Distant voices : a study of distance education text strategies in relation to adult learning styles

Distance education promises to broaden access to education to an increasing number and variety of learners in the "new South Africa". The construction and presentation of course texts is a critical factor in whether that promise is fulfilled. The producers of texts, working in their specific socio-cultural contexts, select and sequence the concepts they teach and create voices in the text which work in place of actual teachers. These textual voices interact with readers in a variety of communicative and educative ways, opening to greater or fewer styles of learning, and constructing a wider or narrower range of identities for readers. This results in learning styles being more or less able to be engaged, and learners being more or less able to identify with identities constructed for them by the text. The learner identities so constructed are sustained by combinations of political, educational and global discourses which reflect, challenge or perpetuate social power relations, such as gender

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

School of Education

Year dc:date.issued

1998

Author dc:creator

• Mackenzie, Elizabeth Anne

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Morphet, Tony

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17182

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17182