OCC2011 Keynotes: Costas Tsolakidis
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Transcript of OCC2011 Keynotes: Costas Tsolakidis
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
44
1. CRISIS !!
55In Athens …
66
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
88
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
99
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.
1616
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
1818
0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
Aus
tria
Pol
and
Por
tuga
l
Irel
and
Kor
ea
Slo
vak
Rep
ublic
Italy
Spa
in
Net
herla
nds
New
Zea
land
Icel
and
Luxe
mbo
urg
Hun
gary
Den
mar
k
Tur
key
Gre
ece
Japa
n
Sw
itzer
land
Cze
ch R
epub
lic
Aus
tral
ia
Uni
ted
Kin
gdom
Fra
nce
Can
ada
Nor
way
Bel
gium
Mex
ico
Fin
land
Uni
ted
Sta
tes
Sw
eden
Ger
man
y
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?
2222
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
2323
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
2525
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
2929
4. CONCLUDING . . .
3030
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.
3131
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?
3232
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
3333
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
3434
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
3636
3737
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
3838
• 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
3939