Structured Debate on Open and
Distance Education
Aims ............................................................................................................................. 2
Structured debate on open and distance education .................................................. 2
Tasks .................................................................................................................... 2
Topic 1: Third generation distance education ...................................................... 3
Topic 2: Collaborative learning ........................................................................... 4
Topic 3: Tutoring online ...................................................................................... 4
What to do next .................................................................................................... 5
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 5
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Aims
This activity will give you a chance to work within a structured framework. At the
same time, you will be exploring different aspects of the use of computer-mediated
conferencing (CMC) for education or training.
After completing this unit:
 you will have had the opportunity to explore aspects of the use of computermediated conferencing (CMC) for education or training in a structured online
environment.
Structured debate on open and distance education
Tasks
Here are the roles and associated tasks for the debate, followed by the topics:
Proposer of the motion: the proposer's role is to put a short message (about one
screenful) into the group conference amplifying the proposition, and making a case
for it, in such a way as to encourage comment from other group members.
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Opposer: the opposer's role is to counter the proposer's message by putting in a
message of similar length arguing for the opposite point of view, again in such a
way as to encourage further comment.
Moderator: the moderator's role is to set the overall scene for the discussion, to
encourage initial comments on the proposer's and opposer's messages, to encourage
‘lurkers’ to contribute, to keep the discussion on track, and to weave (i.e. make
links between different contributors’ messages).
Documentalist: the documentalist's role is to summarise one or more of the set
readings for the topic, picking out the points relevant to the proposition, and
contribute the summary to the discussion thread.
Researcher: the researcher's role is to go out and find other relevant readings and
resources, from the Web and from the set books, and bring them to the attention of
the group.
Rapporteur: the rapporteur's role is to prepare a summary of the overall debate
(two or three screens long) and upload it into the group's area for comments by the
group, before preparing a final version to go into the main Activity 2 discussion
area.
Commenters: the commenters’ role is to comment on the ideas put forward by all
of the above and help keep the discussion going; this is a role that everyone in the
group should take on, in addition to the specific allocated roles above.
Although it is important for each member of the group to feel personally
responsible for a specific role from those listed above, if the task is to be completed
on time, it is equally important that each member feels collectively responsible for
the group output, and plays other roles as and when it seems necessary (i.e.
comment on others’ contributions, add additional points, bring in new ideas and
resources, etc.).
Topic 1: Third generation distance education
The topic which you are asked to debate is this: ‘In open and distance education,
learning from pre-prepared course materials has been superseded by the facility to
learn collaboratively through co-creation of knowledge’.
Here are the initial set readings for this topic, which we originally gave for this
topic. However, you may choose to substitute others for these which are more up to
date, for example by searching on the web using key terms related to the topics.
John Pettit, ‘Second generation good, third generation better’ (1998)
Universities in a Digital Era. Transformation, Innovation and Tradition.
Roles and Perspectives of Open and Distance Learning. Proceedings of the
1998 EDEN Conference. University of Bologna, Italy, 24–26 June

Noriko Hara and Rob Kling, Students' Distress with a Web-based
Distance Education Course.

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
Steeples, C and Jones, C. R (eds) (2001) Networked Learning:
Perspectives and Issues, London: Springer-Verlag Chapter 12.
Topic 2: Collaborative learning
The topic which you are asked to debate is this: ‘CMC (and computer conferencing
in particular) is an ideal medium for collaborative learning’.
Here are the initial set readings for this topic, for each member of the group to look
at, and for the documentalists to summarise for the group:

Chapter 11 of Steeples & Jones's Networked Learning by Gilly
Salmon, Approaches to Researching Teaching and Learning Online: this
discusses both the approaches that can be taken to understand the
effectiveness of CMC and provides several examples of use of CMC.

Catherine Edwards (2002) Discourses on collaborative networked
learning a paper in the Proceedings of the Networked Learning Conference
NLC 2004 which makes a refreshingly critical analysis of the substantive
proposal for debate.
In addition, there are some useful links and resources at W. R. Klemm's Computer
conferencing as a cooperative learning environment page, which your group
researcher might want to explore in particular.
For an example of a Web environment for supporting collaborative learning,
designed by Jon Darbolo, who teaches philosophy at Oregon State University, have
a look at the InterQuest site.
Topic 3: Tutoring online
The topic which you are asked to debate is this: ‘Online tutoring is not significantly
different from other forms of teaching (e.g. face-to-face teaching or distance
education tutoring). A good teacher will be good whatever the medium’.
Here are the initial set readings for this topic, for each member of the group to look
at, and for the documentalists to summarise for the group:

Lynn Davie, Facilitation techniques for the on-line tutor (Mindweave,
chapter 6).

Zane Berge, The role of the online instructor / facilitator.

Derek Rowntree, The tutor's role in teaching via computer
conferencing.
In addition, the Steeples & Jones book referenced about contains useful material
such as discussion of tutor and student roles, in chapter 16, and the impact of
supporting online learners on information specialists, in chapter 9. Also, have a
look at Paulsen's paper on ‘The online report on pedagogical techniques for
computer-mediated communication’ which you can find from Morton Flate
Paulsen's homepage.
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What to do next
Here are our instructions to students about how to work with this activity.
1 Choose a role
Please put your message volunteering for a role in your tutor group conference, so
we can all see where we are in the allocation of roles. Any not allocated within a
week of the start of Activity 2 will be assigned by your tutor. Begin work on your
role and be prepared to put up your first message about it as soon as you can.
2 Read articles and consult Web resources
Please read the set articles for your group topic (if you haven't already), and
recommend any others you know of.
3 Describe your experiences
Please put a message into your group discussion thread, during the first week, about
any experiences of your own that touch on the motion under debate, and be
prepared to comment on others’ contributions in the light of your own experience
and views.
Acknowledgements
This material is taken from The Open University's OpenLearn website. OpenLearn
provides free open educational resources for learners and educators around the
world under a Creative Commons licence. Third party materials have been removed
but for ease of use the original acknowledgements copy has been included. For the
online version of this unit and for other free educational resources across a range of
topics, please go to http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn/home.php.
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