V. Operation strategies of open universities for older adults
It is imperative that open universities for older adults further demonstrate their distinctions and ad-vantages during operation. In order to meet this target, we should not only learn from the operational experience of open universities but also depend on their educational resources to offer important new strategies, methods, resources, and models. This will shape the positioning, majors, training objectives, course contents, teaching methods, evaluation mechanisms, system structure, and management approaches of open universities for older adults.
1. Establish a new orientation
There are over 70,000 universities and educational institutions for older adults providing non-degree training educational services via face-to-face teaching on the main. If open universities for older adults also only engage in non-degree education training, then the result will be only to add to the existing training institutions for older adults without giving full play to the inherent advantages of open universities. Open universities should play a more important role in the education of older adults.
Therefore, open universities for older adults should focus on degree education, provide degree education at or above the undergraduate level to a greater number of older adults, offer specialised courses at or above the undergraduate level, and provide diplomas at or above the undergraduate level that are recognised at the national level. Based on the current period that we are in, we should first start undergraduate education for older adults as soon as possible and then move to graduate education after several years of practice.
2. Offer new majors
It is necessary to develop new majors suitable for older adults to attract them to study at open universities. For example, the OUC Open University for Older Adults “plans to design honourary degree diplomas for older adults. The construction of degree majors for calligraphy and freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting of flowers and birds, among others, has already started” (OUC Open Uni-versity for Older Adults, 2019). Taking Jiangsu Open University for Older Adults as another example, the Photograph and Literature Appreciation majors are attractive to and meet the needs of older groups. There are also majors in health care, science popularisation (such as artificial intelligence), and modern science and technology (such as computer application). Furthermore, there are also courses on how to get along well with family and how to get involved with social groups, meeting the special needs of older people in China.
3. Set new training objectives
Older adults mainly learn for self-cultivation or to develop their interests. Therefore, it is imperative that the training objectives for open university degree education for older adults are less demanding.
The training objectives of the OUJ’s Humanities and Culture programmes are described thus: “[to] deepen understanding of the existence of thought, literature and arts [and to] quest the history of characteristics and development of modern civilisation and domestic culture” (the OUJ, 2019B). It could be said that these training objectives are not set too high for learners, including older adults.
Therefore, it is imperative for open universities for older adults to set new training objectives for their majors in order to suit the goals of older adults, which include developing their interests, uplifting their mind, and pursuing a rich, full life. For example, the training objectives of Jiangsu Open University for Older Adults’ Cultural Industry Management (for poetry appreciation) undergraduate major meet the individualised learning needs of older adults. Through this course, older adults can familiarise themselves with the basic theories of Chinese language and literature, improve their theoretical level of the aesthetics of poetry, be able to analyse and appreciate ancient and modern poetry using the theories of poetry appreciation, and be able to write their own poetry (Jiangsu Open University, 2019A).
4. Build new courses
The OUJ’s Humanities and Culture majors have a total of four course modules, and the specialised foundation courses are Modern Philosophic Thought, Origin of Western Philosophy, Modern and Contemporary Times of Japan, Classical and Modern Japanese Literature, Kojiki and Manyoshu, Guide to World Literature, Reading of Chinese, New Speech Science, Introduction to Japanese Language, Preliminary Study on Communication, Modern Human Geography, Introduction to Museums (the OUJ, 2019I). As the names of the courses show, they can all be learned by older adults. Open universities for older adults should learn from the OUJ's course setup and arrange courses that older adults will enjoy learning. Jiangsu Open University for Older Adults has already conducted some very good explorations in this regard. For example, the Cultural Industry Management (for poetry appreciation) undergraduate major offered by Jiangsu Open University includes the following courses: Learning Guide, Fundamental Application of Computer Technology, Regional Culture of Jiangsu, Introduction to Arts, Aesthetics of Classical Chinese Poetry, Cultural Resources and Creativity, Selected Readings of Ancient Prose, Selected Readings of Modern Prose, Selected Readings of Renowned Foreign Literature, Poetry Writing, Selected Readings of the Book of Songs, Selected Reading of Tang Dynasty Poems, Selected Reading of Song Dynasty Ci Poems, Selected Readings of Mao Zedong’s Poems, Social Practice and Study, and Graduation Dissertation (Jiangsu Open University, 2019A).
Of course, it is not only necessary to offer new courses but also to add new content to existing knowledge that is more suitable for older adults to learn and accept should be chosen.
5. Adopt new learning methods
Yuan and Chen (2017) discovered that the main learning purpose for older adults is satisfying their own interests and hobbies and improving their quality of life, as opposed to learning a new skill for a job or to make a living. Older adults mainly learn via TV, reading newspapers and magazines, or listening to the radio, as well as in universities for older adults, via their community, and through online resources. However, the older adults who learn online are mostly younger, have stable finances, and have a more open world view.
Older adults, particularly those who attend universities for older adults, also learn for purposes, that is, to meet new friends, make new connections, and to entertain themselves. To this end, a blended learning model integrating online and offline learning should be adopted in degree education at open universities for older adults, with offline learning playing the dominant role. In this case, “online” means transmitting learning resources and teaching content through modern means like radio, TV, and the Internet, presenting learning resources via modern terminals like radio, TV, computers, and mobile phones or tablets, and realising interaction through modern means like cable TV, computers, and smartphones. “Offline” methods include face-to-face teaching, face-to-face tutorials, organised learning activities, and independent self-learning.
A blended learning model integrating online and offline teaching has been adopted by Jiangsu Open University for Older Adults for its degree education programmes. Older adults can register to learn at tutorial centres, and there are clear restrictions on the number of people that can be enrolled at each tutorial centre (Jiangsu Open University, 2019B), making it more convenient for tutorial centres to organise online and offline activities.
6. Establish a flexible credit accumulation mechanism
Older adults have specific learning needs. On the one hand, the need for learning is great. On the other hand, the learning may be suddenly suspended due to family issues or a learner's own health. Therefore, a more flexible credit accumulation system should be established. Within such a mechanism, older adults are encouraged to learn by registering for an undergraduate programme or by choosing a single course. When they complete their learning, they get corresponding credits and a completion certificate for each course. The credits for each course can then be deposited in the credit bank. This means that learners do not have to repeat courses and they can use the credits they have accumulated to register for other courses. They will eventually obtain a graduation certificate when they meet all the requirements for undergraduate graduation.
There have been students who choose to learn a single course since the inception of the radio and TV universities. The Pilot Plan of China Central Radio and TV University (General Office of China Central Radio and TV University, 1999) released on 20 December 1978 stated that students who taught themselves could be given completion certificates for a single course, or given graduation certificates for a single course if they also finished the specified courses via radio or TV, obtained the specified credits, and sat for and passed the examinations in a designated class after getting the approval of a designated institution of the radio and TV university where they applied. For example, there were 322,400 students enrolled in 1979, including 97,700 regular students and 224,700 students of one or two courses (Compilation Team of Chronicles of China Central Radio and TV University, 2019).
It is imperative that we remove the barriers between degree and non-degree education and between open universities for older adults and ordinary open universities. Students that choose to study a single course are an effective way to break the barrier between degree and non-degree education. In addition, older adults should be able to learn at both open universities for older adults and ordinary open uni-versities, and credits should be transferrable between the two types of open university.
At the OUJ, there is no difference between degree and non-degree education or between open universities and open universities for older adults. Students only need to choose to study a course or a major and they will get the necessary learning support and obtain the corresponding credits or certificates when they have completed their learning.
7. Formulate a new organisation system
It is not enough to stop once relevant majors with matching teaching content have been established in response to the characteristics of older adults. It is also necessary to build a matching teaching, management, and assessment service system suitable to the needs of older adults. We can bridge between degree education and open universities for older adults, universities for older adults, and even educational institutions for older adults by referring to the OUC’s educational system.
The China Association of Universities for the Aged is in touch with more than 70,000 universities for older adults (including local universities and schools for older adults) with over 8 million active students (China Association of Universities for the Aged, 2018). The OUC should create teaching designs, construct resources and platforms, formulate assessment standards, accumulate credits, confer undergraduate diplomas, and take care of other issues related to undergraduate degree education for older adults. It is up to open universities for older adults and universities and educational institutions for older adults all over China to implement the teaching process as study centres of the OUC Open University for Older Adults, and to offer services such as learning organisation, learning support, examinations, and assessments for all undergraduate students registered at the OUC or the OUC Open University for Older Adults.
The OUC Open University for Older Adults has already completed its pilot stages. The first stage is to rely on OUC branches and schools to build a system of education for older adults based on open universities and radio and TV universities. The second is to cooperate with universities for older adults of various levels and kinds, University of the Third Age movements in institutions of higher education, and universities for older adults attached to national ministries and commissions, as well as state-owned enterprises in particular. The third is to gradually open up a system of nursing institutions and service institutions (enterprises and associations) for older adults (OUC Open University for Older Adults, 2019).
Zhejiang Open University for Older Adults has conducted effective explorations in this respect. All of its educational units for older adults have been registered with the University of the Third Age, and they have become institutional users. To date, there are a total of 82 platform institutions, including 12 prefectural-level city institutions (including Hangzhou City Committee on Ageing), 49 district and county institutions, and 20 township and neighbourhood institutions (Zhejiang Vocational Adult Network, 2018).
Since this kind of mutual cooperation serves lifelong learning for older adults, it is also necessary to establish a fund sharing mechanism suitable for this kind of organisational system. Funding comes from government input, tuition fees, and other sponsors. Funding should be allocated in accordance with the proportional input of each partner, and the system should be operated as a type of public welfare on a not-for-profit basis.
VI. Conclusion
The OUJ is not a special educational institution for older adults, nor does it offer majors or courses specifically for older adults. However, there are many older adults engaged in the OUJ’s degree and non-degree education courses, including those who choose to learn a single course and those who choose to study an undergraduate, master’s, or PhD programme.
Older adults will only come to learn at the OUC Open University for Older Adults and all local open universities and radio and TV universities when there is suitable degree and non-degree education content available. These institutions should make internal adjustments as soon as possible so that, “there will always be a suitable type of education for older adults available at open universities.”
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About the authors
1. Wang Zhuguo is a doctoral student at the Institute of Education, Nanjing University and a research assistant at Huzhou Vocational and Technical College (Jiangsu, Nanjing 210093, Mobile: 13567292684, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
2. Xu Jinpei holds a bachelor of engineering and is vice general manager, and professor of editorship of the Open University of China Press and Media Group, and is the corresponding author of this essay (Beijing, 100039, Mobile: 13621302375, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.