International distance education and education for development: aligning the missions Professor Alan Tait

The Open University UK

A closer look at business and development models

Open University - International

• 22,000 students registering direct with OUUK

• 10,000 students registering through overseas partners for OUUK degrees

• 40,000 students registering through overseas partners for partners degrees

• 800,000 students in China using translated OU material

Partnership in ChinaPartnership with School of Distance Learning for medical

education, Peking University: established 2007• Mental Health & Distress: OU teaching material in

Chinese• 500 students per year: elective for PKU degree• Tutoring system: workshops and training• Staff exchange

What do we learn from Peking University?

• Benefits of international collaboration• Blending Chinese and western learning cultures• Evolution of tutorial system

The Arab Open University

• 2002: OU UK undergraduate programmes for Business, IT, English Language & Literature: across 8 Arab countries

• English medium teaching: degrees accredited by OU under UK Quality Assurance

• Tutoring system: workshops and training• Course delivery: tutor briefings• Access for women• Cultural sensitivity in curriculum • Staff exchange

What do we learn from The Arab Open University?

• Success of large scale teaching collaboration: 25,000 students; successful graduation rate

• Effectiveness of UK Quality Assurance system: assessment, external moderation, information systems

• Development model• Values based intervention with partner

English language teaching in Bangladesh

• Consortium project: OUUK, BBC, Mott McDonald, Bangladesh government

• Training English language teachers– Audio material for iPods/iPhones with accompanying

text– Teaching workshops and structuring

• Measuring impact of mass education: 60 million people

What do we learn from Bangladesh?

• Partnership with national government• Social and economic development• Scale • Reach• Quality • Technology

Private Higher Education The success of the Millennium Development Goals in education has created an

unprecedented demand for post-secondary education. Governments have invested heavily in early childhood and secondary education, resulting in a bulge of qualified learners and frequently inadequate provision available to meet demand. Demand for places in higher education far outstrips supply of available seats globally. In many emerging economies the demand can be 20 to 50 per cent higher than places available in public institutions.

It is predicted that the demand for higher education worldwide will have expanded from 97 million students in 2000 to over 262 million students by 2025. It was estimated that the private education market in 2006 approached US$400 billion worldwide and that this would continue to grow as the sector matures, particularly in emerging economies. This figure may well be much higher as it is virtually impossible to quantify the investment in infrastructure (land, building and construction costs) and capital costs which private providers invest.

The diversity of PHE providers is immense. There is simply no 'one size fits all'.

Bjarnason S et al. (2009) A New Dynamic: Private Higher Education, UNESCO, Paris

University of Phoenix• 427,700 undergraduate students• 78000 graduate students• Graduation rate of 16% over 6 years (against US

Federal average of 55%)

Wikipaedia November 2009

http://www.liv.ac.uk/

Wherever you live, you can now study online for a Masters degree from the University of Liverpool, one of the UK's most prestigious universities.Laureate Online Education, the University of Liverpool's exclusive worldwide e-learning partner, has developed a 100% online learning environment which enables you to fit a Masters degree into your life and acquire relevant, up to date knowledge to boost your career.   Our students come from more than 175 different countries worldwide. Many are busy professionals with extensive work experience. 

Studying online with the University of Liverpool puts them at the heart of a learning experience that has successfully delivered educational and career benefits to thousands of professionals across the world

UNESCO on Cross Border Higher Education 2009

Cross-border provision of higher education can make a significant contribution to higher education provided it offers quality education, promotes academic values, maintains relevance and respects the basic principles of dialogue and cooperation, mutual recognition and respect for human rights, diversity and national sovereignty.

Cross-border higher education can also create opportunities for fraudulent and low-quality providers of higher education that need to be counteracted. Spurious providers (‘degree mills’) are a serious problem. Combating ‘degree mills’ requires multi-pronged efforts at national and international levels.

Extract from Communique from 2009 World Conference on Higher Education: The New Dynamics of Higher Education and Research For Societal Change and Development

UNESCO, Paris, 5 – 8 July 2009

Moving to another country v. local capacity building

• Movement for the elites: USA, UK and Australia• Core interest for most trans-national HE• 2 plus 2 model• Do the elites return? E.g. China• Distance and e-learning in-country• Local capacity building at scale

Issues

• One third of HE students in private institutions• Status of English as world business language• Private for profit and not for profit• Education as national cultural capital v GATTS• Ethical business model?• Development model?

Development model

• Development: values based intervention• To build capacity• Give a man a fish and you have fed him for a day: teach

him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime• Financially sustainable• Perversions of development

Business model

• Revenue generating• For profit and not for profit• Ethical businesses• Unethical businesses• Corporate social responsibility

Conclusions and Questions

• HE demand cannot be satisfied by current capacity

• Movement of students cannot provide dominant mode of access to opportunity

• Cross border distance education will increase

• Which business models will prevail? Which should prevail?