从纸介课程到电子课程:通向教育平等的路径?

From Print-Based Courses to e-Courses:Towards Education for All?

电子课程的出现,使得全球高等教育资源共享成为可能,同时改变了世界高等教育的格局。课程的电子化促发了人们对课程介质的思考。本文认为课程内容与课程传播媒介应该被看做一个整体;从纸介课程到电子课程是一个飞跃,但教育机会均等和教学平等并不能自然而然地实现。

How a course is to be designed and implemented has a direct or indirect impa ct on the media to be selected.The issues to consider include how much time on e has to design a course and in what format one intends to present the text to learners.Print-based and web-based courses are the two most representative f ormats for presenting text.A quantum leap has been made from print-based cours es to e-courses,but does this imply that the ideal of″edu-cation for all″i s no longer pie in the sky?The emergence of e-courses is a reflection of peopl e's demand for lifelong education opportunities,however,the existence of e-co urses does not necessarily mean that opportunity and equality are givens.In the hegemony of Western and English-speaking cultural superpowers,non-Western cu ltures and countries are less likely to be able to compete on an equal footing. With ample human and financial resources,Western countries have developed quite a large number of web-based and electronic courses which are culturally biased .Less developed countries(LDCs)have lagged far behind and if they do not catc h up,their cultural development is likely to be adversely affected,possibly r esulting in the″Matthew Effect″.The two most important factors constraining the development of e-courses are money and technology.The former also limits the access to e-courses.The gap between institutions in the higher education system in terms of financial and technological resources is expected to widen, and hence drive social classes further apart.Web-based and electronic courses appear to be proliferating but in reality they are still limited to a few pract ical and popular subjects.Learners find e-courses more convenient than conven tional courses but at the same time can feel alienated and deprived of the hu man touch found in traditional brick-and-mortar institutions.For this reason ,some have reservations about the quality of learning offered in e-courses. This can be perceived as a fundamental question for the equality of educational opportunities.The issue of equality is no longer decided at the starting line b ut at the finish line.Can e-courses be utilized to achieve this equality?Thi s is a question which for the time being remains unanswered.