Text 4
The Open University
In 1971, an education experiment began in Milton Keynes, England, which affected the life of thousands of people in Britain. This was the start of the Open University. The aim of the Open University is to provide degree courses (including promotions) for anyone, regardless of previous qualifications.
The Open University devotes itself almost entirely to teach by correspondence, although radio and television broadcasts are also part of the course. The university authorities work close with the BBC in planning the broadcasts. In fact, the TV screen is in some ways superior than a lecture room, allowing close-ups of experiments and providing glimpses of work in research centers, which might not otherwise be available for students. Students recieve weekly correspondence of programmed explanations and excercises and also book-lists complete with the names and adresses of bookshops where the books can be bought. The books are cheap, because publishers can mass-produce copies for the Open University which usually sell well and which sometimes become bestsellers. Science students can obtain material at home free of charge for carrying out experiments.
The personal contact between students and lecturers is established during summer courses lasting about two weeks at a normal university or college. Each student has also the opportunity all year round to visit a local study center, of which there are about two hundred all over the country. Here, he or she can work with other students under the guidance of a tutor. With this type of organization, the Open University needs a few buildings and little apparatus as it uses existing facilities in other universities during the summer vacation.
The Open University has consequently adhered to the principle of offering further education to people of all ages and walks of life, and they have eagerly grasped this opportunity. They range from workers who left the school at sixteen to professional people working for higher qualifications such as a BA, a MA or even a PhD. And now, as it nears its twentieth birthday, the standards and popularity of this institution appear to be as high as ever.
Lernphase
Korrekturphase
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Übungsphase
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