lifelong learning and distance higher education - Asia Pacific Region

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CHAPTER 3THE IMPACT OF ICT ON LIFELONGLEARNINGMary ThorpeCHAPTER SUMMARYInformation and communication technologies (ICTs) have been an integral element in thegrowth of diverse forms of open, online and distance education, which over the last 40years, have brought new opportunities for lifelong learning in many countries. Deliveryof resources, however, does not guarantee learning, even when the initial barriers ofaccess have been overcome. Where the media in use are unfamiliar, even strongerincentives are required for learners to engage effectively. In the case of the UK OpenUniversity, assessment plays a strong role in focusing learner attention on opportunitiessuch as Internet resources and computer conferencing. What is also clear is that theeffectiveness of ICT depends on course designers and authors understanding what it candeliver and having resources to ensure that a high quality experience is on offer to thelearner. Poor take-up may often reflect an inappropriate or low quality offering, ratherthan a rejection of technology per se. Examples of successful use can demonstrate whatis achievable and the potential of ICT to transform learner experience and capabilities.Individual teachers are unlikely to be able to achieve at this level, without an institutionalcontext that incorporates resources, training and appropriate policies for both learnersupport and materials development.INTRODUCTIONThe impact of ICT on learning is currently discussed almost entirely in relation to useof digital media, primarily the World Wide Web. However, ICT impacted on highereducation before the widespread use of the Internet. Through the application of print,audio-visual and broadcast media to distance education, it has enabled those withadult roles and responsibilities to continue formal study leading to higher educationqualifications on a mass scale. The practice of lifelong learning itself has been facilitatedby the demonstrable fact of thousands (now millions worldwide) of adults studyingbeyond school age using a range of media, and pursuing both occupational and leisure23
goals (Daniel, 1996). Lifelong learning has been an inspirational concept for decades,receiving attention now for a variety of economic and social development reasons. Inpractice, it is dominated by provision of learning opportunities for adults and researchinto the effects and significance of learning beyond formal schooling. Nevertheless, weshould not lose sight of the lifelong trajectory and Dave’s 1976 definition provides asuccinct reminder of that, directly relevant to the substance of this chapter; he defineslifelong learning as:“A process of accomplishing personal, social and professional development throughoutthe life-span of individuals in order to enhance the quality of life of both individuals andtheir collectives.” (Dave, 1976, quoted in Rausch, 2003)Since the mid-1990s, the Open University UK has adopted a strategy of investmentin digital media, building on early use of the Internet for computer mediatedcommunication, on a large scale from 1988 (Mason and Kaye, 1989). These earlyapplications showed that use of e-mail and conferencing could revolutionise the potentialof distance teaching by opening up communication across the student body, as well asbetween the tutor, course team and students. They also showed that impact on studentswas very varied, typically leaving one third who hardly ever participated, one third whodid so to an acceptable level, and one third who became enthusiasts and participated wellbeyond the requirement set down by the course team.Summarising the promise of the “new media” – taking these to include CD-ROM andnow DVD-ROM as well as the Web and applications such as streaming audio 1 , video andmobile devices – commentators have typically identified the following advantages:• A sense of presence, possibly even community, in online interaction• Improved learner support• Unlimited practice of difficult concepts, skills etc.• Unlimited access to resources via the Internet• Improved delivery of learner preferences – notably those requiredby students with disabilities• Global access to resources and teaching• Learning anywhere, any timeWhat we now have is accumulated experience over more than a decade of large-scaleuse at the Open University and elsewhere that demonstrates three major themes. Thefirst is that the impact of the new media is uneven, whether resulting from differencesbetween learners, the context in which learners are studying, or the nature of the subjectbeing learned. The second is that the promise of the new media is just that – a promise orpotential that can only be realised through skilled and creative design and teaching, on thepart of both the local tutor and the course team. The third is that lack of success in use ofICT may result as much from cultural differences in how people expect to learn, as fromany feature of the new media themselves.UNEVEN IMPACT: THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEXTPrior to the widespread use of the Web, print was the main medium for teaching indistance education and many lifelong learning opportunities. Great ingenuity andspecialist expertise has developed in using print, with both teachers and taught havingshared an intuitive understanding of how print can be made to work effectively for24
Page 1 and 2: PERSPECTIVES ONDISTANCE EDUCATIONLi
Page 3 and 4: The Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
Page 5 and 6: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSIn addition to the
Page 7 and 8: These are some of the issues that a
Page 9 and 10: What are the trends and issues in l
Page 11 and 12: of policy implications relating to
Page 13 and 14: evince important differences that c
Page 15 and 16: inequitable regulations governing t
Page 17 and 18: associations and groups of countrie
Page 19 and 20: THE CONTRIBUTORChristopher McIntosh
Page 21 and 22: INTRODUCTIONIn his 1996 report to U
Page 23 and 24: Lastly, our analysis of the situati
Page 25 and 26: diploma or similar certificates of
Page 27 and 28: force of the undertaking. Here agai
Page 29 and 30: RELEVANT INTERNET SITESUNESCO Task
Page 31: Notes1. This phrasing has been used
Page 35 and 36: eported that group activity had red
Page 37 and 38: NEW AREAS FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION:WO
Page 39 and 40: targets systematically for the use
Page 41 and 42: Rausch, A.S. (2003). A case study o
Page 43 and 44: correspondence teaching systems tha
Page 45 and 46: significant differences between syn
Page 47 and 48: In distance flexible- and blended-e
Page 49 and 50: STATE-FUNDED DUAL-MODE SYSTEMS ATUN
Page 51 and 52: Table 4.2: Fundable elements in dis
Page 53 and 54: sciences in 21 countries of the reg
Page 55 and 56: How a system is funded depends in p
Page 57 and 58: Litto, Fredric M. (2004). Digital l
Page 59 and 60: CHAPTER 5LIFELONG LEARNING IN THE A
Page 61 and 62: education, which was initiated by C
Page 63 and 64: So the virtual classroom acted as a
Page 65 and 66: In June 2002, when the course came
Page 67 and 68: RELEVANT INTERNET SITESFORCIIR proj
Page 69 and 70: 11. The approximate rate for 1€ w
Page 71 and 72: The term modern distance education
Page 73 and 74: the National Networked Consortium f
Page 75 and 76: important resource for undeveloped
Page 77 and 78: standards have been proposed for th
Page 79 and 80: The development of e-learning withi
Page 81 and 82: RELEVANT INTERNET SITESCCRTVU Onlin
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MoE (2004b) The Notice on Running N
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CHAPTER 7QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEYOF
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(Paris, France, 28-29 June 2004) in
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Examples of elaborated QA policies:
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plans and produces its conventional
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SHTVU (China)• Teaching• Teachi
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offers its programmes to Turkish ci
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mega universities apply a set of st
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RELEVANT INTERNET SITESThe Commonwe
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2. QA initiatives or publications b
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assurance of ODL. This DST will be
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Educational Planning has been respo
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A system of weighting of the key qu
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RELEVANT INTERNET SITESHigher Educa
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CHAPTER 9THE FINNISH VIRTUAL UNIVER
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foreign providers. In Finland, the
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to make the best use of new educati
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The foremost task for the Service U
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part of quality management. The aim
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online courses; an educational tech
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polytechnics, research institutions
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CHAPTER 10PROMOTING CROSS-BORDERREC
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The Bologna Declaration was followe
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indicators currently being used for
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the qualification resulting from th
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Table 9.1: Outline of the portfolio
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• Make sure that incoming student
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CHAPTER 11CHARTING THE EVOLUTIONOF
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Another common characteristic was t
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the current capacity of the educati
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conditions for success. Conditions
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Cultural and ethical issues in inte
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the cost and maintenance of learnin
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Research can be a useful tool for c
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REFERENCESBates, A. (1995). Technol
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Twigg, C. (2001). Quality Assurance
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y, for example, entering into partn
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and even greater steps, and the dec
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