Central Institute for Distance Education Research - FernUniversität in Hagen
04. August 1997
PREPARATORY WORK
In a production situation where a division of labour prevails, economy, quality and speed of the work processes depend on the right type of preparation. This is necessary in industries producing a variety of articles and needs to be carried out by senior specialist staff in special departments (thinking departments), as workers, foremen and masters involved in the production process lack the necessary knowledge and experience. During the preparatory stages one determines how workers, machines and materials can usefully relate to one another during each phase of the production process. In addition, there are developmental and constructional tasks The more thorough the preparation, the less is a successful production process dependent on the particular abilities of the workers involved. Consequently, workers can easily be exchanged. Normally considerably larger sums of investment are required for preparatory work than was the case previously in the manufacture of goods.As distance teaching institutions have to develop a great variety of distance teaching courses the comparison with a firm producing a variety of goods comes to mind. In distance teaching too success depends decisively on a 'preparatory phase'. It concerns the development of the distance study course involving experts in the various specialist fields with qualifications also often higher than those of other teachers involved in distance study. Here, too, each section of the course can be carefully planned. The use of technical support and a suitable combination of this with individual contributions from distance tutors and advisers play an important role here. Compared to university teachers in conventional study, who are responsible for the entire teaching process, distance tutors and advisers are more easily exchangeable on account of the thorough preparatory work. Finally, the development of distance study courses also requires investment to an extent that has never before been considered at establishments of higher education.
The separation of preparatory work and individual instruction and the distribution of these functions among several persons is a particularly clear example of analogy with the production process.
PLANNING
An essential element of preparation is planning, which needs to be far more comprehensive and detailed in the industrial manufacturing process than in manual production, as it requires the coordination of many interacting factors. By planning we mean that 'system of decisions which determines an operation prior to it being carried out' (Seischab and Schwantag 1960: col. 4341). In more detail this means that 'all measures necessary for the economical execution of an order - from placement to delivery - must be introduced according to plan' (Seischab and Schwantag 1960: col. 1742).Management science distinguishes two methods of planning. Effective planning consists of choosing the most advantageous of several alternatives and forecasting the future development of data. Contingency planning is applied where market situations suddenly change (Seischab and Schwantag 1960: col. 4348).
In the developmental phase of a distance study course planning plays an important role, as the contents of correspondence units, from the first to the last, must be determined in detail, adjusted in relation to each other and represented in a predetermined number of correspondence units. Where distance study is supplemented by residential weeks on campus or weekend seminars planning becomes even more important; these supplementary teaching events are not intended to repeat academic contents already offered, nor have an 'enrichment' function, but should be structurally integrated in the distance study course. When combining distance teaching with other media, one has to consider carefully which type of contents suits what medium. Finally, where computers are used in distance study, preparatory planning is most advanced and demands by far the greatest expenditure, as the teaching activity of the computers needs to be programmed.
In all these efforts to predetermine and arrange the course of teaching processes as far as possible, we are dealing with effective planning. Intervention by advisers and tutors during the course of distance study, however, is regarded as contingency planning, which supplements effective planning.
ORGANIZATION
Planning largely concerns itself with the organization of the production cycle. In organizational management terms, organization means 'creating general or permanent arrangements for purpose-orientated activity' (Mayntz 1963: 86). As a consequence of the division of labour, the production process has to be rationally ordered according to organizational principles and with specially developed organizational means, since 'the continuous interacting of numerous people towards a specific purpose requires organization' (Mayntz 1963: 7). Furthermore, productivity depends on the type and degree of organization. Distinguished from organization are improvisation (preliminary and provisional regulations) and disposition (special regulations) (Kosiol 1959: 18).In distance study, likewise, there is an immediate connection between the effectiveness of the teaching method and rational organization. Organization, for example, makes it possible for students to receive exactly predetermined documents at appointed times for an appropriate university teacher to be immediately available for each assignment sent in, for consultations to take place at fixed locations at fixed times, or for examinations to be held, or for counsellors to inform themselves at any time of the progress of a student or a group of students. Organization becomes easier in large distance teaching establishments, as trained personnel and modern means of organization are available. These enable them to supplement the organization of distance teaching with improvisation and disposition.
The importance of organization in distance teaching can be assessed by the fact that it is often difficult to distinguish between the operational (technical) organization of distance study and the methodical organization of the actual academic contents.
SCIENTIFIC CONTROL METHODS
In recent decades the principles of scientific management have made a gradual breakthrough. According to them work processes are analysed systematically, particularly by time studies, and in accordance with the results obtained from measurements and empirical data the work processes are tested and controlled in their elementary details in a planned way, in order to increase productivity, all the time making the best possible use of working time and the staff available (Seischab and Schwantag 1960: col. 1055). Frederick Winslow Taylor describes this process as the application of scientific engineering techniques to management (McConnel 1966: 268). In distance teaching, similar tendencies can be shown. For example some distance teaching institutions commission experts to analyse scientifically the success of their courses. Michael Young (1965: 37) outlines the educational function of the research techniques applied by remarking that they replace the eyes and ears of academics in face-to-face teaching: they register students' reaction to the distance study course and aim at improving its effectiveness accordingly. These research techniques are not only used to determine the effectiveness of the course for individual students, but - and this is even more important - its effectiveness for the whole group of students involved. With its efforts to measure the success of a teaching method, distance teaching has doubtless introduced a hitherto neglected aspect into university teaching.FORMALIZATION
On account of the division of labour and mechanization in the manufacturing process there is a much greater need to predetermine the various phases formally than in manual production. It is only the emphasis on formality which makes the cooperation of all those involved in the production process possible, as each of them has to rely on previous work having been carried out according to plan. Most activities and interactions in an industrial set-up must therefore be determined according to agreed rules (Mayntz 1963: 86). In distance study, likewise, all the points in the cycle, from student to distance teaching establishment to the academics allocated, must be determined exactly. Communication is standardized by the use of forms. Authors of correspondence units are recommended to consider the incorporation of standard formalized aspects that have proved to be of advantage. Lecturers marking assignments also work to standard guidelines. Assessment is in parts, largely formalized through the frequent use of multiple choice questions, where the student only has to place a cross against the right answer. In the most modern forms of distance teaching, formalization goes as far as students marking the results of their learning on a punchcard in coded form, and this is then input to a computer.STANDARDIZATION
It is characteristic of a production situation involving the division of labour and high technology that manufacture is limited to a number of types of one product, in order to make these more suitable for their purpose, cheaper to produce and easier to replace. Georges Friedmann (1952: 394) pointed out that this does not at all represent a threat of dullness and uniformity. On the contrary, the elementary parts produced could be combined in extremely diverse ways.The application of the principle of the division of labour and the use of machines as well as the duplication of correspondence units in often large numbers, force distance teaching institutions likewise to adopt a greater degree of standardization than is required in conventional teaching. Not only is the format of the correspondence units standardized, so also is the stationery for written communication between student and lecturer, and the organizational support, as well as each single phase of the teaching process, and even the academic contents.
Whereas the academic giving a conventional lecture may indulge in an interesting deviation, because he sees educational advantages in this at a particular time with a certain group of students, the distance study lecturer has to be aware that he is, when writing a correspondence unit, addressing such a large group of students that situation-dependent improvisation becomes impossible. Instead he has to find a standard adequate, as far as possible, for every student admitted to the distance study course in question. This is achieved by developing a model for the course, perfecting it through the involvement of several experts and then approximating it to the required standard by testing it on a representative group of students before printing large numbers of copies. Just as the production of a branded article can only remain economical if its quality is continuously adapted to the constant needs of a large group of consumers a distance teaching institution has to standardize the academic contents of its courses in such a way that it can be sure they appeal to all distance learners as equally as possible. The adaptation to any number of students, however large, forces the lecturer more strongly than in conventional study to consider the necessary standard that is, at the same time, realistic for as many students as possible.
Consequently, the choice of contents of a distance study course is less likely to be a reflection of the particular interests of an academic giving conventional lectures than of the objective requirements of the total course profile.
CHANGE OF FUNCTION
On account of the division of labour and the use of various types of machines the function of the worker in the production process has changed considerably. Whereas it was typical for the craftsman to plan the production of a piece of work as well as acquire the necessary materials, carry out the work and finally sell the finished piece of work himself, industrialization led to a more marked functional differentiation. When preparatory work and selling became separate from production and, within these three phases, many individual functions were allocated to different individuals, a loss of function naturally occurred for each single worker. On the other hand, new roles were created and new achievements became possible. For example, 'in jobs where, due to mechanization, the processing of the material has been taken out of the worker's hand, speed and energy of execution are no longer required; they have been replaced by accuracy and diligence; the work no longer shows quantitative but qualitative criteria' (Friedmann 1952: 389).As a result of the division of labour, the function of the lecturer teaching at a distance also changes. The original role of provider of knowledge in the form of the lecturer is split into that of study unit author and that of marker; the role of counsellor is allocated to a particular person or position. Frequently, the original role of lecturer is reduced to that of a consultant whose involvement in distance teaching manifests itself in periodically recurrent contributions In order to ensure the effectiveness of the four functions mentioned, numerous support functions of an operational-technical type are particularly important, as, without them, distance study could not take place.
As tutors and consultants have largely been relieved of the task of conveying course matter, they are able to devote themselves to a considerable degree to more demanding tasks, such as aiding motivation, providing individual support, structuring course contents for students, identifying problems, establishing connections and so on. Here, too, a loss of function is compensated for by a gain in function whereby, at the same time, an otherwise almost unattainable level of quality can be achieved.
OBJECTIFICATION
The more the production process is determined by machines and organizational principles, the more it loses its subjective element which used to determine craftsmen's work to a considerable degree. Hermann Schmidt (1966: 133) pointed out that this process already started when man began to substitute tools provided by nature, such as hands, fists and teeth, with tools taken from his surroundings. Objectification was not possible until the item to be objectified had become the subject of reflection.Considering that, since Frederick Winslow Taylor, there has been a changeover to analysing each single phase of the industrial production process with scientific means and to organizing purposefully the contribution of workers and machines accordingly, it becomes clear what a high degree of objectification has been achieved. This development has found a climax in automated production where man's involvement in the course of the production process has largely been eliminated.
In this respect too, the relationship between distance study and conventional study is the same as between industrial production and mechanical fabrication. The university lecturer who lectures from his chair or leads a seminar discussion has the freedom and the opportunity to allow his subjectivity to influence his way of teaching: he is free to decide how and how much to prepare, he determines his own academic aims and methods and is able to change them spontaneously during a lecture, whereby not all the changes in his teaching method need to be reflected. In distance teaching, however, most teaching functions are objectified as they are determined by the distance study courses as well as technical means. Only in written communications with the distance learner or possibly in a consultation or the brief additional face-to-face events on campus has the teacher some individual scope left for subjectively determined variants in his teaching method. In cases where a computer is used in distance study, even this opportunity is limited further.
The advantages of objectifying the teaching process in the form of a distance study course lie in the fact that the teaching process can then be reproduced, thus making it available at any time and above all, that it can be manipulated. Without objectification distance study courses could not take place anywhere and at any time and be continuously improved.
The objectification of teaching practice in distance study is of particular importance in societies where, on account of an hierarchic structure of universities and colleges, the function of the provider of knowledge is combined in many academics with that of a holder of very great authority. As a result of this the relationship between student and lecturer is similar to that of subordinate and superior. As distance study has largely been freed from subjectivity, the process of providing knowledge is hardly affected by situations of this kind. In this context, distance study is particularly suitable for the further education of adults.
CONCENTRATION AND CENTRALIZATION
The investment required for mechanized mass production involving the division of labour has led to large industrial concerns with a concentration of capital, a frequently centralized administration, and a market that is not seldom monopolized.In this context it is significant that some distance teaching establishments cater for very large groups of students. The largest universities teaching at a distance in the USSR and in South Africa have over 40,000 students, and the Open University in England has more than 70,000. Each of these three establishments - as well as their Spanish equivalent - caters for the national demand. Obviously, a minimum number of students is necessary to make the technical installations and the establishment of an efficient organization feasible. Economically, it is therefore more worthwhile to create a large central distance study establishment rather than ten or twenty small regional institutions. Just as the industrial markets for certain products have long expanded beyond narrow regional frontiers, such centralized distance teaching establishments must cross the traditional areas of the responsibility of universities and the educational administration.
If all the said principles of distance teaching are rigorously applied, monopoly-like prestige positions in teaching activity are created for leading experts in various disciplines. Just as no record producer would use a mediocre singer when he can engage a Fischer- Dieskau, a distance teaching institution has to try and gain the best lecturers in their field for the development of its distance study courses. Just as in industry, however, one must ensure that such monopoly-like positions do not hinder free competition.
The possible consequences of a rigorous concentration and centralization of distance teaching were hinted at, for the first time in 1966, in a memorandum from the British government concerning the then proposed University of the Air (British Government 1966). In future, universities would no longer pursue the same objectives in all subjects but specialize in some disciplines and cater for the national requirements for distance study in these.
SUMMARY
From the above comparisons the following conclusions in relation to distance teaching may be drawn:- The structure of distance teaching is determined to a considerable degree by the principles of industrialization, in particular by those of rationalization, division of labour and mass production.
- The teaching process is gradually restructured through increasing mechanization and automation.
- These changes are the reason for the following structural characteristics to have emerged:
- the development of distance study courses is just as important as the preparatory work taking place prior to the production process;
- the effectiveness of the teaching process is particularly dependent on planning and organization;
- courses must be forrnalized and expectations from students standardized;
- the teaching process is largely objectified;
- the function of academics teaching at a distance has changed considerably vis-a-vis university teachers in conventional teaching;
- distance study can only be economical with a concentration of the available resources and a centralized administration.
The result of this comparative interpretation permits the addition to recent explanations of distance study based on traditional educational concepts of a definition which is apt to point to the specific characteristics of the new forms of teaching and learning, thus structurally separating them from conventional forms of teaching and learning. This definition is as follows:
Distance study is a rationalized method - involving the division of labour - of providing knowledge which, as a result of applying the principles of industrial organization as well as the extensive use of technology, thus facilitating the reproduction of objective teaching activity in any numbers, allows a large number of students to participate in university study simultaneously, regardless of their place of residence and occupation.
This definition shows that, within the complex overall distance teaching activity, one area has been exposed to investigation which had regularly been omitted from traditional didactic analyses. Contrary to other attempts at definitions, new concepts are used here to describe new facts.
It was not a purpose of this comparative interpretation to pass judgements on the industrial structures which have been shown to apply to distance teaching. Presumably, the striking advantages of these structures, from a point of view of educational policy and organization, are also connected with important educational disadvantages. This question has yet to be discussed. In this context it will merely be hinted that it must be disadvantageous to a society if the developments outlined here have not been, or have not been fully, recognized, or are even denied. Such deep structural changes in academic teaching merit everyone's attention, no matter what hopes or fears are connected with them. If society's awareness lags behind the speedily developing technological and industrial opportunities, this is bound to lead to painful malfunctions, even in the area of academic teaching. They can be detected and remedied more easily, when the industrial structures characteristic of distance teaching are recognized and taken account of when the appropriate educational decisions are taken.
REFERENCES
British Government (1966) A University of the Air. Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Education and Science by command of Her Majesty. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Buckingham, W. (1963) Automation und Gesellschaft, Frankfurt on Main: Fischer.
Durkheim, E. (1986) De la division du travail social, Paris: Quadrige PUF.
Frank, H. (1965) Kybernetische Grundlagen des Lernens und Lehrens, Stuttgart: Klett.
Friedmann, G. (1952) Der Mensch in der mechanisierten Produktion, Koln: Bund-Verlag.
Hausmann, G. (1959) Didaktik als Dramaturgie des Unterrichts, Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer.
Heimann, P. (1962) 'Didaktik als Theorie und Lehre' in Die deutsche Schule, 54 (9): 407-27.
Konig, R. (1958) Soziologie, Frankfurt on Main: Fischer.
Kosiol, E. (1959) 'Grundlagen und Methoden der Organisationsforschung', quoted from R. Mayntz (1963) Soziologie der Organisation, Reinbek: Rowohlt, p. 86.
Litt, T. (1958) Fahren und Wachsenlassen. Das Wesen des padagogischen Denkens, Stuttgart: Klett.
McConnel, 1 W. (1966) 'Scientific management', in H. F. Pratt Fairchild, Dictionary of Sociology and Related Sciences, Totowa, NJ: Littlefield- Adams, p. 268.
Mayntz, R. (1963) Soziologie der Organisation, Reinbek: Rowohlt.
Plessner, H. (1924) 'Zur Soziologie der modernen Forschung und ihrer Organisation in der deutschen Universitat', in M. Scheler (ed.) Versuche zu einer Soziologie des Wissens, Munich, pp. 407-24; quoted from H. Schelsky (1963) Einsamkeit und Freiheit, Reinbek: Rowohlt, p. 192.
Schmidt, H. (1966) 'Objektivierung', in L. Englert et al (eds) Lexikon der kybernetischen Padagogik und der Programmierten Instruktion, Quick- born: Schnelle.
Schmoller, G. von (1985) 'Das Wesen der Arbeitsteilung und der sozialen Klassenbildung', in W. Fielder and R. Karl (eds) Gustav Schmoller, Kleine Schriften zur Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Wirtschaftstheorie und Wirtschaftspolitik, Leipzig: Zentralantiquariat der DDR, pp. 199-226.
Seischab, H. and Schwantag, K. (eds) (1960) Handworterbuch der Betriebswirtschaft, Stuttgart: Poeschel.
Smith, A. (1776) An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, London.
------(1963) 'The division of labour', in A. D. Lewis (ed.) Of Men and Machines, New York Dutton, pp.110-13.
Weber, M (195l) 'Wissenschaft als Beruf', in Gesammelte Aufsatze zur Wissenschaftslehre, Tubingen, pp. 566-97; quoted from H. Schelsky (1963) Einsamkeit and Freiheit, Reinbek: Rowohly, p. 192.
Young, M. (1965) 'Towards an Open University', in The Home Study Journal, 6(1): 3-10, 30-8.