Chris O'Hagan (C.M.Ohagan@derby.ac.uk)
Thu, 24 Sep 1998 12:53:31 +0000
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From: "Chris O'Hagan" <C.M.Ohagan@derby.ac.uk> Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 12:53:31 +0000 Subject: [ifets] Re: ifets-digest V1 #10
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I must take issue with George Free. The mass lecture model is fairly
recent - based on the German universities that emerged at the end of
the eighteenth century. The medieval model which lasted until the
expansion during the Enlightenment, was based on the personal
tutorial- and still survives at Oxbridge, and some of the UK new
universities of the 60s that sought a modern compromise between the
two models. The Internet offers opportunities to build a similar
hybrid model, which due to financial pressures is less and less
sustainable.
However weak the lecture model is we must acknowledge its success in
expanding access to higher education, and helping to transform our
respective societies. Of course there is poor teaching, but very
little of it is counterproductive - it is just not as effective as it
might be. Which is a pity, but not a disaster, and George gives some
of the reasons.
Campus universities offer many ways to compensate for
individual weaknesses. And although a teacher may be a weak
lecturer, they might be a very effective personal tutor. As in most
work, it is hard to be excellent at everything. Indeed, because of
this compensatory nature of campus institutions, I think they will
prove stronger that the completely distance institutions as they
expand into DE.
I find it somewhat odd, given the success of the western
universities, to suppose that the methods used in that success cannot
transfer to the WWW with a bit of modification. I am puzzled by
demands for a 'new pedagogy' for the 'new technology'. What is the
pedagogy of the photocopier, or the OHP? They don't have one. They
can be used to help structure information, to promote discussion, to
guide further study, to assist feedback, to condense, to customise.
They simply provide extra resources to support what we know is
effective pedagogically. That is how I see the WWW. It provides some
new possibilities in information retrieval, in simulation, in
programmed learning, in communication. But these were all applied to
adult pedagogy long before the Web existed - libraries, role play,
programmed texts, letters, telephone, ftf tutorials etc. We may need
to adapt our skills a bit to make them work with some reliability,
but that hardly constitutes a 'new science of learning'. Lets get
these things in perspective - which is what I hope we can work on in
the formal discussion I am moderating at the end of Nov - 'The next
generation, like tomorrow, never comes.'
What I see as far more siginificant about the WWW is its potential to
mimic and plug into university infrastructure - administration,
management systems, student services, student records, coffee bar,
bookshop, etc - and of course facilitate communication between
students and tutors, as George Free notes as a major use.
Maybe I am just being a bit simple minded about all this. But there
is lot of obfuscation out there which needs weeding out, and
sometimes the simpleton asks the right question.
Chris O'Hagan
============================================
Christopher O'Hagan
Dean of Learning Development
Centre for Educational Development and Media
University of Derby
Kedleston Road
DERBY, DE22 1DA
England
Tel: +44 (0)1332 622262 (direct)
Fax: +44 (0)1332 622772
Email: c.m.ohagan@derby.ac.uk
WWW: http://www.derby.ac.uk/cedm/welcome.html
CEDM is home to a Teaching and Learning Technology
Support Network Centre, one of nine in the UK offering
free support to UK Higher Education Institutions:
tltsn@derby.ac.uk
Improvement makes strait roads; but the crooked
roads without Improvement are roads of Genius - Wm Blake
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