Alternative Education: Global Perspectives
As summarized, the book is about alternative streams of education which have been and which remain an important but difficult theme for teachers, parents, policy-makers, and scholars. By focusing on case studies of six countries (Bolivia, Thailand, Australia, USA, The Netherlands, and Denmark), and by comprehensively analysing these by means of international comparative methodologies, the author approaches the nuts and bolts issues of alternative and mainstream education systems. The case studies include Charter Schools in the USA and Waldorf Schools in Australia. The study presents not only an insightful analysis of alternative forms of education with regard to actual issues in societies and also legal and administrative features of education. It provides insights into the kind of school development that could be appropriate in the 21st century and the types of educational communities we should seek to create in the age of globalization.
Rethinking Academic Management Practices: A Case of Meeting new Challenges in Online Delivery
Online delivery of education is both similar to and different from what has gone before. From the perspective of dealing with students remote from the campus, online education can be viewed as an extension or variation of distance education delivered through print and other media. However, unlike traditional distance education, the online medium permits frequent and immediate interaction among students and teachers. This lends it some of the qualities of face-to-face teaching. Depending upon whether an institution is making the transition to online teaching from face-to-face or traditional distance mode the challenges to be faced may differ. This paper considers some of those challenges and alternative ways of addressing them. With each issue addressed in this case study, the first potential solution represents an institutional
attempt to accommodate the online challenge with minimal disruption to existing university program management policy and procedure. Collectively, the second solutions represent a direct challenge to the established academic management paradigm. To adopt these or similar solutions would necessarily require a radical paradigm shift - to fourth generation management policies and procedures - for most tertiary institutions. The logical result of the latter approach to academic program management would be to maximise the potential flexible and student centeredness, which Taylor ascribes to online delivery technologies. Only when this is accomplished will institutions of higher learning be as open and flexible as their public assertions re online delivery maintain.
 
As summarized, the book is about alternative streams of education which have been and which remain an important but difficult theme for teachers, parents, policy-makers, and scholars. By focusing on case studies of six countries (Bolivia, Thailand, Australia, USA, The Netherlands, and Denmark), and by comprehensively analysing these by means of international comparative methodologies, the author approaches the nuts and bolts issues of alternative and mainstream education systems. The case studies include Charter Schools in the USA and Waldorf Schools in Australia. The study presents not only an insightful analysis of alternative forms of education with regard to actual issues in societies and also legal and administrative features of education. It provides insights into the kind of school development that could be appropriate in the 21st century and the types of educational communities we should seek to create in the age of globalization.
Rethinking Academic Management Practices: A Case of Meeting new Challenges in Online Delivery
Online delivery of education is both similar to and different from what has gone before. From the perspective of dealing with students remote from the campus, online education can be viewed as an extension or variation of distance education delivered through print and other media. However, unlike traditional distance education, the online medium permits frequent and immediate interaction among students and teachers. This lends it some of the qualities of face-to-face teaching. Depending upon whether an institution is making the transition to online teaching from face-to-face or traditional distance mode the challenges to be faced may differ. This paper considers some of those challenges and alternative ways of addressing them. With each issue addressed in this case study, the first potential solution represents an institutional
attempt to accommodate the online challenge with minimal disruption to existing university program management policy and procedure. Collectively, the second solutions represent a direct challenge to the established academic management paradigm. To adopt these or similar solutions would necessarily require a radical paradigm shift - to fourth generation management policies and procedures - for most tertiary institutions. The logical result of the latter approach to academic program management would be to maximise the potential flexible and student centeredness, which Taylor ascribes to online delivery technologies. Only when this is accomplished will institutions of higher learning be as open and flexible as their public assertions re online delivery maintain.