澳大利亚远程高等教育概览

在终身学习的背景下，澳大利亚远程高等教育在办学模式、办学规模和运用现代信息技术发展远程高等教育等诸多方面发展较为成熟，形成了鲜明的特色。本文对澳大利亚远程高等教育的实践做了较全面的介析，试图通过总结分析其特色，为我国远程高等教育的发展提供借鉴。     

澳大利亚运程教育印象透析

该对澳大利亚远程教育进行印象透析：澳大利亚远程教育的办学模式是双重模式，即传统校园教育与现代远程教育由同一母体的一所大学来运作。由于母体相同，其教学要求相同，进而考试要求相同，毕业时的凭、学位也相同。又由于母体相同，其所获得的经济支撑也大体相同，具体表现为把远程教育学生按学时折算成全日制(Full-time)学生，政府同样拨款；而且除管理费外，收费标准基本上一样。以同一所大学为母体，以同等教学要求和经济支撑为两翼，所以，澳大利亚的远程教育才得以稳步前行。     

澳大利亚远程职业教育概况及启示

澳大利亚远程职业教育是典型的双重院校模式,课程种类繁多,学习质量高,学生来源广泛,并具有健全的管理体制。近些年来,随着电子信息技术的迅速发展,澳大利亚远程职业教育的方法和手段更为先进,在完善的管理体制下,逐步建立起适合现代远程职业教育特点的质量保障体系。这些都对我国远程职业教育的发展具有借鉴意义。     

中外远程教育的发展状况

随着信息技术和因特网的迅猛发展,世界上许多国家都在大力开展远程教育。目前,我国现代远程教育与发达国家相比还有一定差距。通过分析当前美国、英国和澳大利亚远程教育的发展进程、结构和特点,结合我国现代远程教育的现状进行比较和借鉴,对加速我国现代远程教育的发展是很有必要的。     

Lessons to be learned? Parallels between Australia and Hong Kong in the development of distance education

Developments in the provision of distance education in Australia and Hong Kong are analysed in terms of eight phases, characterised by Government policies and institutional practices. Hong Kong appears to be progressing through the same developmental phases as Australia, but at later points in time. Both countries decided against forming a single national open university in favour of dispersed provision but neither followed recommendations to form a body to co‐ordinate course provision nationally. Both have experienced a period of uncontrolled and unco-ordinated expansion of distance education courses and Hong Kong is still in this phase, whereas Australia is now in the midst of belated attempts by its federal government to rationalise distance education at the national level along with higher education as a whole. We argue that much of the confusion surrounding these events could have been prevented by early planning and setting of clear policy guidelines, together with a recognition that implementation of higher education policy is by no means a straightforward matter. Hopefully there are lessons to be learned from this analysis: in the case of Hong Kong, that its current trend towards unco‐ordinated expansion may well lead to enforced contraction and rationalisation should economic growth trends be reversed, and, in the case of Australia, a clearer understanding of issues related to policy and implementation.     

Bridging courses by distance education for overseas‐trained professionals migrating to Australia: Practical and viability issues

This article discusses the issues concerned with using distance education to help provide bridging courses for overseas‐trained professionals migrating to Australia. Often such courses are specialised, have small enrolments and are required on demand by the recently arrived migrant. Therefore, there are significant practical and viability problems to be expected for the providers of such courses. The article draws on work from a 1997 study of the potential and viability of distance education bridging courses for overseas‐trained professionals migrating to Australia. The study was commissioned and funded by the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition, of the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, under its Evaluations and Investigations Program. A discussion is provided of the particular problems encountered in the provision of on‐campus courses for students whose locations, schedules and circumstances are quite diverse. However, whilst distance education provision might seem a reasonable solution to such problems, for some professions there are particular practical matters concerning such provision. A key issue addressed is conceptualising the viability of developing and providing such courses through distance education, and how this may help distance educators view the viability of other small ‘boutique’ courses in distance education.     

Distance education research priorities for Australia: A study of the opinions of distance educators and practitioners

The advantages of undertaking research in distance education are numerous. They include those which impact on national development, educational practice, professional practice in distance education, policy and management, and the constant review of research needs and methodology.

Research in distance education has suffered from a number of problems which include lack of co‐ordination and focus, and the involvement of comparatively few researchers. This is perhaps why there have been calls of late from some quarters such as the Australian Research Council to prioritise educational research agenda in Australia. Future development in distance education would require a coordinated effort in establishing research priorities in Australia to effectively drive distance education theory and practice. One of the criteria in setting research priorities should be that derived from distance educators and practitioners of distance education. This paper reports on the Australian data collated from an investigation carried out as part of a worldwide study of the opinions of distance educators and practitioners regarding: (1) the availability of research information; (2) the areas in which research efforts should be concentrated; and (3) the order of priority to be given to such research areas in distance education. Using a five‐part questionnaire (with a Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient of .89), the results suggest the need for a conceited effort to embark on vigorous research in almost all areas of distance education. The distance educators and practitioners have also prioritised the areas of research and have ranked the difficulties they face doing research in distance education. The results are discussed and their implications for distance education practice and further research indicated.     

美、俄、澳、墨四国远程教育史研究与启示

美国、俄罗斯、澳大利亚和墨西等四国远程教育的发展历史,因为国家发展水平和文化上存在的差异具有不同的特点,从这些国家不同的发展历程中可以找到有利于我国目前远程教育发展的启示。     

Role of health-promoting behaviours for on-campus and distance education students

University students are likely to experience high rates of stress, which has the potential to negatively affect academic performance and their experience of study. Research with on-campus students has found positive benefits of health-promoting behaviours such as stress reduction and academic achievement; yet no research has examined these relationships with distance education students (and in comparison with on-campus students). Distance education students are a growing cohort in Australia higher education and elsewhere. This paper aims to redress this imbalance by comparing the relationships between stress, strain and coping, academic outcomes, and health-promoting behaviours in tertiary students (on-campus and distance education students). The study involved 242 on-campus and 399 distance education students at a regional Australian university. A path model was developed comparing both cohorts, and relationships were found to be similar, indicating no significant difference. Online interventions for distance education students which could be used to enhance coping are discussed.     

Opening up Down Under: the role of open educational resources in promoting social inclusion in Australia

This article discusses the role of open and distance learning to widen participation and promote social inclusion within Australian higher education, as well as the benefits that open educational resources (OER) could bring to that context. It also explores some of the most relevant social inclusion policies and related initiatives developed in Australia over the past two decades and their implications for OER. The article then reports the findings of an environmental scan of the use of OER across the higher education sector in Australia as part of a centrally funded research project. The research identifies a number of misconceptions within the higher education community about the nature of OER and reveals the lack of awareness regarding the potential of OER to close the gap between formal and informal education in Australia. Despite the strong evidence of the educational possibilities of OER, they are yet to play a significant role in promoting social inclusion Down Under.     

New technology and distance education: the case of Australia

New technology can help cut costs and improve quality, equity and participation in distance education, but the choice of technology, medium and carrier is application specific. Different goals, methods and philosophies dictate different systems and different cost‐benefit ratios. This paper examines five major requirements if Australia is to take advantage of the new technologies in distance education, looks at their social, economic and pedagogic implications, and suggests some specific actions.     

A study of an Australian distance education pressure group

This paper examines the development, role, nature and function of a non‐tertiary distance education pressure group in Australia. It describes the activities of the School of the Air Parents and Citizens' Association (P & C) in Carnarvon, Western Australia. It assesses the distance education perspective the parents have; reviews their relationships with the Carnarvon teaching staff and the head office administrators of the Education Department; and indicates the nature, extent and effectiveness of State and Federal parliamentary lobbying. In. particular, it details the alignment of the P & C with the national Isolated Children's Parents' Association and what it has meant in terms of P & C influence and lobbying strategies.     

Computer conferencing and the university community

In this paper, Terry Evans of the Institute of Distance Education at Deakin University (Geelong, 3217, Australia) and Daryl Nation of the School of Social Sciences at Gippsland Institute (Churchill, 3842, Australia) argue that Dialogue is the essence of the practice, research and theory in distance education. Dialogue is crucial for real understanding, and for ‘quality in learning’... students are actively engaged in constructing meaning rather than recipients of information as embodied in mechanistic conceptions of the learner.

The authors hope to develop international dialogue amongst teachers and researchers in distance education. The editors of this journal also want to encourage this dialogue through further publications, and correspondence.     

Research ethics in open and distance education: Context,principles and issues

Since the early 1980s there has been increasing debate about research ethics and a gradual increase in the institutionalisation of ethics approval and monitoring. Initially this occurred in areas of biomedical research, but more recently all areas of research which involve human beings as sources of data have been included. Australia, along with other nations, has been intimately involved in these developments and now has a firmly established structure of Institutional Ethics Committees (IECS) topped by the Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC) for the approval and monitoring of human research ethics. Although there are guidelines and codes of practice, many issues remain still to be resolved as the panoply of research methods and practices is extended and encountered. Australian research in open and distance education is being caught in the embrace of IECs and their guidelines, and the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia is preparing its own code of research ethics. This article outlines the context and discusses the major ethical issues and implications for research in open and distance education. It considers issues of both principle and practice, and points to some of the special circumstances which researchers in open and distance education face.     

From Dual-mode to Flexible Delivery; Paradoxical Transitions in Australian Open and Distance Education

Distance education has been a fundamental element of Australian education from early in the 20th century. The prevailing practice in higher education has been to have dual-mode organizations. This has led to some paradoxes unfolding in the recent history of Australian distance education that are grounded in the history and politics of the development of educational institutions and systems. Dual-mode institutions developed in Australia only partly because they suited the geographical and demographic circumstances of a new and developing nation. Rather, distance education often was added as a means of supporting the viability of small, on-campus institutions that had been established for party political expediency in favored rural towns. Attempts by governments in recent years to “rationalize” distance education provision have produced a paradoxical position where “distance education” and “dual-mode” are less frequently used terms, and yet the practices and systems embedded in both terms have flourished under the guise of “flexible delivery.” “Flexible delivery” brings with it some new connotations and practices that reflect the domination of economic rationalist ideologies.     

A Selected Complementary Information List of Flexible and Distance Learning Institutions Worldwide

This paper provides brief information on Internet, EUROSTEP, EUROPACE 2000, EADTU and the SOCRATES programme, the addresses of open universities and distance learning higher education institutions in Europe, as well as some chronological data concerning the foundation of other distance learning institutions in Africa, Asia, Australia, International, Israel, Latin America and the UK.     

Distance education for managers: an international perspective

The last few years have seen an enormous expansion, in different countries, of distance education for managers. Paul Northcott, of Deakin University, Australia, has first‐hand experience of several of these developments and charts their key features.     

Australian and South Pacific External Studies Association: ODLAA’s regional predecessor

The Australian and South Pacific External Studies Association (ASPESA) – the predecessor of the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia, Inc. (ODLAA) – was founded in 1973. From the outset, ASPESA adopted a broader‐than‐Australia focus for open and distance learning that included New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the member countries of the University of the South Pacific. Its interest was firstly on ‘professional’ matters (i.e., an identity for distance education, distance educators, and their professional development). ASPESA forums and workshops spread through various Australian ‘external studies’ institutes and developed the practical and intellectual infrastructure for ASPESA’s aims and objectives.

ASPESA acknowledged its regional and international focus in various ways. The 1981 ASPESA forum was organised jointly by the University of the South Pacific and Massey University, New Zealand, and held in Fiji. Thereafter its regional members played a larger role in ASPESA activities and regional issues appeared on forum agenda. ODLAA and its companion associations around the South Pacific received from their predecessor, ASPESA, a heritage of professionalism and participation in regional and international open and distance learning. In due course, however, differences in distance education environments led New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and then the Pacific island countries to form separate distance education associations, while maintaining links with ASPESA.     

The Importance of Being Flexible with Assignment Deadlines

A basic aim of transnational distance education is to reach out to non-traditional students in higher education and to assist them in achieving a level of education that will enhance their career chances and quality of life. It thus follows that instructors offering transnational and distance instruction should be flexible in the matter of meeting assignment deadlines. Basing himself on a study of the records of 400 students in an open learning programme at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia, the author concludes that flexibility in the matter of deadlines has consistently led to good results. The students in question have been able to complete their courses and their course programmes and to achieve enhanced results in their careers.     

Web 2.0-Based E-Learning: Applying Social Informatics for Tertiary Teaching Mark J. W. Lee and Catherine McLoughlin,Eds.

Research in distance education 1. Edited by Terry Evans (Deakin University, Australia, 1990, 271 pp., $25.00).