Schedule for OMDE606 Fall 2005

Week Dates Modules/content/due dates
0 September, 01. to September, 06. Preweek: (read only)
- How to prepare for this course.
1 Wednesday, September, 07. to Sunday, September, 11.

Introduction:
- How to get through this course;
- getting to know each other;
- getting acquainted with the learning environment.

Module 1: The Expansion of Education and the Emergence of the Economics of Education
-Debate: 'Education: panacea or palliative?'
-Exploring the rising demand for education and soaring costs;
-'Human Capital Theory' and the emergence of economics of education;
-What distance education may offer.

Date for posting* Group Task: September, 10.
-Group task
-Using the GED Database

2 Monday, September 12. to Sunday, September, 18.

Module 1 (cont.)
-Using the GED Database
Date for submitting* Group Task: September, 17.
3 Monday, September 19. to Sunday, September, 25. Module 2: The Techniques of Cost Analysis
-Budgets and the classification of resources;
-Classification of costs;
-Economies of scale;
-Overheads and the treatment of capital costs.
4 Monday, September 26. to Sunday, October, 02.

Module 2 (cont.)
-Making use of spreadsheets for cost-analysis;
- Mock** assignment (posted September, 30; solution posted October, 02.)
5 Monday, October 03. to Sunday, October, 09. Module 2 (cont.)
Date for posting* Assignment 1: October, 09
6 Monday, October 10. to Sunday, October, 16. Module 2 (cont.)
Date for submitting* Assignment 1: October, 20.
7 Monday, October 17. to Sunday, October, 24.

Module 3: The Cost-effectiveness of Distance Education
-Effectiveness and efficiency;
-Case study: the British Open University;
October 18 to October 24:
Conference with our visiting expert, Prof. Greville Rumble on the vulnerability of distance teaching universities

8 Tuesday, October 25. to Sunday, October, 30.

Module 3 (cont.)
Date for posting Assignment 2: October, 24
Date for submitting Assignment 2: October, 30
9 Monday, October 31. to Sunday, November, 06. Module 4: Costing educational media and technologies: Traditional media:
-Bates ACTIONS Model;
-Cost per learning time as an indicator to compare the costs of media;
-The cost-effectiveness of educational media and the media equivalency theory.
10 Monday, November, 07. to Sunday, November, 13.

Module 4 (cont.)
-Cost of print
-Cost of radio and audio cassettes
-Cost of television and video cassettes
Date for posting* Assignment 3 (group assignment): November, 13
11 Monday, November, 14. to Sunday, November, 20. Module 4: Costing educational media and technologies: E-Learning
-The impact of netbased learning on the cost-structure of distance education'
-Synchronous types of e-learning
-Aynchronous types of e-learning
12 Monday, November, 21. to Sunday, November, 27.

Module 4(cont.)
- Recovering lost efficiencies: Learning objects
- Recovering lost efficiencies: Cooperation
13 Monday, November, 28. to Sunday, December, 04

Module 4(cont.)
Date for submitting* Assignment 3 (group assignment): December, 04.
14 Monday, December, 05. to Sunday, December, 11

December 06 to December 24:
Conference with our visiting expert, Prof. Tony Bates
(Topic to be specified)
  Monday, December, 12. to Tuesday, December, 20

Looking back and summing up

 

* 'posting' refers to faculty making assignment or task accessible; 'submitting' refers to students,
loading up assignments to assignment folder

** A 'mock assignment' is a nongraded voluntary assignment which allows students to prepare
for the real assignment. A few days after it is posted a complete solution will be made available
allowing students to compare their solution with the standard solution