III. Discussion and thought
“The landscape painting project” has achieved desirable teaching results. Based on assignment submission, nearly 60% of the learning tasks have been completed, far ahead of the less than 10% completion rate of MOOCs. Two questionnaires reveal that approximately 85% of students are satisfied with the teaching quality, and 96.09% of students indicate they wish to enrol in other similar online courses. After their study in the project, most students have the ability to complete basic versions of their works, a significant improvement over knowing nothing about landscape painting.
Figure 7 Comparison of a Student’s Works between the First and Ninth Weeks
“The landscape painting project’s” operating process is similar to the teaching organisational model of the Open University of China (OUC). The project further deepens our understanding of the OUC’s “Six-Network Integration” concept. “The landscape painting project” in itself is a non-degree project, and as such serves as a successful and useful reference for the organisation and implementation of other projects.
1. The teaching service of open education should be based on providing learning resources with learner support at the core.
The successful implementation of “the landscape painting project” is grounded in not only providing students with quality learning resources, but also offering targeted teaching service. Individualised teaching service is key to helping students achieve effective learning. The teachers’ online support is the most valuable part of online education, and it is essential to stimulate students’ learning behaviour. The construction of learning resources replicable as a one-time investment can be utilised repeatedly. In contrast, teaching support has to take consideration of pertinence. It offers students individualised service, which is not replicable, and requires a great deal of manpower and financial investment. These factors should all be taken into full consideration in the overall teaching design.
2. The process management of open education is an important guarantee to realise the teaching objective.
“Putting students first” does not mean handing control of the learning process over to students. Genuine “putting students first” strengthens process intervention and helps students with process management. Learning is the act of breaking away from comfort zones, and the experience of learning is usually challenging. It is difficult thing for most students to insist on a positive learning environment. Targeted learning process management is essential for the success of teaching. One-sided emphasis on students’ self-management may pose risks of failure to educational projects. Few online learners have the ability to self-manage. In this case, “putting students first” in a real sense must apply classification management to students. The students who can keep up with the preset learning progress are encouraged to learn autonomously. Those who are weak in self-management and are unable to keep up with the pace of teaching will benefit from stronger teaching management which urges them to complete their studies, rather than let them go on their own way. The high completion rate of “the landscape painting project” directly hinges on the overall management of the project team and the micro-supervision and encouragement provided by the teachers.
3. Scientifically integrating teachers’ strengths into the system and strengthening teaching team construction are important ways to improve teaching quality.
The initial “landscape painting project” proved that integrating internal and external resources into the system to build online teaching teams is an effective way to strengthen teaching staff construction with a small investment and to quick effect. There is an unbalanced problem in OUC teaching staff construction. There remains an insufficient number of teachers inside the system, and a surplus outside the system. Likewise, teachers are rare in remote areas, and abundant in central cities. Strengthening the construction of online teaching teams utilises idled teaching resources outside the system and takes full advantage of teachers located in different areas. Teachers in central cities are responsible for maintaining a professional level of instruction, while teachers in remote areas are in charge of direct communication with the students. The online and offline advantages complement one another to form a synergy of blended teaching styles.
4. Insights from the successful implementation of “the landscape painting project” as applied to the development of future non-degree projects
(1) To think more about the agreement between project design and social needs. The need for non-degree education is always interest-driven; interest is the best teacher. Students’ active participation in the learning process is positive. That interests and hobbies can achieve a high level of professional standard cannot be said to be the same; what can be achieved in interests and hobbies can never be on par with professional work. How can specialised teaching “enter ordinary people’s homes”? The first way is to control properly the difficulty of teaching content. Students are required to master content that corresponds to amateur and non-professional learning. The second is to reduce standards in learning evaluation for amateur learners. The third is to properly control the project cycle. The longer the project lasts, the greater the students’ time input, the more difficult it is to insist on studying, the bigger the risk of failure. A balance should be struck between completing the course, the learning content, and the students’ time input – a balance based on an accurate market investigation.
(2) The broad expectation of non-degree education to be developed through online education. The need of non-degree education comes from broader social applications, and differs from specialised teaching in universities. Both students and teachers are scattered across all social strata. It is possible to effectively match the diverse student needs with appropriate teaching ability by organising a teaching project via a network and making full use of online instruction. Moreover, the organisation and management of online education can integrate large scale social strengths to implement geographically distant courses and meet the education needs of society at scale.
(3) To reconsider the basic conditions of non-degree online education. Teaching elements across all aspects of non-degree education project may differ from those of degree education. Open education students are primarily young, with most of them possessing solid technology literacy. The course’s onboarding guide is enough for them to adapt to new aspects of online learning. In contrast, non-degree education also serves the elderly, which presents unique challenges to consider. Teachers, meanwhile, are from all walks of life, and many are unfamiliar with online instruction. To ensure the successful implementation of an online teaching project, the design of the learning environment should be simplified to lower requirements regarding users’ technology literacy, and training should be strengthened to minimize the negative impact of the digital divide.
(4) To fully leverage the OUC offline system’s advantages to form online and offline synergy. Though the application of networks in education shows the great potential of online education, the role of offline cannot be ignored. Offline instruction is irreplaceable in terms of academic support, leading to blended online and offline instruction becoming the most widely accepted teaching form. In terms of non-degree support, offline services have incomparable advantages over online, for example in student recruitment, distribution of learning tools, task supervision, communicating emotions, and so on. The OUC is not only blessed with rich online teaching experience, but also natural advantages in its extensive offline system. The OUC will have the upper hand by fully leveraging the system’s offline advantages to carry out non-degree education.
Works Cited:
Feng Xiaoying. 2012. Strategies of Online Tutoring: Tutors’ Ability of Teaching Dimension [J]. China Educational Technology (8): 40-45.
Lv Jingjing. 2015. Research on New Connotation of Blended Learning in Open University: An Enlightenment from SPOC [J].Journal of Distance Education (3): 72-81.
Wang Zhijun, Chen Li, Han Shimei. 2016. Research on Interactive Analysis Framework of Learning Environment in Distance Learning [J] Distance Education in China (12): 37-42.
Zhao Chengling, Li Hongxia, Jiang Zhihui, Huang Yan. 2018. Eliminating Online Learners’ Burnout: Study on the Influence of Teachers’ Emotional Support [J]. Distance Education and Online Education (2): 29-36.
About the authors:
Tang Yingshan, a professor and dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the Open University of China (100039).
Han Yi, a professor and director of director of the Quality Supervision and Evaluation Centre (100039).
Xie Jun, a doctor and lecturer of the Experimental School at the Open University of China, and corresponding author of this article (100039).
Huang Yan, president of Harbin Radio and TV University (150001).
Wang Zhengdong, a professor and vice president of Zhejiang Radio and TV University (310030).
Yang Yao, a lecturer, and Xiao Tingting, a teaching assistant, of the Faculty of Humanities at the Open University of China (100039).
Yu Shaoping, a guest professor and director of Yu Shaoping Painting and Calligraphy Centre of Research Institute of Painting and Calligraphy Art Education at the Open University of China (100039).
Cui Ming, a research assistant of the Quality Supervision and Evaluation Centre at the Open University of China (100039).