Education for Information

Audio-conferenced courses at the masters degree level require careful planning that combines attention to detail and flexibility. The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education functions as the Graduate School of Education of the University of Toronto and has conducted audio-conferenced courses at the graduate level since 1982. This extent of experience has enabled the authors to synthesize and integrate course evaluation results and their own experience as a learning designer and as a librarian into five key principles for course design and implementation. These principles emerge from a learner-centered view and are intended to facilitate productive and enjoyable learning processes.

One of the major challenges facing distance education in the 1990s is the continuing growth of information technology. There are two overlapping groups of students who need access to information technology: those who use information technology as a tool to learn unrelated subjects, and those who are studying the area of information technology itself. In 1988, the Open University implemented a home computing policy to increase students' access to computers, and under this policy students use microcomputers in their homes as part of their university study. In 1990 there were 13,500 students taking courses which had a home computing element.

Two objectives in introducing the use of home computing in any course are: firstly, the need to ensure that students with varying amounts of computer experience (including novices) can learn to use the system quickly and efficiently; and, secondly, that the computer-based materials provided can be used successfully and smoothly by the student studying alone. In order to meet these objectives we conducted a three-year evaluation of the introduction of the policy, and conduct formative, iterative evaluations of courses as they are being developed. This paper draws on the findings of these evaluations to consider the first three years of the home computing policy. In particular it assesses the benefits and problems from the students' point of view, and also the implications for course designers and educational technologists of providing access to information technology in this way, and carrying out the necessary ongoing evaluations.

The author presents a description of the the use of distance education by library and information science educators and practitioners in the United States, an overview of the research that has been completed related to this use, and a description of the current status of distance education in library and information science in the United States.

An account is given of the experiences of the LIS school at Aberystwyth in distance learning over five years from the inception of its course in 1985 to its current expansion. A description of the course and an analysis of responses to it and of issues relating to its management are also provided.