Distance Education - A Service business

Bernd Schachtsiek

President of the AECS
Association of European Correspondence Schools 
The Experts in Distance Learning

Distance Education  is more than Reading,  
is more than Listening, 
is more than Viewing, 
is more than Pre-prepared Media, 
is more than Technology, 
is more than Self Study, 
is more than Training, 
is more than Edutainment, 
is more than Open Learning. 
The target group of distant educators are not learners who can help themselves, who know already what to learn, how to learn and how to examine their knowledge. Their target group are people who need support and know that they need support in the learning process. Distant educators focus on the learner and his needs. They focus on supporting the learning process.

Distance Education is service.
Distance Education is based on pre-prepared media, still printed, taped, but all the 'new' technologies are also used. These media are produced on a high quality level - educational quality. But this is only the base of Distance Education. Learning still happens inside the learner. He needs help to learn the right things, needs help to find out if he really learned something, if he understood right. He needs communication: Two-way communication.

Therefore, distant educators use all kind of technology to support the learner, use technology the learner accepts. And because learners are different, ways of learning are different, good Distance Education means to use different kinds of 'technology' for the learning process - even classroom teaching, if it is necessary.

The service can be done through technology. Some service is done only by computers - a computer with a human touch. But a computer cannot answer any question, cannot listen, cannot give time and attention to learning barriers and anxiety. A lot of people need a person to talk to during the learning process. They need the teacher. It is, however, not necessary that the teacher is present at the same location. But he should be available somewhere - within reach. Very often it supports the learning process that the learner knows that the teacher, the tutor, the coach, whatever title you give him, is there in the back, even though he never calls him.

The members of the AECS know their target group. They believe in service, not only in teaching, technology and media design.

The AECS - What is it?
AECS is an International non profit-making Association of colleges, institutions, and persons concerned with distance education in which systematic teaching and two-way communication between student and teacher or institution takes place. The two-way communication takes place by regular exchange of written, printed or recorded word or by means of electronic media like electronic data communication, interactive video and so on.

The objectives of the Association are:

Major activities

AECS CONFERENCES are popular events with a very high priority in the Association. They are arranged once a year - usually in May - in different European countries and with various themes. In this way, AECS is following up the long traditions of CEC and EHSC, establishing a regular forum for exchange of ideas, experience and research results between members and others with an interest in correspondence and distance education. Participation in AECS conferences is open, but members pay a reduced fee.

EPISTOLODIDAKTIKA - the European Journal of Distance Education - comes twice a year. The Journal was founded in 1964 by R.M. Delling, and taken over in 1971 by EHSC. The publication of Epistolodidaktika is now an AECS responsibility.

EPISTOLODIDAKTIKA is a professional journal with international papers from the distance education field in general. Naturally, there is an emphasis on correspondence education as developed in the European tradition and context. A Network section brings topical news from members of the Association.

Subscription of Epistolodidaktika is open. The subscription fee is included in the AECS membership fee.
The yearly subscription fee for non-members is £10 covering 2 issues per year.

THE DIPLOMA IN DISTANCE EDUCATION has been devised primarily to help meet training needs of member schools, but the courses are conducted internationally in English. The diploma course comprises several modules covering various aspects of distance education.
Members of AECS are allowed to run one or more of the modules in in-school training schemes.

The diploma in distance education is governed by a Diploma Foundation and organised by a Course Committee.

AECS RESEARCH GRANTS is a scheme organised by the Research and Development Committee of AECS. Grants are available for research projects which are considered to be of general interest to the association. Reports of projects receiving support from the AECS research grant scheme should be published in Epistolodidaktika and/or be presented at an AECS conference.