Distance education at conventional universities in Germany

Germany’s educational system has undergone a series of transformations during the last 40 years. In recent years, marked increases in enrolment have occurred. In response, admission requirements have been relaxed and new universities have been established. Academic distance education in the former Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was ushered in by the educational radio broadcasts around the end of the 1960s. Aside from the formation of the FernUniversität (Open University) in West Germany in 1975, there were significant developments in distance education occurring at the major universities in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). After German reunification in 1990, the new unitary state launched programs to advance the development of distance education programs at conventional universities. Germany’s campus-based universities (Präsenzuniversitäten) created various entities, including central units and consortia of universities to design and market distance education programs. Hybridisation provides the necessary prerequisites for dual mode delivery, such as basic and continuing education programs, as well as for the combination of distance and campus-based education (Präsenzstudium). Hybridisation also has also opened the door for the creation of new programs. Following an initial phase in which distance education research is expected to centralize a trend towards decentralisation is likely to follow. The German Association for Distance Education (AG-F) offers a viable research network in distance education. Two dual mode case studies are also be surveyed: The Master of Arts degree, offered by the University of Koblenz-Landau, with Library Science as the second major, and the University of Kaiserslautern, where basic education will continue to be captured within the domain of the Präsenzstudium or campus-based education. The area in which distance education is flourishing most is within the field of academic continuing education, where external experts and authors are broadening the horizon of the campus. Multimedia networks will comprise the third generation of distance education

Education, Dynamic Signaling and Social Distance

The paper enriches a standard signaling model of education with issues of social distance defined over educational achievements. More specifically it considers the effects that the presence of conformist and status seeking individuals has on educational dynamics. Under very reasonable assumptions about the composition of the society, the model endogenously displays a growing average level of schooling. As education rises, signals get noisy and potentially harmful for what concerns firms' profitability. Firms, in order to adjust their screening process, react with an increase of their educational requirements. All these dynamics are in line with recent trends and other stylized facts about education

A comparative study of Massey University Centre for University Extramural Studies (CUES) and the University of Zambia Centre for Continuing Education, Department of Correspondence Studies : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University

Because the future of developing countries, to a greater extent, depends and will continue to depend, on the provision of higher educational opportunities, the present thesis aims at elucidating the characteristics of a general distance education model, which will, hopefully, assist the reader to comprehend more fully the two distance education systems discussed - one in a developed and the other in a developing country. The main aim of this thesis is to bring to light what distance education at tertiary level can do in the provision of manpower requirements and this point is largely addressed to educationist in developing countries who may already be in distance education or are contemplating to set up a distance education scheme at tertiary level. It is the belief of the author that the provision of higher education through correspondence is an endeavour by universities and colleges to make opportunity of access much wider and not just for more young students but for a wider range of age in society and thereby provide (not all) the manpower that our present sophisticated economies need. If these universities and colleges disperse their activities, it is imperative that they do it effectively and efficiently

Distance Education In European Higher Education - The Potential: UK Case Study

[About the project] Study 3 focuses on prospective distance education students – who are they, what do they look for, what are the barriers? For this purpose, the browsing and search behaviour on the Distance Learning Portal is analysed and five experts are asked to conduct a meta-analysis of existing research for five country cases. The term ‘better’ is used in the central research question (‘How can the distance education offer of European higher education institutions be better matched to the needs of adult learners? ’) to indicate that the project will look at both the demand and the offer side of distance education. The three studies, which are published as single online reports, are brought together in a final publication by the end of the year 2014

Distance education possibilities analysis for integrated innovative projects

The materials presented the possibilities development of solar and wind power plants, project development for all those who are engaged in the power studies and baseness. In this, phase of work in NTU "KPI" – studies the possibility of increasing the economic efficiency of alternative energy sources. A review of the literature and the necessary articles written on the subject: аs technologies and economies develop and become more complex, energy needs increase greatly; types and methods of alternative energy, as well as the possibility of calculating the basic set of main economic indicators are classified; identified possible areas of work in obtaining the necessary infor-mation and results. Energy is a fundamental input for economic systems. Current economic activity depends overwhelmingly on fossil fuels including oil, coal, and natural gas. These fuels are non-renewable. Renewable sources such as hydroelectric, wind, and solar power currently provide less than 10% of global energy. In just a few decide solar and wind power has developed from alternative energy sources to a new fast growing industrial branch. The history of industrial civilization is a history of energy transitions. In less developed, agrarian economies, people's basic need for food calories is provided through simple forms of agriculture, which is essentially a method of capturing solar energy for human use. As economies develop and become more complex, energy needs increase greatly

Redressing disadvantage and ensuring social cohesion: the role of distance education and elearning policies in the European Union 1957-2007

This paper analyses the development and implementation of the European Union's policies in distance higher education and elearning since the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Distance education emerged in the 1960s and 70s as an instrument at national level to redress disadvantage, and to provide flexible, high-quality and cost-effective access to higher education to adults who were unable, for geographical, employment or personal reasons, to attend on-campus. Analysis of EU policy documents and interviews with key individuals indicates that the support of influential policy entrepreneurs and networks brought distance education to the centre stage in EU education and training policy for a brief period in the early 1990s, culminating in the Maastricht Treaty on European Union (1992), which committed the EU to ‘encouraging the development of distance education’. Since then, distance learning has been superceded by elearning, and is linked in EU rhetoric to social cohesion in the context of making Europe the most competitive economy in the world. Yet, despite the great potential of elearning, this paper outlines the challenges to its wider adoption. These include the persistence of the digital divide in Europe; student resistance to elearning approaches; and the problem of achieving cost-effectiveness in elearning. Much remains to be done to ensure the flexibility in terms of time, place, pace, and indeed accessibility, which would enable adult students to participate in lifelong learning on a truly democratic basis

Faculty and student feedback of synchronous distance education in a multi-university learning consortium

The Texas Learning Consortium (TLC) began as a partnership between the foreign language departments at 5 small, private, liberal arts universities, where each specializes in a small number of different world languages to increase the course offerings to their students without the expense of adding additional faculty on every campus. Each university offers their language courses to consortium students in a real-time, interactive, distance education format. In Fall 2017, the consortium expanded beyond foreign languages, and the first engineering course, Statics, was offered in this synchronous, distance format. As background, this paper will provide an overview of the technology used in the classrooms and some of the administrative obstacles that were overcome in scheduling, registration and information technology. The paper will also reflect on the impact of this particular technological implementation on various teaching styles in both foreign language and engineering courses, especially compared to other distance engineering education in the literature, with a purpose of analyzing the model’s suitability for expansion into other engineering courses or a fully accredited consortium based engineering program. Student and faculty satisfaction surveys will additionally provide insight as to whether this distance format is the right fit for campuses used to high-touch learning environments.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Education, Dynamic Signaling and Social Distance

The paper enriches a standard signaling model of education with issues of social distance defined over educational achievements. More specifically it considers the effects that the presence of conformist and status seeking individuals has on educational dynamics. Under very reasonable assumptions about the composition of the society, the model endogenously displays a growing average level of schooling. As education rises, signals get noisy and potentially harmful for what concerns firms' profitability. Firms, in order to adjust their screening process, react with an increase of their educational requirements. All these dynamics are in line with recent trends and other stylized facts about education.education; signaling; status seeking; conformist behaviour.

Group Leadership in Online Collaborative Learning

The innovations in computer and communications technologies combined with on-going needs to deliver educational programs to students regardless of their physical locations, have lead to the innovation of distance education programs and technologies. To keep up with recent developments in both areas of technologies and techniques related to distance education programs, educators, administrators, and researchers are in constant needs of learning about issues, solutions, and challenges of these technologies. The Encyclopedia of Distance Learning offers the most comprehensive coverage of the issues, concepts, trends, and technologies of distance learning. With more than 2,000 terms and definitions and over 6,000 additional references, this authoritative 4-volume encyclopedia is considered the foremost reference source for the latest understanding, discoveries, and research in the field of distance learning