The British Council Project on Distance Learning - Page 1 of 2 |
Background
The Prime Minister's initiative to increase the number of international students studying in Britain was launched by the British Council in June 1999. Alongside this, the Council decided to look at how numbers of students studying on British courses or for British qualifications outside the UK might be increased, and how the Council could assist this growth.
Essentially there were three types of learning involved:
a) In-country delivery, when the student is being taught face-to-face, either under a franchise or validation arrangement with a local institution
b) Distance learning, when face-to-face contact is limited, and the student learns on his or her own with a variety of support.
c) Unsupported learning, when either the student is given all the course material and has little or no contact with the provider, or when the student prepares for a British examination independently, or with a third party.
The research began at a time of growing interest in distance learning, with increased awareness of the potential of the new technology both to enhance course delivery, and to improve communication between teachers and learners, and between learners themselves.
There was also concern that the UK was in danger of being seriously out-stripped by the USA in this field.
Lack of data
One major difficulty in looking at offshore British learning is the almost total lack of data on current activities (with the exception of the Open University and the University of London External Programme). No data is collected for Higher or Further Education establishments, and many institutions are reluctant to reveal what they regard as confidential information.
There is no doubt that this lack of information is a major impediment to the expansion of offshore provision. This is the case for those considering distance learning, and particularly for e-learning, where investment costs are high.
As part of its role in assisting providers, the British Council felt it had a key part to play in providing market intelligence. Hitherto the role of the Council had only been to act as an agent for selected providers. The Council now sees its role as supporting all providers not only with data on markets, but also by offering a menu of services to support course delivery. Before committing resources to this strategy, it was decided to undertake evaluation about markets both to inform management decisions, and to assist providers. It was agreed to consider significant factors for expanding provision in ten countries. This would also identify areas where more detailed research would be justified.
Scope of the Research
The work began by developing a research template, which tried to identify the data that should be collected, and the questions that needed to be asked to acquire it. This was kept simple, and the hope is that any British Council office could use it, even where there are no educational specialists.
The template was tried out in March 2000 in Hungary and Brazil and, as might be expected, showed that not all questions were relevant in every country, and that in most countries there was likely to be some special local factor at work. Since testing the template had produced interesting data, it was decided to produce reports on the surveys. These are available to subscribers of the British Council's Education Counselling Service. Contact ECS for further details.
By March 2000 there was growing interest in offshore opportunities, with the announcement of initiatives like the e-University. Although the template for the market surveys is designed to be used by non-specialists, the Council used ten reports (including Hungary and Brazil) by consultants to "kick-start" the process.
The additional eight countries were chosen because:
a) They were designated as priority countries by the Council
b) Distance learning and/or in-country delivery is currently very limited
c) There was a belief by local Council staff that there was potential.
d) Willingness of the local Council director to support the research.
e) Contrasting range of countries.
f) Geographical spread.
The countries selected were:
- China
- Malaysia
- Jordan
- Russia
- Japan
- India
- Greece
- Argentina
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