PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Linked Learning in Chinese Higher
EducationPaul Hofmann
Research PresentationNovember 10, 2010
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Overview of The People’s Republic of
China Founded in 1949 Estimated
Population of 1.3 billion
Communist Government
Fourth largest country in the world by area
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Origins of Higher Education in China
Earliest Chinese University dates to 1100 B.C. during the Zhou dynasty
During the height of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.), more than 30,000 students attended the main campus in Chang ’An.
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Higher Education in Modern China
Today there are more than 20 million students are enrolled in 2,000 colleges and universities
Project 211 and Project 985
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Origins of Linked Learningin Chinese Higher
Education Linked Learning in China has emerged from
three distinct generations of distance learning (Ding et al., 2010) Correspondence-based education (People’s University, 1951)
Central Chinese Radio and TV Universities (1960)
Online Education (Qinghua University, 1998)
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Growth of Linked Learningin Chinese Higher
EducationMore than 166,000 Chinese
students were enrolled in recognized e-learning programs in 2007.
By 2008, e-learning enrollment in China exceeds enrollment in the country’s radio and television universities for the first time.
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Barriers and Challenges toLinked Learning in China
Insufficient Infrastructure Government Censorship Issues with Approval and Administrative
Oversight Concerns about Cheating and a
Perception of a Lack of Rigor Legal Concerns Pedagogical Differences
Teaching Differences Learning Differences
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Insufficient Infrastructure As of June 2010, Internet users in China
reached 420 million (China Internet Network Information Center, 2010)
Despite being the largest linked market in the world, approximately 900 million Chinese remain unconnected.
Building sufficient infrastructure is complicated by a large geographic region with many isolated rural areas.
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Government Oversight and Authorization
Information technologies are viewed as a potential liberating force for democracy (Otani, 2010).
Decisions are made by government bureaucrats, not educators and learners (Carr-Chellman & Zhang, 2000).
Since 1999, only 67 COEs have been approved by the Ministry of Education (Zhao & Jiang, 2010). Approval process is slow and highly politicized
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Cheating and a Lack of Rigor
Concerns over quality control; rigor, and efficacy (Ding et al., 2010) Lack of perceived quality and prestige Cheating is institutionalized in China▪ GMAT (Damast, 2009)▪ TOEFL / IELTS (Jaschik, 2006)
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Legal Concerns A lack of established laws governing
the Linked Learning Industry Faculty and Student Rights Concerns over Intellectual Property▪ Curriculum▪ Software▪ Hardware
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Pedagogical Concerns Linked Learning is pedagogically at
odds with more than 3000 years of Chinese higher education
Teacher training is required to foster a student-centered, collaborative environment
Chinese Learners require more face-to-face interaction with peers and instructors than Linked Learning offers
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
Opportunities Innovative partnerships with overseas
institutions Economic opportunities for hardware
vendors and foreign institutions Opportunities for ongoing social change
in China Freedom of Speech Human Rights Fair Trade
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN
ConclusionsThe development of Linked
Learning in China has mirrored the development of the same in the United States
Linked Learning will play an integral role in the further expansion of Chinese Higher Education.
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