Around the Globe

Distance education is often perceived to be the preserve of large countries. Indeed, several large nations such as Australia, South Africa, and Canada are renowned for their use of distance education to reach and teach remote students and have a long history. In comparison to these, the United Kingdom is a small country, and it would be easy to assume that the British are a late entrant into the field of distance education. This however, would be an erroneous assumption. The British have a proud tradition of distance education that can be traced back to the correspondence courses of Sir Isaac Pitman during the early years of the Victorian era. Those with a keen appreciation of the history of technology will be aware that many of the technologies used in distance education today were either conceived or invented by Britons. Examples include the computer (Babbage), software “programming” (Lovelace), television (Logie-Baird), communications satellites (Clarke) and the World Wide Web (Berners-Lee). Even the first-degree course delivered by distance at the University of Chicago was conceived by an Englishman by the name of Moulton. The British Open University has been used as an exemplar of good practice in distance education and a model imitated by many other distance institutions worldwide. The Brits, then, have had considerable influence upon distance education, and the UK today is still a hotbed of activity in the field. In this first of two reports, I will outline some of the most recent developments in distance education that are affecting teaching and learning in the United Kingdom.

Distance educators in the United Kingdom are relying increasingly upon telematic solutions to connect with remote learners across geographical distance. Telematics is the convergent action of computers and telecommunications and is based upon a combination of networks and telephony (Wheeler & Vranch, 2001). One project that exploited the potential of telematic technologies for distance learning was established in 1996 in South West England. Here is its story:

In the early 1990s, England's last tin mine—the Wheal Jane Mine in Cornwall—was closed due to its lack of economic viability. For many Cornish folk, this was the death knell for a region already suffering from a downturn in the fortunes of its principal income sources—fishing and agriculture. The region was left with a sole industry with which to eke out a precarious income—tourism. Economic recession was on the horizon.

Economic regeneration was discussed, and many agreed that the best way to turn around the economic fortunes of Cornwall was to retrain people for alternative forms of employment such as tele-working. Opportunities to retrain for those who were redundant workers were few and far between, however, due to poor travel infrastructure and large rural areas. For many, the nearest college of further education could be too far away to travel, and this large-scale problem demanded an innovative solution.

It came in the form of a European Social Fund Grant from the European Union. In 1995, the University of Plymouth, working in partnership with a number of public and private organizations throughout the South West of England, was successful in securing almost £5 million from the European Union to develop and manage a distance learning technical infrastructure. The Rural Area Training and Information Opportunities or RATIO Project was commissioned to establish 40 telematic distance-learning centers in the remote rural areas of Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset. The idea was that no one living in the region should be more than ten miles from a RATIO center. Many of the courses were to be offered freely, or at nominal fees to encourage locals to take up the training.

Between 1996 and 1999, and in consultation with local communities, RATIO set up centers in buildings such as community centers, wine bars, and church halls to provide outreach facilities for the region's further and higher education providers. Each college in the region was invited to submit a portfolio of distance-delivered courses that could be offered in the centers, using a combination of telematic technologies—videoconference, Internet, and satellite television. Each of the RATIO centers was given a range of networked personal computers, videoconferencing equipment, and digital satellite television reception kits. Center managers were appointed and, in 1997, the first RATIO center opened its doors to the general public.

In 1997, RATIO transmitted the UK's first live digital satellite pictures from the studios of the University of Plymouth, beating the government-sponsored BBC and independent satellite company British SKY Broadcasting by more than six months! Soon RATIO was broadcasting several hours of quality training live via satellite throughout the region, and distance learners at the centers were able to interact with studio experts through a combination of telephone, video link, and e-mail.

Throughout its three years of European funding, the RATIO project provided training for more than 3000 people working in small businesses in areas such as computers, languages, business, and computer-aided design. RATIO's legacy is a network of learning centers, many of which are now independent and still operational, helping to provide training updates and opportunities that contribute to a better-equipped work force, and much-needed regeneration for the faltering rural economy of the South West of England. For a more comprehensive account of the RATIO project and the use of convergent technologies (telematics), see Wheeler (1999).

The University of Plymouth is one of the largest universities in the United Kingdom, with more than 28,000 full-time equivalent students studying on 6 campuses spread across 150 miles of the rural South West peninsula of England. The University's Integrated Master's Program (IMP) was introduced to provide flexibility in the support of continual professional development at postgraduate level across the region. It offers a modular pathway to a Master's in Arts (Education) award. Many of the students currently undertaking postgraduate courses at the University are mature students who already have a professional career, such as nursing or teaching. Recently, to meet the demands of these busy professionals, distance education modules have been developed. One of these, addressing the theoretical issues of educational ICT (information and communications technology) was delivered successfully twice in 2001-2002 using Web and videoconference technologies.

The Masters students are all graduate educators working as primary or secondary school teachers or lecturers in further or higher education. They are all fully employed, and many have family commitments, so their time is at a premium. They therefore require flexible study routines to maximise the spare time they have available to them. Flexibility can be measured not only in terms of the students' choice of where to study and when to study, but also by personal control over the study regime. Thus, travel is reduced to a minimum and students can choose the time of the day they study and at what pace.

The educational ICT module is presented as a blended learning program, incorporating a mix of face-to-face, online and videoconferenced delivery methods. Students are assigned to regional clusters, and are encouraged to discuss their ideas and to work collaboratively within a managed learning environment known as MTutor. MTutor was created by the University of Plymouth's Faculty of Technology, a department specialising in, amongst other activities, research into artificial intelligence. MTutor provides a multi-screen Internet delivered environment in which ill-structured problems are presented, which students work through at their own pace. Students will place their own emphases on the problems and solve them within their own individualised professional contexts.

The designers of MTutor have incorporated an intelligent tracking system into its functionality, which enables course tutors to monitor the progress of students as they progress through a series of online activities. A “meeting of minds” occurs when the students within the clusters begin to discuss their solutions online and develop a community of practice through collaborative learning. Students have reported that they value this distance learning approach greatly as it affords them access to expert solutions to authentic problems and enables them to participate within a community of practice to which they would not normally have access. The technology is used to create the electronic meeting place in which dispersed groups of professionals are connected week by week as they work towards their Master's degree. For a more substantial account of the MTutor project see Culverhouse and Burton (2001). From the South West of England, we travel to the most northerly reaches of the United Kingdom, and Scotland ….

Located in the north of the British Isles, the highlands and isles of Scotland is another predominantly rural area of the United Kingdom. The Scottish highlands are a popular holiday destination for many thousands of visitors from all over the world. Each year, the region's population swells as tourists come to see the breath-taking views and sample traditional Scottish hospitality. The legend of the Loch Ness monster, as well as the skirl of bagpipes, the tartan, the highland games and a host of other rich cultural experiences await the eager sightseer. The highlands and islands of Scotland constitute approximately 20 per cent of the entire landmass of the United Kingdom and includes over 90 inhabited islands. And the highlanders and islanders, like residents of any other part of the world, experience their own unique set of problems.

Rural isolation and unsatisfactory travel infrastructures within this beautiful part of the British Isles have created a set of problems for the region's students similar to that of the South West of England. The region's economy is heavily dependent upon small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)—the “cottage” industries equivalent to the “Mom and Pop” companies found in the U.S. The work force is generally low skilled with above average numbers of self-employed, part-time workers, and unemployed people. The demand for access into training and higher education are understandably high.

Within this setting, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) was established to provide learning opportunities that in turn can contribute toward the economic regeneration of the region. UHI is also aimed at social and cultural development and many who have visited the UHI would agree that it is an exemplar for virtual learning.

According to the UHI's Web site (see below) up to 15 community “outreach centers” (similar to the RATIO centers of South West England), were set up in remote sites across the region to widen the operational base of the 13 colleges in the partnership. The UHI's courses include graduate level studies in Art & Design, Business & Management, Information Science and Computing, Construction & Technology, Culture & Heritage, Health, Education & Care, and Science & Environment. The UHI has also developed a number of collaborative distance learning programs in partnership with universities in other countries, including Ireland, Norway, Iceland, and Canada. Computer literacy is a central precept of the UHI, and each student engages in blended learning activities that focus on autonomous independent study. Teamwork and communication skills development are also key skills students acquire and master to prepare them for a career in industry or small business. Students engage in up to six months placement in industry prior to completing their course and distance education throughout a student's time at UHI is a key strategy.

This bold but probably prescient statement underlines the growing confidence exuding from many of the British higher education institutions in recent years. The UHI and other initiatives like it are making huge inroads into previously inaccessible areas, and providing opportunities for formerly disenfranchised individuals. Another such case is the ALPs project of the Welsh valleys.

ALPs (Adult Learner Partnerships), is a project located in the valleys of South Wales and featuring the use of PC-based videoconferencing systems. The British Telecom funded project had its base of operation was in local community centers throughout the Rhondda, Cynon and Merthyr areas of South Wales, hence the project's maxim: “video conferencing in the valleys.”

Videoconferencing was installed in remote community centers and, together with a range of interactive “distance” tutorials, was used to create a bridge between distance students and their tutors at the University of Glamorgan. The ALPs website declares the project's mission statement:

The ALPs project has achieved a high level of success because it has demonstrated a “friendly university at a distance” approach promoting informal contact via the desktop videoconferencing systems. In this way it has demystified degree level study by using low-tech examples of distance education. The project partners discovered that PC-based videoconferencing was both inexpensive and transparent. It was easy to use, and it helped distance learners to exploit the potential of simple videoconferencing in widening access to higher education opportunities.

We continue our exploration of contemporary British distance education in the next issue of the Quarterly Review of Distance Education, in which tele-training of surgeons, the launch of the UK e-Universities initiative and an innovative virtual schools project are reported.