世界远程开放教育概况

A portrait of open and distance education in the world

随着远程开放教育的继续变化,大量研究关注数字技术对远程开放教育的教学、学习和设计乃至管理等方面的影响。然而,从国家层面看,针对远程开放教育变化对不同国家的影响这个问题的研究却少得多。总的来看,远程开放教育领域缺少对宏观问题(比如远程开放教育系统)的研究。针对这个不足,我们出版了两本专辑,比较和对照12个国家高等远程教育系统的结构和组织。这些国家有悠久的远程教育传统和(或)近年来远程开放教育有长足发展,包括澳大利亚、巴西、加拿大、中国、德国、印度、俄罗斯、南非、韩国、土耳其、英国和美国。它们的人口占世界人口的51%。因此,这两本专辑在很大程度上呈现了当今世界远程开放教育的概况,内容涵盖远程开放教育的招生规模、与高等教育体系的关系、本身日益激烈的竞争、被接受的程度、信息通信技术的使用,以及主要障碍、挑战和机会。本文对这12个国家的作者和点评专家的研究成果和总结的主要趋势做一个概述。

As open and distance education (ODE) continues to change, there has been much research on how digital technologies are affecting ODE teaching, learning, design, and even management. Nevertheless, there is much less research about how changes in ODE are affecting different countries as a whole. In ODE, there is gen erally a lack of research on macro level issues, such as ODE systems. Responding to this gap, two edited volumes have been published comparing and contrast!ng the structure and organization of higher distance education systems across 12 countries that have a long tradition in distance education and/or have seen a substantial growth of ODE in recent years: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States. These countries represent 51% of the world's population. As such, the two volumes provide a portrait of open and distance education in a large part of the world today, including an analysis of ODE enrollments, the relationship of ODE to higher education systems, the growing competition within ODE, the acceptance of ODE, the use of ICTs, and important barriers, challenges and opportunities. This article is a summary of some key trends and fin dings identified by the authors and commentators from the 12 national studies.