The brave new world
The E-University
The E-University evolution or revolution is here.How one see this evolution/revolution depends on where one has been situated in one's education experience.
One way to illustrate this relates to the
closeness or distance of students. For example the experience of education
for someone who has only participated in education in a face-to-face setting
the difference could be revolutionary. However for someone steeped in distance
education it could be seen as evolutionary only (Evans,
1999).
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| Place | Same | Synchronous/Proximate
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Shared physical workspace
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| Different | Synchronous/Disperse
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Asynchronous/Disperse
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Globalisation
There is also a global perspective to this E-University evolution/revolution. Global in the sense of the commercialisation of education; and as a result of the search for commercial advantage, the E-University revolution/evolution is global in the sense of an internationalisation of education.- Consortia of Universities, University Colleges and individual academics established by an internet educational company. For example there is Cardean University which chose the UNext Internet education company.
- Existing Universities are establishing consortia to offer courses and to establish common resources. For example Universitas 21 which was initiated by Melbourne University, involves Universities in Australia and Britain which used the NextEd Internet education company. (La Trobe University, the Australian Catholic University and the University of Southern Queensland Online (try the deom subject to see how similar or different it is from CSU) are using Next Ed as well)
- Then there are commercial training companies that are revamping their old Computer Based Learning training programs with electronic communication facilities. An example is Smart Force.
This is the context within which CSU's online development is taking place.
Thus online education is in part a convergence of the two:
- blurring the boundaries (convergence)
Blurring the boundaries of the classroom
One of the advantages that online teaching presents is that it blurs the boundaries between the distance education cohort of students and the face-to-face cohort. But not just the structural and administrative list of classes but in the dynamic of learning and in the dynamics of the classroom - of opening the classroom to the outside world. For example this student in Public History (HST209) said in a 1999 evaluation survey:| S1
Yes, it allowed the opportunity to interact rather than just have classes & be told about such things. We could see it for ourselves on the www, such as sites overseas. |
A window of Forum usage, CSU, Autumn 2000*
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| 1- 21 Feb |
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| 2 - 28 Feb |
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| 3 - 6 March |
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| 4 - 13 March |
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| 5 - 20 March |
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| 6 - 27 March | End internal classes |
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| 7 - 3 April | Res school period |
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| 8 - 10 April | Res school period |
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| 9 - 17 April | Res school period
Fri 21 April - Good Friday |
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| 10 - 24 April |
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| 11 - 1 May |
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| 12 - 8 May |
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| 13 - 15 May |
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| 14 - 22 May |
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| 15 - 29 May | End internal classes |
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| 16 - 5 June | Examination period |
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| 17 - 12 June | Examination period |
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| Total number of subjects | 445 | Active forums |
292
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| Inactive forums |
153
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The first generation - correspondence and external studies
The old correspondence school or university external studies, relied on early print technology and postal service delivery system.Feature of communication:
- one way
- print - text based
- individualised learning
- motivation - credentialism
- dominant pedagogy - passive transmission model
The second generation - multiple media distance education
The UK Open University lead the way using multiple broadcast media extensively (the BBC had a production unit dedicated to producing radio and TV learning documentaries and broadcasting them for the Open University).Features of communication:
- largely one way
- multiple media though predominantly print - text, video audio
- residential schools (same time same place) - face to face
- teleconferencing (same time different place) - oral
- largely individualised
- interactive with residential schools, tutorial service and teleconferencing
- dominant pedagogy - Gagne's Conditions of learning
The third generation - computer-mediated distance education
The synchronous and asynchronous communication facilities of email and computer conferencing. Nipper argued that although learning is 'a very personal matter - must never be an individual matter - one learns best by and with others'. (1989, p. 66)Nipper wrote before the Internet was the phenomenon it is today. While the Internet does provide the modern communications - email, forums (electronic bulletin boards) - it is also used as a delivery system for notes.
Features of communication:
- interactive (with other people) - two way and text based
- synchronous and asynchronous - text based
- print and online - text and graphic based
- multimedia - all
- collaboration - see Harasim, 1997; & Muirhead, 2000
- problem based learning - overview; detail; Banta et al., 2000; PSY522
- student centred learning
- motivation - credentialism (real-world relevance - flexible learning)
| Source: Book of Kells |
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http://www.samford.edu/pubs/pbl/pbl3.3.pdf
Benbunan-Fich, R.
& Hiltz, S., 1999, Educational
applications of CMCs: Solving case Studies through asynchronous learning
networks, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 4 (3),
[Adapted from Johansen, R., 1992, An introduction to computer augmented
teamwork. In Computer augmented teamwork: A guided tour, eds Bostrom,
Watson, & Kinney, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.]
http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol4/issue3/benbunan-fich.html
Evans, T., 1999, Flexible delivery and flexible learning: development of flexible learners? in Flexible learning, human resource and organisational development: Putting theory to work, eds V. Jakupec & J. Garrick, pp. 211-224, Routledge, London.
Harasim, L., 1997,
Interacting
in hyperspace, Paper presented to The Potential of the Web: Learning
in hyperspace Conference, College Park, Maryland.
http://nova.umuc.edu/ide/potentialweb97/harasim.html
Muirhead, B., 2000,
Enhancing
Social Interaction in Computer-Mediated Distance Education, Formal
Discussion Initiation of the International Forum of Educational Technology
& Society, 28 August - 6 September.
http://ifets.ieee.org/discussions/discuss_sept2000.html
Nipper, S., 1989, Third generation distance education and computer conferencing, in Mindweave: Communication, computers and distance education, eds R. Mason & A. Keys. pp. 63-73 Pergamion Press, Oxford.
Sumner, J., 2000, Serving the system: a critical history of distance education, Open Learning, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 267-286.