Helping People to Help Themselves
Ebrahim Eshraghi
Director, Office of Research
Payame Noor University
Pob.19395-4697
Lashkarak Rd.
Tehran / Iran
Tel: +9821 22442045 Fax: +9821 244 2052
E-Mail:
Abstract
Education is a fundamental human right. Distance Learning has the potential of meeting the ever growing demands for education. Multiple interlocking obstacles must be removed if this potential is to be fully exploited and used in different aspects of human life. Learners, educational objectives, teachers, media of education, access, quality and cost are the key issues in the journey towards educational goals. The diversity of the learners as to their demands, age, and background, social, economical and cultural status presents a challenge to the distance learning policy makers. The educational objectives of distance learning should be flexible enough to meet these diverse aspects. Teacher training is a must. Books, the main media of education, must be prepared with regard to the learner's requirements. Education must also offer access to skills and know–how that enables the individual to take his or her place in society. Appropriate information and communication technologies have to be used. Despite the above-mentioned diversities there are issues of common concern such as poverty, hunger, primary education, health and a sustainable environment among the people in national, regional and global levels. These issues can be tackled by careful planning, conducting collaborative research activities and designing a roadmap with the aim of helping people to help themselves.
Introduction:
Education is the one of the most important subjects that was, is and will be discussed and talked about during the course of our lives. This is due to the magnitude and the importance of this issue and its outcomes for us and for our society. Considerable attention has been paid to the issue of education in Iran's constitution. According to the article 30 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran the government shall be required to provide free education and training for the entire nation up to the end of high school education, and to expand the means of free higher education up to the level of self-sufficiency of the country. The imporuance of education has also been emphasized in the country's development plans which have been implemented so far. As per the Fourth Development Plan (2005-10), all people under 30 should be literate by 2010. Surely the movement towards a well developed educational system is not an easy task. In the past few years, not only Iran but also many other countries have witnessed significant transformations and reforms in their higher educational systems, including the emergence of new types of institutions, changes in patterns of financing and governance, the establishment of evaluation and accreditation mechanisms, curriculum reforms, and technological inovations.
Ever growing demands for education on the one hand and insufficiency of conventional educational systems in responding the actual needs and wants of their clients on the other hand have obliged the educational policy makers to consider and reconsider their educational systems continuously in order to meet the exponentially growing needs for education and training. In this regard Iran's Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology (MSRT) began to introduce new reforms from centralized to decentralized (University-Based management — UBM) for the improvement and the enhancement of Iranian universities' management toward an independent and self-regulated system. The new reforms have had profound effects on the policy making and management of Payame Noor University (PNU) so that it is now the most flexible and cost effective higher education in Iran.
The Importance of Open and Distance Education
As a force contributing to social and economic development, open and distance education is fast becoming an accepted and indispensable part of the mainstream of educational systems in both developed and developing countries, with particular emphasis for the latter. [4].Open universities are generally distinguished from traditional universities in at least three ways:
1. Open to a broad segment of the population usually serving those from social groups that previously had not access to higher education and sometimes admitting students regardless of their prior educational credentials.
2. Open in the courses they offer, usually including traditional college courses, career-development courses, and personal growth courses.
3. Open to different times and places of study; sometimes the time and place is determined entirely by the student. [2].
Distance learning and its relationship to emerging computer technologies have together offered many promises to the field of education. In practice however, the combination often falls short of what it attempts to accomplish. Some of the shortcomings are due to problems with the technology others have more to do with administration, instructional methods, or students. [1].Without exception, effective distance education programs begin with careful planning and a focused understanding of course requirements and student needs. Although technology plays a key role in the delivery of distance education, educators must remain focused on instructional outcomes, not the technology of delivery. The key to effective distance education is focusing on the needs of the learners, the requirements of the content, and the constraints faced by the teacher, before selecting a delivery system. Typically, this systematic approach will result in a mix of media, each serving a specific purpose. For example:
· A strong print component can provide much of the basic instructional content in the form of a course text, as well as readings, the syllabus, and day-to-day schedule.
· Interactive audio or video conferencing can provide real time face-to-face (or voice-to-voice) interaction. This is also an excellent and cost-effective way to incorporate guest speakers and content experts.
· Computer conferencing or electronic mail can be used to send messages, assignment feedback and other targeted communication to one or more class members. It can also be used to increase interaction among students.
· Pre-recorded video tapes can be used to present class lectures and visually oriented content.
Using this integrated approach, the educator's task is to carefully select among the technological options. The goal is to build a mix of instructional media, meeting the needs of the learner in a manner that is instructionally effective and economically prudent. [5]
Payame Noor University
Payame Noor University is a state distance education university established in 1987. The University is a legal body under the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology with the headquarters based in Tehran. Its previously 10 regional centers have recently been changed to 30 provinvtcial centers. Each provencial center monitors and superwise the activities of its affiliated study centers and units. PNU has now 457 active centers and units inside the country and overseas students from more than 45 countries. Total number of students studying at PNU at the present time is 683000 students which will be increased to about 1000000 during the next academic year.
The nature and scale of its operation has made PNU the most flexible and cost-effective higher education institution in Iran. It is also the largest state university in terms of student number and coverage. PNU offers three type of degree programs.: 1-Regular Degree Programs:These programs are offered to those who pass the National University Entrance Examination (NUEE) held annually by the National Educational Assessment Organization. More than 95% of PNU students have entered the university via NUEE said Prof. Dr. Aliahmadi, PNU Chancellor, in an interview with Iran daily newspaper 0n 20/July/2007. Cancelation of NUEE, a real barrier to higher education, whithin the nexr 3 years have been claimed by the higher education authoroties. 2- Encompassing Degree Programs: these programs were first launched at Bachelor’s Degree In 1994, but are now on offer at all degree levels. They are the most flexible programs ever presented by a university in Iran. One important change in admission policy is that applicants no longer need to attend the National University Entrance Examination. This policy of admission is the first in the history of Iranian higher education.3-Overseas Degree Programs:The Overseas Center offers the Encompassing Progrms of PNU to Iranian nationals residing abroad as well as people of other nationalities. These programs are correspondence courses, which heavily rely on textbooks. The language of instruction is Persian. PNU objectives are:
§ Cooperating for the popularization of higher education and promoting the scientific and cultural levels of the society
§ Reducing the constraints and providing possibilities for continuing education at the tertiary level
§ Providing the basis for the use of potential possibilities that have been ignored in conventional education systems
§ Providing a part of society’s skilled manpower
§ Facilitating the expansion of knowledge boundaries and creation of science
§ Collaborating on resolving social issues
New paradigm of higher education is rather market centred and market founded than institute centred and government founded. Let us consider education from marketing point of view.
Education and Marketing
A market is the set of actual and potential buyers of a product. In the case of educational system buyers are people of different age groups from different walks of life who seek to acquire specific knowledge, skills or qualifications.These people share a particular need or want that can be satisfied through exchange. Thus, the size of a market depends on the number of people who exhibit the need, have resources to engage in exchange, and are willing to offer these resources in exchange for what they want.[3].The scope of education may range from individual learning to global education.The globalization of the economy and its concomitant demands on the workforce requires a shift to an education that enhances the ability of learners to access, assess, adopt and apply knowledge, to think independently, exercise appropriate judgment and collaborate with others to make sense of new situations. The objective of education is no longer simply to convey a body of knowledge, but to teach how to learn, problem-solve and synthesize the old with the new. It is worth noting, also, that the emerging economy will no longer be centrally created and controlled by governments. This environment, which will be dominated by private sector and not government jobs, will place a premium on creativity, initiative and entrepreneurship. [6].
Needs, Wants, Demands
Humans have many complex needs. These include basic physical needs for food, clothing, warmth and safety; social needs for belonging and affection; and individual needs for knowledge and self-expression. These needs are not invented by marketers; they are a basic part of the human make-up. Human wants are the form taken by human needs as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. People have narrow, basic needs (e.g. for food or shelter), but almost unlimited wants. However, they also have limited resources. Thus they want to choose products that provide the most satisfaction for their money. When backed by an ability to pay - that is, buying power - wants become demands. Consumers view products as bundles of benefits and choose products that give them the best bundle for their money. [3] When it comes to issue of learning and education, quality materials, cost effectiveness and easy access to the required information play prominent role and provide a satisfactory bundle. Outstanding marketing companies go to great lengths to learn about and understand their customers' needs, wants and demands. They conduct consumer research, focus groups and customer clinics. They analyze customer complaint, inquiry, warranty, and service data. They train salespeople to be on the look-out for unfulfilled customer needs. Different reseach projects are conducted at PNU to better understand needs, wants, and demands of the students. A few years ago Payame Noor University's headquarters Research Council approved the establishment of a research centre called Reseach Center of Open and Distance Education. The aim for the establishment of this center was to provide suitable grounds for conducting research projects mainly in the area of distance and open education. Results obtained from these projects are being used in planning of relevant strategies. Impementation of a newly approved grant schem will also pave the road and facilitate conduction of research projects in different areas free from most administrative obstacles.
Marketing Management Philosophies
We describe marketing management as carrying out tasks to achieve desired exchanges with target markets. What philosophy should guide these marketing efforts? What weight should be given to the interests of the organization, customers and society? Very often these interests conflict. Invariably, the organization's marketing management philosophy influences the way it approaches its buyers. There are five alternative concepts under which organizations conduct their marketing activities: the production, product, selling, marketing and societal marketing concepts. [3]
The Production Concept
The production concept holds that consumers will favor products that are available and highly affordable, and that management should therefore focus on improving production and distribution efficiency. This concept is one of the oldest philosophies that guide sellers. Maintaining a balance between the supply of universitys' production line of graduates and real demands of the society is a matter of great concern. There are considerable numbers of universities' graduates who do not work in their relevant field of education. The problem originates from different social, cultural and economical factors.
The Product Concept
Another important concept guiding sellers, the product concept, holds that consumers will favor products that offer the most quality, performance and innovative features, and that an organization should thus devote energy to making continuous product improvements. The product concept also can lead to 'marketing myopia'. For instance, railway management once thought that users wanted trains rather than transportation and overlooked the growing challenge of airlines, buses, trucks and cars. Building bigger and better trains would not satisfy consumers' demand for transportation, but creating other forms of transportation and extending choice would. Books are the main media of education at PNU. Continues efforts are being made to improve the quality of educational materials, but If we just produce books or other multi media materials without paying attention to their real usefulness for the ultimate end users, we will waste not only the time, budjet and energy of the educational system as a whole, but also spoil interest and hope of our clients.
The Selling Concept