EDEN Open Classroom ConferenceAthens, 27-29 October 2011

Organised in collaboration withEllinogermaniki Agogi

DISTANCE LEARNING IN CRISIS: To be rediscovered…

UNIVERSITY OF THE AEGEAN

COSTAS TSOLAKIDIS

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1. CRISIS !!

55In Athens …

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In the rest of Europe

and the world . . .

Maybe not e

xactl

y

so!!!

!

1.1 WHAT IS A CRISIS?

It denotes the presence of threat and instability in some or in all economic parameters.

It is when the level of economic activity in a country dips down to dangerously low levels.

Crisis is usually an economic crisis. It is:

A negative and dynamic phenomenon.A compulsory and violent changeA discontinuityA transient between two states The link between two different theories

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Any such crisis has its own characteristics: Reasons (a combination of) G- I

Size Duration Impacts Chances of recovery! (possibly)

It brings changes in every part of life: economic social political moral

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Even developed and rich countries feel the pinch of an economic crisis:

- Businesses and companies scale down and cut costs

- Country records much lower growth rates

- Governments issue deficit budgets

- People cut costs – Limited consumption

- People become unemployed

- Services suffer from degradation

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2. EDUCATION

DURING A CRISIS

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Social Changes Financial Changes – Competition Changes in attitude of contemporary people

+Evolution of Information TechnologyDevelopment of Communications Development of Technological Culture

=Need for more knowledge – Wider knowledge Need for more specialization – Deeper knowledge Need for life long education and training – Continuous knowledge

The situation up to now . . . More Subjects

Specialization

Lifelong Learning

Volume of Education needed in society is increasing

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2.1 NEGATIVE EXPECTATIONS IN EDUCATION

Education a victim of economic crisis due to:

• financial cuts

• less staff

• degradation of educational infrastructure

• reduced research funding

• Not enough investment in technology

This is a world phenomenon,

but the poorest countries are hit the most

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UNESCO“The global economic and financial crisis in 2008-2009 risks depriving millions of children of an education, in the world’s poorest countries.

With 72 million children still out of school, a combination of slower economic growth, rising poverty and budget pressures could erode the education gains of the past decade. ….”

According to Education International

“The crisis will affect all sectors, including education.Such worrying concerns are clearly expressed in the USA and Norway, but also noted by some other European countries”.

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However, in the “developed or developing” world, (State Education) even if education is short in funding in times of crisis, there could be a lot more demand for education –

2.2. POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS

The reason is obvious: Good education and skills are crucial to improving a person’s economic and social prospects

In other words education is necessary for anyone to show that she/he is well qualified so as to Find / keep a job

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In fact, during an economic crisis, people usually:

Enroll in classes, tuitions, seminars, etc.

Go for multiple degrees.

Invest in extra-academic courses (language and computer courses)

Acquire non formal certification in various interests.

Enhance their CV’s and their real capacities in any way so that they are more likely to be eligible for jobs.

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Unemployment Rates in OECD Countries Unemployment Rates in OECD Countries (2009)(2009)

University Graduates University Graduates 4,44,4

People that did not finished high schoolPeople that did not finished high school 11,511,5

Youth unemployment Youth unemployment 17,017,0

To support the argument . . . .

In many countries – very much including Greece there is big need for

-Tertiary education - Formal and non formal in service training- Any training

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Tertiary level educational attainment for age group 25-64 As a percentage of the population in the corresponding age group 2006

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Den

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Tur

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Bel

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Percentage of increase of graduates (1999-2006)

OECD 2009

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Expected hours over working life in all non formal education and in job-related non formal education 2007

2020

Hence, during a crisis it is necessary to have at the same time:

(a) More education of good quality

(b) Less expensive education

While these characteristics seem to be contradictory in traditional education, they seem to be compatible by adopting

distance education and e-learning methods,

which is both effective and efficient

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3. DISTANCE EDUCATION TO CURE THE CRISIS?

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A Working Question

Can DE satisfy the quality and cost criteria to improve education under the financial constrains that are imposed by the crisis?

The quality and the cost of DE are to be discussed briefly

In some cases, especially in the past, DE was met with preoccupation and prejudice as a second class education

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Distance Education (DE)

Depends on Technology

• It is a new approach to education

Different philosophy

In the past was used in circumstances that conventional Education (CE) could not be applied

Conventional Education (CE):

• Tradition and Reliability

• Interaction between teacher and learner

• Interaction of students with the teaching environment

• Socialization

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Various studies were published indicating that results using DE are not any worse that results obtained using CE

Apart from that one has to look at the

basic theories for DE and to

make some elementary thoughts about DE and CE

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Transactional Distance Theory Transactional Distance Theory (TDT)(TDT)

Transactional Distance (TD)Transactional Distance (TD): Distance in : Distance in understanding (psychological and educational) understanding (psychological and educational) when there is a geographical distancewhen there is a geographical distance

Transactional Distance = Potential MisunderstandingsTransactional Distance = Potential Misunderstandings

In Education there is always a transactional distanceIn Education there is always a transactional distance

Teachers and educational institutions must try Teachers and educational institutions must try to bridge – to to bridge – to reduce- TDreduce- TD if a substantial and good quality education is to if a substantial and good quality education is to materialized. materialized.

Transactional Distance is a pedagogical conceptTransactional Distance is a pedagogical concept

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Transactional Distance = f (Dialogue, Structure, Autonomy)

EXAMPLES•The careless student and the unprepared teacher •The face to face teaching in a large amphitheatre•The reading of a book

The TD can be bridged by manipulating mainly the The TD can be bridged by manipulating mainly the dialoguedialogue of the course (the most researches have shown of the course (the most researches have shown that only dialogue is significantly correlated to distance)that only dialogue is significantly correlated to distance)

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AA Adult friendlyAdult friendly

NN New Methodology New Methodology

TT Technology basedTechnology based

II InexpensiveInexpensive

CC ConvenientConvenient

RR RecognizedRecognized

II IndividualizedIndividualized

SS Self directedSelf directed

II InteractiveInteractive

SS Sustainable Sustainable

ANTICRISIS CHARACTERISTICS

OF DISTANCE LEARNING

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Infrastrucure

Equipment

Electr. appl.

Staff

Material

DE

CE

C

ost

No of learners

TE

DE

No of learnersC

ost

CE

DE

Infrastructure _ BuildingsTranspotation - commuting Personal ComputersInternet connection

The cost issue

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4. CONCLUDING . . .

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The crisis is a messenger of change.

The pain for the crisis is a pain of birth.

Next stage could bring better conditions if . . .

To minimise the effects of the crisis:

Productivity, Innovation, Use of technology are needed to form a protective shield

Theses qualities are inherent and embedded in the DE methods and techniques

The crisis affects education in Europe and the world.

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1.New courses should be defined so that the financial life of the establishments can be tuned up with the needs of society

2. Distance Education providers should refocus on the existing and prospective target groups as they emerge from the new conditions

3. Invest in technology as infrastructure, medium and subject

DE is not panacea, is a promising path to achieve more education with low cost How?

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In Greece the system is centrally run it is easy to institutionalise and to apply DE methods

(teacher training etc)

All of the above can be developed on a substrate of the country’s: a. communication infrastructure b. ICT penetration to society

As technology evolves, the capabilities are improving resulting in changes in attitude.

Social Networks

What is needed is pedagogical research in class application of DE

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We discussed a few proposals on how education can be transformed to tackle the crisis. We pointed out the dynamics of distance education that can possibly offer solutions to problems of education

What about other sectors in life?

How can they tackle the crisis?

Distance Education can offer new ideas in methodology and a new paradigm to other disciplines so that they can find their own “Distant Education” methods

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What we actually need: A fresh look on the basic ideas and standards of education A reorganization of the beaurocracy of education Application of distance learning on more levels of education

We need daring policies for Distance Education An open and adaptive attitude towards DE

As to learn how to learn

And this is a lot!!

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PSERIMOS A small island in the Aegean ~ 30

Inhabitants

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Tuesday 16 June 2009 From the last Teacher

Every pupil and every teacher has left in this classroom a

part of her soul. . . These parts form a sweet story

that I hope will not be forgotten.

Joy

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• ADSL Connection

• Installation of a small lab – 4PCs and accessories

• 3 students and 3 other inhabitants were trained in ICT use in face to face sessions and at a distance

An Initiative by The Southern Aegean local authorities and University of Aegean:

The Ministry of Education was asked to allow the students to attend high school from a neigbouring island using DE

There was a negative response

The University of Aegean continues to teach the students of this island English using DE methods. An example

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