Talkin Bout a Revolution: (Re)claiming distance education as revolutionary, humanising praxis

Imagecredit:https://pixabay.com/en/binary-code-man-display-dummy-face-1327512/
Talkin Bout a Revolution: (Re)claiming
distance education as revolutionary,
humanising praxis
Keynote at the National Association
of Distance Education and Open
Learning in South Africa (NADEOSA)
Conference, 21 July 2017 -
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Paul Prinsloo
University of South Africa (Unisa)
@14prinsp

I do not own the copyright of any of the images in
this presentation. I therefore acknowledge the
original copyright and licensing regime of every
image used.
This presentation (excluding the images) is
licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Overview of the presentation
1.Revolution? Whose revolution? Who benefits?
Who defines a/the revolution?
2.Is there a revolution/are there revolutions that
we are not talking about?
3.Distance education as revolution(ary)
4.Tentative pointers for reclaiming distance
education as revolutionary, humanising practice

Don't you know
They're talkin' 'bout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Don't you know
They're talkin' about a revolution
While they're standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion
(Tracy Chapman)

Don't you know
They're talkin' 'bout a revolution
Imagecredit:http://chica.co.za/career/social-media-
activism-feesmustfall/

#FeesMustFall
#MOOCs
#RhodesMustFall
#StudentDebt
#Badges
#OER #Disruption#Innovation
#Excellence
#Technology
#Digital#Rankings
#Revolution #DistanceEd

There is a real danger that amid all the
various claims regarding revolution,
disruption and the ‘end of higher
education’…
that we miss, that we don’t listen to the
whispers, the trembling of the tectonic
plates on which higher education, and
particularly distance education are
founded

Image credit: http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Fleeing-Birds-Animals-Flying-Flock-Start-Swarm-801778

Image credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13587160-to-save-everything-click-here
#Revolution #HigherEd

2011
Source credit: http://www.pewinternet.org/2011/08/28/the-digital-revolution-and-higher-education/

Source credit: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/opinion/sunday/friedman-revolution-hits-the-universities.html
2013
“Nothing has more potential to lift more people out of poverty —
by providing them an affordable education to get a job or improve
in the job they have. Nothing has more potential to unlock a
billion more brains to solve the world’s biggest problems. And
nothing has more potential to enable us to reimagine higher
education than the massive open online course, or MOOC,
platforms that are being developed by the likes of Stanford and
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and companies like
Coursera and Udacity.”

Source credit: https://techcrunch.com/2014/09/11/the-mooc-revolution-that-wasnt/
2014
“This year, that revolution fizzled. Only half of those who
signed up watched even one lecture, and only 4 percent
stayed long enough to complete a course. Further, the
audience for MOOCs already had college degrees so the
promise of disrupting higher education failed to
materialize.”

Source credit: http://www.chronicle.com/article/MOOC-U-The-Revolution-Isnt/149039/
2014
“That doesn’t mean MOOCs are dead, however. Far
from it. More than six million people have signed up
for a MOOC since 2011. Massive open online courses
are clearly resonating with an audience looking for
instruction on the web. And the format is able to
scale education in a way that simply can’t be done on
a physical campus”

Source credit: http://news.mit.edu/2014/revolution-higher-education-sanjay-sarma-1117
2014
“Sarma emphasizes that MOOCs and other digital
technologies will not replace professors or the
residential college. Rather, they’ll enrich them”
(emphasis added)

Source credit: https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-real-revolution-in-online-education-isnt-moocs
It’s called online competency-based education, and
it’s going to revolutionize the workforce.
2014

Source credit: https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2015/10/05/what-will-be-uber-higher-education-essay
2015

Source credit: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/539106/uber-for-education/
2015

Page credit: https://library.educause.edu/resources/2015/10/the-predictive-learning-analytics-revolution-leveraging-learning-data-for-student-
success
2015

Page credit: https://icde.memberclicks.net/assets/RESOURCES/anne_la_report%20cc%20licence.pdfPage credit: https://icde.memberclicks.net/assets/RESOURCES/anne_la_report%20cc%20licence.pdf
2016

Source credit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/otto-scharmer/mooc-40-the-next-revoluti_b_7209606.html
2016

Source credit: http://www.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/194198/real-data-revolution-higher-education.aspx
2016

2016

Source credit: https://www.wired.com/2016/04/apec-schools/
2016

Source credit: http://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/3/the-blockchain-revolution-and-higher-education
2017

Is there a revolution we
are not talking about?

The vice-chancellor's executive has decided to close the south-east
regional centre in East Grinstead, and plans to review the status of
the other English regional offices. Overall, some 700 jobs could be
at risk, almost a fifth of the OU's full-time workforce
2014

Source credit: http://www.bbc.com/news/education-34256699
2015

Source page: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/oct/20/open-university-strike-ou-regional-centres-moocs
2015

Source credit: http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/fullstory.aspx?id=31472
2017

Source credit: http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/fullstory.aspx?id=31472
“The Open University, approaching its fiftieth year, is
launching a radical overhaul”
“Change on this scale will inevitably impact on staff
because staff make up two-thirds of the OU’s operating
costs. The proposed transformation in teaching, research,
IT systems and the running of the University will inevitably
mean that the number and types of roles will change. In
coming years, fewer people will be needed overall.”
2017

Source credit: https://www.change.org/p/stop-privatisation-at-the-open-
university?recruiter=20536281&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish
“Staff in IT at the Open University are facing privatisation as
their work goes out to tender for ‘managed services’. If this
goes ahead, over 200 Open University employees could be
moved to private, for-profit companies”
2017

Source credit: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/athabasca-university-faces-insolvency-president-reassures-students-1.3111420
2015

Source credit: http://www.athabascaadvocate.com/article/Athabasca-University-faces-big-decisions-20160202
2016

Source credit: https://www.tonybates.ca/2017/06/10/a-brighter-future-for-athabasca-university/
2017

“Overall, this is an excellent report. Wisely, it does not dwell on
the historical reasons why Athabasca University got itself into
its current mess but instead focuses on what its future role
should be, what it can uniquely contribute to the province, and
what is needed to right the ship, including more money.”
“However, the main challenges, in my view, remain
more internal than external.”
“Money itself is not the issue – it is the value proposition that
will persuade the government to prioritise funding for AU
that still needs to be made by the university itself. In other words
it’s a trust issue – if we give you more money, what will you
deliver?”
Tony Bates (2017)

“The second major challenge, while strongly linked to vision and
funding, is the institutional culture. Major changes in course
design, educational technology, student support and
administration, marketing and PR are urgently needed to bring
AU into advanced 21st century practice in online and distance
learning. I fear that while there are visionary faculty and staff at
AU who understand this, there is still too much resistance from
traditionalists and those who see change as undermining
academic excellence or threatening their comfort zone. Without
these necessary structural and cultural changes though AU will
not be able to implement its vision, no matter how persuasive it
is. So there is also a competency issue – if we give you more
money, can you deliver on your promises?”
Tony Bates (2017)

Source credit: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/may/02/part-time-student-numbers-collapse-
universities?utm_content=buffer72e4a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
2017

Source credit: https://psmag.com/education/college-students-starving-in-silence
2017

Source credit: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jul/05/poorest-students-will-finish-university-with-57000-debt-says-ifs
2017

Source credit: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/three-quarters-of-graduates-will-never-pay-off-student-
debt-d0m5csx5v
2017

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/06/tuition-fees-university-funding-poorer-students-unfair-
reform?CMP=share_btn_tw
2017

Source credit: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jul/11/student-debt-graduates-tuition-fees?CMP=fb_gu
2017

Source credit: http://www.bbc.com/news/education-
40429263?utm_content=bufferc5bdf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
2017

Source credit: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/07/19/number-colleges-and-universities-drops-sharply-amid-economic-
turmoil
2017
“The most extreme predictions envision hundreds and
even thousands of colleges and universities closing over a
decade or so. But more even-keeled analysts also have
foreseen increases in the number of failing institutions:
Moody’s Investors Service in 2015, for instance, said
closures and mergers of small institutions would triple
and double, respectively, in the coming years.”

2017

Whose revolution? Who benefits? Who
defines a revolution?
Is there a revolution/are there
revolutions that we are not talking
about?
Amid all the claims, the noise we
need to whisper/ask…

Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthileo/3753385131

Mapping distance education as
revolution (Peters, 2010)
“We have experienced a revolutionary adaptation of
teaching and learning to new technological and
social conditions. There is no other form of teaching
and learning that has broken away from tradition so
sharply, that is so flexible and conducive to further
societal changes of the post-industrial knowledge
society. Distance education achieved a first
significant breakthrough in the reform of higher
education”
(Peters, 2010, p. 56)

“The humanitarian task of providing access for all
learners, with special focus on those disadvantaged by
distance, by precarious economic conditions, by
belonging to discriminated minorities, or by being
disabled. Obviously, this mission is now relativized by a
growing number of privileged students who do not
learn at a distance because they are forced to do this
by unfavorable circumstances, but rather for reasons of
convenience only”
(Peters, 2010, p. 32)

Tentative pointers for reclaiming
distance education as revolutionary
1. Rediscover the humanitarian ideal of distance education
2. How does distance education as ‘the most industrialised
form of education’ translate into a digital, agile, fluid
era?
3. How does the ‘iron triangle’ of cost, quality and access
change into the digital era?
4. Student support/student data
5. The potential and perils of algorithmic decision-making
6. ‘Open(ing) learning’, ‘open(ing) teaching’ and ‘open(ing)
scholarship’

The humanist mission of correspondence education
was “to provide access to education for all learners, no
matter how dispersed or disadvantaged by economic,
personal, or political situations”(p. 5)
Feasley, C. & Bunker, E. L. (2007). The history of national and regional organisations and the
ICDE. In M. G. Moore (Ed.), Handbook of distance education (pp. 15-29). Mahwah, New
Jersey, Erlbaum.
Pointer 1: Rediscovering the original
humanist and humanising intention of
distance education

Image credit: http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/06/apartheids-urban-legacy-in-striking-aerial-photographs-south-africa-cities-
architecture-racism/487808/
How can distance education address/redress the
lasting inequalities of colonialism and apartheid
instead of perpetuating this legacy?

How do we make teaching and learning
human again?
Image credit: http://www.lifegate.it/persone/news/banksy-biografia

Pointer 2: Rethinking distance education
as industrialised process of delivery
Image credit: https://za.pinterest.com/pin/341569952970101904/

How different are the processes used in an industrialised,
print-based distance education model from approving,
designing, producing and delivering (online*), (open*)
distance education?
Plan &
design
Approval
Curriculum
and
learning
design
TestProduction
Delivery
Print-based, fully offline delivery
Are the same processes appropriate & effective for
responsive, agile, fully online, off-campus delivery?

Department of Higher Education and Training. (2014). Policy for the provision of distance education in South African universities in the context of an
integrated post-school system. Retrieved from http://www.saide.org.za/sites/default/files/37811_gon535.pdf
OfflineOnline Fully online
Fully offline
Digitally supported
Internet supported
Internet dependent
Campus-based Blended/hybrid Remote
A
BC
Distance, digitally supported
Distance, fully onlineCampus-based,
fully online

Pointer 3: How does the ‘iron triangle’ of
cost, quality and access change into the
digital era?
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/homeless-beggar-sleeping-street-2182114/

Quality
Access Cost
Ethics
Social justice

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/sand-footprint-beach-nature-foot-1009755/
Student data is an invitation
to start a conversation
Pointer 4: Student
support/student data

Pointer 5: The potential and perils of
algorithmic decision-making
Seeing
Processing
Acting
Learning
Human Human
plus
algorithm
Algorithm
plus human
oversight
Algorithms/
machine
learning
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No Yes/No
Yes/No Yes/No
Yes/No Yes/No
Yes/No Yes/No
Danaher, J. (2015). How might algorithms rule our lives? Mapping the logical space of algocracy. [Web log post]. Retrieved from
http://philosophicaldisquisitions.blogspot.com/2015/06/how-might-algorithms-rule-our-lives.html

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/key-stump-nature-forest-1683108/
Pointer 6: ‘Open(ing) learning’,
‘open(ing) teaching’ and ‘open(ing)
scholarship

Imagecredit:https://pixabay.com/en/south-africa-flag-national-flag-1184103/
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/design-city-man-abstract-art-2326066/
How do we (re)claim distance education
as a revolutionary, humanising praxis?
(In)conclusion

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/empty-abandoned-messy-grunge-scene-863118/
Thank you
Paul Prinsloo
Research Professor in Open Distance Learning (ODL)
College of Economic and Management Sciences,
Office number 3-15, Club 1, Hazelwood, P O Box 392
Unisa, 0003, Republic of South Africa
T: +27 (0) 12 433 4719 (office)
T: +27 (0) 82 3954 113 (mobile)
prinsp@unisa.ac.za
Skype: paul.prinsloo59
Personal blog: http://opendistanceteachingandlearning.wordpress.com
Twitter profile: @14prinsp

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