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47MAIN FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISTANCE
EDUCATION
Bunafsha Rustamovna Rafieva
Tashkent State University of Economics Samarkand Branch
ABSTRACT
The development of the global network Internet has opened new prospects for improving the global education system. One of the important results of the use of ICT in education is distance education. The development of various means of information transmission at a distance contributed to the emergence of distance learning technology.
This article illustrates a range of issues as: The first distance courses; E-learning, from the beginning to now; Three generations of distance education; Factors affecting the development of distance education. Knowledge of the above topics and concepts helps to better understand E-Learning Evolution and master the technology associated with the E-Learning. What will undoubtedly contribute to the development of high-quality educational services for the participants of the educational process with the use of possibilities of modern communication and digital technology, and ensuring equal access for all participants in the educational process to the best educational resources and technologies.
Key words: distance learning, correspondence, flexibility, diversity, generations, expenditure.
The history of correspondence and distance education demonstrates some of the enduring characteristics of this form of learning: its diversity in terms of level and students, ranging from primary to higher education, from young children to mature adults; the subjects taught, as various as shorthand, mining, and general education; the range of methods used, including correspondence, print, radio and TV, practical work, open examinations; the variety of countries where it has been established (developed, developing, large and small); and the way in which it has responded to social and historical challenges (distributed and displaced populations, imperialism and independence, war and revolution, industrialization). In the new millennium as we move towards the Information Society, distance education will play an increasingly important role and continue to demonstrate its flexibility and diversity.
Three generations of distance education
One way of looking at the history and successive developments in distance education has been to describe them as belonging to different «generations». Garrison (1985) and Nipper (1989) were among the first to use this term to describe three phases
of distance education, «which are linked historically to the development of production, distribution and communication technologies»
The medium for the first generation was written and printed material. While writing had been in use for centuries, the introduction of new printing techniques enabled low cost production of text books. From the middle of the nineteenth century the establishment of railway systems and fast and economical national postal services enabled the distribution of teaching materials to large numbers of geographically dispersed learners. In addition to generally available textbooks, specially developed instructional materials were limited and may have included a reading list and sample questions which were marked by correspondence tutors. The invention of radio in the 1920's saw the beginning of radio-led courses consisting of a series of talks; occasionally a set book or other printed materials and local study groups were included. From the 1950's TV-led courses have been extensively used, often with print and local groups and occasionally student assessment.
The beginning of the second generation was marked by the setting up of the Open University of the UK in 1969. This was the first time that a deliberately integrated multiple media approach had been used for distance education, even though the dominant medium was still print. The Open University developed large quantities of high-quality, specially designed distance learning materials. One-way communication, from university to students, was through print integrated with broadcasts (audio cassettes were added later). Two-way communication, between tutors and students, was through correspondence tutoring, face-to-face tutorials and short residential schools. A characteristic of this model is high fixed costs associated with the development of courses, and low variable costs in that the cost of each additional student is low, once materials have been created. The third generation of distance education uses information and communications technology as its basis, offering two-way communication in various forms (text, graphics, sound, moving pictures) either synchronous ("at the same time" as in videoconferencing and audiographics, both popular in North American institutions) or asynchronous ("not at the same time" as in electronic mail, use of the Internet and computer conferencing). This technology can be added on to courses that are more characteristic of earlier generations, or it can be used by itself. In both cases it can facilitate greater interactivity between tutor and student, between student and student and between student and learning resource of various kinds. Discounting the initial costs of the technology, this model may generate lower up-front fixed costs, but higher variable (e.g. for the student) costs than the second generation model.
Factors affecting the development of E- education
Various factors had a significant impact on the development of distance education. This included pressure to expand higher education in general, the emergence of a second generation of distance education and an increase in government expenditure.
Other contributory factors were the changing nature of the workforce, with people looking for additional education or undertaking in-service education to improve their career prospects. Distance education seemed to many decision -makers to be the obvious solution.
Pressures for expansion
Participation of government in active planning of higher education development is a relatively new phenomenon. Until the middle of the 20th century, attention was focused on the problems of ensuring the expansion and universal participation in secondary education. By the mid-1960s, this had largely been resolved in most (though not all) countries. New and important goals of the 1960s were expanding access to higher education, moving from opportunities for a small elite to mass higher education, expanding continuing education programs and enhancing professional skills and training of specialists. Such serious changes required innovative forms of education and served as an impetus for the creation of new, non-traditional forms of higher education institutions.
During the 1960s policy makers were looking for ways and means of making education more democratic and professional. Distance education was a means of providing educational services to a large number of people who wanted to learn, but who were unable or unwilling to take time out for traditional forms of education. The didactic framework of higher education could be significantly enlarged by the addition of an alternative to traditional forms of education where learners could study independently within the control and supervision of higher education institutions.
Second generation distance education
A major factor which helped to establish the status and quality of distance education was the creation of the Open University of the United Kingdom (UKOU) in 1969. This was important for the practice of distance education and a demonstration of the integration of media into the teaching process. In September 1963, Harold Wilson, then leader of the Labour opposition, had put forward the idea of establishing a "University of the Air" which would be based on a consortium of various interests in education and broadcasting. He based this proposal on his awareness of correspondence education in the Soviet Union and of the success of TV education in the United States. However, his suggestion found no support in higher education, it even attracted ridicule [Perry, 1976, p.18]. Despite the opposition, the University's Royal Charter was issued in June 1969, granting the University the status of an independent and autonomous university with the right to award academic degrees. 25,000 students registered for the first course in
January 1971.
The emergence of the UKOU as a fully-fledged and competent academic institution had a major impact in many countries. Governments had been given an argument in favour of non-traditional methods for developing higher education to draw on in their arguments with the academic world. Following the UKOU example, similar universities began to appear in other parts of the world. A characteristic feature in the creation of open universities is the dominant role of government. As Harold Wilson described it later, the decision to establish the Open University "was a political act" .Later on government pressure and competition for students forced traditional institutions to review their structures, curricula and programmes, as well as forms and methods of education, and to consider the use of new technology and the development of distance learning programmes.
Increased expenditure
Public pressure and practical need led to large increases in government expenditure on higher education in the 1960s and 1970s. The pressures for expansion and the demonstration of successful and large scale distance teaching through the establishment of the Open University of the UK, meant that governments were willing to allocate money for setting up new institutions and for traditional institutions to expand and diversify their methods of teaching. Societal attitudes to education changed as well. Education was now regarded as a major contributory factor to economic growth and social development which could help to solve national and global problems. Both developed and developing countries saw education as a key to their future prosperity. While developed countries tried to maintain and strengthen their positions in the world market, developing countries hoped to bridge the gap in economic and social development. Globalization and economic competition between nations has led to rivalry in the sphere of science and technology and to the need for an educated workforce. Education is high on the list of priorities for investment, at both public and private level.
Conclusion
The history of distance education demonstrates its flexibility in responding to new educational needs and its relevance in many different countries around the world. As new technologies have become available, distance education has changed so that it is possible to refer to three generations. Pressure for educational expansion, including the need for continuing education, has led to increased expenditure and a willingness of governments to fund new methods. The creation of the UKOU as an autonomous university signaled the beginning of second generation high quality university level distance education, which offered a model taken up elsewhere. However, it represents
only one model and there are others which provide alternative routes for the development of distance education.
REFERENCES
1. Analytical survey. Distance Education for the Information Society: Policies, Pedagogy and Professional Development. Moscow 2000, 86 pp., UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education;
2. Mackenzie O. and Christensen E.L. (eds.) (1971), «The Changing World of Correspondence Study»: International Readings, Pennsylvania, USA and London, The Pennsylvania State University Press;
3. Nipper S. (1989), «Third generation distance learning and computer conferencing», in Mason R. and Kaye A. (eds.). Mindweave: Communication, Computers and Distance Education, Oxford, Pergamon Press;
4. Perry W. (1976), Open University: a personal account by the first ice Chancellor, Milton Keynes, The Open University;
5. Wilson H. (1976), Preface to Perry W. (see above);
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