Open College (UK)

Last updated

The Open College (OC) was a UK public distance learning college from 1987 to 1991, based on the example of the Open University transmitting courses via television programmes on Channel 4 and occasionally on TV-am. It offered vocational courses at sub-degree level, with TV programmes which could be viewed by anyone, but registration and payment was required for other parts of the course and assessment.

Contents

History

An announcement was made by Lord Young in 1986 that the government would set up a College of the Air with the aim of reaching one million students within five years. [1] The Open College was an independent company and registered charity, with a three-year agreement with Channel 4 to provide air time and jointly commission material. Programmes were shown on weekday lunchtimes between 1pm and 2pm. Sheila Innes, former Controller of Educational Broadcasting at the BBC, was appointed Chief Executive. It did not offer its own qualifications but rather taught towards existing national ones in basic education and vocational skills, with a particular emphasis on technician jobs. [2]

It opened in September 1987 with 33 courses and 400 local support centres plus a National Distance Learning Centre for those unable to attend a local one, and by September 1988 had 40,000 students, less than the projection of 100,000 for the first year. [3]

There was an initial grant of £15 million, which was supposed to last for three years, by which time the college was intended to be self-supporting, but it received a further £18 million in 1989, by which time it had sold 90,000 courses with prices from £20 for 'The Effective Learner' to £200 for some management courses. The majority of registrations were block bookings by employers, with individuals mainly taking basic maths and English courses. [4]

Though it failed to become self-supporting and closed in 1991, it helped to generate the National Open College Network and the Open College of the Arts. [5]

Related Research Articles

Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually involved correspondence courses wherein the student corresponded with the school via mail. Distance education is a technology-mediated modality and has evolved with the evolution of technologies such as video conferencing, TV, and the Internet. Today, it usually involves online education and the learning is usually mediated by some form of technology. A distance learning program can either be completely a remote learning, or a combination of both online learning and traditional offline classroom instruction. Other modalities include distance learning with complementary virtual environment or teaching in virtual environment (e-learning).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vocational education</span> Studies that prepare a person for a specific occupation

Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft as an artisan, trade as a tradesperson, or work as a technician. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with requisite skill. Vocational education is known by a variety of names, depending on the country concerned, including career and technical education, or acronyms such as TVET and TAFE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open University</span> University in Milton Keynes, England

The Open University (OU) is a public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. 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 45 hectares university campus at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where they use the staff 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.

Education in China is primarily managed by the state-run public education system, which falls under the Ministry of Education. All citizens must attend school for a minimum of nine years, known as nine-year compulsory education, which is funded by the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open University of Sri Lanka</span> University in Sri Lanka

The Open University of Sri Lanka is a national university in Sri Lanka. It is unique within the Sri Lankan national university system for being the only university to offer programs of study leading to certificate, diploma, degrees and postgraduate degrees up to PhD level through the Open and Distance Mode of Learning (ODL). The degrees awarded by the university are treated as equivalent to degrees awarded by any other Sri Lankan University under the preview of the University Grants Commission.

Education in Thailand is provided mainly by the Thai government through the Ministry of Education from pre-school to senior high school. A free basic education to fifteen years is guaranteed by the Thai constitution. This basic education comprises six years of elementary school and three years of lower secondary school. In addition, three years of pre-school and three years of upper-secondary education is available free of charge, but are non-compulsory.

Higher education in Mauritius includes colleges, universities and other technical institutions. Public university education has been free to students since 2019. The sector is managed by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) which has the responsibility for allocating public funds, and fostering, planning and coordinating the development of post-secondary education and training. Formerly the Tertiary Education Commission, in 2020 it was reformed into the HEC and a separate Quality Assurance Authority (QAA) for auditing of qualifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison education</span> Educational activities inside prisons

Prison education is any educational activity that occurs inside prison. Courses can include basic literacy programmes, secondary school equivalency programmes, vocational education, and tertiary education. Other activities such as rehabilitation programs, physical education, and arts and crafts programmes may also be considered a form of prison education. Programmes are typically provided, managed, and funded by the prison system, though inmates may be required to pay for distance education programmes. The history of and current practices in prison education vary greatly among countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netaji Subhas Open University</span>

Netaji Subhas Open University (NSOU) is a state open university imparting distance education in eastern India

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Glasgow Medical School</span> Medical school of the University of Glasgow, Scotland

The University of Glasgow School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing is the medical school of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and is one of the largest in Europe, offering a 5-year MBChB degree course. It is ranked 2nd in the UK for medicine by The Times Good University Guide 2018 and joint 1st in the UK by the Complete University Guide 2021. The School of Medicine uses lecture-based learning, problem-based learning and Glasgow's case-based learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Cheshire College</span> Academic institution in United Kingdom

West Cheshire College was a further education, vocational college in the North West of England. It had over 20,000 students at its two main campuses in Ellesmere Port and Chester as well as in workplaces and community venues. In March 2017 it was merged with South Cheshire College, based in Crewe, to form Cheshire College – South & West, which as of 2020 retains the Ellesmere Port and Chester campuses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Ghana</span>

Education in Ghana uses a dualistic approach encompassing both formal and informal learning systems. The current formal educational system was introduced during European colonisation. However, learning systems existed prior to that. The University of Moliyili is one of the earliest learning centers in Ghana established in the 1700s. During colonisation, European settlers initially introduced a formal education system addressed to the elites, while education of the average citizen was mainly informal, and based on apprenticeship. Economic activities in pre-colonial Ghana were based on farm produce shared within households and members of each household specialized in providing necessities such as cooking utilities, shelter, clothing, and furniture, and trade with other households was therefore practiced on a very small scale. As such there was no need for employment outside the household that would have otherwise called for disciplines, values, and skills through a formal education system. After colonization, Ghana's economy became a hybrid of subsistence and formal economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of London Worldwide</span> Distance-learning institution of the University of London

The University of London Worldwide is the central academic body that manages external study programmes within the federal University of London. All courses are branded as simply "University of London", having previously been "University of London International Programmes" and earlier "University of London External Programmes". It claims to be the world's oldest distance and flexible learning body, established under the University of London's royal charter of 1858, although academics have disputed whether it offered distance learning at that time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Open University of Japan</span> Higher education institution in Chiba Prefecture, Japan

The Open University of Japan is a distance learning university which has students from all over Japan; it accepted its first students in 1985.

CAP College Foundation, Inc., formerly named Correspondence Accreditation Program for College Foundation, Inc., is a private, non-sectarian distance learning college in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suffolk New College</span> Further education college in Ipswich, Suffolk, England

Suffolk New College is a further education college in Ipswich. It provides courses for students from across south Suffolk. In 2009 it constructed a new building costing £70 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong College of Technology</span> Private college in Hong Kong

Hong Kong College of Technology is a non-profit-making educational institution under HKCT group. Founded in 1947 as Workers’ Night School, HKCT has been dedicated to the development of vocational and professional education for over 75 years. It offers a diverse ranged of vocational-specific programmes catering to individuals of different ages, backgrounds, and social strata, with the aim of progressing towards becoming a leading Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open university (concept)</span> School with minimal entry requirements

An open university is a university with an open-door academic policy, with minimal or no entry requirements. Open universities may employ specific teaching methods, such as open supported learning or distance education. However, not all open universities focus on distance education, nor do distance-education universities necessarily have open admission policies.

Ada College of Education is a teacher education college in Ada-Foah. The college is located in Eastern / Greater Accra zone. It is one of the 46 Public Colleges of Education. The college participated in the DFID-funded T-TEL programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open Learning Institute of British Columbia</span>

The Open Learning Institute of British Columbia (OLI) was a single mode, distance education post-secondary provincial institute in Canada, created in 1978 by the Government of British Columbia. Its mandate was to improve access to higher education across the province by means of distance education and other open learning methods. Inspired in part by the UK Open University model, it used a combination of print-based courses, audiovisual media and telephone tutoring to offer courses up to the baccalaureate degree level. In 1988, it was subsumed in part as the BC Open University under the new Open Learning Agency (OLA). In 2005 it was amalgamated as the Open Learning Division with the newly designated Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops (TRU), BC. TRU was formerly known as the University College of the Cariboo.

References

  1. "College of the Air". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . House of Lords. 18 July 1986. col. 1094–1100.
  2. Anonymous (1987). "The Open College". Education + Training. 29 (4): 4–5. doi:10.1108/eb017346.
  3. Innes, Sheila (1988). "The Open College: six months on". Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning. 3 (3): 34–36. doi:10.1080/0268051880030307.
  4. Wade, Graham (10 June 1989). "Open College, where the Open University left off". The Guardian.
  5. Weinbren, Daniel (2014). The Open University: A History. Oxford University Press. p. 26. ISBN   978-0719096273.