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Distance Education from Correspondences to E-University

During the 1990s, the university focused on distance education as a means to disseminate knowledge to the largest possible number of students scattered throughout the country. These students had been unable to pursue education due to various circumstances. The university utilized all available means, including correspondence and communication channels through television and radio broadcasts.

We can summarize these stages according to the historical sequence:

• Stage of Correspondences:

The University of Continuous Training has relied on distance education methods since its establishment, using the means that were used in various countries and universities, namely the use of postal correspondences.

• Stage of Distance Education:

Due to the difficulties and obstacles encountered in the stage of correspondences, such as errors in recipients’ addresses, envelope tearing, high mailing costs, and delayed delivery of correspondence to students, the University of Continuous Training has implemented new and effective training policies to enhance distance education. It introduced a new method of distance education, which is the use of CD-ROM.

Despite the positive aspects accompanying these measures, such as the increase in the number of distance education students across all the university centers and the recognition of the public sector of this educational approach, it has still been subject to criticism from pedagogical experts. It cannot fully compensate for face-to-face education.

In an effort to overcome the challenges of distance and the lack of direct and rapid interaction between the teacher and students, as well as among students themselves, our university has adopted a new model for distance education based on utilizing virtual classrooms through the Internet, known as « Open and Distance Learning. »

• Stage of Open and Distance Education:

With the emergence of a new generation proficient in dealing with modern media and communication tools, it became necessary for the university to keep pace with this development. The Academic Committee of the University of Continuous Training  organized several conferences and established partnership agreements to develop and adopt open and distance education.

The first of these agreements was made with the Arab Organization for Education, Culture, and Science in 1999.

 Additionally, the international conference in Shiraton Hotel, titled « The Virtual University, » was held.

Consequently, our university took several steps, including the training of educators and the retraining of administrators to gain control over the methodology of lesson design and the use of virtual platforms.

 It entered into international training agreements with French and Swiss universities, where three expert professors were trained and obtained a master’s degree in distance education, along with a number of administrative personnel.

Algeria and the whole world witnessed several changes in various aspects, particularly in the legal and economic domains. This made some of the traditional classroom lessons outdated in terms of content and delivery methods.

To keep up with these changes, we began conducting a comprehensive review of the achievements through several meetings with specialized professors. We identified certain shortcomings that needed to be addressed in order to adapt to the developments in the field of open education.

We initiated the establishment of committees tasked with examining the essential elements to be included in each subject. This approach guided the preparation of the specifications document, which outlined the necessary components for each subject, including division, focus, page count, types of writings, and more.

Subsequently, the process of lesson writing began, undertaken by the professors. The duration varied depending on the nature of the subjects and the availability of the professors.

Concurrently, the vice-rectorate retrained its employees in line with the requirements of the emerging online learning platforms. This was due to the new platform we were treading, which provided flexibility in usage, interaction, and information delivery.

After the lessons presented by the reading committee were approved and necessary modifications were made, the employees collaborated with the professors to place the lessons on the platform in two forms.

Thus, the only remaining task was to register the students on the platform by providing them with usernames and passwords, which was already accomplished at the beginning of the academic year by the vice-rectorate’s employees.