Technology, Open Learning and Distance Education, A. W. (Tony) Bates, New York, NY: Routledge, 1995, 226 pages. |
John T. Tuohy
VOL. No. 1, 143-145
One of the greatest challenges in higher education today concerns the design, acquisition, and implementation of technology for teaching and learning. The rapid speed at which technology has advanced forces educators to scramble to stay current. Processing chips used in microcomputers can be significantly re-engineered and marketed faster than many bureaucracies can work through a bid and purchasing process. As a society, we are fascinated with the power and dazzle of almost anything considered “high tech.” We emphasize new technologies in our grant proposals, in our fund raising appeals, and in our annual reports. In their efforts to win votes, political candidates promise high technology hookups to the Internet for every school in America. Today, many students enter colleges and universities with technical competence beyond that of the average faculty.
In his latest book, Technology, Open Learning and Distance Education, A. W. (Tony) Bates clearly explains the diversity and application of modern technology used in higher education. Bates has had extensive experience working at the Open University in the UK, Britain’s largest and most innovative educational and training organization, and, until recently, the Open learning Agency in British Columbia. Currently he is the Director of Distance Education and Technology at the University of British Columbia. His book is written as much for policy makers and senior education administrators as it is for faculty and curriculum specialists.
Tony Bates believes that major changes in post secondary and workplace training systems are needed to develop a more highly skilled workforce. However, he is cautious about quality and cost effectiveness as various technologies are considered for the teaching and learning process. Bates suggests a decision-making framework, the ACTIONS model, that evaluates technology for: Accessibility for learners; Cost structure; Teaching application; Interactivity or ease of use; Organizational impact on the educational institution; Novelty; and Speed to which courses can be developed for the technology. These evaluative criteria are used throughout the book as each technology is discussed.
In textbook style, Bates educates the reader about a variety of modern technologies used in open learning and distance education. In addition to later discussion of computer processors, operating systems, and the Internet, Bates devotes much of the book to evaluating instructional television, print media, one-way audio, and two-way audio. He takes the reader through a review of the history and educational use of print media, audio cassettes, radio and television broadcasting, and the use of bridges and speaker phones in modern telecommunications.
Bates evaluates each technology using his ACTION decision-making tool. For example, audio cassettes are limited in function because they are a one-way communication delivery system. However, because audio cassette machines are commonplace, the medium is readily accessible to students. Audio cassette production costs increase as student numbers increase. They have a variety of teaching and learning applications including supplementing printed material and rewind and repeat lecture review. They are user friendly to targeted learners in that they are portable and offer a flexible schedule for learning. Audio cassettes have little impact on existing organizational structures because they can be produced either in an on-campus recording studio or just as easily in a local recording studio commonly found in most cities. As an older established technology, audio cassettes have little novel value and therefore are of less interest to granting agencies than multimedia or other more elaborate technologies. A few courses can be quickly adapted to audio cassettes but overall instructional adaptation to the technology takes a moderate amount of time.
As Bates analyses other technologies, such as radio, he allows the reader to appreciate the logical applications, strengths, and weaknesses of the various technologies. Radio broadcasting may be financially cheaper per instructional contact hour to produce than audio cassettes, but Bates points out the difficulties many students have in scheduling their time around fixed radio broadcast schedules.
In evaluating computer-based learning and multimedia, Bates illustrates numerous pros and cons for the technology in open learning and distance education. He finds that computer-based training is reasonably suited for vocational training where there is greater emphasis on manipulating quantifiable and rule-governed variables. Students can also work at their own speed. However, computer-based learning is not very flexible. There are limited numbers of quality preprogrammed instructional applications. Most programs emphasize drill and practice routines and are not well suited in subject areas where there are ambiguities. Modifying developed software is usually a difficult and expensive proposition. Bates also points out that for distance education the cost of a computer is still high for many students.
Technology, Open Learning and Distance Education is an informative and unbiased study of technology in the delivery of open and distance education. Tony Bates writes in a straight forward accessible style. He sticks to his evaluative framework to help the reader become more informed about technology and better able to consider pros and cons before leapfrogging from product to product. Bates illustrates the need for planning with a quote from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland: The White Rabbit tells Alice, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do.” As educators seek to enhance teaching and learning delivery systems in a myriad of technological option, this a very sound parable. Senior academic and fiscal administrators as well as other institutional technology decision-makers will benefit greatly from Bates’s book.
John T. Tuohy
Vice President of Administrative Services
North Lake College
5001 N. MacArthur Blvd.
Irving, Texas 75038-3899
U.S.A.