[LINK] Open University Discussion Radio National Life Matters

Liddy Nevile liddy at sunriseresearch.org
Wed Aug 29 11:23:31 AEST 2012


I listened to this too - and had some different reactions.

First, knowing that all this started so the focus would be on teaching  
more than resources on the uni campuses (MIT), while the resources  
would be incrementally improved because they were exposed, I think it  
is interesting to see what's happening.

Two things struck me - the more people can get education, the better,  
IMHO, and I think it is interesting that the US folk said they had  
already learned their offerings were rather parochial and they wanted  
to fix this while the ABC presenter went on about how they were  
imperialistic about their resources ????

Secondly, it made me wonder if this is the beginning of the really  
substantial, radical redevelopment of educational institutions and the  
way we teach/learn. I have a pal whose phd supervisor is supervising  
16 people and teaching and doing research herself - what sort of  
support does that offer the individual student? - my pal is certainly  
benefitting from involvement from peers in the absence of good support  
from her (expensive) Aussie uni.

To match Tom's point, of course some localisation is important, but  
doesn't that sort of thing become a challenge rather than a reason for  
rejecting the developments?

Liddy

On 29/08/2012, at 10:18 AM, Tom Worthington wrote:

> ABC Radio National Life Matters had a discussion of Online Open
> Universities on Tuesday, with Professor Simon Marginson, Centre for  
> the
> Study of Higher Education at Melbourne University and Associate
> Professor David Glance, Director UWA Centre for Software Practice:
>
> ---
> "Mass open online courses, offered by American universities, are
> changing the university landscape. Australian students now have the
> opportunity to enrol in subjects prepared by Stanford or Harvard. So
> will this virtual campus reshape the offerings at Australian
> universities? Just how satisfying is the online learning experience
> compared to setting foot on a real-life university campus?"
> http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/open-university/4225888
> ---
>
> My response is that the mass US style on-line courses from Stanford  
> and
> Harvard will not be satisfying. Australian university can compete with
> smaller, more socially aware, online courses:
> http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/open-university/4225888
>
>
> -- 
> Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
> PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
> Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards
> Legislation
>
> Adjunct Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
> Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/
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