New Media in Higher Education. Papers on Information Technology No. 241.

The Open University from its inception in 1969 has been a technologically based university. It uses technology to deliver high quality, specially designed teaching materials to large numbers of adult students throughout Britain, and increasingly abroad, who study at home. The Open University's teaching system has remained basically unchanged since 1969; however, practical experience with three more recent technologies (interactive videodiscs, audio-graphic teleconferencing, and computer conferencing) has demonstrated the increased instructional power and the increased flexibility of some of the newer technologies. The instructional power comes from improved feedback and interaction for learners, and the increased flexibility comes from the ability of some of the new technologies to exploit fully the range and power of the teacher at a distance, while providing individually adapted courses for individual learners. However, while such technologies are already available, it is likely to be a number of years before they are used on a large scale in higher education, not so much because of resistance from teachers and students, but because of the inability of large organizations to make the structural changes necessary for the successful implementation of such technologies on a large scale. (DJR)