VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1, 1989
Editorial
Report from the International Council
Michael G. Moore
Articles (for abstracts,
click here)
Issues in the Management of Distance Education
Stephen Murgatroyd and Andrew Woudstra
Broadening the Definition of Distance Education in
Light of the New Telecommunications Technologies
Bruce O. Barker, Anthony G. Frisbie, and Kenneth R. Patrick
Teaching Public Speaking via Correspondence in the
Third Reich
Randall L. Bytwerk and Grover E. Diehl
A Fourth Generation Distance Education System: Integrating
Computer-Assisted Learning and Computer Conferencing
Allan C. Lauzon and George A. B. Moore
Program Design and Evaluation: Two-way Interactive
Television
Iva Dene McCleary and M. Winston Egan
Grass Roots
Using Satellite Technology for Educational Program Delivery in Iowa
James L. Hamilton
Meeting Needs of Church Musicians by Audioconferencing
in Wisconsin
Edward O. Hugdahl
Forum
Blinkered Horses Do Not Shy: An Open Letter to Distance Educators
Doug Widner
Interview
Speaking Personally with E.Marie Oberle
Becky Duning
Media Review
Report: A Study of Audiographic Conferencing Systems
Kay W. Gilcher
Book Review
Diploma Mills: Degrees of Fraud
by David W. Stewart and Henry A. Spille
Allan Quigley
EDITORIAL
Report from the International Council
Michael G. Moore
As was announced in the last issue of AJDE, I was recently elected to the Executive Board of the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE). I recently returned from a meeting of the board at the Open University in Great Britain where I spent three days of intensive discussion with ICDE President David Sewart, Ronnie Carr of the United Kingdom, Liz Burge of Canada, Malaysian Raj Dhanarajan, Barbara Matiru of Kenya, and ICDE permanent secretariat officials Reider Roll and Shannon Timmers.
The ICDE is an organization recognized by UNESCO as the nongovernmental agency representing distance educators throughout the world. It was formed as the International Council for Correspondence Education (ICCE) fifty years ago in Vancouver, British Columbia by a group of mostly American and Canadian correspondence educators whose primary purpose was to hold occasional conferences. International conferences held about every four years were the main activity of ICCE. In 1969-72, during the presidency of an American, Charles Wedemeyer, the organization evolved in several significant ways. A newsletter-now known as the Bulletin and issued quarterly to members-was instituted; ICCE was recognized as a nongovernmental organization by UNESCO, the first computerised membership lists were established, and a modest training and research program was started. Most important, Wedemeyer led ICCE to rethink its role in a world where print and correspondence education had a changed-albeit critically important-function alongside broadcast, narrowcast, recorded, and telecommunications media. This eventually led ICCE to change its name to ICDE in 1982.
The primary activity of ICDE has remained the world conferences. The most recent was the fourteenth, held in Oslo, Norway last August. More than 600 delegates were addressed there by the country's king, prime minister, and minister of education. The next conference will be at the Hilton Hotel in Carácas, Venezuela 4-10 November, 1990. The conference manager is a Journal board member, Armando Villaroel, and in charge of the program is Marion Croft of Laurentian University in Canada. One purpose of my writing here is to invite you to contact me for information about attending or giving a presentation at the conference. Also contact me if you would like to join ICDE. Let me know if you are interested in writing for the Bulletin. Editor David Sewart of the U.K. Open University is interested in publishing your short articles or news items. Liz Burge of Ontario Institute for Studies in Education is chair of the research committee, and Barbara Matiru is chair of ICDE's Women's International Network. Information about all these activities will be found in the Bulletin, or can be obtained through the office of The American Journal of Distance Education.
There is one area of ICDE activity that I consider of special importance and want to bring to your notice. It concerns the evolution and development of regional groups of ICDE members, and communication both within and among these groups. In recent years ICDE membership has grown and its range of interests has widened. It has proven difficult for the leadership, voluntary in nature and geographically dispersed, to keep in touch with and to consult sufficiently with the membership. I believe the recent establishment of a permanent secretariat in Oslo will contribute in many ways to better communication among members. However, it could also lead to a greater distance between the regular members and those who are perceived as the organization's establishment. I think this is a problem that emerging technology can help us solve, if we can organize ourselves to use it.
The technology I refer to is computer conferencing and the organizational concept is that of regional associations. For some years there has been an Australian and South Pacific External Studies Association that is recognized as a regional association of ICDE; Canada has its Canadian Association for Distance Education. There are plans for a Latin American association and similar regional associations are emerging in Asia and Africa. A meeting has been proposed later this year of leaders of distance education organizations in the United States to examine the possibilities for an American Council for Distance Education.
I have undertaken two activities on behalf of the ICDE Executive that I think will contribute to the evolution of regional and national associations, and thereby make the ICDE more effective and more democratic. The first is to examine the possibility of setting up a computer network between the various regional associations, or between members of the Executive as representatives of the regions, until such time as the associations are formed. The second activity is to oversee the solicitation and distribution of funds for regional seminars and workshops aimed both at increasing the professionalism of members in the regions of the world, and strengthen regional associations and links between them. A subcommittee of the ICDE Executive will designate certain regional events as officially sponsored by ICDE and may award small grants to support them. Awards have been made for such regional seminars in 1989 in Argentina and in Great Britain, and proposals will be invited for such seminars and workshops in other parts of the world, including the United States.
I have no illusions about the scale of the task of developing
regional and international networks, and have no intention of promising
more than a beginning to this work. However, I am reporting on the ICDE's
plans in the hope that I might attract the assistance of readers with
a special interest in assisting the development of the international and
regional organizations, readers who might wish to volunteer either their
time or-equally important-funding and communication resources. I believe
the availability of computer technology in this part of the world, as
well as our experience and commitment to democratic participation in membership
organizations, make this is an opportunity for American leadership.
Issues in the Management of Distance
Education
Stephen Murgatroyd and Andrew Woudstra
In this paper a number of key issues facing administrators at Athabasca University (Canada) are examined in terms of the general issues which they suggest for distance education organizations and open learning systems. Athabasca University is used as a case study of a complex organization with a complex history which is currently seeking to deal with administrative issues in a direct and challenging way. Throughout this paper, the experience of administrators at Athabasca University is contrasted with the experience of administrators at the Open University (Britain). This paper does NOT review the literature concerning the management and administration of distance education organizations and open learning systems. Instead, it focuses upon broad issues which challenge the nature of these systems and looks at these issues from an administrative point of view. The implicit aim of the paper is to provide a starting point for a new direction of study in distance education: the study of strategic management and its practice. (68 references)
Broadening the Definition
of distance Education in Light of the New Telecommunications Technologies
Bruce O. Barker, Anthony G. Frisbie, and Kenneth R. Patrick
Increased interest is being shown across the United States by state and national education officials regarding the concept of "distance education." Reference is usually intended to mean telecommunicated instruction that is delivered from a host site or classroom to multiple receiving sites simultaneously at distant locations. Nevertheless, the term "distance education" is often referenced in the literature to mean correspondence study. This article addresses some of the similarities and differences between traditional, print-based distance education and the newer, electronic media-based approaches. A hierarchical structure--focussing on the degree and level of teacher/student interaction possible in various approaches--is also presented. (27 references)
Teaching Public Speaking Via Correspondence
in the Third Reich
Randall L. Bytwerk and Grover E. Diehl
To expand the availability of National Socialist speakers between 1928 and 1933, Fritz Reinhardt developed a speakers' course for party members. By 1933 over 6000 had been trained using his methods. The course's enormous success, however, had more to do with timing, the zeal of the students, and Reinhardt's own hard work than with any particular training innovation. Structurally, the course was quite similar to present day correspondence instruction. (32 references)
A Fourth Generation Distance Education
System: Integrating Computer-Assisted Learning and Computer Conferencing
Allan C. Lauzon and George A. B. Moore
Distance education is emerging as a REAL force in education. Although early distance education systems in the form of correspondence courses have been in place since the turn of the century, only recently has it begun to move from a marginal role in education to front and center. Much of this focus on distance education stems from a growing demand for educational opportunities that are designed for, and directed toward, specific target groups (Garrison 1986). This paper is devoted to reviewing and briefly discussing the literature pertaining to the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), Computer-Assisted Learning (CAL), Computer-Conferencing (CC) forms of instruction, and how they can be integrated into a delivery system to enhance distance learning. (28 references)
Program Design and Evaluation: Two-Way
Interactive Television
Iva Dene McCleary and M. Winston Egan
Describes study that examined the effects of using two-way interactive television in a three-course sequence of teacher education courses. Comparisons are made between distance education and conventionally taught classes, and the variables used are described, including the instructor's teaching effectiveness, feedback related to student progress, and course organization. (ERIC #EJ392478) (3 references)
