In YOUR report headlined “Not much hot air despite talk of balloons” (TES, September 4), you refer to a paper I presented at the British Educational Research Association conference in Belfast in the following terms: “How shall we put it? - rather marginal. An account from Wagga Wagga on pedagogical outsourcing in Australian higher education”.
I find his condescending and patronising conclusion personally and professionally distasteful.
The paper I presented at BERA analysed an array of issues relevant to enhancing the effectiveness of distance education teaching and learning.
Given that there are a number of British universities offering degrees by distance education, and that flexible and open learning is now common in higher education, it would seem poor judgment to conclude that all of this is rather “marginal”.
Kennece Coombe
Senior lecturer in education Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga New South Wales Australia
