Dianne Conrad

Revisiting the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL): A Reflective Inquiry into RPL Practice in Canada

The recognition of prior learning (RPL/PLAR) has been on the margins of Canada’s educational and economic scene for many years. A series of recent developments across Canada prompted this writer to reflect on whether a combination of forces may be moving RPL toward its “tipping point.” In examining this possibility, the article situates the issue educationally, socially, and economically. A developing societal and educational trend is identified and the use of the portfolio as an appropriate response tool is considered. Concluding remarks highlight anticipated and existing areas of resistance to moving the RPL agenda forward.

Reflections on Teaching and Learning in an Online Master Program: A Case Study

In his review of a recent publication on leadership strategies in open and distance learning, Don Olcott commended the editors of that publication on their fine contribution, noting that there really is no substitute for experience in helping distance education’s practitioners, leaders, and novices learning about open and distance education to acquaint themselves with the theory and practice that define the field. Bernath and Rubin’s Reflections on Teaching and Learning in an Online Master Program gives us that rich study in experience as they examine online teaching and learning issues through the lens of the Master of Distance Education program (MDE), offered jointly by the University of Maryland University College and Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany. This volume is the most recent publication in the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg’s series from the Center for Research in Distance Education, Volume 6 of an intended 10.

Qualification Systems: Bridges to Lifelong Learning

Since the 1970s, the evolution of the OECD economies and societies, in particular the advent of information technologies, has made lifelong learning a key goal for education and training policy. Progress in technology and international economic integration is rapidly changing the economic landscape and putting an ever greater premium on the need to innovate, improve productivity and to adjust to structural changes painlessly. In this context, the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) of 12 OECD countries provided a sobering finding: at least one-quarter of the adult population fails to reach the third of the five literacy levels, which many experts regard as the minimum level of competence needed to cope adequately with the complex demands of everyday life and work. These results have been confirmed by follow-up surveys in 22 countries/regions. A population with this level of skills can hardly be expected to adapt rapidly and respond innovatively to the ongoing structural changes. “Lifelong learning for all” is a response to this challenge. This policy goal was identified by a meeting of OECD Education Ministers in 1996 (Lifelong Learning for All, OECD, 1996) and also echoed in publications by UNESCO and the European Commission.

Book Reviews, Reflections and Ideas

As an online practitioner and researcher, I was distressed by the tale of woe related by Ann Bishop in “Come Into my Parlour Said the Spider to the Fly: Critical Reflections on Web-Based Education From a Student’s Perspective” (Bishop, 2002). However, hers is a story that needs to be told: we know that practices of the sort she relates in her critical reminiscence of a poor online experience exist. To “would be” Web-based educators in a communication medium that glows with promise and is hailed worldwide for its potential to serve us globally, Bishop offers suggestions. I take this opportunity, as a seasoned online educator, to address some of her issues and suggestions. In doing so, and in dividing my comments on her observations into the categories terrible travesties, necessary evils, and unfortunate occurrences, I hope to indicate my acknowledgement of the nature and scope of misdeeds that can accompany what can often be sound, enjoyable, and useful learning experiences.

BOOK REVIEWS AND REFLECTIONS

The political and economic globalization that affects us all is credited with breaking down barriers and fostering an exciting climate of collaboration in the discovery of knowledge. From the resultant synergy has sprung, in recent years, international partnerships and an overall shrinking of our world in many ways. It is not outrageous, for example, for a Canadian scholar to be integrating with European colleagues in pursuit of similar interests; nor is it unusual for schools in Greece to be collaborating with schools in Finland or Australia in search of harmonious learning outcomes; and so forth. In the face of very real urgencies that confront 21st-century civilization, this new level of global intimacy is welcomed as a positive move toward solving the world’s problems. That may be true. It is, at least, regarded by many as a hopeful wish. From a solely academic perspective, however, I bring forward an observation on another aspect of our globalized shrinkage: the quality of research that purports to describe open and distance learning (ODL) activity is at risk of being diluted by the increased popularity and universality of web-based education—in the USA, in 2000–2001, 90% of public 2-year institutions and 89% of public 4-year institutions offered distance education courses (US Department of Education, 2003). One of the results of e-learning’s enhanced popularity is that distance education—as a process—has become a melting pot, and this condition in turn fosters and permits a drift from the content silos of traditional academe into the mix that is distance education. Scholars who are trained in specific disciplinary areas, for example, biologists or linguists, now propose research on educational topics, in search of funding from educational agencies. Similarly, chemical engineers write and submit scholarly papers for publication in open and distance education journals. In theory, this might be a positive development and so this trend should not be regarded in a negative light, as academia encourages and thrives on the interplay of

Stop the E-Train! A Plea for the Thoughtful Use of Language in Computer-Conferenced Contexts

In this paper, I take the position that the recently increased ‘e-talk’ permeating our language potentially compromises our fields professionalism by ‘one-minutizing’ learning that uses computer-mediated technologies. In so doing, I discuss historical aspects of adult education, the importance of language as a naming function, the evolution of the romance of cyberspace, and the need for adult and distance educators to maintain a clear sense of their practice as distinct from the amorphous clamouring of the burgeoning e-world.

“This is not your grandmother’s PLAR”: BC boldly creates a new learning culture

A broad range of British Columbia’s educators and administrators convened recently to re-discover PLAR with a new energy, a new focus, and a new urgency. “This is not your grandmother’s PLAR” became the battle cry of the British Columbia Prior Learning Action Network (BCPLAN) Summit gathering at which the BCPLAN was declared as a not-for- profit society. This paper describes and situates BCPLAN as an emergent PLAR entity and considers its potential success against a historical background and a range of current issues.