  Mike O'Donoghue Lancaster University |
Friend or Foe? Mike
O'Donoghue |
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John Blewitt is the director of the Department of lifelong learning at the University of Exeter, a department which he describes as changing as it continues to explore the use virtual learning environments for course delivery. "In a fast changing world we need to understand that our concept notion of quality education, quality learning, changes too - I think e-learning is part of that". Currently about 80% of the 1,600 students in the department study part-time and online, a very different situation to his previous post; "I came here two years ago and we have a massive online facility… I was immersed in an environment where it was almost a norm, where previously I was in an environment where traditional face-to-face classes, in an urban setting, was the norm" Perhaps it was John's background in film and television than enabled him to cope so readily with this transition: "I've always been fascinated with film and with television … I'm one of those strange, ugly beasts who learnt how to do film editing with pairs of scissors and tape and stuff. And then the world changed almost instantly" John recognised that advancements in digital technology applied to film and television - both for production and access to broadcast materials - were having an impact on a wide range of subjects, not just film studies: "You read a lot about convergence but it tends to be a world which most people don't actually inhabit. A lot of people still access the media in very conventional ways, but things even for them are changing… I just started thinking well, how else do people learn? And a lot of people learn from the television and public service broadcasting which is still quite prominent" In the UK the current plans for Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) are to move to digital broadcast in 2010. For John one of the questions is on the impact this will have on learning and on related change: "If we look at PSB's remit to inform, educate and entertain, you find that not only does television provide standard education programmes for schools and colleges, and there's Open University level too, but you also find through entertainment a lot of learning is going on". It was this view of informal learning through film and television that became the springboard for the development of a network focusing on learning through film, television and radio broadcast. "I thought, are there other people like me interested in these things? I know there are because there are media studies departments, there are film studies departments, there are people who study TV, there are people who study and do a lot of research and development in new media technologies and e-learning and so on, and I was wondering to what extent are all these people working in their own separate silos? To what extent do they come together? And would something, would there be something which would provide a common ground for all of these people to come together and UACE for me seemed to be one way of doing it." In response to an initial email for response of an expression of interest in this network John received thirty-six responses almost immediately from a wide range of organisations including university tutors, National Health Service staff, the British Film Institute (BFI) and the Office of Communications (OFCOM). What appears to distinguish this network from other film and television networks is the emphasis on learning: "The key thing is going to be a focus on adult learning… its very much looking at the issues in an inter-disciplinary or trans-disciplinary way. We're looking at how people, learners, can gain and benefit from the new technologies, from the developments within the new media, and also look at possibly our own experience and how that is changing and informing what we ought to do both as educators and enthusiasts". The aims of this new network are not dissimilar to those of DIVERSE, an already established international network with an annual conference and plans for publication of papers. So is the UACE Film and Television network a competitor to the DIVERSE community? John's vision of the two networks was not one of competition but of parallel interests reflecting a differing focus for their respective communities: "I was aware of DIVERSE but for a number of reasons I hadn't really explored it. I think that more collaboration, more cooperation, the better. It's certainly would prevent us from wasting time and resources doing the same thing. I think also it's a way of generating more ideas and developing our own learning and our own understanding of possibilities and our own professional service to adult learning. I'd certainly be very interested in working more effectively with DIVERSE and I guess the network would be too." Illustrations of the differences and overlap of interests in these networks can be identified. Whilst DIVERSE currently leans towards video and video conferencing applications in education the UACE Film and Television network has an initial focus on issues such as media literacy and the ways in which meaning is constructed from television, film and digital media: "I think looking at the way film and television and the new digital media can stimulate learning, I cannot be but impressed, and this is really very important and very exciting." Further details of the UACE Film and Television network and meetings details are available from John on request (J.D.Blewitt@exeter.ac.uk). UACE (now UALL) is the University Association for Continuing Education and has a website at www.uace.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx
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This document was prepared for the DIVERSE newsletter March 2005 - ref: www.diverse-net.org/diversenl0305mod1.htm |