Open & Distance

Education
History, Status and Conceptual analyses

PRESENTED BY
M.KARPAGARATHINAM
M.ED SPL.ED

Terminologies:
Correspondence education
Distributed learning
Home study
Distance teaching

External studies
Self instruction

Independent study
Flexible learning
Open learning
Continuing education

History of ODL
Boston Gazette, March 20, 1728:
Advertisement for Short hand course
Popularly known, 1840: Sir Isaac
Pitman's Short hand course
First distance teaching university,
University of South Africa in 15 Feb
1946:
First Open University, 1969: UKOU

Status
Over 90 Open Universities around the
World
15 in India alone
First Open University in India started
in 1982; and the National Open
University of India was established in
1985.

Open Learning
The educational philosophy of open learning emphasizes
giving learners choices about:

medium or media, whether print, on-line, television or

video;
place of study, whether at home, in the workplace or
on campus;
pace of study, whether closely paced or unstructured;
support mechanisms, whether tutors on demand, audio
conferences or computer-assisted learning; and
entry and exit points.

Distance Learning
Most definitions of distance learning pay attention to the following
characteristics:

separation of teacher and learner in time or place, or

in both time and place;

institutional accreditation; that is, learning is

accredited or certified by some institution or agency.

This type of learning is distinct from learning through

your own effort without the official recognition of a
learning institution;

use of mixed-media courseware,

including print, radio and television

broadcasts, video and audio

cassettes, computer-based learning

and telecommunications. Courseware

tends to be pre-tested and validated

before use;

 two-way

communication allows learners and tutors to

interact as distinguished from the passive recipient of

broadcast signals. Communication can be synchronous or
asynchronous;

possibility

of face-to-face meetings for tutorials,

learnerlearner interaction, library study and laboratory

or practice sessions; and

use

of industrialized processes; that is, in large-scale

open and distance learning operations, labor is divided

and tasks are assigned to various staff who work
together in course development teams.

Teaching-Learning Scenario
Same time

Different time

Same place

Classroom teaching,
face-to-face tutorials
and seminars,
workshops and
residential schools

Learning resource
centres, which
learners visit at their
leisure.

Different
place

Audio conferences and

video conferences;
television with oneway video, two-way
audio; radio with
listenerresponse
capability; and
telephone tutorials.

Home study,
computer
conferencing,
tutorial support by email and fax
communication.

The Idea of Open University

China's Imperial Examination system in

6th century
Rabindranath Tagore's idea of homebased study influenced Leonard
Elmhirst (Agricultural adviser), who
started Dartington Hall. Michael Young
was a pupil there who went on to
propose the idea of the UK Open
University and started the National
Extension College as a pilot

Open University Movement

Principle of egalitarianism (open to all)
Principle of equality of educational
opportunities (barriers of caste, economy,
gender to be removed)
Principle of lifelong and ubiquitous
learning
Principle of flexible curricula
Principle of learner-orientation
Principle of autonomous learning
Principle of learning through
communication and interaction

Generations of Distance
Education
First GenerationCorrespondence Model: Only print based
Second GenerationMulti-media Model: Print, Audio, Video, CBL(CAI/CML)
Third GenerationTelelearning Model: Audio Teleconferencing, Video
Teleconferencing, Audiographics, Broadcast Radio/TV
Fourth GenerationFlexible Learning Model: Interactive Multimedia, Internet/WWW,
CMC
Fifth GenerationInteractive Flexible Learning Model: Automated response
systems, Virtual Learning space

Advantages of ODL
Overcoming physical distance
Solving time and scheduling problems
Expanding the limited number of space available
Democratizing education
Bringing quality education to the doorstep of millions
Dealing with cultural, religious and political
considerations
Cost-effective education suitable to developing
nations
Provides second chance to those who miss education
Enables lifelong learning

Limitations?
Attitudinal bias
Believed as second rate
Quality is questioned all the time
Difficult to start takes lot of planning time
Requires trained, committed human resources

Any other?

Why ODL?
Access and reach
Equity and Gender
Quality and effectiveness
Relevance and lifelong learning
Globalization and Technology
Cost and Efficiency

Access and Reach

880 millions illiterate population
Only 668 millions enrolment in Primary schools
By 2015 about 100 million school aged children would
not be in school

School enrolment rate have to be increased up to 10% for

many countries to meet the goals of Education for All by 2015
Education is a basic human right, and how are we
going to achieve the gigantic task

Equity and Gender

Equity refers to the fairness in distribution of educational
resources
Equitable access to education for people in rural, hilly,
and remote islands
Equity in gender

64% of the total illiterate population is female; in China female

illiteracy is more than 70%
Female enrolment in all stages of education is less than
50%

Quality and Effectiveness

Not just access, people need access to quality education
World average for teachers is just 16 for 1000 population; in
developing countries it is more less
Effect of HIV/AIDS on supply of education services: In Zambia
the mortality rate amongst teachers because of HIV/AIDS was
more than the general adult population
Technology and student-centred design has a strong
role to play in improving quality

Relevance and Lifelong Learning

Societal change from labour intensive work to knowledge
intensive work
Constant change and advancement in technology
Need to teach the 7Cs:
Critical thinking
Creativity

Collaboration
Cross-cultural understanding
Communication
Computing
Career development

Globalization and Technology

Globalization refers to the package of economic reforms
including liberalization, privatization and decentralization
Technology is the mover in the age of globalization,
especially the Internet, and its WWW
Education as a commodity and trans-boarder flow of
knowledge
Increasing digital divide: only 4.8 persons per thousand online

Cost and Efficiency

Governments are by far the largest funding bodies in
education
The public expenditure in education varies between 2-6% of
GNP in many countries; world average is just 4.8% of GNP
In spite of commitment, Governments are not in a position to
invest more as there are other important areas like health,
environment, etc.
Private participation required to increase efficiency;
Governments can focus more on primary education

ODL: Issues and Challenges

Mandate vs performance
Quality of teaching and learning
Dropouts and cost-effectiveness
Faculty workload
Research on ODL teaching and learning
practices
Flexibility vs professional demands
Incorporating technology mediated
synchronous learning
Virtualization and emergence of Cyber
universities

Concept, Historical
Perspectives & Scope
Of Non-formal Education

Introduction

Education
Education is a process of learning positive
habits , knowledge , skill etc , under the
guidance of teacher.
Formal
Non formal education
Informal
Non formal education is a kind (medium of
instruction)of education, in which a student
studies by correspondence ,sitting at home or
out of school .

Definition
This term covers education & training in which
tutor & learner are not in the same place.
Correspondence courses are the most vivid
example & it is possible to obtain a very wide
range of skills & qualification in this way.
( ILMI education dictionary )
According to Dodd's (1978)
this method/system provides education/courses
by correspondence, broadcasting and occasional
face-to-face learning.

Concept
Education that happens outside of
the context of a formally
structured educational institution
and that may address the teaching
of knowledge or skills other than
those typically concentrated in
educational institution.this
education helps a lot in achieving
the goals of formal education

Concept

(cont.)

Non-formal education takes into

account the out-of-school
education for adult through oral
written & audio-visual methods of
imparting knowledge, skill/value
and activity like literacy, vocational
training, civic, economic and
cultural education for overall
development of the individual and
community.

Terminology
Non-formal
Indigenous education
Open learning
Correspondence education
Distance education
Community education
Out-of-school
Adult education
Life long education
Continuing education

Scope /Need
Rural population.
Women ,both rural and urban.
School drop out and out of school
youth.
Unemployed, under-employed,
under privileged youth and adults
to upgrade their existing
qualifications,
The handicapped.

In the eye of history

Early era
Non-formal education has a long history over
a 100 years . How ever in its non-organized
form non-formal education has been traced
back to the beginning of written records .
During Biblical period epistles of Plato were
used for the instruction of early Christian
congregations.
(Erdos1967,sewart 1981 ,holmberg1986)

Early

th
19

Century

Open universities & institutes

opened in Sweden ,West
Germany, U.S.A &U.K where
correspondence courses were
offered. The university of London
was first to award degree in non
formal education.
1833 non-formal education
started in Sweden.

Mid 19th Century

1850 In England Isaac Pitman started shorthand

on post cards .
1856 Germany, Frenchman Charles Toussaint &
German Gustay Langenscheidt started teaching
language in Berlin.
1870 Hans Hermod opened a school in Malmo.
1880 Isaac Pitman College.
1894 Joseph.W.knipe published The
schoolmaster.
1873-1897 In U.S.A Anna Eliot Tichnor founded
& run Boston Society.

20th Century
1910 W.A.Grundy programmed course of health
training in Australia.
1920 Soviet union used non-formal education
to expend there educated manpower.
1929 non-formal education became a significant
component of soviet education system as a
solution to shortage of teachers & institutions .
Even today Russian students do part of their
degree at a distance & part full-time.

Radio Era

Child education
1925 radio introduced in school education.
1939 10,000 schools had radio in Britain.
Adult education
1930 several thousand listening groups were
formed in Britain.
1937 radio came in for adult education in New
Zealand.

3rd Component
1960S Linkage of 3rd component
,face-to-face tuition with
Broadcasting and correspondence.
Off campuses studies started from
first world war.
1940-1950 In Asia and Latin
America.
1960 non-formal education as a
solution for educational problems.

In Pakistan
Non formal education started in sub continent
in 1920`s.
The first open university founded in 1974
named as People open university in Islamabad
now known as Allama Iqbal Open University.
The second open university is Virtual
University which founded in 2002.
Many Madaras are playing important role in
providing NFE in Pakistan.

Conclusion
To conclude we may state that nonformal education has a history of one
hundred years . Non-formal education is
based on traditional education .Nonformal education is expending day by
day, it is cost effective and now a need
of under developing countries. It is a
solution of third world countries low
literacy rate.