Lesson39 Distance Learning
Open learning is a general term for any education or training scheme that tries to make learning available to more people. With open learning, people take responsibility for what they learn, how they learn, where they learn, how quickly they learn, who helps them and how they have their learning assessed.
Distance learning, is a special type of open learning where tutors and learners are far away from each other. This was sometimes called "home-study" or "correspondence courses."
Originally relying on the postal system, distance learning now uses the computer, satellite and the Internet.
The concept of distance learning is not a new one. The first structured distance learning or correspondence courses were probably the shorthand courses offered by the Pitman organization at the end of the 19th century.
In 1969 the Open University (OU) was created in the UK. This firmly established in the West the principle of access for all to quality education. The idea originally came from the Soviet Union where distance learning had run for many years on a large scale. In the 30 years since the OU was established, an important lesson has been learned.
Distance learners need much more than a tutor who marks assignments and sends them back. Course providers must have excellent administration systems and give their students access to accreditation and qualifications. Many organizations also provide summer schools and social events for students.
This helps to create a virtual learning community, good for all learners, and especially helpful for students of distance learning.

accreditation 鉴定合格

远程学习
开放式学习是一个笼统的术语，它指的是能使更多的人得到学习机会的教育或培训计划。通过开放式学习，人们可以控制学习的内容、学习的形式、学习的地点和学习的节奏，选择谁帮助自己学习以及以何种方式评价自己的学习成果。
远程学习是一种特殊的开放式学习，在这种学习形式下，指导教师和学习者相隔遥远。有时也称为“函授教育”或者“函授课程”。早期的远程学习借助于邮政系统，现在使用的是计算机、卫星和互联网。远程学习并不是一个崭新的概念，最早的远程学习可能是皮特曼组织于十九世纪末开设的速记课程。
1969年，开放式大学在英国诞生了。这在西方牢固地确立了所有人都应该享有素质教育这条原则。这个观念起源于苏联，在那里，大规模的远程教育已经开展了好多年。在开放式大学成立后的30年里，人们得到了一条重要的经验。
远程学习者需要的远远不只是一位批改作业然后把作业发给学习者的指导教师。提供课程的机构必须有完善的管理系统，能使学习者得到考核并给他们签发证书。许多组织还为学生提供暑期班和社会活动。这有利于建立一个虚拟的学习社区，对所有的学习者都有好处，特别对参加远程学习的学生会有帮助。