Collaboration In Distance Education: International Case Studies (routledge Studies In Distance Education)

Collaboration in distance bending As inter-institutional collaboration has become a key policy issue in distance and higher education, so strategic alliances for course development, teaching, and credit transfer have become a central feature of institutional culture and policy-making. Distance educators are at the forefront of higher education around the world and are overcoming the many problems involved in collaboration to forge exciting new institutional links with significant benefits for students and institutions. This ground-breaking book uses Canadian, Australian, American and Malaysian case studies to identify and analyse the key factors enhancing and inhibiting collaboration. The high incidence of failed collaborative ventures indicates that the dynamics and strategies for success are poorly understood. This book seeks to redress that lack of understanding, and to assist in future policy-making, in distance education and throughout the higher education field. The authors conclude that a culture of ‘collaborative individualism’ is emerging which is playing a significant part in the profound changes occurring in the nature and practice of higher education. The editors are internationally well known and highly regarded distance educators, with first-hand knowledge of the difficulties and benefits of collaborative ventures. Louise Moran is the Director of Course Policy at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. Ian Mugridge is Vice-President, Open University and Student Support, at the Open Learning Agency, British Columbia, Canada. Routledge studies in distance education Series editor: Desmond Keegan Theoretical Principles of Distance Education Edited by Desmond Keegan Distance Education: New Perspectives Edited by Keith Harry, Desmond Keegan and Magnus John Collaboration in distance education International Case Studies Edited by Louise Moran and Ian Mugridge London and New York First published 1993 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1993 Louise Moran and Ian Mugridge All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Collaboration in distance education: international case studies/ edited by Louise Moran and Ian Mugridge. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-415-10098-4 1. Distance education—Case studies. I.Moran, Louise, 1947– II. Mugridge, Ian. LC5800.C65 1993 378′.03–dc20 93–14950 CIP ISBN 0-203-97507-3 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-415-1009-4 (Print Edition) Contents List of Contributors vii Foreword by Anastasios Christodoulou ix Preface xii List of abbreviations xv 1 Collaboration in distance education: an introduction Louise Moran and Ian Mugridge 1 2 Institutional cultures and their impact: ‘laddered’ studies in health sciences in British Columbia John