试论建立具有中国特色的远程教育专业

The Construction of the New "Distance Education" Discipline with Chinese Characteristics

现代远程教育的大规模发展,急需培养大量的远程教育人才,远程教育专业的建立也就势在必行。本文从四个部分来探讨这一主题。第一部分描述远程教育含义的变化和范围的扩展。第二部分从国际的视野,分析建立远程教育专业的必要性。为了使远程教育同国际接轨,我们需要建立远程教育专业,以及一级协会层面上的远程教育组织;从国外远程教育的经验和教训来看,只有把远程教育作为教育领域的分支,才能有效地开展。相反,如果把远程教育等同于“面授教育+技术运用”的话,远程教育的实践最终可能会事与愿违。第三部分是从国内的现实,说明建立远程教育专业的迫切性,从三个方面来论证:师资培养是我国远程教育可持续发展的关键;远程教育专业的课程体系已经形成;我国远程教育人才培养的需求量是巨大的。第四部分是从课程内容的角度,讨论建立具有我国特色的远程教育专业的重要性。

The rapid development of modern distance education has created a huge demand for distance education professionals, and the creation of a new discipline seems vital. There are four sections in this paper. The first section describes how the concept 'distance education' has evolved over time. The second section analyzes from a global perspective why the establishment of this new discipline is necessary. It is necessary first in order for China to converge with the world. Besides, we need to create a high-level professional association for distance education scholars and practitioners. From foreign experience, we learn that distance education ought to be considered as a sub-discipline of general education and should not be conceived as a form of face-to-face education that uses IT; otherwise, its development will be jeopardized. The third section points out three reasons why it is timely for China to establish a new 'Distance Education' discipline. First, teacher training is the key to the sustainable development of distance education in China. Second, the curriculum for this new discipline is now well formed. Third, there is great demand for distance education professionals. The final section looks into the importance of the development of a distance education discipline with Chinese characteristics.