The impact of technological change

on open and distance learning

A. W. (Tony) Bates
http://pdfserve.informaworld.com/322412_768720968_739146088.pdf

The problem:
T his a r tic le f or me d th e ba sis o f a multim edi a pr ese nta tio n a t
th e Que en sla nd
Op en Lea r ni ng Netw or k co nf er enc e in Brisb an e in De cem ber ,
199 6.
New inf or ma tio n te chnol ogi es ar e f or ci ng major c ha ng es on
both tr aditio nal cam pus- ba se d instituti on s an d th e lar ge
auto nom ou s o pe n uni ver siti es. S ome r eas on s f or intr odu cin g
new te chnol ogie s ar e inco mp atible with tr aditio nal views of
ope n-n ess an d dist an ce. F or in sta nc e, the mo ve to com put er-
bas ed le ar nin g r ais es maj or iss ues of acc es s an d st ud ent
sup po r t f or di sta nc e lea r ner s.

The objectives
The aim of this article is to consider the values and objectives that lie
behind the use of the newer technologies in open and distance
learning, and to see whether these new developments are leading to a
different agenda altogether from that of open-ness and distance
education .

The article is not a research based on the a specific group of learners

but it is a review of many researches, literatures, specialists, articles,
books, and professors opinions on the distance education approach
they apply their studies in a large number of universities and different
types of learners. So, this article doesn’t use a specific instrument.
The article uses some universities as resources such as : University of
Phoenix's on-line programs, the Open Learning Agencies in both
Australia and British Columbia, Nova South-Eastern University in
Florida, and the National Technological University.
Results:
Finally, the author still believes that humility and a degree of caution
are essential qualities for open and distance educators, if they are to
develop technology-based learning successfully. They do not yet know
how students will react to this. Instructors often know more than we
do, and we are still discovering the best way to fund and organize open
leaning and distance education in this new distributed learning
environment. The only thing they can be sure of is that change in
education is both unavoidable and also in many ways desirable,
especially at a post-secondary level.