New methods for life course analysis of lifelong education

Studies of the impact of education on adults’ lives must go beyond the background details of students, the course and the immediate learning outcomes, and be grounded in the changing lives of learners in a changing world. Life histories provide a rich source of data to assess the significance of education but are difficult to analyse. New approaches based on life course analysis show at what stage in students’ various ‘careers’ they participate, what else is going on at the time, and how education affects areas of their lives. The paper begins with a brief review of the literature on collecting life histories and a justification for the method adopted which provides the starting point for life course analysis. A case study of a student living in an area of multiple deprivation who took an Open University community education course is presented to show how life course analysis can be carried out and the place and influence of education evaluated.     

开放远程教育网上资源库开发的质量保证

开放远程教育网上资源库的形式多样,并具有多种功能。信息资源不仅可以供学生使用,还能帮助教师、咨询者、研究者、管理者以及政策制定者开发远程教育系统,扩展远程学习机会,以及建设远程课程等。本文集中探讨远程教育信息资源库以及信息来源、信息内容和信息管理的质量问题,并对开放远程教育的定义、院校和课程质量的评估、电子与印刷资料、信息管理等主题进行分析。本研究的结论是,远程教育的资源库、资源服务、网站和数据库形形色色,用户难以获得一致的、权威性的信息和建议,大量的质量不可靠的信息使用户感到迷惑,甚至产生失落感。一些重要的机构已经认识到这一挑战,包括世界银行、英联邦进修组织以及联合国教科文等,它们正在努力开发利用现有的网上服务并联成网络,以便加速教育事业的发展。