Overcoming Internal Constraints Of Distance Education.

In his industrial model of distance education Peters (1983) has addressed the internal constraints referred to above. He considers distance education to be similar to a form of industrial production that depends on division of labour, mechanization, rationalization, quality control, and mass distribution. It could then be argued that an increasing dependence on technology for delivery of distance education learning experiences can entrench existing social and economic forms. Reliance on capital intensive distance education, manufactured within an industrial model, can lead to a kind of education that is even more supportive of capital investment and increasingly less accessible to educationally disadvantaged groups. The obsession with technologically advanced delivery systems and carefully structured knowledge, which Evans and Nation (1987) refer to as “instructional industrialism,” work against the creative symbiosis of knowledge and experience that is needed for social purpose education. Concentrating on technology can mask the way education can be used to achieve student conformity and to ensure adaptation to a dominant ideology.

Typically, however, the traditional views of the role of a university or college educator have combined with internal interests regarding delivery systems and financial constraints to push social purpose distance education to the margins. An exception to this is the way distance education is organized in some economically disadvantaged countries. There education is often targeted at social goals and is in many cases experienced in social groups. For example, a women’s health group might gather in a remote settlement, where a radio link with a health educator facilitates their discussion. The purpose is not just to learn about women’s health issues, but to do so by using information drawn from the communities in which the discussions are held. Other inspiration for the kind of distance education objectives promoted here can be found in historical examples of “distance” adult education such as the work of Frontier College, which involved worker-educators travelling to and working and teaching in logging and railway camps (Fitzpatrick, 1920). Yet another example is the National Farm Radio Forum, which introduced agricultural and social issues which were then examined in local listening and discussion groups (Selman & Dampier, 1991). It is important to note that in all the examples noted above, discussion and learning occurred in a group context.