Block 1: Basic Issues of Open and Distance Education
Unit 1: Understanding Open and Distance Education
Definitions of Open and Distance Education 1.3 Features of Open and Distance Education 1.4 The Paradigm Shi in Distance Education 1.5 Scope of Open and Distance Education 1.6 One System Many Names: Nomenclatures of Open and Distance Learning 1.6.1 Correspondence Education, Home Study and Independent Study 1.6.2 External Studies 1.6.3 Continuing Education 1.6.4 Distance Teaching 1.6.5 Self-instruction 1.6.6 Adult Education 1.6.7 Technology-based or Mediated Education 1.6.8 Learner-centred Education 1.6.9 Open and Distance Learning 1.6.10 Open Access 1.6.11 Flexible Learning 1.6.12 Distributed Learning 1.6.13 Proximate Education 1.6.14 Online Learning 1.6.15 Virtual Learning 1.6.16 Blended Learning 1.7 Types of Open and Distance Education 1.7.1 Single Mode Institution 1.7.2 Dual Mode Institution 1.7.3 Consortium 1.8 Perceived Diff erences between Face-to-Face Education and Open Distance Learning 1.8.1 Vocabulary in Face-to-Face (F2F) and ODL 1.8.2 Conceptual Diff erences Between Face-to-Face and Open and Distance Learning 1.9 Open and Distance Education: The Indian Experience 1.9.1 Generation of Distance Educators in Indian Context 1.9.2 Some Initiatives of Indian Open Universities 1.9.3 Assumed Model of Open and Distance Education In India— Dependency Model 1.9.4 Food for Thought
“Open learning as a philosophy or a set of beliefs about teaching and learning and distance learning as a method/s or a set of techniques for teaching and learning. Open Learning is an arrangement to enable a person to learn at the time, place and pace which satisfi es their circumstances and requirements. The emphasis is on opening up opportunities by overcoming barriers that result from geographical isolation, personal or work commitments or conventional courses structures which have o en prevented people from gaining access to the training they need.”
Let us now elaborate Distance Education characteristics as specifi ed by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). These are as follows:
Separation of teacher and learner in time or place, or in both time and place;
Institutional accreditation; that is, learning is accredited or certifi ed by some institution or agency. This type of learning is distinct from learning through your own eff ort without the offi cial recognition of a learning institution;
Use of mixed-media courseware, including print, radio and television broadcasts, video and audio-casse es, computer-based learning and telecommunications. Courseware tends to be pre-tested and validated before use;
Two-way communication allows learners and tutors to interact as distinguished from the passive receipt of broadcast signals. Communication can be synchronous or asynchronous;
Possibility of face-to-face meetings for tutorials, learner-learner interaction, library study and laboratory or practice sessions; and
Use of industrialised processes; that is, in large-scale open and distance learning operations, labour is divided and tasks are assigned to various staff who works together in course development teams.
A study of the defi nitions will show you that there are some common broad features of Open and Distance Education, which are as follows: No upper age limit Qualifi cation Openness with regard to place and time of study Flexibility in selection of courses Credit accumulation and self paced examination system ; Use of Educational Technology and Information Communication Technologies (ICT) Multiplier eff ect
Multiplier Eff ect: The synergetic eff ect of multiplier is always equated with the inbuilt strength of open and distance education. It has been understood that the Open University can multiply its sources of learning and its resources. In the early sixties the concept of education was aimed at ‘Each one Teach one’ but over the years, it has been realised that even one person can teach many. The strength of open and distance education lies in its multiplier eff ect. This implies that the ODL system can be used eff ectively for reaching out to large numbers without diluting the content s well as maintaining cost eff ectiveness. This multiplier eff ect is most visible in teaching-learning facilities for learners of ODL as well as training of trainers. In the spheres of training, it is said ODL has multiplier eff ects ie One trainer can train Eleven trainees. This implies that eleven can train One hundred and twenty one and these 121 trainers will multiply and this process will go on multiplying. This was the main object with which the Spoken English training programme was undertaken by then Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL) now renamed as English and Foreign Language University (EFLU) Hyderabad. This model has been replicated in other institutions. The advantage of ODL is that it allows increased interaction capability naturally resulting in increased learning gains. The use of technology allows many user groups to share the network. It is also possible to organize specifi c video conferencing sessions for a separately identifi ed group with diff erent needs. All these advantages result in tremendous cost-cu ing in travel, logistics and in repetition of teaching infrastructure. Another advantage of the multiplier eff ect is that it contributes to the repository of digital learning material/ knowledge and enhances the learning process of the learners of the institution. This approach is a dynamic concept to educate mass/majority of learners. The multiplier eff ect allows the learning resources to be dispersed simultaneously among several geographically dispersed learners in minimal time. Also, the biggest advantage is the repetition of training courses/materials and their updating and dissemination despite of the geographic diversity. Open and distance learning can be summed based upon above features as follows: accessibility is promise, fl exibility is its commitment and educational equity is the overall philosophical basis.
1.8.1 Vocabulary in Face-to-Face (F2F) and ODL
Face-to-Face (F2F) Open & Distance Learning (ODL)
Students Learners
Instruction Self-learning/Self Directed Learning
Text books Self-Learning Materials.
Books Blocks
Teachers Academic Counsellors/ Tutors
College/ University Study Centres/Programme Centres
Subjects Courses
Books Study Materials
Chapters Units
Headings Sections/Sub-Sections
Questions /Answers Refl ective Questions
Small Questions Check Your Progress
Teaching Counselling/Tutoring
Examination Evaluation
Mostly Marks Both Marks and Grades
Mostly Multi Media Both Multi/Multiple Media
Face-to-Face (F2F) Open & Distance Learning (ODL)
Systemic issues
Teacher teaches Institution teaches
Individual teachers excellence is recognized Team excellence is recognized.
Education is restricted to few. Education is for all.
Rigid educational system – restrictions of age, qualifi cations and physical presence Flexible access to education – no upper age, no prior qualifi cations, accessible practices for teaching and learning
Community and service oriented education Both community, market & technology oriented education
Costing is rarely done on cost-eff ective and effi cient basis Both cost-eff ective and effi cient education
Studying is restricted to mostly one time activity Learning is a life long and self-learning activity
Quality is the educational agenda but not quantity of educational access Both quality and quantity are aimed by fl exible educational practices for achieving equity and education for all
Knowledge is restricted to few Seamless access to knowledge, for people, places, methods and its operations Media, methods and technology
Multi-media is sparingly used and mostly not insisted Multi-media and multiple methods are widely used
Educational technology is sparingly used Techno based teaching learning with aim of seamless education.
Print is dominant mode in teaching, learning process Print, audio-video, radio and tele conferencing used for learning
Refl ective practices are rarely achieved in diff erent media Refl ective practices from various sources are preserved in various formats
Teacher added books are widely used Self-directed learning materials are strength of its learning
Teachers role is more towards pedagogical issues rather than administrative issues Equal importance given by the teachers to both pedagogical and managerial issues
Curricular issues (Design)
Curriculum is based on conventional and market designs Scope for experimentations, innovations and creativity in evolving curriculum designs
Designed to suit existing resources available at market Designed to suit the requirements of a particular audience
Mostly more conceptual, theoretical centered More experiences/ projects based
Structured for specialists, supported by teachers Structured according to needs of distance learners
Curricular planning processes mostly dictated by the top down approach Curriculum planning and development process are dictated from the bo om up approach
Less scope for innovation, experimentation and creativity for individual teacher to design curriculum Enough space/scope for innovation, experimentation and creativity for individual teacher to design curriculum
It is not cost eff ective and cost benefi t Always aimed at being cost eff ective and cost benefi t
Instructional designs dominates teaching learning process Self-directed learning design dominates in teaching learning process
Course/design development is mostly done by Board of Studies and delivery and examinations are being done by the teachers Design, development, evolving an appropriate delivery strategies and evaluation are integrated and undertaken by the Open and Distance teachers
Learning objectives are implicit Learning objectives are explicit
Development of Curriculum
Done mostly by external agencies Done in-house in collaboration with best talent available from all sources
Teaching staff not directly involved in development In house academic staff with team approach is involved
Planning and organization are not specifi ed for development of Curriculum Planning and organizations are specifi ed for development of curriculum
Content is mostly dense and requires support from the teacher Content is unpacked and concept mapping is done with meticulous care for self learning
Li le or no selfassessment Major emphasis on selfassessment and assessment and evaluation by the learners
Scholarly presentation of the content Aims at successful learning at distance
Standardization diff ers from institutions to institution Standardization across the programmes, courses, blocks and units
Delivery Strategies
Mostly guided by Board of Studies of Universities Intelligently using spare resources/excellence from the host institutions on payment basis
Mostly face-to-face mode Using all available technologies Within the institutional campus
Out of the campus and seamless Creates its own infrastructure
Mostly uses spare human and infrastructural resources from its host institution Monitoring is not a periodical activity
Monitoring is a functional activity Best practices are evolved during the process
Best practices are identifi ed, adopted, experimented and consolidated
Evaluation Issues
System /course / Programme evaluation is done only when institution requires System /course / Programme evaluation is done on periodical basis to maintain quality, cost benefi t and its eff ectiveness
Only summative evaluation in the text books Both formative and summative evaluation is done within textbook
Marking or grading system Marking and grading
1.9.4 Food for Thought
Few ideas for debate a nd discussion with an Open mind for the cause of open learning: Think…
Open and Distance education is more a mind set in its whole gamut.
Ekalavya to be the fi rst Distance Learner in Indian context of distance education
The distance education is compared as ABIMANYU SYNDROME where entry is easy and exit is diffi cult.
In the face-to-face situation, it is the student who trouble the institutions whereas in open and distance education the institution troubles the learners.
Self-Learning Materials in open distance materials are subject to praise and criticism in public life
Face-to-face system uses distance education materials but it rarely acknowledges.
Distance Education is a historical necessity in Indian situation’ Think!
Distance Education is a new career opportunities in the globalisation of Education for both teachers and new learners.
Open Learning and Closed mind do not go together.
ODL promote shameless borrowing of knowledge for seamless education.
Communication is the essence of Distance Education.
In the face to face system teacher excellence is recognised whereas in open and Distance Education, team excellence is recognised.
Establishment of open university have positively infl uenced many Correspondence Courses Institutions of conventional universities to reform their teaching and delivery methodologies.(Power-1989)
Distance education is “a more business oriented form of education”
The teacher working for Open and Distance Education should have social concern and develop courses and programmes, at the same time their programmes are market wise viable (for its economic reasons) and fi nally he/she working for the cause of ODL should posses handling of technololgy.
Teachers working for Open and Distance Education need to be always be active to generate ideas, they also need to be pro-active to develop the ideas in to action, also need to be process active for evolving an appropriate strategies to delivery mechanism of their programmes and fi nally they need to be post-active to undertake system/ programme and their student evaluation.
The teachers working for open and distance education can be compared to un-acknowledged legislators of Knowledge for the knowledge society.
According to Common Wealth of Learning Perception (COL), the Distance education has been defi ned as follows:
Separation of teacher and learner in time or place, or in both time and place;
Institutional accreditation; that is, learning is accredited or certifi ed Institution . This type of learning is distinct from learning through your own eff ort without the offi cial recognition of a learning institution;
Use of mixed-media courseware, including print, radio and television
broadcasts, video and audio-casse es, computer-based learning and telecommunications. Courseware tends to be pre-tested and validated before use;
Two-way communication allows learners and tutors to interact as
distinguished from the passive receipt of broadcast signals. Communication can be synchronous or asynchronous;
Possibility of face-to-face meetings for tutorials, learner-learner interaction,
library study and laboratory or practice sessions; and
Use of industrialised processes; that is, in large-scale open and distance
learning operations, labour is divided and tasks are assigned to various staff who
works together in course development teams.
The gamut of distance education is explained as course design, development, evolving an appropriate strategy for delivery or its transactional strategies, undertaking learner’s /course evaluation/ programme evaluation and fi nally periodical undertaking of revision of course/programme. These are the major activities of open and distance education. It o en said that the gamut of open and distance education is the gamut of learners support services. The learners are the real stakeholders of the system and the entire system rotate them round. All the design, development, delivery strategies and learner’s evolution activities have cyclic relations and chaining linkages, which one cannot detach from another. The overall emphasis and importance is given to learners in all activities. Hence it is said that the gamut of open and distance education is the gamut of its learner and their support services.
Critically explain the issues and inter relationships involved in the gamut of open and distance education. Analyze the conceptual distinctions between OE and DE with suitable illustrations and examples. (2)
Discuss the major challenges face by DE in attaining parity of esteem with F2F education
Explain the academic and pedagogic issues of the guided conversation theory of DE
How can F2F and ODL be converged with the help of ICT and Social media?
Limitations of dual mode institutions in India?
Discuss the challenges faced by DE in achieving parity with F2F system?
What is the status of ODL today? In what ways can the latest ICT strengthen the quality and status of ODL in the developing world? Give examples.
Write a note on the evolution of Correspondence Education to ODL?
Define open and DE (2)
Is Online learning same as Virtual Learning? Explain
Explain three types of open and DE learning institutions. Describe online, virtual, and blended learning. Explain the relevance of ‘blended learning’ in the Indian DE context. (2)
List five perceived differences between face to face and open and DE
How is DE a learner centered education as compared to face to face education? Briefly explain the four learner models in twenty first century and their implications for open and distance learning (2)
What is meant by ‘distance’ in DE? What do you mean by communicational distance in today’s context of DE? How does Moore differentiate communicational distance from physical distance?
If OE is a destination, DE can be considered a vehicle. Explain. Explain what is Distance in this context.
Discuss at least four key functions of a Distance Teacher.
What are the strengths of indigenous models of Open Distance Learning? In what ways external success models can help in this context?
Discuss the concepts of : correspondence education, distance education and open distance learning
Highlight the organic link between ODL and MOOCs with examples.
Unit 2: Social Credibility and Justice
Education and Social Credibility 2.2.1 Advancing Knowledge 2.2.2 Imparting Skills 2.2.3 Building a Cultivated Society 2.2.4 Instilling a Secular View 2.3 Quality and Social Credibility 2.3.1 Campus Education 2.3.2 Traditional ODL 2.3.3 Online Learning 2.3.4 Courseware 2.3.5 Learner Services 2.4 Social Justice 2.4.1 The Question of Access 2.4.2 Quest for Social Justice 2.4.3 Reflections
2.2 EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CREDIBILITY
Education is very heavily conditioned by the constraints and compromises of the past and thus does not easily respond to new demands and to change in society. An educational system can achieve a high degree of autonomy and social insulation under certain conditions and can grow indiff erent to the world around it.
The responsiveness of education to social, economic and political demands depends largely upon the type of society and the kind of development it permits. (From this point of view, one can see the educational system in India refl ecting the general conservatism of Indian society. This may not permit any radical change unless the values of leading socio-political groups overcome the constraints of the past and conceive of new options for the future. Thus, a degree obtained though distance education may carry a stigma in Indian society for quite sometime until the overall social framework is amended through political pressure. However, the way it gains currency indicates that distance education has come in a big way in India. This may, be the experience of other developing societies too.
There is, a special responsibility of the academicians in so far as they have to spell out the vision of a be er future of an evolving society in which education is going to be widely available and will be linked to the development and participation of all individuals in the general social growth. It is in this light that distance education can also be seen as an important declaration of policy. Policy in education does not refl ect only a concern with resources and priorities. It is more deeply related to questions of social demands. These demands cannot be separated from the interests of dominant groups with vested interests and their political power and form the network of international relations. Thus, a programme for education cannot be discussed except within the social needs it refl ects. Besides refl ecting social needs, educational planning, to be realistic, should take into account not only the choices available but also those constraints which cannot be easily overcome, and the means through which ends have to be realised. Distance education provides just such an alternative. It accepts the challenge of existing constraints on resources, buildings for schools and, colleges, funds, availability of workforce etc., and seeks to mobilize available resources to provide the much needed instructional package. It is in that sense that distance education is an answer to a genuine need and is a signifi cant policy change in education.
The relevance of any educational system ought to be adjudged in terms of the criteria that give the system a signifi cant social function. Thus, it is not presumptuous to say that the basic issue of credibility can be seen as one of either success or failure to meet such criteria. To serve our immediate purpose, let us consider the following four required aims that characterize the functioning of an educational system:
1) To advance learning: An educational system must make a contribution to the growth of knowledge which in turn leads to the advancement of truth or the unveiling of ignorance. This growth of knowledge becomes a specialized function of an educational system, especially at the higher level of learning, which explains the reason why research is generally coupled with teaching at this level of learning.
Distance education is a socio-academic activity — an activity that
i) has to develop not only new insights into but also new ways of explaining and achieving the educational aims of diff erent courses required by distance learners; these aims mostly pertain to cognitive, psychomotor and/or aff ective domains. However, it does underscore the fact that the variety of courses off ered by an open university or a distance education institution — academic courses, refresher and updating courses, training courses, general awareness courses, etc. – will demand an unusual ‘ mixing of these aims, and therefore each course will have to be designed and presented diff erently.
ii) must be based on investigations and insights into the study habits of individual learners, the processes of learning, teaching and eff ective academic communication.
iii) assesses and then exploits the diff ering strengths and weaknesses of diff erent education media – print, audio and video materials, oral communication, communication by correspondence, telephone, computers, etc. – for purposes of both the cost and the pedagogic eff ectiveness of the type of courses off ered.
iv) plans two-way feedback extensively for purposes of reducing misunderstanding by students, failure of courses, the diffi culties caused by the variations in students’ abilities and other diffi culties that may be caused by the failure of postal services, the private problems of a distance learner, the unsympathetic a itude of a tutor, etc.
v) makes use of investigations and insights into the systems and strategies of information processing for purposes of promoting more eff ective teaching materials and thereby discarding the less eff ective ones.
2) To give instruction in skills: The primary function of an educational system is to give instruction in skills that are related to and promote a general division of labour and at the same time respond to changes in such division of labour. (It should be mentioned here that students come to institutions of higher learning mainly because their studies and training are related to future prospects.) A basic learning of skills is thus inherent in distance education. Social Credibility and Justice. For our purpose, we shall divide skills broadly into three categories:
i) Communication skills (listening, reading, writing, and oral skills): Communication skills: In fact, the distance education system makes ample provision for the distance learners to communicate, though mainly through the wri en word, with the distance tutors or institutions. Having read through the course materials, the students are expected to respond to the assignment questions sent to them. (Usually, the submission of assignments is made compulsory in this system). These days electronic media are being used more and more successfully and conveniently for two way communication.
iii) Specialised skills (scientifi c and technological abilities as well as management skills): Such skills pose problems of a logistic nature. They concern the teaching of science and technology and those areas where an insistence on project work is considered desirable. Certain solutions do suggest themselves such as the use of, practical kits in the case of basic science. here are other solutions too, such as week-end practical or summer schools where laboratory based practical may be possible. We can also think in terms of apprenticeship programmes with the active participation of industries. These problems are by no means intractable. So they call for a good deal of innovation and considerable coordination. At this uncture, let us distinguish between ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ levels of education. The ‘lower level’ of education will consist of traditional courses with suitable modifi cation in so far as their administration/monitoring is concerned and will provide education in the fundamentals. There is no harm in retaining the traditional-arts, commerce and science streams or in integrating these into a common stream with adequate modifi cation to eff ect distance teaching! learning, allowing multiple choices, monitoring student progress and awarding degrees on the basis of credits earned. Thus a student might be allowed to opt at a time for two disciplines at an elementary level, and over a minimum period of three years complete at least six disciplines, along with a selected few at somewhat more advanced and specialized levels, to be able to earn his/her fi rst degree.
3) To build a cultivated society: Besides imparting skills that are purely practical, education aims at teaching whatever it does in a manner calculated to develop the powers of the mind. It thus a empts to produce a cultivated society, and it is this particular function of the educational system that places it in a highly eminent light.
Apart from furthering a more professional Understanding of social and economic roles, distance education can help signifi cantly in the evolution of a learning society. The possibility of taking a course and of updating one’s information level at any time in one’s life is more than likely to Social Credibility and Justice promote a professional a itude towards one’s social role. Consider the case of a general medical practitioner who, without having to go on leave, can take a course in order to learn about the latest diagnostic practices and the principles behind the new formulations in drugs. Such a course would foster in him/her a more professional a itude, besides adding to his/her effi ciency. And such a task would be accomplished within a limited time, with limited resources and limited commitments. In other w ords, in spite of several constraints, distance education strategies would certainly help us move one step nearer to a more self-Conscious, professional and learning society. Hence, it is hardly necessary to justify the idea that distance education leads to a general improvement and transformation of learners and through them, of society as a whole. By initiating them into subject and areas which are valuable in themselves, the system will turn out more cultivated persons whose powers of reasoning are likely to be more sophisticated than they were before. And, since distance education can act without the restraining condition of numbers, the system can reach out to very large groups and bring about desired changes in a very short period of time.
4) To transmit the secular view of people: An educational system is unique insofar as it is the only system that seeks to transmit a common human culture and common standards of citizenship. It indicates the spread of rationality or of a certain view of people and so a vision of human potential that distinguishes it from other social institutions. To emphasize, educational institutions, thus, play a crucial role in the evolution of human culture.
More specifi cally, distance education – and this encompasses its fuller development including the use of audio-visual supplementation and, gradually, the channeling of radio/TV and computer networks — will promote in the individual those basic abilities that form a necessary part of the adult in a modem, changing society. What are these basic abilities?
i) ability to support himself or herself,
ii) ability to make informed choices about-life, including career, religion,politics, life-style and general a itudes, and
iii) ability to decide what is and is not morally acceptable. Corresponding to each of these, one’s education must provide one with
i) suffi cient skills to obtain work,
ii) general education giving a reasonable understanding of the nature of human beings and of the world, and
iii) education in morality.
It may be possible, at this point, to say that a distance education system, when properly and fully developed, leads to a furthering of those interests that are peculiar to an open society. By providing education to all, the educational process ceases to be a preserve of the elite. And by catering to the needs of school/college dropouts, distance education can almost eliminate the academic isolation of those who have been deprived of education for whatever reason. Thus, distance education is placed in a position which enables it to take on the responsibility of off ering diverse courses throughout an individual’s life. It also ensures the spread of rationality and a common human culture based on values that arise out of learning and professionalism. Distance education, is thus a highly potent tool in a developing society that is anxious to bring about egalitarianism through the educational process. In contrast with this system of education, the educational structure now prevalent tends to be autocratic and coercive. The manner in which the formal university is structured, and functions in some of the developing societies leaves much to be desired. In these societies, universities were set up quite early in the colonial era and o en by the ruling Western societies. These universities tend to ape the Western universities of the past and o en turn out products that are more suited to Western societies. What is, however, the most abominable part of these universities is that they are wary of giving to the student any real measure of academic freedom. For instance, there is generally a great deal of restriction on the choice of subjects/ disciplines and these are such formidable barriers that students o en take up courses of study only through the pressure the system exerts and not through any degree of voluntary choice. In fact, the students do not even know about the choices possible in the western world. Thus, a student who may wish to change a course midstream fi nds it impossibility and is compelled to continue with a programme in a hal earted manner. It should be mentioned here that those universities which resisted the infl uence of colonialism were able to defi ne their objectives more clearly and hence avoided this rather lop-sided development. It is here that distance education as a system is in a position to off er fl exibility in course curricula. It can cut through the heavily ritualised manner of functioning of the formal system. Education can become a more vital experience, giving to the learner a chance to alter his/her existential situation and hence perception of society. In eff ect, distance education can reduce signifi cantly the constraints on development that originate and arise out of the formal educational system. That this alters Social Credibility and Justice the historical experience of a society makes distance education a basis for revolution as well as for evolution.
By altering the existing social stratifi cation through educational restructuring, it is possible to alter signifi cantly the developmental experience of a society. This is particularly relevant in a developing society. In other words, it is only when one perceives education as a future-oriented programme that one is able to link it up with the process of development.
How are education and social credibility interrelated? Discuss the implications and uses of this relationship with suitable examples. Examine the extent to which DE addresses the issues of social justice. Explain the issues pertaining to the socio- academic credibility of DE in India
Unit 3: Emerging New Learner in Globalizing Era
3.2 Who are Old and Traditional Learners? 3.3 Emergence of New Learners: the Concept and its Implications 3.4 Learner Models 3.4.1 Collaborator 3.4.2 Free Agent 3.4.3 Wise Analyzer 3.4.4 Creative Synthesizer 3.5 Impact of Information and Communication Technologies 3.6 What is the Implication of this for ODL? 3.7 Traits of the New Learners 3.8 What are the Instructional Implications?
What are the typical characteristics of a new learner? Describe New Learner in the context of DE. Discuss NL vis-a-vis technology (ICT) in DE. Define the concept of learner autonomy.
What are the four learner models in ODL?
Discuss the quality issues pertaining to ICT in ODL.
Explain Leaner Autonomy (LA) as suggested by Charles Wedemeyer and to what extent LA is possible in ODL in India?
What is Independent Learning (IL)? Can LA and IL be used synonymously? Justify
What are the implications of NL going DE (ODL)way?
How can skills be developed through DE in a relatively short time?
Block 2: Philosophical Foundations
Unit 1: Defining Distance Education
1.2 Distance Education vis-à-vis Traditional Education 1.2.1 Learner-centredness/Learner-autonomy 1.2.2 Indirect Education 1.2.3 Education in Real-life Settings 1.3 A Clarification of Terms 1.3.1 Correspondence Education 1.3.2 Open Education 1.4 Attempts at Defining Distance Education 1.4.1 Wedemeyer 1.4.2 Moore 1.4.3 Dohmen 1.4.4 Peters 1.4.5 Holmberg 1.5 Significant Aspects of Distance Education 1.6 In Justification of Distance Education
By traditional education we mean a system which operates primarily within a classroom setting. It tries to bring about learning mainly through and with the presence of an oral communicator, i.e., a teacher. In other words, in the traditional system, teaching as an activity finds fulfillment and consummation within a situation in which the teacher and the pupil work contiguously. For example, much of school and college education is of this type.
Wedemeyer
Wedemeyer (1977) has used the terms ‘open learning’, ‘distance education’ and ‘independent study’ in his works, but favours the last term consistently. He defines ‘independent study’ as follows: Independent study consists of various forms of teaching-learning arrangements in which teachers and learners carry out their essential tasks and responsibilities apart from one another, communicating in a variety of ways. Its purposes are to free off campus or external learners with the ‘opportunity to continue learning in their own environments, and developing in all learners the capacity to carry on self-directed learning and the ultimate maturity required of the educated person. Notice that there is a suggestion for two kinds of ‘independent study’. One for the on-campus learner who may not want and/or need to attend lectures regularly; the other for the off-campus learners who are on their own. But, both these kinds are subordinate to the overwhelming idea of the ultimate social purpose of education – liberal education for social welfare. It is, therefore, not difficult to appreciate why in the United States of America; the expression ‘independent study’ is extensively being used to mean both ‘Correspondence’ and ‘Distance’ Education. Additionally, the expression does connote ‘open learning’ too, as one needs open access to education in order to become a truly ‘educated’ person. You could also see that the focus here is on the sociological aspects of education. As a society develops the facilities for better communication and faster mobility, the need for freeing the individual from the traditional fetters of social, economic and cultural institutions gets articulated. If unconventional arrangements can assure the same or even better quality of education, then, the traditional face-to-face education need not be shown as the only way of teaching or learning. Wedemeyer only gives expression to the changing social environment of the U.S.A. in the sixties and the seventies which saw the peak of liberalism and freedom in the American educational thinking.
Moore
Moore (1973) is more explicit in so far as the characteristic features of distance education are concerned. According to him distance teaching may be defined as the family of instructional methods in which the teaching behaviours are performed apart from learning behaviours, including those that in a contiguous situation would be performed in the learner’s presence, so that communication between the teacher and the learner must be facilitated by print, electronic, mechanical or other devices. At least three features of distance education are clearly discernible in this definition:
i) teaching behaviour remains separated from learning behaviour (e.g. correspondence courses);
ii) face-to-face teaching and learning forms a part of the system (e.g. contact programmes); and
iii) electronic and other media may be used to effect learning and teaching (e.g., use of audio and video cassettes).
The first two of these features are similar to the ones which Wedemeyer has pointed to. And if we interpret Wedemeyer’s expression ‘communication in a variety of ways’ broadly, even the third feature listed above finds a place in his (Wedemeyer’s) definition. While Wedemeyer talks in broad sociological terms, Moore makes his statements more specific to the context of educational communication. Moore implies that whether the situation is face-to-face or that of distance learning, the effectiveness of education would depend upon the nature of communication and the degree of dialogue. The Individuality of the teacher is acknowledgeable even if advanced mechanical devises are used in class room. But overall in DE everything becomes a collective activity: the degree of labour in distance education corresponds to a large extent to the division of labour as an industrial mode of operations. We shall discuss more of this in the next unit.
Dohmen
Dohmen (1977) of Germany defines distance education as a systematically organised form of self-study in which student counselling, the presentation of learning material and securing and supervising of students success is carried out by a team of teachers, each of whom has responsibilities. It is made possible at a distance by means of media which can cover long distances. This definition places emphasis upon the importance of self-study. This feature of distance education is emphasised in Wedemeyer’s definition too. Like Wedemeyer and Moore, Dohmen also emphasises, and correctly so, the use of the media which is what enables distance education to reach out to the consumer of education. We notice that all the three thinkers quoted above focus, partly explicitly and partly implicitly, on two aspects of distance education. These are:
i) self-study, and
ii) the use of media for educational communication. Dohmen recognises the need for student support too, which is an important addition to the kind of self-study which distance learners pursue. The point being made is that as against the oral communication used in the conventional classroom type of teaching, which is not a process of self-study, distance education uses print, electronic media and oral face to-face situations for purposes of self study which is the basis of distance education. Now, we shall turn to a definition that presents a theoretical framework for the entire process of distance education.
Peters
Peters (1973) defined distance education as “a method of imparting knowledge, skills and attitudes which is rationalised by the application of division of labour and organisational principles as well as by the extensive use of technical media, specially for the purpose of reproducing high quality teaching materials which makes it possible to instruct great numbers of students at the same time wherever they live”. It is an “industrialised form of teaching and learning”. Peters definition is interesting because, besides the use of technical media and mass education, he emphasises a specific principles which relate distance education to the nature principles of the industrial society. It is also possible to view distance education as a system arising from the new and specific needs of an industrialising society in which almost all activities, including education, have to fit into time schedules that are geared to more rigid working and learning conditions. The possible comparison between the conventional, face-to-face education and the ‘industrialised’ distance education is as follows: In the artisan period of commodity production, the artisan as an individual had complete control over his art or trade. The skills of an individual artisan or worker could be distinguished by the commodity, and the individuality of the producer was thus maintained. Similarly in the ideal face-to-face classroom teaching, the teacher is solely responsible for the choice of the curriculum, syllabus, method of instruction and evaluation. The individuality of the teacher is very much recognisable, even if advanced mechanical devices are used in the classroom. But in distance education every thing becomes a collective activity – development of courses, their delivery, the process of evaluation, etc. Because of the size of the numbers, distance teaching operations become massive and the logistics become complex and at times cumbersome. The very nature of these activities, affects the individual identity of those involved in the practice of distance education. The difference between face-to-face education and distance education is that of the division of labour. The degree of division of labour in distance education corresponds to a large extent to the division of labour in an industrial mode of operation.
Holmberg
Holmberg (1981) defines distance education as that kind of education which covers. The various forms of study at all levels which are not under continuous, immediate supervision of tutors present with their students in lecture rooms on the same premises, but which, nevertheless benefit from the planning, guidance and tuition of a tutorial organisation. What is interesting about Holmberg’s definition is that distance education is being looked upon as an organised educational programme, which assures institutional support to the student. We shall elaborate on this and a few other points of view in the next unit.
IN JUSTIFICATION OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
Doubts have often been expressed about the nature of distance education and its true efficacy. Some have suggested that since there is no teaching function in it, distance education should not be described as an educational activity. Some have seen it more as a kind of business similar to what mail order firms carry out. To many it may appear to be a kind of industrial organisational selling of learning goods for financial profit. One answer to this is to say that distance education is not a conventional kind of education. There is minimal face-to-face or interpersonal communication and institutionalised teaching. It is based on rationalised and technologically produced teaching programmes. The above argument assumes that all learning does not depend on teaching. People learn from the time they are born until they die. They learn from books, television, from movies and from everyday life. This learning is different from on-campus learning which is primarily limited to teacher oriented communication. By implication, this means that we are learning all the time. And yet the concept of interpersonal communication is central to distance education. Since the quality and quantity of learning depends entirely on the kinds of material that are developed by the institutions, this inter-personal communication can be divided, following Keegan (1986), into the following functions:
i) Information : to provide information
ii) Expression function : to express feelings
iii) Control function : to get someone to behave in a certain way
iv) Social contact function : to relieve privacy
v) Stimulation function : to stimulate
These functions are carried out in distance education through printed or Distance Education electronic or computer-based interaction. There is, therefore, a need within distance education to compensate for the following weaknesses of technology based education:
i) no heard language,
ii) an absence of immediate feedback,
iii) delayed reinforcement
iv) no physical contiguity (of teachers and learners).
Above all, the environmental factors of the learners are vastly different. What can compensate for these weaknesses, to a large extent, is a more rationally determined means-ends process: the use of a context-free language, a better emphasis on the learning of skills, etc. All these can be developed through an easy readable style. Distance Education involves anticipation of students’ problems, careful structuring of contents, selftesting questions, clearly enunciated instructional objectives, inserted questions and model answers. Distance education, thus, is a movement away from labour intensive costs in education since it reduces the active participation of a teacher within the system of education.
All this leads us to a two-point conclusion:
i) an industrialisation of teaching, that is, inter-personal communication is replaced by mechanically designed systems of communication that lie in the printed work, in audio and video cassettes and in computer-based materials; and
ii) privatisation of institutional learning, that is, students learn at home and. at their own pace. In other words, the individual student becomes the focus of learning
SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
It should not be assumed that there are no other definitions except the five we have touched upon above, nor do we suggest that anyone or a combination of any two or more of the above definitions actually defines distance education comprehensively. There are other definitions too, and many more will come up as we explore this innovative system of education. Obviously, the question of defining distance education is open, and it will remain so for quite some time to come. The purpose of the above details will have been served if they enable you to identify the various characteristics of distance education as it is understood today. This is exactly what Keegan has already done for us. He brings together various aspects of these definitions in order to clarify the nature of distance education. Keegan believed that distance education is a distinct form of education characterised by:
i) the separation of teacher and learner.
ii) the role of the educational organisation
iii) the place of the technical media
iv) two-way communication
v) the separation of the learner from his peer group
vi) industrialisation
Each of these may be considered briefly as follows:
i) The teacher and the learner are separated from each other and this is a central characteristic of this form of education.
ii) Distance education is an institutional kind of educational system. It is, therefore, distinct from private study which may result from private reading or watching TV or attending a talk, etc.
iii) Distance education makes use of the various technically advanced media such as printing, telephone, audio-video, broadcasting, computer, etc.
iv) It is two-way communication because the student is able to respond through assignment-responses or other media and therefore can receive feedback. The student thus enters into a dialogue with the institution.
v) Each student is separated from his/her peer group in the sense that although the learners form a fairly sizable population they do not have face-to-face interaction among themselves. Thus distance education becomes a highly individualised learning system. In this sense, it remains one of the most individualised of all educational systems. Even though study groups may be formed under distance education learning programmes, these may not be compulsory and the student is free to work entirely on his/her own.
vi) Distance education is a specific answer to a specific need. It is the developed industrial society that has created a need for a more capsular kind of education. At the same time, it is the same society that has developed the necessary technology to be able to structure an educational system that will cater to such a specialised kind of need for education. In that sense, one can say that distance education is an offshoot of industrial development. Thus, today one can define distance education as that field of educational endeavour in which
the learner is quasi-permanently separated from the teacher throughout the duration of the learning process;
the learner is quasi-permanently separated from the learning group throughout the duration of the learning process;
a technological medium replaces the inter-personal communication of conventional, oral group-based education;
the teaching/learning process is institutionalized (thus distinguishing it from Teach-yourself Programmes) and,
Philosophical Foundations two-way communication is possible between both the student and the teacher (thus distinguishing it from other forms of educational technology). In essence, it represents individualisation of the educational processes. Finally, one must recognise that the concept of distance education is basically a democratic idea. This is, perhaps, what makes it most unique. What a lecturer says as part of his/her oral and spontaneous communication within the classroom is in many ways private. At least, it is restricted to a definite and small number of persons and cannot be captured in any medium for review or revision. On the other hand, the information that is communicated in a distance education learning programme is something that is open to public inspection. Such learning resources, therefore, can be subjected to both prize and criticism publicly criticised and can be reviewed and revised from time to time. Hence one might conclude by saying that the democratisation of the educational process is possibly achieved in some measure by the process of distance education.
List factors predominant in assessing the quality of on campus, ODL and online learning
Explain the concept of DE as a function of dialogue and individualized learning proponents of Michael G Moore. Define the meaning of Industrialized Forms of Teaching Learning System. Describe Moore’s notion of independent study (4)
Systematic Research is one of the strongest answer in countering the cultural bias against ODL. Comment on this statement. What are the basic requirements to conduct systematic research in OU in India?
Justify the need for F2F component in a DE programme
What is the notion of equity in ODL?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of academic debate on open learning today?
How do you propose to enhance human interaction through social media in ODL?
Unit 2 &3 : Philosophical Foundations -1 & 2
2.2 Independent Study: Charles Wedemeyer 2.2.1 Autonomy of the Learner 2.2.2 Distance between the Learner and the Teacher 2.2.3 Structural System 2.3 Independent Study Revisited: Michael Moore 2.3.1 Moore’s Notion of Independent Study 2.3.2 Distance: A Function of ‘Dialogue’ and ‘Individualisation’ 2.3.3 Learner Autonomy 3.2 Distance Education: An Industrialised form of Teaching and Learning – Otto Peters 3.2.1 Rationale Behind the Views of Otto Peters 3.2.2 Industrial Characteristics of Distance Education 3.2.3 Distance Education – Most Industrialised Form of Education 3.2.4 Pedagogic Aspects of Peters’ Theory 3.3 Guided Didactic Conversation – Borje Holmberg 3.3.1 Guided Didactic Conversation – An Explanation 3.3.2 Features of Didactic Conversation 3.4 Two-way Postal Communication – John Baath 3.4.1 Pedagogic Significance of Tutor Comments 3.4.2 Pre-enrolment Counselling 3.5 Human Element in an ‘Industrialised’ Form of Education – David Sewart 3.5.1 Vital Need for Human Support 3.5.2 Major Issues and Compromises
Explain how DE succeeds in installing secular views among the human being
Explain David Stewart’s concept of human element in an industrial form of teaching and learning. Do you think his views on human elements are still relevant (given advancements in ICT)? Why?
What is the contribution of Stewart in DE? What is the contribution of Human Element in DE?
With ICT upsurge, DE has become elitist. Justify with examples
Consider any three major theories of DE. In what respects they need to be updated and applied in the 21st century? Give examples and illustrations.
Critically evaluate the philosophical foundations of DE
What do you mean by the Industrialized Forms of teaching-learning systems? why is DE called an industrialized form of teaching and learning?
Discuss the contemporary relevance of any five theories of DE
Write a note on commonwealth of learning?
Discuss three theories of DE and applications.
Mode and Philosophy are distinct. Mode does not in itself define the quality of education.
Unit 4: Emerging Operational Concerns
Distance Education and Communication Technologies 4.3 Networked Collaborative Learning 4.4 Quality Issues 4.5 Economic Arguments 4.6 Research and Staff Development 4.6.1 Research 4.6.2 Staff Development
Distance Education, in terms of its evolutionary stages, has been categorised, of late, into four generations:
The first-generation was characterised by the traditional correspondence education which differed from face-to-face education essentially only in one respect: the delivery through correspondence mode. In all other respects such as curriculum, syllabi, and evaluation it followed the norms and conventions of face-to-face campus based education system. The instructional medium was print.
The second-generation of distance education called the ‘multimedia’ model brought in changes in the curricular, delivery and assessment and evaluation aspects by accommodating print, radio, television, audio-video tapes, computer mediated learning and interactive video.
The third-generation of distance education called ‘the tele-learning model’ extended the scope of it by further integrating the audio video teleconferencing, audio graphic communication, TV/radio facilities and by enhancing the interactive element in the teaching learning process.
The fourth-generation of distance education called ‘the flexible learning model’ succeeded in integrating the interactive multimedia, the internet based access to information and the computer mediated communication through electronic mail (Taylor 1998).
In the extremely complex educational enterprise it quality assurance is easier said than done. In the institutional set up unless everybody thinks it as their business to assure quality it is not possible to assure it or maintain it. Institutional arrangements and policies must be geared to this end right from the beginning. Planning, development, implementation and evaluation of distance education programmes must be effected in a Professional manner focusing on at least the following six areas:
Curriculum design and course development
Delivery mechanism
Student support services
Learning resources, besides course materials
Continuous monitoring leading to quality assurance
Evaluation of every activity at regular intervals
John Daniel (1997) highlights four basic ingredients of distance education. High quality multimedia learning materials; dedicated academic support; sleek logistics; and a strong research base. High quality learning materials prepared by professionally competent teams of distance educators assure the learner of a positive learning experience.
Dedicated support services help the learners through counselling, tutoring, assignment marking ,and the final evaluation. Efficient logistics assure the learners the receipt of study materials, evaluated assignment responses and other required information in time. A strong research base helps the academics in updating the course materials, and alerts the policy makers and administrators about what is required to respond meaningfully to the new developments and changing needs. The difficulty is not so much in recognising the importance of the above ingredients in assuring quality as in acquiring the necessary competence to develop these ingredients and put them in place. Even if competence is available, the environmental and political factors may not use it in time or may treat the quality aspects rather superficially and casually. Such nonserious approach is common with institutions which do not declare quality assurance as their basic concern (Koul, 1997). However, with the increasing awareness about consumer rights, legal provision for protection of customers interests, competitive markets and the rapid growth of information technology, quality assurance is not merely a question of professional obligation but is a crucial factor that decides the survival and growth of institutions. If not on the conscious demands of learners, certainly for their own survival distance teaching institutions are persuaded to view quality issues seriously.
What do you mean by ‘multiplier effect’ in DE? Define multiplier effects through open and DE
Are mass education, industrialization, and democratization of education threats to quality and standards? Give suitable examples and illustrations to support your answer
Discuss the micro and macro issues of DE operations in an Educational System
DE is an industrialized IF of T& L ? Justify (Yes or No)
Block 3: Growth and Present Status
Unit 1: Historical Perspective
1.2 Social History of Distance Education 1.3 Socio-Political Changes vis-à-vis Educational Systems: A Case Study 1.3.1 Pastoral India 1.3.2 Feudal India 1.3.3 Colonial India 1.3.4 Independent India 1.4 Commercialised Vs. Industrialised Type of Education 1.4.1 Democratisation of Education 1.4.2 Fall in Educational Standards 1.5 Distance Education: An Appreciation
Paradigm shift is an inevitable process in all walks of life. Education is not exception. We have seen transformation from gurukula system of education to face-to-face education, from face-to-face education to distance education. Similarly, from distance education to online education and from online education to blended form of education. All these changes are considered as paradigm shift in education. As a result, new systems emerge. Obviously, this is a continuous and inevitable process in the changing context.
SOCIO-POLITICAL CHANGES VIS-A-VIS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS: A CASE STUDY
The educational system(s) in India over the past few thousand years changed from time to time, as a result of socio-political changes. For ease of presentation and for purposes of discussion, we have broadly divided the political history of India into four stages.
Pastoral India
1. Vedic literature including the Aranyakas, the Brahmanas and the Upanishads was the produce of a pastoral society.
2. The practice of ‘education’ thus was certainly a well established social phenomenon. There were those who taught and those who learned and yet there is no evidence of the existence of universities and schools in those days.
3. The system of education, it appears, was essentially based on the relationship between the guru (teacher) and the shishya (student). The latter had to go in search of a preceptor, who usually lived in an ashram (hermitage) at some distance from the other habitations. It was for the guru to reject or accept the newcomer, i.e., the seeker of knowledge or skills. Once the seeker was accepted, a simple ceremony tied the guru and the shishya by the bond of the academic relationship.
4. Very often, the shishya was expected to live with the guru, be a part of his household and learn as much from his way of life as through actual instruction and practice. We should note that in India this system has defied complete extinction and survives even today in the way, for example, Indian classical music and Sanskrit are taught by great masters. The essential characteristic of this system and the one in which we are interested, is learner-motivation.
5. The starting point in the process of education, in this system, was the learner’s urge to learn, which impelled him to look for a guru. Once the guru accepted an aspirant into his fold, learning could be taken for granted. The major mode of instruction was through word-of-mouth. It is called ‘gurukula’ system of education. i.e., face-to-face residential system of instruction, in which individual attention to the needs of the learner was assured at all costs.
Feudal India
1. With the passage of time the pastoral society became what came to be known as a feudal society. And with the feudal system, we may associate the ancient institutes of India such as Nalanda and Takshsila. These educational institutions were considered seats of higher learning. That is, having completed the lower levels of education, mostly with local masters, the aspirants to higher education travelled long distances for admission to these institutions, which was regulated, with entrance tests Historical Perspective given by dwarpals (literally, a dwarpal is a gatekeeper).
2. Obviously, the essential characteristic of this system too was learner-motivation. By this time, the number of learners aspiring to higher education had increased and as a result, education got institutionalised, though the kind of education prevalent in the pastoral period must have also remained in vogue.
3. It is during this period that learner-motivation appears more clearly to have its basis in a desire for upward social mobility on the part of the learner, for learned people were in demand at royal courts and in the growing bureaucracy. What is more, those who sought higher education usually got financial support. This support might have come through the institutions themselves in certain cases and in certain others from parental or community support.
4. The need for financial support in one or the other form appeared to have emerged as the second important characteristic of the education system of this era. The arrival of Muslims on the scene did not change the politicoeconomic structures of society. It continued to be a feudal society as in the past, but the appearance of a new ruling class led to the emergence of two parallel streams of education – the Pathshala and the Madrassa.
5. Under the former system, Sanskrit played a vital role, and under the latter a Perso-Arabic combine played a similar role. Some of the disciplines, for example, ethics, philosophy, astronomy, astrology, linguistics, languages, etc., being common to both streams, the major difference between the two were those of the medium of instruction and differing religious orientations. The desire for social mobility appeared now as a more recognizable factor in learner-motivation.
Colonial India
1. With the arrival of the British, the Indian educational system underwent a major change. The rulers introduced the Western type of education. English, being their language, became the language of the dominant culture, the medium of instruction and the recognised language of thought. The traditional disciplines were replaced by subjects like economics, physics, chemistry, etc. The schools were housed in separate buildings meant exclusively for educational purposes, the teacher was now a paid agent of the government, a private agency or a voluntary organisation (unlike the tutors in a Pathshala or a Madrassa who were independent agencies by themselves). The learner’s objective now was to obtain a ‘certificate’ by completing a prescribed course of studies successfully.
2. The prospect of social mobility became so strong that it was possible to run schools without any help from the government, as the learners were ready to pay high fees willingly. Before long education came to be seen as a commodity that would pay dividends in the future, and those who saw this point were ready to pay for this commodity. The rigorous standards of education in the past gradually gave way to a stress on the mastery of certain ‘skills’ necessary to perform certain functions at this stage.
3. Having briefly touched upon the educational situation of pre-independent India, we shall now look into the educational scene in independent India. The overall system considered that the education was restricted to few, created a sense of mystification; colonialism and paved a way for elitism through education.
Independent India
1. The first expression of the educational aspirations of independent India is discernible in the Dr. Radhakrishnan Commission Report (1948-49). As a democratic welfare state, India announced ‘Universalisation of education’ and ‘equal opportunities for all’ as basic principles of the educational policy of independent India. This was a significant policy decision, as it marks a definite change in the age-old system of education— now it was the State that took over the responsibility of educating each and every citizen, irrespective of his/her caste or creed, social or economic status, motivation or aptitude.
2. The real spirit of Indian national movement and idealism reflected in commission. This decision obviously proposed a major change in the educational system of India.
Implications of the changes
1. In pastoral India the learner had to go in search of a guru, the source of education; and getting accepted by a guru was the first step in the process of education, which depended mainly on learner-motivation.
2. During the phases of feudalism, the desire for upward social mobility began to colour learner-motivation increasingly, though gradually. And during the colonial period, student-motivation was subordinated almost completely to the desire for social mobility.
3. Eventually, ‘certification’ rather than a quest for knowledge became more important in the eyes of the learners, and by implication, for the society. Independent India further strengthened this trend, since irrespective of the nature and degree of learner-motivation, the State made a public promise to educate the masses. It is the State and the agencies employed or recognised by the State that have to go around looking for the learners.
4. The second significant contrast is seen in the gradual growth of ‘commercialism’ in the field of education. During the earliest days of Indian society, education was effected through a close relationship between the teacher and the taught. Of late, it has turned into a ‘commercial’ enterprise in more than one respect. The school, by and large, is like a commercial house which employs wage earners (the Historical Perspective teachers in this case) who work with their tools and tricks of trade – the prescribed texts, etc. – on the human raw material (the learners) to produce the finished items or end products (the certified students) who are then available in the employment market for a certain price.
5. The laws of supply and demand govern the quality and the value of these certified students as well as they apply to other marketable commodities. With the gradual growth in the supply of certified job seekers, the market value of the various levels of certified attainment begins to fall, and this fall triggers a blind rush for certificates of higher levels. Here, we should point to the fact that this rush is not in essence for higher education, but for the certificates thereof.
6. Thus, whereas the earliest system of education aimed at ‘masterylearning’, today it is ‘certification’ and not ‘learning’ that matters. This attitudinal change and the related problems – the falling standards, the crowded institutions of higher learning, and the teachers’ growing indifference verging to professional dishonesty – erode Indian society in more than one way. On the one hand, the genuinely motivated learner gets disillusioned very early on in the educational process, which results in him/her being either thrown out of gear or attracted by more promising places and on the other, society multiplies mediocrity at geometric rates.
Common Issues
The phenomena described under items (i) and (ii) above pose a number of theoretical as well as practical questions. These questions, in turn, pose a number of challenges to the educational reformer in India and in other developing countries as well.
i) How does the reformer help the State look for and then reach the average learner? This is to keep the promises made by a democratic country to her people.
ii) How does s/he meet the aspirations of the thousands who seek admission to higher education whether they deserve it or not? This is a crucial question as the economic resources to meet this demand by expanding the means of education are not available.
iii) How does s/he safeguard the interests and the nerves of a highly motivated learner, and consequently save the country from intellectual bankruptcy?
iv) How does s/he check the fall in standards and yet provide the minimum required education to one and all?
v) How does s/he build human resources to solve the problems (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) mentioned above without creating irrevocable time lags?
These issues defy solution, as what may be seen as a solution to one problem is in effect a factor that worsens another. This confusing mesh of contradictions may be summed up as follows:
i) A vast population of unmotivated learners aspire for higher education lack of motivation contradicts aspiration for higher education (see item (ii) above).
ii) The desirable goal of maintaining high standards in education conflicts with the increasing population of mediocre students (see item (iv) above) and teachers.
iii) Limited and inadequate resource allocation for education conflicts with the goal of providing education to all those who need it – education of various types at various levels of instruction at various locations/ situations (see items (i), (iii) an (v) above).
Sociopolitical structure | Teacher student relations| Key feature |Mode of teaching |Accessibility |Standards of education
COMMERCIALISED VS. INDUSTRIALISED TYPE OF EDUCATION : Democratization, Fall In standards
Democratisation of Education: The intentions of modem states in the field of education are welcome. The Constitution ensures rights to its citizens form the will of a democratic people, with a constitution stating democratic secular socialist republic and to secure to all its citizens : Justice, social, economic and political: Liberty of thought, expression , belief, faith and worship: Equality of status and of opportunity : and promote among them all Fraternity: assuring the dignity of the individual and unity and integrity of the Nation the present democratic system assure right to education to its citizens, right to Information to its citizens to ensure transparency in administrative system to facilitate rule by the people of the state. The system of distance education has the potential to fulfil this will as it can change the impossible into a foreseeable possibility, and also holds the promise of checking, at reasonable costs, the fall in standards.
2: On the advent of Technology into education, i.e. ICT Interactive Communication Technologies, now the teacher has social responsibility to retain the culture from one generation to another generation, besides, the imparted skilled through educational process should enable the productive process for the market and finally they should evolve a system of techno-managerial society with the silicon revolution. One obvious reason is that teachers are involved in the production of knowledgeable material in both soft and hard copies for the knowledge society. By manipulating the technologies for education, the education has become seamless and borderless in the era of globalisation process.
3: Further, as in the ancient Indian system in which only a motivated learner went in search of a guru, in distance education we have learners who are by and large highly motivated. This was otherwise expressed that Aristotle is going to his disciples rather than the disciples going to him. For example, the new learner is always going for a particular course/programme not by chance but by choice. He has always has a basket of programmes available for him to choose according to his choice and interest. This is otherwise explained in terms of flexibility of the open and distance education. From this point of view, distance education clearly is a socio-historical imperative. It may be a fact that the puritanical among educationists and those who are little informed or misinformed about distance education may have reservations in accepting this mode of education for quite some time to come. Open and Distance Education/Learning is always uncompromisingly striving to borrow the best talent available from all the sources to provide seamless education. It is a democratic promise made by the state to its people to provide education for all. But the very dynamics of social change will carry it through like a piece of wood is carried ashore by rising surge that brooks no opposition. The earlier we prepare ourselves for this change the better. Let us remember that he developed world has already travelled far in this direction and we in the developing countries have just begun our journey more seriously in the globalisation process.
Fall In Standards: Democratisation of education without adequate facilities, however, implies a fall in standards. The process enables to sharing of resources both human and physical (infra-structural) for the purpose of education. This is how we provide education through distance mode and create a non-elitist society. Effecting democratisation of education with the help of traditionally known means such as the school, the college and the university together with the classroom teacher and the texts will lead to mediocrity, which is concomitant with a fall in standards. One way of controlling this fall is to duplicate the efforts and performance of the best teachers and make them available to the learners through techniques of mass-communication, teaching units, video programmes, radio broadcasts, face-to-face teaching, etc.
2: Moreover, to maintain high standards of education is not exclusively a function of the individual or the institution which imparts education. Education standards can be looked at only in relative terms as they depend on the socio-educational norms of particular societies. This, however, does not absolve educators from their responsibilities for the maintenance of standards. In a particular social situation well-meaning educators may not be able to improve the situation in spite of their best efforts. They need a favourable socio-academic climate to realise their well-intended goals.
3. To reiterate, the maintenance of standards depends on the expectations of the society in general and the aspirations of the individual learner. It is independent of the mode of education. The state rightly promises equal opportunity of education to all, but not equal standards thereof, for such a promise would amount to a denial of the variety in human abilities, capacities and intentions. The traditional face-to-face mode of education mostly does not promise to maintain standards. Standards are maintained individually and also collectively by highly motivated learners, professionally honest educators and societies that accept only the best among the educated. It is obvious then that till our societies learn to make the right kinds of demand from the educated, the onus of maintaining standards is squarely on the motivated learners and professionally honest educators. And the distance mode of education promises full flowering to both these parties. The realisation of this promise, however, depends on the manner in which distance education projects are conceived and implemented in different, and specific situation.
What is the status of ODL? In what ways can the latest communication technologies strengthen the quality and status of ODL in the developing world? Give examples.
Discuss (trace) the evolution of DE (ODL) during the last five decades around the world. How would assess its impact? Trace the growth of DE (ODL) in India.
Discuss the genesis, growth and present status of DE with particular reference to India
Discuss the paradigm shift in education and DE. What is meant by paradigm shift in DE? Does DE mark a paradigm shift in Education?
Write a note on Dual Mode education with reference to Indian Education system
Unit 2: The International Scene -1
The Genesis of Distance Education 2.2.1 Developments in the Twentieth Century 2.2.2 The International Fora 2.2.3 World-wide Spread of Distance Education 2.3 Regional Perspectives – Europe 2.3.1 England 2.3.2 France 2.3.3 Germany 2.3.4 Italy 2.3.5 Netherlands 2.3.6 Norway 2.3.7 Russia 2.3.8 Eastern Europe 2.3.9 Spain 2.3.10 Sweden
In the context of globalization what are the possibilities of HE becoming global with due consideration to meeting the local needs?
Unit 3: The International Scene -2
3.2 Africa 3.3 Asia 3.3.1 Bangladesh 3.3.2 China 3.3.3 India 3.3.4 Indonesia 3.3.5 Japan 3.3.6 Korea (Republic of) 3.3.7 Malaysia 3.3.8 Singapore 3.3.9 Hong Kong 3.3.10 Pakistan 3.3.11 The Philippines 3.3.12 Sri Lanka 3.3.13 Thailand 3.4 Australia and the South Pacific Region 3.4.1 Australia 3.4.2 New Zealand 3.4.3 Papua New Guinea 3.4.4 The Pacific Islands 3.5 Middle East 3.6 North America 3.6.1 Canada 3.6.2 The United States of America (USA) 3.7 South and Central America 3.7.1 Costa Rica 3.7.2 Venezuela 3.7.3 Brazil 3.7.4 Argentina 3.8 Mega Open Universities
If we try to trace the genesis of distance education, we notice that some early forms of this innovative system of teaching/learning were the instructive letters in the Old Testament and some other works in early Greek-Roman history. The instructive letter played a significant role in the Roman Catholic Church right from the Epistles of St. Paul. The Age of Enlightenment was, perhaps, the most fertile period for instructive letters
The general belief, however, has been that the history of modern correspondence instruction began in 1840 with Isaac Pitman’s Shorthand Course for distance students through the Penny Post, when uniform Penny Postage was introduced in the UK. Nevertheless, some researchers have traced the forerunners of the distance education of today to 1833 when a private teacher of English taught composition by post, providing two-way communication, which is the predominant characteristic of distance education. In 1856, a School of Modem Languages established by Langenscheidt and Toussaint in Germany started teaching foreign languages through correspondence. In the USA, the first efforts to organise correspondence instruction were made in 1873. Later on, the idea of a land grant college with a campus extending to the state boundaries resulted in the establishment of correspondence courses in some universities in 1890. Although correspondence education played only a limited role in the formal secondary school system, and in colleges and universities, it has been more extensive in the USA than in any other country. In Europe, pioneering work was done in Germany and Sweden in 1890 with the establishment of Fern Lehrinstitute in Berlin and Hermods in Sweden. With the onset of the twentieth century, a number of correspondence instruction schools were set up throughout Europe.
We shall, at this juncture, deviate a little from the main stream of our discussion to talk about the birth of the term ‘distance education’. Varied names such as ‘home study’, ‘postal tuition’, ‘correspondence courses’, ‘independent study’ , etc. were given to the earlier forms of distance education and its programmes throughout the world. Even now, terms like ‘off-campus studies’, ‘external studies’, ‘non-formal education’, etc., continue to be in use. Of these, the term ‘correspondence education’ has been widely accepted. All these terms were essentially associated with non-traditional teaching-learning programmes, which had many similarities. They, very often, embody the phenomenon of teachers linked with varied learners through the printed word and later on with the development of science and technology, through various kinds of electronic media as well.
The names of some such institutions International Scene-1 symbolized the link media, e.g., ‘university of the air’, ‘tele-university’, etc. In due course of time these institutions, which were progressive in their outlook brought in the multimedia approach in their teaching/ learning systems. This development raised doubts in some minds about the appropriateness of the term ‘correspondence education’ and generated thinking for finding a broader and more appropriate term for this innovative and non-traditional teaching/learning system. The issue was finally clinched, (as mentioned in Unit 1), at the 12th World Conference held in Vancouver in 1982 under the presidency of Prof. Bakshish Singh and the International Council for Correspondence Education (ICCE) was renamed as International Council for Distance Education (ICDE). The Vancouver-Conference also decided to include promotion of research and scholarship on distance education among the objectives of the ICDE.
Block 4: Distance Education in South Africa
Unit 3: The Problems and Challenges in DE in Africa
3.2 Realising the Full Potential of Distance Education 3.2.1 Resource Constraints 3.2.2 Infrastructural Limitations 3.2.3 The Diversity of the African continent 3.2.4 The Need for Relevance 3.3 The Challenges and the Response 3.3.1 Political Will and Policy Development 3.3.2 Leadership and Management 3.3.3 Capacity Building 3.3.4 International Cooperation
Unit 4: Access, Quality and Cost
Unit 5: Regional Issues
Discuss the extraordinary growth of DE in the Asian Region
Unit 4: Access, Quality and Cost
4.2 The Iron Triangle: Access, Quality and Costs 4.3 Quality in the Distance Education Provision 4.4 Ensuring Quality in Distance Education 4.5 Sustainability of Distance Education 4.6 Is Africa Ready for Distance Education?
Unit 5: Regional Issues
5.0 Objectives 5.1 Introduction 5.2 North Africa 5.3 Southern Africa 5.4 East Africa 5.5 West Africa 5.6 Central Africa
Write a note on DE in South Asia
Unit 2: The role of DE in Africa
2.2 Teacher Education 2.3 Open Schooling 2.4 Tertiary Education 2.5 Technical and Vocational Education and Training 2.6 Adult Basic Education
Are there differences in the practice of DE in India and Africa? Discuss
Unit 1 : Understanding DE in Africa
The Nature of Distance Education – Some Key Concepts 1.2.1 What is Open Learning in the African context? 1.2.2 What is Distance Education for Africa? 1.2.3 Open and Distance Education: Implications for Africa 1.2.4 Convergence, Flexible Learning and Other Concepts 1.3 The Relevance of Distance Education in Africa 1.3.1 Education and Development 1.3.2 Policies and Politics 1.3.3 Does Africa Need Distance Education? 1.4 Elements of Good Practices 1.4.1 Three Pillars of Distance Education 1.4.2 Sustaining Distance Education Systems 1.4.3 Technology vs Tradition 1.5 The Role of Technologies 1.5.1 Early Use of Technologies in Africa 1.5.2 Closing the Digital Divide 1.5.3 New Technologies in Use 1.5.4 Technology Integration in Distance Education
Write a brief note on DE in Africa
Discuss the spread of DE in Africa. How does it compare with countries like India and the UK?
It is said that DE in Africa rests on three pillars for good practice. What are these three pillars?
Block 5: Growth and Innovation
Unit 1 : Guided Didactic Conversation(GDC) in DE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B6rje_Holmberg
http://www.c3l.uni-oldenburg.de/cde/support/readings/holm83.pdf
The basis : A basic general assumption is that real learning is primarily an individual activity (internalization) to be regarded as a background theory on which distance education is based. It leads us to a study of how this individual learning can be supported and facilitated. Seven postulates of DE are:
1) that feelings of personal relation between the teaching and learning parties;
2) that such feelings can be fostered by well-developed self-instructional material and two-way communication at a distance;
3) that intellectual pleasure and study motivation are favourable to the attainment of study goals and the use of proper study processes and methods;
4) that the atmosphere, language and conventions of friendly conversation favour feelings of personal relation according to postulate 1;
5) that messages given and received in conversational forms are comparatively easily understood and remembered;
6) that the conversation concept can be successfully translated for use by the media available to distance education; and
7) that planning and guiding the work, whether provided by the teaching organisation or the student, are necessary for organised study, which is characterised by explicit or implicit goal conceptions.
1, 3, 4 and 7 are of a somewhat axiomatic character in agreement with generally accepted beliefs,
numbers 2 and 6 are supported by a wealth of more or less systematized observations made by practitioners.
Postulate 5 has to some extent been empirically validated
The characteristics of guided didactic conversation may be said to be:
1. Easily accessible presentations of study matter, clear and somewhat colloquial
2. Language, in writing easily readable moderate density information.
3. Explicit advice and suggestions to the students as to what to do and what to avoid what to pay particular to and consider with reasons provided
4. Invitations to an exchange of views, to questions, to judgments of what is to be accepted and what is to be rejected.
5. Attempts to involve the student emotionally so that he or she takes a personal interest in the subject and its problems.
6. Personal style including the use of the personal and possessive pronouns.
7. Demarcation of changes of themes through explicit statement, typographical means or, in recorded, spoken communication, through a change of speakers, e.g. male followed by female, or through pauses. (This is characteristic of the guidance rather than of the conversation).
The theory
1. A course presentation following the principles of guided didactic support study motivation and facilitate learning. As exceptions are foreseen this is not a nomological theory [i.e., relating to laws of the mind].
2. If, as is usually assumed, children and adolescents rely more on guidance and a style of presentation adapted to estimated learning difficulties than mature adults, then the didactic conversation must be expected to appeal less to and be less effective with a target group consisting of mature adults than one consisting of less mature young people. Further, learning at an elementary stage is usually assumed to need more personal approaches and references to knowledge already acquired than highly advanced study. The didactic conversation would thus seem to suit elementary learning better than advanced study. It would seem to suit the presentation of new learning matter where the learner is aware that he or she is investigated by a questionnaire study covering new ground and thus needs personal guidance rather than presentations of learning matter that the student has already worked with an earlier occasions.
3. With these reservations assume that if a distance study course consistently represents a communication process felt to have the character of a conversation, then the students will be more motivated and more successful than if the course studied has an impersonal textbook character. This also concerns the use of assignments for submission: if used as a means to stimulate and facilitate conversation-type communication they are assumed to contribute considerably more to motivation and success than if used as a means to examine and evaluate students. My main formal hypotheses based on the general postulates and the assumptions about what constitutes guided didactic conversation can therefore be summarised as follows:
l The stronger the characteristics of guided didactic conversation, the stronger the students’ feelings of personal relationship between them and the supporting organisation.
l The stronger the students feelings that the supporting organisation is interested in making study matter personally relevant to them, the greater their personal involvement.
The stronger the students’ feelings of personal relations to the supporting organisation and of being personally involved with the study matter, the stronger the motivation and the more effective the learning
l The more independent and scholarly experienced the students, the less relevant the characteristics of guided didactic conversation.
Testing the theory
The validity of theory is tested in a way inspired by Popper, i.e. through falsification rather than verification attempts
1) A unit of a German post-graduate course on educational planning was modifi ed in such a way that the fi rst part was developed according to the principles of guided didactic conversation whereas the second part was retained in the original form, which was in the style of traditional German scholarly writings. The students attitudes to the two types of presentation were investigated by a questionnaire study (Holmberg and Schuemer 1980).
2) A post-graduate distance-study course on ‘Essentials of distance education in a British and German version was written in the style of didactic conversation and was tried out as a training course for distance educators (from a number of different countries). Their opinion about the value, if any, of guided didactic conversation in distance education were collected (Holmberg and Schuemer 1982).
3) An English-language course on English grammar for Swedish students reviewing their school knowledge as a preparation for university study of English was re-written in the style of didactic conversation. On the basis of a randomised selection, an experimental group of students were given the revised version whereas a control group were given the original version. The attitudes and attainments of the two groups were analyzed and compared (Holmberg, Schuemer and Obermeier 1982).
Results
The empirical investigations gave no conclusive evidence. However, the tendency apparent in all the three studies favours the theory although no consistent, statistically significant corroboration has emerged. The students taking part in the investigation state that they feel personally involved by the conversational presentations, their attitudes are favorable to them and in the third study they do marginally better than the students taking the original course in their assignment attainments. These results are statistically less supportive of the theory than expected. Nevertheless the tendency of the outcome does support the theory. Statistically it has not been proved wrong (has not been falsified) and is considered valid as an ad-hoc theory until one with more explanatory power has been developed and tested with more favourable results. These conclusions are more reasonable on account of the testing procedures used.
Students attitudes to the style of didactic conversations as well as their achievements on studying a handbook presentation were, in consequence, analysed under circumstances as unfavorable as possible to the theory:
1) The courses used for the empirical investigations concerned the university stage, where the independence of the form of presentation and of guidance is assumed to be considerably greater than at lower stages.
2) The students concerned in the investigations were adults and therefore presumably somewhat independent in their study.
3) The course chosen for the fi rst study (limited to ‘research on students’ attitudes) was an advanced course mainly studient as a postgraduate course by teachers and others who had acquired a university degree before they enrolled for this course by students of other universities supplementing their degree programme and by external students with particular interest in the subject.
4) The course on which the second study was based was a professional course for distance educators at post-graduate level.
5) The third study, which included an analysis of the students’ achievements was concerned with a distance-study course meant for and used as a deepening revision of a subject area (English grammar) that at lower levels the students had gone over on several earlier occasions. They could thus be expected to benefit from and be attracted to a survey of a handbook format rather than learn more effectively from and enjoy a conversation-like presentation.
If the theoretical universe of the study is taken to consist of distance study in general, these falsification attempts lead to a deviation from isomorphism between the cases tested and all relevant cases, but in such a way that the validity of the theory is strengthened through the statistical failure of the falsification. This is due to logical certainty that non disproved applicability of the theory of guided didactic conversation to the cases studied must be interpreted as a clear indication that it applies as much to cases of distance study at more elementary level and with less mature or advanced students as to the cases studied.
What are the salient features of DE? Write a short note on Characteristics of DE.
Write a short note on Charles Wademeyer’s concept of Independent Study? Discuss Wedemeyer’s concept of Learner autonomy and independent study? What is his contribution to DE?
How are communication technologies enhancing the application of open and DE?
Has Otto Peter shifted his stand on the characteristics of DE during the past decade? Give evidence in support of your answer? Discuss the significant pedagogical aspects of Otto Peter’s theory of DE. Write a short note on Otto Peter’s concept of Industrialized Forms of teaching and learning system (3)
Describe how DE is an innovation in the educational system of the contemporary word?
What is self-pacing in ODL?
In what ways Wedemyer, Otto Peters and Holmberg complement each other in enhancing the relevance of open learning in the 21st century? Substantiate your answer
Explain GDC? Explain the concept and significance of two way communication proposed by John A Bath Comment on Didactic, two way communication propounded by Holmberg. Why does Holmberg emphasize the two-way didactic conversation in DE? Explain the role of Dialogue in DE Do assignments facilitate 2-way communications in DE? Illustrate. Explain practical challenges in handling assignments as a teaching tool in ODL in countries like India.
Definitions of distance education
Unit 2: Characteristics of DE
Definitions of distance education
1. Firstly, used in this sense the term ‘distance’ has different connotations. It is certainly not restricted to the notion of mere geographical distance from the source of teaching. Perhaps the most fruitful use of the term ‘distance’ is that proposed by Moore (1983: 157) in the expression transactional distance’, which defines the nature and degree of separation of teacher and learner in the educational process: Transactional distance is a function of two variables called ‘dialogue’ and ‘structure’. Dialogue describes the extent to which, in any educational programme, learner and educator are able to respond to each other.
2. Structure is a measure of an educational programme’s responsiveness to learners’ individual needs. It expresses the extent to which educational objectives, teaching strategies, and evaluation methods are prepared for, or can be adapted to, the objectives, strategies, and evaluation methods of the learner. In a highly structured educational programme, the objectives and the methods to be used are determined for the learner, and are infl exible. In a linear, non-branching programmed text, for example, there is less opportunity for variation, according to the needs of a particular individual, than there is in those correspondence courses which permit a wide range of alternative responses by the tutor to individual student’s questions and assignment submissions.
Using these dimensions, the most distant programme would be one in which there was neither dialogue nor structure – an example would be a holly self-directed programme of individual reading. Most of what are commonly called distance education programmes fall somewhere between these two extremes – they have a measure of dialogue, as well as being more or less highly structured. This conceptualisation also helps explain how a student learning in a ‘face-to-face’ environment whose sole educational activity is to go to lectures to take notes, can be at a greater transactional distance than a student on a distance education course who regularly meets, corresponds with, or telephones his tutor.
3. So called self-checking exercises, review questions with model answers, are elements of simulated communication
Unit 3: DE in third world: Critical analysis on the promise and reality
Unit 4: China’s higher DE – Its fours systems and their structural characteristics at three levels
Unit 5: Open and DE as Social Practice
How does DE contribute to achieving social justice?
Critically discuss the socio-academic relevance of DE in our Indian society.
Generally OE is associated with DE. Do agree or not? Elucidate
Unit 6: DE in DC: Prospects and challenges
Explain the concept of DE with its implications for development of higher education in India
DE in India is more imitative than innovative in nature. Discuss
Discuss the various strategies available in the developing countries to democratize Higher Education. Does democratization leads to fall in a standard? What are democratizing features of DE?
ODL is a democratized form of education. Justify with examples.
Examine the degree of acceptance of ODL in India.
What makes DE a democratic process of education?
Discuss at least four reasons for the poor quality of DE in the developing world.
Three differences between ODL in Developed World and OLD in Developing World?
Discuss the needs of ODL in countries like India in terms of Numbers, Cost, Time, Sales and Relevance. Give suitable examples and illustrations.
India’s position in the globalised economy warrants that its demographic dividends need to be realized through innovative means of education, training and skills development. Discuss with appropriate examples and illustrations.
Unit 7: Mega Universities, Virtual Universities, Knowledge and Media: Can we have quality with quantity?
Conventional mode
1. First, there is the very simple criterion of age.
2. Second, universities that are highly selective in the students that they take. Such universities have been challenged by DE. The Open University philosophy is that there is no limit to the number of people who can learn at the same time. The space of the human intellect is infinite and allows everyone to play.
3. Third, universities that provide lots of personal contact between students and their teachers, and between students and students, are thought to be better. This quality criterion is impacted too. DE can provide this contact and communication better than campus environment.
4. Fourth, universities with lots of resources of money, buildings and staff are though to be better. This is not holding good any more as well. They are failing to catch up with the speed of new knowledge acquisition and technology mediation.
Quality in Distance Learning
1. Study materials must be excellent and varied to make study in the home or the workplace a congenial university experience. One way of ensuring quality is to have courses produced by multi-skilled teams. The great advantage of the large open universities — what I call the mega-universities – is that they can aff ord to make large investments. However, smaller universities can use the same principle by working collaboratively to produce courses.
2. The second key to quality in distance learning is dedicated personal academic support. Each UK Open University student has her/his own tutor for each course, one of OU’s 7000 associate lecturers. These part time academic staff comment on and mark the student’s assignments, hold group meetings where possible and give support by phone and they are available, but nearly all students rate the help from their tutors very highly.
3. The third quality element is slick logistics. Each individual student must receive the right materials and information at the right time.
4. Fourth, a strong research base. When thousands of students use the materials for each course and millions of people view each TV program the content must be academically up to date. Thanks to economies of scale the Open University has the resources to move the academic paradigms steadily forward.
5. Each faculty is conducting research of international caliber.
Six core aspects of higher education provide the framework for the assessment. Whether virtual universities become real universities will depend on whether they can contribute to the reinforcement of the four elements of quality. They are:
l Curriculum Design, Content Organisation
l Teaching Learning and Assessment
l Student Support and Guidance
l Learning Resources
l Quality Assurance and Enhancement
Course Materials:
1. The knowledge media can contribute directly to course materials by providing components of those materials.
2. They can also help by providing new techniques for staff to use in developing courses.
3. The minimum equipment that a distance student needs in order to benefit form the knowledge media at home or at work is a computer, a modem and a phone line.
4. Developing such material is costly and it makes sense for you to take advantage of the investment we have made.
5. Matching the time the staff invests in producing materials using particular media with the time and effectiveness of student learning from those media. To take an extreme example, it does not make sense for the course team to invest 90% of its resource on developing a component of the course that accounts for only 10% of the time that students spend on the course.
Student support
1. The key to the success of the knowledge media in enriching the discourse between students and our universities and – very importantly – between students and students is Metcalfe’s Law. This says that the value of a computer network to a user is proportional to the square of the number of other users. This gives rise to a wonderfully rich Web of communication between students as they help each other and discuss the course, especially during their periods of teaching practice.
2. As far as tutoring is concerned, we have found that computer communication and computer conferencing have required us to develop new techniques. Students are less shy about sending e-mails to their tutors than they were about calling them on the telephone. In order to avoid an increased workload tutors our tutors have developed techniques for moderating conferences, posting the answers to frequently asked questions, and creating student self-help groups that have proved successful.
Logistics
1. The development of modern computing systems has already been vital to the success of all our institutions.
2. The development of distributed and interactive computing will enable students to do far more administrative operations themselves, with significant savings in cost and time. However, reliability is vital.
3. These are a vital element of our teaching strategy, as well as a means of assessment. We are developing methods that will allow students to submit assignments electronically instead of using the post. Obviously we shall not introduce electronic submission generally until we know it is reliable. If even 5% of assignments were to go astray in the Internet that would mean 50,000 unhappy students.
Research
1. The knowledge media are potentially helpful in strengthening all four elements of quality in distance education.
What are the implications of this for the proposals to create virtual universities?
1. Open universities started from a commitment to open higher education to more people in more places and sought new methods to achieve that goal. The virtual university projects start from the assumption that new methods will enable higher education to be made more convenient by extending the boundaries of the campus all over the world.
2. The key to success in using these technologies is to focus on learning rather than teaching. As you all know, there are two traditions of distance learning. One targets individual learning; the other focuses on group teaching. Whatever terms people invent, distributed learning, correspondence study, fl exible learning, home-study, remote-classroom teaching, tele-educatiion, guided study, or whatever, distance education still boils down to these two traditions – and they are very diff erent. The most important diff erence is that the group teaching approach is based on synchronous communication. Teachers and students most communicate in real time. The individual learning approach is based onasynchronous communication. You create the university in the student’s home so they can study there when it suits them.
Another important consequence follows. In the group teaching scenario the teacher communicates with students in a network of classroom in real time. It is a teacher-centered form of education. That is not meant pejoratively. It’s simply a fact that if you try to set up a system for a teacher to address a number of remote groups you must design it from the teacher’s point of view. Under the individual learning scenario you re-create the campus in thousands of homes – so it has to be a studentcentered approach. You must determine what constitutes an eff ective home learning environment for the student. I believe that the new technologies have huge potential to improve further the quality of distance education that is based on asynchronous communication with individual students. However, I also see them being used in a very teacher-centered way, as a way of displaying and distributing lectures electronically. The students may no longer be in groups, but the focus is still on the class. I worry that these electronic correspondence courses may harm the reputation for quality that some open universities have given to distance learning over the last twenty years. That would be a tragedy. The answer is for all teachers and universities that use new technology for teaching to focus on the true meaning of ‘correspondence’, that is to say the human interaction that is the basis of education. That means developing stimulating learning materials that students enjoy interacting with, even in the privacy of their homes. It also means developing systems of personal support so that the student who encounters a diffi culty is not alone.
Discuss the relationship between research and QA in DE
Can we have quality with quantity (Sir John Daniel)? What is your response? Suggest the ways and means to improve them (quality and quantity) with examples
Discuss the concept and relevance of ‘mega university’
Write how DE is Cost Effective and Cost Efficient form of Education
How does Open Universities work in a developing country?
Expansion of educational opportunities need not necessarily result in dilution of quality. Discuss
Unit 8: Developing improved strategies towards better student support services
What are the strategies proposed by Prasad to improve LSS?
Student Support Services as an essential requirement:
Distance Education is a product of the convergence of two kinds of streams i.e. the educational vision of realising human potential and the technological vision of liberation from space and time constraints. It is one of the most important educational innovations of the 20th century, though the beginnings can be traced to earlier periods. Dimensions, Issues and Concerns: Student Support Services as an essential requirement: Balance between individual and institution support based services: Flexibility in providing services: Use of multi media technology for providing services: Partnership arrangements: User responsibility in providing services: Ensuring optimal use of facilities: Quality of support services: Sharing of support services: Development of study skills: The administrative arrangements: Globalisation: The role of national and international agencies: Need for experimentation:
Paradigms, Patterns in LSS in DE Discipline
1) Education as a privilege to education as a right;
2) Teacher centered institution based education to learner centered home based and work place based education;
3) Community supported education system to state supported education system to market driven education system; and
4) Education as one time activity to education as a life long activity.
Patterns
1) The support services are mainly related to subject based tutorial services
2) The services are more in the form of one time contact group services or structured as a continuous activity,
3) The support services are provided through the institutions popularly known as study centres, and
4) The services are more structured and less flexible.
Dimensions, Issues and Concerns
1. Student Support Services as an essential requirement:
2. Balance between individual and institution support based services
3. Flexibility in providing services
4. Use of multi media technology for providing services
5. Partnership arrangements
6. User responsibility in providing services
7. Ensuring optimal use of facilities
8. Quality of support services
9. Sharing of support services
10. Development of study skills
11. The administrative arrangements
12. Globalisation:
13. The role of national and international agencies:
14. Need for experimentation:
Explain the innovations in DE and state how these help improve the quality of learner services. Explain the role of Learning Support (LS) in DE. Write the important reasons for human support in DE (2)
What is counselling in DE? What is student support services in DE? Explain as to whether the concepts tutoring and academic counselling in the context of ODL could be used synonymously? Justify with the examples.
What are the strategies proposed by Prasad to improve LSS?
Unit 9 & 10: Is Distance Education a Discipline & The problem of creating a discipline of DE
Some of the reasons for the spread of distance education are: i) Population explosion ii) Appalling illiteracy rate iii) Ever increasing number of aspirants for higher education iv) Technological growth that heralded new knowledge and immense possibilities for educational communication v) The need for updating the workforce, etc.
The main principles with which distance education operates are: i) education for all, and ii) the idea that the word-of-mouth is not indispensable for academic communication.
The process of educating an individual or a group of individuals consists of the following processes individually or any combinations thereof, depending on the demands made by the subject/discipline concerned: i) imparting information, ii) giving practice/exercise/skills of various kinds in actual and simulated situations, iii) giving demonstrations by the teachers and making the learners do what is demonstrated in the area of sciences, fine arts, and performing disciplines (like music), etc., iv) taking learners on educational tours for exploration, for gaining first hand information of historical sites, etc., v) developing the critical faculty through seminars, tutorials and discussion sessions, and vi) researching (fostering interest in research and innovation).
In distance education, the systems approach is used to layout appropriate procedures for an effective instructional system. The steps may vary but they essentially comprise i) need analysis/assessment, ii) curriculum development, iii) media production, iv) identification of modes of delivery, and v) evaluation.
Obviously, an academic discipline is an area of academic interest, and one that poses suffi cient problems to stimulate research, and one that leads to the publication of journals in the subject area. It must grow in degree of relevance to real and important problems. It must grow in theoretical and conceptual depth; It must develop its own ‘conceptual structure’; that is there must be a complex set of interrelationships between its fundamental ideas. The phrase ‘degree of relevance’ is not easy to pin down since it covers a wide range of ideas. Measures which seem appropriate to it include: A) Number of students interested in studying it B) Number of other disciplines that apply, use or build upon its theories and data. C) The range of key concepts and theories that are characteristic of the subject D) The number of specialism it embraces
The idea of conceptual structure is best exemplifi ed by the paradigms brought into prominence by Kuhn in 1962. Perhaps the unequivocal text for a discipline is whether it has developed its own paradigms; it seems that it is of the nature of a paradigm to defy precise defi nition, though it underlies and sets the profi le for much of the thinking within a discipline. At the heart of a paradigm lie the core theories that those within the discipline (the disciples) accept as proven, and which they protect, in the face of contrary evidence, by auxiliary theories. So, conceptual structure is much concerned with mutual support provided by the theories that are active within the discipline. Few disciplines actually develop their own paradigm and so acquire this unequivocal qualifi cation for recognition as a discipline. It is a suffi cient, but not a necessary, condition.
Paradigms, Patterns and Discipline of DE
1. Education as a privilege vs a right
2. Learner-Centered vs Teacher centered institution
3. Community supported + market driven education system
4. Education as one time activity vs a life long activity.
5. Conveniences of the learner.
6. Technology mediation. Advancement in communication devices which are widely used by the distance and open learning institutions in the developed countries make the individualised teaching-learning possible there.
7. Methods of face-to-face teaching do not readily translate to the distance teaching mode.
8. To grasp new concepts, and new ways of looking at complex problems, certain learning strategies are normally necessary.
9. The richness of presentation of new concepts must be planned so that the strengths of each medium are fully exploited.
10. The concepts must be analysed, placed in the correct contexts, and brought to life by combining several distance teaching methods.
11. Rich learning opportunity much less conscious direct student-teacher interaction
12. Various ways in which people learn, and can be taught.
13. Different learning and teaching strategies and preferred styles.
14. Pedagogic capabilities and limitations of diff erent distance teaching methods.
15. Design optimum strategies for the reduction of misunderstanding in students, caused, for example, by errors in course materials, failure to match a course to its target student audience, variations in student ability, etc.
16. Scale of operations are very large, adopting varied methods and systems to serve diverse purposes.
17. Today in 107 countries in the world, there are 1086 distance education institutions off ering 28295 courses in Science, Technology, Social Sciences, Humanities. At present, there are 1117 distance and open learning institutions of diff erent types and sizes located in 107 countries. The number of distance learners is approximately 50 million at the higher education level, which is expected to reach 90 million by 2000 A.D and 120 million by 2025 A.D (Dhanarajan 1996) as per the available recorded data pertaining mostly to institutions funded and/or recognized by the governments and the public bodies. If we add to these the private and unregistered institutions and the students learning through them, the fi gures will be still higher.
18. The contribution of distance learning to higher education has become a focus of discussion in many countries. There are two reasons for this. First, the world now has nearly thirty years of experience of the success of a new type of university, usually called an open university. These new institutions have used various communication media to reach students at home because they have used new technologies to reach a new student body; these universities have redefi ned the mission of universities. The second reason that distance learning has become a topic of live interest in many countries is related to the explosive growth of the interactive computer and communications technology of the Internet and the World Wide Web. The term virtual university has become associated with proposals for new universities grounded in this technology. But the phenomenon is more widespread than that. Many universities that have previously taught only on campus now say they are ‘making courses available on the Web’.
19. In India alone as per the latest data available in 1995, there were about 57 distance teaching units called Correspondence/Distance Education Departments located with in conventional universities, 7 State Open Universities and 1 National Open University (AIU Handbook 1995).
20. Over 1,000,000 students would be on the rolls of these institutions in 1999, and the number of State open universities would have gone up. At the school level, the National Open School off ers education to about 60,000 students spread across the country (Chakraborty K, 1994).
21. Besides these, distance teaching programmes are off ered by some private institutions and television companies (e.g. ZED programmes by Zee TV, the management programmes off ered by Jain TV, Sun TV and others). Roughly about 16% of the student population at the higher education level is already taken care of by the correspondence/distance/open learning systems.
22. In general, the European Distance Education Network (EDEN) shows that the European countries have fi rmly recognised the Distance and Open Learning system as part of their educational enterprise. North America, Australia and Japan have developed their own distance teaching-learning systems in many forms fl exible enough to cater to the varied needs of their diff erent learner clientele (Sewart 1995).
23. Distance education courses have been organised in Africa with the purpose of: i) improving the general educational standards of the people, ii) giving proper training to a vast number of in-service as well as prospective teachers, and iii) catering to the educational needs of refugees the disadvantaged.
24. In China, primary importance is given to electronic media. To be precise, instruction is imparted chiefly through television, and is supported by print materials and face-to-face contact programmes, whereas in other countries, the emphasis is primarily on the print medium, and the electronic media are normally used as supplementary or complementary aids.
25: In British Columbia, the distance education system does not restrict the students to choosing a particular combination of courses to obtain a degree. The option, more often than not, is left to the students themselves. The students, however, have to choose from among the courses given by the three Universities of Consortium and the Open Learning Agency.
26: In the Philippines learners are given the autonomy to initiate the curricular materials. These materials may at a later stage be revised and vetted by the subject experts.
27: Distance education system in Venezuela requires the students to get through the introductory courses in order to be admitted to formal academic courses. Such restrictions are usually minimal in most of the open universities. For example; those who join the open system study in Costa Rica can obtain a degree/diploma even without registering themselves for the courses.
Questions
Is DE emerging as a profession? Discuss with suitable examples. Give at least three reasons for treating DE as a discipline. Can we call DE a discipline ? Substantiate your answer with appropriate examples.
Why staff development and systematic research are indispensable for a Distance Teaching institution?
What is Distance Teacher (DT)? Why is Staff development important for DT?
What kind of mindsets should a DT have? Describe at least four essential functions of a DT?
Given a choice would you prefer a job in a Open University to a conventional university/ college? why? give reasons for your answer.
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