Planning new distance teaching universities

During the 1970s, new distance teaching universities (DTUs) were established worldwide. There are indications that further DTUs will be established during the 1980s in a number of countries.Based on the experience of those who developed and promoted the sketch plans of the existing DTUs, this article seeks to identify common features in the DTU planning process and the factors which appear to promote a successful outcome.     

现代远程教育条件下发展职业教育的探讨

自1999年启动和实施《面向21世纪教育振兴行动计划》以来,我国职业教育和现代远程教育都得到了快速发展。特别是最近几年来,职业教育领域和远程教育领域的办学者和研究者越来越积极地关注运用现代远程教育的技术手段,以整合资源的优势大力推动职业教育跨越式发展的问题。本文试     

The potential contribution of distance teaching universities to improving the learning/teaching practices in conventional universities

The learning/teaching systems through which distance teaching universities (DTU) operate open up new avenues and possibilities of actions not available in conventional universities. Distance education has the potential to widen and expand the significance of higher education in many ways. This article analyzes the potential contribution of DTU to improving learning/teaching practices in traditional universities. It focuses mainly on the experience of Everyman's University, the Open University of Israel. More specifically it discusses seven potential areas of contribution: (1) improving the quality of university level textbooks; (2) enhancing independent study skills; (3) improving the pedagogy of university teaching; (4) promoting inter-disciplinary courses; (5) contributing to inter-university collaboration; (6) advancing the integration of multi-media into the learning/teaching systems of the universities; (7) promoting research on adult learning.     

大众化过程中大学教学理念的变革

在高等教育大众化过程中,由于招生规模扩大带来高等教育精英色彩消褪,大学的办学理念、师生关系、大学与社会的关系,以及大学与大学之间的关系,都发生了一系列变化,大学教学理念也正在发生着深刻变革。如从单纯的高深学问向高深学问与高深技能并重扩展,从单纯的知识学习向复合型学习转变,学术旨趣与职业取向渐趋融合,以及"有教有类,各类分享"教学理念的形成等。为保障我国高等教育大众化的健康发展,积极稳妥地推进大学教学理念变革具有重要的现实意义。     

Virtual Universities: Current Models and Future Trends

The first section of this article examines the current models of "virtual universities" that provide various forms of distance education. Distance teaching at university level is offered, nowadays, through at least five major organizational models: single-mode distance teaching universities, dual- and mixed-mode universities, extension services, consortia-type ventures, and new technology-based universities. The article analyzes the merits of the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the context of each of these five models, as well as the problems associated with their implementation. The second section discusses future trends in the development of distance education in higher education systems and touches upon five domains: potential student constituencies, new roles for the academic faculty, new forms of knowledge generation and delivery, the restructuring of the organizational infrastructures of universities, and the impact of globalization on higher education markets. The conclusion highlights some of the major difficulties in the processes of implementing the new ICTs into various higher education systems and offers a few suggestions as to how to proceed in tackling major problems.     

What are open universities for?

This article proposes a framework within which the question as to the purposes of open universities should be examined. It argues that the question has become submerged over time through the establishment of so many open universities that have become natural elements in a higher education landscape rather than remaining radical and innovative institutions. The article looks at a number of innovative distance teaching higher education institutions from the nineteenth century through to the contemporary period, and examines case studies in a wide international range. The outcome of the argument is that open universities should articulate their purposes within a discourse of development, and engage with the ethical and political questions as to how development is understood and advanced.     

‘Distance education’ and ‘e-learning’: Not the same thing

This article examines the distinct differences between ‘distance education’ and ‘e-learning’ in higher education settings. Since the emergence of the new information and communication technologies (ICT), many have related to them as the new generation of distance education, and some have referred to their implementation in academia as challenging the very existence of campus-based universities. Many policy makers, scholars and practitioners in higher education use these two terms interchangeably as synonyms. But the fact is that distance education in most higher education systems is not delivered through the new electronic media, and vice versa – e-learning in most universities and colleges all over the world is not used for distance education purposes. ‘Distance education’ and ‘e-learning’ do overlap in some cases, but are by no means identical. The lack of distinction between ‘e-learning’ and ‘distance education’ accounts for much of the misunderstanding of the ICT roles in higher education, and for the wide gap between the rhetoric in the literature describing the future sweeping effects of the ICT on educational environments and their actual implementation. The article examines the erroneous assumptions on which many exaggerated predictions as to the future impact of the ICT were based upon, and it concludes with highlighting the future trends of ‘distance education’ and ‘e-learning’ in academia.     

论远程开放教育质量与发展的关系

电大的开放教育以其远距离、开放性,教学覆盖面广的优势,赢得了千千万万莘莘学子的青睐。但是当数量发展达到一定限度时,质量问题就会凸现出来。结合中国高等院校的扩招、网络教育学院试点的扩大以及广播电视大学的超常规发展的实际,提出了远程教育发展与质量的关系,以求教学质量真正落到实处。     

论高校毕业生就业的教育教学改革

随着高等教育规模不断扩大,高等学校毕业生就业难的问题成为政府、社会和高等学校极为关注的问题。虽然高等教育进行了大量卓有成效的改革,但脱离社会和市场需要的根本问题并没有解决。以社会需求和就业为导向的高等教育要以社会需求和就业为导向,全面推进教育教学改革,学科建设、专业设置和人才培养紧贴区域经济社会发展的重点领域,适应经济社会发展的需求。     

网络技术与高校的教育改革

网络技术具有集成性、交互性、数字化、实时性、多样性等特征,网络技术的发展与普及,给高等学校的教育改革带来极好的机遇,近些年来,高校在共享教学资源、建立“虚拟大学”、拓宽教学空间、实行远程教学等教育模式上进行了实质性改革,并有效地解决了欲重新学习与没有机会的矛盾、工作与学习的矛盾、学习欲望与教育年龄及学习环境的矛盾,形成终身教育的格局,使教育形式更加活泼,积极地促进了高等教育的健康发展。     

On the margins or at the center? Distance education in higher education

Abstract

This reflection focuses on the position of distance education in today’s global higher education. Firstly, it identifies three types of convergence of distance and campus-based education – dual mode, add-on/blended, and full convergence – arguing that the last type has yet to be fully realized due to the complexities involved. It then critiques the interplay between the two, concluding that despite being influenced by campus-based instructional delivery in its early days, distance education is now influencing campus-based education. Implications of convergence are also discussed. Arguably, distance education universities should be proud of the increasing presence of distance education in campus-based universities and have confidence in maintaining their advantages. As for campus-based universities, a systems approach is needed if they intend to take advantage of this ‘unorthodox’ mode of education. Finally, it is suggested that both campus-based education and distance education are at the center of higher education because they are now equally conventional.     

Collaborative schemes and the ethos of distance education: A study of Australian and New Zealand universities

Although the economic benefits of collaborative schemes and transfer of courses in distance education are clear, examples of collaboration between distance education institutions are rare. A reason is sought in theorganisational climate or ethos of each institution engaged in distance education, which inhibits joint design and use of courses or the transfer of a course from one institution to another. This theme is examined in relation to distance education in the integrated mode system of Australian and New Zealand universities, six in all. The universities are compared in terms of six features of organisational climate of particular relevance to distance education: physical characteristics, academic organisation, involvement in distance teaching, organisation of distance teaching, components of distance teaching and staff attitudes to distance education. It is concluded that the considerable variation between institutions, with respect to these features, creates difficulties for collaboration. The best prospect for collaborative schemes in distance education therefore may have to lie in the use of national or international agencies to validate courses as part of a national or international higher education programme along the lines of Britain's CNAA.     

新形势下地方高师院校教师教育改革的困境和对策

新形势下教师教育改革逐步从封闭定向走向多元开放,从低层次向高层次培养转移,学科专业教育与教师教育逐步分离,职前培养和职后培训趋于一体化。面对这种发展趋势,地方高师院校面临很多困境：定位不明确,盲目提高办学层次;教师教育队伍分散、薄弱;学术性与师范性之争的矛盾依然存在,在多种培养模式中徘徊;实践教学面临新挑战。为了走出困境,各地方高师院校应该根据校情有所为有所不为：明确定位,突出特色;加强教师教育队伍建设,特别要尝试兼职队伍建设;有效处理好学术性与师范性的矛盾,选择适宜的人才培养模式;开创实践教学新模式。     

应用型本科院校案例教学效果影响因素调查研究——以常熟理工学院市场营销专业为例

随着中国高等教育体制的改革,高等教育正在从精英化教育转向大众化教育,培养应用型人才已经成为很多本科院校的目标。本文以常熟理工学院市场营销专业作为调查样本,采用定性和定量相结合的方法研究了影响应用型本科院校案例教学效果的主要因素。结果发现,案例教学方式、学生学习态度、案例教学效果和教师教学因素等均会对案例教学效果产生影响。     

Distance Teaching Universities as Promoters of Social Equality and Social Accountability

The autonomous fully‐fledged distance teaching universities (DTU's) that have been established since the early 1970 ‘s in Europe and in other parts of the world, and have been shaped to a great extent on the leading model of the Open University of the United Kingdom, were by their very nature designed to promote social equality and to enhance social accountability in higher education. The major goals on their agendas were to widen access to higher education, to reach out to potential students wherever and whenever they wished to study, to provide high quality learning experiences, to reduce the costs of university education, and to be responsive both to societal demands and to market trends. This article briefly describes the main policies, mechanisms, and measures that the DTU's adopted in order to achieve their goals and concludes with the implications and lessons that might be derived from the experience of the DTU's as to the planning and policy formation of higher education systems in the future.     

远程教育系统的分析及其主流模式的特征——论远程教育系统（一）

对远程教育系统的结构要素和功能特征进行分析，特别是对远程教育这类开放社会系统的两个主要的运行子系统：课程和学生子系统进行分析，并指出，以英国开放大学和中国广播电视大学为主要代表的独立设置的远程教学大学成为20世纪下半叶远教育发展的主流模式，进而论述了主流模式远程教育系统及其课程，学生，管理和后勤子系统的特征，。     

远程教育系统的竞争和合作—论远程教育系统（三）

集中论述远程教育系统和院校间的竞争和合作，尤其是单一模式的远程教学大学与同时开展传统校园教育和远程教育的双重模式大学相互间接吻九合作关系，同时还探讨与此相关的论题。     

远程继续教育和企业教育的新型关系与合作机遇

在许多大型企业中,企业培训部门向企业大学的发展和转变,改变了企业教育的理念、模式以及实践,企业教育与远程继续教育的关系也随之发生了根本性的变化,产生了前所未有的新型关系和教育合作机遇。本文旨在分析远程继续教育和企业教育的关系变革和教育合作的机遇及优势。文章分为四个部分,第一部分介绍企业大学兴起的背景和现状;第二部分阐述企业培训部门转向企业大学后,在教育目标、教育策略、管理模式、课程类型、教学模式、学习对象六个方面产生的变革;第三部分分析远程继续教育和企业教育产生的新型关系,表明企业大学和远程继续教育走向一致的发展趋势;第四部分分析远程继续教育机构和企业大学教育合作的机遇和优势,说明双方的合作能够达到优势互补,通过分享办学理念和优质教育资源,取得良好的社会效益和成本效益,最终获得远程继续教育机构、企业大学以及企业员工的三赢成效。     

MOOCs与远程教育运行机制的比较研究

随着MOOCs（大规模开放在线课程）的兴起,各界对其与远程教育的关注逐渐升温。从在线教育运行机制的角度．对MOOCs和现有远程教育运行机制进行对比分析：首先选用比较分析研究法,提出对比指标项的选择依据．选取MOOCs的三个典型机构——Coursera、edx和Udacity以及远程教育的代表机构——英国开放大学和中国国家开放大学作为比较对象。其次从总体规划设计、教学环境、资源建设、师资发展、支持服务、教育管理与质量保证、成本效益和盈利模式、社会认可等八个方面,逐一比较MOOCs与现有的远程教育运行机制。结果表明,MOOCs在运行机制方面的探索将给远程教育的发展以新的启示．体现在MOOCs借助“名校、名师、名课”效应,增加课程的影响力;采用“高校加盟、统一平台、统一制作”的协同运作方式;运行主体由传统的教育机构转变为公司等。另一方面。MOOCs仅以名校声誉作为质量保障的基础。缺乏有效的学习支持服务,也不具备系统、完整的教学管理体系。所以,更为成熟的远程教育则能够为MOOCs的进一步发展提供丰富的经验。     

The Impact of Satellite Telecommunications on the Infrastructure of a Provincial University System

Abstract

Modern communication technology is being applied increasingly by post‐secondary systems throughout the world to deliver a variety of learning experiences to people residing at a distance from the main campuses of institutions of higher education. The implications of this phenomenon for the future development of post‐secondary education have yet to be assessed. At present, distance education activities at many institutions are perceived by scholars, as well as administrators, to be of lesser importance and appendages of the primary functions of the academic community. Such a myopic vision of the future is inconsistent with the incremental changes in organizational structures, delivery systems and administrative procedures occurring in many post‐secondary systems to accommodate a more personalized form of higher education. This article examines the impact which experiments with satellite communication have had on the organizational structures of a Canadian provincial university system. The findings derived by this exploratory analysis suggest that co‐operation, collaboration and communication are going to be essential elements of resource management, programme planning and knowledge delivery in post‐secondary systems by the 21st century.