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Flexible and distance learning
Book Reviews
364
those that are counterfactual, leading to other outcomes than those recorded in history) on computers. He also discusses some of the problems, though not in sufficient depth to satisfy the average historian. He does note that using simulations is not an easy teaching option. Surprisingly perhaps, Section 6, on training aspects, includes nothing on computer-based simulation and gaming. Section 7 seems to be a short ragbag section: James Lee comes in again with his Chinese House Game, a computer-based simulation about international relations. The book closes with Section 8, which lists unsystematically about 70 recent additions to ERIC on simulations and games, plus names and addresses of relevant organizations. Overall, this is a sound start, though we should look for a higher average standard of papers in future editions. The yearbook will be of greater interest than it is now to readers of Computers & Education when it deals more thoroughly with the design, implementation and evaluation of simulations and games, for educational and training purposes. It may also command a wider audience if there are more articles dealing with computer-based simulation and gaming: the paperand-pencil varieties have their place, but among a small group of practitioners. At about f40, it will also be better value for money. Institute qf Educational Technology The Open Universit?~ Milton Keynes MK7 6AA U.K.
Flexible and Distance Learning. ISBN 0 471 93015 6.
LIEVE VAN DEN
DAVID HAWKRIDGE
BRANDE. Wiley,
Chichester.
1993. xxiii + 263 pp.
This book is a product of the 2-year DELTA Exploratory Action launched by the Commission of the European Communities in 1988. In his Foreword, Michel Carpentier indicates that “the followup of this action in the Third Framework Programme, under the specific Programme of ‘Telematics for General Interest Areas: Flexible and Distance Learning’ will aim at taking a step towards the future implementation of Europe-wide services.” Although published by Wiley, this is very much an EC publication. The cover bears the logo and name of Directorate-General XIII Information Technologies and Industries and Telecommunications of the Commission. Lieve van den Brande works for DELTA Directorate C, and the authors of the Foreword, the General Introduction and part 7, “Conclusions”, are all connected in some way with DG XIII. The aims stated in the Preface include ones held by many readers of this journal: I. to indicate promising trends and developments in the field of flexible and distance learning; 2. to describe the use of advanced technologies and communications for learning; 3. to emphasize the relevance and effectiveness of learning technologies for vocational and professional training, as well as for education. There is, however, no indication of the intended readership. The Preface also indicates that material for the book was collected “through different experts, existing case studies and research done by DELTA Exploratory Phase projects. A large quantity of information gathered during a study tour to the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand by DELTA actors is included”. The book begins with a chapter examining definitions and looking at technical and pedagogical aspects of technology-based learning. The second chapter presents information on European Commission programmers, including COMETT and DELTA, and on “cross-national initiatives” such as SATURN and EUROSTEP. Considerable space is given in the third chapter to an examination of market and policy trends in technology-based training in European countries. The fourth and fifth chapters comprise brief descriptions of “being educated” through distance education and through the use of information technologies in each of the European Community countries and in Norway and Sweden. In the sixth chapter, “flexible and distance learning” initiatives outside Europe are described.
Book Reviews
365
This is a very substantial volume mapping both European Commission involvement in distance education and the work of the major European distance teaching institutions, full of detailed information which could represent a major contribution to the literature. Unfortunately, the volume represents in my view a piece of work which has not been prepared sufficiently carefully for publication. The author is not well served by the fact that the text, which bears every sign of being a working report, is presented in a format appropriate to a thoroughly researched and polished work of scholarship. The areas of the book which deal with distance education are regretfully riddled with factual inaccuracies which careful editing and checking would have eliminated. For example, on the same page (139), Athabasca University is referred to erroneously as “the Canadian Open University in Athabasca” and the following statement is made: “The British OU has integrated a high degree of tutoring at which attendance is mandatory into its structure, with written and often computergraded assignments playing a key role.” At the most general level, the first part of this assertion is totally incorrect; the Open University’s tutorial system is not mandatory. At the same time, the statement is also partially true, since assignments do represent a mandatory part of the system. This example seems to me characteristic of the book; facts and supposed facts are often assembled and presented in a semi-digested way. For example, “The OU has a multimedia approach to learning which includes the use of television broadcasts, correspondence texts, videos and audio cassettes as well as face-to-face tuition” (p. 119). This is true as far as it goes. But what does not emerge from this description is the fact that the principal OU teaching medium is and always has been print. This understatement of the significance of print, whether deliberate or not, occurs throughout the book. Instead of a focus on telecommunications and computer technology as part of multimedia flexible and distance education, I feel that we have an account of the applications of these technologies which fails to place their use in context in relation to all the other components. There is also scant attention paid to the cost implications of using these technologies and to the student perspective on their use. Greater editorial attention would have been invaluable in these areas and also in providing references to support the great number of unsubstantiated statements which appear in the text, often in relation to contentious issues. To be worth f95.00, a book has to be quite exceptional in its field. Had more time and attention been paid to preparing the text for publication, this volume could have been worth the money because of its broad sweep and wealth of detail. Given the book’s limitations, however, the reader interested in advanced technologies and current developments in open and distance learning in Europe would be much better advised to subscribe to EADTU News (published by the Secretariat of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, PO Box 2960, 6401 DL Heerlen, Netherlands) and the journal and newsletter SATURNOVA (The SATURN Office, Keizersgracht 756, 1017 Amsterdam, Netherlands), and to acquire the proceedings of conferences such as the Trondheim TeleTeaching Conference of August 1993 (proceedings published by Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands). International Centre for Distance Learning Institute of Educational Technology The Open University Walton Hall Milton Keynes MK7 6AA U.K.
KEITH HARRY
Starting SPSS/PC + and SPSS for Windows: A Beginner’s Guide to Data Analysis, 2nd Edition. JEREMYJ. FOSTER. Sigma Press, Winslow, U.K. 1993. 277 pp. ISBN l-85058-509-1. Now that “Quality” is the buzz-word in education, many people are searching for enlightenment by re-reading Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance, Robert Persig’s classic treatise on the subject. However, for me the book lingers in my mind for two unrelated reasons.
364
those that are counterfactual, leading to other outcomes than those recorded in history) on computers. He also discusses some of the problems, though not in sufficient depth to satisfy the average historian. He does note that using simulations is not an easy teaching option. Surprisingly perhaps, Section 6, on training aspects, includes nothing on computer-based simulation and gaming. Section 7 seems to be a short ragbag section: James Lee comes in again with his Chinese House Game, a computer-based simulation about international relations. The book closes with Section 8, which lists unsystematically about 70 recent additions to ERIC on simulations and games, plus names and addresses of relevant organizations. Overall, this is a sound start, though we should look for a higher average standard of papers in future editions. The yearbook will be of greater interest than it is now to readers of Computers & Education when it deals more thoroughly with the design, implementation and evaluation of simulations and games, for educational and training purposes. It may also command a wider audience if there are more articles dealing with computer-based simulation and gaming: the paperand-pencil varieties have their place, but among a small group of practitioners. At about f40, it will also be better value for money. Institute qf Educational Technology The Open Universit?~ Milton Keynes MK7 6AA U.K.
Flexible and Distance Learning. ISBN 0 471 93015 6.
LIEVE VAN DEN
DAVID HAWKRIDGE
BRANDE. Wiley,
Chichester.
1993. xxiii + 263 pp.
This book is a product of the 2-year DELTA Exploratory Action launched by the Commission of the European Communities in 1988. In his Foreword, Michel Carpentier indicates that “the followup of this action in the Third Framework Programme, under the specific Programme of ‘Telematics for General Interest Areas: Flexible and Distance Learning’ will aim at taking a step towards the future implementation of Europe-wide services.” Although published by Wiley, this is very much an EC publication. The cover bears the logo and name of Directorate-General XIII Information Technologies and Industries and Telecommunications of the Commission. Lieve van den Brande works for DELTA Directorate C, and the authors of the Foreword, the General Introduction and part 7, “Conclusions”, are all connected in some way with DG XIII. The aims stated in the Preface include ones held by many readers of this journal: I. to indicate promising trends and developments in the field of flexible and distance learning; 2. to describe the use of advanced technologies and communications for learning; 3. to emphasize the relevance and effectiveness of learning technologies for vocational and professional training, as well as for education. There is, however, no indication of the intended readership. The Preface also indicates that material for the book was collected “through different experts, existing case studies and research done by DELTA Exploratory Phase projects. A large quantity of information gathered during a study tour to the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand by DELTA actors is included”. The book begins with a chapter examining definitions and looking at technical and pedagogical aspects of technology-based learning. The second chapter presents information on European Commission programmers, including COMETT and DELTA, and on “cross-national initiatives” such as SATURN and EUROSTEP. Considerable space is given in the third chapter to an examination of market and policy trends in technology-based training in European countries. The fourth and fifth chapters comprise brief descriptions of “being educated” through distance education and through the use of information technologies in each of the European Community countries and in Norway and Sweden. In the sixth chapter, “flexible and distance learning” initiatives outside Europe are described.
Book Reviews
365
This is a very substantial volume mapping both European Commission involvement in distance education and the work of the major European distance teaching institutions, full of detailed information which could represent a major contribution to the literature. Unfortunately, the volume represents in my view a piece of work which has not been prepared sufficiently carefully for publication. The author is not well served by the fact that the text, which bears every sign of being a working report, is presented in a format appropriate to a thoroughly researched and polished work of scholarship. The areas of the book which deal with distance education are regretfully riddled with factual inaccuracies which careful editing and checking would have eliminated. For example, on the same page (139), Athabasca University is referred to erroneously as “the Canadian Open University in Athabasca” and the following statement is made: “The British OU has integrated a high degree of tutoring at which attendance is mandatory into its structure, with written and often computergraded assignments playing a key role.” At the most general level, the first part of this assertion is totally incorrect; the Open University’s tutorial system is not mandatory. At the same time, the statement is also partially true, since assignments do represent a mandatory part of the system. This example seems to me characteristic of the book; facts and supposed facts are often assembled and presented in a semi-digested way. For example, “The OU has a multimedia approach to learning which includes the use of television broadcasts, correspondence texts, videos and audio cassettes as well as face-to-face tuition” (p. 119). This is true as far as it goes. But what does not emerge from this description is the fact that the principal OU teaching medium is and always has been print. This understatement of the significance of print, whether deliberate or not, occurs throughout the book. Instead of a focus on telecommunications and computer technology as part of multimedia flexible and distance education, I feel that we have an account of the applications of these technologies which fails to place their use in context in relation to all the other components. There is also scant attention paid to the cost implications of using these technologies and to the student perspective on their use. Greater editorial attention would have been invaluable in these areas and also in providing references to support the great number of unsubstantiated statements which appear in the text, often in relation to contentious issues. To be worth f95.00, a book has to be quite exceptional in its field. Had more time and attention been paid to preparing the text for publication, this volume could have been worth the money because of its broad sweep and wealth of detail. Given the book’s limitations, however, the reader interested in advanced technologies and current developments in open and distance learning in Europe would be much better advised to subscribe to EADTU News (published by the Secretariat of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, PO Box 2960, 6401 DL Heerlen, Netherlands) and the journal and newsletter SATURNOVA (The SATURN Office, Keizersgracht 756, 1017 Amsterdam, Netherlands), and to acquire the proceedings of conferences such as the Trondheim TeleTeaching Conference of August 1993 (proceedings published by Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands). International Centre for Distance Learning Institute of Educational Technology The Open University Walton Hall Milton Keynes MK7 6AA U.K.
KEITH HARRY
Starting SPSS/PC + and SPSS for Windows: A Beginner’s Guide to Data Analysis, 2nd Edition. JEREMYJ. FOSTER. Sigma Press, Winslow, U.K. 1993. 277 pp. ISBN l-85058-509-1. Now that “Quality” is the buzz-word in education, many people are searching for enlightenment by re-reading Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance, Robert Persig’s classic treatise on the subject. However, for me the book lingers in my mind for two unrelated reasons.