FOOD, HEALTH AND EDUCATION FOR ALL:THE ROLE OF DISTANCE LEARNING
Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University
13 November 2003
EDUCATION FOR ALL AND THE ROLE OF OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING
The Global Scenario
John Daniel
Assistant Director-General for Education
How do you
see
globalisation?
Questions- Why?
- How?
- What principles?
- For whom?
- Where?
- Which technologies?
Questions
Why use technology in education?
Technology is the answer
but what was the
question?
Aspirations for education
1. Access – increase it
2. Quality – improve it
3. Cost – reduce it
COST
AC
CE
SS
QU
ALITY
Education for All
Aspirations for education
1. Access – increase it
2. Quality – improve it
Aspirations for education
1. Access – increase it
2. Quality – improve it
“Fitness for purpose at minimum cost to society”
AIMS:
- Human capital
- Social capital
COST
AC
CE
SS
QU
ALITY
COST
ACCESS QUALITY
TECHNOLOGYis the application of scientific
and other organized knowledge to practical tasks by organizations consisting
of people and machines.
Two types oflearning
activities:
INDEPENDENT
Two types oflearning
activities:
INDEPENDENT
INTERACTIVE
INDEPENDENTINDEPENDENT
- read a book- watch TV- listen to radio- work on computer
INDEPENDENTINDEPENDENT
= Economies of scalesuch as:- printing books- broadcasting TV- downloading software
INTERACTIVEINTERACTIVE
INTERACTIVEINTERACTIVE
The student’s work obtains a response
from another person
INTERACTIVEINTERACTIVE
Different cost structure
Example
OPEN
UNIVERSITIES
Number of students
Total costmore interactive
more independent
Questions- Why?
- How?
- What principles?
- For whom?
- Where?
- Which technologies?
Example
OPEN
UNIVERSITIES
COST
AC
CE
SS
QU
ALITY
COST
ACCESS QUALITY
The Open University
~200,000 students in 2003
(the UK had 130,000 students in all
universities combined in 1963)
BRITAIN’S TOP NINE UNIVERSITIES
Quality Rankings of Teaching
based on all subject assessments 1995-2003(Sunday Times University Guide 2003)
1 CAMBRIDGE 96%
2 LOUGHBOROUGH 95%
3= LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS 88%
3= YORK 88%
5 THE OPEN UNIVERSITY 87%
6 OXFORD 86%
7 IMPERIAL COLLEGE 82%
8 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 77%
9 ESSEX 77%
Questions- Why?
- How?
- What principles?
- For whom?
- Where?
- Which technologies?
DISTANCES:
- GEOGRAPHIC
- TIME
- SOCIAL
- DISABILITY
“When I asked about the possible use of alternative learning technologies one woman suggested that her most pressing need was not for learning technologies but for other technologies such as washing machines, cookers and vacuum cleaners, which would help shorten the time she spent on housework and increase the time she needed for studying.”
Questions- Why?
- How?
- What principles?
- For whom?
- Where?
- Which technologies?
Start with the learner!
Technologies:
- available?
- at reasonable cost?
- easy to use?
- independent or interactive?
TECHNOLOGY IS
THE ANSWER
but
WHAT WASTHE QUESTION?
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
The four
B’s
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
The BAD ‘B’s
- BIAS
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
The BAD ‘B’s
- BIASe.g. vendor bias
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
The BAD ‘B’s
- BIASe.g. political bias
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
The BAD ‘B’s
- BIASe.g. private vs. public bias
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
The BAD ‘B’s
- BIAS
- BULL**** (BS)
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
The global great and good are obsessed with the ‘digital divide’. Half the people of the world, they fret, have never made a telephone call. Africa has less bandwidth than Brazil’s city of Sao Paolo. How, ask dozens of inter-governmental task forces, can the poor get connected?
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
Amid all the attention paid to developing countries’ lack of Internet access, some people feel that more fundamental problems are being ignored. Ted Turner, an American media boss, observed last year that there was no point in giving people computers when they had no electricity.
The Economist, November, 2001
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
The GOOD ‘B’s
- BREADTH
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
When I asked about the possible use of alternative learning technologies one woman suggested that her most pressing need was not for learning technologies but for other technologies such as washing machines, cookers and vacuum cleaners, which would help shorten the time she spent on housework and increase the time she needed for studying. Edith Mhehe
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
Q: How do you get the kids to school?
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
Q: How do you get the kids to school?
A: Donkeys
dot.com frenzy 1999-2000
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
The GOOD ‘B’s
- BREADTH
- BALANCE
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
BALANCE
between:
Teaching and Learning
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
TECHNOLOGY:
- start with the teacher?
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
TECHNOLOGY:
- start with the teacher
or
- start with the learner?
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
THANKS TO
THE INTERNET
ASYNCHRONOUSASYNCHRONOUS
HAS WON
COST
AC
CE
SS
QU
ALITY
COST
ACCESS QUALITY
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
BALANCE
between:
ICT for teaching ICT
ICT for teaching the rest
Examples
The Hole in the Wall
Examples
Sugata Mitra (NIIT)
The Hole in the Wall
Sugata Mitra (NIIT)‘Children from 8 to 13 years old came rushing to the hole in the wall. Within an hour they were browsing. In a week they could do most of the common functions on a PC, cut and paste, drag and drop, copy, paste, rename and save files and so on. In a month, they were downloading and playing games from the Internet. Researchers watched with incredulity. The media exploded with stories’.
Sugata Mitra (NIIT)
‘Hundreds of children flock around them all day long. Their understanding is instinctive and incredibly accurate. They want a keyboard but we don’t know how to build one that will survive in the open’.
Sugata Mitra (NIIT)
Minimally Invasive Educationexists
Sugata Mitra (NIIT)
Minimally Invasive Educationexists
Move from 500,000 students/year(NIIT)
to hundreds of millions and remove theDIGITAL DIVIDE
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
operates in the e-world at INDUSTRIAL STRENGTHINDUSTRIAL STRENGTH:
Numbers online = 150,000 +
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
e-applications:
- check academic record (50,000 per week)
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
e-applications:- check academic record (35,000 per week)
- communication
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
operates in the e-world at INDUSTRIAL STRENGTHINDUSTRIAL STRENGTH:
Numbers online = 150,000 +
> 250,000 messages per day between students
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
e-applications:library consultation:- from 114,000 (2000) to 766,000 (2001) course-related documents consulted.
- from 37,000 (1999) to 273,000 (2001) e-journal articles consulted
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
“They prefer books as books - not as
computer files to download…”
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
“…but they have switched massively and rapidly to
online technology for communicating with the
University”
Play to the strengths of ONLINE
ACTIVE LEARNINGand
ACCESS to a range of
MEDIA
BUT:Preparing goodgood
ACTIVE LEARNINGexperiences
is
a lot of work for teachers
TECHNOLOGY IS
THE ANSWER
but
WHAT WASTHE QUESTION?
EDUCATION
“education for all” “the defences of peace”
,
“th
e fr
ee e
xch
ange
of
idea
s an
d kn
owle
dge”
“ the u
nrestrict ed pu
rsui t of obj ect ive tru
t h”
“intellectual and moral solidarity” “mutual understanding”
- Bias
- Bull****
- Breadth- Breadth
- Balance- Balance
FOOD, HEALTH AND EDUCATION FOR ALL:THE ROLE OF DISTANCE LEARNING
Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University
13 November 2003
EDUCATION FOR ALL AND THE ROLE OF OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING
The Global Scenario
John Daniel
Assistant Director-General for Education