The Australian and New Zealand Keynote Panel presentation by Colin Latchem for the DEHub/ODLAA Education 2011 to 2021- Global challenges and perspectives of blended and distance learning the (14 to 18 February 2011).

1. This discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners. They will be hearers of many things, will appear to be omniscient, and will generally know nothing.

2. This discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners. They will be hearers of many things, will appear to be omniscient, and will generally know nothing. (Socrates, talking to Phaedrus on the superiority of enquiry and debate over the then new technology of writing, Plato’s Dialog ues)

3. But what about positive educational outcomes? On balance, there are probably none. The research shows us the internet is probably making us dumber. It allows us to access millions of facts but does nothing to improve our problem-solving and cognitive capabilities. While screen-based learning can enhance visual-spatial intelligence, it weakens our higher-level intellectual functions. (Bagaric, M. (2011) Flood of bad decisions from Gillard, The Australian , January 31, 2011, p.14, Retrieved from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/flood-of-bad-decisions-from-gillard/story-fn59niix-122599708245 8)

4. 48% of US faculty who have taught online courses conclude that they are inferior to conventional face-to-face instruction and only 15% rate online learning as superior to face-to-face instruction. The Chronicle of Higher Education (2010, October 31). Faculty views about online learning. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Faculty-Views-About-Online/125200

5. Some employers place restrictions on the amount of online work that can be applied toward degrees and some American universities are rejecting job applications from academics with online degrees - even if they offer those degrees themselves. However, many universities offering online courses do not state that their courses will not be accepted for those applying to transfer to other universities or further their studies. Shrock, J. R. (2009). US: No job if you only have an online degree, University World News, 10 May 2009. Issue: 0075. Retrieved from http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20090508115810625

6. ‘ We do not accept online coursework’ statements are appearing on more and more websites of such institutions as the University of California, University of Southern California, University of Colorado and University of Wisconsin, all of which now exclude transfer credit for ‘online laboratory courses. (Shrock, J. R. (2010). US: marks from online courses being rejected. University World News, Issue: 142. Retrieved from http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20101002100346835)

7. These are confusing times for distance education. On the one hand, increasing numbers of students are choosing this mode of study and few tertiary institutions do not now offer some programmes by this means. But on the other hand it appears to be under threat as never before. The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) is investigating a rising tide of restrictive legislation and practices. How should legitimate distance education providers react to this seeming contradiction? Sir John Daniel (2010) Distance Education under Threat: an opportunity? Keynote address at Anadolu University IDOL & ICEM 2010 Joint Conference and Media Days, Eskisehir, Turkey, 6 October 2010. Retrieved from http://www.col.org/resources/speeches/2010presentation/Pages/2010-10-06.aspx

13. I hated the term ‘University of the Air’ because of all the nonsense in the Press about sitting in front of the telly to get a degree. I knew it had to be a university with no concessions, right from the very beginning. I knew the conservatism and vested interests of the academic world. I didn’t believe we could get it through if we lowered our standards. (Jenny Lee, cited in The Open University, 2010)

14. I came to The Open University from a wholly traditional background . . . I had heard about the University of the Air, but I regarded it as a political gimmick unlikely ever to be put into practice. . . I began to think seriously about the proposal and the challenge it presented. It wasn’t that I had any deep-seated urge to mitigate the miseries of the depressed adult; it was that I was persuaded that the standard of teaching in conventional universities was pretty deplorable. It suddenly struck me that if you could use the media and devise course materials that would work for students all by themselves, then inevitably you were bound to affect – for good – the standard of teaching in conventional universities. I believed that to be so important that it overrode almost everything else. And that is what I said in my application. (Walter Perry, cited in The Open University, 2010)

15. Providers should no longer simply be concerned with trying to prove that their products and services measure up to the standards of conventional education. They should have the confidence – and the evidence – to show that their systems and methods are superior to many of those in conventional education and are particularly well suited to the new needs of the knowledge society and Information Age.