Compare And Contrast Athabasca University And Open University

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Athabasca University and the Open University of China are open universities. Athabasca University is located in the developed country of Canada and the Open University of China (OUC) is in the developing country of China. Athabasca University and the Open University of China have made education more accessible to their citizens. Due to the differences in each country, the online universities have different missions and have been implemented differently.
Athabasca University did not start out as an Open University, when it first opened it was a traditional University. It was established in 1970 through the province of Alberta, Canada (Daniel, 1979). A combination of a change to a Liberal government and the quickly rising student enrollments …show more content…

In doing this each of the open universities have values that are inherent to them. The AU values their flexible delivery systems that provide flexible access. AU makes it possible for students to go to the university without having to relocate. Athabasca University was the first university in North America to off a doctorate degree through distance education (Fahlman, 2009). Fahlman (2009) when referring to AU says, “It is committed to excellence in research, teaching, and scholarship” (p. 125). AU has students from across Canada and across the world. The Open University of China has a dual focus of both degree and non-degree education (Zhijian, 2014). Zhijian (2014) described OUC by saying, “Its core values are openness, responsibility, quality, diversity and internationalization” (p.6). Due to the goal of making lifelong learners, the OUC works with multiple organizations and businesses to meet the needs of the learners (Zhijian, 2014). China is committed to improving their country through the means of education the …show more content…

Both were established and partially funded by their governments and influenced by the news of the Open University of the UK. AU has a mission to make higher education more accessible. The OUC has a mission of making the citizens of China lifelong learners by making education accessible for all people of all ages. The AU and OUC focus on making education accessible to students that would not otherwise have access. AU focuses on university level education, but the OUC focuses on education for everyone. Both universities have given autonomy to the local branches of their programs in order to better meet the needs of the students. AU and the OUC have integrated technology into their programs, which makes the programs more accessible. Through both open universities students have the ability to use synchronous and asynchronous communication. Through both AU in Canada and the OUC in China, the people in each country have greater access to

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