I can’t believe this type of education has been going on for over 40 years! “In I975, the enrolment rate in China's higher education was less than 2 per cent, whereas in ninety-two other developing countries the rate was over 4 per cent.” (Yuhui) This shows the success of distance learning as it has encouraged people to get a higher education. Is this a demonstration of ‘techno-determinism’? Although China does have Universities, therefore the convenience of technology has encouraged more of the population to get a higher education. Or is it social-determinism because after the Cultural Revolution society needed to create something to encourage society to take higher education?
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I understand I may be biased, but can degrees gained through teaching by “television and radio” have the same value as a degree gained by traditional methods. Although I know that China, as a country must be acceptant of this and maybe I have a Westernised view on the matter but would someone who had gained a degree through the TVR system get the same recognition for it if they were to apply for a job in Britain? My preconceptions of a degree personally would entail more than just online learning as I think the real-life interaction etc plays a role within the whole experience of gaining a degree. There are only a limited amount of courses available within China’s distance higher education system therefore there are only a limited array a skills being transferred into the Chinese population. In saying this, I do believe the popularity of online learning will continue to grow, and at some entails the opportunity to over-shadow ‘meat-space’ education.
http://www1.worldbank.org/disted/Technology/broadcast/tv-02.html
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i was surprised it had be running for this long as well... and i have only just know about it!? I think you’ve made a good point that even though online learning does get you a degree you miss out on all the interaction and perhaps opinions of others that might prop up in the classroom.. unrehearsed comments. Do you think it will grow all over the world as well as China?
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree with your points Cara. This development in China makes me think of another distance learning resource which is recorded lessons. Such as on the recent TV program, 'The world's cleverest child and me' were a 10 year old girl recorded herself on a live feed on the internet to other children half way around the world. I know this isn't exactly a course which individuals gain knowledge or skills, but it shows this increasing awareness and popularity in online learning, even from this early start in a childs educational life.
ReplyDeleteTo Kerry - Yes! I thin it will continue to expand throughout the world wide web, yet I do still think that people are missing out on important interaction skills etc by online learning. Secondly, I think I have furthered your points Drew, it's amazing how technology has enabled us to become aware of things like 'The world's cleverest child and me' etc. You also raise the point of the different means in how people can gain knowledge through the internet and the question of validity of learning on the internet.
ReplyDeleteEdited from: http://www.open.ac.uk/about/ou/p3.shtml
ReplyDeleteHistory of the OU
The Open University was the world's first successful distance teaching university.
Born in the 1960s, the 'White Heat of Technology' era, the Open University was founded on the belief that communications technology could bring high quality degree-level learning to people who had not had the opportunity to attend campus universities.
The early years
The idea starts with the BBC
In 1926 the educationalist and historian J C Stobart wrote a memo, while working for the infant BBC, advocating a 'wireless university'. By the early sixties many different proposals were being mooted. R C G Williams of the Institution of Electrical Engineers argued for a 'teleuniversity', which would combine broadcast lectures with correspondence texts and visits to conventional universities - a genuinely 'multi-media' concept.
A response to the problem of exclusion
In an article for Where? Magazine (autumn 1962), Michael Young proposed 'an Open University' to prepare people for external degrees of London University. The BBC and the Ministry of Education were then discussing plans for a 'College of the Air'. In March 1963, a Labour Party study group under the chairmanship of Lord Taylor presented a report about the continuing exclusion from higher education of the lower income groups. They proposed an experiment on radio and television: a 'University of the Air' for serious, planned, adult education.
Jennie Lee's vision
"I hated the term 'University of the Air' because of all the nonsense in the Press about sitting in front of the telly to get a degree.
"I knew it had to be a university with no concessions, right from the very beginning. After all, I have gone through the mill myself, taking my own degree, even though it was a long time ago. I knew the conservatism and vested interests of the academic world. I didn't believe we could get it through if we lowered our standards."
Labour's manifesto for the 1966 general election contained a commitment to establish the University of the Air. In that election, Mr Wilson was returned with an increased majority and in September 1967 came the crucial Cabinet decision to set up a Planning Committee 'to work out a comprehensive plan for an open university'.
"By September 1969, The Open University transferred to Milton Keynes with 70 to 80 people. That winter the site turned into a quagmire, with floods from the river and our building activities. One hundred pairs of slippers were bought to save the new carpets.
The first student applications: 1970
"Applications from potential students were coming in: by the middle of 1970 we knew there were enough applications to make us viable. In January 1971 the first students began work on their first units of the first foundation courses."