Individualized Remote Learning: Restructuring the Education System

Author: Buch / Ganastold / Liu Huifen / Chen Hanzhang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: The basic goal of education is to create a peaceful and happy world. Whether in affluent areas or impoverished regions, the current education system faces serious problems and cannot meet the needs of the new information society. Educational issues have become one of the major global challenges, making the research of new education systems and learning methods urgent. Distance learning has now become a hot topic of research in global education and information technology applications. This book proposes a new learning strategy suitable for learners of all ages and universally applicable. For countless students, computer-based distance learning will be the future main educational model. Students interact frequently with the computer, just as if facing an experienced real-life teacher. This interaction is bidirectional and conducted in the student's native language. Taking a typical interaction as an example: the computer poses a question to the student, who can respond in any form, either through voice or keyboard input. The learning software will react to each student, guiding them toward achieving the goal. In this environment, every student is an active learner. The book begins with the goals and problems of learning, analyzing various feasible methods of distance learning, the factors involved, real-world cases, and future learning methods described in science fiction books. It then further explores students' interactive behaviors in terms of frequency and quality. Using a learning software developed by the Educational Technology Center at the University of California, Irvine, as an example, the authors illustrate some key concepts in computer-based individualized distance learning. Additionally, the authors discuss distance learning software resources and the cost per student hour. Finally, the authors offer valuable suggestions for the future development of distance learning software.