ERIC ED338921: Beyond the Text: Contemporary Writing on Distance Education.

261 Pages·1991·4 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
CE 059 746
ED 338 921
Evans, Terry; King, Bruce
AUTHOR
Beyond the Text: Contemporary Writing on Distance
TITLE
Education.
Deakin Univ., Victoria (Australia).
INSTITUTION
REPORT NO ISBN-0-949823-19-8
PUB DATE
91
NOTE
261p.
AVAILABLE FROM
Deakin University Press, Geelong, Victoria 3217,
Australia.
Books (010) -- Collected Works - General (020)
PUB TYPE
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EDRS PRICE
*Access to Education; Developed Nations; *Developing
DESCRIPTORS
Nations; *Disabilities; *Distance Education; Economic
Development; Educational Philosophy; Educational
Practices; *Educational Technology; Epistemology;
Females; Foreign Countries; *Independent Study;
Males; Postsecondary Education; Sex Bias; Sex
Fairness
Australia; Ghana
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
Based on materials originally prepared for a course
being developed at an Australian university, this book examines
critical issues in distance education and open learning. The book is
organized in five parts. The first part locates distance education in
relation to education and social science and provides a general
introduction and orientation. The other four parts provide a broad
critical social scientific approach, each with an introduction by one
of the editors and two contributors' chapters. The following articles
are included: "An Epistemological Orientation to Critical Reflection
in Distance Education" (Terry Evans); "Disability and Distance
Education in Australia" (Christopher Newell, Judy Walker); "Gender
Issues in Distance Education--A Feminist Perspective" (Margaret
Grace); "On the Possibthty of Dialogue in Distance Education: A
Dialogue" (Helen Modra); "Teaching Texts wid Independent Learning"
(Daryl Nation); "Distance Education in a Developing Context: Ghana"
(Kwasi Ansu-Kveremeh); "Distance Education and the Developing World:
Colonisation, C...:llaporation and Control" (Pichard Guy); "Critical
Essay on Technology in Distance Education" (Michael Campion);
"Towards a Critical Educational Technology in Distance Education"
(David Harris); and "Endnote: Beyond the Text" (Terry Evans, Bruce
King). (387 references)
(KC)
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BEST COPYAVAILABLE
Beyond the Text: Contemporary Writing on Distance Education
Published by Deakin University Press,
Geelong, Victoria, Australia 3217
© Deakin University Press 1991
Printed by Deakin University Printery
National Library of Aus alia
Cataloguing-in-publicatk,n data
Beyond the text.
Bibliography
Includes index.
ISBN 0 949823 19 8.
1. Distance education. I Evans, Terry D. (Terry
Denis). II King, Bruce, 1945
378.03
CONTENTS
Part 1 Introduction and Overview
Chapter 1
Introduction, by Terry Evans and Bruce King
3
Chapter 2
An epistemological orientation to critical reflection in distance
education, by Terry Evans
7
Pnt 2: Access and Equity in Distance education
Introductior. by Bruce King
21
Chapter 3
Disability and distance education in Australia, by Christopher
Newell and Judi Walker
27
Chapter 4
Gender issues in distance education, by Margaret Grace
56
Part 3: Dialogue and independence in Distance Education
Introduction, by Bruce King
77
Chapter 5
On the possibility of dialogue in distance education,
by Helen Modra
83
Chapter 6
Teaching texts and independent learning, by Daryl Nation
101
4
Part 4: Distance Education in Developing Nations
Introduction, by Terry Evans
133
Chapter 7
Distance education in a developing context: Ghana,
by Kwasi
Ansu-Kyeremeh
137
Chapter 8
Distance education and the developing world,
by Richard Guy
152
Part 5: Technology in Distance Education
Introduction, by Terry Evans
179
Chapter 9
Critical essay on technology in distance
education', by Michael
Campion
183
Chapter 10
Towards a cri ical technology', by David
Harris
204
Endnote: Beyond the Text By Terry
Evans and Bruce King
227
Bibliography
231
Index
257
PART ONE
INTRODUCTION AND
ORIENTATION
f ;
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
KING
TERRY EVANS AND BRUCE
collaborative
together on the
have worked
Over the past two years we
Education and Graduate
Master of Distance
development of a new
the
Deakin University and
Education program at
Diploma of Distance
who
We were the people
Australia respectively.
University of South
part
have played an integral
collaboration and we
initially established the
part of our
since. An important
and operation ever
in its management
Issues in
of the units - Critical
develop and teach one
work has been to
consultants
We used several
within the new program.
Distance Education
pieces of
in the form of several
the materials which were
to help develop
Once
in distance education.
audio-discussion on issues
critical writing and
people to purchase the
had requests from
the course was produced we
bound into five books
because the materials were
materials but, mainly
feasibility
published material, the
reproductions of other
which included
Anne Howells was
individuals was problematic.
of selling the materials to
during her
worked on the course
Deakin University who
our editor at
gael
diolch am y pleser o
Open University -
exchange from the UK
collection which
suggested that we edit a
gweithio gyda chi. Anne
of
writing. We asked each
versions of the original
contained the revised
and, with a lot of
interested in such a project
the consultants if they were
the contributors, this text
swift revisions by
help from Anne and some
was created.
of
takes us beyond some
produce a text which
Our intention was to
seemed
distance education. It
and ideas about
the established practices
distance education needed
and practices of
that the structures, processes
people who were
critical scrutiny by
identifying and subjecting to
education. Identifying the
issues of distance
applying forms of critique on
education is as easy as it
practices of distance
structures, processes and
of what
competing understandings
there are several
appears becaise
its close companion open
education and, especially
constitutes distance
of distance education
19890. Once understandings
learning (see Rumble
they take on a
be difficult to shake;
learning are formed they can
or open
strongly that it takes
shapes our thinking so
paradigmatic quality which
experiences to shift them.
significant contradictory
3
7
INTRODUCTION AND
ORIINTATION
The well-known
philosopher of science,
Thomas Kuhn, has
argued
that the physical
and natural sciences
have not been
a smooth process of
development of
rational thought
and research, but
rather have been
series of 'scientific
a
revolutions', whereby
each prevailing
paradigm (or
dominant way of
thinking) is usurped
by another
as a result of significant
research findings
not fitting the
prevailing paradigm
(Kuhn 1970). In
this
sense, despite their
more limited
scope, history and
pre-paradigmatic
nature, distance
education and
open learning are
no different from
sciences; prevailing
theories and practices
of distance
education and
open
learning can become
firmly embedded
as the way to think and
work until
a storm of contradictory
pressures uproots them.
In the 1990s,
distance education and
open learning
, in Australia and
internationally,
are facing a series of
challenges which
may lead to a major
shift in the
way the field is theorised
and practised,
or it may reinforce the
prevailing orthodoxies.
This book
presents some of these
debates and
challenges and
shows that the
array of practices,
structures and
institutions do not
rest easily together
in a cosy nest of
distance education.
In fact, there
appear to be a great
many difficulties to
overcome in
contemporary distance
education and
we hope that the debates
in this
book help the
reader to extend
their own thinking
in the area. This
is not
to st;ggest that
distance education
is alone in this
regard. Generally,
distance education,
and education
more generally, contain
and reflect the
contradictions and
contestations which
are the essence of
contemporary
societies. Therefore,
the practices,
structures and institutions
of distance
education are
not mere unproblematic
educational
responses to societal
needs, but rather
they are locales
of human and
political interaction
and
contest. Matters of
power and ideology
loom large
as governments,
bureaucracies and
individuals wrestle
to establish their
interests in
distance education.
Therefore,
we can view distance
education as
a
struggle between
conflicting and
competing interests
out of which
are developed and
courses
taught, students
passed and failed,
resources
consumed,
careers erected and
shattered, etc.
The struggle
at work in distance
education is not
one of continuous
fights and skirmishes
much of this is
masked or mediated
through the
structures in which
practices are located
and take place
but it is
nevertheless a real
presence in the everyday
life of the people
involved in
distance education:
teachers, students,
administrators,
educational
designers, editors
etc. In Australia,
distance higher
education is
undergoing a series
of changes
brought about
through the Australian
government's
restructuring of higher
education and the
establishment of
the national
Distance Education
Centres (King 1989a).
Most states have
had their
own reviews and
restructuring of distance
education within
school and Technical
the
and Further
Education (TAFE)
sectors. There
are
international examples
of similar
structural and policy
upheavals which
represent their
own crises for those
involved. Recent
history suggests
the tensions
that
created by and
through such
upheavals
are likely to produce
further changes
and that stability
is a distant dream.
Therefore, the need
INTRODUCrION
to adopt sustained critical analysis of government policies and their
outcomes in practice is highly pertinent for distance education
practitioners.
We had little difficulty in saying when developing our course that
there was an area of curriculum which one might call critical issues in
distance education, but we recognised that the course, and therefore this
book, could not be a definitive exposition and analysis of critical issues in
distance education. In a sense, it is inconsistent with the nature of the
book that there ever could be such a thing as the definitive exposition and
analysis, especially when it is produced as printed text and used well
beyond its cormation. In fact, it was very important to us that the book
should reflect different writing on distance education and, in particular,
should encourage its readers to think beyond the text and into their own
experiences of distance education.
We have structured the book to cover some major areas of issues in
distance education and open learning which any scholar and practitioner
could be expected to recognise. We were familiar with contemporary
matters and debates published in journals on distance education and open
learning, and articulated in policy documents, meetings, conferences and
through the mass-media. We had even made our own contributions to
debates about distance education (see for example, Evans 1989a, 1989b;
Evans & Nation 1988, 1989a, 1989b; King 1989a, 1989b; King & Forster
1985; Willmott & King 1984 ). On this basis we decided that
we needed a
chapter which located distance education epistemologically in relation to
education and social science and to use this as a basis for charting
a route
toward the critical reflection and analysis of distance education. We then
identified four areas which we believed ought to be addressed within
what might be called a broad critical social scientific approach. Each of
these areas forms a part within this book and includes an introduction by
one of the editors and
o contributors' chapters. The following parts and
their contributors are as follows:
Fart 2 Access and equity in distance education
'Access' and 'equity' are two terms frequently linked together in
educational and other policy documents in Australia and they have their
equivalents in other nations. Distance education has often been
seen as a
means to improve access and equity within education and, therefore,
more broadly in society. Chapter 3 concerns distance education for people
with disabilities and is written by Christopher Newell and Judi Walker of
the University of Tasmania. Chapter 4
which concerns issues of gender
,
in distance education, is written by Margaret Grace who is
an off-campus,
full-time I'hD student at Deakin University.
5
IN'IRODUCTIM AND ORIINTATION
Part 3 Independence, autonomy and dialogue in distance
education
Debates concerning the promotion of student independence and
autonomy are to be found within the literature on distance education
spanning at least the last two decades. The issues embedded within this
topic cover aspects of empowerment, dialogue, discourse, 'guided
didactic conversation' etc., as well as practical means of facilitating
independence and autonomy in distance es:it/cation. The issues in this
topic can be quite complex and very rich, and they go to the heart of
teaching itself. Chapter 5 is by Helen Modra of Deakin University who
addresses the matter of dialogue in distance education through a dialogue
with two of her colleagues, Lindsay Fitzclarence and Stephen Kemmis.
Chapter 6 was written by Daryl Nation of Monash University College
Gipps land and is concerned with his approaches to teaching through texts
toward independent learning.
Part 4 Distance education in developing nations
Distance education is another product of industrialised nations which has
been employed in various developing nations. The peClgogies, methods,
technologies and techniques of distance education are predicated on
Western notions of learning and social life, and depend on Western forms
and levels of infrastructure. Many developing nations are importing
courses, structures and models of distance education as part of their drive
towards development. A range of issues are worth exploring in this
engagement between distance education and the needs and circumstances
of people in the developing world. Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh, now located in
Canada, wrote Chapier 7 based on his research in Ghana on the use of
educational media. Richard Guy
who works at the University of Papua
,
Now Guinea, discusses thc 1.,:.±1.ematic nature of practising distance
education in developing nations in Chapter 8.
Part 5 Technology in distance education
The r,Aationship between new technologies, especially
the
in
^ommunications field, and distance education is one which has been the
,,ubject of much rhetoric and expenditure in recent years. It seemed clear
that the suppositions upon which technologies were developed and those
which underpin distance education would provide a numbe: of issues
which need critical analysis. Michael Campion, from Murdoch University,
provides z post-Fordist critique of technology in distance education in
Chapter 9. David Harris, who is from the College of St Mark and St John,
Plymouth and also tutors for the UK Open University, provides
a critique
of educational technology in distance education in Chapter 10.
We conclude the book with an endnote which reflects
on some of the
issues raised in the text and points to a way forward Beyond the Text.
6
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