The influence of organizational characteristics on education and learning

Abstract

The classical model of teaching, in which the Master is surrounded by his Disciples, has been handed down to us from Greek civilization. It is still deeply embedded in our minds, even in the minds of those living in nonwestern societies. Education is usually organized on the basis of this model: the teacher is at the centre. At first computers did not change the hierarchy of this classical communication scheme: the teacher was “in the computer”. But as soon as the new technologies enabled learners to have direct access to large sets of information and to communicate “horizontally” with each others, the classical model of education began falling apart. The teacher is not any longer the only one with the key to knowledge. Distance education will influence the traditional structures of education by posing crucial questions. How to make the learner the centre of the learning process? How to organize mass education without the constraints of a limited number of classrooms, of teachers, of students?