6-th International conference
"Education and virtuality - 2002"

 Conference Materials
Yalta, September, 2002

 Model of Distance Education System in Technical University

(extract)

Tovazhniansky L., Kravetz V., Suk O., Kosareva N.
National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute ",
 Kharkiv, Ukraine
E-mail: afs@kpi.kharkov.ua

Abstract

It is described the principal tendencies and problems in the process of distance education introduction into technical universities focusing on the Ukrainian experience. Recommendations on the effective management means in launching and developing  Center of DE of traditional technical university are listed.

 . . . . The problem of compensation to faculty of time expenses on development of a distance course and legalization of the academic load arising during its delivery is complex also. Before inclusion DL in normative documents of the Ministry of Science and Education it is possible to offer some working variants of its solution that were approved in national and global practice:

• To be behindhand today in DL area can result tomorrow in narrowing the market of consumers of educational services. Therefore it is favourable for University carrying out of permanent open competition on development of the best distance course with establishment of bonus fund . For example, in NTU "KhPI" in 2002  the first stage of such competition has already passed, Iowa State University (USA) carries out similar competition in 2001-2002 instructional year too;

• creation of distance courses demands from faculty of development, and active use of the new methodical and educational means based on IT, hence, creation of such courses it is possible to carry out within the framework of the scientific-methodical themes which are carried out under direction of CDE or due to budgetary financing, or by the conclusion of contracts with corpocourse customers (state and private enterprises);

• The estimation of an academic load of the instructor (tutor) of a distance course can be made, for example, basing on norms of instruction by correspondence with introduction of the factor, taking into account novelty and priority of this learning (in world practice this factor changes in an interval from 1,5 up to 2 depending on complexity of a course).

Important aspect of CDE activity is active introduction on the market of continuous education ("lifelong learning"). This direction is connected to educational inquiries of people working in spheres of manufacture, business, bank structures. Here already now there is a plenty of employees which would like to receive education or perfect qualification, but are not able to do it because of impossibility to leave work. DL is a fine exit from such situation, in fact in its frameworks students can choose form, place and time of study. World experience shows, that this direction in the nearest future can become the basic for many Universities . . . .