Funding and Spending: What Price Distance Education?.
This paper explains methods of handling information about real costs to develop a model that is then used to forecast future costs of specified distance education activities and to obtain funding for these activities. It is addressed to anyone concerned about acquiring and spending money in distance education--managers of systems and institutions, department heads, and people interested in the actual costs of activities. The paper takes the approach to funding distance education that involves identifying characteristics costs of distance education and funding it on the basis of costs. It explains methods of handling information about real costs, including variable and fixed costs and student numbers, to develop a model used to forecast future costs of specified distance education activities and to obtain funding for them. The procedure of building a bridge between the accounting system and funding costs analysis is described, a process that involves using allocation keys and a cost classification. (YLB) *):c****************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * i******************I.AA:c****.AAA****************************** 9th Annual Conference Distance Education Association of New Zealand Palmerston North College uf Education 18 20 June 1993 Funding and Spending: What Price Distance Education? Ormond Tate Director and Allan Hiiri Manager Finance and Operations The Correspondence School U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office p Educationat Research and irnpronement EDUCATONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICI This osd.tument *S Peen reprodoced as received born the Person or oroanizalmn onoinatirto C Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction Quality POntOInlWO opimons stereo in this docu ment do riot necessarily represent official OERI poidOn or POhCO 2 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) FUNDING AND SPENDING : WHAT PRICE DISTANCE EDUCATION? Authors: Ormond Tate, Director, and Allan Hiiri. Acting Manager Finance and Operations The Correspondence School Wellington, New Zealand Introduction This paper is addressed to anyone concerned about getting and spending money in distance education, e.g. managers of systems and institutions, heads of departmentsand people interested in the actual cosis of activities. It may be of interest to governmentofficers and financial institutions concerned with allocating funds to distance education, e.g. for human resource and national development The paper follows a commonsense pragmatic approach. It is based on a two-year analysis of the costs of operating the New Zealand Correspondence School in an effort to establish an appropriate formula and process for the government to fund the school for adult continuing, secondary, primary, special and preschool distance education. It explains methods of handling information about real costs to develop a model which is then used to forecast future costs of specified distance education activities and to obtain funding for these activities. Costs and Funding Distance education is usually in the context of conventional face-to-face education and cost comparisons arise between the different forms. Governments in countries faced with meeting educational needs that outstrip resources such as buildings, equipment, number and quality of teachers, and finance are interested in both costs and quality of distance education. There are many types and forms of distance education differing in purpose, size, scope, media, entry requirements , levels and students so that it is difficult to compare costs between them or with conventional education. Articles by Snowden and Daniel, Rumble and Perraton deal with costs of distance education, mainly at tertiary level. There appears to be little information available about funding mechanisms for distance education. Possible Approaches Possible approaches to funding distance education include: Viewing distance education as an alternative method of delivering education and funding it on the same or a similar basis to conventional education, e.g. student numbers, hours, etc. As face-to-face education increasingly incorporates distance methods and blends with it, this approach eventually may be the simplest or most appropriate. Identifying characteristic costs of distance education and funding it on the basis of costs. Part of the appeal of distance education to planners is potential economies in delivering education. Governments and administrators may favour funding based on analysis of actual costs. This paper takes the second approach. It is asserted that funding for distance education should be in terms of specific services bought or of outcomes purchased by the funding agency. Two important aspects are level of funding and yearly changes in funding factors that affect funding levels. The first approach may find favour with distance educators in large institutions with
^The^ costs of open learning: a handbook
„Reflections on T eaching and Learning in an Online Master Program A Case Study“ presents the Master of Distance Education (MDE) program jointly offered by the University of Maryland University College and Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. The MDE was launched in January 2000 and is offered completely online. Faculty from three continents and more than 500 students from 12 different countries joined the MDE community within its first three years. The mission of the MDE is to qualify present and future managers of distance education. Given that distance education and e-learning have expanded so rapidly in the past few years in both public and private education, as well as in the training sectors, the program educates the multitude of new managers and future leaders necessary in this field. These managers need to be qualified as leaders, since they will be required to be active advocates for distance education and training in their organizations and need to manage significant change processes that affect the entire organization. The Distance Learning Community of Practice Award Committee of the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) in the U.S. selected the MDE as the winner of the Program of Excellence award in 2003. Studien und Berichte der Arbeitsstelle Fernstudienforschung der Carl von Ossietzky Universitat Oldenburg Band 2
Initial Teacher Training: the French view
ABSTRACT This paper, against the background of trends in the development of initial teacher training in Europe as a whole, identifies and explains some of the recent, radical reforms which were introduced in France by a socialist government. These include the need to raise the status and the competence of the teaching profession; the creation of new teacher‐training institutions of university status (Instituts universitaires de formation des maitres); the introduction of common entry qualifications at degree level for both primary and secondary levels; the harmonisation and the extension to 2 years of the post‐degree teacher‐training course and the increase in emphasis placed on professional training, both theoretical and practical. These reforms provoked a storm of protest and an examination of the reasons for this reveals a multiplicity of crucial questions which have far‐reaching implications.