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EDTEC 650
Commentaries on "Distance Education Systems of the Future" |
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Bookmarks: Preface Chapter1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Preface to "Distance Education Systems of the Future "Preface" 1) US leadership in the field of higher education around the world is being challenged by the educational systems of other countries.
2) A shift is occurring in the focus of economic activity in the world from production of goods to knowledge-based problem solving.
3) Replacement of the current workforce, which is made up of baby boomers, with the next generation after having trained them to perform those jobs.
4) Require the colleges and universities to be more accountable for insuring the success of the students that they admit.
5) Rising tuition costs and rising student debt.
6) Fewer students are entering the field of science.
7) Issues that may have implications for Distance Education. a) Adherence of the current system to traditional academic calendars. b) Lack of inter-institutional recognition of transfer credit. c) Needed reforms in accreditation and state and federal regulations. d) Lack of interdisciplinary programs to meet the demands of business, government and institutions.
Five questions about the topics covered in DE Syst.s of the future.
1) How is distance education and classroom instruction fundamentally different and yet seem to result in the same outcome? (I know this question seems obtuse but I am still looking for a working definition.)
2) What is education? If distance education is so different from classroom, traditional, industrial style education how can it deliver the same product but by different means.
3) Who is paying attention to this discussion about the value of distance education and its benefits in the post- modern world? (As reported in this article, the school system in this country seems even more reluctant to change than the resistance that corporations have shown.)
4) Will distance education eventually be the province of the private sector?
5) How will the student be able to impact the direction of education when what we see is a pattern of less responsiveness by our institutions such as government, business and education? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Chapter 1 of "Distance Education Systems of the Future "Methods of Analysis" In this first chapter Dr. Saba has mentioned emergent trends that would seem to be pushing us toward a post-industrial or post-modern world. In this world of the 21st century there would be less centralization in government and commerce and more autonomy as to how we live and work. In my view, this is the direction that most people that I talk to would like to go. Myself and others can see a world that more closely meets the ideals that have been developing since the 60’s. Ideals that describe a more egalitarian world where each person has a better opportunity for self-actualization. This, of course, must necessarily include access to education and at a reasonable cost for all who are interested. But the view that some have is that we are going in the wrong direction. I think that this is a realistic view. trends in the current governmental administration are reactionary, news and information services that use print and video media are being consolidated, and whereas the web had been foreshadowed as the great equalizer it too is being bought up by a few who have gotten super rich and they are turning into just another advertising wasteland.
There is a great deal of inertia and even backward drift that will have to be overcome in order to get to the third wave of human civilization.
Questions about the topics covered in chapter 1 DE Syst.s of the future.
1) How is it that knowledge is so sought after while those who possess it and can teach it are becoming so devalued.
2) Is there a difference between the meanings of post-industrial and postmodern.
3) How will standardization, which is representative of the second wave of civilization be harmful to education.
4) What would be a simplified description of the “3rd wave” of civilization. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Chapter 2 of "Distance Education Systems of the Future "The Individual Learner”. 1. Three keywords or phrases are a part of the introduction to this chapter. The first is industrialization and the second is mass education. The two terms are linked as being necessary for each other to persist. Industrialized processes need a work force that is educated to a certain degree and trained in particular ways to sustain productivity. This brings in the third term which is standardization. The term represents the basic requirement of uniformity that will enable a predictable outcome.
2. Mass education, in order to meet the demands of both student and industrialist, first offered an apparent advancing level of education that suited the needs of learners to grow their knowledge and compete for better paying jobs and careers. At a deeper level, however, structured education was also training the workforce to be punctual, obedient and capable of repetitive work styles. These are some of the major components of “the work ethic”.
3. To measure the student’s progress toward reaching the underlying goals of education, standardized tests were introduced and continue to be the premier goal of the K-12 learning objective, namely, teaching to the test.
4. The 1960s represents the beginning of recognition that little autonomy was being offered as a part of the mass educational system. Hippies, the “flower child” and protesting students were the vanguard of an emerging post-industrialized society.
5. Today’s students face an even more complex world with a vastly greater number of choices to make. How they select their curriculum, how best to invest their time and what goals to establish are all made difficult when any particular career choice may be something of a “moving target”.
Questions about the topics covered in chapter 2 of “ DE Syst.s of the Future”.
1. When thinking about education of the future that may be tailored to the individual with competencies and qualifications that may vary widely, how will the employers of tomorrow evaluate whether an applicant is a good fit for a particular employable task?
2. While in the area of mass education the 60s represent an awareness of the focused intent of our industrialized system of education, can the labor movement of the 1930s also be considered a precursor to the recognition of the fact that very little autonomy was being offered by an industrialized society and that absolute fealty to job and government was required, as well? 3. What are the implications for our society when statistics show that women are becoming the recipients of better education and are receiving more of the advanced college degrees? Are they more likely to become the administrators in the post-industrial society of tomorrow? 4. What of the men? 5. In what areas of the US military education and training programs are they veering toward a post-industrialized approach. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Chapter 3 of "Distance Education Systems of the Future “The Individual Instructor” 1. This chapter begins with putting the individual instructor into the perspective of our current system of education. It portrays the individual instructor as working in the pre-industrial model, the administrator as within the industrialized model, and the student as preparing for a post-industrial world. This, necessarily, creates tension between the three positions. 2. The tension between instructors and administrators is based about the latter’s request for instructors to perform activities that fulfill the purposes of industrialization. This has an impact on Distance Education because the instructor is now being invited to participate in a group activity and step out of the usual pre-industrial mode of thought and action. 3. The tension between instructor and student is based upon the usual situation where the instructor does not take into account the students need for a more individualized approach to their instruction. 4. The quality that the individual instructor most appreciates is autonomy to pursue those area s that are of most interest to them and to share the results of that work with students through the act of lecturing. 5. Individual instructors are not given direct access to the money that funds the process of education or research for that matter. Questions about the topics covered in Chapter 3 of “ DE Syst.s of the Future”.
1. One mode of distance education appears to me to be an industrialized form. It is centralized and divided up among many specialized participants; administrators, designers, technologists, deliverers, evaluators. The other mode is of the type that we are practicing in this class; direct interaction with some focus and allowance for the pursuit of individual goals. When we are talking about Distance education aren’t these two modes in paradox with each other?
2. Aren’t classroom instructors managers of a sort?
3. What is the difference between lecturing and classroom instruction?
4. At the current time, most of us” instructors” are locked in and a part of the educational structure as defined by this chapter. I am not so concerned with solving the friction between instructors and administrators at this time. However, I would like to learn how better to serve students with their post-industrial outlook on their futures while recognizing that it stands in contrast to my pre-industrial outlook on teaching. How can the gap be bridged? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Chapter 4 of "Distance Education Systems of the Future "The Administrator". This chapter as well as the previous chapters have helped to put many things about education in general and distance education in particular into perspective for me. The descriptions provided of the historical trends of education back through the 60s and forward have resonated with me since this covers the span of my own educational history. The events of the 60s now have a meaning in the greater context of my personal and academic life. The context offered by these chapters explain to some extent why student bodies both here and across the world rallied against the personal restraints of an industrialized society that extended all the way into the classrooms at all levels of education.
Also placed into a framework are my own experiences as a teacher. I have often sensed and remarked about the friction spoken of in these chapters between myself and the administration of the schools at which I taught and heard of similar attitudes from other teachers. Using the concept of industrialization and describing the relative position of the major factions involved with providing education is a very valuable analogy for evaluating the differences in points of view for each faction, namely teacher, administrator and student.
Though it has been described many times in this and the previous course in distance education, I haven’t realized entirely until now, why the concept of distance education has caused such notable internal conflict. It seems that at every description of the facets of distance education there has been a dissonance struck with my own view point of what I should be doing as a teacher. The way that I have been practicing face-to-face teaching is a long way from the attitudes required for effectively teaching at a distance. And though I work within my own system of pedagogy, it won’t be easy to accept a more narrowly defined role in a much broader system of presenting education that approaches a model based on industrialization.
As I read over what I have written I find that it does not quite capture the impact that these chapters have had upon me. I do not write well enough to convey them. But I have found the prose used for these articles to be expressed in easily understandable language and without a lot of technical terms and abbreviations. The style makes it easily accessible to the lay teacher.
Addendum to Questions about the topics covered in Chapter 3 of “ DE Syst.s of the Future”. 1. Which do you suppose is the greater transactional distance: That which exists between administrators and students (i.e., industrial thinking and post-industrial thinking) or the distance between teachers and students (i.e., pre-industrial and post-industrial perspectives)? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Chapter 5 of "Distance Education Systems of the Future "The Individual Employee” A running undercurrent throughout Dr. Saba’s discussions has been the adequacy of advising when colleges and universities provide their array of student services. Curriculum advising is a fundamental component provided by the college to help a student select a curriculum that benefits their own unique career goals. Although not stated explicitly, this topic is suggested again as I read this chapter. It occurs to me that the suggestions offered by advisors at a college are immediately compromised with potentially dire consequences for students. The advise given is limited by virtue of the course offerings and because of the certificates or degree types offered by a particular campus. If student access to courses offered elsewhere are not taken into account for the design of their curriculum, then the level of preparation by the student for a particular career may be inadequate. I do hear often from students that the advise they have obtained from the counseling department has steered them in the wrong direction. Advisors are often misinformed as to what is available at their own college and what combination of classes will best suit the student’s needs.. Also, advisors are often focused on obtaining the numbers necessary for monthly retention rather than focusing on the needs and attributes necessary for an accomplished candidate for a specific career. And further, advisors are not familiar with the programs of other colleges that may better suit the students unique requirements. Q1 - This chapter suggests that colleges have not undergone the same kind of dramatic reorganization that business has and still remains in the industrial or modern mode of thinking. Because of this lack of progressive thinking, and colleges and universities are unresponsive to the required changes for entering the post-modern world, doesn’t that mean that they are no longer qualified to advise and train students. Q2 – Could this function be better handled by a 3rd party. In light of the skills gap discussed in this paper, this suggests to me that a problem already exists and the level of student preparation for careers of the future is falling farther behind as time goes by. Deficiencies in post-secondary institutions must all ready be underway with respect to advising and teaching the appropriate foundations that will equip students for the future. Q3 – Since schools are under-funded and limited in curriculum, will more and more of the training functions provided by public education be “outsourced” and “privatized”? Q4 - I have heard in the news recently that corporations are inviting their retired employees back to their old jobs. Do you suppose that these “returnees” will be able to command their old compensation or better? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Chapter 6 of "Distance Education Systems of the Future “Post Modern Theory of Distance Education”
In this latest installment to Dr. Saba’s upcoming monograph, he has pointed out that Distance Education is at a crossroads. It is going to be necessary to choose which path into the future that is going to keep this field healthy and viable and take education to a place where it has never gone before. The choices are:
1) Provide education in the same mode as has been followed in the past which is to say that course design would remain in a teacher-centered model and knowledge will be disseminated in a one size fits all format, or
2) Fulfill the promise of adapting Distance Education to a learner-centered model where the student has the opportunity to exercise a great deal of control over the direction and extent of their education.
To further characterize the meaning of each path, Dr. Saba has equated these two choices as representing a modern or industrialized society in the case of the former option and post-modern or post-industrial society when considering the second option.
From past discussions in this course I have considered the restraints on society that prevent it from moving to the post-modern world and there are many. Leaders in politics, captains of industry and administrators of our academies will wish to hold onto control of the dissemination of knowledge by keeping it centralized and it’s released a measured and controlled process. One further restraint that Dr. Saba’s suggests we always consider is the factor of time.
Q1 – Will these two options persist side-by-side for some time into the future?
Q2 – Is there not a place in the field of education and an argument to be made for both options?
Another perspective presented in this chapter to be considered with regard to learner-centered education is cost. It would seem intuitive to conclude that a relationship exists between expense of instruction and the time required to educate a student . More time spent on a student means higher costs per capita. More time spent on each student means fewer students can be served.
Q3 – Will a learner-centered approach to education have a big influence on “economies-of-scale”?
Q4 – Is an inverse relationship suggested by the following graph: Fewer students served results in higher costs?
more |. | . | . Education costs | . | . | . | . less |________________________ fewer more # of students served Q5 – Could the desired level of income be determined through systems modeling? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Chapter 7 of"Distance Education Systems of the Future “Dichotomous Thinking in Education” In this chapter, Dr. Saba has not only presented a list of the many dichotomies that are present in distance education but those that are in education, in general. An understanding of the extremes of an issue can help us determine our current position with respect to the polar opposites and how to move in between them. Grapling with dichotomies most probably can help us appreciate different perspectives and what each point of view has to offer.
Also presented along with the dichotomies are the definitions of many terms that I have been struggling with. It has been helpful to better understand such terms as “constructivism” both for its fundamental definition and in light of its contrast with “objectivism”. I find it helpful to define a term for what it is and for what it is not.
I find this particular combination of terms most useful. In reading this chapter it has made me realize that my thinking patterns and that my approach to life is essentially constructivistic but that my teaching style is very objectivistic. I embrace the idea that we must create our own realities and that reality is not only something different for each person but that each reality has to be built brick by brick to cope with each individuals set of problems. I am opposed to forcing my reality on others but that is exactly what I do with my current approach to teaching.
Another perspective on dichotomies that Dr. Saba has spoken of before and has s mentioned in this chapter gives me a thought about the importance of social presence. He has encouraged us to see the gradations in the mid –ground between pairs of ideas that oppose one another. It is often the case when reading journal articles to be taken in by the author’s confidence and developed arguments and to be swayed to one perspective. By his words and discussions with us we can accept such freedom to consider the spectrum from one side of a dichotomy to the other and this has been enabled by Dr. Saba who, in essence, has given us “permission” to do so. This might not have happened otherwise and now that I have written this statement I have affirmed the whole purpose for this chapter.
Q1 – In this chapter it is mentioned that 17-25 year olds are not yet considered to be adult learners. What characteristics do non-adult learners possess that interfere with their ability to be educated at a distance?
Q2 – What qualities do non-adult learners possess that provide a starting point for enabling them to begin distance education?
Q3 – Aren’t reductionist thinkers and systems methodologists both needed to provide thorough analysis to any issue? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Chapter 9 of "Distance Education Systems of the Future “Learning as a Complex Dynamic Process”
It is interesting to note that what we learned just last semester is already obsolete information. The linear ISD model which seems to have more to do with an approach to education that is like training and less like the learner-centered approach to learning. What is now viewed as the learning systems of the future are dynamic and complex and to some degree unpredictable. It is proposed by this article that computer simulations that have the rich design features of today online and video games may be the teaching environments of the future. My interpretation of what is being proposed as a glimpse into the instructional design applications of the future is that a student is immersed in an environment that offers as many possibilities and options as possible and embedded in the environment are the goals and objectives tailored to the students needs. The environment is constantly adjusting to the perspective of the student and their progress. This is an effort to allow the student to cope with and learn from the immediate problem that is faced at the moment and learn what is available according to the level of their own awareness. The student is allowed to set priorities and chose their own direction through a maze of situations that by the end of the process will provide them with some or all of the intellectual tools that were a part of the objective to begin with. This at first seems like a random approach but in all likely hood is limited by the number of options that are a part of the scenario designed into the environment but may allow for unanticipated results. As an example, a program might be established that presents challenges for electricians in training. In this scenario the student is to enter a virtual environment that is fraught with problems associated with electrical wiring for a panel controlling the backstage props and lights within a theater. The student has many option before them; which problems to solve first, what materials and tools are going to be needed and how to avoid property damage and personal injury. With such computer tools available, ongoing costs of training are low in cost and low in risk. It would be possible to train many students at once rather than creating expensive and time consuming, real physical circumstances for each individual to experience. This type of instructional design system might serve and important link in the educational chain of events toward producing journeymen electricians. In my view, all education is vocational training. There is going to be a job site, an environment to manipulate, and results that are expected. Allowing students to proceed within an adaptive learning environment with the collection of unique skills that they have now and can eventually acquire sounds like an ideal worth working toward.
1) Is the way in which information about users of the internet that is being collected by Google, Ebay and Craig’s list and adaptive strategy to predict advertising and shopping patterns? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Chapter 10 of "Distance Education Systems of the Future “Distance education software systems”
Fred, your writing is always so “incite-full”. By the time I’ve finished reading one of your chapters - so filled with idealism and vigor - I want to immediately create a picket sign and march right out to announce to the people the coming of a new world order.
The issues that are addressed in this chapter with respect to the EMS of the future are vast in scope. To actually develop and deploy such a comprehensive system would require cooperation at an unheard of level. Among the participants would be all echelons of the government, financial and accrediting institutions, and every public educational organization in the country. This would necessarily include agreements from foreign entities that may have to recognize the system of education proposed in this chapter and the resulting degrees, diplomas and certificates. It will be a long time coming, but I support the proposal.
I think the key phrase used in this article that captures what I believe will turn out to be the operative developmental mechanism is “natural selection”. The term suggests that the advancement of ideas and developments will be promoted or discarded based on the merits of the effectiveness of the contributions.
Q1 – What is the distinction between an “affordance” and “scaffolding”?
Q2 - Can you describe a little more fully how the current relationships between faculty, administration, and students will be maintained with respect to the pre-modern, modern, and post-modern standoff that now exists when wholesale changes are made to education?
Q3 – You have mentioned that these relationships could be maintained in the face of innovative changes in the structure of our education systems. Are you suggesting that the current diversity of viewpoints is a good thing? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Commentary on Chapter 11 of "Distance Education Systems of the Future “Future Scenarios for Visioning Higher Education”
In my view, like so many other aspects of life, education is a political football. It is always seen at times when the republicans are in leadership that the cost of education takes an uptick. If one were to look carefully, this trend associated with who is in power would seem more dominant than economics. Typically during times of a poor economy, our schools expand as students return to improve their skills or get new training. Our higher education programs have seen a generally steady rise in enrollment over the last 50-55 years. However, costs are increasing, as has been pointed out in this series of chapters. The efforts of Republican administrations has taken time to have an effect but that time is arriving where tuition will be out of the reach of most students.
Since the eighties, there has been an increasing involvement of private companies in the funding of public universities and this has been a controversial issue for many. Time and time again it has been observed that basic science and development have been co-opted by the pharmaceutical and electronics industries. The interference has been so extensive that the work of graduate or post-doctoral students have been stolen or halted because of an interest on the part of private companies to hold proprietary control in certain areas of knowledge. I would suspect the NIH and NSA of interfering, as well.
The last three scenarios presented in this chapter provide the kind of models that we have been discussing in Edtec 550 and 650. It is nice to see them organized and distilled into guiding statements for each of the three views of the future of education with respect to distance education.
1) Scenario 3 describes the status of higher education in the US that exists now and suggests that if nothing is done. Our current will allow the tuition fees to continue to increase and access will be denied to an increasing number of qualified applicants.
2) Scenario 2 suggests that Higher education begin to specialize in the area of teaching, research or become service organizations. This would help to reduce the ever increasing costs of education. Their selectivity regarding the classes or curriculum that they will offer will reduce redundancy thereby saving money.
3) Scenario 1 is the most wide open proposal for higher education in the 21st century and would embrace a full reorganization of education at all levels of administration, instruction and deployment. It allows students to attend the schools that have derived a curriculum that has been honed through competition. The curriculum has also been designed by a team of developers. Social presence will be taken into consideration as well. Collaborative learning experiences will be the preeminent approach to learning.
I have rearranged them from last to first because I see them as transitional states of the educational system in the US. The educational system will move, most probably, from one to the other in slow incremental steps.
Questions:
1) Must there be a cataclysmic event before change will begin to occur.
2) What might be the precipitating event that causes a more rapid change.
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