the facilitators, a number of titles were identified and donated by DSE to the workshop library. This has meant that there is

305 318 now an excellent small resource library available Table 4: People requiring immediate training in wri- which focuses specificially on writing distance edu- ting distance education materials cation materials. CADE now has these resources not only to use in this present series of workshops but No. of also in other training workshops. Each participant Country Institution people and facilitator also has seven outstanding books in Kenya CADE 90 this field which many are using to train other col- AMREF 4 leagues. INADES 2 Co-operative College 60 DISSEMINATION OF Labour College 2 INFORMATION Ministry of Agriculture 48 Department of Adult As part of the workshop series, one newsletter was Education 10 published during Stage 2 of each workshop. This Zimbabwe University of Zimbabwe 10 was mainly intended to keep participants and facul- Ministry of Health 10 ty in touch with one another. In addition to doing Tanzania National Correspondence this, the newsletter also: Institute 36 informed other members of the public about the South African Extension workshop; Unit 20 reviewed recent scholarly publications in the Uganda Centre for Continuing field of distance education; Education 30 gave news of current events in distance educa- Somalia IITT 24 tion; Sudan Sudan Extension Unit 20 provided bio-data on distance educators. Total 356 Although only 300 copies of each newsletter were printed it has been learnt that well over 2000 people have read each issue. It should also be noted that other organizations not involved in distance education, but engaged in writ- Six papers and articles have also been written about ing basic education materials have requested their the workshop series. One appeared in the Nation writers to be trained. newspaper in August 1985 and two were presented at Distance Education Symposiums. Three other ar- Editing is another area in which training is needed. ticles were published: two in Development and Co- After the 1987 writers' workshop series, two work- operation and the other in the Journal of Distance shops to train editors of distance education materi- Education. als are urgently needed. Yet another area is radio and cassette scripting. Most distance education courses are supported by these components. REQUEST FOR FUTURE In conclusion, this workshop series has contributed WORKSHOPS significantly to meet the needs of development in Due to the success of these workshops, as far as the Kenya and its neighbouring East African countries. training of writers is concerned, many requests have When all the units written in the workshops are been received from institutions and organizations printed, they will reach a target population of over for places in the workshop. These requests have 1,000,000 people in East Africa. Considering the come not only from institutions within Kenya but fact that these people would not have received train- from other East African countries including Tan- ing without these materials, their educational status zania, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. has been greatly enhanced. In addition, these mate- Table 4 summarizes the number of people from rials are now being disseminated and shared in the these countries who require immediate training in rural areas where there are rarely any other reading writing distance education materials. materials available.

306 Turkey: Does distance educationmeet national educational priorities? MARINA STOCK McISAAC Arizona State University U.S.A. and KAREN L. MURPHY Anadolu University Turkey

AUTHOR NOTES that an educational system be designed so as to eliminate inequalities in educational opportunity. Marina Stock Mclsaac is an Associate Professor The Higher Education Act of 1981 was a law which working in the field of Distance Education. Address: established the independent Higher Education College of Education, Educational Media and Com- Council and directed it to plan and coordinate all puters, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, higher education activities. This Council had as its 85287-0111, USA. During 1986-87 she was a Ful- goal to provide unity in the higher education system bright Senior Lecturer/Researcher at Anadolu Uni- by setting minimum standards for degree programs versity in Eskisehir, Turkey. throughout Turkey, by setting minimum qualifica- Karen L. Murphy is a Fulbright-Hayes Research tions for teaching and by regulating classroom at- Scholar at Anadolu University in Turkey, 1987-88. tendance and the length of the academic year. Its She is completing her doctoral dissertation from the mission wasto make universities more responsive to University of Washington on The Turkish Open Edu- needs of the people according to the following pri- cation Faculty. Address: Anadolu Universitesi, Aci- orities. 1) To provide expanded admission proce- kogretim Fakultesi, Yunusemre Kampusu, Eskisehir, dures allowing more of the growing population to Turkey. have the opportunity to attend university. 2) To improve the geographic distribution of universities and Directives for Turkish higher education are ex- 3) To distribute faculty members throughout the uni- pressed in the document "Higher Education Act versity system thus providing experienced faculty 2547" which was enacted into law on November 6, members even in rural areas. This governing body 1981. This act was a reform measure legislated as a was empowered to "plan, organize, administer and reaction to the turmoil and civil disturbances which supervise the education provided by institutions of had shaken the Turkish government and universities higher education". In addition it w s granted consti- in the late 1970's to the point that universities had tutional immunity which gave it an extremely pow- became highly politicized reflections of violence erful position. (Karagozoglu, 1986) throughout the country. Campuses were the scene of fighting and even gun battles. The universities' One solution to the problem of addressing the above previous autonomous intellectual activities, which priorities quickly and effectively was to implement a many criticized as having nurtured civil violence, distance education program. There were no dis- became the focus of the reform movement. At the tance education programs in Turkey before 1980, same time, there was pressure on universities to although the idea had been germinating in the provide spaces for more than just the educational minds of a few prominent educators. elite who had been able to receive an advanced Their plan was to increase the opportunity for edu- education. From 1975 to 1980 the number of stu- cation by providing learning opportunities for all dents applying to universities rose from 115,000 to people. This included particularly students who 190,000 while admissions dropped from 50,000 to failed to win places at conventional universities as 42,000 (Dogramaci, 1984). well as those who for economic, geographic or The Higher Education Act of 1981. One solution to other reasons could not study on university campus- the growing economic and social turmoil of the late es. It was felt that distance education would not only 1970s came in the form of the fourth Five-Year benefit the students themselves but, in a larger Development Plan (1979-1983) which required sense, would help to eliminate the student unrest

307 320 tance education courses, the Faculty of Open Edu- Kennedy, B. cation at Anadolu University is excited about the (1982, December 31). The Turkish Open gets underway. challenge and opportunity to meet these, the na- Times, Higher Education Supplement. No. 530, p. 4. tion's top educational priorities. Mclsaac, M.S. & Koymen, U.S. (1987). Distance education opportunities for women in Turkey. Manuscript submitted for publication. REFERENCES OSYM Bayakersen, Y. (1982-1987). Ogretim yili yOksekogretim istatistikleri. (1978). Turk egitim sistemi ve yOksekogretimde talep fa- (Higher education statistics for 1982-1987). ( Ogrenci zlasi karsisinda TOrkiye icin bir model Onerisi. (Applica- segme ve yerlestirme merkezi: Dokumantasyton Birimi.) tion of an educational model to meet the greater demands Ankara: Osym. of Turkish higher education.) (OPT ve OSYM E. I.T.I. A. Pilot Proje Raporu.) Ankara: Government Plan- (1980). Iki asamali Oniversitelerarasi secme ve yerlestirme ning Organization. sinav sistemi. (Two steps in the selection and placement of Dogramaci, I. studentsinuniversities.) (Universitelerarasi Ogrenci (1984, OctDec). Higher Education reform In Turkey: Secme ve Yerlestirme Merkezi: KY-01-80-0002.) Ankara: The university in the service of the community Higher Usym. Education in Europe (10), 4. KaragOzoglu, G. (1986). 1981 Higher education reform of Turkey after five years of practice. Manuscript submitted for publication.

309 292 tance education courses, the Faculty of Open Edu- Kennedy, B. cation at Anadolu University is excited about the (1982, December 31). The Turkish Open gets underway. challenge and opportunity to meet these, the na- Times, Higher Education Supplement. No. 530, p. 4. tion's top educational priorities. Mclsaac, M.S. & Koymen, U.S. (1987). Distance education opportunities for women in Turkey. Manuscript submitted for publication. REFERENCES OSYM Bayakersen, Y. (1982-1987). Ogretim yili yOksekogretim istatistikleri. (1978). Turk egitim sistemi ve yOksekogretimde talep fa- (Higher education statistics for 1982-1987). ( Ogrenci zlasi karsisinda TOrkiye icin bir model Onerisi. (Applica- segme ve yerlestirme merkezi: Dokumantasyton Birimi.) tion of an educational model to meet the greater demands Ankara: Osym. of Turkish higher education.) (OPT ve OSYM E. I.T.I. A. Pilot Proje Raporu.) Ankara: Government Plan- (1980). Iki asamali Oniversitelerarasi secme ve yerlestirme ning Organization. sinav sistemi. (Two steps in the selection and placement of Dogramaci, I. studentsinuniversities.) (Universitelerarasi Ogrenci (1984, OctDec). Higher Education reform In Turkey: Secme ve Yerlestirme Merkezi: KY-01-80-0002.) Ankara: The university in the service of the community Higher Usym. Education in Europe (10), 4. KaragOzoglu, G. (1986). 1981 Higher education reform of Turkey after five years of practice. Manuscript submitted for publication.

309 292 The knowledge network A cooperative distance educationmodel using telecommunications technology BETTY MITCHELL RON HARRINGTON Knowledge Network Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, V6B 4M9

The Knowledge Network, British Columbia's Edu- eo inserted in the vertical blanking interval (the cational Telecommunications Authority,serves the black band at the top of the picture) of the television third largest Canadian province witha population of picture was successful in showing how course-relat- approximately 2.9 million distributedover an area ed visuals could be transmitted throughout the prov- of 947,800 square kilometers. As the provider of the ince. Sloscan delivered in this way can be course telecommunications system, the Knowledge Net- related on one line of the vertical interval while the work is at the hub of electronic distance education delivery of up-to-date teletex weather information is activities in the province. Working in cooperation carried on a fee-for-service basis on another line. with twenty post secondary institutions, communication organizations, government ministries, and To serve clientele with province-wide inter-active with business and industry, the Knowledge Network data requirements the Knowledge Network is partic- has developed telecommunication systems inre- ipating in field trials of Microtel's Pacific DS 1200 sponse to a wide range of programs, learner groups VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) unit. The DS 1200 utilizes "Band-Edge" technology that allows and education providers. These systems includesat- ellite to cable television, radio (pilot), closed-circuit of the insertion of two-way data into the existing video teleconferencing, and telephone based audio satellite transponder capacity. Again as with the teleconferencing, telewriting and computer confer- audio subcarriers and sloscan an additional service encing. is being carried within the existing spectrum so that operating costs are only incremental. The most widely used telecommunications media in Video teleconferencing in British Columbia has de- British Columbia is television. The Knowledge Net- veloped for continuing professional development work leases transponder space on Canada's Anik C3 education. A closed-circuit dual 450 Mhz cable satellite. Anik C is a 12/14 Ghz device owned by system links twenty sites in the Greater Vancouver Telesat Canada. The service is ona regional spot area. This cable system allows the Knowledge Net- beam that covers approximately 1/4 of Canada. work to receive and redistribute video teleconfe- Since British Columbia is the most heavily cabled rences available from outside the province and pro- area in the world, most households rely on cablevi- vides those in the health care community withpro- sion systems for delivery of television and FM radio fessional development sessions which :an be made signals. The Knowledge Network signal is usually available via tht closed-circuit system and satellite received at cablevision head-ends and redistributed to groups meeting at sites throughout the province to al l cable subscr;bers as part of the overal l program or beyond. Video teleconferencing for professional mix. This is extremely cost effective because the development is a growing area in British Columbia. satellite to cable model eliminates traditional TV transmitters and all associated capital operating and The Knowledge Network is also developinga tele- maintenance costs. phone-based telecommunications network. Audio teleconferencing, using the Network's twenty port Now that the public television service is widely teleconferencing bridge, allows users to conduct accepted and operating 16.5 hours per day the Net- seminars, tutorials, or instructional sessions in con- work is focussing on greater utilization of the satel- junction with, or separate from, programs offered by lite transponder. Currently four audio subcarriers television and print. By "piggybacking" on the pro- are subleased to distribute commercial radio signals vincial government toll-free telephone lines,users while the other half of the capacity is being held for of teleconferencing can reach 90% of the province future educational purposes. Recently, sloscan vid- without incurring long distance charges. Projects

310 323 are also underway to expand the use of this cost- PRIMARY MEDIA GROUPS: effective system by exi.Joring telewriting and computer conferencing technologies which will allow POINT TO POINT instructors and students to interact via a teleconfe- telephone tutorials rencing bridge with simultaneous visuals, data, and electronic mail voice. In Fall 1987, the Knowledge Network will software work with a northern Community College to devel- (downloading) op an Adult Basic Education program using this correspondence telewriting/computerconferencingsystem. In (audio & video cassette, Spring 1988 this same technology will be combined audiographics) with print and television for the first British Colum- bia high school Physics program at a distance. TELECONFERENCING audio Recently, five post-secondary institutions and the enhanced audio Knowledge Network formed a t-sk force to explore video educational radio. The institutic.is identified a need computer to provide updates of televised course content swift- ly without the expense of changing a packaged vid- ENHANCED BROADCAST eo program. Since radio can reach the same audi- ancillaiy services ence as television it is a cost effective alternative (transcripts) either to updating television content or for reaching live phone-in a large population when the visual dimension is not BROADCAST necessary. As a pilot in Spring 1988 the Knowledge radio Network will arrange for broadcast time on an exist- television ing radio service and coordinate the program offerings of the participating institutions. Program developers are ancoL raged to construct an audience profile by considering learner groupings, Educators throughout the province look to the the type of learning activity, ano the expected level Knowledge Network for a variety of telecommuni- of learner motivation and commitment. This profile cations media depending on the learning program. will assist in the selection and combination of media These media include: satellite to cable distribution to meet the needs of the learner(s). of television, radio, sloscan, and data; closed-circuit distribution of video teleconferencing; tele- The Knowledge Network is more than a place to phone distribution of audio teleconferencing, te- "house" communications technology. As the hub of lewriting, and computer conferencing. Non-tele- a communication and information network the communications media include audio cassette, Knowledge Network has developed strategies to audiographic, video cassette, and (under consid- serve learners from pre-school to graduate studies eration) video disc. using a variety of methods, techniques and devices. We realize that media differ in their ability to reach a The development of these communications media particular learner with a learning opportunity at a has been driven not by technology but by the under- given time. We are increasingly aware of our role as stand'ngthatdifference media have different facilitator of distance education activities in the strengths. Selecting and combining the most appro- province. The Knowledge Network is a telecommu- priate media develops the most effective program. nications network but it is also a resource and sup- The content and design of programs are controlled port network for all educational institutions and or- by each distance education provider but the Knowl- ganizations who use distance eduction. British Co- edge Network helps them understand how audi- lumbia is a not centralized or decentralized distance ence and content determine the selection and com- education model but a cooperative model. Each bination of media. For example, if the design of the distance education provider is able to develop pro- program calls for full motion video for a demonstra- grams which meet the needs of their consti uency tion sequence the Knowledge Network will assist yet each looks to the Knowledge Network as an the programmer in choosing between broadcast tel- information as well as communications hub. This evision, video cassette and video teleconferencing. hub position enables the Network to identify gaps in If the interactivity is an important part of the pro- province-wide distance education programming, gram, the program designer can choose live televi- pinpoint duplication of effort, encourage cooper- sion with phone-in, conferencing (computer, audio, ative development, reduce system-wide costs, facil- or enhanced audio), or a phone call to a tutor. The itate effective media selection, and develop com- following framework illustrates how the intended munication systems in response to needs. audience can impact media selection.

311 324 Trends and issues in American distance education MICHAEL G MOORE College of Education Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania 16802 U.S.A.

The first volume (three issues) of The American Jour- In Minnesota, The Department of Forest Resources nal of Distance Education, has carried twenty-three and the Extension Service are providing on-the-job major articles, three interviews with national lead- training of employees in microcomputers over tele- ers in distance education, and critical reviews of phone lines. media productions and books. 798 practicing engineers registered for the fall 1986 The flow of articles provides a cross section of in- semester in the National Technological University formation about program developments as well as (KW). The NTU is a consortium of twenty-four issues, problems, and concerns. We summarize engineering schools which expects an enrollment of some of the news and issues represented in these 20,000 within ten years. It currently broadcasts sev- articles. en disciplines, by satellite, with over eight thousand In some programs in rural Minnesota, a Telephone hours of programming. Cooperative and an Educational Cooperative of sev- In Canada, the Toronto General Hospital offers eight en school districts have joined forces to provide a programs of continuing education every week to its seventy-six mile fiber optic system that delivers two nursing staff. Continuing education for nurses is way video channels to each of seven schools, solv- provided in Wisconsin, Texas, and North Dakota. ing the problem of skilled teacher shortage by day, National programs are offered by such organiza- and opening the way to previously unavailable tions as The American Dietetic Association, and the quality adult community education by night. Association of Operating Room Nurses. The Arizona State University televises four channels Over 95% of public television stations have partici- of class instruction by means of fiber optic cable and pated in the Adult Learning Service of the Public microwave transmitter to students in twenty sites. Broadcasting Service, as have one third of all post- Nineteen of these are industrial plants, allowing secondary institutions. 600,000 students have en- employees to take courses during working hours. rolled, and the increase is 30% each year. In Wisconsin a professor uses the statewide educa- Print-correspondence education caters to about tional telephone network to teach church mi.sic. 250,000 students at the college level, and between With 200 conference sites, the network allows mu- four and five million in the private, military and sicians all over the state to hear from national and religious schools. foreign experts, without travelling further than the local courthouse. The best examples of the integration of print and electronic media come from the Annenberg/CPB From California comes research on personal com- Project, and from the International University Con- puter conferencinu in continuing education of corsortium (IUC). "The most momentous single event porate managers. The main reason that managers in the history of development and funding for col- joined the course was to experiment with the new lege television courses in this country" is how Dee corr munications medium. Brock of PBS describes the establishment in 1981 of Computer conferencing and bulletin boards ac- the Annenberg/CPB Project (Brock 1987). With $10 cessed by personal computers train Penn State un- million a year for fifteen years the Project funds the dergraduate Business Administration students in creation of exemplary distance education courses at group discussion skills. Group reports are submitted the college level. Titles include American History, on line, and instructors provide bibliographies, The History of Women and the Family, The Afri- scholarly articles and responses to questions, also cans, The Constitution, Introduction to Sociology, on line. The Mechanical Universe, Planet Earth, and Col- lege Algebra. Since million dollar course budgets are the norm, Annenberg/CPB Project courses are

312 ei i , J.., developed by faculty teams of national stature. COURSE DESIGN The new directions of the International University The Journal has carried three articles on course de- Consortium (I UC), include more emphasis on mem- sign. Grover Diehl undertook a factor analysis of ber involvement and partnership in course devel- fifteen variables and reached conclusions about the opment. Like the PBS Adult Learning Service and desirable length of a course and its constituent parts. Annenberg/CPB courses, IUC courses are high Doug Shale discussed pacing, i.e. the rate at which quality, integrated multi-media systems. They have a student progresses through a course. Dawn Ho- most of the features of the courses produced in the ward focused on feedback. The articles give valua- big national Open Universities in other countries, ble pointers for the improvement of course design. although there is a greater interest in the USA in the Don't overload the student, says Diehl. Choose a use of personal computers and telecommunica- pacing technique to ;meet your pedagogical and tions. institutional needs, and bear in mind the effect on In the United States, in the absence of a decision to the students' motivation, independence, interaction establish integrated national distance education sys- with others, and performance, says Shaie. Select a tems, we see the growth of various cells of such a technology to serve the instructional requirements system or perhaps of several parallel systems of the feedback system, and do not design feedback through a process of networking and consortia- systems merely to fit existing or novel technologies, building. says Howard. The systems include most of the features of the mote It is obvious that there is a body of knowledge about formally established distance education systems in course design but a great many very poor courses. Britain, The Netherlands, Germany, Pakistan, Ve- nezuela, and elsewhere. These include the integrated media package and centralized materials pro- THEORY duction process accompanied by local distribution A third area of concern is theory. The Journal has systems, although these are less sophisticated than carried an article in each issue about the definition, in countries such as Great Britain. The local central concepts, and theories of distance education. Since relationship in the USA is being worked out on an empirical research is driven by conceptualization ad-hoc, collaborative, case-by-case basis which is and theory, the quality of our research is affected by more appropriate than central planning for this the solidity of our theoretical frameworks. One con- country. sequence of the rapid expansion of distance education has been a plethora of wild, erratic, and badly grounded speculations about terminology and con- LEARNERS AND LEARNER cept.I am referring to what has been called "a SUPPORT priori" theorizing; the writing of definitions and Kay Atman examines the role of what she calls proposing of theories "tabula rasa" on an empty Learner's Conation or Striving. She has developed a slate. five stage taxonomy of the conative domain to set The theory of distance education should be derived alongside the established taxonomies in the cogni- from the work of Charles Wedemeyer and others in tive, affective, and perceptual-motor domains. the seventies. This was grounded in both corre- Chere Coggins believes an important contribution spondence education and the broader theories of to distance education will be made by research into education,including humanistic,behavioristic, learning styles. She has examined the relationship and cognitive psychology. Distance education re- between learning styles, selected demographic var- search must be justified in terms of broad education- iables, and student persistance in external bacca- al theory, with acknowledgement to research and laureate degree programs. Her findings reinforce thinking in countries outside the United States. Not the need for preadmissions counseling, orientation one of the three or four theories of distance educa- programs, and "learning how to learn" courses. tion that have been put forward over the last twenty years has been subjected to any form of systematic The problem facing the US is how to integrate local testing. It seems irresponsible to indulge in spec- face-to-face support services usually in local col- ulative theorizing when so much empirical work leges with centralized course design and delivery remains to be done. systems. In Norway, supervisors in factories provide learner support while employees study centrally produced training materials. In Britain, the Open PURPOSE University has six thousand part-time educators to Three items in The Journal raise questions about the provide local face-to-face counseling. In the United broad social setting and the philosophical rationale States, there is still too wide a gap between the that underlies our practice. Charles Wedemeyer resources of face-to-face education and those of stated the starting point in distance education as distance education. appreciation of the potential for development that

313 lies in every person. James Draper has written: "Part These writers remind us what distance education of the context in which distance educators work is should be, and to what it could deteriorate. The comprised of the internationally accepted concepts power that lies in communications technology and values of life long and recurrent education". means that distance education might, in the most The goal of education, including distance educa- pessimistic scenario, be a means of thought control tion, is to bring us closer to a learning society where or at least encouragement of conformity of thinking. the environment becomes conducive to learning for Distance education is challenged to preserve indi- all. John Ohliger quotes the adult education philos- vidualism and creativity, against the levelling and opher,Eduard Lindeman: "Highly developed constricting tendencies that are to be found in the means of communication are indispensable to high- technologies. We have to make special efforts inour ly centralized forms of social control. Rapidmeans course design to introduce learner control, learner of transportation and communication tend tostan- projects, and learner activity. We have to be clear dardize us and therefore render us easier to control about what we want to achieve, and then make the by single authorities." technology work for us.

314 327 Course design and students' approaches to study ALISTAIR MORGAN Institute of Educational Technology Open University Milton Keynes United Kingdom

INTRODUCTION from foundation level to graduation, should provide Course Design 's of major importance in distance a unique contribution to their development as lear- education, as itis one area where it should be ners. possible to influence the manner in which students approach studying. The major variation in students' METHODOLOGY approaches to study is the deep-surface distinction, The two courses involved in this study were both described by Marton and Saljo (1976), and identi- selected because of their specific course design, fied in a range of learning tasks (see for example, which allowed students some choice and flexibility Marton, Hounsell and Entwistle, 1985) and also in the content of their studies. The first course, Curri- with distance education students in the Open Uni- culum Evaluation and Assessment in Educational versity (Gibbs, Morgan and Taylor, 1984). The im- Institutions (E264), consists of six blocks and a num- portance of approach to study is that it is directly ber of case studies; blocks 3, 4 and 5 cover empir- linked to the quality of learning outcomes. Course ical methods in evaluation, and students have to design and assessment are two major areas that choose to concentrate on one of these blocks and influence students' perception of their learning ac- carry out a small empirical study themselves, which tivities. Their perceptions of the demands of a learn- is submitted as an assignment. Hence, the choice ing task and their development as learners, are two available to the students is in both the block text (a of the major factors that influence students' ap- conventional OU teaching text), and the area of the proach to study. Course design and assessment are investigation for their project assignment. the two important areas for intervention by distance educators for improving student learning. The second course, Third World Studies (U204, an interdisciplinary second level course), is structured This paper will describe students' experiences of around a main strand of the block texts, study guides studying on two Open University courses, which and assessment material; then depending on the have adopted novel course designs. Both these choices students make in their tutor-marked assign- courses give students a degree of choice and flex- ments, they will concentrate on different parts of the ibility in which parts of the course they want to literature strand, the Third World atlas and the case study. The pedagogical rationale for the designs of studies. The pedagogical rationale is again to get these courses is based on more realistic models of students engaged in materials of their own choice, our students. Students are not assumed to be easily and also to recognise the centrality of the assess- manipulated by teaching devices and course struc- ment in defining the curriculum, particularly in dis- tures as is the case with mechanistic models of the tance education. learner, which tend to predominate in distance education. Students are able to select which parts of the The research methodology is in the tradition of the course they want to study for the assignments. The qualitative-illuminative paradigm and builds on assumption is that when students have more control other research studies of student learning in the over their learning their orientation to study, wheth- Open University (see for example, Gibbs, Morgan er it is vocational, academic or personal, is likely to and Taylor 1984). be of an intrinsic rather than an extrinsic nature. In the case of E364, a group of ten students were (Orientation to study describes the aims, purposes followed throughout their studies. They were in- and values in study. See Gibbs, Morgan and Taylor, terviewed individually at home on three occasions 1984.) When students come to their work with in- (i) before the course; (ii) during the course, immedi- trinsic orientations to study, they are more likely to ately after the tutor-marked assignment, where they take a deep approach to study. Also to allow them chose to concentrate on blocks 3, 4 or 5; and (iii) at more control over their learning, as they proceed the end of the course after the examination.

315 323 In the case of U204, a group of fourteen students the longer term aim to get an honours degree. He were interviewed on one occasion, around the mid- appeared to have developed a routine pattern of point of the course just before the residential sum- study, which he called a "logical approach". This mer school. involved studying all the material in sequence, and finally the TMA; only near to the cut-off dates for submission of the assignments would he focus on STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES OF the Assignment Booklet. STUDY: E364 This study pattern proved problematic with blocks How did the students cope with demands of the 3, 4 and 5. Although he chose the project option course? linked to block 5, he failed to grasp the structure of the course. As he said in the second interview: All students interviewed expressed vocational reasons for studying E364. However there was a clear "I didn't realise until the summer that you could distinction between students who were primarily leave out most of blocks 3 and 4, and go straight to interested in the course to gain a credit, and eventu- your project choice a shame really." ally a degree, for career promotion and those who Overall, he felt there was a lack of clear guidance in besides wanting a credit, were mainly interested in the course and he lacked the confidence to choose using the ideas in the course. These differences in his own pathway through the material. In the third aims and purposes in studying E364 were reflected interview after the examination, although he had to some extent in how much effort students put into gained good grades on the TMAs, he still com- the course, and particularly what they perceived as plained about the workload and the lack of guid- gaining from their studies. These differences were ance: often related to the level of seniority or the indie idu- al teacher. Some students described themsel.es as "the project I chose needed one section in block 5, "ordinary teachers" and not in a position to be able but I didn't reach it until too latewith the pressure to use or initiate evaluation studies in their own to keep reading all the text, I didn't concentrate on schools. These different purposes in taking the the project this is pointed out to you, but All I course were linked to the ways students handled the tended to think of it as all sequential...Choice is novel structure of the course. unusual and you don't normally get this much of it." The details regarding the structure of the course are Other students seemed to have failed to understand set out in the Course Guide and the Study Guide and what is required of them, partly through lack of time Assignment Booklet. In spite of this guidance, some to pay sufficient attention to the details in the study students failed to appreciate the nature of the choice guide, but also from their attempts to rush through involved or to fully understand the structure of the the block material. course. Students who seemed to be most successful in re- There seem to be a number of factors which contrib- sponding to the demands of E364 :,xpressed a strong ute to this. Some students appear to have developed personal and academic intrinsic interest in the con- a type of "habitual response" to OU courses. Prob- tent of the course. One student who described her ably a majority of courses set out in a fairly high interests in this way found the project activities the degree of detail what students should learn and how most reward'Im part of the course. Any indication of they should go about it. Students who have become personal choice within an OU course led her to accustomed to a sequential study of course materi- investigate and clarify the details of it as soon as the als, followed by a TMA, have problems with the relevant materials arrived. course. Their "syllabus-bound" pattern of study Besides this almost "ideal" academic and personal does not match the demands of the materials. For interest in the course, a strategic, confident and these students, successful study of E364 requires a primarily vocational approach allows students to change of perception of what a course consists of; address the demand of E364 successfully. particularly when we send out materials in full- house style, which are not meant to be studied in The case of David typifies this strategic and confi- depth. These students complained of the workload, dent method of study. He is a deputy headmaster of as they are attempting to study everything at the a secondary school, he has completed an Ordinary same level. Degree and is now studying for honours. Although he is .oncemed to get a qualification, he is equally The following example exemplifies the syllabus- interested in the vocational relevance of the course. bound student. John is a deputy head of a middle He described himself as very pressed for time for OU school, but has little experience of evaluation. He study, and had developed a strategic instruments! has taken the Technology Foundation course and approach to study: three reading diploma courses. He chose E364 partly for career development and promotional reasons, "I always start from the TMAs, followed by a quick but also to try out his capability at third level, with scan of all the materials with my experience of

316

38_99 other education courses and an interest in eval- some parts were more important, but you were ex- uation I can easily decide where to concentrate my pected t ', read everything and then you could do the effort I always disregard the formative TMAs as TMAs." they don't count for grading." There is clearly anxiety and ambiguity about selec- This confident, somewhat instrumental approach to ting areas of study, particularly when this departs study seemed to cope with the demands of the from the style of the previous courses the student has course, particularly around blocks 3, 4 and 5. Al- taken. This preferred way of study was highlighted though he was critical of the course where it became in the interview. research oriented, at no time in the interviews did he I: "How would you describe your style of study- complain about the workload. At the end of the ing?" course, he described his gains as follows: S: "I like to take it step by step I want to see the "a sense of satisfaction that what I was learning I was end product coming up. This is the problem able to apply talking to staff about evaluation and with U204. I don't want to skirt round bits here using the material I hadn't just spent a year fruit- and there I want to know exactly what's there lessly beavering away to gain a qualification." and then perhaps I can be selective. I wonder These descriptions represent the majouvariations in whether my pattern of study was set by the how students tackled this course: the syllabus- previous courses and this one is different. I'd bound; eademically and personally focused; and got into a routine then all of a sudden I come to strategic and vocationally focused. this one and its quite different you need a different style to get through the work Where the students have developed their skill in per- learning, and are able to take control of their learn- haps that's a major fault of the course. If this ing (Taylor and Morgan, 1986), they can meet the course had adopted the style of the other ones demands of the course, and adopt a deet, -approach I've done I would probably have got it right from the start to study. However, some students failed to grasp the so perhaps the OU should set structure of the course and the choice element up all the courses in a similar structure, so people can get into a method of study." around the project. They seem too constrained by "habitual study strategies", which involve working I have used this rather long quotation as it vividly sequentially through all the material, and percep- conveys the ways some students find the course. tions of the status of the correspondence text; i.e. all This type of syllabus-bound, sequential response to the text must be studied at the same level. the course seems to be related to their background in the OU and their "academic socialisation" into a STUDENTS EXPERIENCE OF linear sequential mode of study, embodied partic- STUDY: U204 ularly in the foundation courses in the OU. The more experienced students who have the confi- How did students handle the choice and flexibility dence to be selective find the course easier to han- in Third World Studies? The main variations in how dle. Their pattern of study can be described as TMA students tackled the course are similar to those de- focussed. The element of choice in what is studied scribed above, although the issue about vocational for the assignments is appreciated, as one of the relevance is less pronounced as Third World Studies interviewees put it: is a broad second level interdisciplinary course. "I really like choosing I like to ask myself, what is A number of students interviewed were clearly hav- my aim? That's why I always use the TMAs as my ing difficulty with the structure of the course. They starting point." found it difficult to scan througn the range of teach- This student's patterns of study had developed sig- ing materials, then the assignments, and then to nificantly since his foundation course. He described select which parts to concentrate on for in-depth his early OU experiences as follows: study. The following student illustrates these problems vividly: "in the first two years the wealth of material overwhelmed me I'd try to read the stuff, then spend "the course is going satisfactorily, but I do find it two days worrying about it. I really felt I had no way completely different from the other two (a founda- of getting through the material." tion course and a second level course) they consisted of 'read the units, write the TMAs and do the After a year's break from OU study, he described his exam' even in reading the units they encourage study habits very differently: you to be selective. I find it involves a lot more work "When I came back to the OU, I found I could scan to be selective, as I'm not sure I'm covering the right the material and also had the confidence to use my things I want to read it all. There are too many own opinion, which is a vital difference in my study- paths you could take and you feel you could take the ing now... to realise that tutors expect you to give wrong one. The guidance isn't tight enough. On your opinions as long as it's based on your under- other courses you didn't need to be selective standing of the material."

317 330 This pattern of study was typical of the students who complexities of educational discourse and of teach- seemed to handle the course with the minimum of ing and learning are rationalised into a primarily difficulty. Some students, although managing well didactic teaching system; and how crude instru- with the course (they had all A-grade assignments mentalism of some students has a drastic impact on and were relating some of the course content into the quality of learning outcomes. their own work situations) still had anxieties about There is perhaps an assumption in the OU that all the course structure. For example: students will become "quality" learners at some I: "How do you find the structure of the course?" stage. They will come to see learning in a particular S: "I don't like it because I feel there are a lot of way, understand the demands of the subject, take things I'm not covering that worries me particular approaches to study and achieve quality slightly. I think there's going to be an exam at in learning, the sort we value as a university. Per- the end of this and I've not covered everything haps this is too optimistic. Certainly some of the lx,cause of the amount of time. I was talking to students in the present studies had not developed as my tutor about this only last week, she reas- learners. They seemed to be constrained by "habit- sured me saying 'well you're not supposed to ual response" to OU study. For these students be- cover everything'. But Istill don't like doing coming more experienced learners requires a something knowing there are parts I haven't change of awareness of what is required in study. done. On previous courses, I've coveredevery- The function of dialogue seems to play a unique role thing and am confident that I know everything in helping students. Guidance and direction can be that's there." set out in study guides, but they do not always lead to changes in study patterns, as the present research It is interesting how the specially prepared teaching indicates. texts are perceived as constituting thl entire body of knowledge in a particular area of study. Perhaps this The challenge for distance education is to adopt is not surprising, in view of the structured nature of course structures so as to facilitate dialogue, which the foundation courses, which playa large part in will serve to facilitate students' development as lear- students' "socialisation" into OU study. However, ners. for helping students towards more independence (The author wishes to acknowledge R bin Mason and autonomy in their learning, this perception of and Liz Beatty for assistance with carryi g out some what a course consists of can be problematic. of the interviews.) CONCLUSIONS These studies identify the range of studypatterns which students adopted in twocourses which al- REFERENCES lowed some choice and flexibility in what students Gibbs, G., Morgan, A., and Taylor, E. studied. The educational rationale for thesecourse designs is that when students have more control (1984). 'The world of the learner". In Marton, Hounsell over their learning, they are more likely to tackle and Entwistle. The Experience of ' earning (Edinburgh, Scottish Academic Press). their work with intrinsic orientations to study and to take a deep-approach to study. Some students wel- Harris, D. comed this opportunity to take more controlover (1987). Openness and Closure in Distance Education (London, The Falmer Press). their studies and from the evidence were adoptinga deep-approach to study. However, other students Marton, F., and Saljo, R. seemed totally unable to cope with the demands of (1976). "On Qualitative differences in learning; Outcome the different course structures; they complained of and Process", British Journal of Educational Psychology, the lack of guidance and lamented that all OU 46, 4-11. courses don't have the same linear sequential struc- Taylor, E., and Morgan, A. ture. (1986). "Developing Skill in Learning" Presented at the Some of these findings give support to the criticisms American Educational Research Association Annual Con- made by Harris (1987). He is critical of how the ference, San Francisco.

318331 improving distance education in India DR. S.P. MULLICK Central Institute of Educational Technology New Delhi, India

DISTANCE EDUCATION IN INDIA and improve distance education as a vehicle for life long education, equalising educational opportuni- Forty two recognised institutes and an equal number ties, and supplement the existing formal education of private institutes are providing distance educa- for the benefit of those who cannot attend schools tion in a wide range of subjects. These institutes and colleges, by fully utilising all the modem com- work in isolation with duplication of effort. Corre- munication technologies. spondence is the mainstay and modem communication facilities, though available, are not utilised. RESOURCES AND CONSTRAINTS At school level there are five boards which give The country has sufficient expertise in distance edu- correspondence education at secondary and higher cation so far as the print and correspondence modes secondary level. Total enrolment is about 62,000 are concerned. But we need an inventory of experts, which is 0.30% of the total enrolment at this level institutions and innovative practices to be able to (Mullick, 1987). All institutes follow the same syl- plan in a coordinated manner. labi in Arts, Commerce and Languages as pre- The country has enormous facilities and scope for scribed by the respective boards. The teaching of using word processing, radio, television, audio- science is negligible, and there is no vocational tapes, video-tapes, micro computers, satellites, au- stream. An Open School gives similar courses India- dio-teleconferencing, telephones, computer based wide and also teaches vocational courses like typing education and other interactive technologies (India and tailoring. 1986). But D.E. institutes have neither the infra- At the postsecondary level there are 34 institutes structure nor the trained personnel. with a total enrolment of 2,31,6C4 in 1986 (UGC Distance education has been treated as an adjunct Report, 1986) which is about 5% of the total enrol- to the formal system. The policy that it should be self ment at this level. This is much lower than the target supporting has affected the quality of courses and of 33% suggested by Education Commission (1964- student services (Mulay 1984). The setting up of the 66). All follow the same syllabi prescribed by Uni- Open School, Delhi, the Open University, Andhra versities. Pradesh and the Indira-Gandhi National Open Uni- Professional courses are given at diploma, degree versity heralds an improvement. and post graduate level in Education, Public administration, Management, )oumalisim, Law etc. Enrol- ment is highest in Education. Only one institute SYSTEM ANALYSIS gives an inservice Bachelor in Technology course. Turning first to the school level, if we analyse the The departments of extension education in the five courses being offered by the six institutes, we find Agriculture Universities give skill oriented courses that all have developed similar courses in History, in agriculture and znimal husbandry to farmers in Geography, Civics, Economics, Commerce, Mathe- rural, hilly, and tribal areas. In addition many pri- matics, English and Hindi. Three institutes offer vate institutes prepare students for All India compe- courses in science and all develop their courses titions and entrance examinations in medical, tech- independently of each other. We should develop nical, agriculture and banking institutes. fewer but high quality course packages by the coor- GOALS AND OBJECTIVES dinated efforts of each institute. Apart from English and Hindi, some teach other languages like Urdu, Goals may be derived from various documents on Sanskrit, Bengali, Oriya. India is a polyglot nation Distance Education like the Education Commission with the problem of teaching three out of sixteen Report (1964-66), Parthasarthy Committee on Cor- languages to every Secondary and Higher Second- respondence Education (1971), All India Seminar ary student. The development of centralized mutli- on Open Leaming (1970) and National Policy on media language course packages through these in- Jucation (1986). The gist is that we should expand stitutes would go a long way in solving the language

319 3 22 TABLE 1 ENROLMENT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION INSTITUTES IN HIGHER EDUCATION DURING 1985-86.

Courses Number of Enrolment Percentage Average Institutes of total enrolment per institute GENERAL Pre-University 9 7,352 3.2 817 Arts (B.A./M.A.) 24 1,21,555 52.5 5065.08 Commerce (B.Com./M.Com) 21 50,508 21.8 2405.00 Science (B.Sc./M.Sc./M.A.Maths.) 4 5,385 2.3 1346 PROFESSIONAL Education (B.Ed./M.Ed.) 10 24,952 10.8 2495 Public Administration 4 8,833 3.9 2208 Management 5 5,099 2.3 1019.08 Law 6 3,565 1.6 594 Library & information science 4 1,191 0.6 198 Others 8 2,448 1.6 306 TECHNICAL

B.Tech. 1 716 0.4 716 Total 2,31,604 * N.B. The data has been taken from Appendix XXXII U.G.C. (1986).

problem of India. Only the Open School provides now be longer to reflect developments in energy, vocational courses as recommended by the educa- environment and computers. tion commission (1964-66) and the National Edu- Agriculture Universities in Pant Nagar, Punjab, Ta- cation Policy (1986). There is a great need of voca- mil Nadu, Jabalpur have developed many corre- tional courses in agriculture, health and industry. spondence courses for literate farmers to improve To achieve the universalisation of primary educa- their productivity. The Tamil Nadu University is tion, inservice and preservice teacher training pro- using audio and video tapes as well as Radio & T.V. grammes should be initiated to improve the quality programmes in agriculture in their courses. One of teachers so as to decrease the drop out rate, course for paramedical personnel is being imple- wastage and stagnation in primary schools. mented in Patna (A.I.U. 1985). But these courses are The courses given by postsecondary institutes are insignificant compared to the demand in agricul- mostly B.A., B.Com., B.Sc., M.A., M.Com., and ture, health and industry. The formal system already M.Sc. They also give professional courses like consists of 1400 technical schools, 191 engineering colleges, 286 institutes in pharmacy, nursing, den- B.Ed., M.Ed., Personnel Management, Library Sci- tal and medical and 108 institutes in agriculture. ence, Tourism and Hotel Management. The pattern of enrolment is given in table 1. Many of these institutes have extension departments which could respond to the need for distance edu- The enrolment in an institute varies from just 26 cation in these fields. (CIEFL Hyderabad) to 68,554 (Madurai) (UGC, As regards media technology, graphic aids, audio 1986). Several institutes have enrolments well be- tapes, videotapes, Radio, T.V. film and computers low the 1000 mark and are thus non-viable (Mu lay are already in use in Formal Education but not in 1985). Distance Education institutes. Educational radio The education commission (1964-66) had recom- programmes are being produced by 44 stations and mended that correspondence courses should be or- relayed by 34 transmission stations giving a total of ganised to help workers in industries, agriculture, 78 cities. The number of stations spreading informa- health and other fields to improve production. They tion in agriculture, health and industry to the gener- specified many subjects like landscaping and gar- al population is still greater. However, only four dening, architecture, plumbing, drafting, survey- institutes in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Na- ing, firemanship, automechanics, commercial art, du are using radio lessons and two are using audio electronics, radio, television and so on. This recom- tapes and videotapes in distance education. mendation has remained unfulfilled. The list should The expansion in communication technology in In-

320 3 :i 3 dia will be tremendous in the years to come. Under c) to undertake, promote and coordinate research the Programme of Action for implementation of the into the special problems of distance education National Education Policy (1986), the T.V. and Ra- and its application in India. dio transmission network will be expanded to pro- d) to hold conferences for directors, policy makers vide minimum ETV and Radio programme coverage and key personnel for developing, enlarging and for identified target groups in all major language shaping distance education in India and in mak- zones by 1990; Radio Stations will be established in ing use of emerging communication technolo- Universities/Colleges during the VIIth Plan (1986- gies and other infrastiuciures available in the 90) a dedicated educational TV channel will be country. provided by 1991-92, and a dedicated satellite sys- e) to establish a network of state agencies, model tem for educational needs will be created in the long courses, media resource centres, learning cen- term. tres to serve as research and development in- The availability of these facilities poses the biggest struments to be emulated and adopted by others challenge to distance education planners. The ex- in the country. pertise is available in the Central Institute of Educa- The analysis presented here is neither comprehen- tional Technology, New Delhi, the Space Applica- sive nor sufficient. One task of the proposed body tion Centre, Ahmedabad, the Indian Institute of would be to develop an information system to get Mass Communication, New Delhi, the Advanced regular data for a more detailed system analysis. Level Technical Training Centre, Ghaziabad and many others.

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK REFERENCES In order to attain these objectives D.E. has to be renovated and expanded at all levels and sectors of Educational Commission education. The Indira Gandhi National Open Uni- (1964-66) Report Education and national Develop- versity has been set up to enlarge and coordinate the ment, NCERT, New Delhi, 1967. postsecondary distance learning institutes in the Higher Education In India country. The University Grants Commission is also Association of Indian Universities (1985). concerned with the improvement of distance edu- India cation given by these institutes. But none of them is (1986) A reference Annual, Research and Reference Divi- concerned with school education. In addition, sion, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Del- scores of private distance education institutes need hi, 1986. guidance. Kulkarni, S.S. The Education Commission (1964-66) had recom- Introduction to Educational Technology, Oxford and IBM mended the setting up of the "National Council of Publishing Co., New Delhi (1986). Home Studies" and the Parthasarthy Committee Mulay, V., Phutela, R.L. and Nadir Rita 0 971) had recommended the setting up of the "Na- Correspondence Education in Indian Universities A tional Institute of Distance Education". None of Review, U.G.C. 1985. these recommendations have been implemented. There should be ar All India Organisation with the Mullick, S.P. responsibility of exemining the development of D.E. Distance Education in India, in "Distance Education Vol as a whole from school to college in all areas in- II", Asian Development Bank, Manila 1987. cluding agriculture,health,industry and com- National Policy on Education merce. 1986, Ministry of Human Resource Development, May, Linkages with local support services need to be 1986. Programme of Action designed and developed. A national system of local p. and regional centres for distance students would Ministry of Human Resource Development, August, help. This organisation should be conceived and 1986. developed with care. Its functions could be: Report of the Expert Committee on Correspondence a) to provide policy perspectives to the Govern- Courses and Evening Colleges, Ministry of Education, ment of India and State Governments with refer- New Delhi, 1963. ence to the proper development of distance edu- Sharma Moti Lal cation in different parts of the country. Systems Approach. Its Applications, in Education, Hima- b) to provide professional education and training to laya Publishing House, Bombay, 1985. distance education course writers, tutors, eval- University Grants Commission uators, planners, managers, administrators and (U.G.C.), Report for the year 1985-86, New Delhi researchers. (1986).

321 3 2 4 The instructional designer meets the expert DAVID MURPHY Hong Kong Polytechnic, Hung Horn, Kowloon Hong Kong

INTRODUCTION personal opinion and judgement. In fact, it could reasonably be assumed that an experienced ID As we all know, instructional designers are experts. should be quite good at judging expertise. Howev- The nature of their craft demands that they frequent- er, it would be better to have some guidelines on ly work with other experts from a wide variety of how best to make such a judgement, rather than rely backgrounds. In distance education, the Instruc- purely on personal prejudices or "gut feelings". The tional Designer (ID) is often required to collaborate guidelines that we shall consider take the form of with subject matter experts in developing the con- assumptions that can be made about the nature of tent of learning materials. The problem that con- expert knowledge, as well as possible applications fronts the ID in such a situation is the extent to which of these assumptions. the word of the expert can be accepted (and vice versa?). In other words, how expert is the expert? A few years ago, James March gave educational administrators some sound advice on the analysis of expertise (March, 1974). In essence, he suggested THE ANALYSIS OF EXPERTISE starting in the areas of evidence and testimony in the law, using the techniques of interrogation and con- The nature of expertise has been a subject of in- frontation from those areas to assist in the process of vestigation in recent years with experiments usually analysis. Despite the rather negative connotations comparing the performance of experts and novices. of the two words, an examination of them reveals Even the hallowed ground of pedagogy has come how helpful they can be, if used in the right way. under scrutiny, with recent studies on expertise in teaching (Carter et al.). The issue facing the ID is a Interrogation is the skill of asking questions that little different. Rather than having to locate an ex- solicit information on two critical issues: pert, the expert is usually "provided", having been What can the expert say that is relevant to the prob- identified by someone else as the person for the job, lem? or having volunteered. So, faced with experts, the What degree of confidence can be placed in what is ID has to assess just how capable they are, and how said? much their expertise can be relied upon. Note that these are joint problems shared by the ID In some cases this is easy. The ID working with Jack and the expert. Both are uncertain about what in- Nicklaus on his video of golfing tips had, I'm sure, formation might be relevant and what degree of no doubt about the abilities of that expert. So, in a confidence to place in the statements that are made. training situation, one usually seeks an expert in the Interrogation is a skill for which training is available, form of a "best performer". Good advice has recent- and while the rules of iterrogation that are taught in ly been given on how to identify such people, and legal training obviously are not immediately trans- how to make the best use of them (Spitzer, 1987). ferable to the work of ID's they may nevertheless But what if, as is more usual in distance education, provide a working base. you are an ID working with experts in a cognitive area, where the degree of expertise can be rather Confrontation involves observation. For example, more difficult to assess? You may be presented with we can confront one expert with another and ob- subject matter experts who are expected to assist serve the interaction, pinpointing areas of agree- with the content of the learning materials that you ment and disagreement. Principally, though con- are developing, and yet be unaware of how good frontation proceeds from an assumption that the they are. How much can you rely on their ideas and quality of answers can be assessed if the right ques- advice? Further, should two experts disagree over a tions are asked. Thus a part of our task is to improve matter of some complexity, how do you resolve it? the quality (f our questioning. Often the answer becomes a matter of the ID's own

3223:35 ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT EXPERT precision; the errors of experts may not be inde- KNOWLEDGE pendent at all; variations in confidence across experts may be quite meaningful; knowledge may be We now come to the crux of the matter. Both in- quite unconnected." (March, 1974, p. 31) terrogation and confrontation require inferences to So, a contingency perspective is required be made, based on certain analytical assumptions each situation needs to be assessed carefully to see how about expert knowledge. It is these assumptions, the assumptions might be applied. developed by March, in which we are interested. They are listed below, together with suggestions on how to apply them to the work of an ID. CONCLUSION Naturally, the assumptions are general tendencies, The assumptions have been presented to give ID's a rather than universal rules. You have probably al- possible basis for their assessment of the capabilities ready thought of exceptions to each of them. As of experts. Each is a way of looking at expert know- March admits, ledge that can stimulate the formulation of relevant questions in such an assessment. In other words, "Knowledge is not necessarily homogeneous; den- their value is to provide ideas for the formation of sity of knowledge is not necessarily correlated with questions: ID's should always bear in mind that, for

ASSUMPTION APPLICATIONS (i) The Homogeneity Assumption. If you are working with an expert in business statis- We can attempt to assess the cornptence of experts tics and you have a background in mathematics, by sampling from their knowledge. We can checkcheck the expert's knowledge of a mathematical knowledge in areas shared in common. If experts area in common. know what they are talking about in these areas, we assume that they know what they are taking about elsewhere. (ii) The Density-precision Assumption. Question experts on their area of expertise. Focus We may not be able to tell whether an expert's on one area, and persist with that topic. Questions knowledge is correct, but we can assess the density should be increasingly specific, until they narrow of that knowledge. If our expert can recite facts, down to single concepts, and how these might best studies, theories, documents, reports and observa-be presented and learned. tions, the precision of that knowledge seems greater than if the expert reports only on a sparsely occupied memory. If conclusions are reported without a richness of detail in support, the expertise can be doubted. (iii) The Independence of Errors Assumption. Check some of the expert's observations with a sui- Expertise can be assessed by comparing the expert's table up-to-date text. Further, a discussion with observations with those of other experts. It is assu-another expert, during which you can recite the med that if several experts say the same thing, it isobservations of the first expert (without revealing probably ture. An expert who usually agrees with their origin), may expose any disagreements. other experts is likely to be more reliable that one who disagrees with others. (iv) The Distribution of Confidence Assumption Such questions as"How wide an application does con-In any body of knowledge, there is variation inthis concept have?", or"How well developed is this the degree of confidence with which different be-theory?" should reveal any variation. liefs are held. If an expert does not exhibit such variation, it is assumed that he is not as well informed as those who do. (v) The Interconnectedness Assumption. Invite the experts to explain the interconnections Knowledge tends to exist in interconnected net-and interdependence of areas within the body of works, rather than as lists or discrete "chunks". The knowledge. Suitable frameworks for such explana- assumption is that experts who describe knowledge tion can be offered to the expert, in the form of is terms of a series of independent bits are either devices such as concept maps and pattern notes. experts in a domain in which the knowledge is less reliable than others, or are themselves less reliable experts.

323 336 experts to provide the right answers, they need to -.1idy of expert, novice and postulant teachers. Teach- have the right questions posed. , ... l Teacher Education, Col. 3, No. 2, pp. 147-157. March, James G. (1974). Analytical skills and the university training of REFERENCES educational administrators. The Journal of Educational Administration Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 17-44. Carter, K., Sabers, D., Cushing, K., Pinnegar, S. Spitzer, Dean R. and Berlinger, D.C. (1986). The best performer: sharing the secrets of success. (7987). Processing and using information about students: Performance and Instruction, Vol 25, No. 10, pp. 30-32.

:3 3 7 324 Social development of the GDR: consequencesfor higher-level distance education HORST MOHLE, Prof. Dr.Sc. Karl Marx University Leipzig G,...nan Democratic Republic

The social development of the GDR and the scien- has become an equal function of universities and tific and technological basis of its economic strategy colleges of higher education in connection with determine the nature of initial and further education research and initial education. Therefore 160 post- of university and technical college students and graduate courses of study lasting up to 4 semesters graduates organized in both full-time and distance (organized as distance education) are offered with education. and without a qualification in a special subject The basic concept of higher level distance educa- (Fachabschluss). tion, created in close connection with full-time edu- Additionally nearly 500 short-time courses are run cation more than 36 years ago, has fully proved its annually. In content they are oriented towards the worth. Nevertheless, its further shaping in content introduction and use of key-technologies which are and didactics is necessary and is still continuing. decisive for the growing rates in productivity and the renewal of production. In this way the large in- Approximately a quarter of the 1.7 million universi- tellectual potential available to the GDR can be ty and technical college graduates in the GDR (20.5 considerably improved and realised. per cent of all working people) have attained their qualifications by means of distance education. At In accordance with the further shaping of a devel- present distance courses in 130 subjects are offered oped socialist society in the GDR the reform of by 20 out of 53 universities and colleges of higher initial and further education of engineers and econ- education up to degree level (P. Fielder and B. KO- omists was introduced in the middle of 1983. At the nig, 1979:223). Between 1981 and 1986 nearly beginning of 1986 the introduction of long-term 200,000 graduates of universities and technical col- development of the initial and further education of leges were further educated mostly in the form of agrarian engineers and economists at the universi- distance education (S. Schwanke, 1986:277). It can ties and technical colleges of the GDR followed. be stated that initial and further education in the (See Footnotes' and 2.) form of full-time and distance education have be- The following aims in educational policy were pur- come decisive factors in social and economic sued (Bahme, 1985:56) in future all engineers, growth as science pervades all areas of society. On agrarian engineers (Diplomingenieure) and econo- this basis the educational environment of the 1990s mists (Diplomwirtschaftler) will be educated within and the turn of the century is outlined. one single higher educational process in which the Since the beginning of the 1970s there has been a different needs of their future employment are taken concentration on those basic study fields (Grund- into consideration. The initial and further education studienrichtungen) whose graduates are important as a whole is realized with higher standards. The for the improved performance of the national econ- education of technicians and economists without a omy using the results of science and technology. diploma degree (Techniker and Wirtschaftler) in in- Therefore initial higher education in technical, agri- dustry and agriculture will be ensured by a cultural and economic sciences was central in ini- level of technical and economic education. tial distance higher education, and was adminis- The consequences for the development of distance tered in a centralized and uniform way. and evening studies for engineers and economists Distance higher education in social sciences was are also set out in a new conception'. The further continued in a decentralized way. general development of achievement in higher education in universities and colleges for those gradu- Since the beginning of the 1980s further education ates doing practical work has been conceived'. 338 325 The newly worked out conception for distance edu- aries between science and production" (Fielder and cation of engineers and economists (Schwanke, KOnig, 1979:224). This is the best example of the 1986:277) concentrates on the essential study fields connection between theory and practice. for the national economy. In the academicyear The main factor influencing higher education in the 1988/89 there will be admissions in the subjects of informatics, engineering materials, nuclear power GDR is its applicability to economic activity. In engineering and accountancy/statistics. subject related studies and in limited specialized studies tasks which are similar to research are Skilled workers with a secondary school certificate worked on. In preparation for the diploma degree (Abitur) will be accepted into initial education orga- research projects are carried out whose subject mat- nized as distance education. They attain the final ter is part of the main research projects of the uni- certificateatuniversities(Hochschulabschluss) versity or college of higher education, whereas the which allows them to work as an engineer or econo- distance students find their main fields of investiga- mist. The shortened period of study for engineers tion in the factories. The unity of research, teaching will be 5 years, and for economists 4 1/2 years. It is and study, expressed in this way, is further empha- possible for them to carry on their education in sized in distance education, where the solution of postgraduate studies up to diploma level externally. social problems and tasks from the central and re- Engineers and economists who are graduates of the gional plans in science and technology is facilitated. former technical colleges (Fachschulabschluss) can As the work and study process are closely connect- achieve the final certificate at university or the di- ed in distance education the character building po- ploma degree by means of postgraduate distance tential can be used effectively for the development studies. of the personality of the distance student. In this It is our aim to realise the principles which are contex: the unity of training, education and self- decisive for the success of distance education. In education is guaranteed to a high degree. each phase of the development of our higher educa- The distance education process which is character- tion system initie: and further education in full-time ized by the specific consultations, seminar courses and distance studies are developed as an organic and final phases for preparation of diploma theses whole. This has the effect that the staff of the uni- leads to personal communication and co-operation versities and colleges of higher education are in- between staff members and distance students. This volved in initial and further education. These staff is an essential condition for the formation of socially members are engaged both in full-time and in dis- responsible and scientifically highly qualified per- tance education activities. That is why no special sonalities. Such a partnership is typical for higher distance university has been set up in the GDR as in education in the GDR. other countries. These principles are kept in mind when a didactic Working people take part in distance education concept of higher leveldistance educationis without interrupting their professional work. There- worked out. As the aims in initial education in full- fore a far-reaching conformity between professional time and distance studies are the same, fields of work and initial and further education in the form of study are fixed in the one curriculum. According to distance education must exist. The same applies to the different news of the students there is a choice of the scientific content and pedagogical and orga- content. This is secured by directives for teachers nizational aspects of courses. For this reason profes- (Lehrhinweise) and study instructions for distance sional work and the chosen field of study should students (Stud iena n leitu ngen). correspond to each other. Rich experiences in the life and profession of the participants in distance The new standard will be guaranteed by improve- education are consciously put to use in shaping the ment of content. The demands of the scientific and content and methodology of initial and further edu- technological revolution make the implementation cation. Practical and professional experience can of new fields of study necessary. With the general be fruitful to higher education. Work and studyac- introduction of informatics and use of computers in tivities are interwoven in a productive way, forex- university education (Male, 1987) there have been ample by taking up the problems of production in certain consequences in the field of initial and fur- scientific work during initial and further education. ther education organized as distance education. The newest research results are immediately trans- In order to train specialists in informatics a corre- ferred into practical use by the working students. sponding field of basic study has been recently cre- The professional work of the distance education ated. Working people can follow courses of study students is theoretically supported step by step. for a four year period while still at work through Those graduates of distance education very quickly distance education. It is our aim to introduce in- achieve a high standard of performance withouta formatics training in a user oriented way for all preliminary phase. The working participants of dis- students. tance education become "outstanding intermedi- As an example of this the continuing training in

326 329 informatics for economists and diploma economists In future all parts of distance education will take should be explained in three stages. In the first stage place uninterruptedly in the university or college of all students are given basic training in informatics higher education, where the distance students ma- which it, computer based. For 15 per cent of stu- triculate. Selected parts of the course can be carried dents studying economics a more in-depth training out by changing university in order to make use of is provided as the second stage. Finally a third stage CAD/CAM centres, special laboratories and tech- of training trains specialists it ^conomic informatics nical schools (Technikum). It should be noted that (Apelt, 1986:198). the initial and further education in all other areas of During the first part of the initial distance study study (that is outside technical, agricultural and economic sciences) in the distance education format course there are 14 days of individual study periods with consultations, amounting to 20 a year. The will remain unchanged. quality of individual study is determined by various Evening courses should be implemented again in factors; on the one hand the mastering of the meth- concentrated industrial areaClose co-operation ods and techniques of individual study and its self- between industrial combines (Kombinate), as well assessment by the students, on the other hand as agricultural co-operatives and other state and through the guidance of the tutors, finally by the social institutions and universities and technical quality of the printed study material (Lehrbriefe) colleges is a characteristic of the GDR. which contains the scientific content and study The existing arrangements on co-ordination be- guidance as well as exercises for self-evaluation. tween industrial combines and universities will be Even programmes for teaching, exercises and put to use. This co-operation in distance studies is checking can be worked through. Individual study complex and many-sided: there is co-operation in is followed by consultations with student groups in counselling, delegation and admission of future dis- consultation centres. Problems of content which tance students, in motivating and stimulating em- arose during individual study are discussed and ployees as distance students, in helping them in solved. In conjunction with the consultations print- work and study on the basis of a contract (Forde- ed and audio-visual aids are used especially closed rungsvertrag), particularly in connection with the circuit television. From time to time tests and exam- topics for final theses, in guaranteeing legal condi- inations take place. tions for giving time off work for studies. Distance Seminar courses which are made up of lectures, students are given 36 days, with full pay. All dis- seminars, exercises, practical work, excursions and tance students Faye three months off work to write examinations mostly take place at the beginning their diploma thesis. and end of the academic year. Scientific discussion University related further education will concen- is characteristic in these seminars. trate on the following main areas (Kottwoski and During the second part of the initial distance studies Zinkahn, 1987:167): information processing, com- there are longer periods of individual study and puter technology and CAD/CAM technology, mi- independentscientificwork.Various seminar croelectronics and automization technology, bio- courses of a duration of two weeks are included. technology, energy economy, material sciences and their natural scientific foundation in solid state In the f;nal part, that is the preparation of the thesis, physics and chemistry, management studies, for- research work is carried out and on the basis of this a eign trade studies, foreign languages for interpret- diploma thesis is then written which has to be de- ers, foreign language teachers and non-linguists. fended (MOhle, 1983:26). The successful organizational forms and methods The didactic form of teaci,'"43 and studying under- will remain: postgraduate studies will be defined, goes certain changes when t..omputers are involved. the need for short courses will continue to increase. Working procedures in the form of exercises and Research-orientated seminars will be given priority, training for instance computer-based case studies they are organized in a problem-oriented way. Part- and projects (Planspiele), practical sessions and time studies in particular areas of teaching and the complex computer-management exercises relevant choice of available lectures (GasthOrerschaft) will to decision-making, have been introduced. be broadened. Mostly work goes on in computer booths, at CAD/ At the postgraduate level on the basis of individual CAM stations and suitably equipped places for man- studies consultations and seminar courses also take agers. Universities and factories receive the neces- place. Discussions are controversial and polemic. sary computer equipment. For this purpose the Short contributions by the participants to the dis- computers of the university, central macro-comput- cussion are of growing importance. Research and ers and personal computers are available. The tech- developmental work is integrated into the consulta- nical and material equipment in the factory of the tions and seminars and leads towards the final thesis distance student concerned can also be brought into (Male, 1982:51). The centres for further education use. are particularly suited to postgraduate study. We

327 340 pay a lot of attention to further training in informat- Bohm, H.-). ics and the use of computers for graduates working (1986). "Aus- und Weiterbildung der Ingenieure und in professional fields by preparing postgraduate Okonomen". In: Das Hochschulwesen (Berlin, No. 3). studies lasting several semesters and various short Burucker, G. courses. This is represented by the distance educa- (198S). "Postgraduales Studium Rechnergestatzte An/a- tion postgraduate course of study "Computer-based genautomatisierung". In: Das Hochschulwesen (Berlin, plant automation" (Burucker, 1985:273), No. 9). Practical work combined with theoretical instruc- Fielder, P. and Monis, B. tion is carried out at computer terminals in the uni- (1979). "Hochschulfemstudium Ausdruck sozialis- versity or in the factories of industrial partners. A tischer Bildungspolitik". In: Das Hochschulwesen (Ber- final thesis which is valuable for both university and lin, No. 8). factory must be written and then defended. Kottwoski, W. and Zinkahn, B. FOOTNOTES (1987). "Langfristige Orientierungen und Rahmenbedin- gungen far die Entwicklung der Weiterbildungsleistungen 1. Konzeption far die Gestaltung der Aus- und Weiter- des Hochschulwesens". In: Das Hochschulwesen (Ber- bildung der Ingenieure und Okonomen in der DOR lin, No. 7). vom 28. Zuni 1983. Mohk, H. 2. Konzeption far die langfristige Entwicklung der Aus- und Weiterbildung der Agraringenieure und Agrartiko- (1987). "The influence of informatics and the use of com- nomen an den Hoch- und Fachschulen der DOR vom puters in the content and methodology of higher educa- 28. April 1986. In Das Hochschulwesen (Berlin, No. tion". 5th EARDHE Congress "Higher Education and 7, 1986, S. 176 ff). New Technologies" :University of Utrecht, Netherlands). 3. Konzeption zur Entwicklung des Fern- und Abend- Mohk, H. studiums far die Ingenieur- und Okonomenausbil- (1983). "Higher Education and postgraduate studies in dung. In: Sonderdruck der Verfagungen und Mittei- the GDR. Organized as distance education". In: Higher lungen des MHF (August 1986). Education in Europe. Quarterly Bulletin of the European Centre for Higher Education, JulySeptember, Vol VIII, 4. Konzeption des MHF zur weiteren Entwicklung der No. 3). WeiterbildungsleistungenderUniversitatenund Hochschulen far die in der Praxis tatigen Hoch- und MOhk, H. Fachschulkader. Ministerium far Hoch- und Fach- (1982). "Postgraduate study by means of distance educa- schulwesen, Februar 1987. tion in the GDR". In: UNESCO/CEPES, Distance education for the up-dating of knowledge at postgraduate level (Bucharest). REFERENCES Schwanke, S. (1986). "Entwicklung des Fern- und Abendstudiums far APelt S. die Ingenieur- und Okonomenausbildung". In: Das (1986)."Durchgangige Informatikausbildung in der Hochschulwesen (Berlin, No. 11). Grundstudienrichtung Wirtschaftswissenschaften".In: Das Hochschulwesen (Berlin, No. 8).

328 341 Access to higher education and training in the South Pacific The role of telecommunications and distance education SOM NAIDU Lecturer in Instructional Design The University of the South Pacific Extension Services Suva, Fiji Islands

THE SOUTH PACIFIC REGION: AN cation and training. In most instances access to OVERVIEW formal education is solely determined by the facilities governments of the countries can make avail- Whereas the South Pacific region incorporates all of able to their citizens. the Pacific Ocean below the equator from Alstralia in the west to South America in the east, in this paper were are concerned with the south-west of this region only and that too excluding Australia, New THE ROLE OF THE UNIVERSITY Zealand, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia. OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC This would then leave us with a region that is ser- The University of the South Pacific is a regional viced by the University of the South Pacific extend- university and in that regard quite a successful one ing from the Solomon Islands in the west to Kiribati too. It was established in 1967 following the reports in the north and Cook Islands in the east. With the of Sir Charles Morris (Morris Report 1966) and Sir Fiji Islands and Tonga at the base of this semi-circle Norman Alexander (The Alexander Report 1967). we are looking at a region much larger than Austra- The first students to the University were admitted in lia but with a total land area about the size of Tasma- February 1968. The Royal Charter of the University, nia. Other countries in the region include Niue, The granted to it on 10 February 1970 defined the ob- Tokelau Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Western Samoa jects of Use university as being and Nauru. the maintenance, advancement and dissemina- All of these countries except The Tokelaus, are polit- tion of knowledge by teaching, consultancy and ically independent nations. The Tokelau Islands is a research and otherwise and the provision at ap- protectorate of New Zealand, administered through propriate levels of education and training respon- Western Samoa. Except for Nauru, which is blessed sive to the well-being and needs of the communi- with phosphate deposits, all the other countries of ties of the South Pacific. the region can be described as poor in monetary terms. The main sources of income for most coun- Thus the University was to have a regional role. Its tries are copra, fish, tourism and in the case of Fiji immediate responsibility would be the South Pacific Islands, cane sugar. Foreign aid therefore of various countries associated by name with the University kinds provides an essential supplementary source of Charter, but it would aim to establish close associ- income. Communications and transport facilities ations with other countries in and outside the South within the region are equally poor. While some of Pacific region as well. Within this context the Uni- the difficulties with communications are related to versity was to be responsible for building bridges, ie the vast distances between the numerous islands making higher eduL,,tion and training opportunities and small populations on them, money and tech- accessible to the communities of the South Pacific. nical knowhow to maintain these services pose the How was the University going to achieve this? This greatest difficulty. Smallness, distances and money was the question that Sir Norman Alexander was also determine the Islander's access to formal edu- commissioned to address. It was obvious that in

329 342 view of the geographical spread of the University THE EXTENSION SERVICES OF region and the resources available that all its people desirous of higher education wouldn't be able to THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH receive it if the University was to confine its activ- PACIFIC ities to on-campus race-to-face teaching only. It was The Extension Services Department is the section of imperative from the start therefore, that the Uni- the University that is responsible for most of USP's versity must attempt to "reach out's into the commu- outreach functions. The headquarters are located at nities it was to serve. The Morris Report had recom- the Laucala Bay Campus from where it makes the mended this effort and the Alexander Report strong- various services-resources of the University acces- ly endorsed it suggesting that "extra-mural" studies sible to all members of the USP community. Exten- form part of the University's teaching effort. The sion Services activities can be described as mainly 1968 Programme Planning Committee allocated the incorporating: administration of the ",xtra-mural" teaching functions of the University, initially, to the former School 1. distance teaching activity which is the offering of of Education where it remained until becoming part the University's credit courses/programmes to of the responsibility of the separate department of distance learners in the member countries of the Extension Services. University region; and 2. continuing education activity which is the provision of non-credit programmes in the member THE REGIONAL CENTRES countries of the USP-region. NETWORK DISTANCE (EXTENSION) The first Vice-Chancellor of the University in his TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY introductory remarks to the University's first devel- OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC opment plan had expressed the view that Next to on-campus face-to-face teaching in the tra- the University of the South Pacific was a relional ditional manner, distance teaching is the most sig- university and it could be healthy andJC. t.,.,,u1 nificant way in which the University makes its ser- only to the extent that it served and justified the vices and resources accessible to as many members support of the countries of the region. The ser- of the University community as possible. The main vices we could offer in higher education to the objective of the initiative is to enable those unable to countries of the region would be much enhanced attend full-time on-campus tuition either for finan- by the setting up of University Regional Centres. cial or other reasons, to undertake University stud- (Aikman, 1970, 1) ies at home while in their jobs. From a very modest Through a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of start in 1971, the distance teaching services of the New York local Centres of the University were University rapidly grew to comprise a major func- therefore progressively established in each of the tion of the USP. As a method of teaching, it was member countries of the University. In one of these innovative and challenging for staff involved and countries there is now a sub-centre facility as well ensured a more equitabie distribution of the Uni- and there are plans for the establishment of more versity's resources amongst a much wider cross- sub-centres as the need for access to University section of the University community. resources increases in the countries. In essence, The distance teaching function of the University is each of the local Centres are extensions of the Uni- the responsibility of the teaching departments in the versity infrastructure into the far corners of the Uni- four Schools of the University. Essentially, teaching versity Region. Their main functions, among other at a distance is the offering of credit courses of the things, are to: various teaching departments in the distance mo- represent the University of the South Pacific in de.This incorporates the lecturer or lecturers in the member country and as such serve as a source charge of courses, in association with other special- of information about its scope, functions and ac- ist personnel, preparing for their courses appropri- tivities; ate instructional materials including printed, audio service the University's distance teaching pro- and/or video components -Jr students to study that gramme; and course at a distance. These materials are designed to organise any other activities including contin- be self-instructional and intended to replace the uing and non-formal education services of the need for the lecturer "in person". University in the member country. In studying at a distance, though, students are not Each Centre has a permanent structure and a team of left on their own to work through their course mate- administrative staff. Each is headed by a director rials and merely submit the required work for assess- who enjoys academic status. The Regional Centres ment. A distance learner works in close association network is co-ordinated by the directorate of the with his nearest local USP Centre. The Centre has, Extension Services. inter alia, the responsibility of appropriately coun-

330 343 selling and enrolling the student, servicing his/her on the satellite. Hence in 1974 the USP network study programme and providing him with all the (USPNET) was established which by 1977 enjoyed necessary support services and encouragement. A 24 hours a week transmission time on ATS-1. In Centre may, and very often does, arrange various 1984 through further assistance from the United forms of local tutorial assistance for its students as States USP was able to progressively establish well. Sometimes marking and grading of students' ground terminals in the various countries of its re- work also take place at the local Centre although gion. this function remains the overall responsibility of the ATS-1 however was an ageing weather satellite and teaching departments and their staff. transmission on it was quite often not the best possible. In late 1985 it began drifting and as a result OTHER UNIVERSITY OUTREACH became unable to cover the USP-region. After a ACTIVITIES year's lapse in satellite telecommunications USP was successful in negotiations with the International Distance teaching acti, clearly comprises a major Telecommunications Satellite Organisation (INTEL- part of the University's outreach operations but SAT) for the use of one of their communication there are also several other significant ways by satellites. Now (1987) with INTELSAT the University which the University makes itself accessible in the has access to 24 hours a day of satellite transmission region. One Jf these is the Continuing Education time. activities of the Extension Services. This comprises all activities organised and offered by the Extension Services Department of the University that do not SATELLITE lead to a credit in one of the regular programmes of TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN the University.Itincludes activities and programmes like: UNIVERSITY OUTREACH Workshops/seminars/conferences on a variety of A fairly diverse range of University activities is being socio-economic concerns affecting the region eg served by this satellite telecommunications facility. nutrition and health education etc. A major activity of course is distance teaching creative dancing, drama, art and writing etc, and where the satellite is being used both for adminis- pre-school teacher's training in which currently a tration of the programme and teaching. In the ad- Certificate ravel study is possible. ministration of the Uni' 4-say's distance teaching programme it is partict,-ly effective allowing for Another significant way in which the University regular meetings between Local Centre staff and extends its resources into the region is through the Extension Services headquarters staff on a variety of work of its institutes some of which are physically day-to-day matters relating to teaching at a distance. based in different countries of the region. Whereas As a teaching tool the satellite facilitates audio- the teaching departments within the four schools of teleconferencing enabling students and their tutors the University concern themselves primarily with to meet and discuss matters of mutual concern re- the teaching of the University's credit programmes, garding their courses and course materials. Apart the institutes of the University cone. ate primarily from audio-conferencing facilities the satellite com- on research activity and the provision of consul- munications system also enables data transmission. tancy services and performing only some teaching activity in their respective areas. Beyond the functions the system also serves a range of other more ephemeral groups and organisations such as women's interest groups and librarians in USP'S SATELLITE their work in the region. TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITY When in 1971 the United States National Aero- REFERENCES nautics and Space Administration (NASA) offered its Applications Technology Satellite (ATS-1) for free Aikman, C.C. use to the peoples of the Pacific Basin in their socio- 1970 First Development Plan, The Unive,--"v of the South economic development USP was one of the first Pacific, Suva, Fiji Islands. institutions to take up their offer. The potential bene- Alexander, Sir Norman fit of the medium to the work of the University and 1967 Report on the University of the South Pacific. Legis- specifically to its outreach effort was so promising lative Council of Fiji, Paper 3, Govenment of Fiji Press, that in 1973 USP applied to NASA for its own time Suva, Fiji Islands.

331 344 Computer-managed learning innursing education: aninternational adaptationproject GERRI NAKONECHNY Progam Head Post Diploma Nursing Grant Mac Ewan Community College Edmonton, Alberta Canada BARBARA HORNER Co-ordinator Continuing and Community Education Curtin University of Technology School of Nursing Perth, Western Australia

INTRODUCTION route they will follow through the course of studies. Pre-testing allows students to progress quickly Computer-managed learning (CML) as a major com- through familiar content and to devote more time to ponent in a distance learning program has been content less familiar. To proceed from one unit to used successfully by Grant Mac Ewan Community another, the student must demonstrate mastery by College (GMCC) in Canada since 1983 to deliver a taking a supervised test. self-paced, individualized, re-registration program in nursing. The question arises whether countries Although the flexible independent study program with similar standards of professional practice could had advantages over traditional programming, in- benefit from developmental work already done, and herent problems, such as lack of immediate feed- experiences gained in another nation. Curtin Uni- back, delays in the mail systems and difficulty in versity of Technology (CURTIN) in Perth, Western scheduling communication with the instructor, all Australia, and GMCC in Edmonton, Alberta, Cana- prevailed. To minimize these problems and facil- da, undertook to assess the implications of sharing a itate more effective program delivery, CML was im- developed curriculum. plemented at GMCC in 1983.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW COMPUTER-MANAGED The re-registration program is designed to meet the LEARNING (CML) needs of nurses who have been away from profes- CML has several important features. It facilitates sional practice for a minimum of five years. Al- curriculum and course organization, stores test though all students completed a basic nursing pro- items and generates examinations, maintains all stu- gram, they were a very heterogeneous group, var- dent records, is a means of communication between ying in age, educational background and clinical student and instructor and facilitates instructor man- experience. Some were employed in occupations agement of the course. CML will accommodate var- other than nursing, while others had home respon- ious types of questions such as: multiple :hoice, sibilities; both making it difficult to attend sched- true/false, short answer, problem solving/math and uled classes in metropolitan settings. Therefore, to assignments. The assignment question is issued but meet student needs better, a flexible, individual- not marked by the computer. ized, independent study program was implement- Tests are generated based on preset parameters. An ed. instructor can dictate the test module, the type of Students commence the program at their conve- questions issued and the duration of the test. Once nience and begin by pre-testing to determine the these parameters are set, the computer randomly

332 345 selects from a testbank of nearly 3000 items. The compatibility of the technological systems were re- passmark and the number of attempts allowed are viewed. Although Canadian video-tapes needed to also set in a predefined manner. be adapted to Australian standard, the mainframe CPA will give the student immediate feedback. For computers of the two institutions were compatible questions answered incorrectly, the computer will and the software available was identical. give the correct answer, as well as the module and Adaptation of course materials, rather than devel- objective from which the question was derived. The opment of similar materials, s 'iould demonstrate computer keeps a record not only of the student's some advantages before the project is undertaken. It mark, but also of the date of the exam, the time is reasonable to consider adapting materials when expended in the examination process and the num- there is an economic advantage or when there are ber of attempts at the examination. Instructors can insufficient human resources to develop new mate- view the test history of an individual student or the rials. progress of an entire class. They can also obtain an item analysis and identify test items which need clarification or revision. THE PRE-IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS THE DECISION TO SHARE When it appeared that the Canadian program could MATERIALS be readily adapted to Western Australia, GMCC From the onset of discussions regarding the possibil- assisted CURTIN with the implementation process. ity of sharing course materials, both institutions, CURTIN appointed a project cc-ordinator to work GMCC and CURTIN, entered the negotiations with with the GMCC consultant. The co-ordinator has the realization that the process would involve the responsibility for approval of all adaptations and course adaptation rather than course adoption. The therefore must have a sound understanding of the question was "How much adaptation of the Cana- underlying course design. dian materials would be necessary, and would there One of the first tasks of the consultant and project be an advantage to sharing the curriculum rather co-ordinator was to obtain administrative and peer than developing a separate course of studies for support. Interested faculty, within the university at Australia ?" large, as well as School of Nursing Faculty, had an In examining the suitability of the course content, opportunity to participate in an orientation session the first step was to review the conceptual frame- to the program. Administrators need to have an work upon which the Canadian materials were de- awareness at the onset of planning because they will veloped. The concepts taught within this framework have the responsibility of negotiating funding, space all relate to the role of the nurse, the functions and equipment needed. performed and the settings in which these are per- Stakeholders were involved early in the implemen- formed. It was, therefore, essential to ascertain that tation process. This group of people have a role to there was sufficient role similarity in nursing in the play in the educational process but are external to two countries to make it worthwhile considering the educational institution and the funding source. content adaptroon. They can, however, provide the support required for Based on previous experience, we were aware that program initiation and delivery. In Western Austra- projects demonstrating a significant degree of need lia it was important to meet with all government were more likely to receive government and in- health divisions, branches of allied health divisions, stitutional support. Would this program serve to hospitals involved in previous programs, hospitals overcome current staff shortage? Would it be more to be involved in the frw program, the Nurses accessible to the learner than existing programs? Board and the Nurses Federation. In addition those Would it serve any other learners, other than the groups having the most urgent need for the program, grobp it was intended for? It was important to identi- such as the Council of Remote Area Nurses and fy clearly the educational problem to be resolved. It Community Health Nurses, were also informed of was recognized that there were historical, cultural, the proposed course of studies. ecological differences, as well as economic and Achieving this good communication network of in- political forces which affect health care and the formed people may be viewed as time consuming curriculum. but it is essential to the success of a project. It is The educational materials are primarily print-based. therefore important to identify the members of the Audio-tapes, video-tapes, resource books, articles network early in the project. Membership of this and the computer supplement the extensive print network will vary from country to country and in- materials. While print -b- ,e in distance education is stitution to institution. widely accepted, it is no. necessarily the preferred Following detailed networking, an implementation method in all countries or with all groups of lear- committee was organized to oversee the implemen- ners. The availability of resource materials and the tation process, and advise the project co-ordinator

333 346 on matters relating to the adaptation process. Repre- CONCLUSION sentation on the implementation committee will vary from country to country but in Western Austra- Assessment of nursing re-registration needs in Cana- lia the members represent government, health de- da and Australia, and the comparison of the stan- partment, nurses board (registration body), instruc- dards of nursing practice in these two countries, tional development and computing systems. Other demonstrated sufficient similarity to warrant the members, such as specialists in specific content consideration of sharing of the curriculum. At the areas, will join the committe on an ad hoc basis. onset of discussions, it was assumed that there were Consultation from GMCC is available during the differences in the historical, cultural, ecological, materials adaptation and implementation phases. economic and political forces influencing health care within these two nations, and that the curricu- The next step was to map timelines clearly. All tasks lum would therefore be adapted to reflect these during the planning, adaptation and implementa- differences. tion phases were identified, and the length of time each task would take was estimated. It is essential to There was no intent to adopt materials. The adapta- have the complete timeline depicted on paper, tion process will continue to be monitored and the since often without such planning, steps can inad- outcomes documented. vertently be omitted. Project completion dates can be monitored more effectively when timelines are mapped. Last but not least, when all networks were establish- REFERENCES ed and planning clearly detailed, a cost analysis of Masson, V. the implementation phase, with cost estimates for (1980). "International collaboration in nursing educa- on-going delivery for a five-year period, was pre- tion: the people to people approach". Journal of Nursing pared and presented to funding authorities for ap- Education, 19 (5), 48-54. proval. Moonujhan, E.L. and Campos, A.B. (1984). "Sharing nursing curriculum with other countries: the need for adaptation". International Nursing Review, 31 (5).

347_i..13 Vocational teachingat a distance The New Zealand perspective DAVE NICOLL New Zealand Technical Correspondence Institute Private Bag Lower Hutt, New Zealand

THE NEW ZEALAND TECHNICAL COURSES CORRESPONDENCE INSTITUTE NZTCI provides vocational courses only. Almost all NZTCI is charged to provide vocational education courses are directed towards national qualifications for all students within New Zealand who for various issued by various statutory bodies such as the NZ reasons find distance education more appropriate to Trades Certification Board, the Authority for Ad- their needs or cannot attend a class-contact institu- vanced Vocational Awards, the Society of Account- tion. Our main purpose is to train, retrain and edu- ants, and the Law Society. The bodies set the pre- cate people for service in industry and commerce. scriptions and the examinations on which the institute bases its courses. In addition, NZTCI teaches NZTCI is the largest teaching institution in New courses to a small number of non-examining bodies Zealand. We employ 500 full-time staff (400 teach- and issues an NZTCI certificate to successful stu- ers and 100 administrative and production staff), dents by accreditation (for example, Royal NZ Fed- and we teach 34,000 students in 950 subjects, in- eration of justices). Most NZTCI students are study- cluding trades, engineering, agriculture, horticul- ing for the same national examinations as those in ture, accountancy, law, banking and management. class-contact institutes. Although we are only one of 21 technical institutes and community colleges, our students make up about one-third of all vocational students carolled in New Zealand. THE TEACHING SYSTEM The printed assignment is the main method of in- STUDENTS AND ENROLMENT struction. Each subject of each stage of a course is covered by some 8 to 14 printed assignments. Most The annual enrolment is about 34,000 students. assignments are fully independent, textbooks being They can enrol at any time of the year. The criteria required only for supplementary reading. The for enrolment are that students must be over 15 years course materials are planned, written, edited, il- of age and reside more than 16 km from any class- lustrated and printed to be clear and easy to follow. contact institute offering the course. In spite of this Each assignment of a course is structured to re- 16 km restriction, about half of our roll consists of semble a series of classroom lessons each with urban students, but they must first get clearance learning objectives, fully illustrated content and dis- from the Principal of the class-contact institute in cussion, summaries of main points, revision ques- their district. tions and answers, and ending with questions de- In general, our students are already employed in an signed to draw out the content of the assignment. occupation related to their course of study. About Students' work is given careful attention and is one-quarter are apprentices studying trades, one- promptly returned with tutorial guidance and a set quarter taking technician courses, one-quarter of answers. The whole system is based on self-paced studying for a professional qualification, and the rest personal instruction. Students study up to five sub- studying for various qual ifictions at sub-professional jects at a time. They can start at any time of the year level. and study at their own pace, within generous limits. All students are part-time. Nearly a quarter are aged Most examination prescriptions do require them to over 30, many of whom are upgrading their present complete 80% of the coursework before they can qualifications. Wm:ten comprise only 20% of the enter for the examination. roll, but this proportion is steadily increasing. The great majority of our students are studying for national qualifications which are examined externally to TCI.

335 3 4 8 THE DELIVERY SYSTEM work and fieldwork. The Central Institute of Technology is located in the Wellington area 10 The NZ Post Office provides the delivery system km from ICI. It has the necessary residential halls through its comprehensive daily coverage of all dis- and laboratory equipment to accommodate stu- tricts. NZTCI materials are delivered by surface dents. Some of these courses are run by TCI mail, normally taking 1-3 days to the most remote teachers and all students are visited by their TCI areas. Overseas students are serviced by airmail, teachers while attending the practical course. paying the airmail costs. The institute pre-pays all 3. TCI holds some class-contact courses that do not surface mail both to and from students. Post Office require workshop or laboratory equipment on charges to TCI amounted to $400,000 in 1986. site at TCI. TEACHING THE PRACTICAL Some students are required to complete practical aspects of their assignments in the workplace. COMPONENT Sometimes, larger companies collaborate with TCI The printed assignments are supported by other to supplement its correspondence teaching. Corre- media. Students of many courses are required to spondence work can be supported in the workplace attend laboratory or fieldwork courses or attend in many ways, depending on the particular needs block courses in practical work each year in addi- and circumstances of the employer's business. tion to their assignment work. As most of our students are employed in their field of studs, nuch of their practical training is obtained by practical experience in an on-the-job situation. This practical skill gained in the course of their employment is supported in a variety of ways. TEACHER TRAINING 1. Trades students are directed to the nearest class- Almost all our teachers are recruited from industry contact institute for a 3-6 week practical course or commerce. Few have had teaching experience in each of their 3 years of study. Having access to and even fewer any teacher training. All newly ap- TCI course material, the local teachers can teach pointed teachers are entitled to 6 weeks of teacher the practical work in a way that supports the TCI training. A training course for distance educators, course material. developed at TCI, is administered byour Education 2. Technical and professional students, at appropri- Resource Unit. The course draws on the expertise of ate stages of their course, are directed to the a number of experienced teachers within TCI. It is Central Institute of Technology to do their lab- organised around self-instructional material,com-

Students, Scripts received per week Mean, 1983 to 1986, Inclusive Sample No. of Sample Sample Sample Sample scripts 1 2 3 4 12000 1 Tutor Tutoi 1(4100 start finish beginning end oI of 1stTerm 3rd Teim 8000

6000

4000

2000 From week 15-409600 scripts/week mid April to 9100 scripts/week early October 0 I I I I I I 1 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 51 Weeks Jan.Feb. Mar.April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Figure 1.

336 349 Mean time for Tel scripts in 1987

Sciences and English Transport Services

Figure 2. Turnaround timeworking days.

bined with one-to-one support sessions and group Many also serve on prescription committees for ex- workshop sessions. New teachers therefore study amining bodies. Each group of teachers is super- partly by the same medium with which they teach. vised by a course supervisor, who in turn is respon- Our course is based on a series of topic-based mod- sible to one of the 14 Heads of Department. ules. Each module, self-contained instruction on a distance education topic, takes some 30-50 hours of study time. Each module is divided into 3-5 units of 8-12 hours' study. Each unit contains learning objectives, PROCESSING STUDENTS' WORK teaching material, and an assignment to be written Over 400,000 students' scripts are received each and returned to the training staff. year. Figure 1 shows the weekly flowrate of scripts With the modular design, we can use the modules received through the year, and the five sample both as the parts of the full course for new teachers points for measuring turnaround time. and as single resource items for seminars, work- The graph shows that the minimum flowrate is about shops or study groups with other teachers 1500 scripts/week during the Christmas period. Some teachers continue working through the Christ- mas period to keep the students in work. The flowrate builds to a maximum of 9600 scripts/week in April and runs at over 9000 scripts/week into Octo- TEACHING DUTIES ber. These scripts are received in the mailroom, where they are opened and distributed to teachers. Most NZTCI teachers need to be versatile. Over a period they will have marking duties, write new Each script is given careful attention by the student's assignments, revise or amend existing assignments, tutor. The script is marked, commented on, and an and technically edit assignments written by col- assessment of it is recorded. It is then passed to the leagues. They may also construct an audio tape, assignment store, together with instructions on teach at block courses or seminars, develop, and/or which assignment is to be sent to the student next. mark examination papers or represent the institute The assignment store assembles a package of the at meetings of trade or professional organisations. marked script, the tutor's comments, sample an-

337350 swers, a new assignment, and a coded envelope on writer then discusses illustration requirements with which the student will enter his or her address. The the art editor. package is dispatched in the envelope which the The assignmei it is then logged into the production student sent with his or her last script. This proce- system and passed on to a specialist group of pre- dure keeps clerical work to a minimum. sentation editors. A presentation editor checks and Turnaround time, that is, the total time that a script is amends the assignment to make it concise, clear in the institute from its arrival in the mailroom to its and readable and with good teaching structure. Af- dispatch from the assignment store, is monitored ter a check by the writer and any needed discussion regularly. The following table lists turnaround time with the editor, the assignment is type, -t and il- for 1987. lustrated. We use Apple Macintosh computers with Turnaround time was measured in working days Pagemaker and Microsoft Word software. Both from receipt at records to dispatch from the assign- proof and final copies are produced on a laser print- ment store. The average turnaround time in 1987 for er. the year to September is 4.53 days. Department The typeset proof is checked by a specialist group of turnaround time ranged from 2.53 days to 6.88 proofreaders, again checked by the writer, and cor- days. The turnaround time for 1986 was 4.30 days. rected. When the illustrations have been mounted in the STUDENT CONTACT final copy, the writer makes a final check. The assignment is printed on the premises. The printed In addition to the normal correspondence between copies are kept in the assignment store for issue to students and teachers, students are encouraged to students. use the telephone to contact their teachers, and Reprints are normally scheduled on a 12 month many call at TCI for informal discussions with their cycle, but master copies are amended continuously teachers. (about 1600 per annum). Our large well-equipped printing plant is capable of printing one million pages a week. WRITING AND COURSE PRODUCTION NZTCI, being a teaching institution, does not set the EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT prescriptions for courses leading to national qual- Although NZTCI is not an examining authority, ifications. The examining bodies set them. NZTCI many examining bodies do not set examinations at can introduce new courses only with the approval of the lower stages of a course. We are thus required to the Department of Education. assess students' work. The teacher assesses every When a new prescription has been approved, a script submitted by a student and, at the end of the course supervisor in the subject usually appoints a subject or stage, makes final assessment based on writer and a technical editor to draw up a writing the records of all assessments. The final assessment plan for the course. The Second Deputy Principal goes to the examining bodies either as a final result considers the writing plan and may require it to be or as a coursework mark as part of a final exam- further discussed or amended before approving it. ination. In general, final results are used for lower or The Second Deputy Principal is responsible for allo- intermediate stages of a course and coursework cating writing priorities among the 14 departments marks are combined with the marks gained at final and establishing the institute's annual writing pro- external examinations. gramme. At present, NZTCI writes about 850 new The external examination results conducted by the assignments a year and amends about 1600. Present various authorities, at whatever level of difficulty, stock stands at just over 9000 different assignments. almost always show that distance education stu- Whenever the writing plan for a new assignment is dents from TCI have an average pass rate higher than approved, the writer has to complete the assignment the average for New Zealand. draft. The draft may be handwritten or done on a The courses and teaching material are constantly wordprocessor. At present about 75% of drafts are evaluated by the Principal and senior management handwritten and 25% prepared on computers using in response to feedback from industry and com- many popular software packages. When complet- merce as well as from examining authorities. This ed, the author's draft is examined by the technical attention is clearly reflected in the examination re- editor and is checked by the course supervisor. The sults of our students.

351338 IN CONCLUSION 3. Communication with students: Our teachers are encouraged to communicate with students in a We do not pretend that we have all the answers, and warm, friendly, personal manner. The turn- we acknowledge that we are only beginning to use around time of scripts is monitored regularly the new technologies. However, we have learned at present it is 4.3 days. much in 40 years, mainly through trial and experi- 4. The written word: We believe that the written ment, and have developed a system that is cost word is the most effective teaching medium, and effective and efficient. The main strategies of our we have concentrated on making our written system are assignments concise, clear, and readable. 1. Self-paced personal instruction: Our students 5. The practical components: We recognise that can enrol at any time, study at a time and place practical training is vital in vocational work. We that suits them, and work completely at their use a variety of methods: on-the-job training, own pace. laboratory courses, and a network of block 2. Teacher training: Our teachers, who are recruit- courses at institutes throughout New Zealand. ed from industry or commerce, receive 200 6. Evaluation: Most of our students sit national ex- hours of training in a course designed for dis- aminations that are externally controlled, and tance educators. senior management are constantly responding to feedback from industry and commerce as well as students.

339 INi.Z. Correspondence School The parents' association MRS. G. OBORNE, Dominion president Heads Farm, Akaroa, Canterbury, Ph. New Zeeland

THE NEW ZEALAND The Association is controlled by an elected exec- CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL utive of nine who must either have had a child PARENTS' ASSOCIATION enrolled with the school or supervised Correspond- ence School lessons for not less than three months. ITS HISTORY, Membership of the Association is open to anyone PRESENT ORGANISATION, interested in the Correspondence School. The sub- ACHIEVEMENTS AND GOALS scription is kept very low and a grant from the Gov- ernment defrays the Association's running expens- The New Zealand Correspondence School Parents es. Association is a voluntary organisation with Branch- es throughout New Zealand. Membership is open to At present the Correspondence School is controlled anyone interested in the work of the Correspond- directly by the Department of Education, and the ence School. President of the Correspondence School Parents' Association and immediate past president attend Correspondence school education has often been meetings of the Correspondence School's Standing described as a triangular process. Committee. When a Correspondence School Coun- Pupil cil is formed provision has been made for three c...a, Pares. Teacher parent representatives. Traditionally the Parents' As- sociation has had direct access to the Minister of therefore Correspondense School parents are more Education when important matters concerning the closely involved in their children's education than school arise. other parents.

PRESENT ACTIVITIES BACKGROU ND In conjunction with the Correspondence School the In 1936 a meeting of parents of Correspondence Association holds an annual conference at the School pupils decided after consultation with the school in Wellington. All branches send delegates then Headmaster to form a Parents' Association with who have most of their expenses paid by the Asso_i- the aims of: ation. In addition a small sum is paid to all families (a) The furthering of the personal relationships be- attending towards their expenses. The annual con- tween parents, pupils and teachers. ference is considered a most worthwhile chance for (b) The practical encouragement of the school families and teachers to meet, and to this end a clubs and societies. social event for teachers and parents is hosted by the (c) The establishment and development of a school Association on the first evening. The following two fund. days are taken up with a detailed report from the (d) The co-operation of the parents and teachers in Principal, Branch reports, remits, a question and every possible way for the welfare of the school answer session on school related topics, workshops and the pupils. on previously selected topics and Biannual Election Twenty parents subsequently met the Minister of of executive officers. Education and gained approval for the formation of Typical questions will be concerned with the teach- a Parents' Association. ing of specific maths topics, handwriting, the time a During the past 51 years the Association has worked child will take to grasp a concept may cause con- closely with the principals and staff of the Corre- cern. Parents gain great reassurance from sympa- spondence School and has continued to expand. It thetic answers to their questions: now has fifteen branches throughout New Zealand. Workshops have been held on such topics as:

340 353 The reluctant learner. School day activities range from a winter skiing day, Practical work for the secondary student factory visits, visits to museums, art galleries, sports Early reading processes days, boating, swimming, puppet shows, sea shore Family relationships studies, music, folk dancing in fact any school- related activity that is hard to carry out in isolation. Both parents and teachers from the school participate in these group discussions and all have found School weeks usually mean the pupils are billeted 'hem invaluable. with an urban family for a week to attend a conventional school while the parent supervisor is free to While parents are in conference the teachers at the observe teaching techniques as he or she may wish. school entertain the pupils who have been able to At Correspondence School camps the parents and attend, giving them a chance to see their school, pupils gather at a suitable venue with parents re- meet face to face their own teachers and see the sponsible for the cooking and other housekeeping Capital City. details while the programme for the pupils is the For those parents unable to attend conference, dele- responsibility of the Resident Teachers. Camps may gates report back to their branches and details of the have a theme such as swimming, art, or a foreign question and answer sessions and workshops are country, or it may be decided to have a variety of published in "Mailbag" the news magazine of the activities. Correspondence School. These school days, weeks, and camps provide the The Association also hosts the annual school break- opportunity for parents and pupils to meet each up ceremony which was originally broadcast and is other and life long friendships are often formed. now both televised live and broadcast. The Princi- Without these activities many children would have pal of the School and the President of the Associ- no chance to meet with their peer group, and the ation present their reports, a prominant personality support that parents offer each other is enormous. is invited as guest speaker and usually the Minister Various exchange arrangements for books, clothes of Education and the Opposition Spokeperson on and toys have been set up by different branches. Education speak with music being supplied by a At a branch level fund raising is most important. choir of teachers from the school. Raffles are always popular and succesful, as are In the first term of each year the Executive of the bring and buy stalls, spellathons, disco evenings Association meets in one of the branches, alternate- and sponsored walks. Funds so raised are used to ly in the North and South Island, enabling the exec- defray branch expenses, assist families to attend utive to keep in touch with members who may be conference, assist families in time of need, assist unable to travel to Wellington to the Conference. pupils attending the annual Residential School run The Executive appreciates this opportunity to see by the Correspondence School, and assist pupils to the diverse activities of various branches. travel to exhibitions of national importance. The heart of the Parents' Association lies in the The highlight of the year for all branches is the branches. Some branches cover a wide geographic Christmas party held at the end of the school year. It area such as the southern half of the South Island, pnvides a chance for families to show their grat- others comprise a small island or a large urban itude to the Resident Teachers and the staff of the centre. A branch may be formed wherever a group school for their untiring work during the year. Some of families wish to join together for activities. The branches prefer the traditional Father Christmas National Executive offers advice and assistance to type of party while others hold a southern hemi- groups seeking to establish a new branch. sphere barbeque. This function may be held in an Association member's home, on a beach, at a local The Resident Teachers who live in eight different school, or in a public park. locations out of Wellington are the focus of branch activities. Each brastch is self governing and raises Some branches distribute a branch newsletter with a its own funds. The branch members assist the Resi- list of future activities, a buy and sell column, book dent Teachers in organising School days, school reviews, and hints on school related matters. weeks, camps and social functions. ACHIEVEMENTS For many families living in isolation either for geographic reasons or because circumstances such as In 1936 the first job of the Association was to nego- sickness, this chance to meet with others in the same tiate successfully to have the Correspondence situation is most important. The feelings of isolation School placed on the same footing as other schools often felt by a family new to distance education within the Department of Education with the Par- when faced with what appears to be total responsib- ents' Association as direct intermediary between ility for their child's education can be somewhat school and the Minister of Education. lessened by a telephone call from an Association From 1938 visiting teachers from the school in Wel- member in their area. lington were sent to the homes of pupils to help

341 354 them and their parents with any problems that might The Parents' Association has donated: arise. They were accommodated by families who A foundation stone for the new school transported them to the next Correspondence A hanging woollen tapestry School home where possible, otherwise teachers Oil paintings had to find their own transport, be it packhorse, milk Prizes delivery vans orhiking. The Correspondence Books for the library School Parents' Association fought for the use of A visitors book public service vehicles and this was granted in Funds towards a computer 1949. A fountain for the garden. These visiting teachers proved so successful that the Resident Teacher Service was inaugurated in 1957, and subsequent lobbying by the Parents' Associ- ation has resulted in nine Resident Teachers covering the whole country. When the original Correspondence School was de- GOALS molished to make way for a motorway the Parents The Parents' Association has always worked in close Association played a vital part in ensuring that a new conjunction with the Principal and staff of the custom built school was constructed in Central Wel- School to ensure that the pupils of the school are lington close to the railway station and bus service provided with the best possible education. To this to assist families visiting the school. end the following are the priorities for 1987: In direct response to repeated parent requests the An increase in the number of Resident Teachers so schoc. now operates a tape recorder loan scheme that all families may receive at least cite visit per for all full time pupils. term. In 1975 parents made numerous requests for a pre- A reduction in the pupil teacher ratio in the primary school service for the younger siblings of pupils and school. The facility to set up further Correspond- in 1976 a pre-school section was opened. This now ence School Units where a small group of Corre- has over five hundred pupils. spondence School pupils living close together can Over matters of urgency, parents and pupils may have their correspondence school lessons super- now make telephone calls at the school's expense. vised by an untrained teacher paid by the Depart- This is a much appreciated innovation. ment of Education. In 1986 the Minister of Education announced at the Parent' Association Jubilee Conference that he would instigate a "Technology Package" to include video recording booths, pupil computers and improved telephone facilities. CONCLUSION Since its inception the Association has held that parents of full time Correspondence School pupils The Correspondence School Parents' Association is a unique body working in harmony with the Princi- should receive financial recognition of the work done in the supervision of pupils lessons. Various pal and Staff of the Correspondence School for the Ministers of Education agreed in principal, but it benefit of the pupils. Mrs. M.E. Jolly, President from was not until the Break-up ceremony in 1986 that 1955-1959, Mrs. K. M. Evans Secretary 1963-1978 and Mr. A.D. Dick President 1961-1981 have all the Right Honourable Russell Marshall, Minister of received recognition of their work for the Associ- Education announced that from the first term of ation in the Queen's Honours List. 1987 parents supervising pupils enrolled with the school for reasons of distance from a school, or health would receive a small payment. These achievements have not always been easily obtained. In addition to waiting on the Minister of Education, Association members have actively lob- bied their members of parliament, written to the newspaper and enlisted the assistance of the Feder- BIBLIOGRAPHY ated Farmers Association of New Zealand, the Women's Division of Federated Farmers and the History of the work of the New Zealand Correspondence Country Women's Institute, to mention a few orga- School Parents' Association by Mrs. M.E. Jolly M.B.E. nisations, to ensure that Correspondence School 1936-1986 Golden jubilee History of the New Zealand education should be the best possible education Correspondence School Parents' Association by Allan D. available. Dick Q.S.O.

342-b r- ,. ..%);) The establishment and the development of the external degreeprogrammes of the University of Nairobi JECKONIAH 0. ODUMBE Chairman, Department of Education Faculty of External Degrees Studies College of Adult & Distance Education University of Nairobi Kenya

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND for university education and the inability of the internal departments to accommodate all those who The first recommendation for the establishment of meet the entry requirement, the government re- first degree by External Studies was made in the quested the University of Nairobi to look into the Kenya Education Commission Report (Republic of possibility of setting up External Degree Studies Pro- Kenya 1964 part I pp 105 and part II pp 35). Thereaf- gramme. This was followed by appointment of a ter this idea featured in several Kenya Government Task Force Committee on 21st June, 1983 by the Development Plans. (Republic of Kenya 1966-77 Deans Committee to update the 1976 Open Uni- pp 165, 1979-83 Part II pp 185.) As these policy versity report. It submitted a comprehensive report statements were being made by the government, the in August 1983 in a document known as "Report of University College of Nairobi was making attempts the Task Force on Establishment of External Degree to est blish a first degree by external studies. In programme of the University of Nairobi". This re- March 1965 the Academic Board of the University port provided details on the structure, courses medi- of Nairobi accepted in principle that the faculties of um of instruction, support services, finances and Arts, Science, Commerce, Art and Architecture administration of the programme. could work such a degree. In February 1968 the Draft Regulations were discussed by Senate and STRUCTURE AND OBJECTIVES OF referred back to the Academic Board of UON. THE FACULTY OF EXTERNAL In February 1970 the Academic Board accepted the regulations and fee structure. Though the Devel- DEGREES STUDIES opment, Planning and Establishment Committee The Faculty of External Degrees Studies has three endorsed the proposal for the external Degree departments: Education, Legal Studies and Business Courses to start in 1972, the University Grant Com- Studies. It is headed by a Dean. mittee recommended that the programme could on- The objectives of the External Degrees Programme ly be considered for mounting after 1975 (UGC Feb. are to provide: 1972). learning opportunities for the qualified Kenyans To provide a comprehensive basis for implementing who cannot secure places in the existing internal the External Degree Programme, the University of faculties of the national universities. Nairobi invited a team of experts from the U.K. an alternative and innovative method of learning Open University in July 1975 to carry out a feasi- which is not limited to a particular time and bility study for offering first degrees by External Stud- space. ies. Although their report was accepted it was never an opportunity for people to learn at their own implemented due to the financial constraints facing pace. the University. much needed high-level manpower However, with the continued increase in demand an opportunity to maximise the use of limited

3513 343 educational resources by making university edu- sists of continuous assessment and a written exam- cation available beyond the lecture halls. ination at the end of each part based on percentage grades. Continuous assessment which counts for 40% consists of written assignments, demonstrations, projects and timed tests. The end of year PROGRAMMES AND written examination counts for 60% of -Se total CURRICULUM marks. The Faculty of External Degrees Studies has three main programmes addressing specific national STUDENTS OF THE EXTERNAL needs. The first is Bachelor of Education (Arts and DEGREES PROGRAMME Science) Degrees programme. This degree programme intends to provide graduate teachers for the The students in the B. Ed. Degree (Arts) must meet growing secondary level education which now has the University entrance requirements of either "A" many non graduate teachers. It is being implement- level passes or an SI or Diploma Certificate obtained ed in two phases. In the first phase the subjects from any of the Secondary School Teachers Colleg- offered lead to B. Ed. Arts degree. These subjects es. Candidates must have been out of formal school- include Education, History, Religious Studies and ing or training for at least three years. Philosophy, Economics, Business Studies, Mathe- It is expected that when other courses are mounted, matics, Home Science, Music, Physical Education holders of professional certificates and diploma in and Fine Art. relevant fields will be eligible for admission. The In the second phase the subjects lead to B. Ed. enrolment on the B. Ed. (Arts) Degree is 604 stu- (Science) Degree. Subjects to be offered are Educa- dents registered in September 1986. These are en- tion, Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, Physics, Geog- rolled under different subject combinations as given raphy and Mathematics. It is planned to admitt to below: the B. Ed. (Sc.) in 1990. In both B. Ed. Arts and Geography & Economics 69 Science the student is expected to take Education Mathem'cs & Economics 38 and two teaching subjects. Mathemat..:s & Geography 7 The second programme is the Business Studies De- Double Mathematics 137 gree (SSD). Graduates of this programme will meet Economics & Business Studies 106 high level manpower needs in private and public Geography & History 52 sectors. The subjects will cover various fields of History & Religious Studies 89 accounting, and business administration and man- Kiswahili Literature 48 agement. The planned date for this programme is English language & Literature 58 1992. 604 The third programme of the External Degrees Stud- ies is the Legal Studies Degree (LSD). This programme is intended to service the private and public THE TEACHING SYSTEM OF THE sectors by providing people who are qualified to advise on and assist in decisions involving legal EXTERNAL DEGREE PROGRAMME matters. Other than those specialized categories, it Course writers have been recruited part-time from will also produce some people who would go into staff at the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta Uni- Legal practice as advocates of high courts. This versity. Training workshops have concentrated on programme is planned to be mounted in 1994. giving these subject specialists the skills of writing For all the programmes at the Faculty of External for distant students. The training programme in- Degrees Studies the main medium of instruction is cludes: printed materials supported by face-to-face tutorials Overview of distance education and audio cassettes. Characteristics of distant students Since students in this programme are part time, they Objective writing and use do not have as much time as the internal students. Developing outlines from subject syllabuses To make it manageable each degree programme is Content presentation and motivational instruc- divided into three parts each lasting two years. tional devices and Therefore, studying for a degree in this programme Reviewing and editing study materials. takes a minimum of Ax years and a maximum of ten The training is practical and participants apply it years. However, in exceptional cases a student may immediately. be allowed by Senate to complete the course in a Completed materials may be reviewed by ether sub- shorter period. ject expIrts to check on the accuracy of facts, princi- The assessment in all the degree programmes, con- ples and balance using a brief guide developed by

344 ---,1 t,..." Ja i The projected student enrolment to the year 2000 is as follows: 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 BED Arts 600 600 11 600 111 600 F 200 ? 100 ? BED Arts (B) 6001 600 II 600 III 600 F 200 ? 100 ? BED Arts 6001 600 II 600 III 600 F 200 ? BED Science (New) 200 I 200 II 200 III 200 F 100 ? BED Arts 600 1 600 II 600 III 600 F 200 ? BED Science 200 I 200 II 200 III 200 F 100 ? BSD 200 I 200 II 200 III 200 F 50 ? BED Arts 600 I 600 II 600 III 600 F BE n Science 200 I 200 li 200 III 200 F BSD (New) 200 I 200 II 200111 200 F LSD 1001 10011 100111 100 F BED Arts 600 1 600 11 600111 BED Science 200 1 200 11 200 III BBS 200 1 200 II 200 III LAS (New) 1001 100 11 100111 BED Arts 600 I 600 II BED Science 200 1 200 11 BBS 2001 200 11 LSD (New) 100 I 100 11 BED Arts 600 I BED Science 2001 BSD 2001 LSD 100I 600 1200 2000 3000 37001 43001 45001 47501 F at End of sixth year since enrolment. ? at Estimated number remaining in programme after 6 years.

the Faculty. Finally, the draft materials are edited to Understanding the syllabus and the study materi- try and improve their communication strength. als Written assignments in each unit provide the oppor- Assignments and practicals: Management and tunity for assessing how well the students follow the uses course. The subject experts are expected to provide Guidance and Counselling feedback to the student through the comments in the Programming and monitoring the tutoring proc- assignments. Within the teaching system there is ess. provision for face-to-face interatilon between the Out of the experience of the two training pro- students and the writers or tutors. A three day resi- grammes organized for the tutors, a tutors' hand- dential session was provided at registration in Sep- book has been prepared. tember 1986 and six months later in March 1987. At The third component of the teaching system is cas- another two week residential se- , us September settes. The programme uses cassettes instead of ra- 1987 students took the first set of their part I exam- dio because the numbers involved in the initial inations. During these sessions students are taught stages are too small to justify the use of air time. As by the course writers and practicals are held. working people the students would find it difficult to In addition students meet in the regions in eleven follow radio programmes anyway. The specific study centres. The tutors at the study centres have roles of the cassette programmes are one or more of been recruited from high schools and colleges. the following: Their role is to assist by organizing discussion sessions on topics identified by the students. These Supplementing the introduction to the course or unit given in the units and residential sessions; tutors were given a one week seminar to help them understand the students and the tasks they were Highlighting important topics treated in the units; being asked to do. The programme included the Providing concrete examples or case discussions following topics: to explain or illuminate abstract ideas discussed in the units; Development and administration of the External Addressing specialized areas that print cannot, Degrees Programme for example sound demonstration in language An overview of distance study approach study or dramatization in literature; Understanding the students Givie; instructions for practical activities in addi- The support services and their roles tion to the manual; Tutoring in the Distance Study system

345 358 Providing some general tutorial and counselling services to students. REFERENCES

In producing the cassette programmes the Faculty 1. Republic of Kenya 1964. organizes training sessions for the writers. The train- Kenya Education Commission report Part I.Nairobi, pp. ing workshops last one week, followed by three 100-105. weeks of actual writing in workshop situation and cover the basics of script writing with emphasis on 2. Republic of Kenya: 1966. Development Plan1966-70Government Printers. pp. Role of audio in relation to learning needs of 310-311. students and 3. Republic of Kenya 1976. Learner involvement techniques in writing for the ear; Report of the National Committee on Educational Ob- jectives and Policies1976.Nairobi, pp. 87-89. In the process of script writing the producers work 4. Republic of Kenya 1979. closely with the writers in stages untila first final Development Plan1979-83,Part I. Government Printers draft is produced which then becomes the model for pp. 165. the script writer. The ready scripts are thenpro- duced (recorded) in the studio and later dubbed for 5. University of Nairobi 1976. distribution to students. In most cases the voicing is A Feasibility Report on the First Degrees by External Stud- ies, Nairobi. done by the writers except where other voicesare required. Some cassettes have accompanyingnotes 6. University of Nairobi 1983. or frames to guide the student activities. These cas- Report of the Task Force on the Establishment of External sette programmes have full instructions on how to Degrees Programme of the University of Nairobi. use them.

34g Distance educationcomeshome: the decentralised learnercomesofage

JASON OHLER University of Alaska-Juneau USA

INTRODUCTION see the seeds of new trends in learning that promise to grow. More and more, individualised educajon. In the industrial age we go to school. In the in- More and more, those who want the information formation age school is coming to us. This is the usually acr4uired at school but on their own terms primary message implicit in the media and move- will use "traditional" distance education means to ment of distance education. get it. More and more; school will come to us. Although distance education is too young as a discipline to have spawned clear trends, some things THE DECENTRALISED LEARNER are certain. As technology and course content qual- COMES OF AGE ity continue to improve, the ranks of distance lear- Accepting that "distance learners" do not necessar- ners continue to grow, lowering per student costs ily live in remote areas, a redefinition of terms is and attracting more attention and development cap- needed. What we are talking about are dispersed, or ital. This in turn is helping to make distance educa- decentralised learners. The word is hardly new or tion, originally developed for the geographically under-utilised. Techno-philosophers from Toffler to disadvantaged, a viable alternative for those who McLuhan have used it exhaustively to describe the have traditional means of schooling available to fundamental shift from the industrial age to the in- them. In the coming years, the difference between formation age in the way we work, play, learn and those who must use distance education delivery, live. Note that it is the student body that is decentral- and those who would rather do so will become less ised, while the teacher or provider of materials is and less pronounced. By the year 2000, the ge- usually quite centralised. ographically dispersed "classroom" will be a fre- There are many ways to view or categorise the oe- quent option in the educational community. Thus centralised learner. The most appropriate for th's we are in the remarkable position of having a clear paper is to do so based upon the three primary image of the future in our midst: today's distance reasons that students are led to use "distance educa- education student can serve as a model of future tion media" in the first place: information age learners, the new breed of students who will receive some portion of their schooling via (1) They have no other way to receive a state-sanc- cable, broadcast, satellite, phone or postal systems. tioned education due to geographic isolation. By observing the distance learner of today we are To many, these constitute the real distance lear- looking through a portal into the future and seeing ners. This category also included those so se- what we will become. verely disabled and without support that they are essentially isolated from nearby schools. This assumes that distance education technology (2) They would rather learn, or their parents would and delivery organisations will continue to grow rather they learn, at home despite the traditional and improve and squarely enter the market-place to means of education available to them. I hesitate form a competitive industry. There is no reason to to use the term "home learner" because to some doubt this will happen. In a sense it already has, this term is as all-inclusive as distance learner is under the auspices of commercial television. Given to others. The students in this category are often the omnipresence of network television, it is not avoiding the socialization at the nearby learning surprising that children are spending more time be- institution. The mostobvious example of this are ing educated by TV than by school. Commercial those who learn at home in order to receive an television may not constitute school to the literal education with a religious emphasis. Patricia minded but it is a formidable teaching institution Lines estimates that fully half of all home lear- nonetheless. ners fall into this category (Lines, 1987). In fact, the child in front of the television and the (3) They want to expand their learning opportuni- distance learner have much in common. In them we ties and resources beyond those immediately or

347 traditionally available to them. Anyone can fall ent paces, all of which conspires to promote indi- into this category, including those usually iden- viduality and undermine the power structure upon tified with categories (1) and (2) above. Typical which the industrial age was founded. examples are people who attend regular school As Anne Batey and Richard Cowell noted in Dis- but need a particular course not offered, or tance education: an overview "Distance education home learners who want to supplement their may force us to redefine what a school is" (1986). In education by using any one of the number of fact, decentralised education allows us to reinvent services available, from mail courses to on-line what school is. video services, to video text. The courses they take are often called "enrichment" or "special- Although it will be easier for higher education to ty" courses. take advantage of the individualised, disciplined nature of decentralised education, the fact that elec- There is overlap among the three groups. No doubt tronic learning can be convenient, fun and effec- there are geographically remote learners who tive, combined with new attitudes in parenting and would prefer a religious education and who want a the ability to work at home in a number of electronic speciality course such as Japanese. This overlap cottage industries, may give birth to many different only serves to expand the number and broaden the styles of schooling even in the lower grades. Like- profile of decentralised learners and provide extra minded neighbors will be able to form study groups incentive for "distance education" developers to for themselves and their children, using many of the bring school to us. educational services available to them as their basis. Guides or coaches, rather than teachers as we cur- THE IMPLICATIONS rently envision them, will facilitate such groups, This shift from a centralised to decentralised student monitoring and promoting student progress, while body has profound ramifications.. relying on everything from interactive laser disks to a live broadcast of a teacher in another classroom as The potential student body is immense. Tax base is the primary source of information for the courses no longer the determining factor regarding what "a they oversee. On-the-road technology (microcom- school" can afford to offer. Decentralised educa- Alters, ever-smaller satellite transceivers) will dis- tional delivery is limited primarily by the level of perse the student body even more, encouraging interaction the teacher needs to maintain during practicum-based education, with students travell- delivery and by the transmission media, such as ing to the hands-on kinds of resources they need and satellite footprints, cable routes, phone system, reporting back to a distant teacher. etc., most of which are vast. Such a large student In the year 2000 we may well be choosing how body reduces the service per individual cost dramatically. It also allows education to continue to be much of our school taxes we will want to pay the school system and how much we wish to retain to developed in various flavours with specific foci. We should expect more educational television chan- spend on home delivery of educational materials and service. Besides providing access to equipment nels, videotext and video services with specific philosophies; we should expect everything from Chris- that is not affordable on an individual basis, such as chemistry labs, schools may become institutions tian fundamentalist programming with evolution- free science courses tc, science coursework devel- whose most cherished aim is to deliver all of those services now considered secondary; sports, art, opedbyenvironmentalistswhichareanti- development in nature. choir, socialisation opportunities and individual attention, the only kinds of activities which Glasser Student or parent control over education is greatly sees as currently succeeding in public education increased. The vastness of the educational networks (Gough, 1987). The dominant home class forMat for is balanced by the fact that electronic teachers can older learners may well become two to three lec- be turned off at any time. The industrial age's coun- tures a week attended at home via cable, satellite or terpart, getting up and walking out of a class, was video service and one seminar which the student virtually unheard of. This ability to control one's attends in person at school or a local discussion education is in direct contradiction to the factory group. In short, with school coming to us, we enter model which provided the design concept for pub- the age of the viable alternative to standard public lic education. Factory owners realised that they education. needed a work-force that was capable of inordinate amounts of "sameness"; to show up at work at the WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW? same time on the same days and perform the same tasks in the same way, over and over. Public educa- Three adjustments in attitude are of primary impor- tion was created to meet this need, training children tance. in the spirit of this "sameness". In contrast, in- First, we need to better understand the psychology formition age students will find themselves learning and the needs of the decentralised learner of tomor- in different environments at different times at differ- row and we can do so by studying the needs of the

348 361 distance and home learners of today. Perhaps it is among different agencies responsible for provid- because distance education is not yet considered ing education. Distance delivery systems will on- mainstream that the psychology of distance educa- ly become readily affordable if they serve a great tion has not blossomed a great deal on its own. number of people. Federal, state, and local gov- Seeing it as a model for future non-distance learners ernments, as well as private entrepreneurs, will should provide the extra impetus needed. There is benefit greatly by working together. Their co-op- certainly plenty to explore. The needs of students eration will make decentralised education a real- who learn not only at a distance but, more impor- ity for individual consumers not directly associ- tantly separated from a group of their peers and ated with a formal institution of education. How- often under the supervision of their families or just ever, a special sensitivity must be observed to the themselves must be significantly different from cross-cultural issues implied in wide area educa- those who have been cultivated in the industrial age tion delivery. model of centralised, norm-minded education. The Thirdly, we need to encourage teachers to feel com- psychology of the decentralised learner needs to be fortable in the role of coach or guide rather than as addressed as vigorously as education has addressed boss and fount of all knowledge at the front of the other special needs learners so that educators can class. In the same way that track coaches do not develop the pedagogy for the future. expect to outpace their fastest runners, information Secondly, we need to understand that education age teachers do not expect to be more factually must become more co-operative on a number of competent than their students; in fact, they expect to fronts: learn from them. A teacher's level of knowledge will between student and teacher. As itcurrently always be important, but more and more she or he stands, almost all evaluation in the K-12 envi- will be called upon for wisdom, the kind that can't ronment (and much in higher education) consists be tested by the National Teachers Examination, of teachers evaluating students, and not the other and that can only come from experiencing life as a way around. This is a wonderfully illuminating human being and evaluating it as an educator. remnant of the industrial age; rarely did the lathe operator critique management. Successful decentralised education will depend heavily on two-way evaluation to compensate for the in- REFERENCES formation loss caused by the teacher and student not meeting face to face. Lines, Patricia M. (1987). "An overview of home instruction" Phi Delta among students. The information available in Kappan (March, pp. 510-17). most subject areas will be so abundant that it will become necessary to teach students how to use a Batey, Anne and Cowell, Richard N. blend of information and human netwos tc pur- (1986). "Distance education: an overview" Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory publication, November. sue their studies and to prepare them to solve the complex problems faced in the inform. ion age Gough, Pauline B. economy. (1987). "The key to improving schools: an interview with William Glasser", Phi Delta Kappan (May).

349 3 E 2 Distance education andnational development: thecaseof the external degree programme of the University of Nairobi, Kenya DR. JAMES ELIJAH OTIENDE Department of Educational Foundations Kenyatta University Nairobi, Kenya

INTRODUCTION schools, village polytechnics and institutes of technology across the length and breadth of the The possibility of expanding educationalopportuni- country ty through the development of distance education (KANU 1983:9). All these self-help efforts in educa- programmes has long been recognized. Indeed, the tion have been prompted by the government's clear recent worldwide rapid expansion of distance eiu- understanding that education playsa pivotal and catalytic role in enhancing national development. catioll is a concrete reflection of this importantrec- Uppermost in the government's thinking is that the ognition. Kenya, which is a Third Worldcountry, nation's ability to foster overall social, economic has rather limited trained and skilledmanpower but a frighteningly large proportion of illiterates and and political development lies in the quality and semi-literates. It is considered crucial to national quantity of its literate and numerate population. The Kenya population therefore needs to be educated for development and this since the 19605 to encourage the growth and expansion of distance edu- its full enjoyment of life on the social front;to meet the nation's manpower requirements cation as a practical alternative solution to the de- on the economic front; and to create a solid velopment of immensely expensive school and col- sense of national unity on the political front. lege formal education. Distance education inKenya is not a make-shift alternative to proper schooling, In this regard, education and training have contin- but a cost-effective and meaningful alternative ued to be given a very high priority in the country's which is seen to reach largegroups of people coun- National Development Plans. The production of trywide (Muller, 1987:29-30). Thispaper, there- sufficient numbers of secondary and university fore, attempts to give an overall view of education graduates with the required skills, knowledge and and national development, distance education,and expertise for filling middle and high level positions the newly inaugurated external degreeprogramme, to prop the modern dynamic economy remainsa in Kenya. challenge to educational planners in Kenya (Tosten- sen and Scott, 1987:74-5). EDUCATION AND NATIONAL Indeed, in consideration and in pursuit of thecon- DEVELOPMENT viction that a satisfactory general level of education is a necessary pre-condition for growth and well- In many countries education has reliably provided being, the government has attempted with the8-4-4 an impetus for national development. In Kenya System of Education . eight years primary, four combating ignorance is one of the declared national years secondary and four years university to aims along with the eradication of poverty and dis- broaden the educational systemso as to create op- ease. The ruling party in its KANU Manife4to has, portunities for various specialized training topre- ever since independence in 1963, urged both indi- pare the youth for all types of tasks (Kenya, 1984:v- viduals and groups (through the Harambeemove- vi). Tremendous expansion, given the nation's limit- ment of self-help and self-reliance) to build and ed financial resources, has also been undertakenat maintain numerous nursery schools, secondary the primary, secondary and university levels of the

350 3 f3 3 educational system. Thus in 1963 there were 6,058 schools; and 2,000 adult students undertaking other primary schools with an enrolment of 3,931,500. general and professional continuing education Also, white in 1963 there were 150 secondary courses for those who are not in the teaching profes- schools with an enrolment of 28,764, in 1980 there sion (Gatere, 1986:6). These courses include some were 1,626 with an enrolment of 410,026. Finally, in book-keeping, commercial arithmetic, account- while in 1963 the University College, Nairobi, had ancy and other vocational studies. Over the years, a student enrolment of 571, by 1980 it was a fully the SDS learning media and the methods of student fledged university with a student population of assessment have been boosted to include study 6,870. In the meantime, the cost of education to the guides, textbooks, continuous assessment, teaching National Exchequer has been rocketing, from practice, with support services from administrative K£6,961,000 in 1963 to K1122,583,000 in 1980 and supervisory personnel in government centres in (Kenya, 1981; 1982). the country (A Correspondent, 1987:13-14). DISTANCE EDUCATION Thus, from its very meagre beginnings the Corre- spondence Course Unit has risen to become College By 1980 the Ministry of Education was taking the of Adult and Distance Education (LADE) comprising lion's share of the National budget, at 34.9 percent an Institute of Extra Mural Studies, an Institute of of the total recurrent expenditure. Cost-effective Adult Studies, a School of Distance Studies and a educational alternatives needed to be found. One Faculty of External Degree Studies, whose activities such alternative was distance education, where Ke- are supervised and co-ordinated at the Kikuyu Cam- nya's experience dates back to 1967. In that year the pus of the University of Nairobi. The primary ob- government established theCorrespondence jective of these departments of CADE is to educate Course Unit (CCU) within the Institute of Adult Stud- the large majority of adults who were denied higher ies of the University of Nairobi. To initiate the pro- education opportunities during the colonial circum- ject, the Government of Kenya received financial stances. The CADE courses are tailored to the edu- assistance from USAI D. The CCU immediately em- cational needs of adults, in that they are applicable barked on adult courses; 90 percent of the bene- to their daily lives. Accordingly, the stated objec- ficiaries were primary school teachers in search of tives of CADE are: helping to create a better under- higher teaching qualifications. Others who bene- standing between the highly educated minority and fited were clerks, farmers, housewives, members of the majority of the people; helping individuals to the Kenyan Armed Forces, the Police and Co-oper- raise their levels of academic standing; helping to ativestaff throughout the country (Kinyanjui, create an informed public opinion; helping to en- 1981:83). rich the cultural life of the rural areas; and engaging In 1969 CCU together with the Kenya Institute of in research into all aspects of adult education and Education (KIE) undertook to run a joint programme training (University of Nairobi, 1985:98). for untrained primary school teachers. The pro- Evidently, these are ambitious objectives and they gramme was aimed at improving the teaching effec- require a highly efficient system of selection, plan- tiveness of those who had been recruited as un- ning, deveiopment and preparation, together with a trained teachers after completing four or six years of well-organized operation network and the neces- secondary school. This training was provided sary machinery, to ensure that those aims are at- through a combination of correspondence courses, tained. Large amounts of teaching materials and radio programmes and face-to-face instruction dur- equipment for printing, binding, radio recording ing short residential courses when the would-be and production studio are needed in order to handle teachers were on their school holidays. The un- the demands of distance education effectively. Us- trained teachers prepared and sat for the Kenya Na- ing what has been available the performance of SDS tional Examination Council (KN EC) examinations in students in national examinations has been compa- order to be awarded their teaching certificates. 3y rable to, if not better than, that of school candidates 198715,000 untrained primary school teachers had sitting the same examinations. However, there has successfully finished the relevant courses to be been 15 to 25 per cent drop-out rate by SDS stu- awarded their professional teaching certificates (A dents. To arrest this drop-out trend the college has correspondent, 1987:13). Considering that 30 per undertaken evaluation studies and research, result- cent of the 140,000 primary school teachers in Ke- ing in the much needed feedback from its students nya are unqualified, it is easy to realise the impor- (Kinyanjui, 1981:86). tance and sign'cicance of the step taken. To date CCU (since renamed the School of Distance EXTERNAL DEGREE PROGRAMME Studies (SDS) ) has a total of 9,200 students enrolled Nevertheless, the SDS experience has gone a long in its three year Foundation Course in Adult Educa- way to show that once the operation machinery of tion for those intending to teach adults, 4,200 stu- distance education has been established it can be a dents in its three year In-service Course for Un- cheap and cost-effective means towards satisfying trained Teachers for those teaching in primary the urgent academic and professional needs of a

351 3 6 developing country like Kenya. Consequently, with In particular the inauguration of the external degree the experience gained from the SDS, CADL has programme by CADE will help fulfil the dreams of finally ventured into offering undergraduate degree many qualified candidates who had otherwise given courses. The Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) Arts de- up hope for university education. This is only a gree course launched in 1986, with some British beginning, but a promising one that augurs well for assistance in terms of personnel training, hopes to a fuller utilization of the enormous potential of dis- gain from the experience of the SDS by using a tance education at university level in Kenya. combination of different media correspondence materials, radio and short residential sessions to produce credible graduates, but at a distance (Oma- ri, 1986:3). This is a milestone towards meeting the national middle and high level manpower needs of REFERENCES the country even though, initially, the external degree programme will aim to produce graduate A Correspondent teachers for the country's increasing number of sec- (1987) "Distance Education in Kenya", The Standard ondary schools. (Nairobi, 20 July). Out of the 19,368 teachers working in Kenya's sec- Education Correspondent ondary schools only just over 5,000 are graduates (1986). "Studying at Home to Get That Degree", Daily and 5,706 more are non-graduate, but otherwise Nation (Nairobi, 19 September). qualified teachers. The balance of 8,648 is made,J Gatere, N. of "A" level school leavers, many of whom satisfy (1986). "The School Which Teaches Through Radio". the minimum university entrance requirements, but The Anvil (Nairobi, 3 December). cannot immediately find places in any of the in- KAN U stitutions. When the university initiated the external (1983). Kanu Manifesto (Nairobi: Government Printer). degree programme and invited applications over 3,000 applications vied for the 600 places available Kenya (A Correspondent, 1986:14). The B.Ed. arts degree (1981). University Education in Kenya: The First Report of started off with Education, Mathematics, Geogra- the 1980-1983 University Grants Committee (Nairobi: phy, Economics, Business Education, History, Reli- Government Printer). gious Studies and Philosophy, English Literature and (1982). Kenya: Country Paper (Conference of Ministers Kiswahili. To complete the implementation of the of Education and those Responsible for Economic Plan- B.Ed. Arts programme special subjects like Home ning in Member states of Africa Held in Harare, Zim- Science, Music, Physical Education and Fine Art babwe, 28 June to 3 July). will soon be offered. Over the next four years B.Ed. (1984). 8-4-4 System of Education. (Nairobi: Govern- Science, Legal Studies, and Business Studies will be ment Printer). introduced. What is more while it costs the govern- Kinyanjui, P.E. ment Kf6,000 over a three year period to produce (1981)."Kenya's Experience in Distance Teaching", one B.Ed. graduate it costs Kf850 over a six year Adult Education and Development (March), 16, 83-9. period to produce a comparable graduate through the external degree programme (Education Corre- Muller, j. spondent, 1986:14). This will therefore, be an enor- (1987). "Inservice Training by Correspondence", Devel- mous saving while also being a qualitative and opment and Cooperation 3, 29-30. quantitative improvement of secondary education Omani, E. throughout the country. (1986). "Mbithi says Varsity will Produce Credible Gradu- ates". The Kenya Times (Nairobi, 19 September). CONCLUSION Tostensen, A., and Scott, 1.G. The distance education activities in Kenya over the (1987). Kenya: Country Study and Norwegian Aid Re- last two decades have been extended to meet the view. (Bergen, Norway: The Chr. Michelsen Institute). needs of elementary and secondary schooling and University of Nairobi even those of university education. This has been a (1984). University of Nairobi Calendar 1984-1985 (Nai- tangible and remarkable achievement in expanding robi: University of Nairobi). educational opportunities within the Third World.

352 Textual design and student learning DR. MICHAEL S. PARER Centre for Distance Learning Educational Development & Research Unit Gippsland Institute Churchill, Victoria, Australia, 3842

I NTRODUCT ION Study Guide materials (ii) to study the four major textual components of Educational develupment and research in distance printed Study Guides and examine how ex- education quickly focuses on the important role of ternal students are aided by these the printed Study Guide and how adult students (iii)to improve distance teaching practices and learn using their Study Guide. Given the resources techniques through textual design invested in the production and use of study material (iv) to devise a methodology of formative eval- the most basic question arises: how can printed uation to improve printed Study Guides in material be enhanced to improve the student learn- distance education. This included the testing ing? Within such a simple sentence are complex of the Study Protocol Recorder (SPR) micro- issues covering the areas of textual design and adult computer technology to analyse students' use student learning. This project reviewed research in of coherent whole blocks of texts. these areas and set up an experimental design to test the impact of textual design on student learning. This project was supported by a Research Grant from the Australian and South Pacific External Stud- ies Association. It also expresses appreciation to RESEARCH AIMS Daryl Nation, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Peter This project had a number of interrelated aims: Farago, Senior Lecturer in Politics, and their stu (i) to extend our understanding of how students dents at Gipps land Institute for their cooperation, learn in distance education and explore theo- and Robyn Benson who was Research Assistant for retical perspectives on the use of printed this project.

The Study Protocol Recorder.

353 3 R 6 Communication

I I Audio Visible Language Body languageOther i I I Video display unit Print Handwriting Other

I I I Advertising Instructional Entertainment Other Material

4 major textual components

Surface factors

Mlcrotypography 'Macrotypography Linguistic instructional Strategy (legibility factors) (layout) (use of language) (teaching method)

e.g. typeface e.g. cover design e.g. continuous prose e.g. signalling structures typesize grid comprehension level advance organisers column width position of content sequence student activities justification Illustrations logical development access structures

It Is not Intended to convey the impressbn that mlaotypographIc factors have merely a 'micro' effect on student learning. Table 1.

The full report of this project is available from The perceived learning outcomes, and the value of tex- Centre for Distance Learning at the above address. tual elements of the study materials and deep and surface learning, and their exam results. METHODOLOGY The project used the SPR, questionnaires and in- Four Major textual components terviews to evaluate students' use of whole texts and concentrated on four major textual components. This project built on the broad spectrum of the four The aim of the SPR was to analyse students in real major textual components as outlined by Waller, time as they were using their Study Guides and to Driver and Parer (1982). These were as shown in Table 1. allow an analysis of the complex of textual, linguistic and instructional components rather than a single variable such as font, typesize, leading, head- IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ings, illustrations or in-text questions. The SPR is PROJECT operated by photo electric light sensors that record page movements. Each page needs to be marked Two Gipps land Institute units were selected to rep- and placed in a special frame so that the activities resent the differences of instructional and graphic can be recorded via the photoelectric cells into the design, namely Sociology One (Unit number 6120) computer. A special software program was written and Modern European History (Unit number 6185). for this purpose which allowed variables to 132 Unit 6120 had a lecturer committed to instructional modified. The SPR, which is illustrated below, en- design principles, who rightly considered himself ables a record to be made of the time spent on each the instructional designer 5f his own study materials page of a text and, of even greater importance, of the and sought advice from the design studio and the pattern of page usage. External Studies Division in preparing his study ma- Twelve external students were monitored with the terial. These materials were among the first to be SPR that was Cu....1Cted to an Apple 2e computer phototypeset. It had three levels of headings, dots to and recorded their page by page activities in forty- highlight sections, and the text was unjustified. five minute blocks of study that simulated their Unit 6185 on Modern European History, and in home environment. They completed the Lancaster particular the week on Marxism and Socialism, was Inventory and Biggs' questionnaires and were then typewritten and set out within paragraphs num- interviewed about their interaction with the study bered 1to 4. Number 3 was missing through a material and their study methods. The printouts, typist's error and the other sections were subdi% id- their questionnaires and the audio recorded inter- ed, namely No 1 into A and B, with B subdivided views were matched with the Study Guides. This into Roman Numerals i to v. Section 2 was sub- data was then analysed in the methodological con- divided into sections A through S and Section 4 was text of the process of their study, the quality of their simply divided A and B with a single reference in A,

3 4..3f7 and 10 references under B. By any standard they but the need for explicit guidance, particularly in had minimal instructional and graphical design. study skills, and the need to supplement the Study Students were asked to make two hours available Guides with other means to gain learning, was just which was divided in the following manner: as important: 15 min. -Introduction to the project and explana- "Study Guides by themselves are hard work". tion of procedure Eleven of the twelve students took notes, highlight- 15 min. -Completion of Lancaster Inventory ed or underlined as they studied, the extent of this 45 min. -Study period monitored by SPR often increasing with increased use of a deep ap- 15 min. -Completion of Biggs' questionnaire proach. Almost invariably the role of note-taking 30 min.-Taped interview on topics relating to the was seen as intrinsically related to learning: study period, focusing on aspects of tex- "I give more time for my mental processes to find tual design and the way the Study Guides connections with my mental structure"; were used and the students' perception of "It's as if my perception of something comes more their approaches to study. from the hand than the eyes"; "By writing things down it sticks in my memory a lot LITERATURE REVIEW more". This project undertook a literature review in the Notes tended to be more extensive if the area of -11 lowing areas: study was new, and progress through a Study Guide A Textual Design Research was also slower. Subsequent use of the notes varied: B Distance Education and Textual Design sometimes they became the main resource for fur- C Protocol Analysis and Eye Movement ther study, but sometimes they were discarded once D Student Learning Approaches to Studying and written it was the process of writing, not the Study Process product, that was of value.

RESULTS ANALYSIS OF TEXTUAL DESIGN Textual design and student learning FACTORS All students surveyed showed some awareness of what is involved in a deep learning approach ac- Microtypography cording to responses on the Biggs' questionnaire. These twelve students seemed barely aware of mi- However, in most cases it was combined with sub- crotypographical features of text. The existence of stantial use of a surface approach. The combination white space and margins was valued by some stu- of approaches seemed to influence the way the dents, primarily because they were useful for note- Study Guides were used and was determined by taking not because they affected perception of uch factors as familiarity with the student role, the text. Comments mentioned the need for print to study skills, availability of time, and purpose of be of a "comfortable" size, the avoidance of study. "crammed up" text, the provision of white space in Dependence on the Study Guides was evident from the Study Guides for note-taking and the use of wide all types of students and comments such as: margins to facilitate note-taking. Other relevant comments were made: for example, fine print is "They're my main source of study" or fundamentally hard to focus on, especially where "If I didn't have those, I'd be lost" there are groups of difficult points because they're were frequent across the range of students. Greatest very close together; the use of bold type to pick use of them appeared to be made by the students things out; headings where relevant and upper case who were most deeply involved in their study: letters; underlining of key words or expressions if they need to be understood in a particular way. "They get really thumbed through by the time I've finished with them"; While the appearance of text does seem to have "Once you've finished, you haven't finished be- some influence on students, they are not aware of cause you're always going back"; being greatly affected by the microtypography. but there were also the students who tended to be less concerned with textual design: Macrotypography "I don't think I need to have it thrown at me". The Study Guides are seen as the main source of study and as long as the Study Guides are reason- These students also made heavy use of other materi- ably clear, textual components did not appear of al, were well organised in their approach, and major importance. The use of well-organised and stressed the importance of utilising other means of broken up text was mentioned by all students. The facilitating learning. techniques used to divide the text did not appear to The construction of the Study Guides was important be of major significance, as long as the break-up

355 368 was logical: some examples are: clear setting out instructional strategy did influence the response of achieved through the use of headings; careful spac- a!i students to the text in one or more ways. Such ing of information; and underlining to indicate features mentioned were the appreciation of intro- which words to concentrate on. Headings were par- ductory information, the organisation of material ticularly helpful, for example, the use of headings and the use of headings and highlighting cues. Stu- along with underlining of key words, the use of dents referred to the need for complete information headings as organising devices. The use of verbal on a topic to be included in a Study Guide. Students devices was important when special meaning was felt that the Study Guides should contain complete to be given to words, although non-verbal devices information on all necessary study materials giv- were often considered sufficient. In some instances en their limitations in time and resources; this was references to organising devices or logical break up less the feeling of the really deeply involved stu- suggested that instructional strategy or linguistic dents. Informality of language and the use of white characteristics were of more significance in achiev- space was mentioned by the deep learners who ing this than macroiypography. Nearly haif of the tended to value it for note-taking. Also important students considered the inclusion of diagrams/ were the cross-referencing, the provision of sum- graphs/tables in the text important for stimulation maries at the end of sections and the need for tasks to and to add meaning. For example: a graph tells you enhance learning placed within the text, as well as more than reading; the use of diagrams for clarifying the use of additional techniques such as study the components of ideas; the use of photographs or groups, taped lectures, video tapes, the availability illustrations for stimulation; the use of pictures, dia- of general study ski,ls information, prompt despatch grams and graphs to help explain the subject. Terti- of study materials and assessed assignments from ary students however are past the need for illustra- the.Institute. The above are illustrated by such ex- tions for appearance. Introductory information was amples: the next most frequently mentioned characteristic. Paragraphs organised with topic sentences at the Its importance to some implies that a carefully con- beginning to facilitate skimming and allow for a ceived and presented introduction should be pro- rapid overview of the content. vided to each Study Guide to ensure that it is mea- A gradual introduction with introductory infor- ningful to students who have no prior knowledge of mation to guide the student into each topic, the the material. provision of a simple, introductory overview of a topic, along with suggested introductory readings on a similar level and explicit guidance from Linguistics the lecturer. Language was important, meaning a writing style A clear structure, with initial provision of in- that isn't too intellectual or too jargonistic and uses structions and an overview of a topic, and with simple language, particularly for first year students. precise cross-references between topics and Lucidity was stressed as necessary to lead in to a Study Guides to save time, the careful structuring topic and make it less daunting. Students liked a of points so that each point contains only one sense of personal communication and an informal idea or element, the provision of sufficient in- approach, as opposed to coming in cold with a text formation, written in such a manner that a basic book. They wanted an explanation of jargon as understanding of the subject can be obtained comprehension is inhibited and time wasted by from the Study Guide, including the nature of and terms which are not readily understood. They want- 'ationships between concepts important to the ed terminology which does not obscure meaning. A topic. little bit of lightness in life calms your mind, pos- Advance organisers to map out the area to be sibly, and does not hurt in any situation. The com- covered, and a setting out which is logically or- prehension level and content of introductory in- dered and clearly signposted. formation was particularly significant. Most stu- The provision of cues which indicate special sig- dents referred to introductory information although nificance for words or sections of text for some it did not have meaning until the remainder The use of devices not necessarily verbal to of the text was read. Comments relating to introduc- divide up the text. tory information, content sequence, headings and Division into small paragraphs introduced by let- key words often seemed to refer to both linguistic ters or numerals only when it does not interrupt content and instructional strategy. the logical flow. Division of topics into a clear and simple sequence of sections, cumulatively ordered and Instructional strategy with cross-referencing, logically ordered para- Although it was often difficult to interpret whether graphs with separate points and ideas clearly dis- students' comments on textual features related to tinguished and possibly numbered. instructional strategy, linguistic or macrotypograph- Inclusion of library reference numbers in reading ical factors as noted above, it is true to say that lists to save time.

356 3R9 Provision of a summary at the end of each Study the subdivision of material into coherent blocks and Guide. carefully constructedintroductoryinformation. Reduction in the volume of reading required, if Among the most useful design fedtures was the clear possible, taking into consideration the above or- and logical use of language. ganisational factors, references back to material Those in External Studies Divisions and within in- in previous sections as students upgrade their structional design tend to see distance education knowledge. through the focus of he Study Guide, offering the The provision of, ideally, a lecture or at least a prime direction and stimulus, and through the focus video or aud;o tape, prior to reading the Study of efficiency of production and delivery of study Guides. materials. There is no doubt that these are impor- The use of tapes. tant, but perhaps in the manner of Hersberg's hy- Use of readers providing key readings for the giene factors, in that they emerge Fs major issues subject. This lopears to have particular merit due when the study materials are grossly deficient or to difficulties encountered in obtaining pre- when the production and delivery systems break scribed references. down. No amount of well-designed Study Guides or The use of references within a text to expand on efficiency in production and delivery systems can the summary of ideas presented in the Study substitute for a supportive relationship between the Guides. student and the academic teacher. The mature stu- The incorporation of student tasks which develop dents in this study had a wholistic view of distance meaningful interaction with the subject matter, education that encompassed not just their Study and the use of complementary techniques, linked Guides, but included their personal, academic or with the Study Guides, to reinforce learning. achievement orientation to study, the intentions of Provision for students getting together to study to the lecturers, the support provision offered with tu- allow interchange of ideas. torials, communication and direction by the indi- Provision of an in-depth seminar on study tech- vidual lecturer, and the support offered by the in- niques for mature age students at the beginning of stitution through library and computer services, ad- the course to explain what you're supposed to be equate tutors to mark assignments for good turn looking for and how to get the meat out of the around time, adequate course offerings and so on. subject and ignore the irrelevant bits. The importance of other support from the In- From the wholistic perspective the mature students stitute such as the provision of Study Guides be- were less aware and interested in the details of fore lectures, prompt provision of study materi- textual design and more interested in the substance als, and the return of assignments well before the of the educational product offered by the institute next one is due. and the teacher. While there is no doubt that resources to improve the textual design of Study Guides will facilitate the students' learning, this CONCLUSION should be seen as an aid and not a substitute for either the relationship establ ished between the aca- A combination of micro, linguistic and instructional demic teacher and the student or for other student components within Study Guides do influence stu- support provisions. dents. However a broad range of design features is acceptable. The very existence of a Study Guide is most important, but no dramatically obvious indications for textual refinement appeared. Students REFERENCE were able to compensate for the lack of design features when the language had simplicity and lu- Wailer, R.H.W., Driver. C. and Parer, M. S. cidity and was presented in well organised blocks. 1982. Textual Design and Student Learning, ASPESA Fo- rum '81 Papers, Supplementary Volume, Deakin Uni- The most appreciated design characteristics were versity Press, Geelong.

357 371 The economiccost analysis of STOU radioprogrammes* NITTAYA PARSORNSIRI School of Educational Studies Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University Pakkred, Nonthaburi 11120 Thailand

This paper presents the economic aspect of radio COMPONENT COSTS programmes used by Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU). Radio programme costs can be separated into 3 major components: 1)programme production Before analyzing costs, it should be noted that radio costs, 2) administration costs or costs for coordina- programmes at STOU are a supplementary medium tior, and operation and 3) transmission or broad- of instruction to hclp students understand a panic casting costs. ular conc'pt. They are not intended to be a substitute for wi itten materials. Students are expected to spend up to 70 percent of their study time on printed 1. PROGRAMME PRODUCTION texts and 30 percent of their time watching televi- COSTS sion programmes and/or listening to radio programmes (Srisa-an and Wansotorn, 1986). Thc-oret- In STOU radio programmes supplement and rein- ically, students can pass the examination without force written materials. Texts and practice books ever listening to the radio or watching the televised would have to be developed regardless of whether lessons. or not radio is used as 1 supportive medium. There- fo.:, the development of scripts is considered to be However, the majority of STOU students are using the only effort required prior to the production of the the radio (61 percent). They appreciate STOU's in- radio programmes in recording studios. tegrated learning package comprising printed material with radio programming (60.2 percent). A sub- Table 1 presents production costs for a 20-minute stantial number of students (45.1 percent) have said radio programme and includes only the costs in- their studies would be adversely affected if radio volved in developing scripts for the programme plus programming were discontinued (Fry, pp. 89-9i). the costs of recording and editing. Programme production costs are composed of two major parts: Radio is therefore an integral part of the STOU system and a very important medium, especially for the 1.1 Annualized capital costs which include the large number of students residing in remote areas, costs of construction of the EBPC (Educational possibly without access to television. Broadcasting and Production Centre), land, studio equipment, telephone start-up, furniture and office On the National Education Radio Network, STOU equipment. The annualized capital cost is estimated has the largest allocation of transmission time (37.6 to be 8.7 million Baht" or 24,234 Baht ($969) per percent). So it is of special importance to evaluate programming hour (Table 1). radio programme costs and radio's impact on higher education in Thailand. This paper will present the 1.2 Recurrent personnel costs, for script develop- cost aspects only. ment, recording and editing, are estimated to be 5,787 Baht. ($ 231) per programming hour (Table 1). The estimated total cost of production per programming hour per year is 30,021 Baht ($ 1,201).

*In the period 1979-1985,,,e National Education Commission of Thailand, which had the responsibility for the summative evaluation of the Radio Education Project (REP), one segment of the Fifth World Bank Education Loanto Thailand, undertook the summative evaluation of REP by having Tony W Bates, Steven I. Klees, Gerald W. Fry and Louis K. Woo as consultants to the project at different periods. The author of thispaper was a member of the Sub-Committee on Evaluation of the REP and worked as their counterpart, especiallyon STOU radio programmes. The information in this paper is based on ine consultants reports, especially those of Louis Woo and Gerak' Fry. ** US$ 1 = 25 Baht.

358 371 2. COORDINATION AND 4. TOTAL COST OF STOU R,010 OPERATION COSTS OR GENERAL PROGRAMMES ADMINISTRATION COSTS The total annual cost per hour, which is the total cost These costs are assumed to be a fraction of the total of programme production, general administration recurrent budget of STOU. This, of course, includes and broadcasting of STOU radio pa _rammes, is materials, supplies and the utility costs which are 65,306 Baht ($ 2,612) if the programme is broadcast excluded from programme production costs. The only once. This is the fixed cost since the cost will costs for coordination and operation are estimated not vary according to the number of listeners (Table to be 17,055 Baht ($ 682) per programming hour 1). (Table 1).

3. BROADCASTING COSTS The Public Relations Department (PRD)' is responsible for the technical operation of the National Table 1.Estimated Total Annual Costs of Produc- Educational Radio Network (NERN), but there is tion,General Administration and Broadcasting also a Programming Board, representing PRD and Costs for STOU Radio Programmes the various educational agencies using the network. programming hour Through this Board STOU has been allocated 50 Cost per (1985 B) (U.S. $) hours/week for the broadcasting of radio education programmes. This constitutes the largest block of Production Cost' 30,021 1,201 time on this network. Transmission costs per hour Annualized capital cost2 24,234 969 are estimated to be 18,230 Baht ($ 729) and consist Annual recurrent personnel of capital costs of broadcasting and recurrent costs cost' 5,787 231 of operating the 11 stations and the central office. General Administration' 17,055 682 3.1 Capital costs include land, construction, facil- Subtotal 47,076 1,883 ities, vehicles, equipment, telephone start-up, train- Broadcasting Cost 18,230 729 ing and technical assistance. Land cost is defined as Total 65,3062,612 the opportunity cost of land used by each station 1. The number of new radio programmes produced in assessed according to its 1985 market value. Con- 1984 was 1,078 twenty-minute programmes or 359.3 struction consists of site preparation, access road, programming hours. fence, irrigation system, power system, transmis- 2. Share of the capital cost of EBPC for radio production is sions buildings, office buldings, power house, staff one third of the total capital cost of EBPC accommodation. Facilities include office furniture 3. The personnel costs of producing the radio progr'm- mes are collected from four radio production teams. and equipment. Telephone start-up costs are a For each programme the cost. include the following once-only cost, namely, costs of installation. items: Summing up all the capital investment categories, 3.1 Payment for one educational technologist (8 100 the annualized cost of such investment is estimated or $ 4), one coordinator (8 100 or $ 4), one or two to be 102 million Baht or $ 4,080 million (Woo, p content specialists (B 75 or $ 3 per person), one or two actors (8 30 or $ 1.2 per person) and one 9). announcer (8 75 or $ 3). The total payment for one 3.2 Recurrent costs for operating the 11 stations and programme should not exceed 8 400 or $ 16 the central office include all wages, their related 3.2 Transportation cost for non-STOU personnel (B fringe benefits, overtime, perdiem, travelling, office 100 or $ 4 per person). supplies, maintenance, utility and service costs paid 3.3 The opportunity costs of producing a radio pro- to the Telephone Organization of Thailand for the gramme estimated from the number of hours spent producing a radio programme multiplied by av- maintenance and operation of the UHF links to the erage hourly wage including fringe benefits which 11 stations. The average annual recurrent cost, as- comprise 22.37 % of total salary. sessed at 1985 value, is 21.4 million Baht. Given 4. The General Administration Cost is estimated to be 10 that the total number lf broadcasting hours per year % of the total administration cost of the university. The is 6,795 hours, the average annual cost per broad- administration cost includes the cost of running the casting hour is 18,230 Baht ($ 729). Office of the Rector, which accounts for 14.75 % of the total recurrent cost. The General Administration Cost per Programme is 8 5,685 ($ 227.4) or 8 17,055 682) per programming hour.

PRD is responsible for 11 stations around the country. The central office in Bangkok coordinates and serves as a switch station. Radio programmes are transmitted to 11 stations from the agencies involved in REP

359 372 5. AVERAGE ANNUAL COST PER x = number of listeners STUDENT-HOUR OF Average annual cost per listener-hour = 65 306 2,612 PROGRAMMING (TABLE 2) Baht 27 + or $ 1.09 + The total cost per subject is the sum of the following This equation explains how the total annual cost of costs: total costs of learner participation, broad- production, general administration and broadcast- casting, general administration cost and programme ing can vary with the number of listeners. The only production cost. Average annual cost per student, variable cost is the lrtunity foregone. With vari- hour of programming is estimated from total cost per ous hypothetical numbers of students, a series of per subject divided by learner-hour. This can be ex- student-hour costs is generated (Table 3). It is obvi- pressed by the following equation: ous that when the number of listeners reaches (b+c+d) 100,000, the fixed cost per student-hour drops to y = a+ below 0.5 Baht per student. After that what is significant is the variable cost only (Graph 1). The econo- where y =listener-hour cost my of scale per student-hour is reached at approxi- a =opportunity cost of student listening to mately 100,000 listeners. a one hour radio programme, i.e., 27.15 Baht or $ 1.09 (see Note 2 of Table 2) CONCLUSION b=programme production cost per pro- Three points emerged from this analysis of the costs gramming hour, i.e., 30,021 Baht or $ of the radio programmes at STOU: 1,201 (Table 1) 1. Fixed costs per programming hour at STOU are c =general administration cost per pro- more expensive than at the in-school and the Radio gramming hour, i.e., 17,055 Baht or $ Correspondence Project (RCP). Perhaps the facil- 682 (Table 1) ities at STOU are expensive and the recording facil- d=broadcasting cost per programming ities are not as heavily used as those producing the hour, i.e., 18,230 Baht or $ 729 (Table in-school and the RCP. 1) 2. It is worth emphasizingthat it is urgent and impor-

Table 2: Estimated Annual Cost per Learner-Hour of Programming of STOU' Subject Enrollments Total Cost of Total Cost Total Cost' AverageAnnual (students) Learner of (B)5 Cost Per Student Participation' Broadcasting Hour of (B)5 (B)5 Programming (3/ Learner-Hour)5 22252 10 1,539 139,824 408,284 7,200.8 22342 13 2,001 164,070 432,992 5,875.1 22251 19 2,925 133,626 403,472 3,745.2 10121 31,044 4,778,929 467,782 5,513,632 31.3 30201 20,383 3,137,769 206,546 3,611,236 31.2 10151 69,879 10,757,208 322,124 11,346,253 28.6 1. Table 2 illustrates only the three highest and the three lowest costs per student-hour of programming. 2. For each subjec4 it is assumed that STOU learners have to listen to seventeen twenty-minute radioprogrammes or 5.67 hours of radio programming. Cost of learner participation in this case is the opportunity cost of listening to the radio programmes which is estimated by multiplying enrollments in each subject with average hourly wage and number of programming hours per subject (5.67 hours). The hourly wage is the average salary (8 3,262 or $ 130.5per person per month) plus fringe benefits (22.37 % of salary) divided by 21 working days with 7 workirg hours per 8 3262 x 1.2237 day, i.e., hourly wage = 21 x 7 = B 27.15. 3. Total cost per subject is the sum of the following costs: 3.1 Total cost of learner participation which is B 27.15 x enrollments x5.67 programming hours= 8 153.94 x enrollments 3.2 Total Cost of Broadcasting which is 8 18,230 x broadcasting hours (Table 1) 3.3 General Administration Cost of B 17,055 x 5.67 = 8 96,701.85 (Table 1) 3.4 Programme Production cost of B 30,021 x 5.67 = 8 170,219.07 (Table 1) 4. Average Annual Cost Per-Student-Hour of Programming is estimated by dividing the totalcost by the learner-hour (enrollmentl x programming hours). 5. U.S. $ 1 = 8 25.

3b0 373 Table 3. Annual Cost per Listener-Hour of STOU would it be worth it to broadcast the programmes Radio Programmes with Hypothetical Number of over the whole country at a cost of about 7,200 Baht Listeners per student-hour? Perhaps other alternatives to radio programming are needed if the number of students No. of ListenersAverage Annual Cost/ is too small, with the time saved being reallocated to Listener-Hour (0) larger target groups. 50 1,333.1 3. It is obvious that the economy of scale per stu- 100 680.1 dent-hour is reached at approximately 100,000 lis- 200 353.5 teners. However, to expand the radio programmes 500 157.6 their impact should be considered rather than ex- 1,000 92.3 panding to reduce student-hour cost. 5,000 40.1 10,000 33.5 20,000 30.3 50,000 28.3 100,000 27.6 REFERENCES 1. It is assumed that the programme will be broadcast Fry, Gerald W. only once. The average annual cost per listener-hour can be estimated by the following formula: The Impact and Consequences of the Radio Education Project, Thailand Consultant's Report on Summative Eval- (b + c + d) Y=a+ uation for Radio Education Project, 15 July-1 September x 1985. (Unpublished typescript.) 2. U.S. $ 1 = 25 Baht Woo, Louis K. An Economic Cost Analysis of the National Education Radio Network, Thailand Consultant's Re (rdrt on Summa- tant to know more about the STOU audience. As tive Evaluation for Radio Education Project, 10 June-22 stated in Louis Woo's report, it is necessary to know July 1985. (Unpublished typescript.) how many students are listening to eel pro- Srisa-an, Wichit and Wartpotorn, Tong-in gramme. How often do they listen? How do they "The Management and Economics of Distance Educa- respond to the radio programming? (Woo, p 25). We tion: The Case of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open Uni- have few answers to these questions. As one ex- versity" in Distance Education: The STOU Approach, treme case, if only 10 students were to enrol and all Nonthaburi: STOU Press, 1986, pp. 31-60. 10 students were to listen to the radio programmes,

L400

t300

1200

1,100-

I- 1,000- 2 900- i 800- U) 700- lg. 600- 7)0 0 500- 400-

300- 65X306 Y=27+ Baht 200-

100-

Ii 1 1 \----T- X 50100 200 500 1000 5,000 10,000 20,000 50,000 100,000

Number of listeners

Graph 1: Average Annual Costs of STOU Radio Programmes per Listener-Hour.

361 374 Computer conferencing A breakthrough in distance learning,or just another technological gadget? MORTEN FLATE PAULSEN TORSTEIN REKKEDAL NKI, Datahogskolen Stabekk Norway

INTRODUCTION visual media, broadcasting and computer applications. NKI is one of the larger non-governmental educa- tionalinstitutions in Norway, offering distance We have concluded that within the financial frames learning programmes within the vocational/techno- of student-paid courses in Norway and the learning logical field. However, it has also developed other objectives of the majority of courses, it has been a activities including: a decentralized four-year full- wise policy to concentrate on: pedagogical and time college of engineering, the two first years of this technical development of the printed material for programme being offered at 15 different sites in course presentation; developing student support Norway, a two-year full-time programme in admin- and counselling services; group activities and local istrative computer science, and courses for the in- face-to-face teaching, and experimenting with dustry combining distance learning methods with cheaper media such as audio-cassettes and tele- on-job training. The fact that the "traditions" of the phone. Nevertheless, we have for many years institution have come from distance learning, inde- looked upon the developments within computer pendent study and ideas of student autonomy and conferencing as a possible major breakthrough flexibility of organization, has resulted in full-time within distance education media developments. and combined studies based on similar thinking. Whether this assumption is correct, remains to be Thus, computer conferencing has a number of pos- seen. It has become clear that there is a number of sible applications for communication within the ad- practical and theoretical problems which need to be ministrative, academic and teaching field of the solved. organization. When starting the NKI computer conferencing project, EKKO ("electronic combined education", Paulsen, 1987), however, the main aim COMPUTER CONFERENCING was to explore new communication solutions with- Computer conferencing systems are designed to fa- in the structure of distance learning. cilitate interpersonal communication. A host-computer is used for storing, organizing and distributing DISTANCE LEARNING AND NEW writteninformation.Theuserscommunicate MEDIA through the host-computer via PCs, modems and telephone lines. A lot of optimism has been expressed about the possibilities of audio-visual and communication media for distance and adult learning. There is no COMPUTER CONFERENCING IN doubt that media developments in many cases have DISTANCE EDUCATION increased the availability, quality and efficiency of H iltz (1986) seems to have laid much of the theoret- learning. On the other hand it is often reported that ical and practical foundations for the concept of the new media do not live up to expectations, and "the virtual classroom", thus introducing computer that cost-efficiency analyses often result in reducing conferencing as a means of establishing the commu- the importance of expensive media use in the teach- -lication structures normally taking place in the ing/learning system (Bates, 1983; Holberg, 1985). physical classroom. Others (e.g. McCreary and Van In our context we have followed the national and Duren, 1987) have pointed out educational func- international experiences closely, as well as carry- tions of computer conferencing in general, while a ing out or taking part in some projects on audio- number of writers also have discussed applications

362 I in% i . 4.4 4 6 specifically within distance education (e.g. Hara- A SUBSTITUTE FOR FACE-TO- sim, 1987; Roberts, 1987). Of special interest in our context has been the work of Kaye (1987) on in- FACE TEACHING, tegrating computer conferencing in the large-scale INTRODUCTION OF GROUP distance learning system of the British Open Uni- DISCUSSIONS AND PROJECT versity. WORK: We agree with the position taken by a number of A number of distance learning systems include the writers in the field, that the most exciting challenge possibility of face-to-face meetings with tutors and/ in the long run will be to apply the new technology or fellow students. For many distance learners, the to create new and more effective learning situations, possibilities of taking part in such activities are very rather than replicate the traditional classroom or restricted. Some theorists have argued that direct distance learning environment. On the other hand, teaching may have disruptive results on student au- to achieve this goal, one will have to learn how to tonomy and ability for seri-study. use the medium in different kinds of existing learning environments, and to find better solutions to L vamples: While face-to-face teaching in distance existing communication needs. learning systems often seems to have developed into lecturing/presentation of subject matter, computer In the following we identify a number of areas in our conferencing concerns information exchange and distance learning system where computer confer- discussion. Discussions taking place in the class- encing can be applied. room can develop into exciting experiences of grot'o learning. The discussion is time- and space- DISTRIBUTION OF indep,nclent: the medium seems to foster equality INFORMATION: of status between students, and between students and tutor. Specifically designed group learning Distance teaching systems have a large need for methods may be applied such as group submission increasing the efficiency in updating and distribut- of assignments, group learning and presentations, ing information to the students. group seminars and project work. Examples: Information about courses, seminars, student associations, examinations and updating of learning material. THE PUBLIC TUTORIAL: TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION Student questions of a general academic or administrative nature may be accessible to all students, as a BETWEEN TUTOR/COUNSELLOR/ question from one student normally will be of rele- ADMINISTRATION AND vance for others. Preproduced comments on gener- STUDENT: al aspects of a course can now be distributed on- line, and the tutor is given an opportunity to expand In most distance teaching systems submission of on the preproduced learning material. assignments for correction and comments is an important element. It has been demonstrated that long turn-around times may have destructive effects on course completion (Rekkedal, 1983). It also takes a PEER COUNSELLING: long time for students to get answers from their As peer counselling and information co-operation is tutors when they really encounter problems in their a natural part of the on-campus activities of any studies. To some extent, the telephone has been teaching institution, the possibilities in computer applied as a means of communication. Electronic conferencing are obvious. It has been demonstrated mail is independent of both time and space. that computer conferencing in general may give Examples: The student may ask questions at any peer help in solving problems often from an time, without the time delay of mail services. In "unknown friend". In large-scale systems, where principle, draft solutions may be submitted and hundreds of s.udents are studying the same subject, commented on, thus introducing a more flexible peer help may be of particular importance. organization of tutoring and assessment. If desired, student answers may be made available to other students, before or after their submission of their FREE-FLOW DISCUSSION: work. Included in the system cm n also be on-line A number of educational conferencing systems computer-scored tests, as a substitute for off-line have formally established informal meeOng places testing which we have seen in some distance learn- for continuing discussion such as the "cahteria", or ing systems. On a higher level, the two-way com- "local pub". Through the computer informal dis- munication may serve as guidance for individual cussions and student association activities may de- student projects. velop.

363 , 376 THE LIBRARY: experience in distance teaching, but had been able to adopt computer conferencing with little hesita- A collective database can be created within the ticn when developing their distance teaching sys- conferenang system to facilitate the availability of tem. Both institutions reported some difficulties in relevant articles, short lectures, etc. to the distance leener. preparing the academics for the new teaching method. THE NKI CONFERENCING We visited also The New jersey Institute of Tech- PROJECT nology and The University of Guelph. Both universities are specifically known for the development The NKI development project within computer con- of their respective conferencing systems. We experi- ferencing is planned to include six stages: enced how computer conferencing had been in- (1) introductory search in the field troduced to supplement or substitute on-campus (2) development of a computer conferencing sys- teaching, and realized that computer conferencing tem installed on our minicomputer, HP 3000 in many respects may eliminate the difference be- (3) pilot try-outs with on-campus students tween on-campus, off-campus and distance teach- (4) study tours to a number of institutions using ing. This perception was even more clear when computer-based conferencing systems discussing the experiences at The Ontario Institute (5) pilot try-outs in distance learning of Studies in Education where Harasim (1987) has (6) introducing computer conferencing into the dis- carried out some interesting pilot courses where tance learning system on a larger scale. specific computer conferencing facilities for group During stage 1 it was decided that we would devel- learning had been applied. op our own system, EKKO. The decision was based CONCLUSIONS partly on the constraints set by the equipment we possessed and partly on the interest of developing We see that we have a long way to go before we inhouse expertise. Whether this was a sound deci- know how computer conferencing can be most effi- sion remains to hr seen; however, the important ciently applied in distance education. We note that thing at that time was to get started. a number of pilot experiments have been carrier: out. Some promising results are rznorted, but a Stage 2 was completed in 1986. EKKO now has number of technical, programme and pedagogical about 500 users. problems remain to be solved. Stage 3 we delivered three courses called: "Intro- Our main aim in stage 5 will be to start with some duction to computer conferencing", "Business data relatively simple experiments to see how this tech- management" and "Data communication". nology can address some of the communication During stage 4 we visited a number of institutions in problems in distance learning with special attention the USA and Canada. During this visit we became to group building and group learning. acquainted with different computer conferencing systems, such as EIES, Participate and Co Sy. We learned that the perceptions of the different systems' REFERENCES applicability for learning and user-friendliness var- Bates, T. ied a lot among the people we met. We also learned (1983). "Trends in the use of audio-visual media in dis- about different usesof special relevance for our own tance education". Sewart, D.. Keegan, D., and Holm- situation. Some of these are described below. berg, 8. (Eds.). Distance Education. International Per- Two of the universities we visited, The New York spectives. (London: Croom Helm). Institute of Technology (NYIT) and The New School Harasim, L. for Social Research, had clearly adopted computer (1987). "Teaching and learning on-line: issues in comput- conferencing as a major element in their distance er mediated graduate courses". Canadian Journal of Edu- learning courses. One major difference between the cational Communication. 16.2. pp. 117-35. applications was found. While the NYIT recruits students at all times, gives them the choice between Hiltz, S.R. computer conferencing and correspondence study (1986). The virtual classroom: building the foundations and has developed preproduced learning material, (MIT). the New School's courses have fixed starting dates, paced study schedules and no preproduced learn- Holmberg,B. ing material. The result seemed to be that the first (1985). On the status of distance education in the world in the 1980's. (FernUniversitJt). system retained the flexibility of distance education, but because of the low number of students atany Kaye, T. time, student-to-student communication was nearly (1987). "Introducing computer-mediated communica- non-existent. What surprised us most was the fact tion into distance education system". Canadian Journal of that neither of the universities had much tradition or Educational Communication. 16.2. pp. 153-66.

364 McCreary, F.K., and Van Duren, J. Roberts, L. (1987). "Educational applications of computer confer- (1987). "The electronic seminar" (Mimeographed paper, encing". Canadian Journal of Educational Communica- Empire State College). tion. 16.2. pp. 107-15. Reldcedal., T. Paulsen, M.F. (1983). "The written assignments in correspondence edu- (1987). "In search fora virtual school". Epistolodidaktika. cation. Effects of reducing turn-around time". Distance 1. Education.

365 378 Curriculum equity for isolated primary students JOHN PENBERTHY Deputy Principal South Australian Correspondence School Adelaide SA 5000 Australia

During 1986-87 the Education Department of services. Whereas in the past most isolated parents South Australia conducted a review of primary edu- limited their expectations of the curriculum offered cation. One of the most fundamental concerns of by the Correspondence School to the basics of liter- the investigation was the matter of equity, not only acy, numeracy and some factual knowledge of the in terms of equitable delivery of resources but also in world, a new generation of isolated parents expects relation to the provision of a relevant curriculum a much wider curriculum which also focuses on the and appropriate learning experiences for primary child's physical, social and creative development students whatever their social, cultural, economic and reflects more modern methodology. They are or geographical circumstances. The review paid now more concerned that, unless their sons and special attention to groups of children who might be daughters have had learning experiences similar to faced with potential educational disadvantage. those which are being provided for children in Among these were isolated children who, because schools, their children will be more than just social- of remoteness, illness or itineracy, are enrolled with ly disadvantaged if they follow the common path for either the S.A. Correspondence School or the most children from remote areas and leave home to School of the Air. attend school for °!-..?ir secondary education. It is generally acknowledged that learning at a dis- This concern has been expressed by some corre- tance creates certain disadvantages for young lear- spondence teachers fro many years. Indeed the most ners. Despite the claim made by a few non-con- frequently expressec criticisms of distance educa- formist parents that correspondence education al- tion from the wider teaching fraternity have been lows the immediate family greater control over a directed at its narrow, traditional curriculum of- child's !earning programme, and is therefore prefer- fering and its slowness to respond to curriculum able to regular schooling, most correspondence change. There are a number of reasons for the ap- teachers would support the notion that interaction parent lack of ability of correspondence schools to with other children and adults is a critical factor in a keep pace with curriculum: changes in the wider child's cognitive and social development. Schools education system but, while these need to be under- have the capacity to provide a wider range of learn- stood, it is no longer valid to maintain the status quo ing experiences and, because resources can be because of the perceived obstacles to change. more easily shared, education tends to be more One of the most commonly quoted justifications for cost-effective and therefore more comprehensive avoiding the development of new approaches to than is feasible for most isolated learners. teaching isolated chilot:n has been that their par- Most families who enrol their primary-age children ents either do not want or will not cope with change. with a correspondence school have no option but to Some parents who take on the commitment to su- teach them at home guided by the lessons provided pervise their children's correspondence lessons through the mail, as well as by telephone or radio, tend to view learning only in terms of their recol- occasional visits from a teacher and regional gather- lection of their own schooling and some vigorously ings of isolated families. These parents are con- resist new styles of teaching but, as outlined above, scious of the educational ineq; tities which their life- these -rents are diminishing in number. Their style imposes on their children but they appreciate views are not invalid and should be sensitively chal- the unique closeness of the learning relationship lenged but they cannot be allowed to dictate curri- which usually develops between them and their culum policy for tne whole school community. The correspondence teachers. Most of them are keen to Correspondence School has, I believe, a responsib- take advantage of the efforts made to compensate ility to attempt to accommodate their concerns and for their children's isolation from regular school encourage a more positive and accepting attitude to

366 3 79 new developments in education. primary students and deal successfully with some of Another reason given for avoiding change is the the inherent difficulties.Frequently, Ibelieve, concern felt by many experienced correspondence teachers are threatened by curriculum innovation teachers that some of the new approaches in teach- merely because it is unfamiliar. Overcoming igno- ing some subjects are not appropriate within the rance about proposals for change involves the pro- context of distance education. They will justify this vision of opportunities to observe change in action. belief with statements about the mothers being Visits to schools where new programmes are work- alienated by the new programmes, about the meth- ing successfully is a most important step in attempt odology being inappropriate for distance education ing to re' erse resistance to change. Other steps or too difficult for untrained home supervisors to include professional development activities such as implement or that some school subjects are irrele- guest speakers who can heighten anticipation of the vant for isolated children. Some will quote instances benefits children will gain from a fresh outlook in of curriculum changes in the past which were mis- reading or spelling, for instance; discussions with managed. This has certainly occurred but does not classroom practitioners and with distance educa- necessarily justify a retreat to out-dated methods tion colleagues about the potential benefits and and curriculum content. costs of curriculum change- and special training for staff members selected to design and implement a The most valid reason for slowness to develop new new learning programme. courses is that the task is more complex and costly than educationalists working outside distance edu- Ideally, a teacher with recent classroom experience cation can accept. Current philosophies in teaching should be a member of any course writing team for I reading, spelling, creative writing, social science, believe that it is important for correspondence pro- mathematics, and other subjects present enormous grammes to reflect as closely as possible current challenges to distance educators involved in at- classroom practice. All correspondence teachers tempting to translate these curriculum models into a need to be familiar with sound classroom methodol- format which will function egectively under the ogy even though much of their interaction with their constraints which distance imposes on the learning students is more individualised and is dependent on situation. Correspondence course writers and de- different techniques of communication. Course designers faced with this task inevitably encounter the velopers, in particular, must find ways to recreate dilemma of whether or not to compromise the re- c!assroom-type learning experiences for an isolated quirements of the Education Department's curricu- child with limited personal and physical resources. lum guidelines to match their perception of the If an enquiry method of learning demands that chil- home supervisor's or student's capacity to imple- dren research, investigate, discuss and hypothesize ment some learning activities or whether or not they a particular topic, these activities must be outlined should deny isolated students the right to learning in such a way that both the student and the home experiences provided in other schools merely be- supervisor are motivated, instructed and resourced cause the task is fraught with difficulties. to approach the lesson with confidence. The distance educator in this situation is very vul- The traditional correspondence approach would nerable. To comply religiously with curriculum gui- have provided the child with information to be delines designed fir classroom teaching risks plac- learnt, questions to be answered, pages to be posted ing unreasonable pressures on some home super- and, after the correspondence teacher had marked visors but to ignore these policy documents invite. the work, corrections to be returned. Some parents the condemnation of colleagues in other schools are more comfortable with this style of teaching and when correspondence materials are published and have very deep concerns about "new-fangled" distributed far and wide. Too often distance educa- methods which they believe to be frivolous and tion :)rogrammes are judged by others only by their superficial because there is greater emphasis on appearance and content without any perception of enjoyment and individual response and because the the communication process which begins to oper- learning outcomes are less prescriptive. Because ate when they are put into practice. distance educators of young children are so dependent on home supervisors for the success of their However, the designer of this material senses the courses, such attitudes can not be ignored. When need to protect his or her professional integrity as we alienate these parents, we undermine the part- well as to provide adequately for the educational nership which must exist between them and the needs of isolated students. Some writers, in their children's correspondence teachers. attempt to produce completely "fail-safe" courses, compound their own personal dilemma and frus- Therefore a strategy for implementing innovation, which not only notifies and informs isolated parents trate the need to provide isolated students with relevant programmes on schedule by taking too much of proposed curriculum changes but also consults care. then and directly involves some parents in the process, can ease these concerns and, possibly, pro I believe, however, that it is possible to provide a duce a more appropriate course for their children. more equitable curriculum opportunity for isolated Teachers are often reluctant to work closely with

367 380 parents at this level because, I suspect, they see this ways that distance education is a process rather than as a threat to their professional status or because a package. they fear that constant consultation may complicate But built-in flexibility which not only enables stu- the process of change. I believe that this kind of dents to respond in different ways but also allows for consultation must be accommodated if we are going modifications to be made to the course as easily and to avoid loss of credibility. In South Australia the quickly as possible will, I feel, create a more appro- indications are that parent representation in this priate and equitable learning framework for primary kind of planning will be a requirement rather than distance education in the years ahead. It will make it an option for schools. More importantly, however, possible to respond to curriculum change and it creates a forum for the concerns of parents to be amend inappropriate lessons much more quickly. identified and considered and for an appropriate inservice programme for supervisors to be planned. Technology is aiding this process and making it possible for changes in printto be implemented with One of the responsibilities which course writers relative ease but there is also a danger of materials have assumed has been the task of motivating in- becoming too impersonal. We are discovering that terest in the learning programme. Great effort and there are important learning and motivational bene- expense have been expended on producing printed fits if the correspondence teacher's personal hand- materials which aim to capture the child's attention written or spoken input is evident to the young stu- and maintain an enthusiastic response through the dent when he or she receives each pack of lessons. It inclusion of appealing illustrations and well-de- is too early to make sweeping comparative state- signed and colourful pages in the printed materials. ments but present indications are leading me to These factors are not insignificant and, for most believe that some students may be more highly mo- students, have achieved the aim of inviting keen tivated to respond to printed materials which has involvement. However, I have begun to question been originally hand-written and contains amateur- the relative cost-effectiveness and time taken to pro- ish illustrations rather than to some of our most duce these courses. By what measure do we eval- expertly designed and expensively produced cours- uate the effectiveness of a correspondence pro- es. This issue is the subject of quite vigorous debate gramme? If it is on appearance and design alone, the among our staff and valid arguments for both mod- expense and time spent on some courses can be els of course-writing and production can be put justified. If, as I believe, the quality of interaction forward. and involvement which springs from the pages or tapes which a student follows is a more important Primary distance education in South Australia is at a factor, there are potential advantages in making our critical stage. Pressures from some isolated parents courses more flexible and more student-centred. and from the Education Department dictate tat traditional styles of teaching remote children must At present we are revising our primary programme be reviewed. In its aim to redress some of the inequi- in English, now known as Language Arts, in line ties of distance education, the South Australian Cor- with current classroom practice. This places a much respondence School is committed to using its re- greater focus on students choosing their own read- sources to expanding its curriculum offering and ing, spelling and writing topics and responding to finding ways of communicating concepts with their teachers in individual, rather than prescribed, which many home supervisors may be unfamiliar as ways. There have been considered compromises it updates its existing programmes. If these goals can made in translating this model of learning to a corre- be achieved, those isolated children who already spondence format and there are still many instances have the benefit of a supportive, personal relation- of direct instruction but there is a much greater ship with their home supervisors and correspond- built-in emphasis on dialogue between teacher and ence teachers will be potentially more advantaged student rather than on standardised responses. educationally than their peers who attend school It would be remiss of me to suggest that isolated each day. However, it will continue to be necessary children have not benefitted from old courses and for correspondence schools to provide opportuni- traditionally designed materials. Correspondence ties for social interaction and school experience to teachers have for many years used such lessons remove the last traces of inequity for isolated pri- imaginatively and have demonstrated in very lively mary students.

3S1 368 Prior learning assessment at Athabasca University Aprogress report GEOFF PERUNIAK Psychology Athabasca University Canada

Many educators, together with developmental and attitudes and values which a person has acquired personality theorists (Levinson, 1978; Loevinger, informally are worth academic credit. Where credit 1978; Perry, 1968), suggest that when providing is given, it is given for the learning which the person learning opportunities we consider the whole stu- has achieved, not the amount of experience they dent by recognizing prior learning, life situations may have accumulated. Some of the strategies used (Crary, 1982) and developmental patterns (Weath- in prior learning assessment include challenge ex- ersby, 1981). ams (also referred to as credit-by-examination), li- cense or certification accreditation, programmes Universities already respond to students who have which accredit corporate training and portfolio as- prior learning. For example, if a student has taken a sessment (Simosko, 1985). course in introductory counselling from a university, then that student may apply to have such credit Adult students bring to the learning situation a gen- transferred to a psychology programme at another eral background of personal experience and prior university. However, what happens in the case of a learning which is usually of a greater breadth and student who, as a pastor, acquired the same in- depth than that of the 18- to 24-year-old student formation and skills less formally through a combi- group. For a review of some of the specific charac- nation of on-the-job experience, private study and teristics of adults as they relate to distance educa- attendance at numerous counselling workshops? In- tion, see Hough (1984). Distance-education institu- dividual faculty members sometimes make allow- tions of higher learning are usually responsive to the ances for this kind of learning by waiving require- needs of their adult students. Modifications to en- ments or adapting individual reading courses; but trance requirements and to requirements of time not always. What can the university do to recognize and residence are all examples of this responsive- explicitly this type of experiential learning in ways ness. The use of prior learning assessment is one that maintain the integrity and credibility of the more strategy for extending this responsiveness to institution? adult students. This paper will relate the development of Athabasca University's (AU) interest in prior Experiential learning is defined by Kolb (1984) as learning assessment and will outline the progress we "...the process whereby knowledge is created have made thus far in piloting the Experimental through the transformation of experience" (p. 38). Project for the Assessment of Prior Learning (EPAPL), More colloquially, experiential learning has come using the portfolio development method of prior to refer to the knowledge and skills which have been learning assessment. acquired outside of formal educational settings. Such learning may have been attained through the workplace,vel Anteer work,travel,seminars, LOCAL BACKGROUND books, hobbies, etc. The history, development and In Canada, there are very few examples of institu- rationale of experiential learning has been de- tion-wide projects in prior learning assessment in scrbed elsewhere (Chickering,1981; Keeton, post-secondary institutions, particularly at the uni- 1977; Kolb, 1984; Torbert, 1972). versity level. At the college level, the most notable One of the practical applications of experiential development has been a province-wide series of learning theory is the assessment of prior learning. projects in Quebec within the Colleges d'Enseigne- Prior learning assessment is an educational eval- ment General et Professionel (Isabelle, 1987). uation tool. It is a set of strategies in use at a number AU was an interested observer of experiential learn- of colleges and universities, mainly in the U.S., ing in the mid-seventies. At that time, the most which determines whether the skill, knowledge, visible development in this area of higher education

369 382 was taking place in the U.S. with the Cooperative (3) competency request and Assessment of Experiential Learning Project (CAEL). (4) documentation. This project was a joint venture of the Educational Testing Service and a small number of American Each section is a major component of the portfolio. colleges and universities. AU sent individuals to The student is expected to do the writing with help from a faculty advisor who has had training in prior CAEL conferences (the name was changed in 1977 learning assessment. to the Council for the Assessment of Experiential Learning) and generally tried to keep abreast of de- The first section, personal and educational goals, is velopments. the student's statement of these goals and how and In the late 1970s, interest in experiential learning why he or she hopes to achieve them. The second seemed to wane at AU due, mainly, to a preoccupa- section, the chronological record, is a year-by-year presentation of the student's acquisition of know- tion with course production. Then in 1982-83 the psychology professors began to experiment with the ledge, skills and experiences which relate to the course or courses that are under consideration for concept of competency-based education within the credit. The third section is the competency request, psychology curriculum. Competency-based education is another dimension of experiential learning which directly relates the student's prior learning to and, indeed, in many institutions is the curricular the specific learning outcomes of the courseor courses for which credit is being sought. Finally, the basis for making judgements about the crediting of prior learning. documentation is the evidence that the student provides to verify what he or she is claiming to know. There were other signs that AU was ready to look This may consist of cedific- -,s, promotion eval- again at experiential learning: In early 1985,a small uations, reports, samples of products or a list of research project was funded to investigate the life people who can be contacted to verify parts of the structure, including prior learning, of both active portfolio. students and those who had left AU. A university- wide policy for the establishment of challengeex- PROCEDURES AND PROGRESS ams was introduced and later passed in 1986-87 Interested staff members at AU attended a three-day and, at the same time, approval was granted for the workshop with a trainer in prior learning assessment EPAPL under a special fund for innovation. from CAEL's central office. We then adapted proce- PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT dures in portfolio assessment to our own context. We are field-testing the portfolio development proc- There are two key terms which should be defined when discussing portfolio development: "portfo- ess of prior learning assessment within the mainstream of the regular operations. Offering a service lio" and "university-level learning". A portfolio,as used here, refers to a set of documents which de- while at the same time trying to establish it is too often the bane of educational development. We scribe and attest to what a student has learned. The portfolio describes what the student knows in rela- needed to keep the service large enough to test out the problems, but not so large as to overwhelm tion to the learning required in a specific AU course. our small resources. We offered the service to students In addition, the portfolio describes where and how who had already registered in either of two courses, the student's learning was acquired. It is through the one in Psychology and one in Anthropology. The assessment of the portfolio that a student may be awarded course credit for prior learning. The learn- courses were chosen because they had a past record ing we are talking about must be at the university of attracting the kind of student who might already be familiar with large parts of the content. level. University-level means competencecom- mensurate with that which is expected of a student One of the curricular requirements for prior learning who passes the university course for which credit is assessment has been the production of a course being sought. description that succinctly communicates whata It is learning and not necessarily experience that student is expected to know or know how to do by the end of the course. this description could not be counts. For instance, a student who has worked with his or her child over ten years to overcome the so general as to be vai .ie, but neither could it be so specific as to be dependent on one specific text- child's learning disabilities may gain credit for what he or she has learned about the assessment and book. Furthermore, it could not be overwhelming in length. What we needed was remediation of these disabilities and about child a generic set of course objectives that would enable prospective students development not for having lived ten years with a disabled child. to judge the adequacy of their prior learning in relation to the particular course under consider- In EPAPL, we followed a pattern for portfolio devel- ation. A number of CAEL members have termed this opment that consisted of four sections: comprehensive set of objectives the "learning out- (1) personal and educational goals, comes" for the course. (2) chronological record, Most of our courses were not designed with learning

370 outcomes as an explicit feature. Calendar descriptions were too vague and unit objectives or study REFERENCES questions were too specific and too numerous. Writ- ing this list of learning outcomes was a difficult Chickering, A.W. & Associates exercise for some faculty since the list needed to (1981) The modem American college. San Francisco: account for the range of knowledge that might be Jossey-Bass. acceptable and equivalent to the particular course Crary, L.M. being offered in the calendar. The ease of such an (1982). Patterns of life structure: Person-environment de- exercise would undoubtedly differ between disci- signs and their impact on adult lives. Unpublished docto- plines. ral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University. In addition to the learning outcomes for the selected Hough, M. courses, a student guide for portfolio development (1984). Motivation of adults: implications of adult learn- was produced. This guide introduced students to the ing theories for distance education. Distance Education, 5, (1), 7-23. concepts of prior learning assessment and helped them through the process. A telephone advisor was Isabelle, R. assigned to the students and a collection of forms (1987). Where does prior learning assessment stand in an was produced to facilitate the documentation proc- entrepreneurial approach on the part of colleges? Feder- ess. ation des cegeps Secteur Development et Communica- tions. Document 11, August. Finally, subject-matter experts who were willing to evaluate the portfolios had to be found. Their job Keeton, M.T. & Associates was to decide whether or not credit should be (1977). Experiential learning: Rationale, characteristics, and assessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. awarded for a particular course on the basis of a student's portfolio. These experts had to be impar- Knapp, Joan E. (Ed.) tial as much of the credibility of the w: foie project (1981). Financing and implementing prior learning as- was vested in them. A handbook was developed for sessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. these evaluators to give them an idea of what the Kolb, D.A. students had done, what verifications were possible (1904,. Experiential learning: Fxperience as the source of and how to prepare their evaluation report. At this learning .,nd development. Englewoods Cliffs: Prentice- point of writing, we have not had any students who Hall. have completed the whole process. Levinson, D.l. & Associates CONCLUSION (1978). The seasons of a man's life. New York: Knopf. Institutions of distance education usually facilitate Loevinger, ). learning for adults by opening traditionally restric- (1976). Ego development: Conceptions and theories. San tive entrance requirements and by minimizing con- Francisco: jossey-Bass. ventional requirements of time and residence. Prior Perry, W.G. learning assessment involves none of these mecha- (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in nisms directly. Rather, it modifies the accreditation the college years: A scheme. New York: Holt, Rinehart process by increasing the range of its response. Prior and Winston. learning assessment tests the assumption that all Simosko, Susan university-level learning must be done at the uni- (1985). Earn college credit for what you know. Washing- versity. ton, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd. The success of prior learning assessment will be Torbert, W.R. judged in the light of many factors. Cost is a critical (1972). Learning from experience: Toward conscious- factor which has not been highlighted here because ness. New York: Columbia University Press. we have not completed the project. See Knapp's Weathersby, R.P. (1981) analysis on costing for more details from an (1981). Ego development. In Chickering & Associates. American perspective. The credibility of the process The modern American college. San Francisco: Jossey- used will also be an important factor. Ultimately, Bass. the real test of success will be the relative success of students who graduate with credit from prior learning assessment.

371 3R4 Gender in distance education:women andmenstudying at the West German FernUniversitat CHRISTINE VON PRUMMER FernUniversitat Zentrum fur Fernstudienentwicklung Hagen Federal Republic of Germany

1. RESEARCH ISSUE The present project therefore focusses on the condi- The West German FernUniversitat (Distance Uni- tions under which women and men study at this versity) was founded in the mid-seventies and ad- institution and how they manage to fit their distance mitted its first students in 1975/76. Today over studies in with their other commitments. The results 35,000 students are registered, more than half of will provide insights into aspects of the Fern- them in a degree program. From the beginning, Universitat's study system that make studying more women have been extremely under-represented difficult than necessary and will suggest ways in among the FernUniversitat's student population, which the institution could attempt to accommo- both absolutely less than 25% of the students are date better the needs of its students. womE.1 and compared to traditional West Ger- A parallel study will be carried out at the British man universities where the proportion of women Open University in 1987/88, and we hope that a has reached 40% (cf. Peters 1976, Arbeitskreis Wis- cross-cultural comparison will provide further in- senschaftlerinnen in NRW 1984; BMBW 1985; von sights into factors which help or hinder women in Primmer 1985). our respective study systems. The reason for this low percentage of women students is usually assumed to be the limited range of 2. SAMPLE subjects available at the FernUniversitat and the fact that these subjects are considered more attractive Since this is the first research project concerned with for men than for women (Peters 1976 and 1981). these issues, a large-scale quantitative survey was This, however, is not a sufficient explanation since planned to provide some basic information. A co- compared to conventional universities wom- hort of female students and a corresponding sample en are under-represented within each of the degree of male students was chosen to furnish data on th6 programs (BMBW 1984 and 1985; von Friimmer under-representation of women at the Fern Universi- 1985). tat. The basic parameters for both groups were: Another attempt to explain the under-representation degree students (full-time and part-time students of women is that distance education puts more pres- plus students registered at other universities but sure on women since they have to take care of their taking part of their degree courses at the FernUni- families in addition to studying and possibly holding versitat) down a job (Heinze 1980). This is contradicted by first registered at the FernUn.versitat for the aca- the postulate that distance education is especially demic year 1985/86 suited for women since it does not require extended re-registered for the summer semester 1986 absence from home or a fixed schedule. These basic parameters were chosen because the These contradictory assumptions show that there is study is also concerned with the reasons why stu- insufficient information about the situation of wom- dents register for a given subject area or degree en at the FemUniversitat. Students themselves feel a course and only degree students can reasonably be need for research on the conflicts arising from the expected to answer these questions. First-year stu- multiple demands of studying/employment/family" dents were selected because they are still relatively and hope detailed results will help them to cope new to the FernUniversitat yet by the time they got better (Harbecke 1982, p. 17; cf. also Schneidereit the questionnaire already had some experience 1980). with distance education. One reason for including

372

I. ..' 0 only new students was that we are hoping to do a versa& computing center. Comparisons with the follow-up study at a time when these students are university's student data banks are only possible on halfway through their degree courses; i.e. have ei- a generalized level since we guaranteed total another taken their preliminary exams, or have discon- nymity, and therefore cannot match individual data tinued their studies at the FernUniversitat. to information contained in the student files. Because of the comparatively low number of wom- As far as the analysis of the open-ended questions en students we included all women who fit the basic and comments is concerned, we are confronted sample parameters, but the men were selected as a with a somewhat unexpected wealth of informa- stratified random sample which aimed to mirror the tion. Some of the questions are easy to code proc- group of female students in the main characteristics ess, but mostly we have to deal with this as qual- of matriculation status and subject area/degree itative rather than quantitative data, in spite of the course. Since the number of women exceeded that large number of respondents involved. This means of men in education, the sample was made up with that we are not only trying to develop code plans for men enrolled in subjects with low numbers of wom- systematic, possibly electronic data analysis but that en students, mainly electrical engineering. The we also use content analysis and other qualitative number of men and women is thus equal, totalling methods. 2,430 students. We decided to approach the data in stages. This means that we look at selected sets of questions on 3. DATA COLLECTION different themes and will present the findings se- The main study was conducted as a postal survey for quentially over the next few years. This consecutive two reasons: First, the sample was too large to make approach precludes our pursuing immediately all other forms of data collection feasible. Second, dis- the apparent or inherent relations between different tance students are used to communicating with their aspects of the data. Within the framework of the university in writing. The detailed and lengthy ques- data itself, we will progressively tie together and tionnaire covered students' educational and em- cross-reference the findings on individual aspects ployment background, their study motivation, the and test ideas developed from selected sets of in- decision to enrol at the FernUniversitat, and the formation against other variables. choice of subject. Questions about students' family situation and private life, especially problems they 6. DISCUSSION may face in trying to combine their studies with their Our study is not just another piece of quantitative family life and/or paid work, predominated. research done on a large scale by postal survey. We tried to introduce some elements of "interaction" 4. STUDENT RESPONSE and "rapport" with the recipients of our questionnaires. We were very open about the goals of our The response far exceeded our expectations, not research, both in the covering letter and in the ques- only because of the high response ratealmost half tionnaire itself. Not only did we set out the aims of the questionnaires were filled in and returned to us the survey as a whole and of individual questions; but also because of the time and effort students we also made clear that we were motivated by a put into their open-ended answers and comments. decidedly partisan approach with regard to improv- A total of 859 questionnaires were sent back to the ing the under-representation of women at the FernUniversitat spontaneously. After two reminders FernUniversitat. In fact, before we sent out the the number increased to 1,193 which is a return rate questionnaire it was suggested that men might hes- of 49.1%. In addition, we received 266 postcards itate to fill in the questicnnaire because of this obvi- giving reasons why students were prevented from ous "bias". filling in the questionnaire or why they refused to As it turned out, this did not happen, and the rela- participate in the survey. Compared to other re- tion between women and men among the respon- search done at the FernUniversitat and given the dents is about fifty-fifty. Together with the high rate length of the questionnaire, we feel that this high of participation and the readiness of respondents to response rate indicates a widespread acceptance of write in answers and comments plus suggestions for our project. Almost all participants asked to be in- further research nr for action, we take this as a formed about results, and upon receiving our initial confirmation of our approach. We are hoping that report (von Primmer & Rossie 1987), a number of the progressive data analysis, whicn allows students them have asked for additional information. to comment on how we deal with the information they furnished in the questionnaire, will be a means 5. DATA ANALYSIS to continue the "d:alogue" wh;ch will enrich our We have coded the closed questions in preparation understanding of the conditions under which stu- for electronic data analysis using the SAS (Statistical dents live, work and study. Analysis System) package available at the FernUni- We have found this undertaking challenging and

373 3R6 productive even though we have only just begun to Peters, Otto work with and interpret the data. So far we have Die FemUniversitat. Das erste Jahr. Aufbau Aufgaben produced only the first of what we hope will be a Ausblicke. Bericht des Grundungsrektors. Hagen number of reports. We are currently analyzing a set 1976. of questions dealing with student support services Peters, Otto and the use of study centers (von PrOmmer 1987). Die FemUniversitat im fOnften Jahr. Bildungspolitische This theme will also be the first one to be subjected und femstudiendidaktische Aspekte. Bericht des Grun- to a comparative analysis with the data collected at dungsrektors. Hagen 1981. the British Open University. von Primmer, Christine Women in Distance Education 1. Gender-Related Differ- ences in the Choice of Degree Programs at the FemUni- REFERENCES versitat Hagen. Hagen 1985. Arbeitskreis der Wissenschaftlerinnen von NRW von Primmer, Christine Memorandum II. Privilegiert und doch diskriminiert. Gender in Distance Education The Experience of the Dortmund 1984. West German FemUniversitat. Paper given at the Interna- tional Workshop on "Counselling in Distance Educa- BMBW, Bundesministerium flir Bildung und Wis- tion". Cambridge 1987. senschaft (Ed.) Grund- und Strukturdaten 1984/85, Bonn 1984. von PrOmmer, Christine & Rossie, Ute Women in Distance Education 2. Gender-Related Pat- BMBW Bundesministerium fiir Bildung und Wis- terns in Students' Choice of Major Subject. Selected Re- senschaft (Ed.) search Findings. Hagen 1987. Grund- und Strukturdaten 1985/86, Bonn 1985. Schneidereit, Monika Harbecke, Barbara "Die Fernstudentin. Eine Auswertung statistischer Da- Berufstatige Vollzeitstudenten 1981/82. Bericht Ober die ten", pp. 7-9 in "Mentor. Zeitschrift fOrErwachsenenstu- Untersuchung"Vollzeitstudenten1981/82".Hagen dium", 8/1980. 1982. Heinze, Ingeborg "Probleme einer studierenden Hausfrau", pp. 10-12 in "Mentor. Zeitschrift fur Erwachsenenstudium", 8/1980.

c,7

374 Joint research in distance education at ECNU QIAN ZHEN-HUA et al. East China Normal University Shanghai, China and MARGARET HAUGHEY et al. University of Victoria Victoria, Canada

BACKGROUND approximately 3,000 students in the off-campus program and has been playing a major role in devel- The East China Normal University is located in opment of distance education in China. Shanghai, responsible primarily for the training of teachers at the secondary level. Being a key university, ECNU serves a city and five provinces in the RESEARCH PROBLEMS eastern part of China, with a total population of 300 Though distance education in China is stimulated million. This is done through collaboration between by policy support from the Government and has the University and Boards of Education and local been identified as a key strategy in the development institutions in provinces up to 1500 kms away from of adult education at the post-secondary level, its the main campus at Shanghai. Under this collab- delivery system stands in urgent need of modifying orative model, the local Board of Education is re- and improving. Take ECNU as a example: when the sponsible for the recruitment of students and for students are enrolled in the program, they are pro- arranging, with local institutions and teaching cen- vided with learning materials and are expected to do tres, for students to be accommodated for the face- a great deal of independent study in preparation for to-face study sessions and to receive other forms of two face-to-face teaching sessions during the course support. each of two weeks duration. During these face- ECNU offers an off-campus program to the Bache- to-face sessions instructors go to local centres from lor's degree level in eight academic areas. The stu- ECNU to provide intensive instruction typically dents are admitted into the program through an seven hours a day for each of the two-week examination process. The :students themselves are periods. typically secondary school teachers who are teach- Such kind of practice has resulted in many prob- ing the speciality in which they enroll to study lems. One of the major problems experienced by through ECNU. students has to do with the fact the print materials China is faced with the urgent need to push forward are seldom specially prepared for student learning its 9-year compulsory education program. One of in an independent study mode. The University also the major problems is a shortage of teachers. On the finds it difficult to arrange for instructors to travel out one hand there is a need for a large number of new for the intensive face-to-face teaching twice a year. teachers; on the other hand there are currently more Moreover. the off-campus students are hard-pressed than 8 million elementary and secondary school to find the time for sucii intensive training. These teachers, who do not have the background prep- -:ontraints resulting from the design of the program aration which should normally be a prerequisite to make expansion of the distance education difficult. employment. However, some years ago, ECNU began to direct To tackle the problem, the State Education Commis- more attention to the design of educational materi- sion has adopted a support policy to promote the als to specifically accommodate the ol'f-campus development of distance education and requires learners and wanted to expand the distance educa- each institution regard distance education as one of tion program with modern technologies and pro- its basic responsibilities which must be incorporat- vide a new learning environment for off-campus ed into the institution's future plans. In 1986, there students. These efforts were greatly inspired by the were 360,000 off-campus students enrolled in 311 joint research with UVic. As part of the project, four colleges and universities. ECNU currently enrolls distance educational personnel from ECNU went to

375 388 Canada to examine administrative and delivery METHODOLOGY strategies at UVic and other institutions. UVic arranged a training session for the group and prepared The research project is conducted in a naturalistic two prototype distance education courses together field setting in Wei Fang, Shandong Province and for use at ECNU. the basic strategy is guided by a "Pre-test, Post-test, Control Group" design: Through the training session and research collaboration, the distance education personnel in ECNU 1. Subjects are secondary teachers enrolled in EC- have increased skill level in specific aspects of cur- NU credit courses at Wei Fang, Shandong Prov- rent distance education development and delivery ince. and become more confident in the use of new tech- 2. Students are randomly assigned to the two nologies to expand distance education programs. groups. 3. A course on "Ask.- -I and African Literature" is chosen for the experiment. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 4. The Control group is taught by existing distance As mentioned previously, ECNU operates large and education methods which use print, face-to-face growing, off-campus programs. And one of the ma- instruction and tutors. jor concerns is about the academic development 5. The Experimental group is taught by new, elec- and further expansion of the program. Moreover, tronic, distance education methods specially de- there is an acute wish to ensure that off-campus veloped at ECNU for the subject area. instruction is done at a level consistent with intra- 6. Results of different strategies will be compared mural teaching. The general objectives of there- on a wide range of academic variables; acaden.- search project, therefore, are identified as follows: ic achievement; affective (attitudinal); administrative cost-benefits; instructor (faculty) reaction; 1. To determine if the amount of face-to-face in- student acceptance; transfer(diffusion)into struction, currently used in the ECNU corre- work setting; student motivation and retention, spondence mode, can be reduced through the etc. use of specially prepared audio and video material without a negative impact on the current high levels of student academic performance FINDINGS TO DATE and course completion rate. The joint research project is still underway and it is 2. To use a variety of educational media to deliver difficult to say exactly to what extent changes have course content more appropriate and instruc- occurred, because of the research project. Howev- tionally effective combination of formats. er, the following preliminary indicators of results 3. To .deliver many more courses at a distance, thus have been noted, and these have at least been partly upgrading at a quicker rate and more cost effec- stimulated by the joint research efforts. tively, a much larger number of secondary school teachers who are badly needed. The most dramatic results seem to be in redesign of the educational materials for distance education And these three broad objectives are pursued courses. Curriculum development at ECNU has in- through the following questions: troduced the team model of course development 1. How can existing delivery strategies which rely into its off-campus programming and placed more on print materials and face-to-face instruction be emphasis on the design of linear and sequential reconceptualized and re-combined with various programs rather than ad hoc. formats? A second broad outcome is that research capacity 2. Can the team approach to distance education has been enhanced at both the individual and in- course development be an acceptable alterna- stitutional level. As it has been noted, the research tive in adult higher education? paradigm in China exhibits some marked differ- 3. How can modern technologies be utilized effec- ences with Canadian approaches as well as those of tively for the off-campus students and motivate many other countries, which stress testing of hy- students to learn and complete their studies? pothesized relationships. However, in China more 4. What is the relationship between the use of dif- emphasis is put on empirical findings and "raise the ferent media formats and measureable student practical experience to the level of theory". But now achievement? there is a stronger institutional interest in using edu- 5. How can adult learning theory be integrated cational theory to improve practice by careful ex- with current approaches to curriculum devel- periment and measurement of results. opment in adult higher education? 6. What is a cost-effective model to guide the ad- Thirdly, the joint research project is helpful in il- ministration of a large off-campus program of lustrating the importance of current theory regard- distance education? ing teaching and learning. It is a common practice in China that off-campus study focuses on the authority of the teacher rather than student needs. Now

376 there is an intense interest in adult development and opportunity to study and compare different strate- learning principles. It is believed that distance edu- gies and to integrate the components that will work cation makes greater demands on students as inde- in Chinese setting. pendent learners. ECNU has been making great ef- Finally, there is a growing interest in assessing and forts to move away from its high dependency on the evaluating off-campus courses at a distance. With teacher as the sole source of authority. vast numbers of potential students, economics of Fourthly, exposure to a variety of institutional ap- scale are very attractive in China since course devel- proaches, as well as specific techniques and ideas opment costs can be spread over repeated usage for distance education administration has provided with large numbers of students. the distance education personnel at ECNU with an

377 Evaluation and implementation findings of Minnesota's distance learning demonstration sites RUTH RANDALL, Commissioner of Education GILBERT VALDEZ, Manager Instructional Design Section Minnesota Department of Education St. Paul, Minnesota, 55101, U.S.A.

BACKGROUND gotiations or partnerships with commercial organizations. Four years of hard work, over ten million dollars in expenditures at the "Minnesota Technology Dem- Broadcast has the advantage that it can provide onstration Sites" and three years of evaluation have service to all schools within a service area in areas provided information about appropriate uses of where cable does not exist. The major disadvantag- educational technology. This paper will review the es are that it is FCC regulated and licensed and verypositive evaluationof distancelearning requires very expensive towers and transmitters that through interactive television in Minnesota schools will provide direct line-of-site broadcasts. and the major factors behind those high evaluations. EVALUATION FINDINGS This paper is based upon: 1) evaluation findings The following are some of the more significant eval- reported by the independent evaluation company uation findings. "Quality Evaluation and Development (QED)"; 2) Extensive interviews with participants at all levels; 1 Two-way full motion interactive television in- 3) Information developed by Joan Wallin, Gilbert creased access to educational opportunities oth- Valdez and Ruth Randall, the administrators respon- erwise unavailable in small school districts and sible for the Model Technology Sites. Sixty-eight provided specialized low-incidence courses to school districts in Minnesota were involved. larger schools. Small school districts that previously had been unable to offer even one foreign TECHNOLOGY language or advanced mathematics class now routinely provide students with several choices. Interactive television can use a va;iety of technol- In larger districts, classes in Russian, Japanese ogies. Most systems employ copper cable, micro- and a variety of honor classes are being offered. wave, broadcast or fiber optic. Each system allows At last count, 54 different courses were available teachers in one location to teach students in several in the ninety-seven school districts in Minnesota remote locations, allowing students and teachers to using two-way interactive television for educa- see and talk to each other in color and full motion tional purposes.' Community and higher educa- throughout all the locations. The classroom where tion institutions also use the interactive system the teacher is located is called the host site. In after regular school hours to provide learning op- Minnesota, the systems are designed so that any portunities for adults. Some of the interactive tele- location can serve as the host site and different vision systems operate as much as seventeen topics originate in each district. There are usually no hours a day and thus make life-long learning a adults present in the remote classrooms although reality for community members. many of them are located near administrat've offices 2 Students can learn well over ITV systems. There where on-site support is available. were no significant differences in final grades or The various systems have advantages and disad- student achievement as measured by either crite- vantages. Though most expensive, fiber optics sys- rion or norm-referenced tests between the 564 tems are less subject to interference than the rest of students selected for study in the ITV and tradi- the systems. Properly adjusted, they provide superi- tional class comparisions.2 Student grades re- or picture and sound. Second in quality and cost is ceived in interactive classes were very similar to copper cable. Like fiber optic, it has the disad- the grades they received in their other classes. vantage that right of way considerations require ne- Class grades and unit test comparisons showed a

378 3,4.E difference of 2.99 for ITV classes versus 3.00 in dents leading to absence of control, movement traditional classes on a 4.0 scale. Unit tests re- and space restrictions, technical problems, de- vealed a 2.73 in ITV classes and 2.74 in tradition- lays in material transfer, problems with logistics al classes.' of make-up work and conflicting school sched- 3 Teachers attitudes to the two-way television were ules. quite positive. Seventy-five percent of the 25 teachers using it wanted to continue teaching on the system. None of the teachers said they would CRITICAL FACTORS not teach on the system, although twenty-five Participants at the most successful interactive televi- percent were uncertain. Seventy-one percent did sion sites agreed that attention must be given to indicate that ITV teaching did require a changed three areas: 1) established policies and procedures, style and method of teaching.' The most com- 2)inservice and instruction, and 3) classroom monly noted problems were the need to do more equipment and design.' planning and to have more student interaction to ensure feedback. Interestingly enough, the evaluators' studies revealed that teachers' styles were POLICIES AND PROCEDURES more modifications of present styles than dramat- Everyone agreed that extensive teacher involvement ic changes. in the planning and implementation of the system 4 Evaluations of 36 interactive classes and 36 tradi- was necessary. Teachers should have a choice tional classes revealed that an average of 261 whether to teach on the system and only those interactions took place in ITV classes and 270 in teachers who are highly interactive and personalize traditional classes. There was great variation learning should be considered. There was general among teachers regardless of the medium of de- consensus that the number of students in host and livery. Some teachers had as few as 79 interac- remote sites needed to be monitored closely. Stu- tions take place in their classes, some as many as dents' preparation, need for privacy and self-dis- 655. Less than one percent of the interactions cipline were important factors when counseling were discipline related in either kind of class.' them to take interactiveclasses.Cooperation Classroom interaction and climate were more a among districts and buildings was essential and reflection of the teacher's teaching style than of school calendars and daily schedules should be as the delivery system. Teachers who were inter- similar as possible. Special attention should be giv- active in regular classes were more interactive on en to procedures for technical failures, exchanging ITV and teachers who were lecturers tended to written materials, completing lab work and defining continue their dependence on lecturing irrespec- discipline procedures. tive of the technology. 5 Teachers believed advantages of the system include: "enlarging programs and course options I NSERVICE AND INSTRUCTION for students, providing challenge and growth op- Participants felt mcst strongly about providing ade- portunities to build self-discipline among stu- quate inservice training to teachers and principals. dents, and the smaller class size which seems They noted that approximately three days of in- typical (usually 18 students or fewer). Participa- troductory inservice training was necessary for new ting students like their televised classes, learn teachers and for experienced teachers to interact about as much as in traditional classes, spend annually with other teachers f, orn across the state. about as much time on tasks as in traditional Participants noted that interactive techniques, ma- classes, and were frequently more motivated and terials and collegial support were not available at responsible in interactive situations."' regular education conferences. 6 Evaluation findings showed that adoption of tech- Another essential factor was the need for coordinat- nology was most clearly linked to "the quality of ed curriculum and instruction planning across dis- the inservice... specifically designed to meet tricts and buildings. Accurate course descriptions teacher's needs." Positive changes in educators' and curricula needed to be agreeed on by all partici- abilities and willingness to use technology often pating districts. The sequence and standardization can be traced to demonstrations by their col- for advanced courses offered on interactive televi- leagues.' sion required special attention. 7 The most difficult problems were adapting teaching and instructional design to incorporate the strengths of technology and reduce its limitations. CLASSROOM EQUIPMENT Teacher knowledge about hardware and software Participants agreed that interactive television class- were less serious problems if an expert was avail- rooms needed to have classroom telephones to pro- able to assist when there was equipment failure. vide alternative communication in case of an emer 8 The major teaching disadvantages noted by gency or equipment failure. They believed that a teachers were: lack of personal contact with stu- videotape recorder should be in each classroom to

379 3 92 provide subject matter, record special events, tape exist to help students learn to learn so thatwhen they distracting student behavior and especially to rec- leave formal education they can continue to learn. ord their own teaching to review for improvement. Technology needs to be used to individualize and Facsimile machines were very helpful. improve education, not as a cheaper assembly line. Participants wanted equipment standardized so that Educators mast determine whether to use technol- teachers would need to learn only one kind of ogy to meet individual needs or as a tool to reinforce equipment and inventories of spare parts could be conformity. Allowing for individual differences is smaller. Standardization would also permit correc- especially critical when educators are concerned tions of adjustments by students in remote locations. with higher order thinking. Finally,and most importantly,standardization would allow any location to serve as the originating site thus providing flexibility for the teacher to originate classes at different locations during the year REFERENCES and have contact with students in remote sites. 1 Survey of Schools conducted by Joan Wallin, Minnesota Department of Education, September 1987. POLICY IMPLICATIONS- 2 Morehouse, Diane L.;Hoaglund, Mary, L.; INTERACTIVE TELEVISION Schmidt, Russell H. Distance learning through interactive television is a Technology Demonstration Program Statistical Sum- viable means for providing low incidence courses mary Data, Report To the Minnesota Legislature, St. Paul: Quality Evaluation & Development, 1987 pp. 19-21. otherwise unavailable to students if appropriate in- service training is provided for teachers and tech- 3 Morehouse, DianeL.;Hoaglund, Mary L.; nology is seen 35 a means for improving education Schmidt, Russell H. rather than an end in itself. Technology should be Technology Demonstration Program Interactive Televi- used when it improves learning opportunities and sion, Report To the Minnesota Legislatuie, St. Paul: Qual- quality and not as a public relations gesture or an ity Evaluation & Development, 1987 p. 6. educational fad. 4 Morehouse, Diane,L.;Hoaglund, Mary L.; For too long, geography and size of district have Schmidt, Russell H. been major determinants of educational quality. Technology Demonstration Program Statistical Sum- mary Data, Report To the Minnesota Legislature, St. Paul: This technology removes some of the excuses for Quality Evaluation & Development, 1987 p. 18. lesser educational opportunities in rural areas. This technology is expensive. Under average conditions, 5 Morehouse, DianeL.;Hoaglund, Mary L.; an initial investment of $75,000 per district is neces- Schmidt, Russell H. sary. However, given the need to equalize educa- Technology Demonstration Program Interactive Televi- tional opportunities for all students, the investment sion, Report To the Minnesota Legislature, St. Paul: Qual- is appropriate. ity Evaluation & Development, 1987 p. 6. 6 Ibid., p. 4. The use of technology in society will increase and schools need to reflect that fact. However, given our 7 Morehouse, DianeL.,Hoagland, Mary L.; crowded curriculum, educators must find ways to Schmidt, Russel! H. maximize the uses of technologies. It doesn't matter Technology Demonstration Program Final Evaluation if educators have sophisticated equipment if what Report, Report To the Minnesota Legislature, St. Paul: they teach should never have been taught at all. If Quality Evaluation & Development, 1987, p. 9. educators want to improve education, they need to 8 Brad Windschill, Compiler understand that technologies are only delivery sys- Effective Teaching Via Interactive Television, St. Paul: tems that do not ensure quality learning. Schools Minnesota Curriculum Services Center, 1987, pp. 1-10.

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:3 9 Tutored videotape instruction: Implications for the continuing education of the peopleat work H.C.S. RATHORE Banaras Hindu University Kamachha, Varanasi, India

INTRODUCTION self learning which combines the positive features of the lecture with the benefits of group learning. The Early in the seventies scholars at Stanford University method utilizes unrehearsed and unedited video- developed a new method of instruction for the con- tape recordings of normal on-campus classroom tinuing education of engineers working away from courses delivered by eminent professors, usually the campus in industries, called Tutored Videotape called "candid classroom videotapes" (Hutchin- Instruction (TVI). Gibbons et al. (1977) carried out a son, 1982). A candid classroom v:deotape "is a series of experiments from 1973 to 1976 to evaluate faithful and reliable video recording of a normal the method's educational effectiveness. From the on-campus class free from any distractions caused results of these experiments and the experience of by the typical studio environment such as bright three years operation of the programme, they con- lights, the proliferation of cameras and other equip- cluded that "the TVI technique is at least as effective ment, and the rigorous technical quality controls as as either classroom instruction or live TV with audio cuts, retakes or editing usually associated with com- talkback for both on-campus and off-campus stu- mercially produced television programmes" (Rath- dents." This success led the Stanford University to ore, 1987). The candid classroom videotape, when incorporate TVI courses into an accredited graduate replayed, simply acts as an electronic medium to programme in 1976. Since then enormous devel- extend the walls of the original on-campus class of a opment has taken place in offering videotaped professor. courses for the continuing education of engineers in the U.S.A. Its magnitude can be judged from the fact These courses, in the form of candid classroom that in 1983-84 the Association for Media Based videotapes produced at very low cost, are mailed Continuing Education of Engineers (AMCEE) a along with printed instructional material to off-cam- consortium of 25 engineering universities was pus students working in industries. The industries using TVI successfully to provide more than 435 provide the infrastructure and facilities because they videotaped courses ini 8 engineering disciplines to want their employees to take these courses. engineers working in industries and government all In these industries "the videotapes are used for the over the U.S.A. (Stephen, 1984). instruction of small groups of students (typically Facinated by this videotape course development three to 10) who are assisted by a para-professional Stephen (1984) not only titled his survey paper as tutor as they watch the tape. For this reason the "The video-taped course revolution" but also method is cal led Tutored videotape instruction (TVI) strongly recommended the adoption of this ap- (Gibbons et al., 1977)". The tutor may be well proach for the continuing education of engineers in versed in the subject but this is not an essential the U.K. It is surprising that tnis approach has not condition. Normally chosen is a senior colleague received proper attention from the media pedagog- interested in helping the students. The main role is ues in distance universities. In this paper I discuss to foster group discussion and self learning by taking what it offers to distance education in general and its advantage of the video playback's unique feature implications for the continuing education of people that it can be stopped, replayed or viewed at high at work in particular. speed at any time the student wishes. The TVI method "is based on the common sense notion that the students can learn more from a lecture if they are TUTORED VIDEOTAPED free to interrupt it at places where they need more discussion or explanation of a point or concept" INSTRUCTION (TVI) (Gibbons et al., 1977). Experience of the research- Tutored Videotaped Instruction (TVI, is a method of ers in Stanford has revealed that students learn best

381 .)(-1. .-7 q..., when the videotape is stopped every five to ten NOT AN ISOLATED LEARNER minutes fora period of 3 to 5 minutes. In this way the problems and issues are normally resolved by the Learning in isolation is a major cause of dropping- group through mutual discussion. The questions out or discontinuing distance studies. Tutored Vid- that the group is unable to resolve are referred back eotape Instruction being a group learning technique to the course professor by telephone for answers. not only removes this feeling but "in effect... permits the students and the tutor to manage the lecture themselves and thereby create an intellectually PROMISES FOR DISTANCE stimulating environment which enhances learning EDUCATION and creates a positive attitude towards the subject" (Gibbons et al., 1977). The Tutored Videotape Instruction, besides incorporating the general benefits that the video format has over broadcast television (see Bates, 1984, and KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATED WITH Brown, 1984 fora discussion of these benefits) helps TEXT to solve some of the problems facing distance edu- A crucial factor for learning is the way knowledge is cation: structured and presented. The structure of knowledge in most of the studiomade videotapes or MATCHING STUDENTS' broadcast programmes is presented in documentary style (probably because it exploits the full potential TRADITIONAL LEARNING hABITS of television). Bates (1984) considers these pro- Dependence upon the delivery of the teacher: hear- grammes to "have very important higher education ing, seeing, questioning, and then corroboration objectives. They attempt to give students the oppor- with the help of books cen be considered as the tunity to practice high-level learning skills, such as traditional learning habits of students who have analysis, application of abstract principles to the been following this pattern from the day they en- real world situations, evaluation, and generaliza- tered school. Distance education (which is at pre- tion". But the Open University (U.K.) experience sent dependent mainly on printed material) assumes shows that students often have difficulty relating that the student will abandon his traditional learning these programmes to the text and misinterpret them habits and acquire (from where?) a capacity of "self for lack of the skills required to achievethe intended directed learning" to master the knowledge and learning goals (see Bates and Gallagher, 1977, and skills contained in the printed reading material. Is Brown, 1984). These problems are least noticeable the present student capable of doing so independ- in the case of didactic and highly structured class- ently? Has the present system of education prepared room delivery where the teacher presents know- him for this type of self reliance in learning? ledge integrated with the previous experience of the students and proceeds in a sequence determined by We have done no significant research to answer this the specific learning objectives related to the text. question. Instead, the rise of the distance universi- Since the Tutored Videotape Instruction (TVI) uti- ties has produced books with such titles as "Meth- lizes candid classroom videotapes which are the ods of independent learning", "Guide to self stud- extension of a normal classroom, students should ies" etc. Perhaps the distance students buy these not face the difficulties associated with documen- guides and read them. However, the question re- tary style videotape programmes. mains whether these books enable them to become self reliant learners and supercede their old learning habits? Psychological theories of habits reveal that it is not so easy to get rid of stable habits. AN END TO PASSIVE Tutored Videotape Instruction matches the learning OBSERVATION habits of the students by combining the positive Another frequent problem with studiomade, docu- features of the lecture with those of small group mentary-style video programmes is that they en- learning. The videotaped lecture provides the basic courage passive observation among students and missing element in distance education, namely the are poor in feedback. Brown (1984), writing about teacher's delivery, which is essential to give depth future developments in video cassette design noted and continuity to the subject matter. The small that "two distinct forms of video cassette design group tutorial discussion, on the other hand, affords seem likely to emerge. The first for the group use, a means of making the lecture respond to individual will stress open-ended analysis and discussion with needs and differences. The TV1 students hear not fellow students or tutors. An example of this form is only the questions, comments and discussion of the tutored video instruction (TVI)...". The TVI has on-campus students, but they stop, the tape when- already been found educationally and organization- ever a difficultyis encountered and resolveit ally effective and economic. For example, Gibbons through mutual discussion. et al. (1977) found that electrical engineers study-

382 ing with TVI out-performed the on-campus regular experts. Of course, media experts will criticize students with comparable qualifications and noted these videotapes for their poor visual and sound that "it is (or can be) educationally more effective quality. However Stephen (1984) observed in this than either classroom or televised instruction, espe- context that "One can always rely on Americans to cially for marginally qualified students. This is pri- seek value for money. Their requirement is for the marily because it permits students to ask more ques- information they need, as quickly and conveniently tions and, through organized discussion, to find as possible, at minimum cost. Any unnecessary im- more answers for themselves than they could in provement in quality results in delay and increase in either of the two formats". cost". If the courses, their quality and level of content are appropriate to the viewers' needs then the EXPOSURE TO THE BEST IN THE poor sound and visual quality will soon become FIELD 47 acceptable as the cost and time involved in production are much less. The WI not only provides distance students the opportunity to hear and see the teacher, but also IMPLICATIONS exposure to the best specialist on the subject in the world. For example, it should be possible to identify After three years of successful operation and experi- specialists who are also considered teachers of ex- mentation Gibbons et al. (1977) found WI to be ceptional repute and to make video recordings of effective for giving instruction in engineering and the classroom delivery of these teachers. This ap- science subjects but they were cautious about gen- proach, besides providing exposure to the students eralizing and observed that "our data do not permit of the best available in the field, will also make these a rigorous statistical test... We are also unable to videotapes more attractive and motivating to the generalize to subject areas other than engineering students as they will have the proud feeling of being and science, though we believe the general princi- taught by such an expert. This feeling is very impor- ples of the TVI format will apply to a wide range of tant in distance education. subjects and audience". However, they listed the following factors as critical to the effectiveness of the WI format for other subjects and audiences: PROVIDING PRACTICAL 1. The attitude, personality, and instructional style EXPERIENCE of the tutor are very important. The tutor should be interested in helping the students of this group One of the major hurdles in the way of 'ntroducing and should attend the videotape sessions. Com- science and technology courses in distance uni- petence is important provided the tutor is not so versities is the provision of practical laboratory ex- overqualified as to become bored or impatient perience in these subjects. As the tutored videotape with the students. Compensation of the tutors is instruction takes place at work normally with its important for a continuing program. own laboratories, the student can do practicals 2. Group size is also very important. If there are there. Further there is more opportunity to apply fewer than three students opportunity for effec- theoretical knowledge at work and gain practical tive interaction is lacking and the method tends experience. to be expansive. Group size greater than eight to 10 tends to inhibit discussion and reduce the frequency with which the tape is stopped. A EASY AND ECONOMIC group size of three to eight seems optimum, PRODUCTION although this can vary with student personalities. 3. Depending upon the maturity of the students, The production of viedo material in the majority of commitment to a degree program or similar edu- distance universities is in the hands of professional cational objective seems to be important for sus- media experts who influence the design of the mate- taining interest and motivation. Certainly for rial greatly. This may be desirable from the point of most students completion of graded problems view of quality but has resulted in what Bates (1984) and examinations results in a more productive calls "the distancing the teacher from the design of educational experience. the programmes" and has been a source of conflict 4. Active classroom participation in the live class is and di3satisfaction among subject experts. Further, desirable. For the subjects and audiences served the cost and the time requiered to make a polished to date, unrehearsed, unedited videotapes of TV/video programme in the studio is high. It may classroom lectures may be used and, in fact, may take months to make one programme in the studio have more "presence" and be more interesting because of the quality restrictions imposed by the to watch than tightly scripted, professionally media experts. It takes just 50 to 60 minutes (length produced lectures. of the lecture period) to produce a candid classroom 5.It is important that the instructor be well orga- videotape and there is no interference by the media nized. knowledgeable in the subject, and free

383 396 from annoying mannerisms. The charisma of a education for working people, they must not only good instructor is emphasized on the videotape. produce course material al the frontiers of know- 6. For students employed in industry, attitudes of ledge but also adopt methods of instruction that management play a very important role in the encourage the application of knowledge to prac- success of a continuing program. Job pressures tice. WI not only enables working students to study that create long hours and interfere with family courses taught by the best people but also allows life marked,increase the difficulty of pursuing them to put knowledge into practice in their work an educational program. because instruction takes place at work. 7. Continued management and evaluation of a WI program needs to be the concern and principal psponsibility of a designated person who should provide liaison between the academic institution and the TVI students. Many details require timely REFERENCES attention that would otherwise not be given by Bates, A.W. & Gallagher, M. either the instructor or the company. (197" Improving the Effectiveness of Open University None of these factors present unmanageable re- Television: Case Studies. Milton Keynes: Open University quirements. The distance universities have the orga- (mimeo). nization and manpower to provide good quality Bates. T. recorded and printed supplementary material, zo (1984). Broadcast Television. In A.W. Bates (Ed.), The evaluate the programme, and to conduct exam- Role of Technology in Distance Education. London: inations. On the other hand, the explosion of Croom Helm. knowledge and the decreasing half-life of new Brown, S. knowledge challenge modern business and industry (1984). Video Cassettes. In A.W. Bates (Ed.), The Role of to keep pace with change. To continue to exist they Technology in Distance Education. London: Croom have to keep their employees abreast of new know- Helm. ledge and developments. At present industry meets Gibbons, J.F. et al. this challenge in a variety of ways: release time for (1977). Tutored Videotape. Instruction: A New Use of studies, contractual relationships with institutions of Electronic Media in Education. Science, 195, pp. 1139- higher education, and internal staff development 46. programmes, often including on site learning laboratories etc. Industry has to depend upon institu- Hutchinson, C.E. tions of higher education anci universities which, (1982). Towards Improved Candid Classroom ITV: Pro- because of their research function, are in a better gram Evaluation and Development Guidelines Associ- position to deliver current knowledge. ation for Media Based Continuing Education of Engineers (AMCEE), INC: U.S.A. The part time courses of most distance universities Rathore, H.C.S. are traditional in nature and are not seen by industry (1987). Candid Classroom Videotapes: Implications for as suitable. Sophisticated managers, executives, Distance Education. Journal of Indian Education, New and technical workers represent a different kind of Delhi: NCERT (in press). student group. Besides the latest theoretical knowledge, they need to apply it to improve productivity Stephen, K.D. and efficiency. For the distance universities to meet (1984). The Video-Taped Course Revolution. IEE Pro- ceedings, Vol. 131, Pt. A. No. 9. successfully their promise of providing continuing

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384 Distance education in West Germany A developing concept, seenthrough the DIFF's perspective PROF. DR. KARLHEINZ REBEL German Institute of Distance Studies at Tubingen University (DIFF) Tubingen, Federal Republic of Germany

Although the earliest German forms of distant .! edu- The DIFF had to start from scratch and was free to cation go back to the middle of the 19th century it develop its own concept of distance education pro- experienced a kind of renaissance and modilkation vided it would remedy the problems mentioned in the 1960s. Its original German was below the above. From the start teacher in-service has re- academic level and firmly rooted in private or syn- mained DIFF's main task. But it emphasized eco- dicate initiatives to help people improve their gener- nomics less than the politicians expected. Cost al education and their vocational chances. West comparisons between traditional and distance German institutions of higher learning did not take teacher in-service training proved soon to be ex- notice of it in either teaching research. tremely complicated and of secondary importance. The discovery of distance education by higher edu- DIFF saw its main task as developing specific didac- cation in the sixties came from outside and lay in a tic approaches ("didactic" used in the wide German remarkable shift in the educational policies of the 11 sense of general theory of education) and evaluating Lander a shift forced on politicians by far-reaching them. Because of the dense educational infrastruc- economic, technical and societal changes. The ture in West Germany DIFF had to develop an orga- dose connection between economic growth and the nizational model to avoid unnecessary competition qualification level of the labour force was under- with the existing teacher in-service institutions or stood even by our politicians. To improve qualifica- universities. Its answer is the "DIFF model", a coop- tion levels, especially of the professions and middle erative approach which divides work between DIFF management (Facharbeiter), many more highly and its partner institutions. DIFF is responeble for qual ;tied teachers were needed. Experts in the sixties needs assessment, development of study materials, spoke of an educational emergency! Numerous new evaluation and research. DIFF's partners cooperate schools, universities, polytechnics and adult educa- in need identification and development, integrate tion institutions indeed led to a dramatic shortage of DIFF study units into their courses, and thus gradu- teachers in certain subjects, schools and levels. The ally add distance education components to their universities faced a sharp increase in student num- regular work (Moore, 1987:40). This model implies bers which was called the "student-mountain" and drawing in academic expertise to DIFF by employ- became mass institutions instead of elite institutions ing academic advisory boards and course authors for the highly gifted few. The contradictions of this from all over West Germany, with DIFF concentrat- long and painful process endure today. In this almost ing the work of its course teams on supporting these desperate situation distance education was consid- external authors and re-shaping their manuscripts to ered to he a panacea, provided it did not change the its own didactic vision of distance education for general educational and societal structures but took adult learners. DIFF had also to prove that distance the students from the campuses or more importantly education was academically equal to traditional from the streets, and achieved the same academic studies. It therefore developed specific evaluation standard as traditional studies. models suited to the context of its work and the DIFF In 1963 the Volkswagen Foundation began orga- model. It also developed concepts of media mix and nizing expert meetings on teacher in-service train- researched them with samples of more than half a ing by distance education and then secured finan- million participants in its 25 Radio and Television cing for five years for the "Deutsches Institut fur Colleges. Adult education and its insights into learn- Fernstudien an der Universitat TObingen" (DIFF), ing was considered of paramount importance, but which was established by the Ministry of Culture in the first years it had little practical consequence. Baden-WOrttemberg and the University of TObingen DIFF's theoretical publications, which make a rein February 1967. markably long list, (48 monographs in its book se-

385 3 9 8 rif.,, 46 research reports, hundreds of articles in ing are needed to supply German adults with periodicals; Dell ing 1977 and 1982; the 3...cl volume adequate opportunities. This means that DIFF's of this bibliography is in press), try to conceptualise traditional target groups: teachers, lecturers in and communicate its views of distance education adult education, people interested in general and to apply experiences and results from outside. education, have to be complemented by other groups, e.g. trainers in economic/industrial en- Between 1972 and 1979 DIFF was financed by the 11 German Lander and in 1979 the Federal Govern- terprises, economists and other, wanting to spe- cialize in a particular subject not available from ment began contributing too. This means that distance education in Germany is considered by the traditional educational institutions. General edu- at'thosities to be a task of national importance. cation below the expert level remains important However, distance education's role and organiza- and has also to be further developed. tion in West Germany became controversial in the Adults often feel a barrier to institutional learning, Lander and the universities. Various commissions even if they can find opportunities just round the discussed this issue without reaching a conclusion corner. They more frequently choose distance while DIFF increased its influence, especially on education as a mode of learning which offers them enough freedom to learn the way they want teacher in-service although less convincingly on the universities, and enlarged its developmental work to and at the same time gives them as much and course production. Its techniques for the con- support as they need. By means of the new media struction and evaluation of developmental mocels this problem can be solved technically if ade- as cooperative enterprises became more polished quate educational concepts are available (Catch- pole and the numbers of academicians involved in dis- 1986:129; Foks,1987:35;Garrison, tance education increased considerably. 1987:95; Moore, 1987:59). Adaptive feedback is an example of a progressive technology in DIFF's But the more DIFF worked in its familiar context the work. more it became obvious that the context itself had Distance education as one form of open learning changed considerably, with massive implications aims at the self-directed learning of adults. Ac- for DIFF's concept of distance education. New de- quiring the skill of self-directed learning is part of mands for continuing education, new topics tran- the learning task. So both content and procedural scending discipline boundaries and the changing knowledge are needed in any learning process. role of modern high tech media all opened up new As learning differences among adults are consid- possibilities but forced DIFF's concept of distance erable (much higher than with younger, stu- education to adapt to these developments. All this dents), individualization is important to DIFF. occurred in a complicated political situation with Ready-made learning strategies are almost use- decisive consequences for the future of distance less, we need strategies made to measure, built education in West Germany. By 1974 it was evident up by the learners themselves and supported by that plans for a central distance education orga- distance education courses and tuition.If the nization in the FRG had failed. Instead we now have concept of "industrialization" has ever played a three different organizational models: the Fernuni- role as a context factor in distance education versitat Gesamthochschule Hagen as a university of (never as a theory), then it is high time to use the Land North Rhine Westphalia, but also taking modern distance education concepts as a coun- students from other Lander; the DIFF as a national terweight against its possible inhuman conse- research institute; and a few smaller units closely quences. (Evans/Nation, 1987:48;Moore, affiliated to universities concentrating on one sub- 1987:59). Learning as a personal development ject only and working at a local level. (Wright, 1987:3) is never a mass product! The modified DIFF concept of distance education i:. All DIFF study projects are conceived as models as follows: of teaching-learning. This means that study units are only one factor in DIFF's work; at least as DIFF's central task is continuing education for important are the curriculum decisions, the di- adults, which is the key educational challenge for dactic instruments used, the procedural and all levels sectors for the foreseeable future. Each meta-knowledge needed to learn in an optimal sector will define its specific contribution to conway. The model is a sort of essence of DIFF's tinuing education according to its work profile. insights, formulated in a co'sistent pattern of the Universities and other institutions of higher learn- assumed interactions between learner, content, ing must also accept this task if they want to support system, personal tutor, and context fac- remain a serious educational factor in the future. tors. DIFF's intention in this approach is to help DIFF has agreed to support them by bringing into other educational institutions by publishing these the marriage its 21 years of experience and ex- models: they allow transfer of insights and didac- pertise. tic techniques very easily. If the agreed aims of continuing education are to The tasks ahead are of such dimensions that close be attained, non-traditional open forms of learn- cooperation among all those using distance edu-

386 Cli _ J.`IrsN cation of open learning is essential. In spite of the different organizational models in West Germany REFERENCES DIFF seeks close cooperation with the Fernuni- versitat and other institutions of higher open Catchpok, M. learning in Europe and elsewhere. (1986) A Guide to Producing and Hosting a Live-Inter- active Telecourse. Distance Education vol. 7, no. 1, pp. DIFF as a research institute is essentially interested 129-142. in theoretical aspects of open/distance learning. I Delling, R.M. don't think that there is comprehensive distance (1977) Femstudium Fernunterricht.Bibliographie education theory in sight and I am against home- deutschsprachiger Texte von 1897-1974. TObinger Bei- spun distance education "theories" as a sort of Wile rum Fernstudium vol. 11, Beltz Verlag Weinheim game among ourselves. Our re,earch context is the und Basel. wide educational field of continuing education and Delling, R.M. all the academic discipl;nes working in this field, e.g. andragogy, philosophy, subject field educa- (1982) Fernstudium und Fernunterricht (II). Bibliographie deutschsprachiger Texte von 1975 bis 1978 und Nach- tional theories (Fachdidaktiken) etc. Instructional &age aus frOheren Jahren. TUbinger BeitrAge zum Fernstu- science with cognitive psychology and sociology of dium vol. 14. Beltz Verlag Weinheim und Basel. knowledge have a special role in helping us to form theoretically well founded models of teaching and Foks, J. learning as the theoretical nuclei of our work. Part of (1987) Will the Walls Come Tumbling Down ?ICDE Bulle- tin vol. 13, pp. 35-40. these models are tutorial elements, personal and computerized, allowing us for example, to combine Garrison, D.R. highly individualized adaptive forms of feedback (1987) Researching Dropout in Distance Education. Dis- (thanks to intelligent tutorial systems) with centrally tance Education vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 95-101. developed high standard study materials. We have Evans, T.D./Nation D.E. still a long way to go, but I think we are now on the (1987) Which Future for Distance Educationi'ICDE Bulle- right track. tin vol. 14, pp. 48-53. Moore, M.G. (1987) Learners and Learning at a Distance. ICDE Bulletin vol. 14, pp. 59-65. Wright, T. (1987) Putting Independent Learning in its Place. (1987). Open Learning vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 3-7.

401 387 Contact North/Contact Nord: A model for distance education project administration JUDY ROBERTS MARIAN CROFT PAM DERKS

INTRODUCTION 115,000 people and Thunder Bay, with 1 12,000. The area suffers from high unemployment, resulting On October 20, 1986, the Government of the prov- partially from increasing mechanization of a largely ince of Ontario confirmed a commitment made ear- resource-based economy. Its widely scattered pop- lier that year by announcing a 20 million dollar ulation is multi-cultural, with the largest representa- (Canadian), four-year distance education pilot pro- tion being francophone (30% of the area's pop- ject for Northern Ontario. ulation). In addition, 22% of Canada's status Indians The government's objectives were the following: and significant numbers of non-status and Metis 1. to improve access to formal educational oppor- natives also live in Northern Ontario. The region has tunities at the secondary and post secondary lev- two universities: Laurentian, in Sudbury, with 4,000 els for residents of Northern Ontario full-time and 2,500 part-time students in Septem- 2. to establish a long-term capacity to improve ac- ber, 1987 and Lakehead, in Thunder Bay, with cess to other training and informal educational 3,000 full-time and 2,000 part-time students. Lau- opportunities rentian is the major university in a system of on- 3. to meet the ongoing and emerging educational campus federated church-based colleges and affil- needs of residents in communities remote from iated university colleges in Sault Ste Marie, 300 conventional delivery technologies kilometers west of Sudbury, Hearst, over 600 kilom- 4. to meet the special needs of francophone and eters north and North Bay, 120 kilometers east. native peoples in Northern Ontario (Figure 1.) Prior to 1987, Laurentian had the only 5. to create new and expand existing expertise in university-level distance education programin the design and operation of technologically en- Northern Ontario. It dated from 1972. hanced distance education programs in North- The region also has five community colleges, estab- ern Ontario lished in 1967: Confederation in Thunder Bay; Sault 6. to create models for the alternative delivery of in Sault Ste Marie; Cambrian in Sudbury; Canadore educational services capable of: in North Bay; and Northern in Timmins. They are a) application more broadly through Ontario each responsible for specific territories and several b) application to the needs of other jurisdic- have substantial off-campus operations. Confeder- tions, including developing countries ation has been involved in distance education since 7. to create a "test-bed" to evaluate the effective- 1979. ness of various technologies in delivering dis- At the secondary level, the Ministry of Education has tance education. regional offices in Thunder Bay, Sudbury and North Several aspects of the Northern Ontario Distance Bay to serve over 30 school boards distributed Education Access Network project which are across the region. None had ever been involved in unique provide the focus for this paper: its adminis- distance education and because of the small pop- trative size and structure; and its emphasis on col- ulations, several were unable to offer complete cur- laboration within and across several levels of the ricula to their students. The Ministry is also respon- Ontario education system and several government sible for the Independent Learning Centre which ministries. offers correspondence courses in both English and French to over 160,000 students annually. THE ENVIRONMENT Northern Ontario covers an area of 313,000 square THE MANDATE miles with a population of approximately 800,000 Distance education was seen by the government to (1981 census). It includes 90% of the province's be a feasible method of improving access to and land mass, with only 10% of the population. The meeting a growing demand for increased educa- two largest population centres are Sudbury, with tional opportunities at both levels. The demand

388 401 grew from the following needs: to re-train sectors of The Ministry of Colleges and Universities chairs the labour force displaced by mechanization; to both committees. increase the general educational level of the population; to attract new industries; and to meet the THE MARKET challenges posed by the well-documented educa- Contact North/Contact Nord exists to serve two dif- tional disadvantage of minority groups. The deci- ferent constituencies: institutions offering courses sion was made that the project would have to serve and the general public wanting to take those cours- all levels of education. es. However, this double mandate has created chal- The concept of one network to serve several levels lenges in personnel and resource allocation. of the formal educational system posed organiza- Twenty-seven communities were selected by the tional challenges and generated considerable in- government in May, 1987 as the initial network, terest within government and externally. A fairly with part-time co-ordinators hired and trained in complex structure was therefore adopted. each community. Office and classroom space wab donated in each community by college and secondary school systems. Equip- ., installed in- THE ORGANIZATION cluded audio-teleconferencing 6..tiges in Sudbury and Thunder Bay and audio-conferencing termi- To implement the project, the North was divided nals. IBM computers and printers, VHS playback into two regions, northeast and northwest. Regional units and monitors and facsimile machines at the co-ordinating centres were established in Thunder access sites. Over 40 courses at all three levels Bay and Sudbury, to administer a network of remote launched the network in September. Contact North/ access sites located in communities chosen by the Contact Nord was established as a distribution net- Ministry of Northern Development. The network work for courses and information. It does not plan or portion of the project was named Contact North/ develop courses, nor are the site co-ordinators com- Contact Nord. munity development officers, although these have To ensure that the project was indeed northern in its both been areas of contention. administration and that it was adequately supported, the government contracted jointly with Lake- THE FUNDING head University and Confederation College in Thunder Bay and Cambrian College and Laurentian The 20 million dollars is divided into four annual University in Sudbury to set up the co-ordinating allocations of five million, of which three million is centres and oversee them. Such close collaboration divided further between the two regional co-ordi- on a major project was unusual. To advise the con- nating centres for the network and the final two tractors, two regional advisory boards were an- million is in a separate, Northern Distance Educa- nounced by the Ministry of Northern Development, tion Fund. This is another unique aspect of this each composed of representatives from the universi- project, in that the government designated money ty, college and secondary systems, as well as a for program development, not just for hardware. matching number of people from the communities The NDEF provides funding for the development of at large. full degree, diploma or certificate programs, not individual courses and priority is given to collab- Staff were hired in each regional centre to provide orative projects. Grants have already been made for assistance in areas of instlectional design, liaison to a BSc in Nursing, a BCOMM in French, a program in the secondary, native and francophone communi- native community care and a certificate program for ties as well as technical and administrative support. teachers of adults, to name only a few of the 40 Monies were also provided to each centre to con- projects approved. The impact of this level of devel- tract out research projects related to distance educa- opment on distance education in the province as a tion and a major evaluation of the project is being whole will be extensive. funded by the government. During the planning process, several government departments became involved, with the lead gradu- THE FUTURE ally being taken by the Ministry of Colleges and This pilot project ends on March 31, 1990. Deci- Universities, and Education and Northern Devel- sions on its future are expected in the fall of 1989 opment also being heavily involved. Two commit- after the evaluation processes are completed. A ma- tees were eventually struck: the Provincial Manage- jor issue to be addressed will be the collaborative ment Group, consisting of five senior civil servants; process, in program development and in the admin- and the Project Management Committee, consisting istration of the network. There is no doubt that when of representatives from seven ministries and the On- resources are scarce and existing institutional man- tario Educational Communications Authority, per- dates can be preserved, sharing makes sense. How- sonnel from the four northern contractors and the ever, close collaboration requires extra financial two regional co-ordinating centres. resources and institutional and personal commit-

389 402 / '-----\ Contact North 1987

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Went V.041.'1119 Siou1tookeut Inutuole Fellsa senor. Dryden Gereleten Nornepinow tionins Kirkland lAte Attkoken Thal., so,

Tort ?roots Woe coeoleeu Netting Mort/. Say Elliot teieA Sudturri Sault Ste Sturgeon fells Noeleille

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Figure 1.

ments. Regardless of the long-term decisions taken, collaboration has been remarkably successful PROTINCTAL NANAGINENT to ONOUP date, as a 27-point network offering 40courses was created in less than one year and 40 major development projects were funded.

PNOJIC1 NANAOUIENT Such an achievement requires considerableinstitu- CONNITTSI tional support. That Contact North/Contact Nord has come so far in such a short time speaksto the need it has begun to fill and the fact that both in- CO-CONTRACTORS stitutions and individuals have been preparedto 2-PI.t-SW learn new patterns of co-operation to achievemu- tually beneficial goals.

ISOIONAL COORDINATING ABOUT THE AUTHORS CUM (SI Judy Roberts is the Director of the Northeast Regional Co-ordinating Centre, Contact North/Contact Nord. Marian Croft is the Director of the Centre for Continuing Education and Part-time Studies at Laurentian University and the contractor for Laurentian.

Pam Derks is the Dean of Continuing Educationat Cam- brian College and the contractor for Cambrian. Figure 2. CN/CN Projekt Organization

390 403 Theuseof electronic mail in distance education BRUCE SCRIVEN Brisbane College of Advanced Education Kelvin Grove Queensland, Australia

PREAMBLE more isolated can use electronic mail. The number of college staff gaining experience with electronic One of the most common problems faced by ex- mail, including Telememo, is increasing. Because ternal students is that of isolation. This isolation most, if not all, schools in Queensland are equipped from fellow students, teaching staff and the teaching with microcomputers, most of the college's external institution creates problems which include delays in students have access to a microcomputer, although receiving feedback and difficulty in making contact not all have access to a modem. with the right person to obtain answers to important questions. This can lead to high levels of student All students who enrol in the college's Graduate frustration and eventual drop out. Hence any tech- Diploma in Computer Education course must have nique which can reduce the feelings of isolation and ready access to a microcomputer. Such students improve communication between staff and stu- also have a particular need for prompt answers to dents, or between students, is worthy of consid- problems because even a small program "bug" can eration. produce unacceptable delays in completing computer assignments or projects. One such technique is electronic mail. In the Aus- traliancontext,Telecom's TELEMEMO service Staff involved in offering the Graduate Diploma in makes it possible to send or receive messages any- Computer Education course were not only keen to where. All that is needed is an appropriate terminal become more active users of electronic mail them- with the ability to connect to the normal telephone selves, but were also keen to foster the use of the lines. technology among all students, whether they were on campus or external. This report provides some details and results of a trial use of Telememo by a selected group of external Although staff were philosophically committed to students enrolled at Brisbane C.A.E. in Semester 1, the use of the new technologies where appropriate, 1987. there was understandable reluctance to make electronic mail an integral part of their teaching methodologies until they had answers to some key ques- SOME BACKGROUND FACTORS tions. For example: how many students would use it? Brisbane College of Advanced Education has ap- how often would students use it? proximately 1,600 external students, most of whom would the workload of staff increase or decrease? are teachers enrolled in courses at degree or gradu- should there by any restrictions placed on the use ate diploma level. of the system? Telecom is Australia's national provider of tele- how effective would the technology be in helping phone services. Telenemo, Telecom's electronic to remove fears of isolation? mail service, has since been incorporated into an and probably most important of all, expanded service call Keylink. how much would it cost? Most external students of Brisbane C.A.E. are resident in Queensland, Australia's second largest state The Co-ordinator of External Studies was a member in geographical area, and its most decentralised. of AOLIN (The Australian Open Learning Informa- Many schools in Queensland already have access to tion Network) and was aware of the infrastructure Telenemo and all regional education offices have that had been developed and of the assistance that been connected to the service. This implies that was available to assist those wishing to experiment increasing numbers of teachers, particularly the with electronic mail services. 404 391 ELECTRONIC MAIL-- A NOTE Not only does AOLIN provide easy access to electronic mail facilities, An electronic mail system involves the transmission it offers a number of other central services. These include: of messages electronically rather than by post. Nor- mally, electronic mail services makeuse of existing detailed on-line directory of members; telephone lines. Subscribers to electronic mailser- a public bulletin board for announcements of vices are provided with a mailbox which has been general interest. (Any member can add notes to described as taking the plaCe of existing office furni- the bulletin board and outdated notices are re- ture! There are in trays and out trays for unread and moved by the board manager.) read messages and files for storing receivedmess- an electronic newsletter of educational research ages. There may be one or more bulletin boards that being undertaken in Australia and overseas; allow the user to reach, or be reached by, other periodic computer conferences in whichany users quickly and there is normally a "cabinet" for members may participate; storing directories and distribution lists. There is user training in the techniques and management even a "bin" for discarding unwanted messages. of electronic mail and computer conferencing; a source of advice and assistance to members and The user of an electronic mail system myst haveeasy potential members. access to a computer or communications terminal. In practice, and for most users of such services in Australia, communication is viaa microcomputer THE TRIAL equipped with a modem and appropriate communications software. Messages may be sent directly via All 75 external students who were accepted for keyboard entry once connected to the systemor enrolment in the Graduate Diploma in Computer they may be prepared off-line on disk and sub- Education for the first time in Semester 1, 1987were sequently uploaded when on line. (This latterproce- advised about the electronic mail trial. They were dure is usually much better because it is cheaper further advised that if they wanted to participate in since, in general, most of the recurrent costs associ- the trial they had to contact the college, but only the ated with the use of electronic mail are a function of first 20 to submit their names could qualify. Mo- the time spent connected to the systems.) dems were available for hire at a nominal cost (AUS $25) for the semester. Once connected to the system the user is advised of any mail that has been received. This may be read in Soon after the semester commenced 20 students full or scanned and, if necessary, retainedon disk or had agreed to participate and 6 of these hiredmo- printed out as hard copy. Similarly, theuser can dems (and related software) from the college. As the check any bulletin boards by scanning headings semester progressed it became possible to add other and/or by reading full messages. These toomay be students to the system so that by the end of the saved on disk or printed out as required. Messages semester 22 were enrolle'I may be arswered immediately or may be saved for Participating staff, of whom there were 7, were en- answering at some future time. rolled in a separate division of AOLIN and the students were enrolled in their own sub division. (This THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN sub division in turn could have been further divided into sections and subsections, but this option was LEARNING INFORMATION not exercised.) NETWORK (AOLIN) All participants were provided with comprehensive AOLIN is an Australian based, independent and and detailed information about AOLIN and how to self-supporting network of groups and individuals access the system and read, and store messages. with a common interest in the use of information Each user had his or her own individual mailbox technology for communication, teaching, research secured by a password. In addition, two bulletin and administration at the post-secondary level. boards were established, one being accessible to Members of AOLIN communicate with each other both staff and students and the other being acces- via Telememo. This service allows the exchange of sible to staff only. electronic mail messages and telexes between those Staff and students were given different user profiles with access to Telecom Australia and to otherna- tional systems supported by Telecom. The three which defined the'r access limits and the facilities main objectives of AOLIN are to: available to them. One of the lecturers associated with the course accepted the position of system 1 Facilitate personal development in information administrator whose task was to continually mon- technology. itor system usage and make changes where consid- 2. Act as a clearing house for information tech- ered necessary. For example, the administrator nology research, news and literature. could restrict access to bulletin boards, limit those 3. Support systematic evaluations of information to whom messages could be sent or from whom they technology. could be received, control storage of mail, purge

392 4(,5 outdated inhrmation (storage costs money!), add Will not use next semester 5 and delete users, and exercise a number of other iii) controls on the system. The following conditions have to be satisfied before I can use Telememo. One important privilege given the staff was that they Three students indicated that they would were permitted to receive messages form, and send wait until their school obtained a modem, messages to, any mail box in the entire Telememo but the majority were hindered by the fi- system, whereas students were restricted to use within the division only. nancial and practical reasons, e.g. computer downstairs whereas telephone upstairs; Because all external students enrolled in the course using a friend's computer or a computer in a could not be included in the trial, care had to be study centre; limited budget and cannot exercised to ensure that those students not participa- afford to hire/buy a modem. ting were not significantly disadvantaged. In practice this meant that lecturers had to restrict The results of the questionnaire sent to those stu- their messages to those relating to the use of the dents who did participate in the trial are summarised system and to replies to specific requests. All mess- below: ages relating to course content had to be initiated by No. of participants 22 students themselves. No. of responses 10 In order to assist with the evaluation of the project, 1. In general I found the use of Telememo in participants were provided with forms on which the subject of (please circle one): they were asked to keep details ofmessage re- Great help 4 ceived and sent and of the time spent on the system. Some help They were also provided with a brief questionnaire 6 Little help to be completed and returned at the end of the No help semester. 2.The area/s in which the use of Telememo was helpful is/are the following (please explain briefly): RESULTS Responses included: sharing ideas (6); provid- Of the 74 students invited to participate in trial only ing quick and easy contact with lecturers (6); 22 agreed to participate even though the deadline sending and answering pleas for help (3); shar- for the receipt of repiies was extended. At the end of ing fears and concerns (1); solving adminis- the semester the total number of students still en- trative problems (1); having access to informa- rolled was 46, indicating a dropout rate of 38%. tion 24 hours a day (1). However, only one of the 22 students participating 3. In my experience the degree of difficulty in the in the trial had withdrawn. One can only speculate initial learning of the use of Telememo was: on the reasons but it cannot be assumed that partici- Considerable pation in the trial reduced the likelihood of with- Limited 5 drawal. Perhaps it is more likely that the moreen- Negligible thusiastic and committed students were the ones 5 who agreed to participate in the first place. 4.The source of initial difficulty was the following area(s): A questionnaire was sent to all students who did not participate in the trial and 12 responses were re- 5 students experienced difficulty setting the ini- ceived. tial software parameters. (This problem was related to the software provided with the modems The items posed and th3 responses were as follows: hired from the college.) i) The reason that I have not used Telememo is 2 students had difficulty ,understanding Tele- (Please explain briefly): memo vocabulary and 2 students indicated a)lack of modem 7 they were just "apprehensive about talking to b)lack of access to computer 2 faceless people". One student experienced no c) modems supplied from college are not 2 initial difficulty. compatible with the Apple computer d)lack of courage to try something new 2 5.In my opinion the use of Telememo for consid- e)I did not think it would help my study 2 eration purposes in the Graduate Diploma in Note: Some students selected more than one Computer Education has a: reason. High potential 10 Limited potential ii)Next semester/year I will/will not be using Tele- Low potential memo: Will use next semester 4 6.The changes/extensions to the use of Telememo

393 40f that I would like to use in this course are the The lecturer responsible kr the introductory fol lowing: Unit in the course received more than 60 mess- Suggestions here included: ages from students and sent the ame number, introduce an ice-breaking exercise; including replies to students. This was far in provide examination information excess of the number of messages sent to, or provide tutorial updates (?); received by, other lecturers. provide hints and helpful bibliographies; provide regular weekly schedules with information; COSTS allow students to submit all assignments by The table below provides some details concerning Telememo; the patter of use of the electronic mail system and provide more detailed documentation on the costs incurred. Costs are in Australian dollars to procedures. the nearest dollar. Costs include storage costs and One student wrote simply that it was "a great connect time costs. service". In addition to the costs shown in Table I, the costs of Participating students were asked to record AOLIN membership for the Semester was $150. their pattern of use of electronic mail in a daily Hence, if the unusual expense of $213 incurred by diary. This was meant to include such factors as one lecturer is excluded, the total cost of the trial time of the system, number of messages read was $1065 which equates to an expenditure of $51 and sent, destination and source of messages, per student. and the nature of messages. Unfortunately, only two students returned their diaries. (Perhaps the others were too busy to CONCLUSION help them or did not appreciate their useful- Electronic mail proved to be an effective supple- ness.) Despite this poor response it was interest- ment to the more widely used communication teching to note that niques in distance education. a) Students spent between 15 and 45 minutes Its use and potential were very much appreciated by each week logged on to the system. b) most messages were sent between students those who were involved. The fact that students used the system to communicate with each other rather than between student and lecturer.

TABLE I Pattern of Use of Electronic Mail

Feb March April May June Total $ $ $ $ $ $ Staff Costs 37 350 131 70 29 617 Student Costs 1 126 185 138 61 511 TOTAL 38 476 316 208 90 1128 No. of Students who used Telememo 2 13 22 17 16 Max. Experience per User Student 0.80 22 32 22 9 Min. Expenditure per User

Student 0.30 1 0.20 0.90 0.03 Average Expenditure incurred by Parti- cipating Students (22) 0.05 6 8 6 1 21 Average Expenditure per Participating Student (22) 2 22 14 9 3 50 * Includes $213 incurred by one lecturer communicating with others connected to Telememo, but not participating in the trial. These extraneous activities ceased soon after they were detected. ,I6 7 394 more than with their lecturers should not be regard- tions providing students have access to a computer, ed as a disappointment, because it clearly would modem and appropriate software. However, until it have assisted in reducing the sense of isolation ex- is possible to ensure that all students have access to perienced by most distance education students and an electronic mail service, its use will be restricted. can effectively be regarded as taking the place of the Its potential use as a transmitter of information or face-to-face interaction that occurs between stu- teaching material, or for providing tutorial and sem- dents in traditional on-campus institutions. This fac- inar support, and indeed for other functions associ- tor alone may have contributed to the reduced with- ated with distance education will only be fully real- drawal rate of the trial participants. ised when all students and staff have the ornortunity The trial indicated that electronic mail was a rela- of linking in. tively inexpensive way of enhancing communica-

395 408 A distance educationstrategy for Bangladesh DR. GUNVANT SHAH Professor and Head Department of Education South Gujarat University India

This paper discusses the role of distance education of the realities that exist, it is rather expedient that in the context of the Third World with a focus on we take stock of the situation before charting out a Bangladesh. Certain geo-political and sociocultur- strategy to use distance education. al realities of the Indian sub-continent seem to fa- Any strategy for distance education in Bangladesh vour distance education in more than one way. In has to be operationally feasible in the first place. developing countries, emergence of distance edu- Misplaced and misperceived priorities can harm a cation could be looked upon as a process similar to developing country because the resources are al- osmosis. It holds the promise of a new communi- ways scant and there is so much to do. It seems that cation process in which new ideas, attitudes and in Bangladesh distance education should address understandings might filter through to the mass of itself to the following areas in order of priority: the population. (1) universalisation of primary education and Bangladesh, with a population of 95 million (Bang- adult literacy, ladesh Bureau of Statistics, 1984) and approximate- (2) non-formal education programmes to reach ly 657 persons per square kilometre (excluding the out to the masses and riverside areas), is one of the most densely populated countries in the whole world. Its rapidly (3) supporting formal education programmes by: growing population suffers from all the problems of (a) school/college broadcasts and poverty, illiteracy and disease associated with the (b) teacher-training strategies through TV, Indian sub-continent. radio and micro-teaching modules. Most developing countries today have access to various mass media like radio and TV, but the reach UPE AND ADULT LITERACY of such media varies considerably with the level of development and size of individual countries. The Government is keen to eliminate illiteracy. This is clearly reflected in the following: Media utilisation varies from country to country as well. The potential audience for mass media in de- Only 26 per cent of the population is enumerated velopir ig countries is huge, predominantly rural and as literate and three fourths of the population are poorly edt, cated. The main emphasis of all educa- illiterate. A subsistence economy tends to enforce tional efforts in a developing country like Bangla- subsistence knowledge and through it the tradi- desh is to reach out to a vast number of people with a tion. In this vicious circle economic development view to making them more productive at the least cannot proceed at a desirable pace. The experi- cost per person. Mass media are well suited to this ence of those countries in the Third World which purpose. have enjoyed development success (is that they) Bangladesh cannot afford the luxury of accepting have also had a high rate of literacy. Though the distance education just because it is a new and reverse may not be true, there is no doubt that widely discussed idea. The high rate of wastage and education is not only a means to knowledge but repetition at all levels of education, the under-util- also moulds people's attitude towards life and isation of institutional capacity and an ineffective work. So while striving for attaining universal p-nlic examination system are some of the major primary education before the end of the Third weaknesses of the education system of Bangladesh. Plan, a substantial reduction in adult illiteracy Any thinking regarding a distance education pro- must be achieved by the end of 2000 A.D. (Plan- gramme for the country must not only be down-to- ning Commission, 1983). earth but productive. Of all the problems facing The Second Five Year Plan (SFYP) emphasises the Bangladesh today, none is so pressing as that of use of mass media to assist and accelerate the proc- improving the quality of the life of people, the ma- ess of development. The Plan identifies UPE and the jority of whom live below the poverty line. In view eradication of illiteracy as the two top most priorities

3964 ii 9 in the education sector. The question is how to use of a special building for the purpose would be mess media like radio and TV to strengthen the avoided. efforts connected with UPE and adult literacy. In Each community centre would have a teacher (from order to make the strategy operationally feasible and either the primary or the secondary school depend- result-oriented, the following input parameters ing upon availability) in charge of operating a TV set should be kept in view: and a transistor radio. The community centre would (1) Radio Bangladesh covers the whole country be open to all, and the person in charge would with national transmissions from Dhaka totall- operate the equipment and be responsible for maining around 19 hours daily. There are also six tenance as far as the maintenance schemes provide regional stations transmitting locally originated (see later). One TV hour best suited to farmers, programmes. Much of the programming is in workers and landless laborers would be designated Bengali, with some English and minority lan- as the Sonar Bangla Hour. Bangladesh Institute of guages, the latter especially from the regional Distance Education (BIDE) could be responsible for stations. the production of material. Two examples will give (2) Television transmissionis from Dhaka with an idea of how the whole machinery would operate. some regional relay stations.It was intended Experience in the Ivory Coast suggests that TV pro- that television transmission would cover 90 per grammes intended to increase farm production recent of the whole country during the period of sult in higher incomes for families. Parents who the SFYP. (3) The ilm Wing of the Film and Publication De- were reluctant to become literate themselves were very keen to send their children to school. TV pro- partment of the Ministry of Infccmation programmes should be so designed that adult learners duces films for exhibition at commercial cine- get all the advantages of learning from mass media mas and in their own 70 mobile cinema units. such as TV or radio. The Wing has a production unit and a processing and printing laboratory, operating both Project IMPACT (Instructional Management by Par- 16mm and 35mm. The films produced include ents, Community and Teachers) was implemented weekly newsreels and special news, cultural in the Philippines to test an approach to primary and documentary programmes for the Govern- education that would sharply reduce costs per stu- ment. There are cinema halls in most substantial dent without loss of educational quality. Canada's population centres, but the cinema remains International Development Research Centre funded largely an urban facility. the project, which was developed by the Centre for (4) School buildings are used for four to five hours a Innovation and Technology. USAID's (United States day on working days and are available for full- Agency for International Development) evaluation time use for about 200 days in a year. Further- of the project, based on a review of records and more, 400 community schools have been estab- interviews with parents, teachers and IMPACT offi- lished through Bank assistance all over the cials, is given below: country. Under the project, 100 or more primary school It should be noted that there is a connection be- students, divided into groups of 5-10, were tween universal primary education and the reduc- taught by intermediate (grades 4-6) primary tion of adult illiteracy. These aspects of the educa- school students using programmed teaching tion strategy influence each other. Television can be modules under the supervision of professional of Immense help in literacy efforts. A programme teachers. Parents and skilled workers served as like "Sesame Street" in the United States is an exam- community resource persons, and a local primary ple of how TV can be used for making children or high school graduate provided clerical, admin- literate. TV is now being used for adult literacy istrative and logic 'c support. programmes in Yemen, and alphabet trai ning is also Cost-effectivenes' -tudies and academic perform- given by TV. ance tests indicates :hat the project achieved its objective. An added benefit was the greater poise NFE PROGRAMMES FOR THE and personal initiative evinced by IMPACT students over their conventional counterparts, pos- MASSES sibly as a result of IMPACT's stress on independent A distance education network has to be geared to study and peer group interaction. Unfortunately, educating the masses irrespective of whether they initial project savings were not used to maintain are literate or not. It would be a good idea to locate qualitative levels in subsequent years (e.g. by re- one place in every village and name it the "commu- placing texts and equipment and repairing school nity centre". Such a centre could be either a primary buildings), resulting in declining professional sup- or a secondary school, depending upon the quality port for IMPACT. Parents viewed IMPACT as of building and availability of floor space. A madra- benefitting the brightest students, but as less suc- sah could also be used. It is hoped that construction cessful with average students (USA1D, 1982).

397 11 Project IMPACT has a transfer-potential for Bangla- SUPPORTING FORMAL desh because it: EDUCATION (1) is cost-effective, (2) ensures community involvement and It is envisaged that provisiot i of radio and/or TV time (3) is likely to succeed because it has been t.'d out on the national network would be relatively cost- in a Third World country. effective, as the structures of formal education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels do exist. TV A linkage between non-formal educational efforts and radio networks are available throughout the and the distance education network has to be en- country. BIDE caters for 1,062 secondary schools, sured in order to get the returns in terms of size of about 424,800 students and 10,620 teachers audience, community involvement and quality of through its regular radio and TV programmes. It also production. Below is given an outline of the action broadcasts a 40-minute radio programme on sub- programme that indicates how the whole machin- ject content daily, which is used both by regular ery would operate. students and by out-of-school youth. BIDE has a It is suggested that 12 Upa-Zillas be selected from pivotal role to play as it has a resource base for all each of the four Divisions and, within each selecteJ the activities connectiLLI with educational technol- Upa-Zilla (48), all the villages might be provided ogy and software production. It is quite gratifying to with a community TV set. It is estimated that each note that there is 95 per cent coverage by radio and Upa-Zilla would have about 150 villages. In order 85 per cent coverage by the TV nerwork. However, to start the community centres in the villages, the there are 148 persons for each licensed radio and programme would require at least 7,200 (48 x150) 465 persons for each licensed TV set. (Bangladesh TV sets. In some cases, more than one TV would be Bureau of Statistics, 1984). required, depending upon the size of the communi- Bengali is the major language spoken by one and ty. all, although there are also dialects and minority It is suggested that the task of maintenance would be languages. This is a truly advantageous position, as undertaken at three levels: it allows production of text books and support mate- (1) a centi al workshop for major repairs and storage rials in only one language. It also implies hat large- (2) mobile service units to cope vw.th routine main- scale oroduction of instructional materials would tenance, checks and breakdowns and result in reduction of unit costs. (3) first-aid maintenance, for instance, changing The Commission on Instructional Technology, in a batteries, by the 7,200 teachers in charge of the report to the President and the Cor,ress of the Unit- community centres. ed States, identified several pote 'benefits of Last but most important, the production of instruc- educational technology, as follows. Technology tional materials would require highly professional can: manpower, equipped with skills in film production, (1) make education more productive graphics and direction. The team of professional (2) make education more individual people would see to it that the Sonar Bangla Hour (3) give instruction a more specific base was very entertaining, educative and thus popular. (4) make instruction more powerful It would have to catch the attention of people, and (5) make learning more immediate and so the best skills of good production should be put to (6) make access to education more equal. use. In order to achieve a very high level of sophistication and quality of production, BIDE should be In order to gain all the benefits listed above, a well- made to play a very vital role. planned distance education strategy should be worked out with the involvement of the following Institutional reorganisation of BIDE might be necessary in terms of expansion and reinforcement to agencies: ensure the highest possible quality of production, (1) Bangladesh Television efficient distributive machinery and a built-in feed- (2) Radio Bangladesh back mechanism for continual improvement and (3) BIDF modification. BIDE might therefore ref;dire addi- (4) Film and Publication department of the Ministry tional manpower as well as enhanced capability of of Information the existing staff and material resources to prepare (5) Bangladesh Broadcasting Academy for the challenging task. (6) The Institute of Graphic Arts In the proposal on non-formal education that fol- In addition to regular broadcasting sessions for stu- lows, a detailed note on other non-media aspects of dents, BIDE should also develop programmes for non-formal education is presented. teacher training. In a report entitled Distance Educa- tion in Bangladesh a British Council team suggested the following for distance education in support of primary school teachers (1981): fn (1) The recent nationwide programme for the re- not used and only tape recorders are used. It must be orientation of primary teachers should be recognised that microteaching can also be resorted strengthened and extended through a course to without any hardware whatsoever; at some train- pitnared by BIDE using distance teaching ing colleges in India this has become a regular pac- methods. tice. BIDE should develop expertise in this area of ( 2) This course should be offered to all primary teacher training and produce modules of micro- teachers over a period of four years. lessons for training colleges. ( 3) A pilot version should be tested with 11,750 teachers, which would then be revised and used with the remaining teachers. CONCLUSION ( 4) The course should last 16 weeks and use print, It is suggested that in addition to the one TV hour radio, television and workshop/tutorials. suggested for non-formal education to reach out to ( 5) National organisations involved in curriculum the masses, TV and radio should also be used for development and teacher training should be supporting ongoing formal education programmes. involved in the preparation of the course mate- It should be noted that in 1983 there were 203,000 rials and in the training and provision of tutors. black and white receivers and 20,000 colour receiv- ( 6) There should be continuous assessment and an ers duly licensed (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, end-of-course examination, with the award of 1983:193). The task of reaching out to 15 million a certificate for successful completion. households is colossal, and it presents a challenge ( 7) Consideration should be given to the granting that deserves to be met squarely. of an extra increment or other inducements to those teachers who are successful. ( 8) There should he pre-course motivational programmes for all teachers. REFERENCES ( 9) A Project Co-ordinator should be recruited as soon as possible, followed by the appointment Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics 1984 and 1983. of two subject specialists. Statistical Pocket Book. (10) 470 part-time tutors should be assigned and The British Council. trained for pilot cycle, and this number should (1981). Distance education in Bangladesh: an implemen- be increased to 1,000 for the remaining cycles tation study by a British team (Maylune). of the course. Planning Commission. BIDE should use microteaching strategies for the (1983). Thoughts about perspective plan (Government of training of teachers at all levels, with or without the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka, September). hardware. ("Microteaching" implies that a small USAI D. content area is taught for about 3-7 minutes to four (1982). Project IMPACT evaluation report (Project IM- to five students.It also implies "simulation" in PACT: a low-cost alternative for Universal Primary Educa- teaching for development of teaching sk'lls like tion in the Philippines, no. 38. September). questioning, stimulus variation, giving ill, 'strations, etc.) Thetraining colleges in countries like India and the UK have used this training strategy with a certain amount of success. It can be made very cost-effec- FOOTNOTE tive if closed circuit television (CCTV) is not insisted i- ne author worked as Education Systems Specialist on a upon. Research has shown that the efficacy of mi- Fact-Finding Mission to Bangladesh appointed by Asian croteaching is not significantly reduced if CCTV is Development Bank, Manila, November 1984.

41,E 399 Distance education and national development: the Zambiancase RICHARD M.C. SIACIWENA University of Zambia Department of Correspondence Studies Lusaka Zambia

INTRODUCTION standards of living by increasing the productivity of small-scale agriculture, and Zambia covers 753,000 square kilometres in central (t.) raising the general !evel of education to develop southern Africa. Its total population was estimated a wide range of technical, administrative and at 6.73 million in 1985. The rural areas where most managerial skills to lessen the dependence on people live are characterised by sparse and scat- expatriate expertise. tered settlements (Central Statistical Office, 1986). (Sanyal et al, 1976:31) In pre - independence Zambia there was a serious These policies have put the emphasis on rural devel- shortage of educational facilities for the indigenous population at all levels. At independence (1964) opment and on mass participation in their formulation and implementation. However, the people can only 15 per cent of the men and 3 per cent of the only participate effectively if they have a certain women had more than four years of primary school amount of education. education. There were only 1,200 indigenous Zam- bians with full secondary certificates and just over 100 university graduates (Mwanakatwe, 1974; EDUCATION AND Alexander, 1975). This meant a serious shortage of DEVELOPMENT manpower. There is no consensus over the causal relationship At independence two thirds of adults over 21 years between education and development (see for exam- of age, out of a total population of 3.5 million, were ple Blaug, 1970). However, Tilak (1986) has noted illiterate (Mwanakatwe, 1974; Kashoki, 1978). Be- that education is being recognised increasingly as fore independence agriculture was seriously ne- an important commodity in itself and a source of glected despite its enormous potential (United Na- economic growth both at individual and macro lev- tional Independence Party, 1973; 011awa, 1977). els. Education is a great equalizer and increases the Agricultve extension services were restricted to quality of labour input leading to higher produc- non-Africans (Sanyal et al, 1976). tivity (Tilak, 1986). At independence the new Government of the Unit- In Zambia education is regarded as vital for eco- ed National Independence Party (UNIP) embarked nomic development and political independence. on development programmes aimed at overcoming (Alexander, 1975.) This is reflected in the ruling these problems. It relied on the education system as Party's policy on education: a major instrument of change. Education is the basis of national development... This article describes the extent and limitations of It is crucial to the development of the individual the formal school system and face-to-face contin- ,nd is an invaluable social investment which uing education and shows how distance education oarantees the expansion of society's productive has been used to address deficiencies and contrib- capacity... it is also an essential precondition for ute to socio-economic development. a viable democratic system. (United National Independence Party, 1973:51) DEVELOPMENT POLICIES Successful industrial development requires Zam- Zambia's ultimate goal of national development is bians with administrative and technical skills and economic and social justice between rural and ur- the Government's ultimate aim is compete Zam- ban populations. (See 011awa, 1977.) Since inde- bianization in the economic and social sectors. pendence therefore the Government's main eco- According to Daniel et al (1982:15) "the contribu- nomic and social goals have included: tion of education to national development could (a) narrowing the gap between urban and rural conveniently be measured by the degree to which a

400 413 nation's social, cultural, and economic aspirations face methods in most of the continuing education are served by its educational system." We therefore programmes. examine the performance of the Zambian education system in its two main forms; formal and continuing education. DISTANCE EDUCATION The problems of the formal st.:1:.,11 system and the THE FORMAL SCHOOL SYSTEM limitations of continuing education justify the use of distance teaching methods. There are a number of At independence the new Government embarked distance programmes. on a massive and rapid expansion of the formal education system to increase the output of educated manpower. Eansion was accompanied by the (a) DISTANCE TEACHING FOR abolition of tuition and boarding fees. FORMAL SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY As a result enrolment in primary, secondary and Established in 1964 the National Correspondence technical education increased by 43%, 69% and College t;.: the Ministry of General Education and 46% respectively during the 1970s. Teacher Train- Culture provides secondary education by corre- ing Colleges' enrolment rose by 84% while enrol- spondence to adults and also to teenage primary ment in the University of Zambia rose by 119%. school leavers in Supervised Study Groups. This (Central Statistical Office, 1986.) scheme enables many people, who would other- Despite this impressive record in 1986 "only half of wise miss the chance completely, to study for junior all the seven year old children were accommodated secondary and G.C.E. "O" level certificates. in Grade 1". (National Commission for Develop- The College's adult student population rose from ment Planning, 1987:297-298). In addition large 129 in 1964 to 32,000 in 1980 (see Ministry of numbers of children, particularly in rural areas, General Education and Culture 1982). In 1980 the leave school after lower primary (Grade 4) because Supervised Study Group Enrolment totalled 10,000 of a shortage of upper primary school places. (Central Statistical Office, 1986). Only about 20% of primary school leavers are able About 25% of adult students live in rural areas ;Na- to enter junior secondary and 50% of junior second- tional Correspondence College, 1980). Thus corre- ary graduates are able to continue to upper second- spondence education is trying to deal with the prob- ary education (Central Statistical Office 1986). Cer- lem of numbers as well as of the discrimination tainly many drop-outs have talents which they against the rural population which oral methods could develop with further education. There are tend to encourage when the institutions offering also problems of teacher shortage, and overenrol- face-to-face continuing education are concentrated ment which gives excessively large classes (Nation- in urban areas. al Commissions for Development Planning, 1987). Since 1967 the University of Zambia has offered With an average annual population growth of 3.6%, some courses to external students. In 1986 courses Zambia's school age population is estimated to in- leading to the Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Arts with crease by 629,000 between 1985 and 1995. This Education; and the Diploma in Adult Education will put pressure on educational facilities at a time were offered by COi respondence with a total enrol- when the country's economic problems have re- ment of 631 students (Department of Correspond- duced Government expenditure on education and ence Studies, 1987). training in real terms. (National Commission for Correspondence study also enables some internal Development Planning, 1987.) students who fail to progress on a full-time basis to continue thr:ir studies. Given the limited university CONTINUING EDUCATION facilities the scheme is significant in increasing the Efforts were made from the time of independence to overall enrolment of the University of Zambil. meet the educational needs of out-of-school adults. About 25 government, private and voluntary organizations have been actively involved in continuing (b) DISTANCE TEACHING FOR education in many areas, ranging from basic litera- SCHOOL SUPPORT cy skills to education leading to certification (see The Educational Broadcasting Services (comprising Ministry of Education, 1977). Educational Radio, Television and Audio-Visual Despite tremendous achievements, the country's Aids Services) were established in the early 1960s to needs in continuing education are "so vast and help improve the quality of instruction in schools. resources so inadequate that the existing pro- The specific objectives are to extend new curricula; grammes barely scratch the surface". (Ministry of enlarge learning experiences; and provide inexperi- Education, 1977:55.) Arguably, the problem has enced and undermotivated teachers with new skills been compounded by the dominance of face-to- nd approaches. The Educational Broadcasting Ser-

401 4 1 4 vices thus help to spread scarce specialist teaching CONCLUSION to all schools. (Ministry of Education, 1977.) Education by conventional means has serious limi- The Educational Radio Servicetransmitspro- tations which distance teaching has been used to grammes to over 2,000 primary schools, 120 sec- overcome. ondary schools and 14 teacher training colleges. One problem of media use in Zambia is that many Radio lessons are also broadcast to the students of distance education programmes have either been the National Correspondence College and those in inadequately evaluated or not evaluated at ali. This Adult Education Centres (Ministry of General Educa- raises the question of their effectiveness and rele- tion, 1982). vance. Also there does not seem to be any effective Radio lessons are dubbed on cassettes by the Audio- system of co-ordinating the various distance teach- Visual Service and lent to schools, especially those ing programmes (especially non formal ones) so that that find it difficult to schedule the radio broadcasts. various media and programmes can support each The Audio-Visual Aids Service also lends other other (see for example Alexander, 1975). teaching aids such as film strips and distributes and Nevertheless distance education offers an immense repairs audio-visual equipment in schools. opportunity for the Zambian Government to meet :c) THE MEDIA AND NON- the vast educational needs of its people thereby FORMAL EDUCATION facilitating economic, political and social development. In addition to its residential courses Zambia's Co- operative College provides education to rural adults through distance teaching media. Using radio, accompanied by handbooks and study guides, the REFERENCES college launched a National Study Group Pro- gramme in 1983. Its main aim is to improve "the Alexander, D.J. daily life of the population in the rural areas, (1975) Origins and development of University extension through active participation in the Co-operative in Zambia, 1966-1975. Occasional paper No. 3. Lusaka: University of Zambia Centre for Continuing Education. movement". (Co-operative College, 1985:4) Blaug, M. In 1983 about 100 district organizers and 2,000 (1970). An introduction to the Economics of Education. group leaders were trained. There were 40,000 par- London: Penguin books. ticipants in the study groups. The Co-operative Col- lege also provides correspondence courses for man- Central Statistical Office agers and book-keeping staff of co-operatives. (1986) Country Profile. Zambia 1985. Lusaka: Govern- ment Printer. Radio Farm Forums were introduced in Zambia in 1967 with the aim of: (i) educating small-scale Co-operative College peasant or subsistence farmers in modern methods (1985) Information about Aims, Objectives and Main 14r- of agriculture; and (ii) taking mass education to tivities of the College. Lusaka: Co-operative College. places which agricultural extension workers cannot Daniel, J.S., Stroud, M.A., Thompson, J.R. easily reach (Lubasi, 1982). (1982) Learning at a Distance A World Perspective. In ICCE Newsletter on Distance Learning Vol. 12 1/2 Pp12 In 1979 there were 722 Radio Farm Forums in the 33. country. The Rural Information Services of the Min- istry of Agriculture arid Water Development, which Department of Correspondence Studies is responsible for Radio Farm broadcasts also trans- (1987) Annual Report 1986,87. Lusaka: University of mits radio programmes for commercial and emer- Zambia Centre for Continuing Education. gent farmers (Lubasi, 1982). Kashoki, M.E. Zambia Broadcasting Services allocate a consid- (1978) "Zambia adult literacy Programme" In Ohanneb- erable amount of radio time for various non-formal sian, S and Kashoki, M.E. (1978) (Eds) Language in Zam- bia. London: International African Institute, p. 398. education programmes in adult literacy, health education, political education, nutrition, workers' edu- Lubasi, A.K. cation and science education. These are produced (1982) A Report of An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of by various ministries and institutions. Radio Farm Forums in Lusaka Rural. Unpublished Diplo- ma in Adult Education Dissertation, University of Zambia. Zambia Information Services publish and distribute six newspapers in local languages as a way of dis- Ministry of Education seminatinginformation;education isthereby (1977) Educational Reform Proposals and Recommenda- shared equally with the people in the rural areas of tions. Lusaka: Government Printer. the country. The Department also distributes book- Minibtcy of Education, Educational Broadcasting lets on various subjects and has in the past run film Services shows of an educational nature in the rural areas. (1977) Annual Report. Lusaka: Ministry of Education.

402

4 1 5 Ministry of Education and Culture 011awa, P. (1982) Annual Report for the year 1980. Lusaka: Printing (1977) Rural Development Policies and Performance in Services. Zambia: a critical inventory. Occasional Paper No. 59. Ministry of General Education and Culture, Educa- The Hague: Institute for Social Studies. tiona! Broadcasting Services. Tilak, J.B.G. Annual Report 1982: Lusaka: Ministry of General Educa- (1986) Review of the Book by Shah, K.R. and Srikantiah, tion and Culture. S. (1986) Education, Earnings and Income Distribution: Mwanakatwe, J.M. An Inquiry into Equity Issues Involved in Government Financing of Higher Education in India In Prospects Vol. (1974) The Growth of Education in Zambia since Inde- XVI, No. 4, 1986 (60) Pp 550-554. pendence. Lusaka: Oxford University Press. United National Independence Party National Commission for Development Planning (1973) National Policies fcr the Decade 1974-84. Lusa- (1987) Economic Review 1986 and Annual Plan 1987. ka: Freedom House. Lusaka: Government Printer. Sanyal, B et al. National Correspondence College (1976) Higher Education and the Labour Market in Zam- (1980) Annual Report. Luanshya: National Correspond- bia. Paris: Unesco/IIEP. ence College.

416 403 Distance education in the education of teachers JARLE SJOVOLL Norsk Laererhogskolelag (Norwegian Association of Lectures at College of Education) Norway

MODELS AND METHODS for Teachers. During the two year programme there were four such meetings annually, with weekend The four colleges of education for teachers in North- meetings between each main meeting and guidance ern Norway have since 1979 developed and imple- for the students in local groups between meetings. mented several special approaches to the education The structure might vary a little from college to of teachers. One is known as "decentralized educa- college; however, those in Alta, Tromso and Nesna tion for teachers". The development of this alterna- followed this pattern. The three years' of study was tive way of educating teachers arose from the seri- considered equivalent to the regular two-year study ous lack of teachers in Northern Norway for most of programme. post-war years. "Decentralized education of teachers" was one of the many steps which our The aim of this model is primarily to allow students National Assembly (Stortinget) introduced in 1979 to undertake higher education with a more reason- to improve education in Northern Norway. The ex- able period of absence from their homes and their pression "decentralized education for teachers" work at school. It is also an alternative for those who means that students could mainly live, work and have no opportunity to enter full time study. It aims study in their own district during mostof their period to secure a well qualified reserve of teachers for the of study. Theory courses, however, took place at primary schools. The programme attracted mainly central seminars, either at a college of education or women who had established a family before study- at a convenient central location. ing for a profession. The most obvious differences between dek.entral- Decentralized education of teachers was organized ized education of teachers and conventional meth- by the colleges of education but was in reality a ods are: cooperative project between the colleges and the students' local primary schools/communities. It dif- Study arrangements fered from a regular programme at an institution, in Methods of distance education and improvement the practical work at the schools, flexibility, and the in the theoretical education of future teachers. selection of students with links to the local commu- Continuous supervision. nity. It involved close cooperation between the col- The aim of the decentralized education of teachers lege lecturers, the school directors of the communi- was to select local students from the various districts ties, the principals and the teaching supervisors at in Northern Norway who liked living in this special the schools where the students had their practice. part of our country so as to stabilize the classroom Contact between these parties was through informa- situation for schools having difficulty employing tion letters, negotiations and meetings at school, teachers. Students had to demonstrate strong links telephone, conferences and courses. to their local communities. DISTANCE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT OF STRUCTURE A programme where the distance between the mother institution and the students is usually rela- AND ORGANISATION tively large presupposes new methods and routines "Decentralized education of teachers" is one of the of work. The relevant methods of distance educa- most comprehensive and radical attempts to create tion were applied to this specific situation. The syl- a new model for teacher education in Norway. Stu- labus of the college must be followed, but personal dents were employed at a primary school during contact between the teacher and the student is limit- their studies. At the same time, an experienced ed. Communication between teacher and the stu- teacher was engaged for their district. Theoretical dent is based on study letters, printed materials, courses, induction lectures, class projects, social compendiums, assignments, telephone, radio, vid- activities, etc., were organized during concentrated eo, film, tape records, visuals etc. Decentralized 2-week meetings at e.g. Bodo College of Education education of teachers used many new methods

4 1 7 404 summarized as follows: them to do a better practical job as a teacher than Written study guide. These were sent to students "ordinary" students. School directors, headmas- frequently. They might contain general advice on ters and teaching supervisors all agreed on this the coursework, commentaries on various books, point. articles or topics and study hints. The students were working on projects and un- Solving practical/theoretical problems. Assign- dertaking tasks which are quite a new contribu- ments were framed so as to connect the theoret- tion to the education of teachers, because of their ical and the practical sides of the programme. continuous practice in the primary school. Thorough practice in solving problems facilitates It is 5 years since the first classes graduated. So the the transfer of material from theory into practice teacher population is stable in the local school and vice versa. The structure of the programme districts. Only a few teachers have left the district. gave ample opportunity for relatively compre- This proves that organized recruiting is creating hensive work of this type during the three years of stability and continuity in schools, as was as- distance education. sumed in investigations on teaching in Northern Tasks in topics/projects across subjects. Students Norway (NOU 1978:50). were working with only one of the subjects Nor- The test of decentralized education of teachers wegian, mathematics and religious knowledge at also proved that an arrangement of study based the same time as they;...re taking education on various subjects, organized as a project with courses. This made it possible for them to deal the students working on e.g. mathematics, peda- with a lot of common subjects or problems in the gogics and practice at iiie same time, makes the light of a professional, pedagogical and practical objectives of the whole programme clearer. Stu- evaluation. The students were teaching the same dents experienced their education as very rele- subjects in the primary school as they were study- vant and meaningful. ing at the college. This was an important contri- Today there is a crisis in teacher education not only bution to the relevance of the experience and the in the rural districts of Norway, but throughout the transfer of theoretical knowledge to practical whole country. Distance education for teachers work. may be a possible answer. Its use to deal with a Guidance by the college lecturers during their crisis, as well as its relevance to local district policy visits to the local primary schools. and to the recruitment of women has shown its The lecturers' guidance covered both the courses value. The colleges of education have shown no and the practical work of the students. great interest in learning from the positive experi- Daily guidance by the teaching supervisor. The ences of the decentralized education. They prefer responsibility of the teaching supervisor was the business as usual. practical part of the profession. It included not only the work of the student in his/her own class, However, the decentralized education of teachers but all parts of the teacher's role: e.g. collegiate with varied arrangements of distance education matters, working with the families of the pupils, with regard to television, data systems etc, will instructional development, etc. probably be further developed. Telephone conferences for students organized in Perhaps in a few years this will be how higher edu- local groups. Telephone conferences were used cation is conducted in the local districts of Norway. for solving problems given by the college lecturers. These teleconferences were highly rated. Audio tapes for problem solving. Problem solving at teleconferences was recorded and sent to stu- LITERATURE dents for possible use in their own study. Individual telephone supervision. This form of Gotvassli, K.A. supervision was only given at the student's re- Stabile, kvalifiserte forskolelwrere til Nord-Norge. (PED- quest. Use varied, in part because of the busy AGOGEN nr. 6/1983). travel schedule of the lecturers. NOU 1978:50. LaTersituasjonen i Nord-Norge. RESULTS SjOvoll, j. Rapport om desentralisert allmennlmrerutdanning, Boda The reports on decentralized education of teachers 1983. show that: SI Ovoll, j. The students achieved a professional standard Altemativ hvrerutdanningsmodell. PEDAGOGEN nr. equivalent to that of "ordinary" students. 6/1983. During the whole programme students were dealing with practical problems, this enabling

405 418 Telecommunication and speech pathology SYDNEY STUART SMALE, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Melbourne, Victoria 3000 Australia

INTRODUCTION from target areas in the following states; Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, New South In Australia audio teleconferencing, using theregu- lar telephone network, is reducing communication Wales and Tasmania. Western Australia was not included as there was a survey of that state already costs, improving service to external learners and in underway by the National Centre for Research on speech therapy, helping clientswith communication Rural Education. disorders who are isolated from service providers. In Victoria, for example, teleconferencing, using The definition of disability used was that adopted by the World Health Organization, Geneva. the DUCT system (Diverse Use of Communication Technology), is being extensively used by the State In the context of health experience, a disability is Education Department to overcome the shortage of any restriction or lack (resulting from an impair- teachers in rural schools, to address the problem of ment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner reduced subject options and to increase the reten- or within the range considered normal for a human tion rates of students in their final two years in high being. school. This definition was used in the widest possible con- The flexibility and low capital and operating costs of text to include many conditions not normally con- audio conferencing makes this method of reaching sidered by parents or the community as disabilities, rural schools and individual students of special in- including learning difficulties, emotional and beha- terest to serving institutions and professions. vioural problems. This paper describes the development of theuse of Children with mild disabilities were not excluded. telecommunication technology to deliver speech Such children may be in need of such services, therapy programs to children in Australia whoare perhaps of a different kind, as frequently and regu- suffering from communication disorders and who larly as children with severe problems. are isolated from service providers. A severe handicap can be created for a child with a "mild" or "minor" disability if access to there- BACKGROUND quired services is restricted or prohibited by isolation from service providers. For example, in speech Distance and Disability. The use of the DUCTsys- therapy, such disabilities as speech and learning tem to provide service to children with communi- may be neglected or inadequately attended to since cation disorders. they are not life-threatening nor necessarily make a In 1981, Frontier Services, a Commission of the child unwell. However, st.ch untreated disabilities Uniting Church in Australia, at a conference of the can cause or contribute to other disabilities, e.g. the Isolated Childrens Parents Association, Australia, child with a learning disability may lose self esteem undertook a major research project. The project, and show behaviour problems. subsequently named, "Distance and Disability" Moreover, if parents decide to seek the best avail- was to be a contribution by these two bodies to "The able for their child, journeys to major towns or International Year of Disabled Persons". capital cities can be disruptive, expensive and ex- The objective of the survey was to seek to establish hausti n& irrespective of the severity of the problem. the prevalence of children with disabilities in isolat- If the family moves to be closer to service providers, ed areas, including numbers and location, how the there is also the loss to the employer for whom disabilities are affected by distance from service people with skill and experience are in short supply provision, and in what ways the needs of parents (if indeed, in such isolated areas, they are available and children could be met. at all). This economic factor alone could justify pro- A total of 1,220 parents responded to thesurvey vision of services by telecommunication systems.

406 419 The role that parents play in isolated areas is crucial. PROFESSIONAL MOBILITY They are the primary providers of care, the primary managers or their child's disability and tnerefore the An interesting sub-finding of the survey was the consumers of services planned to meet their chil- problem of Professional mobility, i.e. the frequent dren's needs. Whatever help was envisaged this role turnover of professionai staff working with service of the parent as care-giver had to be central and agencies. Doctors, nurses, teachers and others rare- technology had to enhance, not diminish, contact ly stay in small outback communities for more than with service providers. one or two years. This problem is particularly acute in Queensland where some vacancies for speech RESULTS OF THE SURVEY pathologists, for example, can take up to two years to fill and then be vacant again for the same period 1. A total of 1,220 parents responded by question- of time. The result is that outback people come to naire.Statisticalanalysis and extrapolation have a low level of expectation of the delivery of showed that there were approximately 5,250 basic support services. More specialised services do children with disabilities within the tai get area (a not exist. figure supported by other sources). 2. Over 50% per ant of the children had communication difficulties, nearly half in the moderate PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION to severe category, i.e. can only make sounds or can only understand or be interpreted by fami!y In February 1985, a preliminary investigation was members, or can only say simple words. This undertaken of the types of telecommunication facil- same proportion is found throughout all age ities available for speech therapy programs. groups although they are a slightly higher in the This investigation covered. 5-9 years age group. A. The application of telecommunication systems 3. Overall 59% of children have problems with to provide speech therapy services to children learning and most are in the moderate to severe with communication disorders; category, having problems in all areas of learn- B. Ways of providing assistance to parents in isolat- ing or with five out of six specific subjects. ed regions who had children suffering from com- 4. About half of the children were reported as hav- munication difficulties; ing some degree of limitations in behavioural C. Ways of improving the provision of continuing skills. About 2 in 5 have severe limitations, i.e. education services to speech pathologists work- they demonstrate aggressive and destructive being in isolated regions. haviour. About the same proportions have problems classified as moderate, i.e. they demon- The aim was to discover whether telecommunica- strate temper tantrums, attention seeking or tion systems can provide isolated families or profes- withdrawn behaviour, or very changeable levels sionals with increased access to information, and/or in mood. a broad range of services, which could help to bring about positive changes, (effective), in communi- Caring for these children must have a tremendous catively impaired individuals, at moderate or low impact on the lives of their families, for behavioural financial and time/energy costs. and learning difficulties should be seen in the social context of the child's life and environment. To leave the situation at that point (with all the many fine- Developments in three States. sounding recommendations) serves only to heighten frustration and further irritate the respondents. SOUTH AUSTRALIA In view of what had been discovered overseas, a Speech pathologists in the South Australian Educa- decision was made to explore the feasibility of using tion Department are based in regional centres in the terrestrial and satellite technology to deliver a range city and country and travel from their base Li the of services to children with communication dis- schools in their area. In the city, where schools are orders isolated from service providers. A major in close proximity, little time is wasted in travelling. guiding principle was that the technology used en- However, in country areas, speech pathologists can hance rather than diminish contact or interaction travel up to six hours to reach the schools and the between the service provider and the client. The children they service. Consequently, visits to distant survey revealed that the highest need of the parents schools are less frequent, and time spent on the road was communication with other parents in similar is a costly and inefficient use of the time of the circumstances and with various advisors. therapist. In an attempt to rectify this situation, trials were undertaken with the DUCT system which the South Australian Education Department was using for cluster and HUB Teaching. A trial was conducted in a local school with five children who had speech and/or language prob-

407 4'20 lems. The children and their problems were un- The objectives are as follows: known to the therapist situated at a distance from the school. A speech pathologist sat in the room with THERAPEUTIC OBJECTIVES the children. The Fisher Logeman articulation test 1. To provide parents, teachers and others with and the Renfrew action Picture Test were used to basic knowledge of communication develop- obtain samples of speech and language. The errors ment, disorders, prevention strategies and reme- heard via the DUC f were compared with the errors dial techniques. the speech pathologist heard in the room with the 2. To provide parents, teachers and others with the children. It was found that al l errors, except "Q" for skills and knowledge to collect and record com- "S" could be identified by the distant therapist. munication behaviours for analysis by the Seven further trills involving on-going therapy were speech therapist. initiated with a school 40 kilometers from Adelaide. 3. To provide parents, teachers and others with The school was chosen for distance and also acces- knowledge of different types of intervention pro- sibility in case of difficulties. The therapist who had grams available and to assist them to become already visited the school to ascertain the needs of facilitators for the implementation of these pro- the children was at one end of the system and a grams, teachers aide was in the school classroom. The 4. To provide families, schools and others with a seven trials were scheduled at a regular time slot consultative service in relation to communica- each week for one hour. Each child was on the tive needs, assessment and intervention tech- DUCT system for 15 to 20 minutes (approximately) niques. and the same time was spent after each session for 5. To provide continuing education activities for discussions between the therapist and the aide. Fol- speech therapists. low-up lessons were agreed and material sent usirg both mail and facsimile transmission. The teachers aide functioned as the "eye" if the therapist was TECHNOLOGICAL OBJECTIVES unsure what the child had said, or if there was a long 1. To accrue information and expertise in the appli- pause. The assessment revealed that all the children cation of satellite communications to distance had progressed. The child with a severe articulation speech therapy service delivery. disorder had made the most progress. Since these 2. To explore the possibilities of a mix of communi- first trials in 1985 other speech pathologists have cation technologies for service delivery partic- used the DUCT system with satisfactory results. ularly considering the use of teleconferencing, computers and video taping. QUEENSLAND 3. To consider support options available Austra- Speech therapy at a distance has followed a different lia Post, facsimile, computers etc. path in Queensland. Because of the vast distances, 4. To evaluate the effectiveness of the use of the the excessive cost of satellite transmission, the tele- satellite for the delivery of speech therapy ser- communication distortion problems due to extreme vices. weather conditions, therapy based on terrestrial net- These aims are addressed by the Exchange Series works using, for example, the DUCT system is via- pre-taped video programs which are designed to ble only for short distances radiating out from metro- help parents, teachers etc., gain knowledge of pat- politan and regional city centres. Instead, the Divi- terns of normal communication against which sion of Guidance and Special Education Support speech/language patterns of children can be as- Services of the Queensland Education Department sessed. Depending on feedback and the identifica- has created a number of kits which consists of five tion of specific needs, interventionist strategies can VHS video tapes (approximately 30 min each), and be developed. print material relevant to each video program. These videos have been professionally produced and are of excellent quality. The "Exchange Series" THE EXCHANGE SERIES has been developed primarily for parents, teachers and people interested in children's communication. The "Series One" consists of five programs which The rationale is that such information show how to provide a basic understanding of children's normal maximise communication development inthe communication development. The program titles home and classroom. Knowledge of normal com- are: munication development is helpful in understand- 1. What is communication? ing disorders. The exchange series, created and de- 2. The baby learns to be a communicator veloped by speech therapists, psychologists, par- 3. Communication skills develop as the child dis- ents and support staff, can also reach distant isolated covers more of the world. regions by the commercial and ABC networks on 4. Communication skills are used in the wider satellite. world

408 -21 5. Individual differences in communication. with the use of technology to encourage cluster The Exchanges Manual was written to help viewers network sharing of resources in country schools. benefit most from the programs. There are five sec- Technology has been defined broadly as the "strate- tions in the manual per program: gies, plans, procedures, software/courseware and equipment necessary to enable schools to link to- a) Overview of content. This section contains in- gether to share scarce resources to improve reten- formation from the video with expansion of spe- tion (Memorandum to Schools, Feb. 1987 see cific points, it is intended to be read before view- reference). ing and after participating in the course. b) New terms are explained in the overview sec- The objectives are as follows: tion. 1. To provide more subject choice in small country c) Issues. These are specifi.. topics for discussion. post-primary schools at levels 11 & 12 to encour- There is not necessarily a correct answer but they age students to remain at school. stimulate thought on program topics. 2. To use computer data bases of information to d) Activities. These are divided into activities for develop curriculum. home or classroom as relevant. A better under- 3. To explore the feasibility of using technology to standing of the will be gained if viewers can deliver student services such as speech therapy. relate ideas in the programs to their own experi- 4. To use technology for teacher in-service educa- ences. (However the activities are not home- tion programs. work!). The activities will give viewers some in- 5. To provide in-service education in the manage- sight into their own children's communication ment of distance education networks for school development. managements and communities. e) Readings. These are suggestions for further read- 6. To broader education of disadvantaged groups in ing on the ideas covered in the programs. The rural locations through use of technology. Speech Therapist in charge of the region can Object 3 was included as a result of the work of this provide the texts. author. Consequently, speech therapy trials are being planned in 1987-88 for the Mallee track and East Gippsland where the experience from South VICTORIA Australia and Queensland will be applied. Developments in speech therapy at a distance has To encourage a sharing of information and support occurred somewhat later in Victoria than in Soutch for staff working in the field who use, or wish to use, Australia or Queensland. The delay has been duc teleconferencing and related technologies, a regu- mainly to the erroneous belief that isolation in Vic- lar teleconferencing session linking staff across Aus- toria does not exist. This may be true regarding tralia now takes place. These sessions have proved distance; it is not true regarding isolation from ser- to be of great value to the participants who, in turn, vice providers which is acute in the northern regions share this aggregated information with fellow proof this state. As a result of this delayed entry Victoria, fessionals working within their State. has been able to benefit from the pioneering work in In summary a great deal of unique work is going on South Australia and Queensland and to take ad- in Australia in the field of speech therapy for chil- vantage of the trials conducted by the Victorian dren isolated from service providers. While conclu- Education Department in the "Retention program sions must be tentative, a few points can be made. for years 11 and 12 in rural schools". Those who wish to use of technology to counter The Victorian State Labour Government is commit- isolation should be aware of the following social ted to a policy of increasing the retention rates of factors. students in their final two years at high school. This A As staff working in isolated regions are under policy has an unstated aim of delaying student entry constant demand, extreme care needs to be tak- into a somewhat depressed labour market and in- en to ensure that they are part of the process of creasing the numbers of students in tertiary educa- decision making and able to see how what is tion (there is national concern about the small per- proposed lightens rather than adds to an already centage of students undertaking tertiary education heavy workload. compared to other countries). B People working in remote areas have a genuine The number of students at Australian secondary fear of being colonised by the major centres. schf)ols is declining. This is due to dropping birth C Those who work in remote areas tend to be inde- rates, and the end of the post-world war II baby pendent individuals who want to maintain their boom. With the decline in numbers there is also a autonomy. A link in a network threatens that decline in teachers and a consequent reduction in autonomy and independence. subject offerings. This problem is paticularly acute D The structure and status of isolated communities for rural areas and to meet this difficulty the Victor- makes for resistance to outsiders whom they per- ian Education Department has been experimenting ceive to be intruders.

409 422 INTERACTIVE MESSAGE DELIVERY Individual (school or at home) lo IHUB TEACHER class family

TEACHER

[LiHUB CLASS

NETWORKS Teacher (singleor team) and class,., ..

E A network linkage calls for a change in the exist- 9. Formation and participation in support groups ing order of procedures and work patterns; this by members of the communicatively impaired may also bring about a negative reaction. Atten- individual's family (parents/spouse, siblings/ tion must be paid to the comfort factor of the user etc.). in relation to his/her work as well as to the tech- 10. Formation and participation in support groups nology being used. by the communicatively impaired. These social issues must be given as much attention 11. Formation and participation in support groups by isolated professionals. as the technical factors. There are already examples of resources not being used, or being under-used, Clearly, the types of services offeredcan include because the time/cost, comfort factors were not per- anything that the creative individual can imagine. ceived to be sufficient in the trade off between local Services for individuals of any age, range, severity autonomy and the link with a major centre. Staff level, or type of problem, could benefit in some way turnover (normally high) requires a constant ongo- from a service offered via a telecommunication sys- ing process of education and nurture. tem. Finally, the following programs are being proposed and pursued in the field of speech therapy in Austra- lia: REFERENCES 1. Information based programs aimed at prevention, assessment, diagnosis and/or remediation Distance and Disability of communication impairments. (1985) A report of the Uniting Church, Frontier Services, 2. Assisted assessment/diagnosis via parents or Sydney Australia. para- professionals. Kilminster, M. 3. Consulting which could lead to changes in be- 11986). Use of Satellite Communications for speech ther- haviour-intervention. apy delivery. Department of Support and Guidance, Bris- 4. Intervention via appropriate training, feedback bane, Queensland. and monitoring of para-professionals (parents, Moody, J. teachers, etc.) who could assist in direct treat- (1986) Speech pathology at a distance, diverse use of ment. communication technology.Education Department, 5. Direct treatment by a qualified speech-lan- Adelaide, South Australia (1987). guage pathologist. Victorian Ministry of Education 6. Client management discussions with parents (1987) Memorandum to Schools (February) Melbourne and professionals, e.g., teachers. Victoria. 7. Consulting options with professionals from other disciplines or highly specialized "experts" (e.g. speech pathologist). 8. Continuing education and/or tertiary (under- 111 graduate or postgraduate) education opportuni- BIBLIOGRAPHY ties(particularly relevant for professionals working, in remote areas). Bowman, N.F. (1984)Teleconferencing for isolated teachers and admin-

410 1 23 Cole, C. Martin, J. Parsons, C. (1986) D. U.C.T. for speech-language pathology at a dis- (1986) Understanding communications development and tance, diverse use of communication technology. Educa- its disorders a program for parents, Lincoln Institute of tion Department Adelaide, South Australia. Health Sciences, Melbourne, Victoria. Bowman, S.N. A fuller bibliography will be available at the conference. (1987) Delivery of professional development by satellite video con ferencing. National Conventions magazine (February)

411 124 Increasing faculty involvement in distance teaching KATHLEEN STINEHART, Ph. D. 102 Scheman Building Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50010 U.S.A.

The literature on distance teaching documents tre- Table 1. Factors influencing faculty attitudes to- mendous growth in distance education prcgrams wards distance teaching (e.g., Dirr. & Katz, 1981; Keegan, 1982; Perraton, Category 1982; Rumble & Harry, 1982; Lewis, 1983; CPB, Factors Culled from the Literature 1986). There also is evidence of ongoing growth in Awareness of How aware are faculty members the adult student cohort participating in distance distance of distance teaching? Of their in- education (Frankel & Gerald, 1982; Waniewicz, teaching stitution's involvement in it?Is 1982). To meet the growing demand for academic awareness a precursor of involve- coursework offered at a distance from traditional ment? !Gaff, 1975; Lewis, 1983). university campuses, increasirc numbers of faculty The use of Does instructional technology in- members will be required to teach at a distance. Yet technology for form, or merely entertain? (Lewis, the literature of distance instructionis largely a instruction 1983). How i,--.1ropriate is dis- chronicle of faculty resistance to teaching via in- tance instruction for part'cular structional technology (e.g., Carnegie Commission subject matter? (Gaff, 1975; Ben- on Higher Education, 1972; Gaff, 1975; Dirr & ning, 1985).Is technology too Katz, 1981; Lewis, 1983). It is this contra-indication impersonal? Does it divert rein the literature increasing use of and need for sources that could be better used distance teachers yet resistance to telecommunica- for other purposes? (Lewis, 1983) tions teaching by current instructors that prompt- Doesinstructionaltechnology ed this study. have the potential to solve some Why do instructors resist distance teaching? What heretofore insoluble educational has motivated those who are participating to try it? prol .lems? (Harris, 1975; Potter, How can we increase faculty involvement in dis- 1981;Lewis,1983;Benning, tance teaching? The answers to these questions are 1985) important to the growing numbers of distance edu- Logistics How problematic is equipment cation administrators responsible for engaging tal- failure? (Partin & Atkins, 1984; ented faculty in the art and practice of distance CPB, 1986a) How about the extra instruction. The literature to date has provided no time involved in planning and firm answers to these questions. It has, however, preparing for distance teaching? yielded some descriptive information on the factors (Benning,1985; CPB, 1986a) that affect faculty attitudes towards distance teach- How problematic are scheduling ing. In this study the descriptive elements were lifted and exam arrangements? (Sachs, from the literature, classified into six categories, and 1983; Benning, 1985) How im- then reformulated into items on a questionnaire. portant is not having to commute The questionnaire was administered to a group of to off-campus sites or the flexibil- faculty at Iowa State University (ISU) a traditional ity gained by one-on-one tele- American campus-based institution with a small but phone conservations with stu- growing distance teaching program. The purpose of dents? (Benning, 1985) the study was to ascertain which factors carry tht. Quality in How adequate are pre-produced most weight in an instructor's decision to distance distance telecourse materials for university teach or to not. A summary of the factors appears in teaching instruction? (CPB, 1986a) Does Table 1. distanceinstructionpromote learner passivity or require better studyskills?(Benning,1985; CPB, 1986a) How does course

125 412 quality compare with campus- years at ISU) showed the inexperienced and experi- based coursework? (Di rr & Katz, enced halves of the sample to be essentially similar. 1981; Benning, 1985) Do dis- Faculty members rated the importance of each distance teaching technologies pro- tance teaching factor on a 1 to 5 continuous scale, vide additional resources for stu- where 5 indicated a positive attitude towards dis- dents that traditional classrooms tance instruction and 1indicated a negative atti- cannot? (Benning, 1975; CPB, tude. These ratings were compared to the instruc- 1986a) Do students learn as well tors' own indications of their willingness or un- through distance teaching? (e.g., willingness to teach at a distance. The instructors Heinich, 1983) Do instructor lis- were also invited to add written comments on the tening and communications skills questionnaire. Stepwise multiple regression, t-tests, improve through distance teach- cross-tabulations and frequencies were used to ana- ing? (Morishima et al.,1968; lyze the data. Benning, 1985) Institutional Do promotion and tenure practic- RESULTS support es support participation in dis- Multiple regression analyses identified the issue of tance teaching? (Gaff, 1975; Har- instructor control over the teaching-learning proc- ris, 1975; Dirr & Katz, 1981; Pot- ter, 1981; Heinich, 1983; CPB, ess as the single greatest predictor of willingness to 1986a) Does the pay received for teach at a distance. The more faculty perceived distance teaching as lessening their control over the distance teaching support faculty involvement in it? (Harris, 1975; course and the instruction, the less willing they were CPB, 1986a) Are adequate staff to try it. For faculty experienced in distance teaching, control was the dominant influence, while the services pro/ided for distance in- use of technology for instruction emerged as a sec- structors?(Gaff,1975;Field, 1979; Sachs,1983; Benning, ondary influence (see Table 2). For inexperienced faculty, control over the teaching-learning process 1985; CPB, 1986a) was the sole major determinant of their willingness Control over Does not being able to see stu- to try distance teaching (Table 3). None of the other the teaching- dents reduce an instructor's con- categories level of awareness of distance teach- !earning trol over the class? (Potter, 1981; ing, quality issues, or institutional support signif- process Partin & Atkins, 1984; Binning, icantly affected willingness to teach at a distance. 1985) Do pre-produzed telecourse materials lessen an instructor's control? (CPB, 1986a) Table 2. Stepwise regression effects of distance tea- Does working as part of an in- ching variables on willingness to engage in distance structionalteamoradapting teaching: experienced faculty teaching techniques lessenin- Independent Cumu- F- SignifVariable's (Field,1979; structor control? variable lative R value F coeffi- Heinich, 1983) Is distance teach- square cient (B) ing, ultimately, a threat to faculty jobs? (Field, 1979; Lewis, 1983; Control over CPB, 1986a) the teaching-learning process .359 26,98.00 .110 METHODOLOGY Use of technology for The population studied consisted of 139 ISU faculty instruction .434 18.00.00 .083 members, 76% of whom returned usable questionnaires. Instructors who had taught at a distance via videotape, audioconferencing, satellite, or through Noticeably absent in item-by-item regression analy- the use of pre-produced telecourses made up half sis was any significant correlation between an in- the sample. The other half was not experienced in structor's willingness to teach at a distance, and the distance instruction. response to the statement "Students learn as well Pearson correlation coefficients and Cronbach al- through distance teaching as they do in a traditional pha calculations identified validity and reliability classroom". This particular item on the question- for the instrument. The logistics category was not naire focused on teaching output i.e., the results used in some statistical analyses due to its low relia- of the instruction. Respondents in this study indicat- bility. A comparison of demographic variables (gen- ed their willingness to teach was affected by ques- der, tenure status, annual salary, professorial rank, tions focusing on input i.e., the provision of

413 126 Table 3. Stepwise ;egression effects of distancetea- Table 4. T-test cemparison of perceptions regarding ching variables on willingness toengage in distance institutional administrative support between faculty teaching: inexperienced faculty willing to teach at a distance and facultynot willing Independent Cumu- F- SignifVariable's to teach at a distance. Variable lative R value F coeffi- pooled variance square cient (B) Group n Mean F- t- 2-taildf Control over valuevalueprob. the teach- Group 1642.792 ing-learning 1.63'0.52 0.601 86 process 389 8.91 .01 .145 Group 2 242.704 p<.129

resources for students, adapting teaching tech- teach via telecommunications technologies doso in niques, etc. The results indicate that facultymem- spite of their rather low opinion of institutional ad- bers' opinions on how well students learn as a result ministrative support for the endeavour. Leftopen to of distance instruction (the output side of the teach- question, then, is whether or not a promotion and ing-learning process) do not significantly affect their tenure system that recognized distance teaching in a decision to teach at a distance or not. What does traditional university would significantly enhance affect that decision is the input side of the teaching- faculty willingness to participate. This issue will learning process: How much control they think they increase in importance for those campus-based in- hay' )ver the planning and delivery ofa course. stitutions actively seeking to expand their current ie emphasis on input was further supported by the distance teaching efforts. themes suggested in the cross-tabulations on dis- Faculty members are basing their decision to teach tance-teaching-experienced faculty. Although the at a distance on their comfort level with the amount data available for cross-tabulationswere insufficient of control they have over the teaching-learning to draw definite conclusions, preliminary results process in distance instruction. Those faculty who indicate that willingness to teach at a distance may see distance teaching as lessening their control over be partly a function of the distance teaching mode course planning and delivery are significantly less employed. Of the four telecommunications modes willing to engage in distance teaching thanare fac- surveyed, telecourse instructorswere the least posi- ulty who are not concerned with distance instructive about continuing to teach ata distance. Tele- tion lessening their control over instruction. cou rses represent the only mode where the coursework is pre-produced by "outsiders"; the other Evidently it takes experience with teaching tech- three (satellite, videotape, audioconferencing)in- nologies to be able to base a decisionon them. In volve instructor-createdcourses. Telecourse inthis study, experienced, but not inexperienced, fac- structors also felt they had less control over their ulty members' perceptions of the positiveor nega- distance learning courses than did videotape, satel- tive effects technology has on instruction servedas a lite or audioconferencing instructors; and they, secondary predictor of willingness to continue to alorg with the satellite instructors,were less posi- teach at a distance. tive about the quality of their distancecourses. Outsider pre-produced, as opposed to faculty-cre- Faculty opinions on the amount of institutionalsup- ated, telecourse and other learning materials could port given by Iowa State University for distance be perceived by faculty as lessening instructorcon- teaching were negative. Severalcomments written trol over the teaching-learning process,as well as on the questionnaire said distance teaching did not being indicators of the quality of a distance teaching help applications for promotion andtenure. Also, course. To the degree that distance teaching course- experienced faculty (and the overall total sample) work is seen as comparable toon-campus course- gave administrative support the second lowest work, faculty members are willing to participate in mean of all the categories. T-test results showed no distance teaching. "Comparable to" is evidently significant differences in theway willing and un- judged more on input factors (i.e., what the in- willing faculty perceived institutionalsupport for structor does) than on output factors (i.e., student distance instruction (see Table 4). achievement). CONCLUSIONS How can faculty involvement in distance teaching be increased? These results suggest that, undercur- The results indicate that full-time faculty ata major rent conditions, successful recruitment of distance research institution do not choose to participate in teaching instructors from the ranks of full-time distance teaching because theysee strong adminis- teaching faculty may best be encouraged by ad- trative support for distance instruction. Faculty who dressing the concerns faculty have about losingcon-

414 2. 7 trol over the teacning-learning process. The use of Field, Hyman H. delivery modes and formats allowing for the greatest "Role of the Faculty in Mass Media Courses". In Using amount of faculty control ("candid classroom" vid- Mass Media for Learning, pp. 63-8. Edited by Roger eotaping as opposed to pre-produced telecourses, Yarrington. Washington, D.C.: American Association of for example) may help to increase faculty participa- Community and Junior Colleges, 1979. tion. Increasing awareness of distance teaching and Gaff, Jerry G. then allowing self-selection on the part of faculty Toward Faculty Renewal. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, members may well encourage those instructors who 1975. have the fewest concerns about loss of control to Harris, W.J.A. come forward. Furthermore, instructional planning "The Distance Tutor in Correspondence Education". In and execution that recognize the authority of the The System of Distance Education: Papers to the ICCE course instructor as much as possible are likely to International Conference, pp. 198-202. Edited by Erling minimize faculty resistance. Ljosa. Brighton, Great Britain: International Council for Continuing education administrators should note Correspondence Education, 1975. the difference in views between inexperienced and Heinich, Robert experienced faculty members about the effects of "The Proper Study of Instructional Technology". Educa- technology on the instructional process. Inexperi- tional Communication and Technology Journal 32 (Sum- enced faculty are almost exclusively concerned mer 1984): 67-87. with control over the teaching-learning process. Keegan, Desmond J. Faculty experienced in distance teaching, on the "From New Delhi to Vancouver: Trends in Distance Edu- other hand, see the use of technology for instruction cation." In Learning at a Distance A World Perspective, as a co-determinant with control over tile teaching- pp. 40-43. Edited by John S. Daniel, Martha A. Stroud learning process in their willingness to continue and John R. Thompson. Edmonton, Canada: Athabasca distance teaching. University /International Council for Correspondence Education, 1982. Finally, these results invite traditional research- based institutions to look more carefully at how their Lewis, Raymond J. current promotion and tenure practices do, or do Meeting Learners' Needs Through Telecommunications: not, reward participation in distance instruction. A Directory and Guide to Programs. Washington, D.C.: Support from the institution is an essential ingre- American Association for Higher Education, 1983. dient for increasing faculty involvement in distance Morishima, fames K.; Schoot, Ernest H.; and Micek, teaching. Sidney S. Correspondence Study:FacultyEvaluation Seattle, Washington: University of Washington, 1968. Partin, George R., and Atkins, Elizabeth L. REFERENCES "Teaching Via the Electronic Blackboard". In Teleconfe- Benning, Marjorie rencing and Electronic Communications III, pp. 68-73. Compiled by Lorne A. Parker and Christine H. Olgren. "Considerations in the Instructional Use of Audio Confer- Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin-Extension, encing: A Faculty Perspective." In Teleconferencing and 1984. Electronic Communications IV, pp. 37-41. Compiled by Lome A. Parker and Christine H. Olgren. Madison, Wis- Perraton, Hilary consin: University of Wisconsin-Extension, 1985. "Distance Teaching North and South." In Learning at a Distance A World Perspective, pp. 16-19. Edited by Carnegie Commission on Higher Education John S. Daniel, Martha A. Stroud and R. Thompson. The Fourth Revolution Instructional Technology in Edmonton, Canada: Athabasca University /International Higher Education. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972. Council for Correspondence Education, 1982. Corporation for Public Broadcasting Potter, Geoff D. Research Notes no. 11 College Faculty Talk Frankly Satellite-Based Distance Education: Canadian Experienc- About Viueo, Audio and Computers: What Works in In- es, British Columbia, Canada: University of Victoria, struction, What Doesn't, What Drives Them Crazy. 1981. Washington, D.C.: n.p., 1986a. Rumble, Greville and Harry, Keith, eds. Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Distance Teaching Universities. New York: St. Mar- Research Notes no. 21 A National Study of the Educa- tin's Press, 1982. tional Uses of Telecommunications Technology in Amer- ica's Colleges arid Universities (Survey Year 1984-85) Sachs, Steven G. Washington, D.C.: n.p., 1986b. "Supporting Faculty Who Use Telecourses." Media Man- agement Journal 2 (Spring 1983): 60-2. Dirr, Peter J. and Katz, Joan H. Higher Education Utilization Study Phase I: Final Report. Washington, D.C.: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1981:

415 128 Evaluation ofcoursesandresources ORMOND TATE, Principal The Correspondence School, Wellington, New Zealand

SYSTEMS FOR TEACHING AT 90% of their time on first phase learning the Corre- A DISTANCE spondence School only devotes 13% of teacher time and spends only 26% of the budget on course Distance teaching at the New Zealand Correspond- design, development and production, i.e. to first ence School involves four systems: phase teaching. Not enough of this time and money 1. course design, development and production sys- in spent on course and resource evaluation no tem more than 3%. Yet it is important that students learn 2. teaching, marking, feedback system well first time, don't have to unlearn, feel they are 3. student support and guidance system being well taught, are learning effectively and are 4. storage, access, distribution and retrieval sys- making progress. The courses and resources are tem. visible evidence of the teaching of a distance education institution and the success of students in learn- These systems are not discrete but overlap and inter- ing from them affects status and credibility of the act, and some staff share their time between two or instructor. more systems) Course design and development relates to other systems (2) and this relationship has to be consid- FIRST AND SECOND PHASE ered in course evaluation, e.g. TEACHING AND LEARNING Is the course easy to teach from? Can it be easily In this paper teaching in the course materials is adapted and individualised? How long do sets of called first phase teaching. Subsequent teaching lessons take to mark? through marking, explanations, comments and re- Does the course provide for interaction, support medial or extension exercises is called secondphase and motivation? teaching. Similarly what students learn from the Is it easy to store, despatch and retrieve? course materials is called first phase learning and A relevant question is how much does it cost? What what they learn from feedback is called second resources will be involved in handling and teaching phase learning. The New Zealand Correspondence the course? School has an interactive adaptable system of despatch and return of course materials so that there are up to 15 separate despatches during the course. HOW CAN WE EVALUATE Courses are designed to be supported by second phase teaching. COURSES AND RESOURCES? Teachers also take a lot of time and trouble marking Courses and resources can be evaluated against student lessons positively, making encouraging criteria the achievement of objectives. Do the comments, writing supportive letters, suggesting students learn from the course what the course de- ideas, encluding supplementary resources with the velopers intended it to teach? Course objectives are returned work and adapting later lessons according at several levels and there may be objectives for to student progress. teaching/learning the subject as a whole, e.g. Despite this most of the student learning seems to mathematics teaching/learning the course, e.g. from 6 mathe- occur as they work through the sets of lessons, i.e. matics first phase learning. They certainly spend more time on this some 10 hours/set of lessons in one sub- teaching/learning in each assignment or set of lessons ject compared with about half an hour reading and responding to the teacher's letter, comments and teaching/learning in each lesson suggestions. Although students spend more than each teaching/learning point or activity

416

122 distance education rent's objectives b

Course Student's objectives objec 'ves

Figure 1.

Students, parents, employers, the community orso- 2. use of expert distance teaching and course de- ciety, the teachers and the institution also have ob- velopment experience and opinion jectives or at least expectations of a course against 3. feedback from those involved: students, parents which courses may be evaluated. See Figure 1. and teachers The Correspondence School has, for example, ob- 4. statistical data on outcomes: time taken, exam- jectives about course completion, student achieve- ination results. ment, teaching time, storage, despatch and retrieval 1. Sound Course Development Methods arrangements and costs for each course. Methods of course development should be based on: acknowledged education principles, e.g. in cur- FOUR MAIN METHODS OF riculum development EVALUATION sound distance education ideas Courses need to be evaluated during planning, de- accepted wisdom of course production velopment and operation. To evaluate courses and proven experience in distance education, and in resources assessment instruments are needed. the New Zealand Correspondence School. These can help in various ways to measure different Using such methods may not guarantee a good aspects of student learning against course and unit course, but will considerably lessen the chance of objectives. (Figure 2.) producing a bad one. If a reliable recipe, knitting The New Zealand Correspondence School uses four pattern or well-tried procedure for assembling a main methods of evaluation: kitset are followed the end result is more likely to be successful. Distance education courses are much 1. use of proven and tried methods and procedures more complex artifacts, but the first evaluation

course & unit objectives

converted into teaching conte t and abilities

teacher perception of student learning presented in the distance education A/ course 1.A student learning - interpreting and outcomes teacher responding to the teaching in observed student opinion in the light of ability performance on tasks set on achievement, experience, lessons s circumstances, help, and parent supervision. 1C7student and super isor opinion statistical data opinion

Figure 2.

417 4 30 question is: Are the procedures being used to de- ording or a computerised recording and analysis sign, develop and produce the course sound? system. Every attempt is made , ensure that the answer is c. Feedback from Parents or Supervisors yes by having a course planning and production i. time students take on a section or unit procedure, a curriculum committee and a teacher estimate by student or parent (3) with responsibility for course planning and devel- ii. questions students ask their parents opment. or supervisors 2. Expert Opinion iii. unwillingness/willingness to do the All stages of course planning, development and pro- subject and/or unitstudent interest ductioninthe New Zealand Correspondence or attitude to subject or unit School are evaluated by an experienced distance iv. difficulties students experience, e.g. educator called a presentation adviser-editor (PA). finding materials and doing the activ- There are 12 teachers who spend about 40% of their ities time on PA activities. For every 10 teachers in v. does the course meet parent or super- course development there is one PA. visor's expectations are the students learning what the parents ex- These presentation adviser-editors are teachers with pected them to learn? proven ability who have planned and written cours- vi. do students get a sense of achieve- es, taught these courses, learnt from student re- ment and progress? sponses, revised and improved their courses as a vii.the attitude of students when receiv- result. They know the students and their circum- ing postings of marked lessons and stances and have learnt what will be effective with new lessons. target students. They can work tactfully co-operatively and positively with teams of teachers writing 4. Statistical Data courses.2 a. Student Performance Gross Indicators i. enrolment and withdrawal statistics 3. Feedback Do the Students want the course? Are a. Overt or Explicit Student Reactions they satisfied with it when they get it? student reaction sheet with each unit ii. average number of units completed student questionnaire at the end of a by dropout point course sense of achievement and iii. rate of return of units, e.g. number of progress? sets of lessons/student student comments in scripts "I don't iv. time students take to complete each know", "I don't understand","I unit and the course' can't do it". v. preparedness to take next level of student comments at seminars and subject study centres does course or unit meet students expectations? b. Examination Results comments in student letters to their Public examination results are analysed teachers each year by pass rates for all students by provide question sheets student types full-time, part-time and b. Inferred Student Reaction (Teacher Com- students in other schools, for each subject: ment) Correspondence School students alone i. sections and exercises omitted in sets of lessons Correspondence School versus national ii. sections where work is done sketchily average iii. units and sections in which most Achievement by students in other schools questions are asked in Correspondence School subjects versus iv. common errors in practice exercises their achievement in subjects studies in and tests their home school. v. instructions misunderstood vi. areas of greatest misunderstanding c. Achievement of Objectives vii. sections where remedial teaching, re- i. Achievement on exercisesinthe sources are most needed units is analysed While much of the evidence may appear ob- ii. Achievement on tests. Each question jective the reasons for it must be inferred. Maybe in revision tests is analysed against a student isn't interested, was disturbed or sick. sets of lessons with the teaching for A sufficient sample of responses should guard that question. against such variation. iii.Achievement on final test or exam- Teachers need a procedure and sheets for rec- ination on the course. Each question Objective Teaching: Trying tc achieve Purpose objectives, Implementing the programme

Interpretation and (----- Assessment Outcome: Response, produce performance Judgement Instrument of Skills or ability shown... Measurement What can the student do as a result of the teaching°

Figure 3.

in the internal examination is analysed against sets It is certainly profitable to try out approaches and of lessons with theteaching for that question. methods informally, or base teaching on successful experience. But there are problems of: a. trying handwritten draft material which is not in COMBINATION OF METHODS final format b. trying resources with a few individual pupils Course evaluation if often an incomplete and un- who are not a representative sample clear process. There may be many indications that something is not right with a course, units in c. trying with classes in schools, not distance stu- a dents in the usual learning situation course or lessons in a unit, but the nature of the problem, reasons for it and how to remedy it may Many problems can be circumvented by sound not be easy to identify. One reason for this is that course design, planning and development proce- course evaluation is not absolute there is usually dures. In the Correspondence School the small two no objective standard or criteria against which to or three person course preparation team try out assess courses, and then evaluation requires judge- materials (i.e. objectives, plan, methods, etc) with ment based on the assessment information. a. other members of the writing team Evaluation = Assessment + Judgement b. department teachers who will provide the second phase teaching of the course While assessment or evaluation isin terms of c. presentation adviser-editor (PA) who acts as achieving objectives, these objectives may be inap- surrogate student propriate, poorly expressed, pious hopes, or inap- school policy checker propriate for the target students. The teaching may distance education methods adviser be good but the assessed activities and testsmay not curriculum development adviser follow from the teaching, may not test what was suggester of teaching methods taught, or they may be unstructured, and assessing logistics checker. only the total outcome. When assessments arecom- pared with objectives they may not correspond or One year supply of a course is printed and the have the same balance or emphasis. first year is considered a trial year. The department concerned: Consequently in course evaluation it is wise touse a variety of methods and data as indicated above: keeps a correction copy of the course expert course development opinion; student, super- monitors student feedback visor and parent opinion, and statistical data. records supervisor feedback See Figure 3. collects, collates and analyses statistics.

TRIAL OF COURSES AND RESOURCES COST EFFECTIVENESS The New Zealand Correspondence School does not An important part of course evaluation is relating carry out limited trials of courses before large scale perceived student learning to the costs of initial production, because it takes too long, is too costly development and production and then of ongoing and leaves evaluation too late in the course devel- maintenance of a course. This includes the ease and opment process. speed of handling the course, of marking and of

419 432 providing remedial resources or secondI. teaching. Depending on financial circumstances REFERENCES evaluation on cost effectiveness can aim at either: 1. Tate, Ormond, Systems for Teaching, 1. the same appa,ent learning for less cost Distance Education By Design, in Symposium 87 Pa- 2. more student learning for the same cost. pers Vol 2, Alberta Correspondence School, Canada, 1987. 2. Tate, Ormond and Wanda, COURSE EVALUATION STARTS Planning and Writing Better Distance Education Courses, WITH PLANNING Distance Education by Design, in Symposium 87 Papers Vol 1, Alberta Correspondence School, Canada 1987. It is clearly wasteful of resources for course evaluation to be delayed until the course is completely 3. Hathaway, Warren E, produced. Each stage from planning through devel- Quality Control in Correspondence Education, Distance opment to production needs to be evaluated. In the Education by Design, in Symposium 87 Papers Vol 1, Correspondence School the process is: Alberta Correspondence School, Canada 1987.

Course Reviews evaluation of all operating courses every two years

Priorities for Writing/Revision established each year

8 Year Writing Plan for all courses

Approval of Course Writing for next year

Authority to Commit Resources to Course Development

Course Planning, Development, Production

This involves evaluation at all stages as shown on the chart. The New Zealand Correspondence is attempting to place more emphasis and allocate more resources to both course development and to course evaluation. The latter is absolutely necessary if the former is to be effective.

t.134rb

420 EVALUATION New Courses Chanches in syllabus DURING Rewrite of PLANNING cexisting courses 8 year writing plan Correspondence School Department sets priorities; prepares plan Curriculum Committee Writing allocation: course co-ordinator Correspondence School writing team Policy Approval in principle Approval of course plan, resources and procedures Writingiporoval Writing team Presentation adviser-editor (PAE) V Detailed Course Plan

Writing begins EVALUATION DURING V WRITING Course Plan

....,...+"1"- Writing team ar Head of department ...... ftInternal editors EVALUATION 47,....'PAE OF COURSE Y IN OPERATION New Course 1 parents/supervisors it...... ' test results resident teachers examination results teachers/markers studentreactionre subjective feeling questionnaire time taken/ease of comments on work marking at seminars specific areas of concern questions asked errors notes parts done well/omitted statistics common errors enrolements/with- answers differ from drawals expected response average sets completed time taken rate of return detailed analysis of a sam- time taken etc ple of students work V Revised Course

4.34 Assignment turn-around time perceptions and processes DIANE THOMPSON and FRED CASTRO Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3217 Australia

INTRODUCTION After the student has enrolled there remains a continuing need for support and advice of many kinds. The Australian project on assignment turn-around A student needs academic advice, or teaching time began in March 1987 following a successful comments on assignments, directions to further tender for funding from the Standing Committee on reading, correction of errors, commendation of External Studies of the Commonwealth Tertiary Edu- what is good; it all amounts to advice and sup- cation Commission (CTEC) a statutory body port... (p. 66). which advises the Australian Government on the funding of tertiary institutions. The brief to applicants stated succinctly what the Committee wanted METHODOLOGY from the project: While the bulk of the research was carried out at Turn-around time for student assignments: what Deakin University in order to analyse one provider should be expected? how can it be achieved? in depth, we contacted other institutions to determine their administrative procedures and their per- Slow feedback is considered by mama to be a signif- ceptions of turn-around times. Differentiating be- icant contributing factor in the drop-out rates of tween theory and practice was not practical, how- external students. ever, outside the one case study. We hope this case This will be an investigation of educationally effec- study research will encourage similar studies of as- tive and cost-effective methods of reducing turn- signment turn-around. around time and could address: The first analysis was of computer records of 1986 factors contributing to delays in turn-around assignment traffic at Deakin University. Not all as- time; signments were handled by the central, comput- means of reducing turn-around time whilst main- erised system. In addition, omissions, apparent er- taining desirable standards; rors and inconsistencies, and assignments submit- educationally effective and cost-effective appli- ted after due date reduced the usable data. The data cations of technologies to reduce turn-around base left was far less substantial than first antici- time. pated: 24.16%, representing 6,564 of the 27,159 The literature on assignment turn-around time re- assignments that went through the central system. vealed pioneer studies undertaken by Rekkedal Since there was no indication that the computerised (1973, 1984) and Math (1975, 1979, 1980). The system did not function adequately as an assign- theoretical framework for studies of assignment ment tracking system until we manipulated the rec- turn-around was strongly influenced by the work of ords, we suppose that until a rigorous analysis of an Tinto (1979, 1982) on student attrition. Although institution's records is made it cannot be assumed the study undertaken here builds on this tradition, that the system is totally accurate, and meets re- two additional dimensions are covered: quirements. the administrative and academic processes of From the data we determined: handling assignments; the minimum, maximum and mean turn-around the various perceptions of students, markers, as- times as well as a summative statement for each signment handling clerical staff, student advisers, course; senior administrative and academic staff. the number of assignments submitted after the We were also very conscious of the importance of due date; assignment turn-around in the context of student the number of assignments that were returned support services. Indeed, the Standing Committee before the next assignment was due, and the on External Studies in its report to CTEC (1987) number returned at least ten days before the next made the following statement: assignment due date (where there was adequate

43.422 lead 'ime between assignments to accommodate (and especially those overseas) appear particularly this); and dependent on rapid return of their assignments. the number of final assignments that were return- Whilst clear and realistic guidelines should promote ed before the start of the examination period. efficient turn-around, it would be inappropriate to These facts were then compared to both students' specify an arbitrary period. It is necessary to recog- and markers' perceptions of assignment turn- nise divergence: in courses with weekly assign- around. ments, and where electronic mail is utilised, a turn- Questionnaires were designed so that the responses around time of more than a day may well be consid- could be processed using available statistical pack- ered excessive; in courses with two major essays a ages and the comments were handled manually. semester, using conventional postal services, a turn- 514 valid questionnaires were received from stu- around time of twenty-one days may be most ac- dents and 68 from markers, representing approxi- ceptable. It is apparent that students whose work is mately a 50% response rate in both categories. Con- sequential should receive feedback from their work clusions were drawn on a school (sometimes in time for it k. oe of use in the preparation of their course) for postgraduate and and.-yrgraduate levels. next assignment. Students whose work is below acceptable standard (especially when requiring re- Interviews were held with marke.s and course co- submission) need immediate indication. This sug- ordinators where either extraordinarily long or short gests that institutions will have to set their assign- assignment turn-around time was apparent from the ment dates more carefully and clarify the instruc- computer data and in response to questionnaire tions they provide to markers and moderators. As comments. At least two representatives from each of turn-around is a highly sensitive mater, we suppose the six schools and each dean, as well as student that successful introduction of gu delines requires advisors, key administrators and relevant staff from full discussion with the academic staff involved and computer services were interviewed. This helped some consensus. clarify what is likely to shorten or lengthen turn- around times. The research gave compelling indications that the promptness of feedback had a significant effect en the way the students perceived themselves, the CONCLUSIONS course personnel and the university as a whole. That assignment turn-aroundis of concern was Where return was handled efficiently students' mo- readily apparent. On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 rale and confidence were boosted. Conversely, anx- very unimportant and 5 = very important, 84% of iety, dissatisfaction and even hostility were generat- the 514 student respondents nominated 3 or above ed by tardiness. Whether assignment turn-around when indicating the importance of turn-around time has a causal relationship with students' results is for their study. Of these 23.3% selected 5. On the difficult to gauge. The clearest connection is where same scale, of 487 respondents, 90.7% (with students receive useful comments in time for them 55.2% selecting 5) nominated 3 or above to indicate to be applied to other work (including examin- the importance of having assignments returned in ations), so enhancing their results. Of general con- time to be of value in the preparation of their next cern is the possibility of a link between slo' eturn piece. Markers had very similar perceptions on this of work and attrition. A clear causal connection was point. 91.1% of the 68 responding, nominated 3 or found in one particular course but the situation was above, with 67.6% selecting 5. atypical: no assignments had been returned for the However, turn-around is not an issue of equal signif- first semester. In all other cases, students who com- icance to all students. Turn-around seems of less mented upon decisions to withdraw stated that as- significance students whose assignments have signment turn-around had no relevance, or was a little (if any) sequential relationship. Working on minor factor. isolated tasks, the pedagogical role of feedback is Many students slow their pace of study if they wait minimised and prompt return is significant only to for feedback before completing the next assign- indicate an overall standard. Students who are con- ment. This, in turn, slows turn-around time if the fident and experienced with off-campus study also students seek extensions. While some courses have tend to be less concerned with prompt feedback stated policies regarding extensions and penalties than their less confident, inexperienced counter- for late submissions without adequate excuse, in parts. Assignment turn-around seems most critical practice lateness is very common (9,930 of the for first year students (especially for the first assign- 16,626 assignments with full data) and excessive ment) or students who are involved for the first time lateness is rarely penalised. The situation is worse with a particular course, off-campus study, or the where it is stated policy and practice not to finalise particular institution. Those students who use other marks and return work until all assignments have feedback (such as telephone, electronic mail, study been received.It may seem logical that students centre contact) are, again, less dependent on assign- who submit their assignments late should have them ment turn-around. In this regard isolated students assessed at the marker's convenience and forfeit

423 4 3 6 their rights to prompt return, but, in practice, most context of assignment turn-around are the especial- markers find that work received late, often in ones ly conscientious markers who find the notional time and twos, is best marked immediately "to get rid of indicated (and by which they are paid) inappropri- it" and because, by then, standards and expecta- ate and for quite different reasons can feel a sense of tions have been established, the task is a quicker exploitation. The solution to this lies in better com- and easier one. Thus, ironically, these students are munication with those marking, especially when often the most advantaged in terms of turn-around they are part-time and isolated from the institution. time. It is students who submit early who seem to be Administrative procedures must support both stu- the disadvantaged group. While most students who dents and markers. As assignment turn-around is an fit this category do so for their own convenience, in important aspect of student support, a complete some courses early submission is advocated and assignment tracking system that provides accurate some students get work in early hoping to expedite and comprehensive records for all students in all return. What generally happens is that these stu- courses should be established. The system should dents work is held until the due date (on the pretext provide the date assignment is due, date of receipt that it is necessary to mark a sample before finalising from the student, date sent to marker (named), date results) and rarely do they then receive preferential returned from marker, and date returned to the stu- treatment. A reconsideration of policies on lateness dent.Facilities should be included to indicate and extensions, recognising their effect on turn- where work has been re-allocated, moderated, re- around time for students who do conform to the set submitted, and where an extension has been given. requirements, is therefore recommended. While it seems normal procedure to contact stu- If speedy return of thoroughly corrected assign- dents when their work is overdue by a set period, it ments is to be achieved, recognition needs to be seems desirable to have a similar alert for markers given to pressures placed upon markers. Although whose responses seem unacceptably tardy. This markers who choose to mark in several courses (and would also give a much earlier indication than is not necessarily with a single institution) bring such a presently the case where assignments go astray be- pressured situation upon themselves, those admin- tween the institution and the external marker. The istering the central systcm should probably be aim should be an assignment handling system that aware of this indication of clashes likely to lead to can operate as an effective information manage- slower turn-around. Distraction and competing ment system and provides regular status reports for commitments are major causes of delay. To assist the deans and course co-ordinators. efficient marking, it seems necessary to ensure that Handling assignments efficiently, therefore, de- markers receive clear indications of when assign- pends in large part on the attitude of all those in- ments will be sent to them, the form they will take, volved. Where itis a priority, assignment turn- the number they will receive and the datt. by which around is likely to be prompt. So the crucial thing is return is expected. to make efficient assignment turn-around a stated Just as it appears essential to give greater support to priority of the institution and to provide an effective inexperienced students, so too should greater sup- information management system that reflects this port be given to inexperienced markers. Not only priority. should they receive clear guidelines, but also fewer scripts. As students look for feedback on their efforts, so markers should be given a clear indication REFERENCES of how their work is perceived. Isolated markers are as vulnerable to lack of support as isolated students. Iliath, J.A. We suggest that teleconferencing should be used to (1975). "Submission density in nine correspondence enable markers working in common areas to com- courses", Pedagogical Reports, Department of Educa- municate. This would clarify expectations, help tion, University of Lund, Sweden. solve any problems and assist in standardising mark- !Math, I. A. ing. We believe that if markers were then more (1979). Correspondence education in the light of a num- confident about their task they would work more ber of contemporary teaching models, Liber Hermods, efficiently. Thus turn-around time should be re- Malmo. duced. Bilth, J. A. As the student's attitude is important, so, too, is that (19801. Postal two-way communication in correspond- of the marker. Some senior academics confessed to ence education, Liber Hermods, Malmo. a dislike of marking and a tendency to look for other Rekkedal, T. "more important" academic matters. A few part- (1973), (1984). "The written assignments in correspond- time assessors felt that they were "exploited" in ence education. Effects of reducing tumaround time. An terms of salary and conditions and thus it was not experimental study", Oslo: NKI-skolen Undervisnings- incumbent on them to inconvenience themselves to sentrum, English Translation, Distance Education 4, 2, complete work speedily. Equally a problem in the 231-52.

424

43 '7 Tinto, V. Tinto, V. (1979). "Dropout from higher education: a theoretical (1984 "Limits of theory and practice in student attri- synthesis or rec-_,nt research", Review of Educational Re- tion". Journal of Higher Education 53, 6, 19-32. search 45, 89-125.

425 1,38 Developing Non-Traditional Education in Hong Kong JOSEPH TUCKER Ohio University Athens, OH 45701, U.S.A. GLADYS WEI C.C. Wan Hong Kong Baptist College Kowloon, Hong Kong

THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM were 552,091 primary students; 55,000 form 6-7 and postsecondary students and 22,000 university The long tradition of an erudite Chinese culture and polytechnic students. In contrast to the United gre,`ed onto a colonial system which rewarded edu- States, where, according to UNESCO figures for cational accomplishments v,:th -ernment em- 1982, there were 5,355 students enrolled for ployment has produced a popular hunger for educa- 100,000 population, Hong Kong enrolled only tion infrequently matched in other parts of the 1,353 students for 100,000 population (Statistical world. Together with a belief in the virtue of hard Yearbook, 1985). work as a principal ingredient of study and a disdain for Western notions of individual differences in in- As one would expect, the system is conventionally telligence, this hunger results in strong family sup- structured. Decisions made at the time of entry de- port for schools and for the progress of students as far termine almost all of a student's course of study. The through the system as it will permit them to go modular course system is not a common usage. A (Brimer, 1985, p. 2204). clear distinction is made between degree holders and those who graduated from an institution grant- The system is highly competitive throughout. Stan- ing only a diploma. dardized tests are administered at several crucial steps. "The emphasis throughout the system is upon academic achievement and although there is the CONTINUING EDUCATION IN appearance of fairness, there can be no doubt that those who come from socially or educationally ad- HONG KONG vantaged home backgrounds have much greater op- Given the limitations on degree places, continuing portunities to enter tertiary education" (Open Edu- education, or extra-mural education as it is called at cation, 1985, p. 2). some of the institutions, is in great demand. Enrollment data from Hong Kong illustrates just how The numbers are impressive. The University of competitive and elitist the educational system is. Hong Kong averages about 24,000 enrollments per Table 1 year; The Chinese University 33,000 a year; and Enrollment as a Percentage of Cohort at Each Level Hong Kong Baptist College some 35,000 enrollments per yea' They obviously are helping to meet Level % a great need. But are limitations. Kindergarten 85-90 Primary 99 Many of the certificate programs, especially those at Forms 1-3 96 a higher level, have requirements similar to if not the Forms 4-5 60--70 same as full-time degree study. "There is thus a Forms 6-7, Postsecondary 8-10 tendency for opportunities in continuing education University and Polytechnic 3-4 to be constrained by the student's attainments in (full-time) secondary education: (Education Com- International Encyclopedia of Education, 1985 mission Report #2, 1986, p. 141). In approximate numbers, using 1980 data, there The Education Commission, charged by the Gov-

426 ----T:3 9 ernment to conduct a study of several areas of edu- if there is a reasonably close fit between that course cation in Hong Kong, stated in its second report in and the Ohio University course. If there is no fit, the August of i 986, that continuing education courses Division of Continuing Education hires a tutor to "do not lead into the mainstream of academic qual- assist the student. The Division of Continuing Edu- ification associated with higher education. They are cation adds a surcharge to Ohio University's fees to not building blocks; they are only self-contained help defray the cost of their services. vocational qualifications" (Education Commission Ohio University maintains total academic control: Report #2, 1985, p. 140). We will return to these admissions, examinations, grading and awarding of issues when we assess the future of non-traditional academic credit and control over all advertising for education in Hong Kong. the program. The limitations of the continuing education options, A brief analysis of background information on the coupled with the limited number of degree places 181 students enrolled in the program reveals that the and high demand, have opened the way for foreign mean age is 28.9, 55% are males, 31% are married institutions.,, survey conducted in 1987 identified and the average number of years of work experience twenty-six foreign institutions offering programs in before entering the program is eight. More than 90% Hong Kong. Fifteen of these institutions offered de- are employed in the private sector with adminis- gree programs ranging from the associate through tration/management comprising the largest single the master's. At least half of the programs involved work category. distance learning. Precise socio-economic data is not available, but the fact that 71% of the students attended govern- THE OHIO UNIVERSITY ment or government aided schools, rather than pri- PROGRAM IN HONG KONG vate (only 25%), indicates that the overwhelming maiPrity of students are not from the higher eco- Ohio University's Extern :I Program enables nomic strata of Hong Kong. a student to work toward a regular degree, usually the Bachelor of General Studies or Associate of Indi- vidualized Studies, by means of correspondence THE FUTURE OF OPEN study, course credit by examination, independent study projects, assessment of prior learning, CLEP EDUCATION IN HONG KONG tests and course work taken at a local institution. The present. of foreign institutions is indicative of The Ohio University credit options are considered the demand or non-traditional education in Hong resident credit. The student, therefore, does not Kong. The government has responded cautiously to need to come to campus. Consequently, students this pressure. enrolled in our program come from almost all fifty The Board of Education, appointed by the Gover- states and several foreign countries. nor, advises the Government on educational issues. Ohio University is offering its program in Hong The membership is drawn from the schools, higher Kong in cooperation with the Division of Contin- education institutions, sponsoring bodies and from uing Education of Hong Kong Baptist College a the community at large in so far as the individuals private institution recently brought under the pur- have demonstrated an interest in education and view of the University and Polytechnic Grants Com- training. For the most part, the Board advises on mittee. matters referred to it; on occasion, however, it can If overseas students can already enroll in our Ex- initiate issues for discussion (Brimer, 1985, p. ternal Student Program, what is unique about the 2307). Ohio University-Hong Kong Baptist partnership? It was just such a Board of Education initiative, What we have done is set up a system which pro- responding to interest in open education as well as vides a great deal more support and structure than is other issues, which led the Government to create a dormal for correspondence students. Visiting Panel to undertake an overall review of HKBC is involved in recruiting and preliminary education in Hong Kong. The review was undertak- screening, administration of several placement en in 1981-82 and the Panel's report "A Perspec- tests, providing advice on the appropriate program tive on Education in H- ; Kong" was issued in of study and making available a staff person to hand- November, 1982 (Educa,. Commission Report le general student problems. They also have ar- #2, 1986, p. 1). ranged for students to use the College library, hand- A major focus of the Panel's study was on open le all book purchases and administer course exam- education at all stages of education. The report inations. noted "access to education for all a any period of One of the most innovative features is the special life... ought to be a basic tenet" (cited in Education instructional help students receive. They are permit- Commission Report #1, 1984, p. 72). ted to sit in on HKBC continuing education courses Responding to the building interest in some form of

427 44i) open edut ation, the Government asked the Uni- Hong Kong. The Education Com, iission basically versity and polytechnic Grants Committee in July, deferred until a later date on the whole question of 1983 to consider the feasibility of an open university open education. It did, however, agive with the in Hong Kong. The UPGC is a quasi governmental UPGC in not recommending a sinsie institution as agency which acts as a buffer between the Govern- an open university. Their first report did state "we ment and the Universities and polytechnics. Its role are, however, very much aware of the demand for is to recommend funding levels for the supported more tertiary level opportunities and consider that tertiary institutions, approval of new programs and alternative forms of attendance should be devel- growth rates for the system. oped to allow for an expansion of educational op- We have been using the term open education but portunities at the tertiary level" (p. 75). what exactly did the Government mean by the term? There was considerable interest, therefore, in the An open university, according to government's second report of the Commission. Issued in August charge to the UPGC, is distinguished from a tradi- of 1986, the report stated "we consider that there is tional university in four ways: a prima facia case, both social and economic, for an Less rigorous entrance qualifications; study con- open education programme which will supplement ducted away from a campus as a norm; the majority conventional education and provide opportunities of students being employed; and distance learning for those who otherwise would be denied them" (p. methods being employed. However, standards of 139). The proposed program should also incorpo- attainment were to be similar to those of traditional rate the distance learning approach. universities (Education Commission Report #1, The report called for the five tertiary institutions 1984, p. 111). receiving support from the UPGC to form a consorti- To summarize the UPGC did not recommend an um, on a voluntary basis, to operate the open edu- open university based on the British model in their cation program. "The consortium should be the report. The UPGC stated that a single institution entity in which the students enroll, rather than in an devoted to open education would be too expensive individual participating institution, and the awards and the human resources were not available in given to students should be in the name of the Hong Kong. It also noted the lack of an appropriate consortium" (p. 153). home environment for such students. The report Many questions are raised by this recommendation. did, however, support open education in the sense But the fact that the Commission made it suggests that not one institution would be devoted to non- that the government will soon establish some type of traditional education but that the existing institu- non-traditional degree granting institution. As this tions could cooperate to provide degree programs to agency establishes itself and grows, the role of for- working adults by distance learning methods (Edu- eign institutions will probably change. They most cation Commission Report #1, 1984, p. 112-113). likely will have to establish cooperative relation- In April of 1984, several mcr.ihs before the UPLiS ships with individual members of the consortium if responded, the Governor created an Education they are to maintain a presence in Hong Kong. Commission; the Commission was created in response to the Visiting Panel's report. Its charge was: REFERENCES

1 to define overall education objectives, formulate education policy, and recommend priorities for Brimer, M.A. implementation having regard to resources avail- Hong Kong System of Education. In T. Husen and T. Postlethwaite (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of able; Education (Vol. 4). New York: Pergomon Press, 1985. 2 to coordinate and monitor the planning and development of education at all levels; and Deadline Data on World Affairs, 3 to initiate educational research (Education Com- 1985. mission Report #2, 1986, p. 1). Education Commission Report #1. The Education Commission became yet another ac- Hong Kong: Government Printer, 1984. tor among the several governmental agencie'n- Education Commission Report #2. volved with education. Just how the Commission Hong Kong: Government Printer, 1986. was to "coordinate but not seek to direct the work of the Board of Education, the UPGC and the Voca- Miners, N. tional Training Council" (Education Commission The Government and Politics of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1986. Report #2, 1986, p. 1) was unclear. A number of leading citizens of Hong Kong, both British and Open Education: Submission to the Education Commis- Chinese, were app( nted to the Commission. sion. Hong Kong Baptist College, 1985. The first report of the Commission was issued in Statistical Yearbook. UNESCO, 1985. October of 1984, several months after the UPGC The Hong Kong Education System. Government Secretar- had responded to the issue of an open university in iat, 1981. Distance education the trend setter AMELIA JOY TURNBULL Alberta Correspondence School Barrhead, Alberta Canada TOG 2P0

METAMORPHOSIS NEW WAVE In the last decade a metamorphosis has occurred. During the first half of this century, distance educa- Distance education in Canada has been trans- tion was viewed as a deviant mode of learning, and formed from the ugly duckling to the elegant swan. it offered no challenges to existing educational With this metamorphosis has come increased re- structures. Now distance education techniques are spect and credibility for distance learning. The qual- leading the way and transforming conventional ity of distance education is being widely recog- classroom methodol igy. Effective distance educa- nized, and the potential of this mode of learning is tion systems do not attempt to replicate traditional generating interest in educational, commercial, and methods of classroom instruction. Distance educa- political circles. Many educational authorities are tion is freed from many of the constraints of class- now seriously considering the possibility of distance room learning which is time and place specific. education providing a viable alternative to iabourin- One of the primary strengths of distance education tensive and increasingly expensive conventional is its student-centred approach to learning. By its teaching. very nature, its inherent flexibility, distance education can readily accommodate individual student needs, varying learning styles, diverse geographic GROWTH INDUSTRY locations, and erratic time schedules. The following Interest in distance education is not, however, being paradigm developed by Payne (1985:1) demon- driven by the power structures in society. The burge- strates the student-centredness of a distance educa- oning interest in distance education is coming very tion technosystem. much as a ground swell as more and more students opt for this means of furthering their education. Gough (1980:1) has described distance education as a growth industry in Australia and the same is certainly true in Canada. In the last ten years, registration in Alberta Correspondence School courses has doubled. During the 1986-87 school year, SUPPORT MATERIALS ASTUDENTS some 31,300 new students registered in 50,200 courses. In addition, some 7,000 students who were enrolled with school prior to September 1, 1986 continued their work on over 12,400 courses. ADMINISTRATION This trend towards an inc reasi ng demand for Alberta AND DELIVERY Correspondence School services is likely to continue because distance education enables students to achieve their educational goals in a highly efficient, effective, and yet personalized mode of learning. For many students, distance education or corre- Distance education technosystem. spondence education is actually the preferred form of learning as, according to Hathaway (1977:164), correspondence education comes closer to the ideal form of learning than does conventional classroom Distance education, so second best, is now part of learning. the new wave as distance education institutions are well positioned to take advantage of modern information processing technologies.

429 .442 PRACTICE OF DISTANCE ly structured programmes and has kept support ser- EDUCATION: THE ACS vices to a minimum. Nonetheless, individual needs APPROACH can be accommodated as students are placed at a level appropriate for them and they progress as their Distance education institutions have traditionally own rate. In addition, individual feedback and as- been viewed as equity institutions. They have pro- sistance is given to students when they submit their vided opportunities for students who could not oth- lessons for correction and whenever they contact erwise continue with their studies. the teacher by telephone. By delivering educational services to students in 3. Delivery and Administration difficult circumstances and locations, distance edu- In delivering educational services to students, the cation has contributed to the growth and devel- focus of ACS has been on offering programmes opment of the individual for the betterment of socie- which are independent of time and place since fixed ty as a whole. In filling this particular vacuum in the schedules and specific locations are not acceptable educational system, distance educators have devel- to correspondence students. Various experiments in oped approaches which many consider will be- broadcast and on-line systems have been conduct- come the norm in the future when highly person- ed and abandoned because they did not meet client alized programmes will be accessed at a time and needs and they were quite expensive. Consequent- place convenient to the student. ly, ACS depends primarily on the postal system for The Alberta Correspondence School (ACS)was es- the delivery of the learning packages print materi- tablished in 1923 to provide educational services to als, laboratory kits, audio and videotapes, andcom- students who did not have ready access to schools. puter diskettes. Since that time ACS has become an integral part of Other delivery strategies involve establishment of the educational system of Alberta. Its function today a study centre in Edmonton, utilization of computer is to provide opportunities for students with unique learning needs to continue their studies. networks, and collaboration with local school jurisdictions and educational institutions. The operation of ACS can be considered in terms of the three sub-systems identified by Payne (1985:1) Study Centre The study centre in Edmonton pro- materials, support, and administration and deliv- vides Edmonton area residents with ready access to ery. The essential purpose of each of these sub- ACS services. This centre handles local telephone systems is to meet student needs. inquiries, inperson registration, and testing facilities for students. 1. Materials Computer Networks The Data Base for Adminis- ACS has the capacity to produce instructional mate- tration of Correspondence Students (DACS) was de- rials in a variety of media e.g. print, audio, video, signed to aid in the processing and record keeping of and computer courseware. With the range of media registrations, sales and shipments, client accounts, and technology presently available, the course de- and student lesson and test results. This system has velopment team can select the medium which is facilitated the processing of student registration and both appropriate and motivational. Although print the tracking of student progress and has enabled is a very powerful medium which continues to be ACS to provide more efficient services toan ever most effective in delivering education at a distance, increasing number of students, with no increase in other media can be a valuable asset in the learning manpower. process. The media selected must, however, be ACS is also tied in to the E-NET system which allows - easy to use. it to communicate with participating school juris- - inexpensive. dictions and external agencies. - flexible as to time and place. readily accessible by students. Collaborative Efforts In addition to providing full - acceptable to students. instructional services to students, ACS has entered into many co-operative arrangements with schools 2. Support and colleges. The level of service varies according The model of distance education which has been to local need. ACS may supply instructional materi- widely adopted in Canada is Peters' industrial mod- als, offer instruction in only a portion of thecourse, el. Peters (1983:95.-113) has established that learn- or administer examinations. ing at a distance is an industrial form of education ACS has, of necessity, been sensitive to client prefer- which is highly cost-effective. Consistent with this ence and has concentrated on developing pro- model, ACS has devised systems that offer quality grammes which can be accessed at a time and place educational services for approximately one quarter convenient to the student. Such arrangements give of the cost of classroom instruction. Since ACS must the student a large measure of control over the learn- provide extremely cost-effective services to a large ing situation, and this undoubtedly contributes toa number of students, the School has developed high heightened sense of personal effectiveness.

430 NEW SYSTEMS FOR A NEW AGE educational services.In future, we can expect teachers to deliver their services to students. They 1. Influence of Prevailing Technology will reach the student through various media. The The educational system of today is a product of its students will be regarded as consumers of educa- time. It is part of a very long tradition of students tional services and the educational authorities will travelling to the teacher. In the past, most students be involved in marketing their products and ser- could walk or ride to the small local school. Others vices. Students will be in a position to direct and travelled long distances to boarding school. Only control their own learning and to demand person- the privileged few were educated at home under the alized educational services designed to meet their guidance of a personal tutor. unique needs. As Western society changed from an agrarian socie- The industrialrevolution freed us from heavy ty to an urban/industrial society, new technologies manual labour. In the information society, we will led to the development of new structures and in- be freed from arduous mental labour. The shift has stitutions in society. The educational systems were been from muscle power, to brain power, to mind affected as profoundly as any other segment of so- power. The industrial revolution created a demand ciety. During the period of industrialization, the for goods. The information processing revolution transportation technology advanced rapidly and will create a demand for services. In this new age had a dominant influence on social structures and emphasis will be placed on humanizing our struc- institutions. tures and institutions and personalizing services. 2. Maintaining Equity The tools are now available for our society to build powerful distance learning systems which will pro- In Alberta, the drift to the cities accelerated during vide personalized educational services. In the next the 1940s and 1950s, and the small rural schools few decades,the telecommunication-electronic were no longer viable. The solution to the problem technologies will enable us toalter radically the way of providing ready access to educational services we deliver many educational services. Then we will was found in the well-developed transportation be able to focus on the development of the human technology. Rural schools were consolidated and mind and spirit to its full potential. Distance learn- students were bussed to central schools. ing will set the trend in education into the twenty- Since then, the rural population has continued to first century. decline and transportation costs have increased dramatically. Eventually the reality had to be faced that further centralization was no longer feasible. Even though transportation technology has been exploit- BIBLIOGRAPHY ed to the fullest, in the thinly populated regions it is no longer logistically possible for busses to deliver Gough, I.E. all students to schools every day. A new solution to Study Centres in Distance Education Report to the Tertiary the problem of providing equitable educational op- Education (Deakin University, Gulong, 1980). portunities for all students regardless of location and Hathaway, Warren circumstance has to be found. A Cost-Benefit Study of the Alberta Correspondence 3. Personalizing Education School, Alberta Education, Edmonton, 1977. Now we must turn to the new information proc- Masuda, Yoneji essing technologies to solve these problems and to The Information Society As Post Industrial Society (In- build educational systems appropriate for the post- stitute for the Information So.-iety, Tokyo, 1981. industrial society. In the information age, education Paine, Nigel will not be confined to the classroom. Students may "The use of new technologies in open learning."I.C.C.E. have little need to attend school on a regular basis. Conference Papers 2271, 1985. The new technologies will take learning to the stu- Peters, Otto dent rather than transporting students to the halls of learning. "Distance teaching and industrial production: a comparative interpretation in outline." In Sewart Keegan. and The telecommunication-electronictechnologies Holmberg eds. Distance Education: International Per- will also reverse the traditional direction of access to spectives (Croom Helm, London, 1983).

431 144 Special education personnelpreparation: An integrated distance education model DEBRA T. VEIT, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR THOMAS W. SILEO, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MARILYN K. JOHNSON, PROFESSOR MARGARET R. LOWE, INSTRUCTOR University of Alaska, Anchorage, U.S.A.

INTRODUCTION dents who are native Alaskans and those who represent other cultural and linguistic groups. Many of The Board of Regents of the Iiversity of Alaska has these students have special education needs com- delineated special education as one of five state- pounded by bilingual and multicultural differences. wide programs on the Anchorage campus. The Spe- cial Education Program at the University of Alaska Since many educators reside in rural and/or remote Anchorage offers Alaska's only accredited certifica- areas as described above, there are few opportuni- tion and Master's Degree Program in Education with ties for professional development due to limited an emphasis in Special Education. The intent of the access to universities. The result of this isolation can program is to prepare quality professionals who be devastating to morale, competency, and job have competencies in basic special education and longevity. High attrition is a common phenomenon assessment and intervention techniques to work in rural and/or remote regions; personnel seldom with children and youth, at the elementary and/or remain longer than two years. Many elementary and secondary levels, who are identified as learning secondary educators are not trained adequately in disabled and who may also manifest concomitant effective teaching techniques for handicapped stu- behavioral problems. Upon completion of the spe- dents who, because of federal legislation and least cial education program, graduates are prepared to restrictive enrivonment considerations,willbe work as resource/teacher consultants; itinerant/ma- placed in regular classroom settings for at least a terials specialists; and/or, self-contained special portion of their day. class teachers. We describe two federally funded projects awarded The University of Alaska Anchorage also offers an to the Special Education Program at the University undergraduate non-certification minor in special of Alaska Anchorage. education for elementary and secondary education students who have an interest in working with handicapped student populations and who plan to RURAL SPECIAL EDUCATION PRE- enroll in a graduate program in special education SERVICE PROGRAM upon completion of their baccalaureate degrees. All The project is designed to provide pre-service train- coursework in the undergraduate concentration ing in the area of special education to educators meets prerequisite requirements in the graduate cer- who reside in rural and remote areas of Alaska. The tification or degree program. target population includes teachers who are prepar- The State of A!aska covers a land mass of 587,500 ing for advancement or career changes, or who are square miles, while its population slightly exceeds teaching mainstreamed handicapped students. Ge- 450,000 people. Most of the population resides in ographical constraints prevent them from attending the Anchorage area, but there are 150 communities campus. with populations of less than 5,000 people. Approx- The objectives include two phases. Phase I consists imately 40% of all Alaskans are located in commu- of the development of approximately 33 semester nities of less than 1,000 people. Most of the rural hours in core courses (introductory concepts, be- communities are accessible only by light aircraft, as havior management, teaching techniques, and indi- road systems to these areas are almost non-existent vidualization skills) and specialized coursework and distances between these villages are substantial. (theory, rural special education considerations, assessment and intervention) followed by practical The 55 school districts in Alaska serve many stu- field experiences. Attainment of competencies is

432 1 15 accomplished through: course syllabus, assignment sheets and a course a. lecture/discussion matrix/calendar which outlines learning activities b. audiovisual presentations (dates for audio-conference, class meetings, assign- c. texts and additional printed material ments and examinations). It is extremely important d. resource speakers tr) provide students with a timeline to prevent their e. examinations getting side-tracked during the semester. f.presentations of case studies One of the drawbacks of distance education is the g. simulation and role playing activities; and, students' lack of connection to a program/instruc- h. practicum experiences tor. Course matrix outlines are one way to ensure Phase II of the project involves the delivery of cour- some connection and structure. At sites where there sework. This is to be accomplished via the Alaska are one or more students, participants are encour- Telecommunication System, a network with three aged to meet with their group on a weekly basis to types of communication technology. These are used view and discuss video lectures. This group meeting separately and together and include: also provides students with a sense of belonging and a support network. Instructors and project staff offer a. audio-conferencing (speaker-telephone systems) additional support to students via telephone, letters, b. video and audio cassette instruction; and on-site visits, and audio-conference calls. c. computer service (to deliver instruction and serve as a "mail" exchange) One on-site visit is made to each location on a semester basis to foster program involvement and student support. This visit serves as an opportunity RURAL SPECIALIST PROGRAM for students and UAA Special Education staff to The Special Education Program has been awarded a meet. Students indicate that faculty visits help them second Rural Special Education Grant by the U.S. to develop a sense of being connected to the Uni- Department of Education. This grant project focuses versity. Once they meet faculty members, their moon developing and implementing a pre-service per- tivation increases to complete the coursework and sonnel preparation program which includes compe- to enroll in additional courses. tencies in special education, counseling, and sub- UAA's faculty feels the best use of audio-conference stance abuse counseling/treatment. The program is time is to provide another means of student support. designed for regular and special educators at the Each course has four audio-conferences throughout graduate level who reside in rural/remote regions. the semester. Three audio-conferences involve all These educators currently work with linguistically sites and include all students enrolled in that partic- and culturally different learning disabled students. ular course. The purpose of the call is to make Through this grant students can receive a Master's course announcements and to provide students Degree with a rural specialist emphasis in Special contact with each other. The instructor plans a topic Education. for each audio-conference and serves as a monitor Phase I of the grant concerns development and im- for student interactions. The fourth audio-confer- plementation of interdisciplinary graduate level ence is an individual point-to-point conference be- coursework in special education, counseling, bi- tween the course instructor and site participants. lingual education, substance abuse and research. The purpose is to provide students with an opportu- These courses will serve as a component of the nity to discuss individual concerns. existing campus program. All rural delivery courses The drop-out rate is usually higher with distance are identical in content and requirements to the delivery courses. Studies have indicated that dis- campus courses. An on-campus instructor is as- tance delivery courses have a drop-out rate that signed to each course. ranges from a 30% to 90%. The reasons fora higher drop-out rate include peer pressure, weak facilitators, and lack of student support systems. Research DISTANCE DELIVERY MODEL must be conducted to determine the best methods to The distance delivery program courses are identical keep the attrition rate as low as possible. As faculty to courses offered on campus with the same in- continue to deliver courses to rural/remote areas, structor and course content. Instructors prepare 10 they compile feedback and suggestions for the im- to 14 video or audio cassette lectures. Courses are provement of the project's service delivery model organized into three modules; the material for each system. module includes corresponding video/audiotape Suggestions to reduce attrition rates include strong lectures; a printed module handout booklet with facilitators at each site; setting scheduled meeting individualclassoutlines,lecturenote-taking times among students at each site; unscheduled guides, class handouts, and related articles; and telephone calls to students to assess their progress; supplemental materials for class assignments. In ad- and instructor site visits at the beginning of each dition, each course provides a printed booklet with semester.

433 146 Faculty involved in the special education distance education is a viable delivery system, and, with the delivery programs at the University of Alaska An- continued support and flexibility of both students chorage are enthusiastic about the prognosis for the and instructors, the system can be extremely bene- projects. The list of ideas regarding program refine- fival to students who teach in rural Alaska. ment continues to grow. They believe that distance

434 .:" Higher education and equity; instituting policyawareness ARMANDO VILLAROEL Universidad Nacional Abierta Venezuela BETTY LAMB VILLAROEL Universidad Simon Bolivar Venezuela

Although equity as an ideal has enjoyed a history at nents since it is often claimed to rule out excellence least as old as the beginning of public education in in education. Equity may even lose ground as an the Original American Colonies, the policies meant educational goal unless parameters delimiting how to promote equity (perhaps due to their very nature) it is to be pursued are established. are often ambiguous and always subject to a great At the risk of over-simplifying, it is hard to imagine many interpretations. Any expectation that man- that intelligent people may fail to realize that these kind may be approaching this ideal would probably goals are not necessarily mutually exclusive and be said to be premature. In some countries, equity that educational technology might be used to facil- may no longer seem important. There is more in- itate searching for solutions. And if this underlying formation than ever before and technology seems to assumption is accepted, distance mode higher edu- be on the brink of making it all readily available, at cation appears to have the potential to become one least in the so-called developed countries. But what of its most powerful vehicles. Understanding a bit about in other parts of the world? In much of the about the definitions and workings of policy is one world, equity and access to update information in means of initiating increased policy awareness. We higher education remain wishful, albeit, admittedly hope ideas expressed here exemplify some of the saleable ideas. The call for equity in the seventies kinds of issues to be dealt with in enhancing policy has found an advocate. A number of higher distance awareness. institutions such as the Universidad Nacional Abier- ta (UNA) of Venezuela were founded on this princi- Despite the fact that educational policy can be de- ple. fined in numerous ways and analyzed from many perspectives for different purposes, we have select- Establishing policies for providing education in the ed the following descriptive definition for the pur- less developed countries (LDCs) has become an poses of this paper. Educational policy can no long- extremely complex task. Policy makers worldwide er be accurately thought of as a statement of the face the prospects of rapidly changing job markets, decisions and goals of the administration from the growing numbers of workers whose skills are obso- top down. Policies are defined as an understood lete and outdated systems of education. It could be direction or governing thrust that may be implicit said that nowadays every educator makes policy. or explicit and may be authorized, enacted and Perhaps administrators of higher distance universi- implemented or simply implemented which es- ties should examine the potential benefits of helping tablishes goals, standards and set procedures. In educators become more enlightened policy makers. some policy analyses, the whole concept of policy The expected outcomes of increasing or decreasing breaks down when contradictions in policies or mis- equity have not all been analyzed. LeaUers may implementations are discovered. This leads to the prefer to ignore the results of increasing equity if assertion that the systems analysis approach lauded they could, but the implementation of policies at all by most distance education institutions may need to levels of the university, may or may not foster equity extend to the testing of the interplay of operational and they may be contradictory. Distance universi- level policies against a backdrop of the principal ties are different from their traditional counterparts. policy directions which should promote both self- There may be a need to increase the analytical correction and increased congruency. awareness of the principal policies governing these Equity is defined, for our purposes, as the offering of institutions. Furthermore, equity has some oppo- access to similar educational opportunity and pro-

435 148 vidin, adequate means of acquiring information major failure of schooling. It has sometimes been and wledge, relevant both to the individual's traced to various kinds of distance barriers: geo- and society's needs. In light of the current economic graphical, socio-economic,psychological-peda- conditions in the LDCs, however, this opportunity gogical and information-communication differenc- must be delivered without exacting an unduly high es. In the literature on various aspects of education cost to either. Moving towards these goals of equity some of these barriers appear, perhaps a bit masked, depends in large part on the overall success of the under diverse sub-headings such as lack of verbal or distance education mode. mathematic aptitude, socio-economic handicaps In this paper we analyze how and under what cir- and other so-called educational deficiencies. They cumstances distance education could become an also appear in studies which discuss number and important vehicle to bring about increased educa- reason for drop-outs, and other socio-economic tional equity. We begin with some general consid- hindrances. It seems obvious that lack of access and erations about the relationship between this partic- self-fulfilling prophesy can be even more definitive ular educational mode and equity. Then some fac- than the factors previously mentioned. tors and sets of factors which may affect this The existence of a total distance university presents relationship will be indicated through a brief analy- an opportunity for access to higher education for sis made within the context of the UNA of Venezue- many who for a number of reasons have been up to la. The UNA as a distance learning institution is now excluded, for example, those who live in re- engaged in a continuous struggle to promote dis- mote areas (beyond commutable distance from the tance learning in Venezuela, assessing its ability and nearest tertiary institution), those who hold full time potential for bridging more gaps. jobs, those who have insufficient grade point aver- Third World politicians may have helped the cause ages or entrarce examination scores to enrol in a by selling the idea of distance education both to particular major or university. For others, to enrol in government leaders and to those who lacked other a university at a distance such as the UNA in Vene- educational alternatives. Perhaps because politic- zuela may be a matter of choice, for instance, those ians tend to look for solutions which appear to be who prefer the distance approach to that of the more immediate, some have proposed that a distance traditional mode. mode of education would be useful in handling At the social level, the total distance university has previously unsolved problems such as those related been proposed as a means of slowing the migration to the lack of educational equity. Thus, a rather out of these areas which as well as being underpop- powerful myth was propagated linking equity to ulated, possess fewer economic and social re- distance education. in the positive language of po- sources and some of the lowest educational levels litical promises an open university creates the possi- per capita. It is partly because of the new potential bility of higher education for all. Few if any of the audience being reached that the possibility of rais- early educational planners involved in the creation ing the local levels of educational mode has been of UNA would agree that the politician's goal was considered worthwhile as a means to enhance equi- either feasible or desirable. ty. Despite some distance education organizers', plan- In as far as there is multidirectional communication ners' and implementors' warnings that the distance and central-regional participation in the setting of learning mode might not be the panacea for lack of priorities of activities in the local and regional cen- places available in the national university system, it tres, a distance university can foste- and support has served to reduce the pressures in the areas of finding local solutions through special programs to space and placement. At least in Venezuela, it cur- fit the needs found in each specific geographical rently remains as the most visible if not the only area. In fact, finding personnel suitable for such known means for potentially increasing equity. tasks locally is often extremely difficult. A central- The question of existence and continuation of an ized university which administers a vast network of innovative mode of education such as distance local and regional centres should be able to dissemi- learning is a topic not lightly dismissed by policy nate general information more efficiently. makers and educational planners associated with One of the principal problems of distance educators such institutions who have witnessed both the flour- in the central office is weaning the students and ishing and the demise of a number of them. Finding tutors from the idea that in the absence of face-to- itself somewhere on a continuum between the poli- face instruction, a surrogate person must be provid- tician's panacea for higher education and total uned to teach. A premise of this approach is that the acceptance, university study at a distance in the text and materials can facilitate learning through LDCs has been justified by the attention it could prescribed student interaction with them. This is bring to a number of issues previously untenable. assessed ideally in a non-face-to-face situation. This In looking at traditional schooling, the clear and matter appears to involve far more than re-educa- continued absence of equity might be called the tion and remains to be accomplished.

4361,1, i_i The difficulties in surmounting distance barriers may seem self-evident, but identifying the sources BIBLIOGRAPHY of these difficulties in order to propose workable Casas Armengol, M. solutions has sometimes remained elusive. It is felt "Ilusion y realidad de los programas de educacion superi- that an adequate description must go beyond an or a distancia en America Latina". Trabajo presentado analysis of the factors involved to the relationship of ante el Seminario lbercamericano sobre Diseno y evalua- those factors to each other (sub-sets) and to the tion de programas de educacion superior a distancia whole (sets). Some sort of hierarchy must be estab- (Santiago de Chile), 1981. lished in order to begin to carry out this task. Daniel, I. Concurrently, distance has provided both obstacles "The future of distance teaching universities in a world- and opportunities to increasing equity. Redefining wide perspective". En Evaluation del rendimiento de la distance in a number of ways which include other ensenanza superior a distancia. Congreso internacional relationships and circumstances, plus those which de universida des abiertas y a distancia (Madrid: UNED, refer to the usual temporal or spatial remoteness, 1984). should help to widen equity through the distance Holmberg, B. mode. "Status and trends of distance education". (Lund, Suecia: It seems clear that even though the results of DE Lector Publishing, 198.5). were unplanned and even debunked by some of its Kaye, A., and Rumble, G. founders, DE may in fact have fostered and promot- "Distance teaching for higher and aduk education". (Lon- ed unforeseen benefits in Venezuela. This paper don Croom Helm, 1981). from its beginning has discussed some of the means Rumble, R. and Harry, K.E. it may employ to educate in the future. These are "The distance teaching universities". (London: Croom expected to cross multifarious barriers including the Helm, 1982). regional barriers of distance and isolation.Itis thought that by directing the present structure away from traditional university practices towards attaining some of the innovative goals of a total distance teaching university that increased equity will be found.

437 15 0 Teaching atadistance and learning in the community two initiatives to increase educational choice in rural Australia

MIKE WALKER Director, North West Council for Community Education Burnie, Tasmania GERRY CROSS Superintendent, Secondary Education, N.W. Region Burnie, Tasmania RODERIC GROSVENOR Secretary, Schools Board of Tasmania Sandy Bay, Tasmania

1 THE BACKGROUND on Education and Technology which highlighted the pctential of information technology for educa- The N.W. Council for Community Education was tions Given the long standing interest of one of the set up in 1979 in response to Government concern authors (MGW) in distance education, the Council about the low participation rates in "post-secon- endorsed his recommendations that it concentrate dary" education.' on telecommunication in education for 1986 and This term causes some confusion, but the majority 1987. view then in the N.W. Region was that it embraced all education "after high school", which in Tasma- nia, ends after Grade 10, when the School Certif- TELECOMMUNICATIONS FOR icate is issued. As there was then no provision at all INCREASING CHOICE AND for higher education in the N.W. Region, which DIVERSITY POST GRADE 10 comprised 25% of the population, the Council con- The initial experiments in this were conducted in the centrated its efforts initially om getting local provi- Southern Region of Education. Basically the thrust sion of higher education and better access to ex- was to link a Hobart Senior Secondary College (Ros- ternal study. ny) with two country District High Schools, which However, the major student group has always been cover the K-10 curriculum (Oatlands and Triabun- the mature-age part-timer and it has become abun- na) to include Grade 11 English and Biology. The dantly clear that a major objective of Government is evaluation of this has been reported elsewhere.' to increase full time participation by young students as noted at the 1983 ASPESA Forum.2 A Composite Class for Language Teaching Early in 1987 money became available to purchase The Council therefore decided to direct its efforts equipment for experiments in the N.W. Region of more to the factors affecting the flow-on post grade Education. It was decided that the initial experiment 10. It developed a Mission Statement embracing this would be to teach Indonesian at a distance and at and highlighted debate on these in its 1984 and Grade 8 level this was a little outside the guide- 1985 Annual Conference.'' lines of the project, but it was in response to a real From the 1984 conference came specific recom- problem, i.e. limited expertise in the teaching force mendations on "How to Keep Kids at School Volun- and real, but limited, demand for the language in tarily"it was decided to concentrate during 1985 any one school. on implementing one such recommendation. The equipment initially purchased was three "Hy- "Community Based Learning contracts" as a way of brid" group terminals from the Brisbane C. A.E. On increasing not only the relevance of school for the the advice of one of the authors (MGW) these were more practical students, but also choice and diversi- modified to take headsets as well as microphones. ty for very small numbers. This limited the number of participants to four but At the end of 1985, there was considerable interest with the great advantage of "duplex" (two way) in the report of the Australian Education Task Force audio, rather than "simplex" (one way) initial

438 151 experience with teleconferencing had shown signif- THE POTENTIAL FOR icant resistance of some teachers to the strict protocol required with simplex audio. TELECOMMUNICATION IN EDUCATION IN THE NORTH The initial step was a teleconference between the three schools chosen for the experiment (Latrobe, WEST Rosebery and King Island), the N.W. Council and The Negatives: the Northern Territory Correspondence School, The population density is such that e.g. there is only which has a well developed Indonesian program. one Telecom teleconference bridge in the whole of As a result of this, the Correspondence School Tasmania and the facsimile machine that has been agreed to provide copies of the resource tapes and installed at King Island District High School, is the assignments used in its correspondence packages to only one on the island. the Tasmanian schools and the composite class of There are very few technicians capable of installing 12 grade 8 students (4 each at the different schools) and maintaining such equipment and there were an had its first tele-lesson on May 13. inordinate number of technical problems (due in A demonstration of this composite tele-teaching part to sheer operator in experience but also to was arranged for the parents of the children in- trialling prototypes)even if they were available, volved, and also the N.W. Council, on May 29. the one airline service to King Island is frequently There was discussion for an hour at each centre on booked out at peak periods. the reaction to the experiment and then a final tele- Further, there is a common belief within the teach- conference was set up for the groups to share their ing force that tele-teaching is not as "good" as the reactions. "real thing" (i.e. face-to-face traditional teaching) It is too early to evaluate this experiment but one though this is not peculiar to the North West. student transferred from King Island District High The Positives: School to a Launceston High School in the second In response to the question "The best thing about the term when the family migrated. According to the experiment was..." the student were unanimous in teachers, if anything, she was slightly ahead of the saying "the equipment". All students at Latrobe had Launceston class and had a larger vocabularyshe "Walkman" radios, for instance, and rapidly took to was certainly not disadvantaged by having been the equipment. (It has already been noted that on taught in this way. the basis of one student, tele-teaching is at least as A Remote Class for a TAPE Business Studies Teacher effective as face-to-face). At the same time that the Indonesian class was being Further, the parents were realistic enough to note organised, there was a request from King Island for that in the context of dwindling populations and any short courses in Business Studies. Previous re- limited resources, spreading specialised services in quests had been catered for by the teacher flying to this way is perhaps one only a few options open to the island and setting work to be done before his the Education Department. next visit but the travel was expensive and the attrition high. PERSONAL STUDY CONTRACTS After discussions with the teacher, it became apparent that the work set previously to be done in isola- FOR CREDIT tion could be discussed by telephone. Copies of the The concept of one-off" study programmes devised work were sent to the group and the teacher rang after extensive negotiation between learner and them at the High School for av weekly start and mentor is not new the post-graduate degree by finish to their session. As ten people wanted to do thesis is essentially this, and there is an "independ- the short course (on Book-Keeping for Small Busi- ent study" component in many undergraduate pro- nesses) and there were only four headsets, another grammes. modification was made to the "Hybrid", namely a At the school level the concept of "negotiating the beak-out junction box enabling a further seven curriculum" within the classroom has been re- headsets to be plugged in. viewed in a book of that name.' This course has now finished. All ten people who Off campus, the approach is probably best devel- started, completed it, and want to do more in the oped within the American University without series. In future, there will be one face-to-face ses- Walls consortium° and was field tested in Western sion before the tele-classes. Australia in the early 1970's.° The developments in the N.W. break new ground in that they offer a framework for developing a truly personal programme which could, if necessary, operate at a distance for, if necessary, only once for one student and for Credit. In the context of Dis-

439 152 tance Education this has obvious advantages for proach realted to the Work Experience programme solving educational problems within the classroom. these came from the Committees co-ordinating Saddle Making for a School Refuser this, which comprised Department Administrators The first contract to be drawn up was for a Grade 10 and Union Representatives. As a result, the first boy who had increasingly demonstrated during contracts were delayed by almost a year. Grade 9 that he could not see the relevance of most These centred on (from the Adr, *nistration) control, of what his High School had to offer, but did have a coordination and insuraore problems and (from passionate interest in saddlemaking and leather- the Unions) unpaid labour and workers compensa- work, stemming from his family life on a horse tion issues none were purely educational con- property. cerns but they proved to be serious. He completed two contracts based on a saddlemak- The Positives: ing business. Detalis are given in Appendix 1. His No one who was actually directly involved with the teachers considered he learnt more basic arithmetic contract approach doubts its effectiveness in par- and communication skills in the forty hours of the ticular, the parents and the learning consultants be- contract than in the previous year at school. Further came more and more enthusiastic as they under- he raised his Level in one school-based subject stood the implications, and it has become a good from Level I (Basic) to Level III (Advanced) vehicle for "school" an "community" to communi- his behaviour in the school improved signifi- cate more. cantly he has now set up his own leatherwork business. Whilst the contracts were being field tested, there CONCLUSION were extensive negotiations with the Schools Board Judicious use of telecommunications technology of Tasmania to explom ways by which such Con- has potential for expanding choice and diversity in tracts could be accredited it was perhaps fortui- small, scattered populations, at the secondary level, tous that "the Future of Certification in Tasmania" by enabling the country high school to outreach a (the title of a Schools Board discussion paper) is greater clientele, so that viable composite groups being vigorously debated at present. can be assembled to satisfy Department ratios. Simi- A sub-committee of the Syllabus Development larly, personal study contracts have the potential for Committee prepared a series of iecommendations not only coping with the very small numbers inevi- on this (Appendix 3) which were received by the table in isolated communities, lave. also for offering Board early in 1987. The final outcome was a state- an acceptable alternative for those"refusing ment of procedures approved by the Board in July school." (Appendix 4). The biggest impeuiments are organisational, but not Industrial Chemistry for a Gifted Student educational. The next contract was drawn up for another Grade Acknowlegments: 10 boy in the same High School. He was an out- The Northern Territory Correspondence School standing student who had decided to go to Uni- generously assisted by giving advice in the plan- versity to study Chemistry and needed to be extend- ning stages and providing resource material for ed. He completed one contract whilst based on the part of the Tele-teaching trial. chemistry laboratories at the local paper pulp mill. The following School and College staff made the Details are given in Appendix 2. His teachers asked trials a success because of their enthusiasm and him to report on the application of the science theo- tenacity: ry he had been taught at school, which he did with Ted Bentley Annette Reed enthusiasm. He is now in Grade 11 and even more Terry Brient Michael Walker motivated to study at University. Michael Ferencz Dennis Whitchurch Graham Marshall Chris White THE POTENTIAL FOR STUDY Pam McCall Wally Wright CONTRACTS TO INCREASE The following "community" people made the EQUITY IN EDUCATION IN FHE learning contract trial a reality NORTH WEST. Allan Jamieson Brett Higgins The Negatives: Des Donaghue Many concerns were expressed as to how the ap-

1 5 3 440 Developing distance education through institutional collaborationon courses a faculty perspective KEVIN WILSON Faculty of Arts, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom

In the development, production and dissemination Many people go overseas from Hong Kong and of distance learning materials the benefits arising Macau to study, the Open College brings overseas from institutional collaboration on an international courses to those people who are unable to study scale are widely recognized.' Significant potential abroad."' Along similar lines, students in Malaysia, gains include: through the auspices of DiSTED, have access to external degree programmes originating from Mur- b1oadening the course profile of one institution by adopting or adapting courses produced by doch University, Australia and the British Columbia another; Open University, Canada. improving the quality and/or reducing the costs Collaboration on this scale tends to be organized on of courses by collaborating in the production of an institutional rather than a Faculty level with little components within courses or courses as a or no academic involvement between the two orga- whole; nizations. Even when courses from one institution contributing to staff development through a wid- are adapted or reshaped for use in another there ening and deepening of working contacts be- need not be any academic contact between the tween participating institutions. original producers and the secondary adaptors. So The value of course collaboration is self-evident. the notion of transfer still holds. On the other hand Difficulties arise not in recognizing its worth but in co-production of course materials, by definition, implies a pooling of resources with significant aca- establishing procedures through which it can be demic, administrative and operational implications realized. In this respect it is useful to draw the basic distinction between "transfer" of expertise, infor- for the participating institutions. mation, materials and "pooling" of expertise, in- I would like to consider the question of co-operation formation, mater ials.2 Adoption, adaptation and co- in general and co-production in particular not by production of course materials constitute an as- taking a macro-view but by looking at the response cending order of ce'' .motive activity which im- of a particular Faculty in this case the Faculty of plies movement, though not necessarily Arts at the British Open University to the issue of progression, from transfer to pooling. Pooling, by its collaboration. very nature, is a much more complex activity than The Faculty of Arts produced its first course a transfer. Foundation course in the Humanities in 1971 Some providers of distance education have invested and during the 1970s developed a profile of courses heavily in course adoption as a mode of collab- at different levels along the following lines: oration. Thus the International University Consorti- inter-disciplinary courses covering aspects of the um of the United States, in its first phase of devel- Ancient World, Reformation and Renaissance Eu- opment in the late 1970s, mainly relied on courses rope and Europe in the Age of Revolutions; produced by the British Open University. The Open specialist courses in the disciplines of history, College, a constituent college of the University of English literature, philosophy, music and the his- East Asia fc.unded in 1982, continues to make a tory of art and in the areas of the history of science virtue of the fact that it uses course materials pre- and the study of religion. pared by other universities. In '.he words of its prospectus: "The College is, therefore, able to select In those pioneering days of distance education these from the best courses available and to bring to stu- courses made a considerable impact and a number dents in Hong Kong and Macau courses which hav= were adopted for use in various parts of the world. been prepared by teams of experienced academics. From the late 1970s, as the Faculty moved into its

441 454 second-generation of course productior, the idea of tive being to support co-operation in the field of collaborating with other institutions gathered pace. course development. The catalyst was a successful partnership between Within the Open University itself the institutional the Open University and Miami-Dade Community bene'its of collaboration are again being canvassed. College, USA in the production of a television series An inter-faculty working group on course devel- for a :ourse on Drama. As a direct result of collab- opment is pressing the merits of course transfer and oration both sides benefited from a course compo- joint course development with other distance teach- nent which was of a higher quality than either in- ing universities as a means of expanding the number stitutions could have reasonably produced from its of courses available to British Open University stu- own resources. With co-operation with institutions dents. Towards this end it has recommended that an in the United States firmly but not exclusively in appropriate mechanism be established within the mind the Faculty endorsed the idea that collab- university for co-ordinating and disseminating in- orative course production should become a major formation on collaborative links with institutions area of development in the early 1980s. overseas. In the event course collaboration along the lines This recommendation in turn reflects a growing in- envisaged was not achieved. In some respects this is terest within the Open University and in other dis- not surprising. Formal Collaboration between two tance teaching institutions at the prospects of col- or more autonomous institutions with their own laboration. As far as the Arts Faculty is concerned decision-making processes, their own academic, wL nave attempted over the last two or three years to operational and administrative structures, their own develop a framework within which collaboration course delivery systems and their own academic can be actively pursued, beginning initially with priorities is a rather delicate flower. Its nurturing staff exchange on a course-specific basis and then requires favourable internal and external conditions moving upwards to bi-lateral discussion on co-oper- for the participating institutions, a long timescale to ation at a Faculty planning level. allow for the integration of academic and operational plans, a deep commitment from the staff Individual contacts are important in developing involved and perhaps a little luck. working relationships between potential partners but, essentially, collaborative schemes require an From our standpoint the increasing severity of cuts institutional rather than a personal focus if they are in the OU grant made us inward-looking and fo- to be successful. A crucial and perhaps neglected cussed our energies on survival as an institution. element in developing the institutional dimension is The atmosphere generated by reductions in the the inputthat can be made at a faculty level that is numbers of courses offered to students and falling to say, at the point where courses are planned and staff rolls is not conducive to external collaboration. made by staff who by virtue of their position are Now as we are entering our third generation of able to promote curriculum development and course production I think the climate is changing, in change. This can be illustrated by contacts at dean/ part because the Faculty and the University have head of department level between the Arts Faculty at faced up to the implications of grant-reductions and the OU and the Faculty of Cultural Sciences at the in part because of a number of recent initiatives Dutch Open University which have resulted in: within Europe. (i) the adaptation for Dutch students of two Current trends are creating a favourab'e context courses in the history of science and the histo- within which collaboration can be realistically con- ry of art; sidered. In the wider context the EEC is giving active (ii) the identification & a number of areas of in- encouragement to co-operation and collaboration. terest in our respective medium-term course The so-called COMETT scheme (Community in planning where there is scope for collabora- Education and Training for Technology) has been tion. put in place and, of more importance for the Hu- Direct experience of working on course collabora- manities, the ERASMUS scheme (European Com- tion at a faculty level suggests a refinement to the munity Action Scheme for Mobility of European transfer-pooling model of collaboration outlined Students) was adopted in June 1987. Apart from earlier. Arioption/adaption on the one hand and encouragingstudentmobilitytheERASMUS co-production on the other can, as we have seen, be scheme carries a brief to promote inter-university regarded as separate and unrelated activities in the co-operation including joint curriculum develop- area of institutional co-operation. But adoption-ad- ment. At aparliamentary level the European As- aptation-co-production can also be seen as stages sembly has recently addressed itself to the question on a collaborative continuum and such a perspec- of promoting Open Universities in Europe. Mean- tive can usefully assist institutions in developing a while the major providers of open learning have sense of partnership. Bi-lateral exchanges between formed themselves into a European Association of the British and Dutch Open Universities have con- Distance Teaching Institutions with a major objec vinced me of the need for a wider forum in which

442 1 s 5 the teaching of the Humanities by distance methods - the language the course is written in; can be explored. A framework that permitted arts - cultural relativity within a course; faculties in distance teaching institutions in Europe - integration of material across different media and elsewhere to consider the possibilities of collab- which makes for difficulty in course transfer; oration in the light of their current output and their - the length, credit value and level of various own medium or long term teaching plans would course offerings; significantly enhance the prospects of collabora- - the requirements of fitting a course into an exist- tion. Such a mechanism would have three essential ing profile. elements: A framework for co-operation along the lines just (1) Case studies prepared according to a prescribed suggested would assist in addressing the very real format, e.g.: problems and practical difficulties associated with - aim and objectives of the Faculty; course collaboration. The difficulties need to be - structure, organization and staffing; offset against the potential gains. Collaboration will - course creation methods; not replace course production in the Arts Faculty of - course presentation methods; the Open University but, as we look towards the - methods of assessment; 1990s, it seems to be an entirely ipopriate and - length and structure of courses; desirable method of enhancing our course offering - list of courses currently on offer; to students. - list of courses planned over the next five years and forming a data base for each institution which could be regularly updated. REFERENCES (2) Reports and papers on themes and issues of ' For a survey of collaboration in distance learning see M.W. Neil, ed., Education of Adults at a Distance, Kogan relevance to institutional co-operation, e.g.: Page and The Open University Press, 1981, pp. 142-86. - course accreditation and joint registration of students; 2 A.R. Kaye, Some Perspectives on International Collab- -- summer schools and student exchange pro- oration in Distance Education. Paper delivered to The Open University Conference on the Education of Adults at grammes; a Distance. Birmingham, England, 1979. educational materials and copyright laws. (3) A facility for meeting of participants to discuss 3 The Open College Prospectus and Handbook, Septem- projects with collaborative potential. ber 1986-March 1987, University of East Asia, Macau, p. 13. It is recognized that there are always likely to be factors which inhibit collaboration. These include:

443 456 "Untoeveryonethat hath shall be given? ananalysis of graduateoutcomes at the Open University of the United Kingdom" ALAN WOODLEY, Institute of Educational Technology, Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

INTRODUCTION ening.For example, whereas those holding teaching certificates graduate at a constant rate, While much has been made of the Open Universi- the rate for students with no qualifications at all ty's unique course production and delivery system it has declined over the years. could be argued that its most important contribution to the development of adult higher education was its To summarise still further, the Open University has decision to abolish entry qualifications. Just how found it difficult to attract large numbers of extreme- revolutionary such a move was, given Britain's ly educationally disadvantaged people and as a highly selective higher education system, can be group they find it hard to make academic progress. gauged from recent survey findings that shown'Ithat In this paper we want to take the debate one stage whereas 88% of the population had heard of the further and examine whether the whole process was Open University, one half of them were unaware of worthwhile for the small minority who actually this open access policy (Open University 1986). managed to gain a degree. Removing the requirement for entry qualifications GRADUATE OUTCOMES does not in itself make a university "open". For example, if somebody with no educational qual- In a study of graduates from conventional universi- ifications cannot afford the course fees then the ties it was found that those from the working classes university is not open to him or her in any genuine were less likely to enter the very high status profes- sense. The proof of "open-ness" must be based on sions (Kelsall et al 1972). This was not because their an examination of who the students are, what pro- degrees were inferior to those of their middle-class gress they make with their studies and what benefits counterparts but rathe. that their original choice of they derive from this experience. The first two topics course and subsequent career aims were restricted have been covered by the present author in a recent by their class background. Thus "discrimination" paper (Wood ley, 1987) and these are summarised by social class existed even after graduation. briefly below. The situation at the Open University is very different in that it concerns adults who are generally in mid- DEMAND AND PROGRESS career and many are not studying for vocational Approximately one in ten of the applicants for reasons. Thus "job after graduation" cannot be tak- undergraduate places have no qualifications at en as a simple outcome measure there are other all and four in ten do not have the qualifications types of "benefit" and job changes are not necessar- required for entry to conventional degree cours- ily a result of Open University studies. However, es. These figures have remained fairly constant although benefit may have to be measured in other over the last ten years. ways it seemed important to look for differences in Those with low qualifications fare worse than the the amount of benefit obtained by different groups. highly qualified in their first year of study. This is One hypothesis might be that those with the least true on each foundation course but is most qualifications have the most to gain by obtaining a marked for Maths. The gap between those with degree and, therefore, should record higher levels high and low qualifications does not seem to be of benefit. However, we already know of one highly widening. qualified group who stood to gain a great deal. Those with low qualifications are less likely to Those with teaching certificates who gained an graduate and the situation appears to be wors- Open University degree would generally receive an

444 automatic pay rise and could then go on to apply for Table 1. The % noting a "good effect" on various headships. aspects of their lives Entry qualifications METHODOLOGY Low Medium High TC The results presented below are based on a survey of You as a person 85 81 79 83 over 4,500 people who graduated from the Open Your social ,life University between 1975 and 1984. The sample and relations with was stratified to ensure adequate numbers of men others 48 49 38 39 and women, teachers and non-teachers, Ordinary Your family/fam- and Honours graduates and erily and late gradu- ily life 31 30 21 24 ates. An overall response rate of 72% was achieved Your job/career45 53 53 66 and the respondents were "weighted" to ensure that You as a member they were representative of the total graduate pop- of society 60 58 50 51 ulation. For analysis purposes we have divided the graduates into four groups based on their entry qualifications: better pay or promotion. These were also important LOW Below A levels, i.e. those who for those with low and medium qualifications Kit did not possess the conventional switches to new occupations were much more com- entry qualificationsfor higher mon. education. BENEFITS AS A PERSON MEDIUM A levels or their equivalent i.e. possessing the conventional entry Table 3 shows the ways in which those with medium qualifications. qualifications, and especially those with low qualifications, were much more open to persona! HIGH Some higher education qualifica- change. This first experience of higher education tions e.g. University diploma or clearly had profound effects on many of them in degree, HNC, HND. terms of self-confidence, new horizons, communi- TC Teaching Certificate. These have cations skills, etc. been kept separate from the previous group because of their large numbers and special interest. Table 2. The % noting types of occupational change for which their OU qualifications had been impor- THE EFFECTS ON DIFFERENT tant DIMENSIONS OF GRADUATES' Entry qualifications Low Medium High TC LIVES Better pay, extra Table 1 shows the percentage of graduates record- increment 17 17 19 52 ing a "good effect" on various aspects of their lives produced by thei" Open University studies. The Promotion to a higher grade 15 17 21 34 figures confirm that it was indeed the teachers who A new occupa- experienced the highest level of occupational bene- tion 18 21 10 7 fit and those with low qualifications experienced the More specialist least. job in same occu- However, in other areas it was those with medium pation 7 8 8 16 and low qualifications who gained most benefit. Switch of special- This was true in relation to their family life, their isation within social life and themselves as members of society. occupation 3 6 6 9 The graduates with low entry qualifications were Re-entered paid also the most likely to note the good effects on employment 6 6 3 4 themselves as persons but this was very common in Became self-em- * each group. ployed 1 2 1 Achieved man- OCCUPATIONAL BENEFITS agement status 7 7 9 9 Moved to new Table 2 shows that the types of occupational benefit firm/organisation 8 11 8 4 gained varied depending upon the graduates' entry qualifications. For teachers and others with high * means <0.5% qualifications the benefits tended to be in the form of

445 4 58 Table 3. The % saying various types of personal degree and the least by those with high qualifica- change had happened "to a great extent". tions who only gained an Ordinary degree. Entry qualifications Low Medium High TC Aquired a new Table 4. The % noting an "enormous benefit" deri- way of looking at ved from their Open University studies. things, a different OU degree Entry qualifications perspective on life30 26 17 16 gained Low Become more Medium High TC self-confident 29 25 15 16 Ordinary 25 24 11 16 Developed new Third or Lower ideas/gained Second 34 26 22 25 knowledge that I Upper SecondOr want to put to First 38 36 25 34 practical use 26 24 19 20 All 27 26 14 18 Acquired new horizons, new goals 24 25 14 15 Become better able to communi- CONCLUSION cate with The evidence presented does not support the view others 24 18 10 8 Feel I know that those with low entry qualifications remain "disadvantaged" after graduation. They record high lev- myself better 21 14 11 11 Developed new els of personal, social and overall benefit. It is only interests, quite in the occupational sphere that less benefit is noted. different from The certificated teachers have been the main bene- those I had ficiaries in occupational terms for reasons that have before 20 16 10 8 been mentioned earlier. The relative lack of occupa- Become a more tional benefit gained by those with low qualifica- balanced, mature tior.s is slightly disturbing and requires further inperson 18 15 8 10 vestigation. Preliminary analysis suggests that this Become much may be because they are older (34% of the LOW more a person group were aged over 50 when they graduated com- who can take the pared with the 17% of the MEDIUM group), they are initiative where less likely to proceed to an Honours degree and they necessary 16 13 8 9 are less likely to gain a good Honours degree. Become more interested in helping people who REFERENCES are in need 13 8 6 8 Kelsall, R.K., Poole, A. and Kuhn, A. Graduates: The sociology of an elite. Methuen: London, 1972. OVERALL BENEFIT Open University "The Open University: 16-22 January 1986" Internal The only feasible way to summarise the various report produced for the Open University by Gallup Poll, types of benefit gained by graduates is to ask them 1986. for a subjective assessment of overall benefit. Table Woodley, A. 4 shows the responses to such a question andrec- "Has the Open University been an unqualified success?" ord- the percentage who said they gained "enor- Journal of access studies Vol 2 No 2 (Autumn, 1987). mous benefit" from their Open University studies. First the Table shows that those with low or medium qualifications recorded much higher levels of benefit than the well-qualified. Secondly it supportsa "value-added" hypothesis concerning educational benefit. The most benefit was recorded by those with low qualifications who gaineda good Honours

446 459 A renewed emphasisonnurturing in the counselling ofwomen ARLENE M.C. YOUNG Athabasca University Edmonton, Alberta Canada

An evaluation of an assertiveness training workshop nised and rewarded for the effort they have expend- for women offered by Athabasca University yielded ed in nurturing relationships, and they have felt some findings that have implications for the themes unable to acknowledge or express their own needs. emphasised and approaches used in counselling They have feared taking action on their own behalf women in Canada (Young, 1987). The extent to because to do so might threaten the health of the which cultural values may enhance or limit the relationship on which their well-being rests. Gilli- usefulness of the approaches in other cultures has gan (1977-1982) expanded upon that theme with not yet been considered. her finding that women make decisions according Those who counsel women are aware that most to whether or not they violate a principle of nonvio- women are concerned about the welfare and devel- lence. She stated that the application of that princi- opment of others, even to their own detriment at ple is so important to women that they often fail to times. Women's self-esteem rests, in large part, up- recognise the violence that they inadvertently do to on the extent to which they are able to fulfil a themselves when they consider only others. Gilli- nurturing role. The effectiveness of interventions in gan found that with encouragement, women can counselling women, whether those interventions learn to place their own needs on an equal footing are with groups or with individuals, can be en- with those of others. hanced by encouraging women to direct their nur- A major principle which is fundamental to assert- turing skills towards themselves as well as towards iveness training programs is that thoughts and feel- others. ings be expressed honestly and with respect for A brief examination of some of the elements of the others (Lange and Jokobobwski, 1976). The empha- evaluation study assists in understanding the impor- sis on the interpersonal implications of self-expres- tance of the findings and implications. First, there is sion is in accord with the ideas of both Miller and consideration of the theorists whose ideas influen- Gilligan, but does not exploit sufficiently women's ced the course of the study. Second, there is a brief knowledge about nurturing which can also be ap- description of the evaluation methods used, with an plied to self-care. emphasis on the analysis of qualitative data. Third, Specific topics and approaches in the workshop there is a consideration of the major findings of the program studied were selected from an extensive study. Finally, there is an examination of the impli- body of research on assertiveness training. Tasks cations of the findings in the counselling of women. progress from the least difficult, giving compli- ments, to the most difficult, giving and receiving THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS criticism, in order to build the skills of and increase the confidence of participants (Butler, 1976). For Two women theorists, lean Baker Miller (1976), and most wom, ,1expressing positive feelings is easy Carol Gilligan (1877:1982), have criticised the pre- because it is consistent with their self-concept; ex- vailing idea that men are the active, independent pressing negative feelings is difficult because it is agents in society while women fill a lesser, passive contrary to their self-concept (Muehlenhard 1983). role. The two have argued that women have a differ- A combination of cognitive restructuring, through ent and equally valid pattern of development that lectures and group discussions, and behavior re- has not been adequately ackno vledged by male hearsal, practice in large and small groups, is used thvorists. Women's pattern of development is char- because it leads to a greater increase in assertiveness acterised by an ethos of caring for and integration than the use of either technique alone (Alden, Safran with others, in contrast to men's pattern which is and Weideman, 1978; Baer, 1977; Delange, 1977; characterised by an ethos of autonomy. Goldfriend, 1979; Jacob and Cochran, 1982). Miller (1976) attributed low self-esteem among women to two factors: they have not been recog-

447 460 METHOD mensional design. That implication echoes what most counsellors know from their work with indi- Each subject completed questionnaires, Gam - viduals: that the counselling strategy used success- brill- Richey Assertion Inventory and a Coopersmith fully with one client will be unsuccessful with an- Self-esteem Inventory prior to the workshop, at other. Counsellors need to use a variety of ap- the end of the workshop and two months after the proaches with individuals and with groups in order completion of the workshop. The inventory results to meet the needs of their clients. have quantitative data about changes in feelings and determined that women's levels of assertiveness and A second implicaticn is that an emphasis on the self-esteem increased after taking the workshop. theme of caring or nurturing would benefit most The questionnaire responses shed some light on counselling interventions with women. Women's how the changes came about. In the questionnaires, self-esteem will take another battering if they are subjects were asked about their expectations prior told, however indirectly, that their concern for oth- to the workshop, and what they got out of the pro- ers has been misplaced. Women need support and gram what they like or disliked about it and recognition for their concern for others, and encour- whether or not it met their expectations at the end agement to give their own needs a similar emphasis. of the workshop. They were asked about the lasting The third implication follows from the previous one: impact, if any, at the two month follow-up. itis crucial for women to learn how to express themselves in a way that demonstrates their care for FINDINGS others. Women want to learn how to express ideas The quantitative results indicated that subjects' as- and concerns, especially negative ones, not in theo- sertiveness and self-esteem increased over the ry, but in specific words and phrases in response to course of the study. Those findings are important specific situations. They also want to have ample because they lend support to the validity of the time within the workshop to practice the new beha- workshop program and of drawing any conclusions viour. from the analysis of the questionnaires. The latter two implications, like the first one, are as The questionnaire data were analysed to cietermine important in counselling individual clients as they if any approaches or topics had been especially are for workshop settings. Those implications em- important in helping subjects become more assert- phasise the importance of giving support for what ive and to discover any themes that might be evident has been a major focus in women's lives, nurturing in subjects' responses to open-ended questions. others. That emphasis will help women to acknowl- Subjects' accounts of what topics or approaches in edge and value the skills that they have acquired. It the workshop were important to them were so idio- will support their self-esteem while helping them to syncratic that while no topic or approach were liked use those nurturing skills for their own benefit. by or helpful to all, each topic and approach seemed to help some. Attempts to determine who REFERENCES benefitted more from one approach or topic than another proved fruitless. Whether the initial expec- Alden, L., Safran, J., and Weidman, R. tation was stated as the desire to acquire new skills, (1978). "A comparison of cognitive and skills training to increase self-awareness, information and confi- strategies in the treatment of unassertive clients". Beha- dence or to reduce anxiety, the favoured topics and viour Therapy, 9, 843-6. approaches could not be predicted. The element Baer, R.A. that one woman with one stated objective found (1977)."Phenomenological and behavioural conse- annoying, was the very element that another with a quences of assertiveness training for women." Disserta- similar objective found particularly helpful. tion Abstracts International, 37, 3593B. A major theme that arose from the analysis of open- Butler, P. ended questions was that of the subjects' concern (1981). Self-assertion for women (new ed., San Francisco: for the welfare of others. Subjects were concerned Harper & Row.) about the effect of their behaviour on others, and Delange, J.M. they wanted to learn how to word statements in (1977). "Relative effectiveness of assertive skill training order to minimise negative outcomes for themselves and desensitization for high and low anxiety women". and others. Further, subjects emphasised the impor- Dissertation Abstracts International, 38, 351-2B. tance to them of practicing the newly acquired tech- Gilligan, C. niques to gain more confidence in using them. (1982). In a different voice (Cambridge: Harvard Uni- versity Press). IMPLICATIONS Gilligan, C. The first implication of the evaluation findings is that (1977). "In different voice: women's conceptions of self workshop programs are most likely to meet the and morality". Harvard Educational Review, 47, 481- needs of all of the participants if they have a multidi- 517.

448 Ai4 . Goldfriend, M.R., and Goldfriend, A.P. Muehlenhard, C.L. (1979). "Assertion therapy: skill training or cognitive res- (1983), Women's assertion and the feminine sex-role ster- tructuring". Behaviour Therapy, 10, 372-88. eotype. In: V Franks and E.D. Rothblum (Eds.). The Ster- eotyping of women, pp. 153-171 (New York: Springer Jacobs, M.K., and Cochran, S.D. Publishing Company). (1982). "The effects of cognitive restructuring on assertive behaviour". Cognitive Therapy and Research, 6, 63-76. Young, A.M.C. Miller, J.B. (1987). The effects of an assertiveness training workshop for women on self-esteem (unpublished master's thesis. (1976). Toward a new psychology of women (Boston: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta). Beacon Press). The development of higher distance education in China ZHOU JIANSHU Correspondence College People's University of China Beijing, China

China has two systems of higher distance education, ject students from 1960 to 1966. These three, the correspondence education run by traditional uni- best radio and T.V. universities, only lasted until versities and colleges, and the Radio and Television 1966 when the so-called Cultural Revolution be- University of China (RTUC). The former was estab- gan. lished in the early 1950s. The RTUC was founded in The RTUC was founded in 1979 and has enjoyed the the late 1970s. support of the leadership of party and government as The People's University of China was the first uni- it has especially suited the needs of training a great versity to run higher correspondence education in number of specialists in a short period for socialist China. In February of 1952, the first students en- economic construction. The pace of development rolled in Beijing, Tianjin and Taiyuan. About 3,000 of RTUC has quickened since 1980. correspondence students registered after passing the The RTUC is a consortium of RTV universities, con- entrance examination. sisting of 29 RTV universities of provinces, munici- By 1986, 311 out of 1,054 Chinese universities and palities and autonomous regions, 335 RTV universi- colleges had established systems to offer courses by ties of prefectures and cities, and nearly 2,000 correspondence. The number of correspondence county divisions of RTV universities distributed over students totalled 360,000. In 1987 more than China. The regular undergraduate students num- 500,000 correspondence students are enrolled in bered 700,000 in 1985, so it has become the biggest more than 500 universities and colleges. A com- distance educational university in the world. plete system of correspondence specialties has been established including. Chinese language and literature, history, science, engineering, law, economics, RISING STATUS political science, teacher-training, agriculture, for- China is a developing socialist country. Education is estry, medicine, traditional. Chinese medicine, mu- very backward, although higher education has de- sic, painting and dance. About 200,000 undergrad- veloped rapidly since the founding of the People's uates have graduated from the correspondence de- Republic of China. The number of college graduates partments of universities and colleges. A small per 10 thousand of population is still very low. The number are now key leaders in the party and gov- following table shows the total number of under- ernment. Most are the backbone of in factories, graduate students and the average number per 10 companies and other departments. thousand of population: Distance education by radio and television began in In 1986 the total number of undergraduated stu- the c,1960s. The Radio and T.V. (RTV) Uni- dents in traditional universities and colleges ex- versity of Beijing was founded in 1960 and the RTV ceeded 2,000,000. Allthough the number of gradu- University of Shanghai and Shenyang followed. The ates now averages more than 20 per 10 thousand of RTV University of Beijing trained more than 8,000 populatioa, this is still far less than in the developed college students and more than 50,000 single sub-

Year 1965 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 Total No. 674,000 856,000 1,020,000 1,144,0001,279,000 1,154,000 Graduate No. per 10 Thou. 9.3 8.9 10.5 11.6 12.8 11.4

450 4 R3 countries. This is a problem for socialist economic KEY EXPERIENCES construction as China must train millions of junior and senior technicians, managers, directors, engi- To assess past experience in the light of the very neers and various experts. This is why China took good situation for developing higher correspond- vigorous measures to develop higher level distance ence education today, the national conference on education in the early 1950s. Higher Correspondence Education was convened by the State Education Commission in Beijing last The Mir istry of Education has given much support June. It affirmed China's key principles for higher to developing higher correspondence education. correspondence education as follows: The plan for developing correspondence education at the People's University of China was approved by (1) To give great weight to practical experience in Liu Shaoqi, the chairman of People's Republic of correspondence teaching based on the principle China. This showed that higher level correspond- of the unity of theory and practice. Secondly, ence education was highl, _garded by the govern- correspondence students, whatever courses ment and society from the start. they study, must have one or two years' practical experience in the specialities they are studying. Over time the mass of people in China have come to (2) To serve socialist economic reconstruction is the understand the importance of correspondence edu- only goal of higher correspondence education cation and its social and academic status has risen. in China, so specialist courses offered must be Before 1955 higher correspcsidence education was those most urgently needed at each period of regarded purely as part time study and was not socialist construction. The first courses offered indispensable for traditional universities and colleg- were Management of industry, management of es. commerce, and economics, finance, industry Higher correspondence education in China entered and commerce statistics, industrial and com- a new phase of development from 1956 to 1960, mercial accounting, civil construction, etc. This both in ideas and practice. The Ministry of Educa- is very different from other countries' higher tion officially declared that higher correspondence correspondence education which isusually education was a component of higher education. based on literature and language, history, etc. Several operating rules were drawn up, such as that (3) Correspondence education is an organic part of correspondence students were entitled to paid leave the whole system of higher education in China, for at least one month a year to sit examinations, and therefore as necessary as traditional uni- attend classes and laboratory practice, etc. The universities and colleges. versities and colleges conducting higher corre- (4) Rigorously enforced rules and regulations guar- spondence education numbered 120, with 190,000 antee complete success in the field of corre- enrolments. spondence education. Self-study by students, Ten thaotic years ended in 1976. Since then there must be under the control of correspondence has been great political and economic change in departments and accord to the teaching rules China. The future looks stable and prosperous. Con- and regulations. The rigorously enforced rules ditions for developing higher correspondence edu- and regulations usually consist of The Rule of cation are good for three reasons: Status of Correspondence Students, Rules of En- rolment and Registration, Rules of Suspension First leadership at various levels is valued today and Dismissal From College, Rules of Teaching, more than ever before; second the number of poten- Research Loads of Teachers, Rules of Assign- tial correspondence students is larger than ever and ments, etc. they demand to learn more and to learn well; third, (5) A national, united correspondence teaching official directives have been issued by the State process has formed gradually in the past three Council to implement the educational act. There decades. It originated in 1955 with the first grad- were big changes in correspondence education pol- uates from the correspondence college of the icy, especially official recognition of the record of People's University of China. It consisted of the formal schooling of correspondence students. The following elements: (1). Entrance examination; correspondence student is awarded the same qual- (2) Managing of self-study. (3). Organizing face- ification as those who graduate from traditional uni- to-face teaching in various ways; (4) Correcting versities and colleges and enjoys the same treatment assignments; (5) Organizing laboratory experi- in appointments and wages. This has greatly en- ments in engineering and science; (6) answering couraged people to study by correspondence. High- questions by mail or with the teacher present; (7) er correspondence education is widely known to all Judging the thesis or taking the national exam- workers and cadres in China. About a half million ination before graduation. working people sit the correspondence entrance examination each year. Study by correspondence in China has become a mass learning movement. It has ADVANCES become vital for China's socialist construction. The Third Department of Higher Education of the

451 4R4 State Education Commission of China was establish- CONFERENCES ed in early 1985 and is in charge of higher adult education in China. Before the advent of the i hird The third national conference on correspondence Department of Higher Education adult higher edu- education was convened by the State Education cation, including higher correspondence educa- Commission in Beijing from June 16-20, 1986. tion, was controlled by the Adult Education Depart- More than 140 delegates; university presidents and ment of the State Education Commission. The directors of education departments of central and founding of Third Higher Education Department local governments attended. He Dongt..nang, Vice proves that higher correspondence education is Minister of the State Education Commission gave an firmly on the agenda of the higher education system important report entitled "Devote Major Efforts To of China. Develop Higher Correspondence Education To Meet The Needs Of Development Of The National The first symposium on the management of higher Economy And Society". education was held in Nanjing, the capital of Jiang- su province, from 17th to 26th Sept. Its main ob- Delegates discussed issues met in their work, ex- jectives were to improve the management of higher changed ideas on how to develop higher corre- correspcndence education and to draft regulations spcndence education in the future and revised the for the management of higher education for further draft higher correspondence education regulations debate. of traditional universities and colleges. The discussions stressed (1) How to advance understanding of Five correspondence department directors were the significance of higher correspondence educa- asked to give their ideas about how to organize, tion in socialist construction; (2) quality is of pri- supervise and assess the processes of correspond- mary importance in higher correspondence educa- ence teaching and how to help correspondence tion; (3) Al I universities and colleges must give more students study and maintain proper university stan- effective leadership to correspondence education; dards. I was invited to lecture about trends in dis- (4) Each institution must regard correspondence tance education around the world. education as a basic responsibilities which must be A Research Institute of Higher Correspondence Edu- integrated into its future plans. cation and Evening Colleges has been established. The other significant matt-in distance education Its first educational seminar, embracing higher cor- was an all-China unified entrance examination for respondence education, began on August 16, 1985. adult higher education that has come into oper- There were more than 70 delegates from 42 uni- ation. The first such examination for adult higher versities and colleges with correspondence educa- education took place on May 10-11 1986. More tion evening colleges in attendance, together with than 1.3 million cadres and high schoolgraduates the director of the Higher Education Department of took this unified examination simultaneously and Beijing and the Director of the Third Higher Educa- have been accepted for enrolment based on the tion Department of the State Education Commis- same standards. sion. No other country has convened three national con- A short training class for distance educators was run ferences (1965, 1980, 1986) to discuss the prob- by this institue in June 1986. More than 40 distance lems of higher correspondence education and con- educators took part. The class dealt with the prob- ducted a standard national entrance examination lems of management of correspondence education for distance education. and the psychology of the adult. Asa necessary speciality, higher level distance education is now being taught in a teacher's college and an independent adult college has even been established in Beijing.

452 Appendix

453 IRE APPENDIX 1 PENGUIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDY CONTRACT

DATE: FROM /i TO // STUDENT: CONSULTANT: SCHOOL CONTACT: STUDY AREA: Leathe rwork/Sma I I Business Procedures STRUCTURE: The course will consist of approximately forty hours of study. The time will be organised on the basis of six days, each day approximately seven hours. The study will take place at the premises of (the Consultant) who will provide the instruction. The day to be used will be negotiated weekly by (student) and (school contact) and then (student) is to notify (consultant) of the decision by telephone. (The student's parents) accept the responsibility of transporting (student) to and from place of work. If a problem arises at any time (school contact) is to be notified immediately. (School contact) will monitor the contract continuously. OUTCOMES: After the contract (student) should be able to: 1. Keep a working !Jg of a day's activities. This should include a record of the time on particular tasks, of any new information acquired, new tools used and any new skills learned. 2. Be able to complete a full costing for small leatherworking tasks. This should include some awareness of all possible costs to be taken into account. 3. Completely answer the telephone ind take care of any businass arising from that call,,, 4. Understand the way the range of tools in the area of saddlery are used. ASSESSMENT: There is to be a meeting of all parties concerned upon completion of the contract to assess the success. Certain areas, such as the log, may be assessed by the staff of the school. This may be negotiated as the contract progresses. It is hoped that these contracts may be accepted by the Schools Board as accredited short courses. If so, then (student) may gain credit for this contract on his Schools Certificate. We have read the Contract, have a copy of it and agreee to abide by its terms. (Student's Name): (Student's Parent's Names) DATE: (Consultant's Name): (School Contact's Nam)

'4 67 455 APPENDIX 2 PENGUIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDY CONTRACT

DATE: FROM // TO // STUDENT: CONSULTANT: SCHOOL CONTACT: STUDY AREA: Titration Procedures in Inds ;trial Chemistry STRUCTURE: The course will consist of approximately fifteen (15) hours of study. The time will be organised over four half days in a period of one month. The study will take placeat (name of company) in (town). This Company will provide (Consultant's name)as the Learning Consultant. The day to be used will be negotiated between (Consultant's name) and (School Contact's name). Transport for (Student's name) will be organised in consultation with his parents. If a problem arises at any time (School Contact's name) will be notified immediately. (School Contact's name) will monitor the contract continuously. OUTCOMES: After the contract (Student's name) should be able to: 1. Use the necessary equipment with precision, care and safety. This includes standard flasks, pipettes an burettes. 2. Complete the necessary calculations and use these to make a standard solution. 3. Determine the concentration of a base by titrating against an acid of known concentration. 4. Present the results of above work in a clear, concise and meaningfulway. 5. Understand the need for this type of work in industry. ASSESSMENT: There is to be a meeting of all parties concerned upon the completion of thecontract to assess the success. The learning coi isultant will assess the students works accordingly to a rating system and by providing written comment. This School's representatives willuse this assessment to contribute towards the student's Schools Board results in Science. We have read the Contract, have a copy of it and agreee to abide by itsterms. STUDENT: STUDENT'S PARENTS: LEARNING CONSULTANT: SCHOOL CONTACT: SCHOOL PRINCIPAL:

456 APPENDIX 3 THE SCHOOLS BOARD OF TASMANIA SYLLABUS DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE PERSONAL STUDY CONTRACTS REPORT OF SUB-COMMITTEE

A Personal Study Contract is a specific learning version of the contract should be submitted to the program which has been designed to meet the needs Board. A final version of the contract should be of a particular individual student. I differs from Work submitted to the Board as soon as possible on a Experience in that the contract which is negotiated pro-forma similar to that used for Group A subjects. with the particular individual has a direct link with A subject Advisor s:,Juld visit the school and scene one or more subjects of the school curriculum and of the contract and discuss it with the parties concer- will therefore have a substantial learning compo- ned during its operation. nent. Assessment materials are more likely to be in log A Personal Study Contract may involve employers book form than in a series of conventional tests. The or the use of resources in the community but need log book and, certainly, a description of the contract not do so. in the form of a folio should be available on request, The sub-committee recommends that the Board as the name of the contract may not adequately should acknowledge Personal Study Contracts as a convey the substance of the !earning experience. potentially valid learning experience and should In recommending that the Board should certificate therefore certificate them on the T.C.E. Personal Study Contracts, the sub-committee sug- This will involve creating a new category of subject, gests that for the following reasons they should represent a minimum of 25 hours these 'subjects' will be specific to an individual; contract study time; the contract may often be negotiated after the as many of them will extend over a four-five week work to be done is well under way; period, 15th October should be the final date for the contract or syllabus statement will be finalsied the submission of any new Personal Study Cont- after the event rather than before. ract; However, consultation with the Board should take they should be recorded on the T.C.E. in the same place during preparation of the contract or as soon way as any other subject. as possible after it has commenced. At this stage, a

4 69 457 APPENDIX 4 THE SCHOOLS BOARD OF TASMANIA SYLLABUS DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE PERSONAL STUDY CONTRACTS

1. DEFINITION (ii) Developing and Submitting a Proposal A Personal Study Contract (a) The School will prepare a preliminary out- (a) is a specific learning program which lies outside line of the Personal Study Contract and sub- the normal framework of syllabuses provided by mit it to the Board. the Schools Board; (b) The school will discuss its proposal with the (b) has been designed by a school to meeta need of Course Advisor appointed by the Board and a particular student; submit it to the Board on the pro-forma pro- (c) is intended for exceptional circumstances only, vided. e.g. where the conventional curriculum is in- (c) The Course Adviser will provide the Board appropriate; with a preliminary report on the contract as it (d) while having a direct link with oneor more has been or is being developed and with a subjects of the school curriculum, will not be recommendation as to whether the Personal part of an existing subject; Study Contract should be approved for (e) may involve employers and the use of resources School Certificate purposes. in the community; (0 will be deveoped by a school and approved by the Board; REFERENCES (g) should represent a minimum of 25 hours of cont- 1. N.W. COUNCIL FOR COMMUNITY EDUCA- ract study time; TION (1979) Constitution and functions avai- (h) may be undertaken by stude,zs in either Year 9, lable P 0 Box 447, Burnie 7320 10, 11, or 12; 2. WALKER M.G. (1983) "Challenges facing dis- (i) will not be assessed in terms of levels and awards tance education from the student perspective" but rather according to whether the contract has Keynote address presented at the 6th Biennial been satisfactorily completed. Forum of ASPESA, Darling Downs IAE. 3. N.W. COUNCIL FOR COMMUNITY EDUCA- (When the T.C.E. is introduced, the awards system TION (1984) Fourth Annual Report to the Mini- that applies to Group A, B and C subjects will also apply to Personal Study Contracts). ster for Education and including Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Conference "Putting the Partici- pation and Equity Programme into Practice in the 2. PROCEDURES FOR SCHOOLS N.W." P 0 Box 447, Burnie, Tas 7320 4. N.W. COUNCIL FOR COMMUNITY EDUCA- WISHING TO SUBMIT PERSONAL TION ;1985) Fifth Annual Report to the Minister STUDY CONTRACTS FOR for Education and including Proceedings of the APPROVAL 3rd Annual Conference "Equity for the Geograp- hically Isolated" P 0 Box 447, Burnie 7320 The following procedures are intended toensure 5. AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION COUNCIL (1985) that Task Force on Education and Technology pp 45- (a) the early appointment may be made of a Course 58, 73-74, P 0 Box 758G, Melbourne 3001 Adviser who can assist a school to develop a 6. SCHARASCHKIN, R (1987) "Distance Educa- Personal Study Contract; tion Trial Project Evaluation Report" Education (b) consultation takes place with the Board during Dept., P 0 Box 169B, Hobart 7001 the preparation of a Personal Study Contractor 7. BOOMER, G (1982) "Negotiating the Curricu- as soon as possible after it has commenced. lum" Ashton Scholastic, Sydney. (i) Notification of Intention 8. e.g. JOHNSON, J.N. (1972) "Orientation to In- If a school wishes to have a personal study dependent Studyasking questions". Indepen- contract certificated by the Schools Board, it dent Study Course, UWW University College, should inform the Board as soon as possible of University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S.A. its intention to negotiate a particular contract. 9. WALKER, M.G. (1975) "Towards a true Commu- This will enable the School Certificate Standing nity College" revised 1983 and available P 0 Committee on behalf of the Board to appoint an Box 447, Burnie, Tasmania 7320. appropriate Course Adviser.

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