Open learning in schools

Open learning is fast catching on in schools, partly because teachers want to develop the curriculum and take advantage of new technology, partly because it is a way of keeping options open for 16 to 19 year olds as the numbers of pupils fall, and partly because it offers a better preparation for continuing and higher education. Brian Harris is a tutor‐counsellor for the Open University and a teacher at Hawthorn Comprehensive School in Pontypridd, Wales.     

Mixing distance and face‐to‐face higher education

There is an unreal demarcation in higher education between distance and face‐to‐face providers, argues Malcolm Tight, Director of the Centre for Research and Development in Part‐time Higher Education at Birkbeck College, University of London. Given the undoubted success of distance education, established by the Open University and others, there is now a strong case for diversifying methods of provision in higher education, in the interests of expanding opportunities for students and increasing the effectiveness of teachers.     

Beginning Teachers Using Information Technology: the Open University model

ABSTRACT

The United Kingdom's Open University launched a part‐time distance taught course for pre‐service teachers in 1994. This paper describes the rationale for such a course which is usually full time and face to face in traditional university settings; how and why the issue of developing competence in IT was addressed through the home loan of a computer; and how the use of computer conferencing enhances students’ experience by enabling them to communicate with each other, members of The Open University course team and part‐time tutors.     

Promoting retention and successful completion on Masters courses in education: a study comparing e‐tuition using asynchronous conferencing software with face‐to‐face tuition

This paper considers the influence of e‐tuition using an asynchronous written conferencing package, FirstClass, upon retention and success rates for Masters‐level courses in a distance learning programme as compared with similar courses that were supported in a traditional manner using face‐to‐face tuition. The paper investigates the common assumption that the use of e‐tuition might negatively influence both retention and success rates by studying data gathered on UK Open University Masters courses in education. These data have allowed direct comparisons between e‐tutored and face‐to‐face tutored courses to be made. The effect of linking assessment to participation in activities using FirstClass is also considered in this study. This research has revealed that e‐tutoring using FirstClass appears to have no significant positive or negative influence on either retention or success on such courses.     

Economic instrumentalism and integration in Australian External Studies

In this article Derek Rowntree of the Open University UK's, Institute of Educational Technology, examines the implications of quality assessment for distance education and other forms of materials‐based learning. He suggests that materials‐based teaching cannot properly be judged in quite the same terms as the conventional, face‐to‐face teaching that academic peers are most familiar with. So what might they be looking for when they come to assess the quality of a department's materials‐based teaching? And what might we expect to result from such assessments?     

An exploration of learner progress and drop‐out in Korea National Open University

This study examines which factors make a difference in distance learners’ achievements and also their continuous enrolment status over one year in Korea National Open University. A path analysis revealed that while learners’ job load had no directly significant effect on grade‐point average (GPA), it had a significant indirect effect on GPA via the study time variable. In addition to study time, social integration and extra face‐to‐face activities were found to be significant variables acting on their GPA. In predicting subsequent enrolment, face‐to‐face activities were the most influential up to a year later. The results of this study challenges the prevalent view that GPA has something to do with drop‐out, suggesting that learner progress toward achievement and drop‐out may be understood better when viewed separately, especially in the case of long‐term distance learning.     

天津开放大学专向培养班招生模式的实践研究

开放大学作为没有围墙的新型大学,是高等教育的重要组成部分,是实现终身学习、构建学习社会的重要载体,招生作为办学的首要环节,对开放大学发展起着重要作用。从天津开放大学专向培养班新型招生模式入手,探索招生改革的可行性,并提出相应的保障措施,为开放大学招生改革实践提供参考。     

开放大学之课堂文化形态论

课堂是大学教学的中心,课堂文化之于开放大学无疑具有符号表征作用。从校本文化课堂、媒介文化课堂、社会文化课堂三个方面阐述了开放大学课堂文化形态,得到了开放大学课堂文化是推动开放大学转化为远程学习者融入社会主流文化的预备学校等相关结论。     

Face‐to‐face versus online tuition: Preference,performance and pass rates in white and ethnic minority students

Attainment in higher education tends to be poorer in ethnic minority students than in white students. This study examined whether this attainment gap was affected by the introduction of online tuition. Data were obtained from students who had taken courses in either arts or management with the UK Open University and had opted for either face‐to‐face or online tuition. The arts courses had a higher proportion of white students and lower proportions of Asian and black students than the management courses. Nevertheless, white and ethnic minority students gave similar reasons for choosing face‐to‐face tuition or online tuition. In the management courses but not in the arts courses, the pass rate was lower in students who had received online tuition than in students who had received face‐to‐face tuition. Regardless of the discipline or mode of tuition, black students tended to obtain lower marks and lower pass rate than white students, but Asian students did not. It is concluded that online tuition is an appropriate form of student support in both campus‐based and distance education but that the attainment gap in ethnic minority students probably does not arise from the nature and quality of their interactions with teachers and other students.     

Learning to Teach

Simon Prokhovnik retired last year after twenty‐five years as a lecturer (and ultimately Associate‐Professor) at the University of New South Wales. He suggests that University lecturing is an art whose successful practice demands imagination and scholarship, application and enthusiasm; and that the only venue for learning this art is in the University itself.     

南京开放大学学历教育与非学历教育沟通与融合初探

学历与非学历教育的沟通与融合是南京开放大学建设背景下的重要任务。文章阐述了南京开放大学在学历和非学历教育沟通与融合的内容、面临的困难和问题。文章提出,加强学历教育与非学历教育的沟通与融合,南京开放大学需要采取建立并细化学分互认制度、修订教学计划、争取省市相关政策支持、加强微课程的建设、建立统一的教务管理系统、加强与企业的沟通、加强与国家开放大学的合作、进一步开发非学历教育项目、重视非学历教育的理论研究等措施。     

Problem-based learning in distance education: Practitioners' beliefs about an action learning project

Despite the advantages of problem based learning (PBL) and the fact that it has been utilised for some time in conventional higher education settings, it is not widely used in distance education in Hong Kong. Recently, a small group of course co‐ordinators at the Open University of Hong Kong engaged in a series of action learning projects to explore ways in which it could be incorporated into their courses. The purpose of this paper is to report the opinions of these academics about the suitability of PBL for a distance education environment. Generally, they concluded that it is possible, and perhaps desirable, to consider implementing PBL as one learning approach. However, most of the projects focussed on a fairly narrow application of PBL, namely in face‐to‐face tutorials. The limitations of the participants’ interpretations are discussed in the light of the constraints they face, and some recommendations are made for other ways of implementing PBL into distance education.     

浅析电大学籍档案管理工作

学籍档案管理工作是高校教学档案的重要组成部分,尤其对于电大这所面向各行各业,学员众多的成人高校来说,学籍管理工作面临的管理风险更为巨大。本文在分析电大系统学籍管理存在的主观、客观问题的基础上,提出了若干提高电大学籍管理的思路,以期望为电大学籍档案管理工作提供有益的探索。     

广西民族地区“电大”转型“开大”的几点思考

作为边远民族地区要抓住国家"办好开放大学"的重大历史机遇,力争通过开放大学建设,解决长期以来困扰民族地区电大发展的困难和问题。文章以广西壮族自治区为例,紧密结合广西电大实际情况,探讨建设广西民族地区开放大学存在的问题及原因,并对"电大"能否成功转型"开大",提出一些建设性思考。     

关注英国开放大学的学习支持服务

英国开放大学的学习支持服务系统颇为完善。他们在面授辅导、在线学习、新技术的应用及教材建设、网络课程等方面有许多独到之处,值得我们学习、借鉴。     

Undergraduate education for the hearing-handicapped: The programme of research,adaptation and development of the Open University project for hearing-impaired students

Since January 1972, the Open University has been operating a project for the undergraduate education of the growing number of hearing-impaired students. These students face psychological, social and linguistic problems and other difficulties which arise from their isolation in the world, their limited ability to communicate and their educational background.So far, the project has been able to offer support in terms of education (special tutorials, discussions, etc.), communication (special equipment, interpreters, trained personnel) and what may be termed psycho-social therapy (counselling, technical help, general support). In many of the students, this has led to an increase of self-confidence and an improvement in the ability to communicate, as well as in educational achievements. This paper describes the work which has been done, and is being done, by the Open University project, for a very neglected sector of the disabled community.Open University     

Costing part‐time provision

This article examines the varied approaches which have been adopted to the costing of part‐time higher education, and considers the consequences of these alternative models both for the providers themselves and for national policy. Though the analysis concentrates on face‐to‐face provision in universities, polytechnics and colleges, a series of comparisons are made with the Open University. It is hoped that it will assist in understanding the likely impact of proposed changes in funding where such changes encounter established arrangements. This is especially so in the PCFC sector where a new methodology is proposed for 1990‐91. The research reported here forms part of a larger study supported by the CNAA and Middlesex Polytechnic and shortly to be published under the title: Other Routes. The authors are both members of the Centre for Community Studies at Middlesex Polytechnic.     

Developing competent e‐learners: the role of assessment

We know assessment plays a major formative role in driving student learning appropriately, but what implications does this have for online courses? Is it more important than in a face to face context, or less so? Should we reconceptualize the ways in which we assess students, or are existing methods, tried and tested in conventional teaching and learning situations, appropriate? This paper discusses the practical implications of implementing these online pedagogies and illustrates the powerful formative effects, both intended and unintentional, of assessment on student learning and behaviour. It draws on examples from recent research on two e‐learning courses at UK Open University.     

港澳台地区远程开放教育发展历史探源

近些年学者对国内外远程开放教育发展史已有论述,但却较少涉及港澳台地区。港澳台地区的远程开放教育有其独特的发展路径,研究其远程开放教育发展始末具有重要的历史价值。英国首创开放大学后,引起世界各国和地区的普遍关注并产生巨大影响。1979年澳门东亚大学筹备期间提出远程开放大学思路,又在1980年代初引进英国开放大学的办学模式,成立了公开学院,英国开放大学高级职员康纳德·斯威夫特教授出任首任院长。1987年澳门政府通过澳门基金会收购东亚大学,转制为公立大学,1991年更名为澳门大学。1992年,经澳门政府批准,未被收购的东亚公开学院与葡萄牙公开大学联合组成亚洲(澳门)国际公开大学,2011年更名为澳门城市大学。澳门东亚大学远程开放教育的办学特点主要有:一是办学起步早。该院是港澳台地区远程开放教育的先行者;从严格意义上说,该院是中国远程开放教育的探路者。二是办学起点高。虽然该院的远程高等教育早期只是初级形式的远程开放教育,东亚大学办学伊始就具有国际化的定位和特征,其课程得到国外大学的认可。三是直接采用英国开放大学办学模式,该院创办之初得到英国开放大学的管理经验、师资力量和课程资源支持。