PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

Linked Learning in Chinese Higher

EducationPaul Hofmann

Research PresentationNovember 10, 2010

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

Overview of The People’s Republic of

China Founded in 1949 Estimated

Population of 1.3 billion

Communist Government

Fourth largest country in the world by area

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

Origins of Higher Education in China

Earliest Chinese University dates to 1100 B.C. during the Zhou dynasty

During the height of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.), more than 30,000 students attended the main campus in Chang ’An.

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

Higher Education in Modern China

Today there are more than 20 million students are enrolled in 2,000 colleges and universities

Project 211 and Project 985

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Origins of Linked Learningin Chinese Higher

Education Linked Learning in China has emerged from

three distinct generations of distance learning (Ding et al., 2010) Correspondence-based education (People’s University, 1951)

Central Chinese Radio and TV Universities (1960)

Online Education (Qinghua University, 1998)

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

Growth of Linked Learningin Chinese Higher

EducationMore than 166,000 Chinese

students were enrolled in recognized e-learning programs in 2007.

By 2008, e-learning enrollment in China exceeds enrollment in the country’s radio and television universities for the first time.

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

Barriers and Challenges toLinked Learning in China

Insufficient Infrastructure Government Censorship Issues with Approval and Administrative

Oversight Concerns about Cheating and a

Perception of a Lack of Rigor Legal Concerns Pedagogical Differences

Teaching Differences Learning Differences

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

Insufficient Infrastructure As of June 2010, Internet users in China

reached 420 million (China Internet Network Information Center, 2010)

Despite being the largest linked market in the world, approximately 900 million Chinese remain unconnected.

Building sufficient infrastructure is complicated by a large geographic region with many isolated rural areas.

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

Government Oversight and Authorization

Information technologies are viewed as a potential liberating force for democracy (Otani, 2010).

Decisions are made by government bureaucrats, not educators and learners (Carr-Chellman & Zhang, 2000).

Since 1999, only 67 COEs have been approved by the Ministry of Education (Zhao & Jiang, 2010). Approval process is slow and highly politicized

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

Cheating and a Lack of Rigor

Concerns over quality control; rigor, and efficacy (Ding et al., 2010) Lack of perceived quality and prestige Cheating is institutionalized in China▪ GMAT (Damast, 2009)▪ TOEFL / IELTS (Jaschik, 2006)

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Legal Concerns A lack of established laws governing

the Linked Learning Industry Faculty and Student Rights Concerns over Intellectual Property▪ Curriculum▪ Software▪ Hardware

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Pedagogical Concerns Linked Learning is pedagogically at

odds with more than 3000 years of Chinese higher education

Teacher training is required to foster a student-centered, collaborative environment

Chinese Learners require more face-to-face interaction with peers and instructors than Linked Learning offers

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

Opportunities Innovative partnerships with overseas

institutions Economic opportunities for hardware

vendors and foreign institutions Opportunities for ongoing social change

in China Freedom of Speech Human Rights Fair Trade

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING DESIGN

ConclusionsThe development of Linked

Learning in China has mirrored the development of the same in the United States

Linked Learning will play an integral role in the further expansion of Chinese Higher Education.