The Studies Of Educational Characteristics Of The Open University In UK

With the quickening globalization process of economy and the speeding development of information technology, a knowledge-based society is gradually emerging before us, in which people should study constantly in order to perfect their abilities to fit in with the competitive society. Therefore, the establishment of a diversified flexible releasing open educational system, instead of the single closed isolated traditional educational system, can enable people of different backgrounds to tap their own potentials, expand their interests, fulfill their ambitions in their own ways that fit both their needs and goals. Without time and age limit, without qualification and profession requirement, the construction to such a modern educational system is the only way to realize popularization and democratization of education, is the right choice oriented towards the open era of information society and learning society, is the trend of development of future education.The current open higher education system in China can hardly satisfy the increasing public demand for higher education. How to offer flexible and suitable learning opportunities to those who want to further their careers has become the focus of attention for the whole society. As an all-dimensional opening university, the Open University in UK (UKOU) is a great innovation in educational history in UK. With its outstanding achievements, UKOU is also a model for modern higher education, whose experience and inspiration accumulated so far are very precious for us. On the basis of systematic study of the history of open higher education in UK, the thesis deeply investigates the characteristics of UKOU and analyzes the social and historical factors behind the characteristics. Byreveal ing and assimilating the value and advantage of the characteristics, the thesis tries to offer beneficial enlightenments and new insights into the advance of open higher education in China.The thesis consists of four parts:Firstly: sketching the history of open higher education in UK as the base of the thesis. The open experience of higher education in UK originated from the external degree in University of London; later in University Extension Movement, the universities in UK began to provide people outside their campus with courses, which led to the creation of external education system; the final establishment of UKOU(The Open University in UK), a professional open body and its vigorous growth symbolize a new height of open education in UK.Secondly: summarizing UKOU' s characteristics, including all-dimensional opening ideal, flexibility of organization, reliability of personal supporting service to learners, comprehensiveness of teaching management and innovation of teaching strategies. As the most distinctive feature, to be open as to people, open as to place open as to methods and open as to ideas is the constant theme during thirty years in UKOU. Various courses free choice and convenient credit transfer system can be available in UKOU to ensure the flexibility and suitability of learning. UKOU is also famous for its superior teaching quality which profits from its perfect teaching service, in which excellent course teams are organized to elaborately design high-standard learning materials; advisory staff are strictly selected to give students best guidance and personal service; supporting institutions are set up in different areas and districts so that a service-net based an multi-media technology is formed; sectional examinations are adopted to judge a student objectively; different methods are used to develop students' skills. What' s more, the effective supervision and evaluation mechanism and innovative spirit are the power resources for the development of UKOU.Thirdly: exploring the factors behind UKOU' s characteristics. Constant innovating of educational concepts lays the solid foundation, while social need provides the condition and modern technology providesthe feasibility for the formation of the characteristics, pursuit of self-improvement is the decisi...