Proceedings of the EADTU workshop on Media, Methods and Technology. A.W. (Tony) Bates (Ed.) European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), Open University, Milton Keynes, 1990, 296 pages |
VOL. 6, No. 1, 102-104
This is a very good and timely overview of the media and technology in higher distance education in Europe. The European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) is grappling with a range of serious issues - language, regulations, funding, and so on - as the European Commission moves towards a more integrated Europe. The matter of the application of media and technology to distance education was addressed at an EADTU workshop held at the British Open University, Milton Keynes, in May 1989 and attended by university staff from 12 countries.
The 42 papers in these "proceedings" of the workshop provide a very good insight into the applications and issues relating to media and technology in European universities distance education - although about 30% of the papers are from the BOU. As Tony Bates observes in his final futures chapter:
While the range of applications in this book may look impressive - in practice the use of technology in any one institution is in most cases limited....It is also noticeable that the British Open University still dominates with regard both to the range of technologies it uses, and the numbers of its students using media at home. (p. 285)
The workshop provided demonstrations, hands-on experience, and an exhibition of hardware and software, in addition to presentations on the following areas:
The workshop also involved a panel of four experts from EADTU Working Groups on Languages, European Law, Business Studies, and European Culture to comment on applying technology to course design and production. In summarizing this panel's views, Tony Bates says:
While not generally hostile to the use of technology for distance teaching, the panel was very cautious....
All four representatives saw print as being a major teaching medium on their courses, and face- to-face support was still considered very important.... (p. 286)
It appears that some of the workshop participants were more optimistic and enthusiastic than the panel about the future of these technologies in distance learning. This tension should have resulted in some interesting debate, and such debate needs to be reported. Almost all of the chapters are simply descriptive, and where "evaluation" is included, it is less than convincing with regard to the impacts and benefits of using various technologies. The two appendices list contact details for all the presenters and the 14 members of EADTU.
In summary, this document provides a descriptive overview of the use of media and technology in EADTU universities. It would appear that there is some acceptance, then, of some technologies but considerable resistance to what are referred to collectively as "newer or more advanced technologies." Although these are never specifically defined, the editor's first main conclusion is "that new or advanced technology is not necessarily better or relevant than the more traditional media of text, audio cassettes, television and radio" (p. 286). There is room for considerable debate here on at least two points: firstly, the so-called traditional media now involve considerable new and advanced technology (e.g., electronic text, DAT audio, compressed television, etc.); secondly, there is a growing amount of evidence that these "advanced" technologies can have considerable impact on access to education, cost-benefit, participation rates, and even the quality of teaching and learning. It would therefore be valuable for someone to write a critical analysis of all the findings from this increasing number of projects.