WEEK 7. Distance learning. China’s TVUs.

Discussion of TVUs in China.

While China is often regarded as a developed country, the article focuses on a need to bring China’s education up to the standards of the rest of the developed world and how TVU’s (Television universities) are a cost effective and accessible method of gaining a recognised degree.

The first benefit I see in the use of TVUs is the accessibility of radio and televison. Radio and television are far more accessible than the internet and can be received in groups as apposed to just individually like online learning. This provides a mixture of benefits of distance/asynchronous and F2F/synchronous learning. Problems of literacty may also be overcome as radio and TV are arguably a more common literacy than the internet and study groups can be formed to overcome such problems.

The article also talks about the availability of F2F tuition. This counteracts many of the negatives of distance/asynchronous learning mentioned here and in previous posts about our own distance learning in NMC. This combination means the quality of a TVU education is strengthened both with the benefits of distance learning and by eliminating the negatives of it.

The article discusses the previously low % of higher education in China to the rest of the developed world, impressive stats of TVU graduates, and also gives statistics of the number of TVU graduates who go into valued employment such as teaching. It may be questioned if there are really any negative to learning where the outcome is a higher % of education and desirable employees who can further a countries development. However, to take England as an example, growing numbers of graduate unemployment is arguable a result (ignoring the current economic climate) of more graduates demanding graduate jobs, and fewer training as labourers and tradesmen. Taken to it’s logical end, distance learning increasing the availability of education could result in skilled trades being as desirable as university degrees once were, with degrees losing their worth. Although the article makes clear than China is very far from this eventuality, it should at least be considered when looking at distance learning making receiving a degree so widely accessible.

http://www1.worldbank.org/disted/Technology/broadcast/tv-02.html [accessed 13/03/09]