Propositions Related to the Development of Dual Mode Institutions
Commonwealth of Learning

Context:
This article offers propositions for consideration by institutions that are adding a distance education component to their on-campus teaching to become a dual-mode institution. These propositions relate to institutional and administrative issues, teaching, and student support.

Source:
Commonwealth of Learning. 1994. "Propositions Related to the Development of Dual-Mode Institutions." In The South African Institute for Distance Education, Opportunities for Innovation in Higher Education. Proceedings of a Workshop and Conference of Vice-Chancellors and Rectors in South African Higher Education, November 10-12, Johannesburg, pp. 106-08.

Copyright:
Reproduced with permission.

COMMONWEALTH OF LEARNING

The following propositions have been developed to help institutions seeking to broaden access to programmes and courses by adding a distance education component to their on-campus teaching. While such an addition to an institution's offerings may not mean that it becomes a dual mode institution in the sense that the distance programme is equal or almost so, in scope to the on-campus one, the propositions that follow are likely to apply even where the distance programme proposed is a limited one. The propositions have been divided into three broad categories dealing with institutional and administrative questions, with teaching and with student support.

I. INSTITUTIONAL OBJECTIVES:

1. Institutions becoming involved with distance teaching need to be clear about their objectives in doing so and about the means to be adopted in pursuing these objectives. It is also imperative to secure an institutional commitment to this course of action and then to ensure that distance education programmes are planned and developed as part of an institutional teaching mission that integrates distance and on-campus programmes.

2. Teaching at a distance adds a distinct and important pedagogical dimension to an institution's collective expertise. It is thus important that, in planning and managing such a new activity, the institution's executive and senior management should foster the cross-fertilization of ideas and experience between the distance and face-to-face modes. Institution-wide arrangements for staff development and for the improvement of teaching become important in this context (see 11.7 below).

3. Distance education activities should thus be planned and conducted according to overall institutional plans and priorities and under institutional policies and procedures including those dealing with maintenance of academic quality and standards. The executive and senior management must ensure that this is so and that, concurrently, such activities are appropriately funded, managed, evaluated and recognized.

4. Once priorities are set, funds allocated and responsibility assigned, administrative and fiscal responsibility for development and implementation of approved activities should be clearly assigned to an appropriate operational level to ensure that the above requirements are carried into effect.

5. In pursuing these objectives, overall administrative and fiscal responsibility for the effective implementation of institutional plans for distance education should reside with a distance education unit, acting in close co-operation with the teaching departments.

6. In addition to this broad responsibility, the unit should:

1. become the institutional repository of current knowledge of the theory and practice of distance education, of expertise on the planning and production of distance teaching programmes and of knowledge of relevant programmes offered in other institutions;

2. establish procedures to ensure that those responsible for the development of curricula and of the academic content of courses take advantage of this expertise in their development work; and

3. develop procedures to ensure that all activities related to distance education are conducted within the context of institutional research, development and evaluation.

II. TEACHING AT A DISTANCE:

7. Academic staff in the institution's teaching departments should be regarded as the primary resource for developing, revising and adapting the academic content of course materials.

8. As a matter of general policy, all teachers should be expected to participate in both the development of distance teaching materials and in the teaching of distance students as appropriate. Applicants for teaching positions should be informed of and appointment contracts written in accordance with this expectation.

9. In implementing the two preceding propositions, institutions should:

1. ensure that both new and continuing teachers are inducted into their responsibilities in distance education programmes and into the special requirements of these responsibilities. It is thus necessary to implement a continuing programme of professional development for distance teachers within the wider context of the institution's overall professional development programme;

2. design regulations to ensure that contributions to both face-to-face and distance programmes are planned and administered according to comparable criteria; and

3. develop, publicise and apply criteria for good teaching that will allow teachers to gain recognition for high-quality teaching in either mode.

10. In planning for and implementing the addition of a distance teaching component, it is important to encourage a strong commitment to internal course development. Nevertheless, the growing cost and difficulty of course development ab initio may dictate that institutions should be aware of the possibilities for acquiring courses from and for joint development of materials with other institutions (see I.6.i above).

11. In the development and acquisition of materials, every effort should be made to emphasise simplicity and flexibility in selecting instructional media.

III. Student Support:

12. It is recognised among distance educators that well developed student support systems (like advising, counselling, registration, etc.) are essential to the effective delivery of instruction at a distance. Students who are cut off from the normal support systems taken for granted by campus based students frequently require an equally comprehensive network to help them succeed in their studies.

13. The range and type of services provided will vary from institution to institution depending on the needs of students as well as on the technical, human and fiscal resources available to individual institutions. But some general propositions do apply:

1. it is likely that separate administrative arrangements will need to be made for distance students;

2. given the situation of distance students, it is vital that they be provided with precise, accurate and timely information about programmes, regulations and expectations, including instructions about what to do in the event of academic or administrative problems;

3. this implies that such services as admission, registration, maintenance and transmission of records, materials distribution, advising and counselling, library support and tutoring be fully responsive to student needs;

4. it is also important that, notwithstanding the difficulties in doing so, institutions make every effort to ascertain their students' needs and to consult them regularly to discover how effectively they are being met.