Modern Distance Education in China—History, Status, Policies, Market and Development

Feiyu KANG

The School of Continuing Education

Tsinghua University

Jan. 22, 2003

History of Distance Education in China

• Teaching by correspondence (函授 ): – 1952, mailing teaching materials + F2F tutorial

• University of Broadcast & Television (广播电视大学 ):– 1978, teaching by Broadcast and TV

• CUBT is the largest U, 1 million students

Milestones of Modern Distance Milestones of Modern Distance Learning in ChinaLearning in China

• March 1996 Prof.Wang Dazhong of Tsinghua Univ. proposed to have Modern Distance Education.

• March 1999 4 universities including Tsinghua got the permission from the Ministry of Education to become pilots, 67 top Chinese universities joined this program by far.

• July 2000 Coordination Group of Modern Distance Education of Chinese Universities was founded. Tsinghua was elected as a chief unit.

• Oct. 2000 China education broadband internet was opened

• Dec. 2001 The pilot university was asked to submit annual review report.

67 67 Pilot Universities in 5 LotsPilot Universities in 5 Lots

First Lot （ March-April,1999 年） : 4+1

Tsinghua University

Zhejiang University

Hunan University

Beijing University of Communication

Central University of Broadcast & Television (CUBT)

Policies for Pilot UniversitiesPolicies for Pilot Universities

Enrollment scale: no limitation, no plan, no quota

Recruitment method ： examination is given by university self

Majors setup ： setup by university

Learning period ： flexible

Enrollment number growth rapidly(unit:10000, total: 1.5 million)

0.293.56

18.44

63.3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1998 1999 2000 2001

Statistics of Students Types

48%

36%

10%

5% 1%

J uni or col l egefor Bachel orHi gh school toundergraduate J uni or col l ege

PostgraduateCourseConti nui ngeducati on

Age Distribution of Students

7%

39%

22%26%

4%2%

0%5%10%15%20%25%30%35%40%

under18

19-25 26-30 31-40 41-50 abo v e50

• Popular topics:

Universities %

Computer Sci & Tech 31 69 Law 21 47 Business & Administration 18 40 English 17 38 Accounting 12 27 Trading and Marketing 12 27

Data TransportationData Transportation modes modes

Internet 72 % Satellite 44 % Cable TV 29 % Video Conference 71 % CD-ROM 78 % F2F 68 % The above 2-3 modes were adopted by

each university.

Major problems ① Too many students are learning for

degrees: 94% ② Most of freshmen are post high-

school students: 31% ③ Some universities are over

capability: teaching and management resource, technique support

④ Recruitment ratio was too high: 83% ⑤ Some learning centers were

unqualified

New Strategies from the Ministry of Education

1.Regular guidance2.Annual review report and

certificate3.Public support system (via CUBT)4.Encourage adult education and

continuing education in part-time ，and limit high school graduate

5.Strengthening teaching, examination and learning centers

Market

• Lack of high education resource: the current ratio of enrollment is only 13%, more people are looking for the opportunity

• Many provinces are very poor: they are waiting for the excellent education program

• Continuing education is urgent needed after joining the WTO

• Number of students want to study abroad

Modern Distance Education in Tsinghua

• The earliest and largest distance education unit in China (since 1997)

• More than 100 off-shore campus learning centers established in the whole country

• 22,000 students for degrees and 10,000 for short course training

• Around 200 courses provided by internet and satellite

Roles of Tsinghua University in Distance Learning

• To provide authorization and certificates• To provide classrooms with multimedia equipment for all

audience to watch at the same time

• To provide online courseware as well as CD-ROM and other materials

• To provide web-based discussion and tutorial platform: www.itsinghua.edu.cn

• To provide supervision and training for tutors in learning centers

Tsinghua University

DistanceLearning Centers Participants

Authorization and support

Feedback

Provide classroom and facilitator

Exam and Feedback

Web-based discussion

Operation Mode Diagram Operation Mode Diagram

Program for Junior College Graduates to Apply for Bachelor’ s degree

• Law• Economics• English• Art and Design

– Graphic design, environmental art design

• Computer applied technology• Marketing (IHM Business School)• The total enrollment is 13391 (from 2000 to 2002)

Specialized Refresher Courses at Postgraduate Level

• Business and Management (MBA)• Computer Application Technology• Civil and Commercial Law• Education Economics and Management• Project Management (U. of New South Walls)• International marketing (U. of South Australia)• Actuary (University of Connecticut)• The total enrollment is 8489 (from 1998 to 2002)

Short courses for Professional training by distance learning

• Teachers training (middle and primary schools in west China)

• Insurance and finance (actuary, accounting, CFA)• English (Olympics2008 and Exp2010)• Innovation administration ( The Australia

National University)• Urban planning• Tourism and hospitality management

Future Development in Distance Education

• Providing comprehensive and high-quality professional training programs

• Being a continuing education platform for enterprises

• Strengthening the collaboration with the top education agencies in the world

• Extending Web-based education system

3in1 Online Tutorial System

• Broadband internet (CERNET: Gigabps)• Satellite special net (Asia Sat II: C-band,

6.5 Mb)• ISDN special net• MCU-based functions: integration of voice,

image, with electric white board• Tutorial & seminar: multi-points

communication

Modeling Project Modeling Project for Web-collegefor Web-college

PlanningPlanning Quality ControlQuality Control

Teaching monitorTeaching monitorTeaching coursewareTeaching courseware

Courseware Examination

Course BankCourse Bank网上教室 作业

E-mailBBS Chat

个人学习 网上小组讨论 网上实验室 虚拟资料室

RegistrationRegistration CertificatesCertificates

管理工作流

Teaching Work Flow

The system based on internet may offer The system based on internet may offer

university coursesuniversity courses ，， such as online such as online

class, discussion, tutorial, assignment. class, discussion, tutorial, assignment.

It also supports course planning, It also supports course planning,

teaching management, quality control, teaching management, quality control,

and so onand so on 。。

Distance Education for Poverty-help

• 592 key poverty-help counties

• 10 provinces in western China

• Undeveloped economics and lack of education resource

• Sat., Internet, ISDN and CD-ROM

• Law• Teachers training• Agriculture

technology• Hospital & health• Business &

Management• ……

Support and Collaboration

• Market;– Universities

– Government

– Industries

– Individuals

• Support:– Courseware

– Certificate & degrees

– Technologies

– Finance

• Joint Programme:– Short course training

– Long-term diploma

• Joint Virtual-– Seminar

– Workshop

– Class

– University

Thank You Very Much!