Charles Wedemeyer

Last updated
Charles A. Wedemeyer
Born 1911
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Died 1999 (aged 8788)
Known for
  • Comparative studies to establish value of correspondence/independent/distance learning
  • Expansion of access to education on six continents
  • Research on learners, systems, institutional characteristics, media applications, software development
  • Establishment of field of distance education
  • Influence on open learning systems worldwide

Charles A. Wedemeyer (1911–1999) was a pioneer in the field of independent and distance learning. He challenged university administrators to expand access and opportunity to autonomous learners. "Educational change is evolutionary, and its tempo is glacial," [1] he wrote.

Distance education or long-distance learning is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school. Traditionally, this usually involved correspondence courses wherein the student corresponded with the school via post. Today it involves online education. Courses that are conducted are either hybrid, blended or 100% distance learning. Massive open online courses (MOOCs), offering large-scale interactive participation and open access through the World Wide Web or other network technologies, are recent developments in distance education. A number of other terms are used roughly synonymously with distance education.

Early years

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1911, to parents of modest means, Charles Wedemeyer developed a sense of excitement for what he described as “self-initiated” learning. His parents, Adrian August Wedemeyer and Laura Marie Marks Wedemeyer strived to provide books and magazines and an environment conducive to learning. An avid reader, the young Wedemeyer made great use of his local library in his quest for knowledge.[2] He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Education with a major in English, later pursuing a master's degree in English, both from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Northwestern University. As a young educator, he taught English and Science to disadvantaged youth. It was at that time that he began to formulate his progressive ideas on extending educational opportunities as integral to the democratic project.

Milwaukee Largest city in Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin and the fifth-largest city in the Midwestern United States. The seat of the eponymous county, it is on Lake Michigan's western shore. Ranked by its estimated 2014 population, Milwaukee was the 31st largest city in the United States. The city's estimated population in 2017 was 595,351. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the Milwaukee metropolitan area which had a population of 2,043,904 in the 2014 census estimate. It is the second-most densely populated metropolitan area in the Midwest, surpassed only by Chicago. Milwaukee is considered a Gamma global city as categorized by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network with a regional GDP of over $105 billion.

Wisconsin A north-central state of the United States of America

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States, in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the 23rd largest state by total area and the 20th most populous. The state capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee, which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The state is divided into 72 counties.

University of Wisconsin–Madison Public university in Wisconsin, USA

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison is the official state university of Wisconsin, and the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It was the first public university established in Wisconsin and remains the oldest and largest public university in the state. It became a land-grant institution in 1866. The 933-acre (378 ha) main campus, located on the shores of Lake Mendota, includes four National Historic Landmarks. The University also owns and operates a historic 1,200-acre (486 ha) arboretum established in 1932, located 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the main campus.

Career

What non-traditional learning does not need is anything that would diminish the freedom of choice, autonomy and independence that has kept this kind of learning vital, practical, resourceful, innovative, and humane from the beginning of this century.

Charles Wedemeyer

Timeline
Year Event
1930s English teacher—used WHA radio to expand access
1942-1946 Naval instructor WWII
1954-1964 Director University of Wisconsin’s Correspondence Study Program
1958 USAFI contract for course development for 250,000 service men and women
1961 Ford Foundation grant to study correspondence schools in Europe
1961 Chair Committee on Criteria and Standards (NUEA); Kellogg Fellow UK
1963Criteria and Standards document — endorsement of 86 university-sponsored institutions
1963-1966 Brandenburg Memorial Essays on Correspondence Instruction
1965 Carnegie Corporation AIM grant
1966World Trends in Correspondence Education
1967 William H. Lighty professorship in Education
1968-1971 Governor's Task Force on Open Learning
1969-1973 UK Open Univ; ICCE/ICDE President; Institute on Independent Study
1969-1976 Research organisation EDSAT
1972 UNESCO Consultant at HSI University Ethiopia
1975 Doctorate Honoris Causa British Open University

1954-1964

Wedemeyer considered that "independent study in the American context is generic for a range of teaching-learning activities that sometimes go by separate names (correspondence study, open education, radio-television teaching, individualised learning)." [2]

Open education

Open education is education without academic admission requirements and is typically offered online. Open education broadens access to the learning and training traditionally offered through formal education systems. The qualifier "open" refers to the elimination of barriers that can preclude both opportunities and recognition for participation in institution-based learning. One aspect of openness or "opening up" education is the development and adoption of open educational resources.

A lifelong advocate for independent learning, his best known project was the Articulated Instructional Media (AIM) initiative, which proved influential in the establishment of Britain’s Open University, now known as the UK Open University. [3]

Open University distance and research university in the United Kingdom

The Open University (OU) is a public distance learning and research university, and the biggest university in the UK for undergraduate education. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off-campus; many of its courses can also be studied anywhere in the world. There are also a number of full-time postgraduate research students based on the 48-hectare university campus where they use the OU facilities for research, as well as more than 1,000 members of academic and research staff and over 2,500 administrative, operational and support staff.

Notes

  1. Wedemeyer 1981, p. xx.
  2. Keegan 1990, p. 30.
  3. Watkins 1991, p. 47.

Related Research Articles

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Constructivism is a philosophical viewpoint about the nature of knowledge. Therefore, it represents an epistemological stance.

Transactional distance theory was developed in the 1970s by Dr. Michael G. Moore, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Education at the Pennsylvania State University. It is the first pedagogical theory specifically derived from analysis of teaching and learning conducted through technology as opposed to the many theories developed in the classroom. It is considered by some to be one of the few, if not the only, theory in distance education that can be used to test hypotheses. It can be used to frame experiments in tutoring or other learner support activities to assess what change there is in the outcomes of student learning, often judged by student completion. Like any theory, the transactional distance model serves as a heuristic device, a means of identifying questions for research and also a very practical instrument to be used in making these difficult instructional design decisions.

Kilroy's College is a distance learning institution based in Dublin, Ireland.

Independent study is a form of education offered by many high schools, colleges, and other educational institutions. It is sometimes referred to as directed study, and is an educational activity undertaken by an individual with little to no supervision. Typically a student and professor or teacher agree upon a topic for the student to research with guidance from the instructor for an agreed upon amount of credits. Independent studies provide a way for well-motivated students to pursue a topic of interest that does not necessarily fit into a traditional academic curriculum. They are a way for students to learn specialized material or gain research experience.

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A significant construct in language learning research, identity is defined as "how a person understands his or her relationship to the world, how that relationship is structured across time and space, and how the person understands possibilities for the future". Recognizing language as a social practice, identity highlights how language constructs and is constructed by a variety of relationships. Because of the diverse positions from which language learners can participate in social life, identity is theorized as multiple, subject to change, and a site of struggle.

Desmond Keegan is an Irish academic.

Dr. Michael Grahame Moore is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Education at the Pennsylvania State University. He is known for his major contributions to the field of distance education. In 1972, he published his first statement of distance learning theory, which asserted that "distance education is not simply a geographical separation of learners and teachers, but, more importantly, is a pedagogical concept" [1]. Half a century of study, teaching, experimentation and advocacy of distance education justifies a claim that he is the founder of contemporary online education, a claim supported by his inclusion as among the 128 “most important, innovative, influential, innovative and interesting thinkers on education of all time” by Routledge’s Encyclopedia of Educational Thinkers [2]. He was inducted into the Adult Education Hall of Fame in 2013 and, into the United States Distance Learning Association Hall of Fame in 2002. Honorary appointments include Cambridge University, U.K., Shanghai Open University, China, University del Salvador, Argentina, and Honorary

Donn Randy Garrison worked as a professor at the University of Calgary. He is the author of several books, articles and papers. Garrison has published extensive material on distance education.

Dr. Otto Peters is the Founding Rector and professor emeritus at the FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany. He has made contributions to the conceptual development of distance education. His main theory was called The Industrial Model. In this monograph "Distance education and industrial production: a comparative interpretation in outline" (1967) he described distance education as the most industrialized form of teaching and learning. He incorporated business management terms to show the industrial characteristics of distance education such as division of labour, assembly line, mass production and planning.

Börje Holmberg was born in 1924 in Malmö, Sweden. Holmberg has written profusely on distance education in Swedish, German and English. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by Deakin University in Australia and the Open University in the United Kingdom. He is a member of the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund, an academy of sciences founded in 1792, is a Knight of the Royal Order of Vasa, Sweden, as well as of the Order of the White Rose of Finland.

Online learning involves courses offered by postsecondary institutions that are 100% virtual, excluding massively open online courses (MOOCs). In the domain of higher education there are two distinct methods in which a learner can engage with an academic institution; the traditional method of brick-and-mortar facilities and the virtual method through online learning. This article will focus on the virtual platform of online learning. Today's online learning is the newest development in distance education that began in the mid-1990s with the spread of the internet. Learner experience is typically asynchronous, but may also incorporate synchronous elements. The vast majority of institutions utilize a Learning Management System for the administration of online courses. As theories of distance education evolve, digital technologies to support learning and pedagogy continue to transform as well.

Kenneth Tobin

Kenneth Tobin is a Presidential Professor of Urban Education in the doctoral program at CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. Throughout his career, he has published over 400 books, book chapters and journal articles in the topics of science education, teacher education, emotions, wellness, and research methods. According to Google Scholar his work has been cited over 17,700 times.

References

Further reading