What future(s) for distance education universities? Towards an open network-based approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.22.1.22288Keywords:
distance education, open education, higher education, universities, online universities, open universitiesAbstract
The need for increased scalability, interoperability and flexibility of educational provision is driving the expansion of digital and open learning in higher education. As this movement spreads across institutions worldwide, distance education universities find themselves in a crisis. Technologyenhanced learning is now mainstream in higher education institutions and most have embraced open educational practices as well due to the great impact of MOOCs. In this new fast-growing, chaotic and unstable context, research-based expertise, a dedicated infrastructure and specially-trained staff may no longer seem required for institutions to provide distance and eLearning. Furthermore, new noninstitutional non-formal higher education providers of open online or blended learning courses and programmes are emerging as a result of community or special interest group-led initiatives. Far from the days when they stood alone as unique institutions with the unique mission to provide an innovative kind of education, distance education universities are now competing openly with other conventional universities and other educational players. In a time of continuous reduction of public expenditure in higher education, a debate has emerged on the sustainability of these institutions, especially in Europe. In this paper we analyse the new social, economical and technological challenges and opportunities which distance education universities are faced with and discuss the reinterpretation of their typical mission. We also explore existing organisational models and propose a new one based on an open network approach.
Downloads
References
Allen, I. & Seaman, J. (2014). Grade Change: Tracking Online Learning in the United States. Wellesley MA: Babson College/Sloan Foundation.
Anderson, T. (2005). Distance Learning – Social software’s killer app? Proceedings of the Open & Distance Learning Association (ODLAA) of Australia, Adelaide. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239549918_Distance_learning_-_Social_software%27s_killer_ap on
Bates, T. (A. W.) (Ed.) (2017). Tracking Online Education in Canadian Universities and Colleges . Nova Scotia: Canadian Digital Learning Research Association.
Bates, A.W. (2015). Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for Designing Teaching and Learning. Vancouver BC: Tony Bates Associates Ltd.
Bates. A. W. (2013). Is there a future for distance education? E-learning and distance education resources: Tony’s Blog. Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2013/10/23/is-there-a-future-for-distance-education
Bates, A. W. (2008). The state of e-learning, E-learning and distance education resources: Tony’s Blog. Retrieved from http://www.tonybates.ca/2008/12/19/the-state-of-e-learning-2008
Christensen, C. M. & Eyring, H. J. (2011). The Innovative University. Changing the DNA of Higher education from inside out. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Coates, K. (2017). Independent Third-Party Review of Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.athabascau.ca/aboutau/documents/third-party/5-1-2017-third-party-review.pdf
Cormier, D. (2010). What is a MOOC? You Tube. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3gMGqcZQc.
Cormier, D. (2008a). The CCK08 MOOC – Connectivism course, 1/4 way. Dave’s Educational Blog. Retrieved from http://davecormier.com/edblog/2008/10/02/the-cck08-mooc-connectivism-course-14-way
Cormier, D. (2008b). Rhizomatic education: Community as curriculum. Innovate 4 (5). Retrieved from https://nsuworks. nova.edu/innovate/vol4/iss5/2
Daanen, H. & Facer, K. (2007). 2020 and beyond: Future scenarios for education in the age of new technologies. Bristol: Futurelab. Retrieved from https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/FUTL54/FUTL54.pdf
Dalsgaard, C. (2006). Social software: e-Learning beyond learning management systems. EURODL, (II). Retrieved from http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2006/Christian_Dalsgaard.pdf
Daniel, J. (2012). Making Sense of MOOCs: Musings in a Maze of Myth, Paradox and Possibility. Journal of Interactive Media In Education, (3), 18. Retrieved from http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/jime/article/view/2012-18
Downes, S. (2012). Creating the Connectivist Course. Half an hour. Retrieved from http://halfanhour.blogspot.pt/2012/01/creating-connectivist-course.html
Downes, S. (2008). The Future of Online Learning: Ten Years On. Half an Hour. Retrieved from https://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2008/11/future-of-online-learning-ten-years-on_16.html
European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) (2015). Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). Brussels, Belgium. Retrieved from http://www.enqa.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ESG_2015.pdf
Huertas, E. et al. (2018). Considerations for quality assurance of e-learning provision. Report from the ENQA Working Group VIII on Quality Assurance and e-learning. Occasional Papers 26. Brussels: ENQA.
Retrieved from http://www.enqa.eu/indirme/papers-and-reports/occasional-papers/Considerations%20for%20QA%20of%20e-learning%20provision.pdf
Moore, M. (2007). Web 2.0: Does it really matter? American Journal of Distance Education, 21 (4), 177-183. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/08923640701595183
Mota, J. (2009). Da Web 2.0 ao e-Learning 2.0: Aprender na Rede (Master Thesis). Retrieved from https://repositorioaberto.uab.pt/bitstream/10400.2/1381/1/web20_e-learning20_aprender_na_rede.pdf
Pappano, L. (2012). The Year of the MOOC. New York Times. Retrieved from: www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/massive-open-online-courses-are-multiplying-at-a-rapid-pace.html
Peters, O. (2002). Distance Education in Transition. New Trends and Challenges. Oldenburg: Biblotheks - und Informationssystem der Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg.
Peters, O. (2000). The transformation of the university into an institution of independent learning. In T. Evans & D. Nation (Eds.). Changing University Teaching, (FALTA PÁGS) London: Kogan Page.
Peters, O. (1989). The iceberg has not melted: further reflections on the concept of industrialisation and distance teaching, Open Learning, 4 (3), 3-8.
Peters, O. (1988). Distance teaching and industrial production: A comparative interpretation in outline, in D. Sewart, D. Keegan & B. Holmberg (Eds.) Distance education: International perspectives (95-111). Londres/Nova Iorque: Croom-Helm/St. Martin’s Press.
Riley, D. (2007). The Rise Of The Prosumer. TechCrunch.
Retrieved from http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/06/15/the-rise-of-the-prosumer/
Senge, P. (2014). The dance of change: The challenges to sustaining momentum in a learning organization (5th edition). New York: Crown Publishing Group.
Senge, P. (2000). The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, New York: Doubleday.
Siemens, G. (2013). Massive Open Online Courses: Innovation in Education?. In R. McGreal, W. Kinuthia and S, Marshall (Eds). Open Educational Resources: Innovation, Research and Practice (5-16). Canada: Athabasca University. Retrieved from https://oerknowledgecloud.org/sites/oerknowledgecloud.org/files/pub_PS_OER-IRP_web.pdf
Siemens, G. (2008). New structures and spaces of learning: The systemic impact of connective knowledge, connectivism, and networked learning. In Web 2.0 Meeting. Retrieved from http://elearnspace.org/Articles/systemic_impact.htm.
Siemens, G. (2006). Knowing Knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/KnowingKnowledge_LowRes.pdf
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2 (1), 3-10. Retrieved from http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01.htm
Teixeira, A. M. & Mota, J. (2015). A Proposal for the Methodological Design of Collaborative Language MOOCs. In E. Martín-Monje & E. Bárcena (Eds.), Language MOOCs: Providing Learning, Transcending Boundaries (33-47). Berlin: De Gruyter Open.
Teixeira, A. M. & Mota, J. (2014). The iMOOC Pedagogical Model: Bridging the gap between non-formal and formal education. In Actas del V Congreso Internacional sobre Calidad y Accesibilidad de la Formación
Virtual - CAFVIR 2014 (512-517). Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala.
Teixeira, A. (2012). Desconstruindo a Universidade: Modelos universitários emergentes mais abertos, flexíveis e sustentáveis. RED. Revista de Educación a Distancia, 32. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/ANTNIO~1/AppData/Local/Temp/Dialnet-DesconstruindoAUniversidade-4954163.pdf
Unesco & CoL (2011). Guidelines for open educational resources (OER) in higher education. Paris: Unesco. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002136/213605e.pdf
Weller, M. (2014). The Battle For Open: How openness won and why it doesn’t feel like victory. London: Ubiquity Press.
Weller, M. (2011). The Digital Scholar: How Technology Is Transforming Scholarly Practice. Basingstoke: Bloomsbury Academic.
Wenger, E., Trayner, B., & de Laat, M. (2011). Promoting and assessing value creation in communities and networks: A conceptual framework. Rapport 18, Ruud de Moor Centrum, Open Universiteit, The Netherlands. Retrieved from http://www.leerarchitectuur.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Value-creation-Wenger-De-Laat-Trayner.pdf
Wheeler, S. (2015). Learning with 'e's: Educational theory and practice in the digital age. Bancyfelin, Carmarthen: Crown House Publishing.
Wiley, D. & Hilton, J. III (2009). Openness, Dynamic Specialization, and the Disaggregated Future of Higher Education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10 (5), 1-17. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/768/1415
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 RIED. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The articles that are published in this journal are subject to the following terms:
1. The authors grant the exploitation rights of the work accepted for publication to RIED, guarantee to the journal the right to be the first publication of research understaken and permit the journal to distribute the work published under the license indicated in point 2.
2. The articles are published in the electronic edition of the journal under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. You can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
3. Conditions for self-archiving. Authors are encouraged to disseminate electronically the OnlineFirst version (assessed version and accepted for publication) of its articles before publication, always with reference to its publication by RIED, favoring its circulation and dissemination earlier and with this a possible increase in its citation and reach among the academic community.
