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Key concept of lifelong learning
Key concept of lifelong learning
Key concept of lifelong learning
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Introduction
Institutions of distance education started with a similar focus of bringing higher education to students unable to participate in traditional universities. Though similar these schools are not cookie-cutter reproductions of each other. This paper will compare and contrast the University of South Africa (UNISA) located in the developing country South Africa, to that of The British Open University (OU) established in the United Kingdom, a developed country, over six dimensions: mission, population, historical background/organization, values inherent to the school, model of teaching and technology. This paper will also illustrate that the author has complete the required readings and conducted independent research.
Mission
The UNISA Mission:
UNISA is a comprehensive, open distance learning institution that produces excellent scholarship and research, provides quality tuition and fosters active community engagement. We are guided by the principles of lifelong learning, student centeredness, innovation and creativity. Our efforts contribute to the knowledge and information society, advance development, nurtures a critical citizenry and ensures global sustainability (UNISA, 2012a, para 3).
The OU Mission:
“The Open University's mission is to be open to people, places, methods and ideas (The Open University, 2014c, par 1).”
Each institutions mission addresses the need to serve students who are otherwise unable to participate in higher education. The brevity of the OU mission is accompanied by the statement “we promote education opportunity and social justice” (The Open University, 2014c, para 1) which is echoed in UNISA’s vision statement stating students will not be turned away based on social class (UNISA, 2012...
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Unisa Online (2013a). The History of Unisa [Web page]. Retrieved from The University of South Africa website: http://www.unisa.ac.za/140/index.php/history/
Unisa Online (2013b). Unisa is changing. Prepare for the change.[Web page]. Retrieved from The University of South Africa website: http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=95957
Unisa Online (2014). Facts and Figures [Web page]. Retrieved from The University of South Africa website: http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=18123
Van Zyl,D, & Barnes G. ( 2012). An institutional profile of Unisa: Unisa facts and figures (Department of Institutional Statistics and Analysis) Retrieved from University of South Africa website : http://heda.unisa.ac.za/filearchive/Facts%20&%20Figures/Briefing%20Report%20Unisa%20Facts%20&%20Figures%2020120215.pdf
Iowa State University Office of Financial Aid. (No date). How Much Does It Really Cost? [Online]. (1998). Available http: http://www.iastate.edu/~fin_aid_info/ General Topics/cost.html [1999, October 29].
Colleges and universities in the past were limited to one type of student, upper class males, but now colleges and universities are centers of education for people of all backgrounds. People from different backgrounds and opinions congregating at these centers of education, forced many colleges to evolve. By giving colleges and universities a large variety in their students, it forces them to ditch a standard on education. Due to this fact, all colleges and universities must deliver an assortment of options in the effort of giving everyone the best education possible. Evolution for colleges and universities did not end there; due to the birth of the world wide web most colleges and universities now give the option to enroll in online classes. This rise in online education spawned a new form of university, fully online universities. Author Graeme Wood presents in his essay, “Is College Doomed?” a wonderful example of what a college or university should not be. Graeme Wood describes Minerva, an online university with the goal of stripping education to only the essentials. Minerva wants to take away campuses, sports, lectures, and most amenities leaving only their version of education. Minerva’s goal to take away options for students reduces their reach, leaving only a select few with the desire to join Minerva. Limiting students only leads to a worse education, especially since the students are the ones paying for the version of education they desire. College’s most valuable asset is their plethora of options in living, community forming, studying abroad, and variety of classes, this aspect of college in particular is what creates a perfect education for any student.
Natasha Rodriguez’s, “Who Are You Calling Underprivileged,” is relatable to students all around and helps to shine light on a potentially damaging label that colleges place on their students. As stated in her article, “Misfortune, like beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and by making a simple change from calling students “underprivileged,” to “a student in need,” can make a world of a difference in a student’s life.
The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.
Success. Society tends to correlate “success” with the obtainment of a higher education. But what leads to a higher education? What many are reluctant to admit is that the American dream has fallen. Class division has become nearly impossible to repair. From educations such as Stanford, Harvard, and UCLA to vocational, adult programs, and community, pertaining to one education solely relies on one’s social class. Social class surreptitiously defines your “success”, the hidden curriculum of what your socioeconomic education teaches you to stay with in that social class.
In his article, “Can You Be Education from a Distance?”, James Barszcz effectively weighs the pros and cons of online education compared to the traditional method, while effectively supporting his position with factual information and statistics. While distance education proves to be convenient for students, Barszcz asserts that it eliminates valuable experiences necessary in order to get the most out of the material being learned.
In their book Paying for the Party, Armstrong and Hamilton discuss how universities take class differences and class projects of distinct women to define what will be their college experience. In their book, Armstrong and Hamilton define class projects as individual and class characteristics that defines a person’s agenda and class- based orientation. Hence, people with similar class projects, not only shared the same financial and cultural resources, but also the same expectations toward school. (Armstrong & Hamilton, 2013). As a result, Armstrong and Hamilton claims that students with similar class projects end up becoming a collective constituency and a representative group for the university, whom in turn must take their interests to form a college pathway for them. Therefore, a college pathway for Armstrong and Hamilton refers to how universities are able to take successfully the interests, class characteristics and expectations of students to mold within the organizational and architecture context of the school. In a way, each college pathway is built not only to represent, but also to provision and guide the different types of students in a college.
Tienda (2013), explained that if higher education leaders sincerely believe that racial diversity enriches the mission of an institution, then it is appropriate for them to continually develop innovative strategies to take full advantage of the learning benefits, to establish what works and what doesn’t and to institutionalize the best practices on achieving integration for the future (p. 474). Now in the twenty-first century excellence and quality are an essential institutional promise to diversity and globalism (Nysse, 2011, p.
Lake, P. F. (2013). The rights and responsibilities of the modern university: Who assumes the
“The rate at which enrollments for online classes and education programs is expanding much faster in both the developed and developing worlds than at traditional universities,” claims Reed Karaim. He also states that “Online courses offer the benefits of greater convenience and also a lower total cost. (Karaim, “Expanding Higher Education”). With more online courses being offered on sites such as Udemy and Lynda as well as top universities such as Harvard and MIT, there is less incentive for students to seek education from universities
Higher education, a pilot school education is now the main body of modern Distance Education, carried out from college, undergraduate to graduate students at different levels of education. Adult and vocational educations are to the form of distance education to carry out a certain advantage, because the time of modern distance education is the characteristics of flexibility for non-full-time adult students. However, efforts in th...
Marks, Shula, and Stanley Trapido. "South Africa Since 1976: A Historical Perspective." South Africa: No Turning Back (1988): 1-45. Print.
In the past, many universities and other large organizations focused on the majority of the population for both its workforce and student clientele. Recently, whether because of the self-seeking need to increase the client-base or from the moral perspective that equal opportunity applies to both employees and students, educational facilities have moved away from appealing to the typical college student and faculty. Attention has shifted to broaden the scope to all who desires a higher education and faculty that demonstrate the competency to teach the students. Diversity in higher education means providing equal opportunities regardless of race, gender, religious preferences, and sexual orientation for both students and staff. Following is an example of the diverse population of WGU students and staff.
The United Nations has made many achievements since the agreement made in 1945. The efforts of the UN helped end the apartheid in South Africa allowing the citizens of South Africa equal participation in the Elections of April 1994 followed by a consensus in choosing a form of government. 90 percent of children in developing countries attend school and 60 percent of adults in these countries can read and write thanks to the UN and the struggle to improve education in developing countries. Over 300 international treaties have been created through United Nations efforts to strengthen international law. These achievements and many others encourage people like myself to promote and praise the United Nations.
The South African educational system has been through many changes dealing with cultural, political, and social issues. There has always been a concern about equal academic opportunities for all the races within South Africa. Where most of the black South African students are given the disadvantage and the White students have the advantages. It wasn’t until 1994 when things took a slight turn for black students in South Africa. That year marked the end of the apartheid. Theoretically non-white students were now offered the same education as Whites. Although in South Africa there are still some areas that the government should offer more beneficial teaching and learning for all of the non-white students. These challenges the South African education systems have been through and are now in the process will further influence an equal opportunity for black South African students. The question this research paper asks is, about how does education vary for black and white students in South Africa, after apartheid ended? There are still economic, political, and racial difficulties for non-white individuals.