open distance education in china: trends and developments by haixia xu (chinese ministry of...

Open Distance Education in China: Trends and Developments

Haixia Xu, Ph.D.

National Center for Education Development

Research

Chinese Ministry of Education

International Seminar on “Opening Higher Education:

What the Future Might Bring”

8-9 December, 2016

Berlin, Germany

Background for Open Distance Education in China

Developments of Open Distance Education

Trends of Open Distance Education in China

Overview


The largest higher education system in the world Total enrollment: 40.8 million

A dual-track higher education landscape Regular higher education: 28.16 million, 69%

Versus

Adult higher education: 12.64 million, 31%

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Regular HEIs Adult HEIs

Higher Education Enrollments in 2015 (Unit: Million)

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A dual-track adult higher education sector

• Enrollments in adult HEIs (6.34million)

• 3.5 million in open universities

• Enrollments in regular HEIs (6.28 million)

• All in schools of web-based education

• The latter grows faster than the former: brand effect?

Enrollments in Adult HEIs

In Adult HEIs Within Regular HEIs


An rapidly expanding open distance education sector

• A total enrollment of 9.8 million

• 77% of the adult HE enrollments

• 24% of the entire higher education sector

Chart Title

Open DE Overall HE

Chart Title

Open DE Adult HE


Adult higher education as a supplement to regular higher education

--Directly influenced by demand for higher education

--Separate admission standards

--Less resources, i.e., lower per student appropriations

--A tradition of teaching working adults at a distance, primarily using hybrid

teaching methods

--Aspiration for degree-granting status

Types of open distance education --1978: Broadcasting and Television University (renamed as Open University in

2012)

--1981: Self-taught higher education examinations

--1999: Schools of web-based education

--2012: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Developments of Open Distance Education: Open University of China

An ambitious origin: the Central Broadcasting and Television University

• Established in 1978

• Modeled after the UK Open University

• To widen access to higher education

A complicated system

• The central university as the governing body and degree-granting authority

• 44 provincial-level broadcasting and television universities

• Local broadcasting and television universities

• Learning centers

• Controversies regarding revenue-sharing, degree-granting, and governance


An amazingly expanding system

• Enrollments: from 166 thousand in 2000 to 3.5 million in 2015, up 21 times in 15 years

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New Enrollments in 2010-2015 (Unit: Million)


A system keeping up with the times…technologically

• Broadcasting and videoconference-based courses • 1996: Internet-based “open education” pilot • 2002: Web-based education institute • 2012: Open University initiative

• Six individual open universities

Long-term challenges remain…

• Insufficient Infrastructure • Less well prepared or motivated students • Relatively weak faculty • Lack of learning support


The Open University Initiative as a Milestone

• Goals: A new university taking full use of ICT

• No more monopoly: six Open Universities enjoys degree-granting authority

• Exploring open education as a mode of learning

• More focus on quality than quantity

Challenges

• How to make the transformation from technology-centered to learner-centered?

Developments of Open Distance Education: Self-taught Higher Education Examinations Established in 1981 as an innovative way of granting degrees

A combination of self-study, institutional tutoring, and national testing

Relatively rigorous

Declining participation: “bad money drives out good”

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Participants in 2010-2015 (Unit: Million)

Developments of Open Distance Education: Web-based Education Institutes within Regular Universities

A way of exploring a new mode of education

• in 1998: Four piloting universities : Tsinghua, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Beijing Communications

• in 2002: Sixty-eight universities approved to establish schools of web-based education

Unprecedented institutional autonomy

• Who to admit?

• What programs to offer?

• What degrees to grant?

Issues

• Legitimacy

• Separate criteria for admissions, teaching, graduation

• Huge enrollments

• Predominantly face-to-face classes

• Misuse of funding

Developments of Open Distance Education: Web-based Education Institutes within Regular Universities

Increasing new enrollments

• In 2015, the new enrollments averaged 20，000 per university

• More popular than OU or Self-taught Exams

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2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

New Enrollments in 2010-2015 (Unit: Million)

Developments of Open Distance Education: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

MOOCs as the catchword in China

• Qinghua and PKU joined edX in 2013

• Shanghai Jiaotong and Fudan joined Coursera

• Tsinghua launched its MOOCs platform

• Icourse.com

Platforms: Over 100 MOOCs platforms in place

• Who built it? HEIs, enterprises, HEI-enterprises

• Who is served? General public, students, specific lines of work

• High homogeneity

• Lack of S-S/S-I interaction

• Lack of a sound business mode

• Lack of quality mechanism

Developments of Open Distance Education: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Learners

• 20-24: 40%

• 25-29: 23%

• 15-29: 16%

• Students: over 50%

• Working adults: over 40%

• With baccalaureate degree: 60%

• With master degree: 20%

• High enthusiasm, low participation

• More interest in overseas MOOCs (84% versus 11%)

• Unsatisfactory online interaction

Developments of Open Distance Education: Observations

National perspective

• Regular higher education seems to become more open

• Schools of web-based education

• MOOCs offerings

• A fast growing sector of distance open distance education

• Open universities

• Schools of web-based education

Institutional perspective

• Web-based education emerging as a new mode of learning

• More than education Informationalization

Student perspective

• Limited changes

Developments of Open Distance Education: Trends

Expanding Access

Make higher education open to all learners

Targeted gross higher education enrollment rate by 2030: 65%

Ensuring Equality

Digital divide (urban-rural, inter-region, inter-groups)

“Offering fuel in snowy weather” instead of “icing on the cake”

Calls for powerful public service platforms

Developments of Open Distance Education: Trends

Enhancing Quality

Improve quality assurance

Innovate the mode of learning

Fusing education and technology

Online interaction

Learning support

Set up a learning outcome recognition, accumulation and transfer system

A system that is open, not closed

More choices for students

Two Dilemmas

Policy Dilemma

How Open is Open Enough?

Institutional Dilemma

How to develop students’ practical skills in a online environment?

谢谢

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