DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 251 700 CE 040 352

TITLE Distance Education.INSTITUTION Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education.PUB DATE Mar 84NOTE 94p.PUB TYPE Collected TI:;rks Serials (022) -- Viewpoints (120)

RepoLts - Dest,:iptive (141)JOURNAL CIT ASPBAE Courier; n30 Mar l9J4

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC04 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Adult Education; *Co:imunications Satellites;

Comparative Analysis; Continuing Education;Developing Nations; *Distance Education; *EducationalTelevision; Extension Education; *Foreign Countries;*Higher Education; Inservice Teacher Education;Nontraditional Education; *Open Universities;Postsecondary Education; Universities

IDENTIFIERS Australia; China; Hong Kong; Kenya; Korea; Macau;Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACTThis publication is devoted to distance education.

"The Future of Distance Teaching Universities in a WorldwidePerspectives" (John S. Daniel) examines challenges likely to face thevarious' countries and regions of the world in the next decade. "AnAustralian University's Approach to Distance Education--Formal andNon-Formal" (Peter M. Grayson) describes the transformation of theUniversity of Queensland's provision for distance education. "OpenLearning System for Hong Kong, Problems and Possibilities" (CharlesWong) focuses on cost effectiveness, resources, and options (targetpopulation, free-standing versus being attached to an existinginstitution, teaching methods). "Korean Distance Learning System andStructure" (Synghan H. Kim) explains the operations of Korea'swell-established system of distance learning, which includes aCorrespondence High School, Korean Correspondence University, andOpen Colleges of Engineering. "The Television Broadcasting Universityof China" (Tong Li) discusses course, target groups, students, andprogram production. A brief description follows of the Open Collegeof the University of Beast Asia, Macau. "An Off-Campus Programme inMalaysia" (Datuk Musa Mohammed) describes the program and itsproblems. "A Comparative Study of Distance Teaching in Papua NewGuinea and Kenya" (G. S. Keeley) concludes that distance teaching isa cheap method of inservi.ce teacher training and can improvestandards of teaching. "Communication Satellites and TertiaryEducation" (James C. Lange) considers local, regional, national andinternational applications of new technology to improve research,teaching, and adminiEcration in higher education. (YLB)

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ASPBAE REGIONAL QFFICES

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CONTENTS

Page

11

THE FUTURE OF DISTANCE TEACHING UNIVERSITIES IN A COMMUNICATION SATELLITES AND TERTIARY EDUCATION 33WORLDWIDE PERSPECTIVE 1

James C. LangeJohn S. Daniel

AN AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY'S APPROACH TO DISTANCEEDUCATION - FORMAL AND NON - FORMAL

Peter M. Grayson

OPEN LEARNING SYSTEM FOR HONG KONG, PROBLEMS ANDPOSSIBILITIES 13

Charles Wong

KOREAN DISTANCE LEARNING SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURE 19

Synghan H. Kim

THE TELEVISION BROADCASTING UNIVERSITY OF CHINA 24

Tong Li

THE OPEN COLLEGE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EAST ASIA,MACAU 26

AN OFF-CA..iPUS PROGRAMME IN MALAYSIA 27

Datuk Musa Mohammed

Cover: Drawing by Ian Sharpe

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DISTANCE TEACHING IN PAPUANEW GUINEA AND KENYA 30

G.S. Kaeley

EDITORIAL

This issue of ASPBAE Courier (No. 30) is devoted to DistanceEducation. Distance Education (0: Correspondence Educationas it was formerly called) is becoming increasingly importantin this region.

ASPBAE assisted a seminar on Distance Education in Hong Kong inOctober 1983 at which a Distance Education Council for Asiawas formed.

One of toe speakers at the serinar, was John S. Daniel, Presidentof the International Council for Distance Education. His paperprovided an overview of Distance Ecle.:ation and is included inthis issue.

Two articles come from Australia, a country which can benefitfrom 'distance education' because of its sparse population.The University of Queensland is exploring this area and Dr JamesLange has been seconded to the Universii.y of Western Australiato look mainly at the use of satellites for tertiary distanceeducation. Australia will join other countries in the regionwith a domestic satellite in 1985 end tertiary and adult educat-ors are actively exploring ways of utilising the satellite whenit is operating. India already has a great deal of experiencewith the educational use of satellites through its INSAT.(See Courier No. 25 (News) July 1982).

Charles Wong discusses an Open Learning System for Hong Kong inhis article and Desmond Lee, Chairman of the Hong Kong AsL:ociat-ion for Continuing Education, also addresses this question inhis News item (see News section).

Korea has a well-established system of distance learning whichincludes a Correspondence High School, Korean CorrespondenceUniversity and Open Colleges of Engineering. The operationsof these units are explained in some detail in Dr Syr .pan Kim'spaper, presented at the DECASIA seminar in Hong Kong.

China has had a Television University since 1960 which wasone of the earliest in the region. It was reopened around 1979and is called the Central Television University. The centralbody is situated in Beijing and there are 28 provincial telev-ision universities covering most of the country. The CentralTelevision University is run Ly the Ministries of Educationand Broadcasting and the z..rovincial organisations are run bylocal education authorities. The courses, target groups, stalentsand program production are discussed in a paper by Mr Tong Liof the Department of Adult Education in the Ministry of Education.

The Open College of the University of East Asia opened in Macauin 1983. By the end of the year it had approximately 2,000students and early indications are that it is well suited torequirements of students in the region.

1

The Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang has been running asuccessful off-campus program since 1971 and fr.'lowing areview in 1981 was directed to expand its student intake from2.4% to 5% ! students per academic year. The Director of theOff-Campus Studies Unit, Dr Dhanarajan, is also the Secretary-General of the Distance Education Council for Asia.

G.S. Kaeley of the University of Papua New Guinea has donea comparative study of distance teaching in Papua New Guineaand Kenya. Mr Kaeley has worked in both countries in rocentyears and is well placed to compare the two systems. Heconcludes that distance teaching methods can provide a widerand cheaper method of in-service training of teachers and canassist in improving the standards of teaching in many subjects,particularly science and mathematics.

Another significant distance education institution in our regionis the Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University in Thailand. STOUwas established by Royal Charter in 1978 and was the first openuniversity in Southeast Asia to use distance teaching to extendhigher education to the people. The University awarded itsfirst degrees to approximately 9,000 graduates in 1983. TheLearning Exchange Section of this Courier has more informationabout the STOU.

Distance Education at present is concerned more with the formalsystem than the non-formal but it is important in providingaccess to higher education to many people, mainly adults, whowould otherwise be denied such learning. It also has animportant role to play in professional up-dating and in-servicetraining and has a potential for non-formal education with theproliferation of domestic satellites in our region.

(Yvonne Heslop)March, 1984

9

THE FUTURE OF DISTANCE TEACHING UNIVERSITIES

IN A WORLDWIDE PERSPECTIVE

John S. DanielVice-Rector, ConcordiaUniversity, Montreal

andPresident, InternationalCouncil for DistanceEducation

INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE

You have asked me to discuss the future of distance teachinguniversitieu in a worldwide perspective. shall begin,therefore, by an examination of the challenges likely to facethe various countries and regions of the world in the nextdecade. Any such review can, of course, only be speculativebut such speculations are particularly important for adiscussion of the future of distance universities. IL the lastdecade many governments have come to see distance teaching asa flexible and cost-effective response to new educational needs.Responding to agreed national priorities is the surest way ofwinning government support and the most successful distanceteaching universities have been those, such as the UK OpenUniversity, that have enjoyed the strongest political backing.It is important, therefore, to assess whether distance educatioiis relevant to the special challenges countries are likely toencounter in the eighties and nineties.

In making this assessment I shall look briefly at the develop-ments to be expected in conventional universities over the sameperiod that will influence their response to the same challenges.

Most distance teaching universities were created in the 1970s.What problems will they encounter as they lose the protectionof newness and approach something like a steady state? Tnesewill be examined in the second part of the paper. I shallthen look at the relative success of the various organizationalmodels under which distance education operates at the post-secondary level. My purpose will be to identify those organiza-tional features which appear to promote effectiveness andlongevity. A final section will examine the leadership require-ments of the distance teaching universities on the assumptionthat they will have to face much tougher competition from theconventional universities in their jurisdictions.

1()

2

The Ups and Downes of Human Capital Theory

The human capital theory holds that investment in the educationand training of people is a sure route to national economicprosperity. This theory inspired the rapid expansion of educa-tional opportunity from 1960 onward both in developed countriesand newly independent nations. This was the sign of thepolitico-economic zodiac under which the distance teachinguniversities were born. Looking back from the 1980s after anunpleasant recession it is clear that a reliable recipe foreconomic development calls for many ingredients, of whicheducation is not necessarily the most important. Furthermore,comparisons of the economic hares and tortoises, from Taiwan toUruguay, now suggest that small and non-interventionist govern-ments may have the greatest economic virtue. Small wonder thatthe distance teaching universities, which were created in anera of enthusiasm for public spending on education, now feelmore exposed to the current political draughts than older,conventional institutions. Closer examination of the situationwill show, however, that those distance teaching universities(DTUs) which are already operational should have little to fearif they can remain attuned to the educational needs perceivedby their governments.

rhallenges of the Future: A World Tour

In the 24 developed countries of the OECD the primary priorityis now to reduce unemployment, particularly among the young.Many governments believe that one route to this objective liesthrough improved training, particularly as it relates to allaspects of the new wave of information technologies. Govern-ments are not pleased at this prospect ("How come we have atraining problem after all our investment in education?") andare likely to be fairly hard-nosed in reallocating resourceswithin their educational systems away from general support touniversities and towards career-related programmes belowuniversity level.

The Soviet bloc suffers from full underemployment rather thanunemployment. However, the route to increased productivityand prosperity would appear to lie in a refo In of the economicsystem and reduced emphasis on military spending rather than ineducational reforms. From the current western perspective theSoviet bloc has an enviable tradition of linking study andproductive work. Ru.able and Harry (1982:21) note that in 19792.2 million people, or 40% of Soviet university enrolments,were studying either at a distance or in the evening. TheUSSR's fourteen DTUs and the many distance programmes inconventional institution% nave a mainline role in the educa-tional system that is matched nowhere else.

11

China also has a long tradition of correspondence educationand the Beijing Television College, founded in 1960, was oneof the earliest DTUs. However, it was closed down along withi.he rest of China's postsecondary education system, by theCultural Revolution. China's declared priority is a massiveprogram of modernisation and catching up in all fields. TheCentral China Television University (CCTU), which began in 1977with courses in English, electric circuits and mathematics, nowprepares courses for some 500,000 students who are supervisedby the 28 Local Television Universities (such as the BeijingTelevision College). While these numbers make the CCTU theworld's largest DTU it is hardly scratching the surface inrelation to the needs cF China's one billion people - whoinclude a lost generation of potential university graduates.For the present the CCTU can accept only full-time studentsliving in urban centres. Naturally :;.t is under pressure toexpand capacity in order to serve rural regions and part-timestudents. Without underestimating the problems of operating,let alone expanding, such a vast system, it does seem thatdistance will play an important part in the modernization ofChina if, for the rest of the century, the country is sparedany major internal or external upheavals.

After making far mo;::: than its share of the headlines of warfor the last 40 years eastern Asia may indeed be entering anera of peace. If so the Pacific Rim will likely continue toset the pace of economic development for the rest of the worldand will be the most exciting region for the development ofdistance education. The Japan University of the Air, foundedin 1981 after fourteen years of planning, the SukhothaiThammathirat Open University of Thailand (already one of theworld's largest and most successful DTU's), and the new HongKong Open College of the University of East Asia all seemdestined to make major contributions to the expansion of oppor-tunities for postsecondary education, particularly in applieddisciplines.

In South Aeia and the South Pacific the tradition of distanceeducation is longer, leaving less room for development andgrlwth in the future. The University of the South Pacific (USP)will no doubt continue its remarkable work of teaching anethnically diverse and highly scattered population through asecond language (English). USP is highly dependent on satellitecommunications and could gain greatly if these facilities were:o.proved.

Bearing in mind its small population Australia must have thegreatest diversity of distance education providers in the world.There are no autonomous DTUs, however, for Australia haspreferred to organize distance education from five of itsconventional universities and from a large number of other post-

12 3

secondary institutions. Despite the achievements of this "two-mode" tradition many observers believe that the Australiandistance education pie is now sliced too finely. The problemis less one of duplication in the courses actually offered thanof the absence of programs in many important work-related fieldssince no single institution can achieve, in its own catchmentarea, the critical mass of enrolments necessary. Australiaformally decided some years ago not to establish a national DTU.However, the publication in 1983 of the Johnson Report onExternal Studies does seem likely to produce better coordinationand cooperation between those institutions now active.

India shares some of Australia's problems. Again, there are noDTUs but some 18 universities have correspondence programsthat between them reach nearly half a million students. Eachprogram is, however, distinctly the poor relation within itsinstitution and few courses are available in science and techno-logy. Pleas from Singh (1982:63) and others to establisha central institute to give higher priority to distance educa-tion shows no signs of being acted upon.

Pakistan, by contrast, created a DTU in 1975 (Allama IqbalOpen University) that has been rather successful. As well asreaching over 200,000 students it has managed to concentrateon subjects of national importance (teacher training, farming,home economics) instead of reproducing the traditional'colonial' curriculum.

Since the closure of the Free ustversity of Iran by theKhomeini regime there have been no DTUs in the Arab worldalthough the UNRAW/Uresco Institute of Education reaches widelyscattered Palestinian teachers (Nashif 1982:241). There hasbeen some talk of a Culf States Open University. Given theimportance of face-to-face communication in Arab culture andthe availability of oil revenues *o build conventional instit-tions there seems little reason to develop distance educationin this region at present.

Africa stands at the cpposite extreme. It is inconceivablethat resources will allow the conventional educational systemto be expanded to meet demand in the foreseeable future. Formost of black Africa increased educational opportunity and abetter, work-related curriculum, can only be achieved throughdistance teaching. Given the immense needs, however, universitylevel work is hardly a priority. African countries shouldconcentrate on facilitating the provision of secondary andvocational education at a distance using both state and privateinstitutions. The universities can play a useful supportingrole at this level (e.g. the University of Nairobi's involve-

13

ment in programs for high school drop-outs; the Universityof Zimbabwe's ZIMSCI project for secondary-level science).For the moment distance education at the university level canbe provided by the one existing DTU (the University of SouthAfrica founded in 1954 and now enrolling 56,000 students) andby special units within conveational universities on theAustralian two-mode model.

The scene in Latin America has been well summarized by Escotet(1983:141) whose title, Adverse factors in the development ofan open university in Latin America, gives the flavour of hisconclusions. Anderson (1982:70) compares distance educationin this region to "grassfires on the savannahs or llanos",emphasizing that projects have been many but shnrt-lived.Commercial and vocational courses have had the best survivalrate since the organizational volatility that goes with thehighly politicized nature of Latin American Universities isantithetical to the administrative stability distance educationrequires. However, Latin American universities have madelaudable attempts to of,:er through distance education theprofessional programs students actually want rather than theliberal arts courses that are easier to mount. Furthermore theregion's two autonomous DTUs, the Universidad Estatal aDistancia in Costa Rica and the Universidad Nacional Abiertain Venezuela, have made good progress so far according toRumble and Harry (1982:72, 187).

Even this highly abbreviated analysis of the challenges ofworld development reveals a bedrock made up of three commontrends beneath the regional differences. First there is acontinuing problem of access to postsecondary education, parti-cularly for those in rural areas and those who are employed.Second there is the challenge of rattrapage for adults whomissed a first chance at education or who require new skillsand knowledge to cope with a changing environment. Finallythere is the need to teach new subjects - computing is anobvious example - to huge numbers of people.

Simply enumerating these challenges reveals the importantfuture of distance education. It is above all a flexible formof learning which enables people to overcome constrains ofgeography and schedule through study at home. It is a means ofreaching large numbers of learners rapidly and has provedparticularly appropriate for teaching electronics and computingwhere the experimental equipment required is inexpensive andeasily transportable.

Competing with conventional universities: a Sailing Ship effect?

steamshi!s took much longer than nineteenth century observersexpected to oust sailing ships from the world', trade routes.

144

I

A* To meet the new competition sailing ship operators greatlyincreased their efficiency (e.g. faster ships, published time-tables) and retained much of their business until finallyoverhauled by the continuing development of steam vessels.

Distance education will never and should never displace face-to-face contact in classrooms as the primary means of teachingand learning. Nevertheless it has become in many countriesthe major element of the response to the increased demandfor part-time higher education - partly because conventionaluniversities have neglected to adapt their offerings to part-ime students. We may now see a 'sailing ship effect' asconventional universities become much more adaptive in responseto the crisis they now face. Keller (1983:12) has describedthis crisis for American universities and many of its elements,given in the following list, are of concern worldwide.

1. A changing student clientele. (Fewer youngerand more older students; a more heterogeneousethnic mix; by 1990 a majority of studentslearning part-time).

2. A disintegrating curriculum. ("The rationalefor general education has become enfeebled andthe intellectual structure has lost its coherence(Daniel Bell); students concerned with economicreturns; the growth of knowledge.

3. Increased competition within higher education.(Estimates of 12 million students in formal U.S.higher education and 17 million in the "thirdsector" outside colleges and universities;competition for students; raiding of faculty).

4. The technological imperative. (Effect ofcomputers on libraries and learning; growingexpense of research equipment; distance education).

5. Trends in the facllty. (Aging - 52% over 55 bythe year 2000?; two-tier salary scales to reflectmerit and discipline; dominance of institutionalneeds of faculty preferences).

6. The tightening grip of outside controls. ("Theivory tower of yore is becoming a regulatedpublic utility" (Clark Kerr)).

The crisis, according to Keller, is about to produce adramatic change in the management of conventional highereducation. University presidents, instead of being the

15

dignified caretakers, cordial hangers-on or fretting pessimistsof recent tradition, will have to recognize that they areexecutives of sizable organizations which require active manage-ment, strategic choices and frequent change to stay abreast.

Some major changes are already well under way. While "thebest universities especially continue to abhor part-timestudents, and some are almost cruel toward them" (Keller, 1983:14) most North-American institutions are trying to integratetheir full-time and part-time offerings (Daniel, 1982:187).

Conventional universities are a tremendous repository of humantalent and intellectual horsepower. If they do indeedabandon the "Brownian motion" model of administrative behaviourand begin to show a sense of institutional purpose, otheractors on the higher educational scene, including the distanceteaching universities, will face more serious competition.

The DTUs, which inevitably operate with a lighter intellectualsuperstructure, will face this competition at a time when itis becoming more difficult for them to camouflage their short-comings and contradictions behind the aura of novelty. Con-versely, where conventional universities do succeed in attract-ing students from the DTUs, they may find these independentlearners pose an implicit challenge to the style and authorityof classroom teachers.

When Distance Teaching Universities are no longer novel...

The distance teaching universities have made a substantialimpact on their countries' educational systems in a short time.Never before have universities grown so big, so fast. Twoyears after admitting its first students the Open Universitybecame Britain's biggest university and it has attracted halfa million applicants (1% of the population of the UnitedKingdom) in its first decade (Rumble and Harry, 1982:174). Intheir early years the DTUs set such a breathless pace ofgrowth that they were readily forgiven occasional weaknessesin performance, especially since they could fairly claim to bedesigned as inherently self-improving systems.

Although the University of South Africa and some of the SovietDTUs go back thirty years or more most of the world's DTUs,like UNED, are barely into their second decade of existence.What will be the persistent issues facing institutions as thenovelty of university distance education wears off and weak-nesses can no longer be ascribed to teething troubles?

165

Drop-outs

To begin with, DTUs will have to learn to live with and justifytheir drop-out rates, whether high or low. In the early yearsit was possible to hold out the promise of future improvementsto the teaching system that would dramatically improveretention but as the years go by drop-out rates will tend tostabilise, seemingly at very different levels from one institu-tion to another. By 1982 56% of the UK Open University's firstcohort of 1971 had obtained degrees (Rumble and Harry, 1902: 229),a remarkable achievement given the length of the program '(theequivalent of 3 - 4 years of full-time study) and the motivationrequired to study at home year after year. By contrast theUniveraidad Nacional Abierta in Venezuela has drop-out ratesof nearly 80% between its early courses. The Fernunivernitat ofWest Germany lies somewhere in between. In fact none of the newDTUs created in the 1970s has been operating long enough tohave awarded substantial numbers of degrees - with the notableexception of the 50,000 graduates of the Open University. Asinstitutions approach more of a steady state patterns willbecome clearer. The drop-out phenomenon is complex, as Shale(1982:113) and others have pointed out. Furthermore there arefew data on drop-out and stop-out rates for comparable part-time adult students in conventional universities. Context isimportant too. The Open University operates in Britain wherefew students drop out of the almost exclusively full-time pro-grams in conventional universities. In Latin America, bycontrast, higher education operates more in the tradition ofsocial Darwinism and drop-out rates are high in all institutions.During the 1980s each DTU will need to come to terms in a frankmanner with both its philosophy and its performance regardingdrop-outs and the relative importance it attaches to studentscompleting whole programs rather than just individual courses.Drop-out is affected by extrinsic factors (such as theselection of students and even the definition of an enrolment)and by fact's intrinsic to the teaching system (such as thedegree of pacing, assignment frequency and turn-around, andtutorial support). The most cohesive systems have the lowestdrop-out rates. However, any determined drive to reduce drop-out rates usually implies both philosophical and financialchoices and the institution should be clear about its rationalefor making them.

Media

DTUs will also be less able to shelter behind ambiguity in theiruse of media. A commitment to the use of media, particularlyTV, accompanied the establishment of many DTUs and did much tocreate the impression of an exciting new wave of distanceeducation that broke with the dull old tradition of correspon-dence courses. When Bates (1982:8) reviewed the use of mediaand broadcasting in DTUs and other distance education projectsin 12 countries he found that 'television and radio in

particular are proving to be of less significance in teachingsystems or more difficult to use successfully than wasoriginally expected.' On the other hand he found unexpectedmedia successes: 'the greatest media development during (theOpen University's) 23 years of existence has been the humbleaudio cassette.

Of course those charged with operating DTUs were never assanguine about the use of media as the communications lobbyists.There is firstly a defensible position that, no matter whatmedia may become available, the very essence of higher educationis the manipulation of symbols among whicl. the written wordhas pride of place. Secondly, new media are singularly unsuitedto DTUs which must, according to Perry (1976), make use ofexisting communications networks that link to equipment whichmost students already own. Few DTUs were able to access radioand TV networks with coverages comparable to that available tothe Open University throughout the 1.5BC. Furthermore the equip-ment available in homes varies greatly around the world. Notuntil fairly recently could DTUs, even in developed countries,assume that every student would have an audio cassette player.Despite the current enthusiasm it will be years before micro-computers and video cassette recorders are found in most homes.

DTUs should not renege on their commitment to use moderncommunications technology in their teaching systems. Evenafter the extrinsic factors outlined above have been taken intoaccount Bates (1982:10) concludes that academic distrust is themain reason for the hesitant approach of the DTUs to audio-visual media. This problem must be faced. It is not wrong tobase a DTU exclusively on correspondence teaching but it iswrong to camouflage the fact with institutional literature thatsuggests a multi-media system involving broadcasting, tele-phones and personal computers. DTUs should be preparing care-fully to match their offerings to the home media environment ofthe twenty-first century while operating their existing mediaas effectively as possible.

Standards and Status

Nothing is as important to students as the recognition of theircredits or degrees by employers and other institutions. Giventhe conservatism of the academic world the DTUs have done agood job in gaining recognition for the quality of theircourses. This is not simply a matter of having standards thatare as high or higher than those elsewhere, but also ofreminding people of the fact. As the number of DTU graduateswill now start to grow sharply institutions should take specialpains to publicize their achievements.

186

Costs

"Perhaps e-en the present limited research on cost-effectiveness(of DTUs) till have more implications for higher education thanhas yet been realised". This is how Sewart (Sewart, Keegan andHolmberg, 1983:373) introduces the contributions of Wagners,Snowden and Daniel, and Rumble im the reader Distance Education:International Perspectives. In the heyday of human capaTr---theory the cost of distance education was of less concern thanits potential for augmenting access quickly. Now the situationis reversed and the low cost of teaching at a distance,especially the very lbw variable costs per student, is highlyattractive to hard-pressed governments. The economic analysesperformed in DTUs to date have shown that the key cost variablesare the number of courses on offer and the average course life-time, the number of students per course, and the richness ofthe media mix. Since the impact of increasing interactiveactivities (tutorials, etc.) appears almost entirely in thevariable costs this is a particular constraint.

Maintaining and improving cost-effectiveness will be animportant concern for the DTUs as they lose the protection ofnovelty. Economic analyses can be helpful to DTU administra-tors provided they treat the results as an aid to financialmanagement, not a substitute for it.

The Organization of University Distance Education

The UNED is an autonomous university which was created expresslyfor distance teaching. Much of this paper, and recentliterature, has been concerned with similar DTUs in manycountries. However, even when all the students of all theDTUs are added together they do not constitute the major4.ty ofthe students doing university-level work at a distance aroundthe world. Most distance students belong to universities oxother postsecondary institutions that offer both on-campus andhome-study programs (two-mode institutions). What are therelative merits of the single-mode and two-mode forms oforganization?

Perry (1976) argues strongly that a distance teaching universitycannot flourish without a high degree of autonomy. Theexperience of the University of Mid-America which closed in1982 (McNeil and Wall, 1983:34) and the crisis-ridden historyof the Tell- university (Daniel and Smith, 1979:65) would appearto support his conclusion. Powever Kay and Rumble (1981:274),motivated no doubt by the thought that few additional autonomousDTUs are likely to be created in this century, argue theadvantages of both the two-mode approach and collaborativenetworks. For col-aborative ventures, even more than forautonomous DTUs, success seems to depend greatly co text.

19

The Norsk Fjernundervisning (NFU), which was created by theNorwegian parliament in 1977 as a kind of switchboardbetween correspondence schools, the State broadcasting authority,the film board and the voluntary sector, does ..ot appear tohave had much impact to date. On the other hand the U.S.National University Consorti.LA (recently renamed, since Canadahas become involved, the International University Consortiumfor Telecommunications in Learning) seems pet to achievesignificant success. According to the New York Times theConsortium, "a more modest form of open university, is doingwell...because it is committed to a slow and cost-effectivebuild-up, tight quality control and a partnership with theexisting world of academe". The Consortium makes availablea complete undergraduate curriculum, much of it based on BritishOpen University materials. Its eighteen member institutions(May, 1483) use their local Public Broadcasting System stationsto air the TV component of the courses.

From these and other successes and failures in distanceeducation it does appear that two components of autonomy areparticularly important, a direct relationship with thestudents and a direct (and predictable) relationship betweenstudents and institutional income. Two important handicapsfor the University of Mid-America were its reliance on 'soft'money frrm the federal government and the enrolment of thestudents taking UMA courses at associated intltitutions ratherthan di.ectly at UMA. The National University Consortium alsohas this enrolment handicap since students enrol with memberinstitutions, but it is greatly mitigated by the fact that theConsortium will be supported by contributions from the memberinstitutions made up of a flat membership fee plus a per capitafee for each student.

These same criteria of direct links between students, institu-tional income and the distance education program alsoinfluence the success of two-mode arrangements. While theparent institution may insist that the distance students subsi-dize the on-campus programs to some extent just as onefaculty indirectly subsidizes another in many universities -the distance program will not remain healthy unless success inincreasing student numbers produces benefits for the programitself.

Leadership

Many DTUs were fortunate in attracting leaders of exceptionalquality as their founding presidents. The specific leader-ship requirements of such institutions have been explored byDaniel and Smith (1979:71) and Snowden and Daniel (1980:88).They suggest that DTLs require leaders with a deep concern

207

for both production and people who are proficient in both ofthe two key dimensions of leadership, 'initiating structure'and 'consideration' (sometimes abbreviated as autocracy anddemocracy). Since the first generation of DTU leaders hadto be hard-driving entrepreneurs who could communicateexcitement and release energy in other people the institutionsmay seek more staid invididuals for the second generation of

executives. At a time when, according to Keller (1983:171)conventional universities are moving to a more active styleof leadership it will be important that the DTUs also be ledby strategists who can define intelligent goals and guidetheir institutions towards them. Despite their substantialachievements to date the future success of the distance teach-ing universities will Continue to depend on skilled anddedicated management.

REFERENCES

Anderson, P.S. (1982) "The Fires of Distance Education in LatinAmerica: in Daniel, J.S., Stroud, M.A. andThompson, J.R., Learning at a Distance: a WorldPerspective, 70-72, Athabasca University/ICCE.

Bates, A.W. (1982), "Trends in the Use of Audio-Visual Mediain Distance Education Systems" in Daniel, J.S.,Stroud, M.A. and Thompson, J.R., Learning at aDistance: a World Perspective, 8-15, AthabascaUniversity//CCE.

Daniel, J.S. (1982) "Creating the Right Framework for AdultStudents: A Plea for Integration" in InternationalJournal of Institutional Management in HigherEducation, 6(3) 187-191.

Daniel, J.S. and Marquis, C. (1979) "Independence and interaction: getting the mixture right" in Teaching at aDistance, 14, 29-44 (Reprinted in Sewart, Keegan andHolmberg (1983) 339-359.

Daniel, J.S. and Smith, W.A.S. (1979) "Opening Open Universi-ties: The Canadian Experience", in Canadian Journalof Ligher Education, 9(2) 63-74.

Escotet, M. (1983) "Adverse factors in the development of anopen university in Latin AmeLica:, in Sewart, D.,Keegan, D., and Holmberg, B., Distance Education:International Perspectives, Croom Helm/St. Martin'sLondon/New York, 141-156.

21

Kaye, A. and Rumble, G. (1981) Distance Teaching for Higher andAdult Education, London: Croom Fein

Keller, G. (1983) Academic Strategy: The Management Revolutionin American Higher Education, Baltimore: The JohnsHopkins University Press.

McNeil, D.R. and Wall, M. (1983) "The University of Mid-America:An Analytic Perspective" in Bulletin of the ICDE, 2,34-41.

Nash if, A.M. (1982) "Distance Education for the In-Servicetraining of teachers" in Daniel, J.S., Stroud, M.A.,and Thompson, J.R., Learning at o Distance: a WorldPerspective, 241-244, Athabasca University/ICCE.

Perry, W. (1976) The Open University, Milton Keynes: The OpenUniversity Press.

Rumble, G. and Harry, K. (1982) The Distance Teach!.ng_Universi-ties, London/New York: Croom Helm/St. Martin's.

Sewart, D., Keegan, D., and Holmberg, B. (1983) DistanceEducation: International Perspectives, London/New York:Croom Helm/St. Martin's.

Shale, D.G., "Attrition: A Case Study" in Daniel, J.S., Stroud,M.A., and Thompson, J.R., Learning at a Distance: aWorld Perspective, 113-117, Athabasca University/ICCE.

Singh, B. "Distance Education in Developing Countries: The Needfor Central Planning", in Daniel, J.S., Stroud, M.A.,and Thompson, J.R., Learning at a Distance: a WorldPerspective, 61-63, Athabasca University/ICCE.

Snowden, B.L., and Daniel, J.S. (1980) "The Economics andManagement of Small Postsecondary Distance EducationSystems: in Distance Education, 1(1) 68-91.

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2.3

AN AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY'S APPROACH

TO DISTANCE EDUCATION FORMAL AND NON-FORMAL

Peter M. GraysonCo-ordinator of Continuing

StudiesSchool of External Studies

and Continuing EducationUniversity of Queensland

THE BACKDROP

More than 70 years ago three teachers enrolled in a degreecourse at the University of Queensland which provided for themto undertake their study without attending classes at theUniversity. When teaching began in the fledgling universityin March 1911 there were 83 students enrolled, three of whomwere enrolled in correspondence ,purses. The Act establishingthe University stated -

"Instruction shall be given by means of corres-pondence tuition, local tutors, vacation schoolsor otherwise in such of the courses of studyas... can properly be pursued by students unableto attend classes at the University."

It was thought that the need foz such courses would disappear.on the contrary, the University now teaches 3000 students inthis way and nationally the number of external students (asthey are called in Australia) has reached 40,000.

This figure of 40,000 can be expected to increase quiterapidly in the future, as contrary to the predictions of poli-ticians it is unlikely that this country will ever return tothe position of 'full employment', the notion that all whowish to may obtain paid work. The tendency toward shorterworking time continues with the permanent loss of job vacanciesand, correspondingly, the amount of non-work time in societyhas increased because of sustained high unemployment levels.In such a situation it is reasonable to anticipate that thisavailability of time, combined with social and technologicalchanges, will bring more and more people back to some formof study, either to effect some improvement in career prospectsor to attain new skills for living.

For most of them the distance education mode will be either theonly one, or the most convenient one.

24 9

It can also be anticipated that there will be changes in thepattern of demand. The effects of this are likely to have animpact at two levels; the profile of the student group willbe altered and the motivations of these people in enrollingfor a course may vary from those which have underpinned courseofferings to date.

The most obvious signal of this development for the Universityof Queensland occurred with the dramatic cutback in teachertraining intakes in the last half of the decade of the 1970s.The decline in the numbers of school-age children created aseemingly unforeseeable oversupply of teachers and as aresult enrolments into educational faculties were then substan-tially reduced. A similar occurrence of oversupply has now hitalmost all professional groups, including the unimaginableones such as the medical profession. Until recently mostexternal students were teachers, nurses or technicians seekingprofessional qualifications.

The expectation now is that many more people will be motivatedby non-vocational reasons to enrol in courses which areavailable for study in their home or workplace, and in theirown time. These people will be preparing the general groundfor future changes of employment, seeking mental challenge asa compensation to a routine job, keeping their minds activeduring retirement or long periods of unemployment, or merelystudying for the pleasure of it.

There are no available definitive figures for Australia of theproportions of enrolments in degree courses of this non-vocational type but in the Open University in the UnitedKingdom their proportion is estimated to be very high indeed,possibly as high as 5001),

it is against the backdrop of changing statistics and attitudesfor teaching and learning at a distance that the Universityof Queensland began a transformation of its provision in thisarea.

DEVELOPMENTS IN DISTANCE EDUCATION 1977-82

In 1977 a University working party submitted a draft reportcontaining recommendations concerning external studies degreeteaching; after a lengthy round of discussions with peoplein the University involved or associated with external teachinga decision was taken that a new report was needed. The problemcentre of these discussions was focused on (or confined to)credit teaching but in the ensuing two years a change occurred

25

which included non-credit provision or continuing educationas well.

The essential feature of the overall plan contained in areport presented in 1979 was to combine two existing depart-ments with a newly created Continuing Education Unit into aSchool of Extra-Mural Studies. The established departmentswere the Department of External Studies and the Institute ofModern Languages. It was this proposed amalgamation whichsuggested the initial linking of two elements which hithertohad always been separate parts of the Australian universitytradition. The creation of a continuing education unit wasmerely an extension of the framework to include more thanmodern language teaching.

In 1979 the fundamental point which was implied but notspecifically stated in the report was the necessity orthe University to make a decision then on the priority whichit was willing to place on the future development of externalstudies and continuing education.

Professor G.N. Davies, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor who wrotethis report outlined the past and present features whichprovided the imperative for the reconsideration of priorities:

The University made a firm commitment to externalstudies at the time of its foundation and such wasthe success of its innovative programme that it soonattracted favourable attention from educationalauthorities within Australia and overseas. Thisrecognition was achieved in spite of the limited re-sources available to it. In recent years theDepartment has suffered a series of set-backs whichhave inhibited its ability to provide the sort ofservice which is essential and of which it is capable.

This detailed enquiry has convinced me that we mustnow decide whether to provide the Department ofExternal Studies with a new charter and to support itwith an appropriate infusion of new blood and additionalresources. If this is done I believe this Universitycould become the pacemaker within Australia for futuredevelopments in external studies and continuingeducation. Not to do so. would be to condemn theDepartment to second-rate status. This would be anindefensible position in view of the Department'spast performance and current capability and the pro-jections for future developments in these fields.

'6 10

The Davies Report extended discussions in the University beyondthe sphere of external studies per se and into the realmsof continuing education and methodological support. The mostimportant recommendation of his Re -port was certainly that oflinking distance teaching with responsibility for the develop-ment of a university continuing education program.

In the past the two forms of education were invariablysegregated despite the fact that they often attempt to meetsimilar needs among similar population groups. Only recentlyhave we come to realize that the distinction between n.reditand non-credit programs is of a limited pedagogical :signifi-cance and does not call for entirely different methods ofteaching.

Once this is recognised, it becomes apparent that manycontinuing education modules are suitable for independent studyand can be packaged for use in this form. Classroom contactis reduced without any loss of quality: in fact the availabilityof preparatory and follow-up materials may well mean thatsessions involving personal interaction become more effectivethan they would be if mounted in isolation. The advantages areobvious, especially in the area of professional upgrading andupdating. Economic, educational and social considerations allargue for the closest possible relationship between learningand work experience, a relationship which is easier to achievein the context of mixed-mode programs than those which relyentirely upon a single form of teaching.

The Davies Report posed questions for the University ofQueensland ay to the priority it would accord the expansionand linking of formal and non-formal provision, or externalstudies and continuing education. However, the revisionsuggested in 1979 was not formally recognized until January1983 when a new name appeared in the University Calendar forthe year; that of the Sclool of External Studies and ContinuingEducation.

In the intervening time a new professor had been appointed asthe director of the transition. He is now the Director of thenew School. As a first step in the shift in direction thenew Director completed his own analysis, review and report ofwhat was by this time a very complex situation. This additionalreport accepted the essential elements of the Davies Reportwhile extending the applications of these elements and flushingout some of the more vague suggestions of the earliyr report.

In this respect the principal considerations for the Directorwere matters of timing and the manner of implementation. He

27,

considered that ideally it should have been possible toinstitute and consolidate the quite sweeping changes suggestedfor distance teaching, before venturing into the even morecomplex field of continuing education. However, he could seethat there were a number of reasons why it was not feasible toproceed in this way. An integrated approach to external studiesand continuing education, in which the two activities weredeveloped simultaneously and in close conjunction was preferablebecause to build up one side of the operation in isolationwould be to distort the balance of the proposal.

In addition, it was his opinion that other developments withinthe University were unlikely to await the convenience of thenew School. Particularly the creation of a company to handleresearch and consultancy services could have had importantconsequences for the non - formal continuing education development.Such a company might simply serve as a contracting agency anda channel for finance; ois the other hand, its expertise it

these aspects of continuing education could easily be augmentedto provide a basis for more extensive involvement. From the

'University's point of view, he considered that it was morelogical to link the co-ordination of continuing educationprograms with the co-ordination of distance teaching activities,but the main concern was to get she job done quickly andeffectively. If External Studies had not been able to offerleadership in the area, it may well have been by-passedaltogether.

The Director argued strongly for moving directly to theestablishment of a School, as egggested by Davies, and theexpeditious creation of a continuing education unit within thenew framework. He was cautious at the same time however, andconcerned to optimize the opportunity which was available. He

said that while it was important to obtain the help of a personwho could lay the foundations of a vigorous continuing educationunit and establish guidelines for its future development, it

would be a mistake to build elaborate institutions in anti-cipation of the activities for which they are supposed to cater.The area is one in which success would depend upon ensuringthat services were closely attuned to the context within whichthey were offered. Premature decisions about organisationalforms could jeopardise the entire operation. Only later needthe precise relationships between the various parts of theSchool be spelt out in the light of operational experience.

In his Report the Director rec.-1mmended that the Universityappoint a consultant Co-ordinator of Continuing Education tothe School with the following terms of reference:

(a) to advise the Director of the School on strategiesfor the development of continuing education at

11

28

the University of Queensland, in accordancewith the recommendations of the Davies Reporton The Future of External ,studies;

(b) to initiate and organise such continuingeducation programs as may be compatible withlonger-term strategies proposed under (a) above;

(c) to advise the Director on the managerial formsand proceiures most appropriate for the futuredevelopment of continuing education programswithin the framework of the School.

In its contract with the Co-ordinator the University specifiedthat he was "to investigate and report upon the feasibility ofco-ordinating continuing education in the University", thisreport to be received before the completion of the contract

in mid-1985. That was in July 1982.

THE CONTINUING EDUCATION UNIT

A Continuing Education Unit is now established in the Universitywithin the framework of the School of External Studies andContinuing Education. The mandate for the Unit is to "facilitatepromote and extend" non-credit short courses and other educa-tional activities relevant to graduates and the public. The

Unit is staffed by a co-ordinator and an executive assistant.

The Continuing Education Unit is now:

.co-ordinating the publication of the University'sContinuing Education Program booklet;

.distributing information about the program in theUniversity to the media and other interestedparties;

. providing a focal point for enquiry about thecontinuing education program;

.developing courses with departments or staffmembers and other suitably qualified individuals;

providing advisory and administrative support forcourse development. Support services includebudgetary development, publicity, graphics, wordprocessing, venue booking, travel and accommodationarrangements, and other related requi ments;

. arranging for and co-ordinating the/visits toAustralia of overseas academics on lecture tours;

29

. providing teleconference facilities and supportfor course development using this method(including experimental satellite hook-upsfrom February 1984);

exploring the link between credit and non-credit courses with some departments lookingto gain extra funds from courses which arealready being provided as credit courses;

. making continuing education available beyondthe campus and the metropolitan area.

Expansion of non-credit programs for the University has beenrapid. In the first phase of approximately twelve monthsthe major development tasks related to establishing the infra-structure for continuing education in the University. Detaileddiscussions with departments and faculties has establishedseveral important factors. The acceptance of the validity andpurpose of continuing education as a part of the universityfabric is more widespread than was anticipated. There is areadiness to accep. the function of continuing education asan integral part of departmental activity but this is temperedby an awareness of the limitations to growth and development.The limitations are not entirely financial; there have beencommon references to the lack of recognition for staff commit-ments of time and energy to continuing education. The resultis that there is an imbalance in the university provision asmany departments consider themselves unable to make extracommitments of already strained staff resources.

These discussions also confirmed general acceptance of thel_ser pays' principle but that the ultimate effectiveness ofany program of continuing education would depend upon theestablishment of an appropriate co-ordinating and supportiveinfrastructure. The need to promote continuing educationthrough the distance education mode was also confirmed.

THE UNIVFRSITY ENVIRONMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION 1983

The principal element in setting the environment for expansionhas been the establishment of a development fund:-

The Continuing Education Development Fund has beenestablished with an allocation of $20,000 fromUniversity funds. It is to be used to supportexperimentation and new developments in continuingeducation and to underwrite financial loss oncourses where this has been agreed in advance.Discretion on the fund is the responsibility of

30 12

the Director of the School of External Studies andContinuing Education.

The Fund is to be maintained by a 15% contributionfrom each continuing education course which realizesa profit after the payment of all visible costs.

No overhead charges are to be applied to continuingeducation revenue nor are administrative chargesto be levied for use of the Continuing EducationUnit services except where real costs are incurred.Examples of the latter would be the hiring of atemporary typist where an exceptional load wasgenerated by a course, payments for printing oradvertising or for artwork.

Each continuing education course will contributeto tne Development Fund from its surplus regardlessof whether or not it has been organized by or withthe assistance of the Continuing Education Unit.

There have been instances where continuing educationcourses have been run in conjunction with otheruniversities or outside bodies, with agreement toshare the financial risk or surplus as the case maybe. In this situation, the Development Fundarrangements apply only to the proportion due tothis University. Such arrangements need to beidentified in the budget submitted for api. oval.

The 15% contribution to the Development Fnnd fromsurpluses is constant. The Continuing EducationUnit may also seek agreement with departments fora share of profits where a course involves a heavycommitment of the Unit's resources. This is amatter for negotiation, however, and there is noobligation on a department to organize a coursethrough the Unit.

PROJECTED DEVELOPMENTS IN NON-FORMAL DISTANCE EDUCATION

In a public statement issued in June 1983 the Universityacknowledged that at present the overwhelming majority of itsnon-award courses are held on campus. It went on that it isnot projecting exponential growth of its face-to-face teachingeffort in continuing education in the short term; rather itis planning to achieve moderate expansion of its programthrough balanced development of provision through all of itsrecently established academic groups.

The University intends to pay particular attention to the inter-relationship between distance education and continuing education

31

and to attempt a significant integration of these modes. Inthis it highlighted the recent establishment of the School ofExternal Studies and Continuing Education as a first step inthis effort.

It went on "We believe that this relationship will becomeincreasingly significant during the next decade when theopportunities offered by the applications of the new communi-cations technology become self-evident. The examination ofour continuing education program since the appointment of theCo-ordinator of Continuing Education has suggested that thisbe listed as a University priOrity".

The following proposals were listed for development to giveeffect to this intention of developing non7formal distanceprovision

. Course development

The provision of the equivalent of two full-time lecturers to allow secondment of academicstaff to the Continuing Education Unit forperiods up to six months to develop multi-mode,multi-media Continuing Education courses.

. Academic and administrative support servicesfor the Continuing Education Unit

The provision of a lecturer in instructionaldesign/course development, an administrativeofficer and a technical officer.

. Teleconfeiencina

Maintenance requirements for the extension ofthe distance education method using acombination of telephone and satellite linkages.

. evelopment of courses by newspapers

The use O. academic resources to provide coursessuitable for publication by newspapers thatoffer access to University research and learningon topics of general interest and concern inAustralia. Provision for an editor, designer,pact -time temporary assistance and productioncosts.

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. Educational broadcasting

The provision of a radio broadcasting stationcapable of satellite access for educationalbroadcasting purposes for both degree andContinuing Education programs. The Universitywill seek to establish a consortium with oneother tertiary institution in the BrisbaneMetropolitan area. The station would be financedon the basis of basic funding after establishmentso that recurrent costs are fixed for the twoinstitutions. It will be up to the station toprovide the remainder of its recurrent fund.

The objective will be to provide stereophonictransmission and satellite access.

1984

An experimental professional updating teleconference hasalready been completed. This pilot project linked veterina-rians in small isolated Queensland communities with specialistlecturers 1000 km away in Sydney and 3000 km away in Perth viathe national telephone system. Twenty-two veterinarians ineight different locations shared their experiences with eachother and with their lecturers in four scheduled sessions.Each was expected to have read the precirculated lecture notesand during each session the lecturer referred each groupgathered about a loudspeaking conference telephone to a commonset of photographic slides. The sessions were to run for 50minutes but each of them lasted 70-130 minutes. The evaluationby them has been most positive.

The continuing education program for the first semester (sixmonths) contains nearly 100 courses where the 1982 total numberof courses for the year was 120. Several of these 1984 coursesare to be held in smaller centres away from the metropolitancampus, one of them in Cairns, 2000 kilometres away. A beginningha:; also been made in this program with two courses beingguided, independent, non-credit learning packages.

The first newspaper course will be published in September-October and this will be supported by a learning package ofprint materials and a study guide for people who want to studythe topic to a greater depth than that allowed by the constraintsof newspaper publication. This project will be modelled on the'Courses by Newspaper' developed by the University of CaliforniaSan Diego Extension and the Zeitungskolleg of the Universityof Tdbingen in West Germany.

33

The University has also registered an "expression of interest"with the Government's Department of Communications in obtainingan educational broadcasting licence.

CONCLUSION

In an editorial preface (1980) Martin h. Chamberlain wrote -

"Adults are the primary audience of mass media, andthey are the very audience continuing educatorswish to reach. Thus it is strange that continuingeducators have made, until recently, so little useof media in their programs and offerings. News-papers, magazines, radio and television areconvenient educational tools because adults areexposed to them regularly.

It is up to the educators to exploit the medial"

The University of Queensland has set in progress a new develop-ment to capitalize on its extensive experience in distanceeducation with formal degree courses. In giving priority tothe understanding and development of the relationship betweenthis formal provision and continuing education, its non-formalprogram, it has created the potential to accept the challengeimplicit in Chamberlain's remarks.

REFEREnCES

1. Dr Milo Shott, Unpublished conference paper, July 1983."External Studies in Australia at the Crossroads?(An Outsider's View). Photocopy. lOpp

2. Martin N. Chamberlain (ed.)New Directions for Continuing Education. ProvidingContinuing Education by Media and TechnologyJossey-Bass, San Francisco 1980. 104pp.

3414

OPEN LEARNING SYSTEM FOR HONG KONG,

PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES

Charles WongHong Kong Associationfor Distance Education

INTRODUCTION

Adult Education

People react differently to the term Adult Education. somewould associate it with evening studies, others remedial classesand many other things depending on one's experience. The termhas acquired different meanings in different countries anddifferent generations in the same country again have differentassociations. In fact adult education embraces a diversity oflearning activities and has played different roles at variousstages of development.

Someoro with a British background would perhaps associate adulteducation with Worker's Fducation Associations, Extra-MuralStudies and evening classes of leisure-oriented subjects.Someone with an American background would perhaps relate tocommunity colleges, university extensions, corporate andindustrial training program(mes). Someone with a third worldbackground might relate it to literacy campaigns, ruraldevelopment programmes and population education.

The perceived role of adult education has been many and variedbut one trend is common in most of the countries i.e. theincreasing importance of adult education. When adult educationas a profession emerged world-wide in the 1950s, the dominantview was to provide education opportunities to the adults whopreviously had no access so that they might cope with theincreased sophistication of society. That view gave way tothe more liberal and complete concept of life-long learningin the 1960s. With increased participati, n by third worldcountries in the practice of the profession, a new perspectivehas been injected; adult education for national development.Most practitioners now use a combination of these ideas toconstruct his or her own working principles to face theimmediate environment with a diversity of emphasis. A galaxyof terms have been adopted in various parts of the world.Continuing Education, Non-formal Education, Recurrent Education,Permanent Education, Social Education, Life-long Education aresome of the more popular ones.

35

In terms of numbers, the student population of adult educationhas occasionally outgrown that of formal education and in somecountries adult education is gradually extricating itself fromthe label of 'poor cousin' of formal education. Appointmentof the head of adult education at ministerial level in govern-ment has taken place and appointments to a level equivalentto fcrmal education are not uncommon.

Coupled with the expansion in the provision of adult education,a tremendous body of skills and knowledge has also developed.A system approach to the theory and practice of organisationand administration, involving assessment of needs and interests,definition of purpose and objectives, programme planning,instructonal design, and evaluation of adult education havebeen evolved and are undergoing a process of sophistication akinto say management studies.

Hong Kong has also experienced phenomenal growth of adulteducation in terms of numbers. In common with the practice ofadult education in other countries, Hong Kong has also acquiredmuch skill and knowledge specific to the local situation as wellas continual professional contact with colleagues in otherparts of the world. Hong Kong can now also exhibit a diversityof provision through different institutions serving differentneeds and display a range of approaches, however the effort isnot coordinated nor strongly supported by government.

Distance Education

The most well-known form of distance education is correspondencestudy. In quite a few countries, generations of the populationreceived their education through correspondence study e.g.Australia and Russia where the habitation has been thinlyspread over vast territories. There are also numerous exper-iences of people who have acquired a good education fromthe correspondence mode of study and made good. Correspondencestudy in fact exists in the majority of countries and studyby correspondence cross-continent is not uncommon. Nobody candeny that one can learn through correspondence.

The trusted medium of instruction of the printed form incorrespondence study was joined later by the audio tape. Thoughvery shortly, other forms of transmission became more and morereadily available in the 1960s. Other 'delivery' systems inthe form of television (broadcast and closed-circuit), radio,cassette tape, telephone and lately computers emerged. Withthe increasing popularity and diminishing costs of each medium,more choices are available to those who have to teach andlearn at a distance. The term correspondence study is no longer

15

36

sufficient to represent the many multi-media approachesadopted, and the now more common term Distance Education hasbeen accepted in the profession.

Since the early 1970s, many Distance Learning Systems (DLS) havesprung up in various parts of the world, and dozens ofDistance Teaching Universities (DTU's) have also come into being,the most well-known perhaps is the Open University of theUnited Kingdom. However, there exists great diversity inapproaches among the institutions and new terminology likeTV-led, radio-led, print-led DLS's have been invented to describethem. There also exists a range of institutions which offerno face-to-face meeting of the teacher and the learner to thosewhich have very heavy face-to-face support.

Education observers have noted that Distance Education achievedthe highest growth rate among all the different forms of studyin the last decade on the global scale. Every year, there arereports or existing institutions starting distance teachingoperations in one form or another and new free-standing DLS/DTU's are coming on stream very quickly. In our immediateneighbourhood, Japan has just started a DTU, Taiwan's Universityof the Air begins to enrol students this July, China of coursehas the massive TV Broadcasting University with approximately340,000 students while Thailand began two open universitiesin the last three years.

A wealth of knowledge and skills have been built up about thestart up and the operation of DLS/DTU's. Being often mis-understood and not taken seriously by the conventional institu-tions and education planners, many DTU/DLS's have gone to greatlen the to have their credibility recognised with elaboratemonitoring systems and extensive studies. They have been, asit w-re, forced into early maturity in defending themselves sothat theories and practice of Di:cance Education are alreadyquite established in that practically all the questions thatcan be raised by those with doubts about DLS may be satisfac-torily answered. Of course, much more research and studieshave to be made as Distance Education adopts newer technologieslike computer-aided instruction but the case of distanceeducation has been heard and demonstrated that 'it works'.The self-monitoring and self-correcting strategies and attitudeadopted by most DLS, habitual by now, will strive to makedistance teaching more and more effective.

Needs Analysis

The shortage of education provision at post-secondary level forthose who have finished school is well-known. In relative terms(as compared with countries within the region) and in absolute

terms, the existing provision is just not able to meet thechallenge that faces Hoag Kong socially or economically.

The short-fall of provision has persisted for so long nowthat there is an enormous backlog of population suitablyqualified for further studies but not given the chance.Many of these people have gained valuable experience at the workplace and if higher education is made accessible to them, nodoubt they will be able to contribute a great deal more tothe ever increasingly sophisticated economy of Hong Kong.Insufficient qualification has hampered their career develop-ment as well as individual actualization.

Within the existing education system, response to changingneeds is slow. In some professions, shortage of suitablyqualified personnel has been allowed to persist for too longeven when demand for training has been evident for years.Computer studies and social work are two subjects which areexemplary of the incapacity of the system to respond in time.

For the last two decades a substantial number of studentspursued university education outside Hong Kong. In practice,this self-finance and self- directed effort has made up thelack of opportunity in Hong Kong. In the early 1970s, whentuition fees were not high at overseas universities, livingcosts were sometimes met by part-time work and scholarshipswere abundant, students from lower income background tookadvantage of the situation and many studied abroad. In recentyears, however, with escalating tuition fees, diminishingscholarship awards and restricted entry to more and moresubjects in North America and Europe, the proposition ofstudying abroad became less viable.

A common problem encountered by commercial employment agenciesand other executive recruitment firms is that many peoplecome to them to seek help for career changt.3. It seems that agreat number of people had gone into a profession without aclear idea of the implicationia of being in that profession.Mid-life career change is quite common in Wes -crn Countriesand adults can easily take part-time courses of study to helpthem re-orient themselves. It is safe to say that a comparableneed is also found Hong Kong bit the mechanism to do sothrough part-time study is simply not there.

Setting Analysis

Although Hong Kong is an important international financial centreand xany visitors find the territory very cosmopolitan, there isan apparent lack of understanding of education development as

38 16

is understood in otVer parts of the world. There have beenmany educational .dicchanges with different countries but mostof these have been restricted to very specific areas ofeducation. Hence there is no overview of a comprehensivesystem of education and corresponding working principles. Forinstance, provision for identifiable target groups like thedisadvantaged, out-of-school youths, the unemployed, the under-skilled, the elderly, women, new immigrants, the homebound, theremote dwellers etc. are not well developed. There is no clearidea on how the various age groups (over the whole life-span)can best be served. Special needs and problems withinspecific target groups are not studied and catered. The inter-relations between various types, forms and modes of educationare not identified and defined. The concept of life-longeducation, vital to a rapidly changing society, is frequentlyignored. Participation in international meetings on educationhave been insufficient to enable educationalists both insideand outside government to keep abreast of major developments indeveloped and as well as in less developed countries.

The common practice of many third world countries in linkingtheir effort in education to the national development plansis notably missing. On the other hand, overall coherentmanpower development plans and studies common to industrialisedcountries are also absent. Consequently, a comprehensive planfor education development has never been developed. In short,education planning and policy-making have failed to attain alevel of sophistication apprOpriate for Hong Kona today.

Hence there is no coherent policy and pia.: for adult educationdevelopment. The Adult Education Section of the EducationDepartment surprisingly is still operates on the principles ofremedial and second chance education solely which was theprevailing concept of adult education of the 19508 when thesection was established. Observers have noted thatstructurally, the Education Department has hardly undergoneany major change for decades even though the work of theDepartment has increased many fold and needs and perceptionsare now considerably different. This mi4L'' also explain tosome extent why inflexibility is a significant feature of theexisting system.

Although the brief to the government television and radiooperation clearly states that education Is part of theirfunction, in fact very little educational broadcasting takesplace with any substantial and systematic backing except ETVfor schools. Distance education as a concept and practice isstill alien to many people whose work is directly or indirectlyrelated.

39

An example of failure to keep up with development is the mis-understanding over the British Open University. It has beenheld as an institution which Hong Kong might duplicate butwas not considered feasible because Hong Kong cannot affordthe necessarly large student population to make the operationviable. It is the only Distance Teaching University suggestedand discussed. In fact, the British Open University hasrepeatedly stressed that their particular set up and approachshould not be considered as the only model to be emulated ifother countries intended to offer distance teaching. Thereare now more than a dozen DTU's spread all over the world andeach of them has its own approach and characteristics approp-riate to its own situation and each of them is different inthe choice of media, in its operation and objectives. TheBritish Open University should really be understood as adistance teaching university for adult and not a televisionuniversity.

Without the necessary input from outside Hong Yong, withoutthe significant participation of the non-government sector inplanning and policy-making of education, it is not surprisingthat no comprehensive strategy for education has beendeveloped. In particular, adult education and distancelearning have also shared the same fate.

Open Learning Systems in other countries

There are numerous kinds of distance learning institutionsthat exist in various parts of the world. If we restrict ourattention to distance learning institutions at tertiary level,we can perhaps categorise them in the following manner.

a. Fully fledged stand-alone open university With heavystress on broadcasting, correspondence and strongface-to-face tutoring support. The British OpenUniveisity is a prime example in this category.

b. Central Broadcasting University with strong supportof local institutions in terms of face-to-faceteaching. The Chinese Central TV BroadcastingUniversity with its massive enrolment and numerouslocal branches (making use of local adult educationresources) offers university courses for full-timeand part-time study.

c. Deakin University runs a dual system where part ofthe student population attend courses in theconventional manner and thQ rest attend coursesthrough distance means.

0 17

31 a IMO 11111 I I I

d. In tne Canadian province of British Columbia, theOpen Learning Institute operates a learning network,making full use of institutions and resourcesalready in place. Courses are offered at degreelevel but the Institute does not have to commandhuge capital investment in buildings and equipmentar well as centrally retained staff.

e. In the United States, the International UniversityConsortium allows universities to band togetherto form consortiums to develop distance instructionalmaterial so that costs of high quality courses canbe shared.

The list goes on. It is sufficient to say that there are manyways in which distance learning may be managed and they areequally valid inrtheir own situations, and most of them haveworked. Although comparisons of the students performance ofconventional and distance teaching institutions are made quiteoften, and each system can claim its own merits, its betterand worse examples, it is evident now that while distanceteaching is different, it is highly successful. With so manysuccessful living examples it is very difficult to deny thisfact.

In recent years, there is a marked trend in developed countries,to make higher education more accessible. This is accompaniedby the notable democratization in education, the growing beliefthat people have a right to higher education. Many countriesare also experiencing a hike in part-time enrolment due to avariety of reasons. Consequently, a number of ways have beendevised to make higher education more accessible.

In addition to the traditional evening part-time study and theLondon University type of external study, institutions areintroducing new modes of study. Many distance teaching univ-ersities are providing opportunities for working adults withor without university entrance qualification. Substantiveattendance in classes is no longer required by many institutions.Students no longer have to complete their study in a tighttime-frame. Credit systems have also enabled many students toswitch from full-time to part-time study and vice versa tosuit their changing situations. Retraining in mid-life isalso possible with these new modes of study. In general,educational institutions have shown a greater understandingof the situation of mature students and have adjusted theirsystems to suit them.

Cost/Effectiveness

The cost/effectiveness of a distance teaching institution hasbeen a topic for debate for many years and a favourite area

41

of inquiry for professionals engaged in distance education.On the whole the distance teaching institution has proved tobe less expensive than the conventional institution. The econ-omy of scale is a contributing factor but not the only factor.The British Open University har a rough figure of 1 to 3 on astudent by student basis i.e. the cost of educating an OUstudent is approximately 1/3 that of a conventional university.Savings at the initial levels where there is a large populationof students are offset by the high cost of teaching students athigher levels where specialisations are offered. There isalso the question of completion rate. If a large percentageof students cannot complete their entire course, what theyhave achieved before drop out might be considered wastage.Fut from a sociological angle, many would argue that this isnot a wastage because any additional education received bystudents would in the end contribute to the development andthe well being of society. An overall high comrletion rate forthe total student population say 60% and over is necessary formaintenance of credibility.

Although developmental cost for instructional materials in theform of print, radio (tape), television (video-cassette) isnormally high, when spread over the number of students and overthe normal life cycle (5-7 years), the cost involved is modest.How elaborate and how extensive suprortine facilities andservices are provided actually determines the final costs.Fbatever the case may be, distance teaching has shown that itcan deliver education no more expensively than conventionalteaching and often much less expensively.

The very nature of quality distance teaching demands relativelyhigh ste.rt-up costs so that good instructional materials canbe readied to give relatively low recurrent expenses. Inabsolute terms, investment in a distance learning institutionshould be substantial to make the system work.

Cost, holever, is not the only reason to choose distanceteaching methods. Most open learning systems now in existenceare usually catering for working adults. The flexibility andappropriateness of distance teaching for this target group isnot matched by conventional teaching without much heavierfinancial commitment.

Resources

It has often been asked what are the necessary resources andconditions required in the setting up and running of an openlearning system using distance teaching methods in Hong Kong.

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One of the first things that needsto be determined is whetherHong Kong has the communication infrastructure. The answer isevident in that Hong Kong has almost total television and radiocoverage, total proliferation of audio cassette recorders andpopular ownership or access to video cassette recorders,saturated network of telephones, data transmission facilities,one day postal service and immense popularity of inexpensivemicro computers. In fact Hong Kong must be better equipped inthee', aspects than many other western countries. On the otherhand space/accommodation poses a mtirh bigger headache. Fortu-nately, distance teaching does not require a great deal ofspace. Still, study centres are essential because theenvironment in most homes is not ideal for studying in manycases.

In terms of resources, we may consider the usual three typesof resources separately: human, financial and materialresources.

There is a crop of people in Hong Kong who are directly orindirectly involved in distance education. There are peoplewho run education programmes on radio and television, thosewho run correspondence operations in adult education and thosewho participate in the preparation of instructional material.There are specialists in Instructional Design, EducationalTechnology, Adult Education and Distance Education.

Many people have visited distance teaching institutions inother countries, some graduates of Open University (UK) are inHong Kong. So there is a fair amount of knowledge, skills andexperience available in Hong Kong. Certainly, with theinjections of a small number of experienced personnel fromabroad, there is enough human resource available locally tostart a sizable distance teaching institution. There has alsobeen quite a lot of experience available in adapting importedcourse materials.

A number of distance teaching institutions in different parts ofthe world offer consultancy services in the start-up prccess.Secondment arrangements have been made quite often in the pastto help new establishments. There is no shortage of professionaladvice and asnistance if sought.

With material resources, we are just beginning to enter an erawhere there are a large number of instructional materielsavailable to newcomers. It is almost literally possible to'shop around' and get the best material available on a givendiscipline. 'Ready-made, off-the-shelf' materials can be

43

imported directly or adapted for local use. With visualmaterial (video), utilization of imported segments with highlocal production content is a real possibility. Hong Konghas many talents trained abroae and there is no good reasonwhy imported materials may not be used 'as is' or with minormodifications. Although eventually custom courses for HongKong also need to be developed.

Concerning financial resources, it is obvious that any majorundertaking in providing an open learning system needsgovernment support. As with other developments, if thepolitical commitment is there, money would not be the majorobstacle.

Possible Options for Hong Kong

As we have seen from the previous discussion, Hong Kong doeshave the necessary conditions to establish an open learningsystem. The only question is what is the best option forHong Kong.

In terms of a target group, most people would agree that atertiary institution is needed to meet the critical shortageof places at the universities and polytechnics. However,should the potential students be school-leavers or workingadults? Bearing in mind that although university and poly-technic places ar,: still scarce, there is as yet very limitedpublicly recognised degree courses for young adults who havevaluable work experience. This group of people, who arealready contributing to society in general, have a vastpotential of talent which cannot be ignored. The third univer-sity for Hong Kong that is under consideration,is most likelyto take school-leavers, consequently, if an open learninginstitution is established, it should serve the needs of theworking adults.

The second question that needs to be answered is whether thisinstitution should be free-standing or should it b* attachedto an existing institution. A look at the statistics forprojected intake at the universities and polytechnics willreveal that these institutions are also under pressure to makeprovision for more students and are unlikely to have the sparecapability to start a sizeable operation in distance teaching.

Should it be a 'pure' distance teaching institution? Mostsuccessful distance teaching universities offer face-to-facetutorial support and this should be followed. Experience sofar suggests that conventional teaching should not be totallyexcluded. Assuming that a credit system is adopted, there may

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be some courses at higher levels which have only a limitednumber of students and distance methods may prove to be lesseconomical. If the institution will take on a role of innov-ator at higher education, incorporation of conventional teachingalongside an education technology-intensive approach may enablethis institution to meet the demand made on it by society torespond quickly to changing needs. For example, the trainingof computer personnel may best be served by a combination ofconventional teaching and computer-based instruction which relyon learning principles closely akin to distance teaching.

Although a free-standing institution is desirable, networking ofexisting provisions should not be ruled out. The new institu-tion could optimise resources by commissioning piece-meal orpart-time work to existing subject experts on an individualbasis; but materials so developed can also serve students ofconventional institutions. The teaching of English Languageis a case in point. Existing institutions use a variety ofimported or self-developed material with very little audio-visual support.

As far as accreditation and recognition is concerned, experiencein other countries have shown that very strict maintenance ofstandards are necessary.Open access and restricted exit areequally important goals for this type of institutions. HongKong is already moving ahead to recognise education provided bypost-secondary institutions selectively. Perhaps anautonomous body should be established to accredit degree coursesfor this new institution and the others.

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45

KOREAN DISTANCE LEARNING SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURE

Professor Synghan H. Kim, Ph.DKorea Correspondence University

As of October 1983, there are three types of distancelearning institutions in the Republic of Korea; namely,1) 48 Correspondence High Schools, 2) one CorrespondenceUniversity, and 3) 3 Open Colleges of Engineering. Thefollowing gives some basic facts about these institutions.To simplify the paper work, the following abbreviations willbe used:

CHS = Correspondence High SchoolKCU = Korea Correspondence UniversityOCE = Open Colleges of Engineering.

THE CONTEXT

The Country

The Republic of Korea is the southern half of the Ko aanPeninsula between mainland China and Japan. CHSJ and OCEsare scattered throughout the country, while' KCU, being theonly institution of its kind, is in Seoul, the capital city.

With an area of 98,477 km2 and a total population of slightlymore than 40 million, Korea is one of the most densely popu-lated countries in the world. The population g- with rate in1982 was 1.52 per cent. Unlike many other nati. in theworld, the ethnic composition of the population is very simple,since virtually all Koreans are the one race who speak oneand the same language, that is,Koiean.

Korea's economic growth over the past twenty years has beenamazing. The country has advanced during this period, fromone of the poorest nations to the threshold of joining thedeveloped countries of the world. The nation has achievedthat remarkable growth in spite of its high population densityand poor natural resources. The per capita GNP in 1982 was US.$1,678.

The total length of the rL.ilroad is 6,007 kin, and that of theexpress way is 1,225 km, which transformed the nation, in sucha short period of time, into a highly mobile state that can bereached in a few hours time.

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Educational Setting

Education in Korea is heavily state-supported but there arestill many privately run institutions, especially in the fieldsof secondary and tertiary education.

The first six years of the elementary education is free andcompulsory, and the Government is planning to extend itscompulsory education system to nine years by 1986.

About 96.5 percent of the primary school leavers go to athree-year middle school and about 91.2 percent of the middleschool graduates continue education in high schools.

Primary and secondary education is controlled by theProvincial Boards of Education, and higher education by theMinistry of Education of the central Government.

The language of instruction is Korean, and the illiteracyrate is almost negligible.

Historical Development of Distance Learning Institutions

Korea Correspondence University (KCU) was founded on 9 March,1972, first as a national institution of higher learning,offering two-year courses of junior college level, through themeans of broadcasting and correspondent:e. The courses of studyat the Korea Junior College of Correspondence (KCC) thusfounded, were designed specifically for those Korean men andwomen who for one reason or another were deprived of opport-unities to attend regular, that is, four-year colleges oruniversities. The College was also designed to operate asan affiliate of Seoul National University. That is why theKCC has until recently been called the Korea Junior Collegeof Correspondence, Seoul National University.

During the ten years from its foundation to March 1982, whenthe College was expanded and reorganized into a fully-fledgeduniversity, it earned a most outstanding reputation andprestige among the nation's educationalists as well as theentire population of the country. They came to realise moreand more the great value of the College not only as an insti-tution for higher learning for some selected students but alsoas a national base for lifelong education. was in considera-tion of this latter function of the College that it was givenuniversity stati.s and that it was accorded rights and privi-leges to operate a fully autonomous university, independentof the Seoul National University.

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Korea Correspondence University, as the only university leveldistance teaching institution in the country, now offersfive-year university courses in 11 major fields of studyleading to the degrees of Bachelor of Art, Science, Education,Economics, Business Administration, Public Administration, Law,Computer Science and so on. In 1984, two more fields of study,Chinese and French languages will be introduced; and at thesame time, the functions of the Institute of Distance Educationwill be enlarged to carry out more intensified research workin educational technology for distance education. In short,it has already grown into a university, consisting of 11degree-awarding departments, and one department offering juniorcollege level courses in Early Childhood Education.

Meanwhile, the first correspondence high schools wereestablished in 1974, Seoul and Pusan, the two largest citiesof the country; they are designed to operate three-yearhigh school courses. As of March 1983, the similar CHSs inoperation, number altogether 48 in 24 major cities throughoutthe country, with the total enrolment of 35,000.

The Open College of Engineering was established in 1981 asan institution devoted to technical education for the workerswho are already in the job, under the name of Kyunggi OpenCollege of Engineering. And similar types of Open Colleges ofEngineering were established this year in Dae-jun and Pusansimultaneously. Therefore, there are now three OCEs in thecountry.

INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE

The primary objectives of all distance learning institutions inKorea is to provide opportunities of lifelong learning forthose who, for various reasons, cannot afford the ordinarypublic education. All the institutions endeavour to improvenot only academic qualities but also the professional capabil-ities of those students who are already in jobs or who willbe engaged in professional life. The Korea CcrrespondenceUniversity, being the only distance learning institution of

university level in the nation, particularly aims at highstandards of auhievenent in both instruction and research.

KCU is composed of 10 departments; namely, Home Economics,Business Administration, Public Administration, Primary SchoolEducation, Economics, Law, English Language, AgriculturalScience, Computer Science and Early Childhood Education (junior

college course). The University operates in close associationwith 49 cooperative local universities and colleges scattered

throughout the country.

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Number of Students Enrolled

As of March 1983, 35,002 students were enrolled in 48 corre-spondence High Schools, 119,624 in KCU and 2,332 in KyunggiOpen College of Engineering.

Qualification for Admission

There are no restrictions of nationality, age or sex inadmittance to these: institutions.

For CHSs, the eligibility for admission is that the applicantsmust be either graduates of a three year middle school course

or those who have successfully completed a total of nine yearscourse of education in foreign countries.

For KCU, the qualification for admittance is either graduationfrom a three year course in high school or the equivalenteducational background; that is , those who finished thesuccessive twelve years of education in foreign countries.

And finally for OCEs, those graduates of high schools who havebeen employed for more than one year are eligible for a juniorcollege course and those graduates of junior colleges who haveserved in industrial firms for more than one year are qualifiedfor a degree-awarding course at OCEs.

Authorities responsible for the student enrolment are vestedupon the institutions themselves, while the agency responsiblefor determining the qualifications is the Ministry of Education.

SOME STATISTICAL FACTS ABOUT STUDENTS

Distribution by Sex

Type ofInstitution

CHSs

KCU

OCEs

Tote! NumberStudents

35,002

119,624

2,332

Male Female

33.7% 66.3%

67.9% 32.1%

(not classified)

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Distribution by Age Groups

CHSsUnder 18 years

16.4%

18-39 years

18.6%

Over 30 years

3.0%

KCU Under 21 years

7.2%

21-35 years

76.5%

Over 35 years

16.3%

OCEsUnder 20 years

1.1%

20-35 years

97.1%

Over 35 years

1.8%

Occupations:

CHSs = Full-time students and thowa employed by businessfirms are the largest occupational groups, eachwith 23.6% of the total enrolment, closely followedby skilled workers at 19.5%

KCU = Major occupational groups of the KCU students arebusiness firms at 26.2%, teachers 19.2% and full-time students 23.8%

OCEs = The main enrolment comes from manufacturing firmsat 36.4%, and those from construction companiesat 15.7 per cent.

RANGE or PROGRAMMES OITERED

CHSs offer two courses; namely, 1) the general high schoolcourse for men and women and 2) the vocational high schoolcourse in commerce.

KCU offer 10 Bachelor degree courses in Home Economics,Business Administration, Public Administration, ElementarySchool Education, Agricultural Science, Economics, Law, EnglishLanguage and Computer Science and Statistics. The Universityalso offers a two year junior college cvirse in Early ChildhoodEducation. And in 1984, two more courses of study, leadingto a Bachelor degree, Chinese and French Languages, will beintroduced.

COURSE STRUCTURE

CHSs The credit structure of the CHSs is nased on a threeyear course involving 3,528 credit hours covering 26 subjects,some of which are completed at two levels. Approximately 50%of the course is broadcast lectures, 46% is self-learning and4% is face -to -face tutoring in classes. Ftueents may take upto 7 years to complete the course and have to bass a

50 22

comprehensive examination at the end of their course.

KCU. Bachelor degree courses of 140 credit-hours and a twoyear Diploma course of 80 credit-hours are available.

One credit can be obtained by taking a one-hour-per-weekcourse for one sew_ster and a student can register for up to21 credits every semester. A Bachelor degree candidate canenrol for up to 10 years to finish the five year course and hasto pass a final examination for the degree. But earlier grad-uation is possible for those exceptionally brilliant studentswho are entitled to register three more credits each semester.A diploma candidate can stay up to five years to complete thecourse.

The curriculum of KCU consists of two main categories.One is the General Studies Programme and the other is the MajorsProgramme.

The nature of the General Studies Programme is to promotebroader understanding among students about the current streamsof the academic disciplines both in humanities and naturalsciences in general, so that they are ready to undertake anadvanced study concerning the world, nature and man. While theMajors Programme is focused on more detailed up-to-dateknowledge of twelve major fields of studies in Elementary SchoolSchool Education, English, Chinese and French Language, Law,Public Administration, ECorAiCs, Business Administration,Agricultural Science, Home Economics and Computer Science andStatistics etc.

OCEs. A two year course student has to take at least 70 creditsTOT-his certificate and a degree candidate has to take anadditional 70 credits, that is, 140 credits altogether. A studentin a special ad hoc course is normally required to take lessthan 35 credits.

There is no restriction on enrolment, but a student hasto pass a comprehensive examination and submit a graduationthesis to qualify for a Bachelor degree.

MEDIA AND METHODS

Lectures on air, classroom attendance and homework assignmentsare the three basic methods of instruction, but a self-learningon the basis of specially prepared textbooks and other readingmaterials is deemed to be more important than any otherteaching method. In the case of Open Colleges of Engineering.facilities of industries and their affiliated research insti-tues are also utilized in addition to broadcasting and

51

correspondence materials. Laboratory work and workshoppractices are required for ell the technical courses.

THE TEACHING SYSTEM

How Students area Taught

CHS. Mainly through: 1) self-learning based on textbooksand other correspondence materials; 2) lectures on radio andtelevision broadcast through KBS (Korean Broadcasting System)network, and 3) class room attendance at weekends. (Attendancetwice a month is compulsory.)

KCU. InstructionsIT Textbooks; 2)

4) Correspondence5) Schooling, andreference books.

are conducted through the following 6 means:Homework Assignments; 3) Radio Lectures;

Materials, including the University Bulletin;6) Specially prepared supplementary

OCEs. Mainly through: 1) Self-learning based on textbooksaI 2) class room lectures and laboratory workshop practices.

Print Materials

Forty-nine textbooks in 27 subjects have already been publishedfor CHSs. As of October 1982, 139 textbooks have been publishedfor the KCU courses and p0 more will be compiled by 1984.

Planning and Design of,Teaching Resources

Korea Educational DevelOpment Institute (KEDI) is responsiblefor planning and designing CHS textbooks and other teachingmaterials. In the case'of KCU. the University has its ownTextbook Planning Committee, and they are responsible forcompiling and publishing all the necessary textbooks and othersupplementary reading materials which have to be prepared onthe basis of the curricula, formulated by the University'sCurriculum Committee.

The textbooks and other teaching resources are published anddistributed by the KCU Press.

Course Production

CHSs. University professors and high school teachers arecommissioned by KEDI to write textbooks, the publication ofwhich is financed up to 50% by the Government.

KCU. Textbooks are being written almost exclusively by theacuity members of Korea Correspondence University and its

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Cooperating Local Universities as well as those of SeoulNational University. And the sole responsibility of editing,printing and distribution of these printed media is vestedupon the University Press.

BROADCASTING

CHSs. Radio and Television Programmes are on air mainlythrough KBS network, but for the benefit of those students whohave listening difficulties because of the regional waveblanket, two private (commercial) broadcasting networks arealso utilized.

Broacasting hours for radios ares 05:00 to 06:30and 21:00 to 24:30 every day. And the hours for TV broadcastsare: 19:00 to 20:00 and 22:00 to 23:00 every evening excepton Sundays.

Production of the Radio/TV programmes are conductedby KEDI and its needed technical personnel are also trainedby KEDI.

KCU. Radio broadcasts only. FM network of KBS is utilizedor the purpose. The broadcasting hours are: 05:00 to 07100;

23:00 to 01:00 on weekdays and 05:00 to 07:00; 16:00 to 17:00and 23:00 to 01:00 on Sunday. The programme recording hasbeen done at KBS studios with the help of the KBS technicalpersonnel.

But the KCU is now constructing its own recordingfacilities within its campus.

OCEs. OCEs make use of the ECU's general education programmeson KBS radio network.

EVALUATION OF STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENTS

CHSs

Types of Evaluation

Mid-semester examinationFinal examinationHomework AssessmentNotebook Assessment.

FreouencY

Once every semester 30At the end of the course 50At least twice every semester 10Five times every semester 10

53

KCU

Types of Examination

It is also the principal duties of KCU faculty togive feedback service either by writing or face-to-face answersto questions from students. As to the students' personalcounselling, KCU has recently instituted its own Institute of

Types of Evaluation

Part I Examination Computer-marking System of Students' Counsel1ing. Besides, supervisors of the studentYes-No basis 60 body who are in most cases the professors of the cooperating

universities, can also give personal guiaance on the mattersPart II Examination Writing-Answer System on the of both studying and daily life of students.given questions 30

Homework Assignment Short Essay Writing on the OCEs. A student can solicit personal advice and help fromgiven subjects 10 the tutors who are assigned to each student.

OCEs

Types of Evaluation Frequency Method of Evaluation

Occasional Evaluation From time to time In the course of theseminar sessions, theprofessors can giveall kinds of examswhenever they feelit is necessary

ComprehensiveEvaluation

End of thesemester

The final examinationis devised andconducted by the Eval-uation Committee ofeach OCE.

Besides the abovementioned examinations, each institution hasits own assessment system for determining the eligibility ofthe candidates for the degrees, diplomas or other certificates.

Teaching/Learning Feedback Services

CHSs. During the entire period of course operation, eochteacher has to answer by writing all the written inquiries andquestions sent by students. The teachers are also encouragedto spare their time to help students' efforts in conductingself-learning activities through personal counselling and homevisits.

KCu. At local study centres of the University, whichnumbers more than 49 as of October 1983, faculty members andother qualified instructors are being frequently invited torive special lecture sessions on Saturday afternoons and:;iindays.

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5 :)

A .

THE TELEVISION BROADCASTING UNIVERSITY OF CHINA

Tong LiDepartment of Adult EducationMinistry of Education, PRC

The national TV Broadcasting University was formallyestablished in February 1979. There has been three intakesof students so far and the total enrolment is 790,000 (360,000full course students and 430,000 single subject students).This year, the first batch of graduates in science and techno-logy numbered 70,000 and 140,000 students also finished theirsingle subject studies.

Organisation and Management

The national system of higher education by broadcastingcomprises the Central TV Broadcasting University and the 28provincial TV universities (Tibet is still without one), withover 400 local branches and 15,000 classes at the grassrootlevel. The Central TV University is an institution of higherlearning run by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry ofBroadcasting. Funding for the local TV universities is metby the local education authorities.

The role of the Central Ty University is;

(i) to produce (record) and broadcast theeducational programmes of the main courses;

(ii) to give guidance concerning the activities,teaching and administration of local TVuniversities;

(iii) to formulate all the nation-wide standardisedexaminations (including adm'ssion) of theTV universities, to furnish set answers topapers and marking schemes and to standardisemethods of examination;

(iv) to organise the distribution of learningmaterials (print, audio and video tapes), and

(v) to organise the training of teaching andadministrative staff.

Joint Effort of Society

The TV university is the product of the joint effort of theMinistries ofEducition, Broadcasting and Postal and Tele-

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56

communication. Students of the TV university are scatteredall over China, in factories, government departments andorganisations. These units offer training to their staffthrough the TV university, they provide them with space forstudy, pay their fees and arrange time pff work.

The Central TV University produces the maincourses in the various specialties - thefoundation courses and technical foundationcourses.

The provincial TV universities conduct sometechnical foundation courses and arrangetutorials.

Classes at the grassroots run by enterprisesare responsible for the training of specialknowledge and skills.

'Duration for each specialty is 3 years. When studentscompleted their studies, passed their examinations andaccumulated enough credits, they would have attained aqualification equivalent to university graduates.

Target Groups

The main target groups of the TV univeristy are working adultsand job-waiting youths. At present, most of the studentstaking courses in science and technology subjects are workersand teachers (90%), and those taking arts subjects are mainlycadres. Those engaged in full-time study account for 90% oftotal enrolment of full course students.

Types of Students

(i) Those who have passed the entrance examinationand formally registered as students andallocated to specific classes.

(ii) Those who have not taken the entrance examina-tion and not formally enrolled. They can stillsit the examinations and if they pass, theywill also be awarded the same certificates asnormal students in single subjects or for thefull course.

57

Modes of Study

For the full course, the mode of study is normally full-time.For those taking 2 single subjects, it is usual .ly done on apart-time (fractional time) basis. Single subject students areconsidered to be doing spare time study which means that theyhave to spend 8 hours in studies every week.

Benefits

If a member of staff is engaged in full-tim study with the TVuniversity, apart from production bonus and labour insurance,he/she still enjoys the full benefits of employment i.e. fullpay, medical and other compensations. When they graduate, theyare deemed to have equivalent qualification as universitygraduates and will receive equivalent pay. However, their jobswill be arranged by the enterprises which have sponsored theirstudies with the TV university.

Job-waiting youths bear their own tuition fees and livingexpenses. When they graduate, the local labour bureau willrecruit them to job openings.

Teaching Method

Teaching is conducted through a combination of TV and radiobroadcasts and correspondence study.

Evaluation

Evaluation is mostly by examination, there are very strictstandards and discipline for examinations.

Production of Programmes and their Broadcasts

The Central TV University shares its production responsibilitywith the provincial TV universities in a coordinate manner.The Central TV University in turn shares some of its productionwork with the Central TV Station in Beijing.

There are a number of ways to disseminate the programmes.

(i) Simultaneous nationwide broadcasts through theCentral TV Station using microwave transmissionto the various provinces, 33 hours of broadcastis scheduled per week.

5826

(ii) Local TV stations broadcast programmes inscientific and technical subjects in coursesoffered by the local TV university.

(iii) Local radio stations broadcast programmes inthe arts offered by the Central and local TVuniversities.

(iv) Video tapes are distributed to the localbranches for playback on video recorders.

(v) Audio tapes are distributed to students tobe played back on their own machines.

In the future, coupled with the development of space technology,there is the possibility of TV transmission by satellite.Hopefully, transmission time can be increased as a result andby that tfme, the quality of production should be improved andhigher education by broadcasting can be further enhanced.

I

59

THE OPEN COLLEGE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF

EAST ASIA, MACAU

The College

- A member of the Federation of Colleges that comprises UEAM

- Designed to provide distance-taught higher educationopportunities for adults in employment with coarse-exitstandards at Commonwealth University standard.

Strategy for Curriculum Design

In the early years, to use appropriate courses prepared inother Distance Education Universities. Later to prepare ourown, in English and Cantonese.

Strategy for Teaching

To maintain whatever teaching requirements are demanded bythose who prepared the course. Weekend tutorials, TV viewingetc. in Macau. Radio and tutorial cassettes provided.Students supervised by part time teachers who are monitoredby full-time staff, at the College and in the originatingsituation.

Strategy for Examininl

Each individual course is examined or assessed by a member ofthe team that produced the course. The brief of the Examina-tion Board is to maintain the same standard as in the origina-ting situation. This is done by using the same examinationformat and similar, or where security permits, the same papers.

Present Situation

The second year of students began their studies in September1983. There are now about 2000 students. The average studentregisters on something less than one half of a full-time load.

The median age of students is approximate4 29 years and thegreat majority are in clerical, secretarial, technical andprofessional occupations.

The major current problems are student drop out and ourinability to develop full degree programmes in science and

60 27

technology while teaching from Macau.

On the positive side, the first year has shown that thisversion of a distance education institution is well-suited tclarge numbers of adults in this region. Highlights inperformance were achieved on the British Open University'sfoundation courses in Mathematics and in Science (30% and 25%distinctions) and some extremely high marks in the Businesscourses (two students passing the equivalent of a full-timeuniversity year).

A

61

AN OFF-CAMPUS PROGRAMME IN MALAYSIA

Datuk Musa MohamadVice ChancellorUniversiti Sains Malaysia

BACKGROUND

Malaysia is confronted with an unprecedented demand foruniversity education. This demand which started in the mid-sixties has continued unabated and is expected to continuethrough the eighties and into the nineties. The pressure ofthis demand is the result of three main factors:

. the explosion of aspirations among the peoplesince the achievement of independence by Malaysiain 1957;

. the demand for high-level manpower to accelerateeconomic, social and political development ofthe country; and

. the rapid expansion of primary and secondaryeducation which in turn exerts relentlesspressure for places in tertiary institutionsof learning.

Until 1969 when a new university, the University of Penang,was established on the island of Penang situated off the north-western part of Peninsular Malaysia, there was only oneuniversity, the University of Malaya, located in Kuala Lumpur.However, between 1969 and 1973 in addition to the Universityof Penang (renamed Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1971), threemore universities were established:

. The National University

. The Agricultural University, and

. The University of Technology

In spite of the increase in the number of universities, statis-tics indicate that a big proportion of students, qualified toenter higher learning institutes failed to gain admission intothem for lack of adequate resources.

Partly to ameliorate this situation and partly to embark ona continuing education programme, the Universiti Sains Malaysiain 1971 took the unprecedented step of providing a distance

62 28

education (Off-Campus) programme leading to degree awards foradults not less than twenty-three years old (twenty-one from1983) who for one reason or another were not able to do sounder conventional systems.

The main normative aims of the programme are:

. To enhance the productivity of those who arealready in employment by up-dating theirknowledge and skills;

. To redress the imbalance in educationalopportunities between economically favourableand less favourable areas within Malaysia;

To meet the increasing demand for high-levelmanpower.

'_'he operational objectives may be summarised as follows:

. To provide a diversified programme of studiesto enable Off-Campus students to obtain astandard of academic excellence similar to thatrequired of On-Campus students;

. To devise new approaches to teaching and learningthat can overcome partially or fully the problemsof distance between place of residence andemployment on the one hand and place ofinstruction on the other;

. To organise annually a three-week residentialcourse;

(a) to enable Off-Campus students to meetwith one another and with the academicstaff; and

(b) to supplement independent learning withface-to-face instruction.

Between 1971 and 1982, some 2,742 adults were offered oppor-tunities under this programme. Of these 809 have sincegraduated and are currently enrolled.

In early 1981, the Ministry of Education in association withthe Universiti Sains Malaysia did a review of the Off-Campusprogramme and came to the conclusion that the Off-Campus pro-gramme is a respectable and viable alternative route to highereducation in Malaysia. Based on this conclusion the Off-CampusUnit was directed to draw up plans to expand its studentintake from its current 2.4% (220 students) per academic year toa maximum of 5% (450 students) of the total (all five universi-ties) admissions every year.

Student Profile

In the first ten years (1971-1981), the Off-Campus AcademicProgramme received a total of 17,219 applicants. From these,places were offered to 2,150 students and 1,911 finallyregistered. Today in the 1983/84 academic session, 1,108students are studying for an undergraduate degree through theprogramme. This represents approximately 25% of the total ofmy university's population.

The minimum age for entry into the Off-Campus programme is 23.A major factor in influencing people to follow a correspondenceprogramme like ours is the opportunit, it gives for upgradingof oneself in his/her profession. Therefore not surprisinglyit is the mid-career people in their mid-twenties and earlythirties who apply.

Employees in the teaching and admininistrative serves havemaximum opportunities for upward mobility in their jobs. Thisupward movement is .academia qualification dependent. Thereforenot suprisingly, teachers continue to form the bulk of ourclientele.

In terms of entry behaviour, most of our applicants are thosewith the minimum qualifications for entry into conventionaluniversity programmes in Malaysia. The country has fiveuniversities (including Universiti Sains Malaysia) and offeropportunities for study for less than 50% of all potentialcandidates. Therefore opportunities for higher education isvery competitive and unless one has good pre-university qualifi-cations, one stands little chance of gaining entry. However,in the off-campus programme in line with our objectives, socio-economic factors beside academic qualifications are givenweightage and consequently up to 30% of applicants with minimumacademic qualifications, get admitted.

About 67% of all students who registered between 1971 and 1973have since graduated. Of these 1 (0.1%) student achievedFirst-Class Honours, 62 (11.0%) achieved Second Class UpperHonours and 59 (10.5%) a general or pass degree. By disciplines,the Science programme achieved a 32% success rate, the Humanitiesprogramme 79% and the Social Sciences 68%. The remarkablepoint about these results is the fact that the off-campusstudents sit for the same examinations in competition with on-campus students and generally tend to fare well.

Learning Systems and Administration

The basic learning system of the Universiti Sains Malaysia Off-Campus Programme comprises:

6 ,129

Correspondence text material

Correspondence tuition

Radio broadcasts

Audio-cassettes

Interpersonal contact (for regionaltutorials and laboratory activity)during weekend, and

A three-week annual residentia.. school.

The Science schools use the first two and the regionalweekend programme extensively whilst the non-Science use thefirst four.

Currently, we are producing a total of 162 courses, of which62 are Arts/Social Science based and 100 Science/Mathematicsbased. Course creation, delivery and tutorial support arecarried out by about 10 full time academics, 140 part-timeacademics and 190 part-time tutora at the Study Centres.'Though employing part-times does not create too much of aproblem in the running of the tutorial services, it certainlyis a major area of concern in course creation and maintenanceactivities.

The Centre for Off-Campus Studies is under the headship of aDirector, there are 2 Deputy Directors, 1 Senior AssistantRegistrar and 2 Assistant Registrars. Between them, theyinteract with and serve about 140 academic staff in thecreation, production, maintenance and management of 143 courses,190 part-time tutors, 30 part-time laboratory technicians andstudents. The Director and his two Deputies are academicsloaned from the various faculties to be overall managers andacademic guardians of the programme whilst the rest of thesenior staff are professional administrators.

Academic and Administrative Problems

A detailed discussion of the problems encountered by the off-campus programme will necessitate another paper altogether.':hat I shall attempt to do in this section is to brieflyhighlight some major issues that have bothered the programme.These are:

. Teaching and Learning. We started with littleexperience on the paedogogy of distance education.Materials produced for the off-campus studentswere little better than standard text books, orworse. Editorial and reprographic control wasnon-existent and conventional academics wereloath to accept or implement innovative suggestions.

65

To a great extent, these problems still persist,prowpting one reviewer of the programme toexpress surprise at the relatively high successrate at examinations.

Conflict betwee,L Off- and On-Campus Priorities:Using on-campus acadefics to teach and accountfor the teaching to 'parent" faculties, thoughit reduces costs and provides respectability,does not help in imposing deadlines, nor does itlead to changes in teaching styles and commitmentto regular and intense interaction with students.The priorities of on-campus teachers ar3 to theimmediate needs of on-campus students and not todistant off-campus students. This creates a lotof hardship for the students. The problem ofgood communication is so acute that seriousconsideration is being given by the Universityto creating an off-campus establishment for themaintenance of courses.

. Limited Resource: Because of the experimentalnature of the programme and because of ourcommitment to keep costs down, the programmehas at no time received more than 5% of theUniversity's budget whilst servicing about 25%of the University's student population. Thishas resulted in reliance on a limited range ofresources. Consequently using sophisticatedmedia mix for teaching has not been possiblethough recognized as desirable. Under suchcircumstances, students lose interest and dropout as well as failure rates increasing.Diversifying the teaching media is now beingrecognized as essential and plans to developacademic staff their usage is being pursued.

. On-Campus Regulations for Off-Campus Students:The obsession to maintain identical requirementshas resulted in difficult and often insolubleadministrative problems as well as confusionand hardship for students. Mandatory attendanceat tutorial classes, minimum work load require-ments, maximum time limits for graduations, and'a la carte menus' instead of 'fixed menus' inchoice of courses form the bulk of Lhese problems.

What of the Future?

With five universities serving a 14 million population, with aunique socio-economic-ethnic situation and with an economythat is not doing too well, it is difficult to predict thefuture.

6E; 30

Given the demographic scene Malaysia has, it is difficult toforesee the establishment of an 'Open' University with a freefor all entry. On the other hand, with a yearly build up oftalented but unsuccessful aspirants to University education,it would be irresponsible (of planners) not to provide secondchance opportunities for its citizens.

Given the above situation, we may have to plan for an expansionof the off-campus programme. The questions we may have to askourselves in this planning process would be:

. Fox whom are we hoping to provide theseopportunities?

. Should our programmes be institution orientedor client oriented?

. If client oriented, should the off-campus gotowards providing non-formal and continuingeducation type of programmes?

. If client oriented, should not the Universitylook beyond its fences for course creators?

Perhaps some of you who have gone through similar dilemmasmay have some answers for me.

6 7

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DISTANCE TEACHING IN

PAPUA NEW GUINEA AND KENYA

G.S. XaeleyLecturer in MathematicsDepartment of Extension StudiesUftversity of Papua New Guinea

INTRODUCTION

The modern concept of distance education is a recent innovation,although correspondence teaching has a history of over 100 yearsin many countries of the world. The education system, nodoubt segregated on racial grounds was well formed in Kenya,before its independence in 1963. In Papua New Guinea (PNG) thehigh school system has largely been developed since the earlysixties, but the concept of distance education took roots inthe structure earlier as compared to Kenya. The CorrespondenceCourse Unit (CCE) was established with the aid of USAID, in theInstitute of Adult Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya in1968. The fore-runner to the present College of ExternalStudies (COES' in PNG commenced teaching through correspondencein 1959. However, in Kenya there existed branches of a numberof British private correspondence institutions, before theestablishment of CCU, whereas PNG had similar facilities at alow scale from Australian correspondence schools.

There is a small difference in the educational structure of thetwo countries. In Kenya the primary school is of seven years,whereas in PNG, it is of 6 years. The number of years spentin each stage of education in the two countries are shown intdble I below.

TABLE 1

The number of years spent at different stages of schoolingIn ti, nyl r. INC; .

Primary Secondary Hiuhers. 'ondary

University(ordinarydegree)

P. "" vt I 7 4 2 3

PNG t, 4 2 4

6 6 31

Kenya, with a population of about four times that of PNG, hasonly one university, whereas the latter has two universities.It is realised that PNG has an oversupply of tertiary institu-tions as well. This makes the competition for entry into auniversit} much stiffer in Kenya than in PNG.

Distance Teaching at Secondary Level

The COES is the only institution in PNG offering distanceteaching courses at Grade 7-10 secondary level. In additionthe College offers post-grade 10 courses leading to a CommerceCertificate. There were 500 individual enrolments in 1979 andthis increased to over 7500 in 1981. The latter figure isrougnly equivalent to 1875 full time secondary school students.

In Keny the CCU started offering correspondence courses toadults at junior secondary level in 1968. The majority of thestudents for these courses were the primary school teachers,who were studying for upgrading purposes. In 1976, correspon-dence courses leading to the East African Certificate ofEducation were offered. With the change in promotion criteriafor ths: teachers, these courses became less popular and theCCU embarked on preparing courses for professional examinations.In 1977 Accounts Clerks Stage 1 courses were offered. Thedevelopment of further professional courses is under planning.

One noticeable change which the COES has experienced overrecent years is in the nature of its clientele. In the pastthe majority of students were working adults. Many of themwere, as in Kenya, primary school teachers, who were studyingGrade 9 and 10 courses for promotion purposes. With theintroduction of Grade 7 and Grade 8 courses recently, the meanage of the students decreased as the students who were unableto obtain high school places joined the COES. In Kenya theCCU has been offering courses mainly to the adults. Moreoverthe primary school leavers who could not get admission ingovernment secondary schools, have an easy access to privateand harambhee(self-help) secondary schools.

One of the other main reasons hindering the efforts of adultlearners in Kenya is the method of examination. In PNG, thedistance learners are allowed to enrol and sit for examinationIn one subject at a time. They can go on accumulating creditsyear after year, till they have acquired enough passes toqualify for the full certificate. This method is more suitableto the working adults, who have many other responsibilitiestowards their families and employment in addition to theirstudies. In Kenya a student has to enrol and it for all fivesubjects and pass at the same time to qualify for Kenya JuniorSecondary Examination (KJSE) certificate except for teachers.

69

The primary school teachers are allowed to accumulate creditsin order to gain USE certificates after passing five subjectsin different sittings. Therefore, the pass percentage ofteachers is much higher than the other CCU students and privatecandidates in Kenya.

In-service Teaching Training

As mentioned earlier both in Kenya and PNG initially teachersformed the majority of the distance learners, who were studyingacademic subjects for upgrading purposes. In addition Kenyahad a successful multi-media teacher training programme, whichwas started in 1969. It was jointly undertaken by the KenyaInstitute of Education (KIE) and the CCU. It was aimed atthose teachers who were teaching in the rimary schools,without prior professional training. It was a two year pro-gramme. The first year was used for providing them withprofessional training and was handled by the KIE. In thasecond year to raise the academic standards, the CCU taughtthem academic subjects through the integrated use of correspond-ence courses, radio lessons and short face-to-face sessionsduring school holidays. Over 10,000 teachers had gone throughthe programme by the end of 1974, when it formally came to anend.

The COES is not offering any multi-media teaching training inPNG, similar to the one described in the above paragraph inKenya. However the Faculty of Education at the University ofPapua New Guinea (UPNG) offers a variety of mix-media in-service teaching training courses in PNG. The first one isa Diploma in Educational Studies (DES) (primary) for the primaryschool headmasters. It is of two years dlration. The candi-dates complete it over four semesters of distance learning andtwo residential Lahara (Summer) Sessions at UPNG main campus.The headmasters are trained in curriculum development, admini-stration and planning. The second programme is DES (tertiary)for secondary school teachers, who are trained to become teachertraining college lecturers. A part of the B.Ed. (in-service)courses is offered at the Lahara Sessions as well.

Distance Teaching at University Level

The CCU is a part of the University of Nairobi, but the coursesoffered by it are of secondary school level and elementaryprofessional standard. At UPNG in addition to the in-servicecourses conducted by the Faculty of Education for teachers, theDepartment of Extension Studies offers Matriculation Studies,part of the Arts degree level courses, Diploma in IndustrialRelations and Law courses. Correspondence material in thesemester period is supplemented by recorded cassettes andtelephone teaching. Unlike Kenya's integrated three-way

32

70

teaching, UPNG has its own brand of media mix. Traditionallythe courses offered at Lahara Session are equivalent to onesemester course taken internally. It means courses taughtthrough correspondence in the semester time are not supple-mented by face-to-face teaching at the Lahara Session. Howeverthe students attend short workshops in the province in semestertime. The students complete and sit for examination for thecourses studied at a distance before commencing their LahazaSession. It is actually unlike the practice followed by themajority of distance teaching institutions of the world.

Perhaps Kenya and other developing countries not offering uni-vertisity courses through correspondence can benefit fromUPNG's experience. Some parts of degree courses can beprepared and offered at a distance and supplemented by residen-tial sessions during vacations, when the internal students areaway. Some adults are unable to cope with university studies.The students who can do a part of the degree through distancelearning are well-disciplined and highly motivated persons,who can be offered places to complete their programmesinternally. It can minimize the wastage due to drop-out ofthe mature students from courses. Similarly the examiningauthorities in Kenya should consider allowing adult .learnersto sit for examination in one subject at a time as in PNG toprovide them with opportunities and incentive for continuingeducation. In PNG in-service teacher training is conducted atPort Moresby In-Service Teacher Training College. The distanceteaching methods can provide a much wider and cheaper methodof inservice training of teachers without taking them outof their classes. If used properly it can assist to improvethe standards of teaching Mathematics, Science and othersubjects. There is a lot for PNG, Kenya and other developingcountries to learn from each others experience in the fieldof distance teaching, which can provide a comparativelyinexpensive unlimited opr-rtunity for training and teachingto the every growing number of students.

References

P.E. Kinyanjiu, "Kenya's experience in distance teaching",in Adult Education and Development, No. 16 DVV, Germany, March1981, p.83-89.

G.S. Kaeley, Three-Way Teaching Training in Kenya, M.Ed. thesis,Africana Section of the Library, University of Nairobi, Nairobi,Kenya, 1976.

G.S. Keeley, Distance Education at UPNG, an evaluation reporton Matriculation Studies, Department of Extension Studies,University of Papua New Guinea, Waigani, 1980.

71

G.S. Kaeley, "The Role of Distance Teaching in the EducationalDevelopment of Papua New Guinea", in International Journal ofUniversity Adult Education, XXI, No. 3, November 1982.

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COMMUNICATION SATELLITES AND TERTIARY EDUCATION

James C. LangeUniversity ExtensionUniversity of Western AustraliaNedlands, 6009 W.A.AUSTRALIA

Dr lunge has been brought to the University of WesternAustralia to look into the development of educational us..?a ofoummunication aatellitea in the area of tertiary education.Ile is in the process of formulating hia project and thefu!lowing article is still in the drafting stage. Ile haskindly allowed us to publish it. We have included the shortreferences: although the full list of references is not yetavailable. If you have any specific enquiries about theriaterial quoted or the project itself please write toDr Lange at the Extension Department of the University ofWectern Australia.

1. INTRODUCTION

This study was inspired by the use of ATS-1 and ATS-3 Satellitesfor international cooperation in education. NASA's ATS systemis unique in the world; it is the only geo-stationary communi-cation satellite which provides a permanently-assigned,multiple-access network (PAMA) for international delivery ofeducation. AUSSAT, Australia's dom!stic satellite, will belaunched in July of 1985 and we hope to help pave the way foreducational use of that resource. However, the study is not1;mitel to Australia, even though many of its examples comefrom that country. We are concerned with local, regional,national and international applications of new technology toimprove research, teaching and administration in highereducation.

Although the study was initially designed to look at thepossible uses which tertiary education institutions might makeof satellites, it became quickly apparent that this was toolimited a scope. For example, except for providing simulta-neous, distance- insensitive nation-wide coverage, there isnothing that can be done on a satellite that can't be done withcopper wire and broadcasting, which have been available toeducators for decades. We asked ourselves why many of the neweducational techniques that are being touted for satellitecommunication aren't already in common use, and the answerswere: ignorance, fear, apathy, and lack of encouragements.Hopefully, this document can help assuage some of these problems.

34

2. EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

The authors of this paper are committed to the widest possibleeducational opportunity to the widest possible range ofstudents who are ready, willing and able to take advantage ofit, and to cooperation among researchers and teachers ingovernment, industry and educational institutions to produceand disseminate knowledge. In the growing complexity of aneven more rapid technological revolution, people involved ineducation must hang together to produce improvements in qualityand efficiencies in operation. If we do not hang together, itis likely that we will all hang separately.

Limits to Educational Telecommunication

The major limit to growth of educational telecommunication hasbeen poor communication. This sounds like something betweena tautology and a Catch 22, and it is. There has been poorcommunication between the government and tertiary administra-tion, poor communication among tertiary administrators, poorcommunication between administrators and academics, and poorcommunication in the classroom.

National policy communication

a. Rapid growth of higher education (1950-1970)

1. US & Europe

2. Third World

3. Australia

b. Problems of overgrowth

1. overproduction & underemployment

2. te:aire, age & turnover of faculty

3. duplication & resource allocation

c. Politics of cooperation

1, empire building

2. bureaucratic jealousies

d. Rhetoric & finance

1. edu-.,ational fads

2. limited-pie budgeting

74

Institutional communication

a. Accreditation & transfer of credit

1. pedagogical differences

2. intellectual jealousies

3. job security

b. Educational consortia

1. funding

2. prestige

3. threat to existing hierarchies

Educational management communication

a. Planning vacuum

b. Encouragement & inertia

c. Ed cational reward structures

Classroom communication

Traditionally, education has been an interpersonal, face-to-face interaction, which used the same "chalk-and-talk" processregardless of the subject matter to be learned, the studentto be taught, or the instructor doing the teaching. Thestandard conceptualization of teaching communication patterns,has been a star-network, with the teacher in the centre of acollection of individuals and the majority of communicationflowing from teacher to student. Student to teacher communica-tion is seen as a secondary flow, primarily for questionasking. Student-to-student communication is usually ignored,or at least expected to form on its own, and is thought of asserendipitous reinforcement to the main process of learning.Why this misconception has become so firmly rooted, despitethe early example of the Socratic method, is a complex questionwith the answers based in modes of authority in the medievalchurch (both Christian and Muslim), in the high intellectuademands which the Socratic method places on the instructor,and in the natural human tendency to take the easy way out.

Modern Educational Directions

Regardless ,)t the technology, there is a growing questioningof the entire ducaticnal system, in terms of -- to paraphrasethe famous Laswellian model of communication -- 1) who isteaching 2) what to 3) whom, with 41 what effect. Just asresearch into artificial intelligence is helping us discover

35

what intelligence is (HofstfAter, 1979), research in machine-based instruction is helping us discover what makes foreffective teaching. (Pappert, 1980; McCann, 1981).

Instructor Variables: who is teaching?

The style of teaching and the personality type of theinstructors has been shown to be an important issue. Matchingteacher teaching styles to student learning styles, may bringgreater increases in educational productivity than any otherstep. (Pask, 1976). Computer assisted instruction (alsocalled computer-managed learning or computer-based instruction,as well as a number of permutations of these terms, dependingon the author) allows the instructor to assign many of therepetitive rote-learning or rote-teaching tasks to machineswhich are more efficient at repetitive tasks and better ableto individualize both practice and :.?.sting. Theoretically,this allows the teacher more time for direct, one-to-onecontact with the student.

Educational Content: What is being taught?

There is a general conception (Ashby, 1974) that the risingcurve of technological innovation (see, eq. Martin, 1978;Toffler, 1982) must force education to change its basicsubject matter if it is to remain relevant. The argumentssplit as to whether this should mean more practical, job-oriented skills or more general back-to-the-basics trainingin reading, writing and thinking. Research has made it clearthat the teaching method must change according to whetherskills, facts or concepts are to be taught. (Entwhistle, 1982;Horning, 1983). But even more importantly, there is a growingrecognition of wider social choices which are, or should be,available to each individual, which has created a generalizeddesire for more individualized, less mass-produced education.This desire comes just at the time when we are developingtechnology which makes such individualization easier andcheaper.

Educational Outi-oach: to whom.'

Research has shown that education can be greatly facilitatedby adapting teaching methods to the personality type of thestudent (Kolb, 1976). From a policy viewpoint, society isgrowing both in complexity and in leisure time (whethervoluntary or otherwise), while at the same time demandinggreater equality for all its citizens. Tertiary institutionsare being asked to provide instruction to citizens from socio-economic strata with which they are unaccustomed to dealingand in settings with which they are unfamiliar. (eg. Ryan,1983). These new demands have forced educators to confront the

76

problems of social, psychological and physical distance inthe educational process at precisely the time that newtechnology has made it possible to lessen these distancesconsiderably.

Educational Output: with what effect?

The measurements of success in education vary according to theconsumer of the product. Generally, the research shows thateducation via technology, whether prosaic radio or exoticcomputer programmes, does as well as face-to-face "chalk-and-talk" in terms of student achievement on test scores, whiledoing a good deal better in speed and efficiency, but a bitworse in motivation, stimulation or interest and love ofknowledge. However, the real measurement of educationalsuccess is a political one, based on the expectations of theobserver.

The academic wants to know how the graduate produces ideasand knowledge in pressure situations (test-taking ability),the employer wants to know if the graduate can do the job.3/he is hired to do (specific job skills), the graduate wantsto be able to impress others and land a job (interpersonnelskills), and government, being a sum of each of theseinfluences, is unsure what it wants. Solution of thisperennial problem is beyond the scope of this paper.

Technology is the answer, what was the question?

New developments in telecommunications, specifically geo-stationary satellites, but also local networking and newtelephone services from common carriers, suggest a wide rangeof new educational opportunities in a variety of communicationmodes of distance, extension and conventional-classroominstruction. However, author after author, whether fromwithin or without the academic circles, stresses that thecontent and form of the message is far more important than thenature of the channel. (eg. Schramm, 1977, Albertson, 1980;the Australian College of Education, 1980; the Directors-General of Education, 1981; White, 1982). Current wisdom saysthat educational goals and problems should dictate the techno-logy, rather than technology dictating educational practice.This is only partly true. In fact, the new technology ismaking possible modes of education which haven't been dreamedof, or rather, have been dreamed of but have been long sincedismissed as impossible. As long as students, faculty,administrators and government officials are unaware of thespecific potentials which information technology can bring toeducational endeavour, and the economic and social benefitsthat we can derive from these new modes, we will continue tohave education that is less than we can give at a cost that ismore than we should have to pay.

'? 36

3. PRIORITIES IN EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Setting priorities is the first phase of cost-benefit analysis:looking for t'he greatest possible benefit at the lowest cost.Unfortunately, the benefits are often conflicting. Onecriterion for decision should be the extent of need, but thisis a complex interaction rather than a single variable. Forexample, one aspect of the extent of need is the numberserved. While it is clear that there are more non-isolatedstudents than isolated students, it does not follow that theisolated students needs are smaller, even when viewing theproblem from a macroscopic perspective. For many isolatedpeople, there will be tele-education or no education, so oneaspect of the extent of need is whether there is any otherwi..y to provide the service. A second aspect is the importanceof the service to be provided. Outside of extremes (should wegive a starving man a newspaper or a loaf of bread) allquestions of importance are value judgements. Planners maythink that educational service is more important than enter-tainment, but people may be willing to pay a great deal morefor entertainment than for education. In this regard, thepolitical and economic clout of the users becomes the majorcriterion for judgements of importance.

Priorities 4hich at..., based on reason may conflict with thosebased on tradition and power. For example, in Australia, themost obvious application for telecommunications in highereducation is course delivery to the isolated student, due tothe long tradition of the "pedal radio" for the outback'sschool-of-the-air and due to the inordinate political powerwielded by the Isolated Children's Parents Association andtheir country supporters. But the most educationally andeconomically beneficial application, in both the short andlong term, is the networking of students, faculty, admini-strators and business people to form a community of scholars.

Priority 1: Networking Knowledge

Australian experts live in a tense of isolation from the inter-national field, and those outside of the Sydney-Melbourne axisfeel themselves to be isolated from their fields withinAustralia. This is a critical factor in a nation where thesmall population (15 million) already limits the criticalintellectual mass in any given field. In smaller countries,such as the Pacific Island nations, or in countries where thecommunication infrastructure and educational budg,t per capitaare more limited and the temptation towards "brain drain" tothe west more severe, this sense of isolation is even morecritical. Conferences and journals are the current base ofknowledge networking, but the first are vo expensive, both intime and money, that more than one meeting per year is unusual,

78

and the lead times for the journal& are so frightfully longthat much work is out of date before it sees actual publication.Networking scholars and experts through telecommunications canstimulate productivity through cross-fertilization at afraction of the cot of international conferences with afraction of the lag time that is an essential and annoying partof journal-based knowledge exchange.

Networking for research

At any given time there are a small number of issues that areconsidered of maximum importance in a given field. Sometimesthis is due to a current social fad, but often it is a consensuson a research agenda in order to solve the next set of problemsand allow the field to advance. As a result, scholars through-out the world are frequently working on the same problem,forming what Kuhn (1970) has called an "invisible college" ofresearch. Unfortunately, many of these researchers are workingnot only independently, but in total ignorance of the progressof their colleagues. Some of this research is proprietaryand will remain fiercely independen,, but much of it iscooperative, which is one of the main reasons behind academicand industrial research conferences. Networking researcherscan allow a much more integrated and systematic approach tothe mutually agreed-upon agenda within a given field, and canfacilitate simultaneous research in several locations, thusincreasing the possibility of generalizing the results.

There are a number of world-wide, Pacific-wide and nation-wideassociations which are composed of people with common researchinterests. Providing regular times for these organizations toplan and coordinate action will improve their value to scienceand to society as a whole.

Networking for administration

The ability to communicate easily does not necessarily mean thewillingness to cooperate, so the networking of administratorsin tertiary education is not a panacea for the communicationproblems discussed above. However, there are a number ofadministrators who ire committed to non-parochial developmentof higher education and a system which allowed them to meetwith each other, both on a regular and on a demand-accessbasis, would greatly boost their effectiveness. When coopera-tive effort catches on, there are a number of efficienciesthat are to be gained from joint planning and even from jointoperations, such as data processing. This has been the impetusfor the development of an ever-growing number of educationalconsortia.

37

Networking students

One of the factors of parochialism in higher education andresearch is the old-boy network. Although the old school tieswhich a student forms are beneficial, both to the student andto society, they often limit association by setting up anus-and-them system vis-a-vis students from other school -/Bynetworking students for joint research projects, for ointdiscussions of shared course topics and even for simp e socialchit-chat, it is possible to redefine the concept of ommunityin terms of commonality of interest rather than in ter s ofgpography or institutional affiliation. This has a snoballing effect, in that the more people cooperate when they arestudents, the more likely they will be to cooperate when theybecome involved in higher levels of research, public serviceor industry.

Course Support

The second major need for educational telecommunication is tosupport traditional classroom education. Although studentswho are isolated by distance, health, mobility handicap, workor home situation are important, they are a small minority ofthe users of our educational resources. The proportion ofnon-residential students will continue to grow, but thestudents who enrol in the traditional classroom are likely toremain in the overwhelming majority until the turn of thecentury. New technology can improve the education for thismajority dramatically by 1) increasing the diversity andquality of presenters, 2) increasing the classroom interactionwith "real world" experts and situations, 3) increasing theindividualized attention available for each student and 4)

increasing the availability of low-cost educational software.This can be done at a fraction of the cost of improvement todistance education, using the an communtcation system thatwould be needed to support the networking concept listed asthe first priority, but it will require a dramatic shift inthe way education is organized and paid for.

Lecture exchange

Most academics are one for two or three) trick ponies. Theyare particularly expert in a small corner of their subject,have a good general urasp of their sub-field, and a noddingacquaintance with most of their discipltne. As a result,except for the very advanced graduate courses, students getthe very best for two or three lectures and mediocre coveragefor the rest of the term. Using new information technologywould allow for multi-lecturer courses which combined teachersfrom several institutions. The principal lecturer in eachlocation would deliver 2 or 3 lectures in his or her particularspecialty, and spent the rest of the course listening to thelectures of his colleagues lnd conducting tutorial-type post-mortems with the students.

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"Visiting" experts

Communications technology can be used to bring in expertsfrom outside the campus, whether this be from downtown, up-state or around the world. Contrary to popular belief, and tosales pitches from those pushirg teleconferencing, the majordeterrent to travel is not co t, but time. While it is truethat few situations can justify flying an expert in fromLandon or Lima, even fewer of the best people can afford totake the time for the trip unless they are well remunerated.A Nobel prize winner might not be able to afford a week or twoflying to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, regardless of theremuneration offered, but she might well donate an hour ortwo to talk to all three at once. over a conference link. Thesame time factors constrain vis_ts from local experts; busygovernment and business officials may be reluctant speakersif they are required to drive out to a campus classroom, butif.they know that they can simply pick up their telephoneand speak for half an tour, they are a good deal easier toconvince. Similarly, a loud-speaking telephone can allow aclass to eavesdrop on, even participate in, live communityevents being held by groups dealieg with the problem understudy.

individual attention

Lecture-sharing, "visiting" experts, field trips via tele-communicatiene and compu.er assisted instruction would allfree the instructor for important group discussion and one-to-ere interaction. since this kind of interactive discussion isnee.led to reinforce information, and is where the deepelearning takes place, it requires the best minds we ce- ster.

Courseware exchange

he etandard problem in educational technology is that thehardware that makes tele-education technically pcssible has!ar outst:ipped the growth of quality software which is neededto make the process educationally useful. Commercial softwareit; cxrensive, and often copy-protected in such a way thateakee it difticylt (not to mention illegal) to modify materialsto fit the local milieu. Non-commercial software, which hasDeco produced within an educational institution to solve aparticular problem is often availa5le for he asking, but-theta are not aware of its existence. Telecoramunicatien linkswuele allow the formation of a clearing house !data base whicheould tunction as an exchange for such in-house software.

..I stance

Me third priority for using new information technclogy ist!.e eee thet ie often mentionee first. It is placed lastl.elee it le tie most expensive, currently serves the small:it

51

number of students, and hence pays the least benefit to societyper unit of investment. However, the students involved are,individually, just as important as the traditional (residentialor commuting) students, and there is a social obligation toprovide these individuals with service as close to the qualityo that of the traditional student as is humanly possible.Furthermore, as the new information technology becomes moreentrenched in academia, and as we discover how to use it moreeffectively, the difference between distance education andtraditional education will blur to the extent that residentialor commuting instruction will become a matter of social choicerather than academic necessity. (Carnegie Commission, 1972).

4. TELE-EDUCATION DELIVERY SYSTEMS

Telecommunications have been used to deliver entire coursesof study in over 50 countries. This technology is long pastthe experimental stage, with many operational systems of overten years etanding (Schramm & Vol.an, 1983). In most casesthese tele-courses are supported by print materials and markedexercises which are distributed by marl. They seem to besuccessful in proportion to the extent to which they areintegrated in e larger curriculum and are produced in closeconsultation with the traditional classroom teachers. (Chu& Schramm, 1967; Shulka, 1983)

.

One -, c.q Delivea

The mejority of distance education delivery is two-way, butwith the overwhelming amount of attention being placed on thefeicher-to-stie2-nt communication ( information dissemination).The student-to-teacher link is generally confined to submissionof assignments and to occasional questions, usually by mall.in effect, these systems become one-way systems that havelimited, delayed and highly structure feedback channels. Inshort, they differ little from commercial broadcasting.

Direct television delivery

over-the-air broadcast television has a long history (in fact,Alexander Boll predicted - wrongly that this would to themaior use of the movie camera he invented+ and has been usedwidely around the world with mixed results. (Schramm, 1977).The most successful example of televised delivery of tertiaryeducation is Britain's Open University (Perry, 1977) and theconcept has also had success in the third world (eg. Bhatia,1974), though some efforts have been failures (Schramm, 1982).A summary of the research shows that TV edocation has high:mpact, is extremely effective, is familiar and easy fors'ildents, difficult for teachers and expensive fur everyone(Schramm, 1977) .

b')

Direct radio delivery

People have been using radio broadcasts to deliver formaleducation since the 1920s, when it was invented. It has provenable to reach more students, in more isolated locations, with'laming at least as effective as classroom instruction, at atower cost than any other educational medium. (Jamison &McAnany, 1978) .

Direct teletex delivery

Videotext could be used as a new version of the print-basedcorrespondence course. Given a computer and communicationsinfrastructure, it can provide students with more individual-ized, more up-to-date, better illustrated material, with morefeedback and at a lower cost than print-and-mail basedsystems. Most of the systems are still experimertal, andmostly local, though some aspects of Canada's Telidon systemapproach formal education delivery via teletext.

Interactive instruction

Adding a return circuit to tele-education allows interacticabetween student and instructor which is 1) educationallymore effective, 2) more stimulating to the student and 3)

more familiar to the professor than the one-way systems.Operational systems of more than 10 years standing exist inWisconsin via land lines, in Australia via HF radio in theSouth Pacific via VHF satellites and in Alaska via microwavesatellites.

Video tronferencing

Video teleconferencing has the :rapabilitv to totally removephysical distance. In the truly professi^nal video-conferen-cin,i sot-ups, porticipants have been known to attempt ,o shake',ands ,.':rough tne screen at the conclusion of a mevling,having momentarily forgotten that the person they have beentalking with is really a thousand miles away. This technolJgyis highly developed for business uses and industrial trainingin America and, t- a lesser extent, for educational networkins(eq. R..>bin, 1977, 1(1 tele-teaching ((2g. Collis, 1983). othernations, even the . )-called developed ones, are not so wellende,wed. For example, Telecom has video-conferencinqfa(:ilities in the eastern capital cities, but do not yetprovide the service for most of the country. Even so, theTas:rania college of Adult E.!...cation and the Univers4ty ofTasmania hav condwted experiments in distance teaching usingthis moth,q1 (Wc111:;, 1983).

39

Audio conferencing

The potential of video conferencing is nearly duplicated byaudio conferencing, at a fraction of the cost. The differencebetween the two modes ,f conferencing are not nearly as greatas the difference between television snd radio. Audio signalscan be enhances by digital transmission of slow-scan television(one frame each 35 seconds), facsimile, electronic blackboardand data (300/1200 baud) communication. This enhancementprovides more than enough visual support for most educationalpurposes.

Data conference

The most inexpensive teleconferencing system eliminates bothvoice and video, although still allows pictures to be sent ascomputer code. The PLATO system is an example of a purelyeducational interactive system of CAI courseware. Such systemsare fully established in the so-called developed countries,and are starting tc be used extensively in education (eg. Jones,1979; Drake, 1972; Moore, 1983).

Internationally accessible bulletin boards, such as EIES,connect scholars around the world, from primary school studentsto professional writers, to industrial research scientists.These people use thei: computer keyboard to join in inter-active conferences which can be attended at the convenience ofeach individual participant (Southworth, 1983). Many peoplehave an instinctive negative reacti)n to data conferencing,feeling that communication by typewriter cannot allowsufficient human touch for effective networking or teaching.However, research shows that this is simply net the case:People seem to inter-:- with each over computer networksin very much the same way they do in face-to-face groups.

In aJdition to direct interaction, any network that can beused for data conferencing can also be used to access dataLases and use time-sharing computers at a distance.

5. PRELIMINARY COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Choosin,, among the options for tele-education deliveryrequires careful cost-benefit analysis to determine themaximum amount of affordable good at the minimum obtainableprice. Howevr!r, true cost-benefit analysis must be based onextremely specific data. Telecommunications planning involvesa series of trade-offs between cost and service. Until thespecific system is derided upon, the actual costs can onlybe vaguely guessed at, and there is no way to estimate someof the more elusive costs (such as opportunity costs) norsome of the main benefits (such as savings accruing fromreplacing other tunctions). However, a crude ilitial run-through, looking only at price and management costs (personnel,

8'1

:.!)duction, et-:.) in comparison to the quality of servicereceived, helps to define the possible options and to suggestthe parameters of their use. Much more rigorous cost-benefitanalysis will be applied to specific options.

Full-motion Television

TV delivery offers the maximum impact, engaging the eyes andthe ears with sight, sound & motion. The current generation ofstudents have grown up with television, and use it constantlyas both a source of entertainment and information. This hasa positive effect, in that televised instruction is seen bythe average student as familiar, comfortable and pleasant, buta negative effect in that television is seen as an essentiallypassive medium whose programs should not require any intell-ectual work to assimilate, and in that educational productionvalues must meet the slick standards of the (largely American)production values of commercial TV. Many tertiary institu-tions primary/secondary service units have the capability ofproducing educational segments of a standard to compete withcommercial programming, but the production costs are extremelyhigh. Top quality educational TV instruction costs on theorder of $A10,000 per hour to produce, and even amateur stand-ard p:oductions run high. For example, low-production-budgetVCR tapes which are sent to isolated students in South Australiaare costing about $A1000 per student per year (Dunnett, 1983).

In addition to the production costs, transmission costs areextremely high, whether by direct broadcast, terrestrial linkor satellite. These costs, coupled with the small audiencethat can be expected for external studies courses (Bates, 1976)will preclude much direct television delivery of degree anddiploma courses, unless there is a decision to combine externalstudios across large regions, in order to provide an audiencewith enough of a critical mass to make such a scheme worthwhile.Although Britain's Open University has had considerable successwith this idea (Perry, 1977), America's nationwide experimentshave all been failures (Waters, 19831 and many regional effortshave foundered on the twin jealousy issues; comparability ofcourses and transferability of credit (Porter, 1982). Partlyfor fear of the politics these issues, partly for fear of jobsecurity and trade union action, and partly out of a desireto allow students to move back and forth between external andresidential studies according to their current work and life-:;tyle situation, Australia has twice rejected this model ofhiliar education.

However, the potential and ...or non-formal (also calledcontinuing education, extension education, life-long education,tc.) is quite attractive in conjunction with either a publicol :.ommercial DRS broadcaste -r, since these aeencies will

40

not be likely to use all of the available day parts. Commercialbroadcasters wild see the provision of educational content associal justification which will help them get DBS licences, andeven publicly funded broadcast systems might be pleased withsocially positive produrltinn-free segments (programs producedby Universities and other tertiary institutions) to help fillup the broadcast day. Empty day parts (eg. overnight) onbroadcast satellites might be used for networking educationalproducers across large regions for exchange of programmes forlocal rebroadcast. This kind of non-formal education will needto be nation-wide to be cost effective, and should be theresult of input from tertiary, extension, secondary, andprimary educators, Actual produCtion, to be cost effective,should be the province of those institutions who already possesstop-quality studios, but some cooperative formula for fundingtheir operations will need to be developed.

Radio

111 dio delivery has less impact, but at much lower dollar costtan TV. The cost of radio production, though low, is notzero, as many educational administrators seem to think. Educa-tional radio is frequently put in a squeeze by being asked togenerate a large portion of its own revenue. Raising revenue,whether through sponsorships or through soliciting donations,requires the relatively large audiences that can be gotten 17%,::popuiar music programmes, while educational (primarily spoken-word) programmes are designed for small, specific audiencesand turn potential supporters away in droves. (see, eg. Conlon,1979) A further cost is the necessity of training educatorsand producers to use radio effectively, which even most of theprofessionals currently do not. (Bates, 1979), A good educa-tional radio station needs about $500,000 per year to run, andfew tertiary institutions have been willing to pay this price.(Jackson, 1981).

Although the cost of direct radio delivery would be withinrange of a national effort in direct education, political compe-tition among institutions with a brief in external studies,--ikes such systems difficult to mount in countries which do notexercise massive central control of both the educational andthe broadcasting systems. Thus, as with TV, nationwide radio

more suitable for non-formal education, and the lower costswill make this an extremely attractive option.

In fact, the costs are low enough to use direct radio deliverin smaller than nation-wide systems, provided that localauthorities are willing to come up with the half-million dollarsneeded and the academic institutions are willing to encourageassign and reward faculty participation. However, in the less

8 t;

centralized countries professional jealousy and empiredefensiveness even at the statewide level makes the tremendouscoordination effort necessary for integrated systems difficult.

Exchange of educational radio programmes might be an importantPart of a larger public broadcasting network system.

6. DESIRED NETWORK SCOPE

Once a communication mode and a delivery system have been chosen,the signal which carries the information does not care whatkind of channels it travels. Assuming good quality satellites,micro-wave, radio, and land-lines can all provide the channelsfor any of the services discussed so far. To decide which ofthese channels is best for educational purposes, we must firstestablish which locations we want to include in our educationnetwork. These are decisions which are based on a crossbetween techhical and policy issues.

Intelatipnal Education

Many countrie an beginning to realize that their educationalsystems are too parochial to suit the modern geo-political andecom,mic climate, and are beginning to examine the concept of"global education" (Florida Advisory Council on GlobalEducation, 1981) . However, such efforts often result incurricula which involve home-nation academics talking about,rather than with other nations. Similarly, most develaFja-nations recrie an obligation and a self-interest in assist-ing less developed nations, especially in former colonies, anda large portion of this assistance goee to education.(Carnegie Corporation, 1975). However, most of this aid tendsto be one-way "help" rather than two-way exchange. Developingnations have long shown a desire to connect their universitysystems into the international scholp-eic world (Ashby, 1964),but thoy have been conditioned by the "brain drain" and by thefailures of orw-way help which they anticipated would be two-way flow, and are very wary of so-called cooperative scheesas a result.

it the resi!;tace based on myopia and suspicion can be overcome,then the available hanncIs and the way they are perceivrld --start to dictate the shale of possible International educationalnetworks.

INTELSAT

The main ehiel; f-)1 Int,rnational multi-point communicationare ti- -10.1-1;tationar ,-o,!Imunications satellites operated byIN11 (.::A7'. The INTELSAT network soans the ontire globe, with

87 41

compatible terminals in more nations than any other system, andis to carry the majority of the worlds international trafficby a treaty of over 100 nations, including Australia. INTELSAThas recognized a special tariff for multi-point conferencing,but few of the national common carriers who control access toINTELSAT have picked up on this,niove to establish a similarlyreduced rate. For example,the local telecommunications companyin Fiji offered to replace the ATS-1 service for the Universityof the South Pacific at a cost of $350,000 for 15 hours per weekof 9-node international teleconferencing. INTELSAT charges ranless than $20,000 for this service. The international monopolywhich INTELSAT holds shows some signs of breaking up, with theadvent of Eurosat, Arabsat and the SBS commercial satelliteplanned by IBM. If this happens, INTELSAT may attempt tocompete with the newer international satellites by becoming aninternational common carrier, on the strength of its alreadyextensive network of earth stations and on the basis of thenewly approved "thin-route" earth stations which are smallenough and cheap enough for tiny communications users to afford.Such a move will undoubtedly be met by opposition, not theleast of which will be from national "international commoncarriers" who will not want to see revenue loss from privateaccess directly to the international network. Since many ofthese carriers (such as Australia's OTC) are government bodies,their opposition will be formidable.

Other communication satellites

At present, the issues involved in using non-INTELSAT satellitesfor international telecommunications are too complex to predictthe future. Until come conclusion on the future of the INTELSATcharter agreement, which is signed by some 100 nations, isreached, speculation on the possible use of other satellitesystems (MARISAT, PALAPA, INSAT, etc.) is not likely to be fruit-ful for international education. Because of the costs involved,educational users will remain a very small portion of theinternational telecommunication traffic, and so must be followersrather than setters of trends.

One long-term possibility might be the inclusion of a VHF trans-ponder, such as ATS-3's, on the frame of a future generation ofsatellites. Such transponders can carry 5 or 10 channelscomfortably. and are relatively cheap (in the order of SA100,000),which means that a very few users would be needed to financesuch a venture. Such a transponder can be operated withextremely inexpensive earth stations (about $A3000), whichmeans even the smallest institutions could afford to parti-cipate. This option would require reservation of the currentATS-1/3 frequencies (149/135 Mhz) for educational and ex.)eri-mental satellite communication at the coming World Assignmentof Radio Conference (WARC 1989), and then convincing a communica-tions satellite owner to include the trarsponder in a futurepackage (INTELSAT VI, AUSSAT II, etc). Similar arguments canI e made for UHF-frequency transponders on someone else's vehicle.

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Non-satellite options

Short-wave (HF) radio has been around for nearly as long asthe telephone in most countries of the world, and has gottenequally little use from academics as an operational system.Although it is used very successfully for telephony in thePacific (Kingan, 1984), for direct broadcast education inAfrica & South America (Jamison & McAnnany), and for inter-active education in Australia (REDS, 19??), it is held tohave very unreliable reception by those unfamiliar with thetechnology. Reintroducing short-wave radio into academi willmeet stiff and unformed resistance in the more developednations that will need considerable effort to counter.

Cable technology is advancing extremely rapidly, with the firstoptical fiber cable scheduled to cross the Pacific this year.The tremendous capacity of such cables should drop the priceof international telephony to a level that audio teleconferen-cing on a global scale becomes quite reasonable, providedthe national common carriers do not inflate the charges thatthey levy before such cables provide enough interconnectionsto be more than bi-laterally useful, and the smaller and moreisolated nations may never be joined to the system.

National educational networks

Each nation differs in the amount of central control in itseducational system. Countries with more centralized systemshave less difficulty with setting up nationwide networks as amatter of policy, though they may have more difficulty withindividual teacher resistance. However, every nation facessimilar technical problems, in that communication channelavailability and capacity is most severely limited in the mostisolated areas. As a rule of thumb, the cost of communicationis a function of the number of possible paths and the percentof saturation of those paths (a simple supply and demandequation).

Hence, analysis of such systems must be nation-specific,depending on the availability of satellites, microwave links(private and common carrier), HF links (digital radio, cellularradio, CB, short-wave, etc.), land lines (private, leased andcommon carrier) and conventional broadcast facilities (directand subcarrier/blanking lines). A few examples give an ideaof the range of possibilities: cit

United States

a. massive capacityb. minimal centralization

Canada

a, good central capacity, limited in isolated areasb. medium centralization

42

European Example Country

a. massive capacityb. high centralization

Third World Example Country

a. limited capacityb. massive centralization

Australia

a. limited capacityb. low centralization

7. POLICY DECISIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

Communication capacity and availability decisions help todictate the possible educational solutions in a given nation,but these technical possibilities must, in turn, be examinedaccording to local social customs and public policy to furtherrefine the

a. Network scope (international, national, regionalor local)

b. Types of users supported (student, faculty, admin,govt.)

c. Use time ("prime time", other daytime, overnight)d. Network ownership (Telecom, DOE/TEC, consortia,

school)

These policy decisions must be based on real needs of theanticipated users, and must fit into the local status, bothcurrent and potential of:

Knowledge networking

1. Educational consortia & institutional "levels"2. professional associations, societies & unions3. industrial networks4. data bases

Educational Technology in the classroom

awarenessactual use

. production facilities

Distalce education

I. institutions (numbe, location, relPtionships)2. student (numbers, location & densities)3. networking (needs, resources & problems)4. curriculum (goals, methods & delivery systems)

9

8. VARIABLES FOR DETAILED COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Once the social and political details of an educational systemare analysed, it should be possible to develop a range ofpossibilities that are specific enough to obtain actual pricequotations so that a detailed cost-benefit analysis can be made,based on assumptions about:

Network Architecture

1. Traffic volume (average and peak use rates)2. Distribution (what times, o.c which transponOers)3. Network Architecture (how many nodes, in what

hierarchy)4. Earth Stations (what size, at what power)5. Performance (what bandwidth, at what flux density)6. Mode (TDMA, FDMA, Packet Broadcast?)7. Code (analog, digital, encryption?)8. Flexibility (pre-emptible or fixed?)

Cost of Communication

1. Capital expenditure2. Maintenance3. Transmission charges4. Communication Personnel

Cost of Installation

1. Engineering2. Training3. Overcoming resistance/supplying incentives

Benefits

I. Cash savings (T&T charges, salaries)2. Cash revenue (new services, path resale)3. Educational savings (reduced attrition)4. Educational revenue (increased enrolment)5. Productivity savings (personnel, data processing)b. Quality improvement.

9. ACTION PLANS

Providing that the cost benefit analysis is favourable, thoseInterested in advancing higher education through telecommunicztipris will have to identify specific individuals and groups astargets and develop specific arguments to convince them.

A. Users (uses that meet felt needs)B. Teitiary heads (cost savings, improved enrolment

h instruction)(;overnment Agencies (mission fit, easier

,.00rdination

4.

J1

D. Industry (band wagon, non-competitive, long-termrevenue builder, training ground for employees)

E. Politicians (mission fit, popular support,Australia's world position)

Finally, these arguments will have to be placed on the agendaof specific individuals and groups who will form the shocktroops for the campaign that will have to be waged to raisethe initial investment capital that will allow practical trialsin which the concept can prove itself.

A. Current telecommunication usersB. Potential usersC. Natural allies.

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4 4 Ifix0 ,9 4