Modern distance education is a new type of educational mode, which
is based on computer and network technology. It is an effective way
to realize the popularity of higher education, and one of the most
important means to meet the needs of lifetime education for the society.
The country attaches much importance to modern distance education.
Based on the document ˇ°Answers to The Experimental Work of Establishing
Modern Distance Education at Beijing Normal University, Northeastern
University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Huazhong University of
Science & Technology and South China University of Technology
(SCUT)ˇ±(Higher education [2000] No.12) approved by State Ministry
of Education, the university became one of the first educational institutions,
who were authorized by State Ministry of Education to develop modern
distance education in a full scale. Hereby, the university is capable
of employing modern technologies, such as Internet, and so on, into
educational programs of undergraduate educational qualifications and
junior college educational qualifications, academic degree education
of bachelor programs and non-academic degree education of postgraduate
programs. Besides, the university has many-sided independent rights
of school running. The university implements independent admissions
and independent examinations, and grants students (on-line) diploma
of SCUT. The diploma has its electric enrollment administrated by
State Ministry of Education and is admitted by the State. The university
attaches much importance to the engineering construction of modern
distance education. SCUT on-line was set up in 2000. The school actively
takes measures and makes great efforts to support and develop this
fine new educational mode, as well as to explore the processing modes
of running the school cooperatively with enterprises. The educational
philosophy of SCUT on-line is ˇ°high initial position, high level and
new mechanismˇ±. Roundly relying on the school running power of the
university and organizing the abundant teaching resources of the university
in a concentrative way, the school develops multimode and multilevel
(distance) on-line education through specialized on-line service,
which mainly includes:
1. Multilevel degree education. Giving priority to continuing education
for in-service adults, the school recruits students from the society.
Based on the discipline of ˇ°undemanding entrance, tight graduationˇ±,
the school develops multilevel degree education, which mainly includes
junior college education and undergraduate education on the foundation
of high school education, as well as undergraduate education and
dual-bachelor-degree education, etc. The teaching work of educational
qualifications and degree education is mainly accomplished by means
of distance (on-line) education.
2. Non-degree education. The school develops non-degree educational
courses for the society, including post training, occupational qualification
certificate training and cooperative activities of self-learning
examinations, which have provided laborers learning opportunities
to obtain employment. Besides, the school helps developing exclusive
technological and management talents for enterprises by opening
continuing education that is subsequent to college education, postgraduate
courses and high-level seminars.
3. On-line courses. The school develops on-line courses for full-time
school students. Students can receive credits for one single course,
and undertake supplementary education, dual-majors education and
dual-degrees education.
SCUT on-line started to admit students in the spring of 2001. Its
established courses include administrative management, law, computer
science and technology, business administration, e-business, English,
and so on. Its present enrollment is over 10,000, including nearly
8,000 part-time students, nearly 2,000 of-the-job students, and
over 600 graduates of 2003, who are the first completion of undergraduates
from junior college. The enrollment fully manifests that SCUT on-line
gives priority to continuing education for in-service adults. Moreover,
the school develops various kinds of non-degree education. The school
has developed technical safety countermeasure training together
with technical safety countermeasure management office of Guangdong
Police Ministry. Up to the present, over 3,000 people have taken
part in the training and have been awarded with certificates.
The proposal of ˇ°developing SCUT on-line and constructing a life-time
educational systemˇ± has been placed into ˇ°The Developmental Plan
of SCUT from 2001 to 2005ˇ± and the constructive project of high-level
university, so as to make great efforts to build SCUT on-line into
a top-ranking national modern distance educational school. In order
to exploit the advantages and characteristics of cooperative school
running, the school has invested substantive funds for network infrastructure
construction, founding on-line teaching flat form, preliminarily
building up an advanced on-line course system of correlated majors
and a quality evaluation system of on-line courses, strengthening
and standardizing teaching management, building up a quality protection
system and a service system of on-line teaching, and setting up
over twenty outside school teaching centers in some provinces and
municipalities, such as Guangdong province and Guangxi province.
4. Web courseware. Courses, experiments, questions and answers,
homework, referential materials and the like can be made into web
courseware. Students can visit the web site and choose to study
their requisite courseware at any time, so as to realize the aim
of self-learning based on their own needs.
Teaching devices of modern distance education at SCUT
Teaching management of modern distance education of SCUT is a two-grade
management, which consists of SCUT on-line management and outside
school teaching sites management under the uniform guidance of the
university. SCUT on-line is responsible for enacting teaching plans,
administrative means and their correlated policies, displaying the
courseware according to the teaching plans, supervising teaching
qualities, managing student status, and sending out certificates
and other documents.
Modern distance education adopts the integrated teaching devices
of real time and non-real time teaching as well as synchronous and
asynchronous teaching.
1. Real time teaching method of living broadcast on-line
When instructors are giving lessons in classrooms, students in the
outside school teaching sites can see a live classroom teaching
scene on the projection screen through real time interactive multimedia
teaching system. The classrooms of SCUT can then be ˇ°movedˇ± to the
outside school teaching sites, so as to enable students to master
the teaching contents and accomplish the teaching progresses in
time.
2. Video order devices (VOD)
Live classroom teaching is made into VOD courseware and is loaded
on the web server, which can be ordered and downloaded to the VOD
on-line server in the outside school teaching sites. The advantage
of playing the videos is that it helps maintaining an active and
independent atmosphere for the class.
3. On-line devices
The acquirement of various teaching resources can be implemented
by visiting the distance education web site of the university and
browsing the on-line courses and the on-line courseware. Seminars,
tutorships as well as questions and answers are hold between teachers
and students or among students on-line.
4. Disc devices
Multimedia CAI courseware discs and video compact discs are made
to provide students with aided devices for self-study.
5. Face-to-face instructions and practices in the alma mater are
properly arranged for students of the outside school teaching sites.
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