Transforming universities with digital distance education - book overview

Mark Nichols has written a timely book - Transforming universities with digital distance education: The future of formal learning, published by Routledge (2020).

Mark is the executive director of learning design and development at the NZ Open Polytechnic and a well recognised supporter and scholar in the distance education/elearning field.

The book is a 'must read' as it summarises the many challenges faced by higher education (and by inference and association, also the vocational education and training) currently and into the future. The pandemic has amplified the challenges and also reinforced the need to provide for alternatives to the majority direction of HE. That is HE is front-loading, with a full-time cohort of young people, seeking qualifications to obtain stable employment. The opposite is now required as the impacts of the future of work, likely now accelerated by the impact of the pandemic on world economies and societies, require quite a different way to provide for life-long education. Importantly, the book provides some suggestions for a way forward.

The book is relatively short (160 pages plus) with eight chapters. Therefore a quick read over the weekend :) Chapters 1 and 2 lay out the context, the current ways things have proceeded and the rationale for change.

Chapter 3 overviews a series of models possible for university education and chapter 4 sets out the Digital Distance Education (DDE) model. The next 4 chapters than go through the ways to operationalise the model for learners, teachers, learning design and organisational change.

The DDE model is premised on 5 precepts (page 5). These are accessibility, scalability, personalisation of learning, shaped by societal needs, and also driven by learners' interests and motivations. The first chapter rationalises these precepts providing a clear argument for why change is required and how this could be accomplished.

The DDE proposed is characterised by being consistent, data-analytics driven, digitally agile, evidence based, expert taught,(including lead academic, learning activity designer, teacher/tutor/facilitator and learner pastoral support team), flexible, learning activity orientated, part-automated/AI assisted, relational (as in sociocultural supported by teachers and peers), success driven and systematic.

The book summarises and provides details for putting into practice, constructivist and androgogical learning models. The needs of learners are supported with quantifiable evidence including the use of learning analytics and data from 'AI assisted' platforms to assist with providing learners with 'personal learning environments'. What is good about the book is that it provides examples, readily understood especially by the NZ audience due to the use of the NZ qualification frameworks etc., and pragmatically guides the processes of distance learning programmes.

Principles introduced and discussed through the book will require much work, on the part of educational institutes to operationalise. There is a clear need for strategic direction, resourcing and capability building across the sector before DDE fulfils its potentialities. Leadership is key to leveraing off some of the shifts, post-pandemic in NZ - to move forward. Of importance is the need to ensure the learning is 'placed at the heart of learning' but with sufficient support for learners to reap the benefits of personalisation of learning. There is still much work to be done! but hopefully, NZ is travelling along the right trajectory towards ensuring learning is led by the learners' motivations, capabilities and future direction.