Personal Computers for Distance Learning: The Study of an Educational Innovation

`I found this book stimulating and easy to read and would encourage anyone who is concerned with distance education to read it′ - Computer Education `Interesting, informative and clearly written. It is a rich source of material on several fronts. Some of its value comes from its broad perspective, some from it being a detailed case′ - Open Praxis This book is about the convergence of two important streams of educational innovation: distance education and the educational use of personal computers (PCs). During the 1970s and 1980s, distance education became a significant aspect of the post-school educational provision of many countries. Every indication is that this trend will continue into the 21st century as a solution to the problem of providing mass education for adult learners, many of whom have work and family responsibilities while they study. Distance education relies on a variety of media, both to deliver teaching materials and to provide channels of communication with students, and the potential of the PC as a distance-teaching medium is only beginning to be explored. This book reviews the experiments with PCs in distance education which have taken place so far and discusses one in detail: the policy of student home computing at The Open University UK. By the early 1990s, over 17,000 Open University students were using PCs in their own homes for aspects of their course work such as programming, computer-assisted learning, and electronic communication, as well as word processing and presentation. In the early 1990s this is the largest application of student-based PCs in any distance education system. The authors have been involved in an evaluation study of this policy and use their research to debate critical educational issues, such as the impact of PCs on student learning, equality of opportunity and access and designing associated instruction material. The book also considers the physical and social environment in which the students use their computers and the importance of providing support.

Table of Contents:
The Potential, History and Development of Computers as Educational Tools Adult Learning - Why and How? Student Computing at The Open University The Students’ Social and Physical Context Issues of Access and Equal Opportunities Teaching Practical Computing Work - at a Distance nstitutional Support for Home-Based Computing The Process of Institutional Change Issues for the Future

Review :
`I found this book stimulating and easy to read and would encourage anyone who is concerned with distance education to read it′ - Computer Education `Interesting, informative and clearly written. It is a rich source of material on several fronts. Some of its value comes from its broad perspective, some from it being a detailed case′ - Open Praxis