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《英语国家社会与文化 The Open University》由会员上传分享,免费在线阅读,更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。
1、TheOpenUniversity摘要:英国开放大学对任何人都开放,无需正式学历,不限年龄,通过电视、录像、函授等方式为学生提供就地学习的条件。这种开放的思想既是对终身教育的诠释,也是英国开放大学的成功之源。她的诞生不仅是英国20世纪教育改革最成功的典范,更已成为世界远程教育发展史上的重要里程碑。TheOpenUniversity,originallyplannedbytheLaborPartyasa‘universityoftheair’,isaneducationalsystemwhichwouldmakeuseoftelevision,radioandcorr
2、espondencecourses.Itoffersanon-traditionalrouteforpeopletotakeuniversitylevelcoursesandreceiveauniversitydegree.Peoplecanregisterwithouthavinganyformaleducationalqualifications.Attheverybeginning,manypeoplelaughedatthisidea,butitbecamepartoftheLaborParty’sprogrammetogiveeducationaloppo
3、rtunitytothosepeoplewhohadnothadachancetoreceivefutureeducationforonereasonoranother.By1969planswerewelladvancedandby1970theOpenUniversity,asitwasnowcalled,hadreceived40000applications.Only25000couldbeacceptedforthefourfoundationcoursesoffered:socialscience,arts,scienceandmathematics.U
4、nsuccessfulcandidatesweretoldtoapplyagainthefollowingyear,whenafoundationcourseintechnologywouldalsobeoffered.Thefirstteachingprogrammeappearedontheairandscreenin1971,withclerks,farmworkers,housewives,teachers,policemenandmanyothersasstudents.Studycentreshavebeensetupalloverthecountrys
5、othatstudentscanattendonceaweek,andonceayeartheywillspendaweekatoneoftheuniversity’ssummerschools.Accordingtovariousreasons,somestudentsneedtousecompletelydifferentalternativeschoolsinsteadoffouryearsfull-timeuniversity.ThisisthereasonwhyBritishOpenUniversitywasfounded.TheOpenUniversit
6、yhaspioneeredtheideaof‘distancelearning’.Youcanlearnindependently,anddonotneedtostayintheclassroom.Manypeopleareunabletoparticipateinscheduledcoursesonaccountofworkandfamilytrivialmatters,sotheyneedflexibility.Ifyoubelongtothiskindofperson,theOpenUniversityisyourfirstchoice.Theprocessi
7、sverysimple.Firstofall,youshouldenrollinonecurriculum.Onceyouregistersuccessfully,theuniversitywillsendyouyourstudymaterialsimmediatelybye-mail.Theselearningmaterialsmayincludeprintedtexts,CD-ROMs,videomaterials,audiotapes,andonlinemessages.Atthesametime,thereisapersonaltutorassignin