Editing Distance education (section)

=== Open universities ===
{{Main|Open university}}
The [[Open University]] (OU) in the United Kingdom was founded by the then [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government led by [[Harold Wilson]]. Based on the vision of [[Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington|Michael Young]], planning commenced in 1965 under the [[Secretary of State for Education and Skills|Minister of State for Education]], [[Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge|Jennie Lee]], who established a model for the Open University as one of widening access to the highest standards of scholarship in higher education and setting up a planning committee consisting of university vice-chancellors, educationalists, and television broadcasters, chaired by Sir Peter Venables. The British Broadcasting Corporation's ([[BBC]]) Assistant Director of Engineering at the time, [[James Redmond (broadcaster)|James Redmond]], had obtained most of his qualifications at [[wikt:night school|night school]], and his natural enthusiasm for the project did much to overcome the technical difficulties of using television to broadcast teaching programs.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Walton Hall Pen&Ink.jpg|thumb|[[Walton Hall, Milton Keynes|Walton Hall]], renovated in 1970 to act as the headquarters of the newly established [[Open University]] (artist: Hilary French)]]
The Open University revolutionized the scope of the correspondence program and helped to create a respectable learning alternative to the traditional form of education. It has been at the forefront of developing new technologies to improve distance learning service<ref>{{cite web|title=A Brief History of Distance Education|author=Bizhan Nasseh|url=http://www.seniornet.org/edu/art/history.html |website=SeniorNet |access-date=14 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728165252/http://www.seniornet.org/edu/art/history.html|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> as well as undertaking research in other disciplines. [[Walter Perry]] was appointed the OU's first vice-chancellor in January 1969, and its foundation secretary was [[Anastasios Christodoulou]]. The election of the new [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government under the leadership of [[Edward Heath]], in 1970; led to budget cuts under [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] [[Iain Macleod]] (who had earlier called the idea of an Open University "blithering nonsense").<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the OU |url=http://www.open.ac.uk/about/ou/p3.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717081233/http://www.open.ac.uk/about/ou/p3.shtml |archive-date=Jul 17, 2010 |website=The Open University}}</ref> However, the OU accepted its first 25,000 students in 1971, adopting a radical open admissions policy. At the time, the total student population of conventional universities in the United Kingdom was around 130,000.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History|url=http://www.openuniversity.edu/why-the-ou/quality/history|access-date=2020-08-25|website=The Open University|language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919061453/http://www.openuniversity.edu/why-the-ou/quality/history |archive-date= Sep 19, 2020 }}</ref>

[[Athabasca University]], Canada's open university, was created in 1970 and followed a similar, though independently developed, pattern.<ref name="byrne">{{cite book | last =Byrne | first =T. C. | author-link =Tim Byrne | title =Athabasca University The Evolution of Distance Education | publisher = University of Calgary Press | year= 1989 |location = Calgary, Alberta | page = 135| isbn = 0-919813-51-8}}</ref> The Open University inspired the creation of Spain's [[National University of Distance Education]] (1972)<ref>{{cite web |title= History of UNED (in Spanish) | location=ES | access-date=2012-01-26| url= http://portal.uned.es/portal/page?_pageid=93,499271,93_20500119&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL }}</ref> and Germany's [[University of Hagen|FernUniversität in Hagen]] (1974).<ref>{{cite web |title= Three Decades |url= http://www.fernuni-hagen.de/english/profile/3decades/learning.shtml |publisher= FernUniversität in Hage |location= UK |access-date= 2011-01-23 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101123042944/http://fernuni-hagen.de/english/profile/3decades/learning.shtml |archive-date= 23 November 2010 |url-status= dead }}</ref> There are now many similar institutions around the world, often with the name "Open University" (in [[English language|English]] or in the local language).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=13.2 History of distance education |date=August 3, 2001 |url=http://members.aect.org/edtech/ed1/13/13-02.html|access-date=2020-08-25|website= The Association for Educational Communications and Technology }}</ref>

Most [[open universities]] use distance education technologies as delivery methods, though some require attendance at local study centers or at regional "summer schools". Some open universities have grown to become ''mega-universities''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Daniel | first1 = John S |title= Mega-Universities and Knowledge Media: Technology Strategies for Higher Education | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Sy3nDKphDAkC | access-date=2011-01-23 |year=1998 | publisher= Routledge | isbn= 0-7494-2634-9}}</ref>