Collaboration in Distance Education

International Case Studies

Louise Moran, Ian Mugridge

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN: 9780415100984
• eBook ISBN: 9781134854806
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

As inter-institutional collaboration has become a key policy issue in distance and higher education, strategic alliances for course development, teaching and credit transfer have become a central feature of institutional culture and policy-making. Distance educators are leading higher education around the world in overcoming the many problems involved in collaboration to forge exciting new institutional links with significant benefits for students and institutions. Through Canadian, Australian, American and Malaysian case studies, this ground-breaking book identifies and analyses the key factors enhancing and inhibiting collaboration. The high incidence of failed collaborative ventures indicates that the dynamics and strategies for success are poorly understood. This book seeks to redress that lack of understanding, and to assist in future policy-making, in distance education and throughout the higher education field. The authors conclude that a culture of `collaborative individualism' is emerging which is playing a significant part in the profound changes occurring in the nature and practice of higher education. The authors are internationally well-known and highly regarded distance educators, with first-hand knowledge of the difficulties and benefits of collaborative ventures.

Chapter 1
Collaboration in distance education

An introduction

Louise Moran and Ian Mugridge

Inter-institutional collaboration was the subject of lengthy discussion more than a decade ago, at the British Open Unversity’s tenth anniversary conference in 1979. In a chapter of the conference book devoted to the subject, Michael Neil defined such collaboration as ‘an active working partnership supported by some kind of institutional commitment’, based on formal agreement between two or more organizations (Neil 1981:25).

This definition forms the basis of the present collection, which further seeks to consider inter-institutional collaboration within the four motivational categories that Neil (1981:142–4) established as emerging from the conditions he was describing. These were:

1. The desire to make ‘better or more extensive or new use of resources that are available within one or more communities’.
2. The opportunity to improve ‘the quality of learning materials… [to increase] educational opportunities for a wider student population, and [to ensure]…the relevance of studies to student needs’.
3. The need to respond to political pressures of various kinds.
4. The perceived need to guide or initiate changes of various kinds in particular societies.

Thus, the contributors to this collection have been asked to report on collaborative activities at their own institutions, in which they actively participated, and to discuss the wider implications of these undertakings for inter-institutional collaboration in general.

In a short article describing features of collaboration among distance education institutions in Canada, one of the editors of this collection, Ian Mugridge, agreed with Neil’s comment that, although inter-institutional collaboration was to all appearances not merely a useful but also a simple undertaking, it had been attended by only irregular success and that ‘there seems to be a rather high chance that [efforts to collaborate] will atrophy or collapse after a depressingly short time’. (Mugridge 1983:23 citing Neil 1981). Mugridge went on to note that, up to the point of writing, Canadian experience seemed to confirm this view and to hold out only a rather insubstantial hope of change.

The efforts at collaboration discussed in this collection have largely taken place in the decade since these comments were made. In this period, the question of inter-institutional collaboration has come to occupy a central place in the discussions of distance educators. The pressures to collaborate on institutions in all parts of the world, both developed and developing, which produced the four conditions for collaboration listed above, have increased dramatically. These pressures alone have helped to ensure that the collaboration described here, contrary to the flaccid image projected in the early 1980s, is in general vital and upstanding. Besides these examples, there is evidence to suggest that institutions at all levels are changing, albeit slowly, their views about working with others. Increasingly, they and even their faculties are viewing collaboration as a realistic means of continuing to provide service to growing numbers of students, who make greater and more varied demands of the institutions they attend.

This development is contrary to many traditions of the educational world, particularly those of the universities. Universities have always sought to maintain their own autonomy, standards, and identity. They have been wary of extensive collaboration with other institutions, imposing on their students requirements which ensure that the institution’s imprimatur will be firmly placed on the credentials it awards. As a result, they are often ill-equipped to deal with demands from governments, students, or even their own administrations for the kind of rationalization inherent in the drive for a more comprehensive service to students and thence to collaboration. Nevertheless, this drive—impelled by a variety of forces: economic, social, technological, and educational—is moving universities towards a degree of interdependence that earlier might have been considered neither desirable nor possible. It is probably over-dramatic to maintain that the day of the totally independent university is done; but it might well be argued that most institutions in all jurisdictions are beginning to find that they can teach more effectively through collaboration (see Calvert 1992; Mugridge and Maraj 1992).

To this point, some of the most noticeable collaborative successes have been achieved by distance education institutions or institutions with substantial distance education programmes. In such institutions, the economic pressures to collaborate are bolstered by the mandate that is at least implied for all of them, namely to improve access to educational opportunities. Collaborative ventures strengthen their ability to achieve this goal and at the same time provide them with the legitimacy, both in the eyes of government and of fellow institutions, that many of them still seek. Moreover, the techniques and approaches familar to distance educators lend themselves well to co-operative projects. Distance education institutions typically share a commitment to improving educational access and, in consequence, have often led the way in encouraging portability of credit. By separating course development from teaching, and by developing packages of learning materials, courses are made readily transportable across time and space.

The increasing emphasis on collaboration that characterized the 1980s has prompted some attention in the literature to its advantages and disadvantages. Neil’s definition of inter-institutional collaboration has already been quoted as the broad assumption on which this collection is based. He discussed collaboration in general terms, but other scholars have specified types of collaboration, whose inherent risks range widely. In an ascending order of complexity and institutional risk, collaborative projects may include exchanges of information, experience, and consultants; collaboration on development, adaptation, and evaluation of learning materials; establishment of credit-transfer arrangements; and creation of new management structures, both within and among institutions (Moran 1986; Anderson and Nelson 1989). Konrad and Small (1986) suggested that collaboration occurs at three levels of formality—which range from informal, ad hoc arrangements through formal agreements to the creation of new agencies, typically involving a number of collaborating institutions.

Collaboration may indeed cover a multitude of activities. Its effects on an institution’s identity and operation may vary from peripheral to profound. The consistent thread running through all these types of collaboration, and exemplified by case studies in this book, is a partnership, in conditions of trust, for the mutual benefit of the partners. Konrad and Small (1986) have gone so far as to propose that such an arrangement may become essential to the continued existence of distance education institutions faced with escalating costs and diminishing access to resources.

Discussions of examples at each of the three levels noted above have been included in this text. Three of them are from Canada, which up to this point has led the distance education field in experimenting with collaborative ventures (Mugridge 1983, 1989; Moran 1986, Konrad and Small 1986, 1989; Anderson and Nelson 1989).

These writers, among others, have argued that there are many potential advantages to inter-institutional collaboration (see also Neil 1981; Moran 1990; Pritchard and Jones 1985a). Most particularly, collaboration may expand an institution’s capacity to provide breadth and depth in particular subjects. More pedagogical and technological strategies become available as approaches, facilities, and materials are shared; and these factors may, in turn, raise the standards of learning materials and teaching across institutions. Co-operative course development may help to build a critical mass of scholars, otherwise scattered in fairly small institutions, and may thus enhance research effort and output (though this assumption has yet to be demonstrated). In addition, there are cost advantages in using human and material resources effectively and economically, and political advantages in demonstrating that such things can be accomplished.

The fact remains, however, that inter-institutional collaboration is an extremely difficult and complicated undertaking, even in its simplest forms. One of the most successful examples of an uncomplicated collaboration is the course-sharing agreement between two Canadian institutions, Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, and the Open Learning Agency in Burnaby, BC. Under the agreement, each institution’s courses are made available to the other at minimal cost, thus adding a substantial body of learning materials to the programmes of both. Only recently, after several years in operation, has this agreement become of significant benefit to both institutions. And although the coursesharing whose prospect was part of the orginal agreement is now important to each institution, collaborative development and redevelopment have proved much less simple to implement effectively (Croft 1992; Davis 1992). This example illustrates the frequently made point that the rhetoric of collaboration frequently outstrips the reality (Mugridge 1983; Pritchard and Jones 1985b; Calvert 1986).

Many factors may militate against the success of even the most carefully designed collaborative arrangements. The tradition of institutional autonomy among universities, until recently almost universally accepted, can be translated into specific obstacles to interinstitutional collaboration. Several writers have alluded to the common mistrust of teaching methods and academic standards elsewhere, the ‘not invented here’ factor (Jevons 1976; Mugridge 1983; Bynner 1985). This has frequently, albeit seldom explicitly, been the cause of strain or even breakdown in collaborative arrangements. Often, this barrier is made more formidable by the addition of incompatible organizational structures and administrative processes between institutions, a factor that may give the appearance of intrusion by one of the partners into the internal workings of another. Since teaching at a distance is almost always easier than development at a distance, other difficulties include practical problems of inter-institutional communication; failures of implementation due to inadequate funds; lack of clarity in specifying the terms of an agreement; or the absence of real commitment on the part of one or more of the partners.

Above all, successful co-operation depends on trust—between institutional partners, and among the individuals involved. Trust in these circumstances rests on a willingness to eschew competition and to change one’s style and methods of operation. It is easy neither to develop nor to sustain. The technical and human problems involved in the kind of collaboration discussed by contributors to this collection are considerable; and they can easily lead to the breakdown of inter-institutional agreements.

This said, it remains true that the number of effective working examples of inter-institutional collaboration is growing. In Canada and Australia, the countries with which the editors are both most familiar, several undertakings have been reported in the distance education literature in addition to the essays in this book. In Canada, these include the Open Learning Agency’s co-ordinating activities (Mugridge 1983, 1989); bilateral arrangements between Athabasca University in Alberta and North Island College in BC (Mugridge 1983; Tayless 1986; Paul 1989), though these may be coming to an end; the Ontario Educational Communications Authority (Waniewicz 1979) and other educational broadcasters such as the Knowledge Network in BC and Access Alberta; and five educational consortia in Alberta (Moran 1986; Paul 1989). In Australia, five universities combined in the ‘Toowoomba Accord’ to facilitate credit transfer (Pritchard and Jones 1985b); Polhemus et al. 1991), and an inter-university major in Women’s Studies was developed and offered to considerable acclaim (Maclean 1986; Maclean et al. 1987; Moran 1990). By the late 1980s, the (then) colleges of advanced education were reporting more than one hundred co-operative distance education projects in sharing of information resources and facilities, teaching, course materials, student services, credit transfer, and research and evaluation (ACDP 1988).

Further, there is a growing number of examples of local and national collaboration elsewhere that deserve attention. These are notably to be found in Europe, where a popular strategy for provision of education at a distance has been to establish consortia of traditional institutes of higher education to develop, produce and/or teach courses at a distance (Commission of the European Communities 1991). Perhaps the oldest consortium is France’s Federation Interuniversitaire de I’Enseignement à Distance, which began in 1963. Other examples include Denmark’s Jysk AAbent Universitet, and the Norwegian Association for Distance Education. In Italy, the Consorzio per I’Università a Distanza brings together universities, large corporations, and semi-government instrumentalities to coordinate course development and delivery. In Britain, the National Extension College provides tutorial services for external courses of the University of London. Further afield, the Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong acquires the bulk of its course materials from off-shore as well as local providers and is making institution-to- institution credit transfer arrangements for students. These and many other collaborative ventures have yet to be evaluated or described in the literature; however, they are increasingly alluded to in papers presented in forums such as the International Council for Distance Education.

More interesting, and perhaps more important, is the growing international collaboration among distance education institutions or institutions with major distance programmes. These shared endeavours, funded through commercial arrangements or by overseas aid donors, reinforce the view that collaboration among distance education institutions is increasingly a significant component of their activities, perhaps even a criterion of legitimacy in the distance education field. Even though little evaluative literature has been produced to this point, it is appropriate to mention some of these undertakings here. At the low-risk end of such activities there have been numerous instances of consultancy projects linking individuals and institutions of different nations. The work in the 1970s at the UKOU’s Centre for International Cooperation and Services, and the activities of the International Extension College, are cases in point. Though of incalculable value in themselves, such links typically involve a relatively straightforward transfer of knowledge, skills, or materials, thus avoiding the fraught issues of institutional intermeshing in more elaborate ventures.

Bilateral projects multiplied in the 1980s, spurred by changing international political climates (see Timmers 1988 for examples). Some are semi-commercial arrangements, enabling the courses of one institution to be taught by, or in conjunction with, an institution in a second country. Such examples have become common in Asia as western countries have seen opportunities for financial gain as well as genuine improvements in educational acccess. The danger here is always that the former will drive the latter. Although bilateral activity is not confined to ‘north/south’ relationships, some aid agencies have recognized the potential impact of distance education on economic and social affairs in developing countries. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), for example, has funded several long-term projects —notably links between British Columbia’s Open Learning Agency and the Universiti Sains Malaysia, between OLA and Indonesia’s Universitas Terbuka, and Athabasca University’s ties with Thailand’s Ramkhamhaeng University and with the Indira Gandhi National Open University in India. Similarly, CIDA’s Australian counterpart has funded ‘train the trainer’ programmes incorporating distance education in the South Pacific and in southern Africa for much of the 1980s.

Dodds and Inquai (1987) report successful, if small- scale, multilateral collaborative projects in Africa for exchange and sharing of materials, joint programme and material development and production, and staff training. An ambitious proposal to create an open university to serve nine southern African countries, however, has yet to be implemented (Jevons et al. 1986). Other multilateral collaborative ventures of the late 1980s include the Disted Consortium, which groups the private Malaysian Disted College (based in Penang) with Australian, Canadian, and English institutions to deliver courses of the latter three to students in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. The Consortium explicitly sought to avoid duplication and encourage credit transfer and cooperation among the supplier institutions while enabling students to progress through matriculation to degree studies. In Europe, the changing political climate is accelerating trends toward multilateral collaboration in distance education. The European Community is sponsoring numerous projects that are directly or indirectly related to course development, credit transfer, and satellite and other communications networks (Commission of the European Communities 1991). The European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, formed in 1987, is working toward facilitating multilateral co-operation among the western European institutions and assisting similar institutions in eastern Europe.

The major agency of international collaboration in distance education is, of course, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), established by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1988 and based in Vancouver, British Columbia (Briggs et al. 1987; Commonwealth Secretariat 1987; Hubbard et al. 1987; Daniel et al. 1986). COL’s brief is bold and wide-ranging. It incorporates sharing, exchanging, and jointly developing learning materials; facilitating international credit transfers; and strengthening national capacities in distance education through staff training, improved communications, and collaboration in research and evaluation. The politics of such a venture are intricate and the practical problems enormous: it is premature to evaluate COL’s impact on Commonwealth distance education institutions. Nevertheless, COL’s creation, and the establishment of regional collectives such as the European Distance Education Network, coupled with today’s ease of global communication, indicate that such international collaborative mechanisms will soon play a major role in distance education.

In 1986, the Commonwealth Secretariat commissioned a former president of Athabasca University, W.A.S.Smith, to develop a position paper on collaboration in distance and open learning. With the assistance of three colleagues, he attempted systematically to evaluate the potential, pitfalls, and requirements for collaboration among distance education inst...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
• FOREWORD
• PREFACE
• ABBREVIATIONS
• CHAPTER 1: COLLABORATION IN DISTANCE EDUCATION
• CHAPTER 2: INSTITUTIONAL CULTURES AND THEIR IMPACT
• CHAPTER 3: CONSTRUCTING A MASTER OF DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMME
• CHAPTER 4: CREATING SELF-LEARNING MATERIALS FOR OFF-CAMPUS STUDIES
• CHAPTER 5: THE WAY OF THE FUTURE?
• CHAPTER 6: THE TOOWOOMBA ACCORD
• CHAPTER 7: THE RISE AND FALL OF A CONSORTIUM
• CHAPTER 8: THE CONTACT NORTH PROJECT
• CHAPTER 9: POLICIES AND TRENDS IN INTER-INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATION
• REFERENCES