Sigurjn Mrdal Iceland University of Education sigurjonkhi'is Distance Education and Rural Education

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Sigurjón MýrdalIceland University of
Educationsigurjon_at_khi.isDistance Education and
Rural Education
A lecture given to a NordPlus seminar The
reality of teaching as a challenge to teacher
training April 7th 13th, 2003 in Kajaani,
Finland
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Distance Education and Rural Education

• Modes of Distance Education
• The Icelandic case
• Why?
• How?
• What results?
• Changing Rural
• Traditional culture
• Multiculture
• Effects on schooling !

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Modes of Distance Education

• Correspondence by
• Mail
• Telephone
• Radio
• Audio cassettes
• Television
• Video cassettes
• Internet
• Interactive Video
• Multimedia-phones
• Virtual reality

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Distance Education
The Iceland University of Education offers most
of its programmes at all levels via distance
learning. Students in distance education
generally complete most of their courses
independently using computer technology and the
Internet. All distance education programmes,
however, also include some on-campus activities.
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More than half of the students at the Iceland
University of Education are in distance education
programmes. The University is also a leader in
the development of Distance Education programmes
in the country and now offers all courses of
study both as residency programmes and through
distance learning.
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Is distance education as good as
traditional education? Can ICT promote
education?
New technologies in education Just one more
new tool ? Yes, but each new tool has its
disposition, temperament, and moral fiber
! ?The culture of the Internet !!
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Does distance education change university
structures?
What impact does the new ICT have on
institutional structures of Academia?        On
teaching?                On administration?     
      On research?            On services?
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Education Workshop

Education is action Mixture of creation and
communication
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I will reflect on my experiences at The Iceland
University of Education http//www.khi.is/

• The Iceland University of Education is a small
  institution, although it is the second largest
  university in Iceland.
• It was founded in 1908 as a normal school, the
  Teachers College of Iceland, and developed as
  the center of teacher education in Iceland.

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We decided, instead of organizing traditional
correspondence courses to jump with the new
program on the ICT bandwagon that was starting
up, in Iceland as well as internationally. The
first students started the program in January
1993 were given email addresses and required to
have access to Internet. This was secured by
contracts with local authorities that secured,
when required, the student teachers access to
computer terminals in local schools. This was the
first ICT based formal academic course in Iceland
and one of the first in the world.
http//www.simnet.is/annalar/val01/sigurjon/sigurj
on.htm 
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The B.Ed. Program 1993

• 92 students started
• a minority had used computer
• only a handful had used the Internet
•  
• This became a successful program
• In 1996 the first graduates with B.Ed. degree
• The distance program reflected the curriculum of
  the traditional program as far as possible
• same courses
• same textbooks
• same tests
• etc.

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Education Workshop
Education is action Mixture of creation and
communication
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Teacher Education On-line

• Soon it became obvious that the new media
  encapsulated new options for academic activities
• Communication
• Teaching methods
• Subject matter
• Perspective on the pedagogies
• ICT was not only suitable for distance programs.
  The boundaries between distance and on-site
  programs became blurred...

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Teacher Education On-line
Today we talk about network education or open
education network teaching or open
teaching network learning or open learning In
stead of Distance education Distance teaching or
distance learning
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Education Workshop
Education is action Mixture of creation and
communication
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Education Workshop
Education is action Mixture of creation and
communication
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Education Workshop
Education is action Mixture of creation and
communication
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2281 Students at Iceland University of
Education 2003
   
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Effects of ICT on institutional structures

• influence on programs
• Opportunity to reorganize program
• what is the essence of the program?
• Reconstruction of curricula
• new courses more flexible programs
•  
• influence on faculty and staff members
• Digitalization of work and working condition.
• Decided that electronic communications has the
  same status as paper documentation
•  
• influence on teaching
• Web based courses, both on-site and distance
  courses Each course has a website with a
  communication component.
• Development of subject matter new learning
  material (dimensions).

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Effects of ICT on institutional structures

• Influence on services
• More rapid communication
• More flexible support courses
•  
• Influence on research
• New fields of study
• More extra institutional collaboration
• Influence on administration
• More electronic communication
• More accessible information
•  
• Influence on image of the institution
• Web site
• PR new image

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Reflections
The development of the Icelandic University of
Education has been positive overall
expansion in terms of student, staff and
faculty more extensive programs new
methods of teaching new fields of research
more international cooperation new image of
the institution
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Further reflections

• The medium carries ideological structures -
  technical rationalities
• It is important to be conscious of the
  ideologies/rationalities and align them to the
  professional and academic objectives of the
  institutions
•  
• Who is in control of the program -the human or
  the machine?
• -the professional or the technician? 

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ICT has many dimensions

• ICT devices carry
• ideological dialectics of
• social, cultural and economic
• transformations.
• ICT is neither the cause
• nor effect of globalization.
• It is the very essence of the
• new world order.

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ICT has many dimensions

• Social
• Cultural
• Institutional
• Economic
• Political
• Technological

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At the turn of this century the ties between
education and culture are still valid.

• Information is not the same as knowledge
• Information is useless on her own, it has to be
  placed in a cultural context
• It takes an educated mind and a thriving
  community to convert information into knowledge
• In second part I turn to the concept of the
  Rural http//ust.khi.is/latira/what_is_rural.htm