DISTANCE EDUCATION

Distance education or long-distance learning is
the education of students who may not always
be physically present at a school. [1][2]
Traditionally, this usually involved
correspondence courses wherein the student
corresponded with the school via post. Today it
involves online education . Courses that are
conducted (51 percent or more) [3] are either
hybrid , [4] blended [5] or 100% distance learning.
Massive open online courses (MOOCs), offering
large-scale interactive participation and open
access through the World Wide Web or other
network technologies, are recent developments
in distance education. [1] A number of other
terms (distributed learning, e-learning, online
learning, virtual classroom etc.) are used roughly
synonymously with distance education.
History
One of the earliest attempts was advertised in
1728. This was in the Boston Gazette for "Caleb
Philipps, Teacher of the new method of Short
Hand ", who sought students who wanted to learn
through weekly mailed lessons. [6]
The first distance education course in the
modern sense was provided by Sir Isaac Pitman
in the 1840s, who taught a system of shorthand
by mailing texts transcribed into shorthand on
postcards and receiving transcriptions from his
students in return for correction. The element of
student feedback was a crucial innovation of
Pitman's system. [7] This scheme was made
possible by the introduction of uniform postage
rates across England in 1840. [8]
This early beginning proved extremely
successful, and the Phonographic
Correspondence Society was founded three years
later to establish these courses on a more
formal basis. The Society paved the way for the
later formation of Sir Isaac Pitman Colleges
across the country. [9]
The first correspondence school in the United
States was the Society to Encourage Studies at
Home , which was founded in 1873. [10]
University correspondence
courses
The University of London was the first university
to offer distance learning degrees, establishing
its External Programme in 1858. The background
to this innovation lay in the fact that the
institution (later known as University College
London ) was non-denominational and, given the
intense religious rivalries at the time, there was
an outcry against the "godless" university. The
issue soon boiled down to which institutions had
degree -granting powers and which institutions
did not. [11]
The London University in 1827, drawn by
Thomas Hosmer Shepherd .
The compromise solution that emerged in 1836
was that the sole authority to conduct the
examinations leading to degrees would be given
to a new officially recognized entity called the
" University of London ", which would act as
examining body for the University of London
colleges, originally University College London
and King's College London , and award their
students University of London degrees. As
Sheldon Rothblatt states: "Thus arose in nearly
archetypal form the famous English distinction
between teaching and examining , here embodied
in separate institutions." [11]
With the state giving examining powers to a
separate entity, the groundwork was laid for the
creation of a programme within the new
university which would both administer
examinations and award qualifications to
students taking instruction at another institution
or pursuing a course of self-directed study.
Referred to as "People's University" by Charles
Dickens because it provided access to higher
education to students from less affluent
backgrounds, the External Programme was
chartered by Queen Victoria in 1858, making the
University of London the first university to offer
distance learning degrees to students. [12][13]
Enrollment increased steadily during the late
19th century, and its example was widely copied
elsewhere. [14] This program is now known as
the University of London International Programme
and includes Postgraduate, Undergraduate and
Diploma degrees created by colleges such as
the London School of Economics, Royal
Holloway and Goldsmiths. [13]
William Rainey Harper ,
encouraged the
development of external
university courses at the
new University of
Chicago in the 1890s.
In the United States, William Rainey Harper , first
president of the University of Chicago , celebrated
the concept of extended education, whereby the
research university had satellite colleges in the
wider community. [ citation needed ]
In 1892, Harper encouraged correspondence
courses to further promote education, an idea
that was put into practice by Chicago, Wisconsin,
Columbia, and several dozen other universities by
the 1920s Columbia University . [15][16]
Enrollment in the largest private for-profit school
based in Scranton, Pennsylvania , the International
Correspondence Schools grew explosively in the
1890s. Founded in 1888 to provide training for
immigrant coal miners aiming to become state
mine inspectors or foremen, it enrolled 2500
new students in 1894 and matriculated 72,000
new students in 1895. By 1906 total enrollments
reached 900,000. The growth was due to
sending out complete textbooks instead of single
lessons, and the use of 1200 aggressive in-
person salesmen. [17][18] There was a stark
contrast in pedagogy:
Education was a high priority in the Progressive
Era, as American high schools and colleges
expanded greatly. For men who were older or
were too busy with family responsibilities, night
schools were opened, such as the YMCA school
in Boston that became Northeastern University .
Outside the big cities, private correspondence
schools offered a flexible, narrowly focused
solution. [20] Large corporations systematized
their training programs for new employees. The
National Association of Corporation Schools
grew from 37 in 1913 to 146 in 1920. Starting in
the 1880s, private schools opened across the
country which offered specialized technical
training to anyone who enrolled, not just the
employees of one company. Starting in
Milwaukee in 1907, public schools began
opening free vocational programs. [21]
Only a third of the American population lived in
cities of 100,000 or more population In 1920; to
reach the rest, correspondence techniques had to
be adopted. Australia, with its vast distances,
was especially active; the University of
Queensland established its Department of
Correspondence Studies in 1911. [22] In South
Africa, the University of South Africa, formerly an
examining and certification body, started to
present distance education tuition in 1946. The
International Conference for Correspondence
Education held its first meeting in 1938. [23] The
goal was to provide individualized education for
students, at low cost, by using a pedagogy of
testing, recording, classification, and
differentiation. [24][25] The organization has
since been renamed as the International Council
for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), with
headquarters in Oslo, Norway. [26]
Open universities
Walton Hall , renovated in 1970 to act as
the headquarters of the newly
established Open University . (Artist:
Hilary French)
The Open University in the United Kingdom was
founded by the-then Labour government led by
Prime Minister, Harold Wilson , based on the
vision of Michael Young . Planning commenced
in 1965 under the Minister of State for
Education , Jennie Lee, who established a model
for the Open University (OU) as one of widening
access to the highest standards of scholarship
in higher education, and set up a planning
committee consisting of university vice-
chancellors, educationalists and television
broadcasters, chaired by Sir Peter Venables. The
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC ) Assistant
Director of Engineering at the time, James
Redmond , had obtained most of his
qualifications at night school, and his natural
enthusiasm for the project did much to
overcome the technical difficulties of using
television to broadcast teaching
programmes. [ citation needed ]
The Open University revolutionised 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 the distance learning service[27] 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 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"). [28] 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. [ citation needed ]
Athabasca University , Canada's Open University,
was created in 1970 and followed a similar,
though independently developed, pattern. [29] The
Open University inspired the creation of Spain's
National University of Distance Education
(1972) [30] and Germany's FernUniversität in
Hagen (1974). [31] There are now many similar
institutions around the world, often with the
name "Open University" (in English or in the local
language). [ citation needed ]
Most open universities use distance education
technologies as delivery methods, though some
require attendance at local study centres or at
regional "summer schools". Some open
universities have grown to become mega-
universities, [32] a term coined to denote
institutions with more than 100,000
students. [33]
Technologies
Internet technology has enabled many forms of
distance learning through open educational
resources and facilities such as e-learning and
MOOC s. Although the expansion of the Internet
blurs the boundaries, distance education
technologies are divided into two modes of
delivery: synchronous learning and asynchronous
learning.
In synchronous learning, all participants are
"present" at the same time. In this regard, it
resembles traditional classroom teaching
methods despite the participants being located
remotely. It requires a timetable to be organized.
Web conferencing , videoconferencing,
educational television, instructional television are
examples of synchronous technology, as are
direct-broadcast satellite (DBS), internet radio,
live streaming , telephone, and web-based
VoIP. [34] Web conferencing software helps to
facilitate meetings in distance learning courses
and usually contain additional interaction tools
such as text chat, polls, hand raising, emoticons
etc. These tools also support asynchronous
participation by students being able to listen to
recordings of synchronous sessions. Immersive
environments (notably SecondLife) have also
been used to enhance participant presence in
distance education courses. Another form of
synchronous learning that has been entering the
classroom over the last couple of years is the
use of robot proxies[35] including those that
allow sick students to attend classes. [36]
Some universities have been starting to use
robot proxies to enable more engaging
synchronous hybrid classes where both remote
and in person students can be present and
interact using telerobotics devices such as the
Kubi Telepresence robot stand that looks around
and the Double Robot that roams around. With
these telepresence robots, the remote students
have a seat at the table or desk instead of being
on a screen on the wall. [37][38]
In asynchronous learning, participants access
course materials flexibly on their own schedules.
Students are not required to be together at the
same time. Mail correspondence, which is the
oldest form of distance education, is an
asynchronous delivery technology, as are
message board forums, e-mail , video and audio
recordings , print materials, voicemail , and
fax . [34]
The two methods can be combined. Many
courses offered by both open universities and an
increasing number of campus based institutions
use periodic sessions of residential or day
teaching to supplement the sessions delivered at
a distance. [39] This type of mixed distance and
campus based education has recently come to
be called "blended learning" or less often "hybrid
learning". Many open universities uses a blend of
technologies and a blend of learning modalities
(face-to-face, distance, and hybrid) all under the
rubric of "distance learning".
Distance learning can also use interactive radio
instruction (IRI), interactive audio instruction
(IAI), online virtual worlds , digital games,
webinars, and webcasts, all of which are referred
to as e-Learning. [39]
Radio and television
The rapid spread of film in the 1920s and radio
in the 1930s led to proposals to use it for
distance education. [41] By 1938, at least 200
city school systems, 25 state boards of
education, and many colleges and universities
broadcast educational programs for the public
schools. [42] One line of thought was to use
radio as a master teacher.
A typical setup came in Kentucky in 1948 when
John Wilkinson Taylor , president of the University
of Louisville, teamed up with NBC to use radio
as a medium for distance education, The
chairman of the Federal Communications
Commission endorsed the project and predicted
that the "college-by-radio" would put "American
education 25 years ahead". The University was
owned by the city, and local residents would pay
the low tuition rates, receive their study
materials in the mail, and listen by radio to live
classroom discussions that were held on
campus. [44] Physicist Daniel Q. Posin also was
a pioneer in the field of distance education when
he hosted a televised course through DePaul
University . [45]
Charles Wedemeyer of the University of
Wisconsin–Madison also promoted new
methods. From 1964 to 1968, the Carnegie
Foundation funded Wedemeyer's Articulated
Instructional Media Project (AIM) which brought
in a variety of communications technologies
aimed at providing learning to an off-campus
population. The radio courses faded away in the
1950s. [46] Many efforts to use television along
the same lines proved unsuccessful, despite
heavy funding by the Ford Foundation . [47][48]
[49]
From 1970 to 1972 the Coordinating
Commission for Higher Education in California
funded Project Outreach to study the potential of
telecourses. The study included the University of
California, California State University and the
community colleges. This study led to
coordinated instructional systems legislation
allowing the use of public funds for non-
classroom instruction and paved the way for the
emergence of telecourses as the precursor to the
online courses and programs of today. The
Coastline Community Colleges , The Dallas
County Community College District , and Miami
Dade Community College led the way. The Adult
Learning Service of the US Public Broadcasting
Service came into being and the “wrapped”
series, and individually produced telecourse for
credit became a significant part of the history of
distance education and online learning.
Internet
Main article: Virtual education
The widespread use of computers and the
internet have made distance learning easier and
faster, and today virtual schools and virtual
universities deliver full curricula online. [50] The
capacity of Internet to support voice, video, text
and immersion teaching methods made earlier
distinct forms of telephone, videoconferencing,
radio, television, and text based education
somewhat redundant. However, many of the
techniques developed and lessons learned with
earlier media are used in Internet delivery.
The first completely online courses for graduate
credit were offered by Connected Education ,
starting in the Fall of 1985, leading to the MA in
Media Studies from The New School . [51] The
first new and fully online university was founded
in 1994 as the Open University of Catalonia ,
headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. In 1999
Jones International University was launched as
the first fully online university accredited by a
regional accrediting association in the US. [52]
Between 2000 and 2008, enrollment in distance
education courses increased rapidly in almost
every country in both developed and developing
countries. [53] Many private, public, non-profit
and for-profit institutions worldwide now offer
distance education courses from the most basic
instruction through to the highest levels of
degree and doctoral programs. New York
University , International University Canada , for
example, offers online degrees in engineering
and management-related fields through NYU
Tandon Online . Levels of accreditation vary:
widely respected universities such as Stanford
University and Harvard now deliver online
courses—but other online schools receive little
outside oversight, and some are actually
fraudulent, i.e., diploma mills . In the US, the
Distance Education Accrediting Commission
(DEAC) specializes in the accreditation of
distance education institutions. [54]
In the United States in 2011, it was found that a
third of all the students enrolled in
postsecondary education had taken an
accredited online course in a postsecondary
institution. [55] Even though growth rates are
slowing, enrollment for online courses has been
seen to increase with the advance in technology.
The majority of public and private colleges now
offer full academic programs online. [55] These
include, but are not limited to, training programs
in the mental health, [56] occupational
therapy ,[57][58] family therapy , [59] art
therapy ,[60] physical therapy, [58] and
rehabilitation counseling [61] fields. Even
engineering courses that require the manipulation
and control of machines and robots [62] that are
technically more challenging to learn remotely
are subject to distance learning through the
internet.
Distance education has a long history, but its
popularity and use has grown exponentially as
more advanced technology has become
available. By 2008, online learning programs
were available in the United States in 44 states
at the K-12 level. [63]
Internet forums, online discussion group and
online learning community can contribute to an
efficacious distance education experience.
Research shows that socialization plays an
important role in some forms of distance
education. [64]
E-courses are also a viable option for distance
learning. There are many available that cover a
broad range of topics.
Paced and self-paced
models
Distance education can be delivered in a paced
format similar to traditional campus based
models in which learners commence and
complete a course at the same time. Paced
delivery is currently the most common mode of
distance education delivery. Alternatively, some
institutions offer self-paced programs that allow
for continuous enrollment and the length of time
to complete the course is set by the learner's
time, skill and commitment levels. Paced
courses may be offered in either synchronous
mode, but self-paced courses are almost always
offered asynchronously. Each delivery model
offers both advantages and disadvantages for
students, teachers and institutions.
Kaplan and Haenlein classify distance education
into four groups along the dimensions Time
dependency and Number of participants: 1)
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses): Open-
access online course (i.e., without specific
participation restrictions) that allows for
unlimited (massive) participation; 2) SPOCs
(Small Private Online Courses): Online course
that only offers a limited number of places and
therefore requires some form of formal
enrollment; 3) SMOCs (Synchronous Massive
Online Courses): Open-access online course that
allows for unlimited participation but requires
students to be "present" at the same time
(synchronously); 4) SSOCs (Synchronous Private
Online Courses): Online course that only offers a
limited number of places and requires students
to be "present" at the same time
(synchronously). [1]
Paced models are a familiar mode as they are
used almost exclusively in campus based
schools. Institutes that offer both distance and
campus programs usually use paced models as
teacher workload, student semester planning,
tuition deadlines, exam schedules and other
administrative details can be synchronized with
campus delivery. Student familiarity and the
pressure of deadlines encourages students to
readily adapt to and usually succeed in paced
models. However, student freedom is sacrificed
as a common pace is often too fast for some
students and too slow for others. In addition life
events, professional or family responsibilities
can interfere with a students capability to
complete tasks to an external schedule. Finally,
paced models allows students to readily form
communities of inquiry[65] and to engage in
collaborative work.
Self-paced courses maximize student freedom,
as not only can students commence studies on
any date, but they can complete a course in as
little time as a few weeks or up to a year or
longer. Students often enroll in self-paced study
when they are under pressure to complete
programs, have not been able to complete a
scheduled course, need additional courses or
have pressure which precludes regular study for
any length of time. The self-paced nature of the
programming, though is an unfamiliar model for
many students and can lead to excessive
procrastination resulting in course incompletion.
Assessment of learning can also be challenging
as exams can be written on any day, making it
possible for students to share examination
questions with resulting loss of academic
integrity. Finally, it is extremely challenging to
organize collaborative work activities, though
some schools[66] are developing cooperative
models based upon networked and connectivist
pedagogies, [67] for use in self-paced programs.
Benefits
Distance learning can expand access to
education and training for both general populace
and businesses since its flexible scheduling
structure lessens the effects of the many time-
constraints imposed by personal responsibilities
and commitments. [68][69] Devolving some
activities off-site alleviates institutional capacity
constraints arising from the traditional demand
on institutional buildings and infrastructure. [68]
Furthermore, there is the potential for increased
access to more experts in the field and to other
students from diverse geographical, social,
cultural, economic, and experiential
backgrounds. [59][69] As the population at large
becomes more involved in lifelong learning
beyond the normal schooling age, institutions
can benefit financially, and adult learning
business courses may be particularly
lucrative. [68][69] Distance education programs
can act as a catalyst for institutional
innovation [68] and are at least as effective as
face-to-face learning programs, [56][57][70]
especially if the instructor is knowledgeable and
skilled. [60][69]
Distance education can also provide a broader
method of communication within the realm of
education. [69] With the many tools and
programs that technological advancements have
to offer, communication appears to increase in
distance education amongst students and their
professors, as well as students and their
classmates. The distance educational increase in
communication, particularly communication
amongst students and their classmates, is an
improvement that has been made to provide
distance education students with as many of the
opportunities as possible as they would receive
in in-person education. The improvement being
made in distance education is growing in tandem
with the constant technological advancements.
Present-day online communication allows
students to associate with accredited schools
and programs throughout the world that are out
of reach for in-person learning. By having the
opportunity to be involved in global institutions
via distance education, a diverse array of thought
is presented to students through communication
with their classmates. This is beneficial because
students have the opportunity to "combine new
opinions with their own, and develop a solid
foundation for learning". [71] It has been shown
through research that "as learners become aware
of the variations in interpretation and
construction of meaning among a range of
people [they] construct an individual meaning",
which can help students become knowledgeable
of a wide array of viewpoints in education. [71]
To increase the likelihood that students will build
effective ties with one another during the course,
instructors should use similar assignments for
students across different locations to overcome
the influence of co-location on relationship
building. [72]
The high cost of education affects students in
higher education, to which distance education
may be an alternative in order to provide some
relief. [70][69] Distance education has been a
more cost-effective form of learning, and can
sometimes save students a significant amount of
money as opposed to traditional education. [69]
Distance education may be able to help to save
students a considerable amount financially by
removing the cost of transportation. [73] In
addition, distance education may be able to save
students from the economic burden of high-
priced course textbooks. Many textbooks are
now available as electronic textbooks, known as
e-textbooks, which can offer digital textbooks for
a reduced price in comparison to traditional
textbooks. Also, the increasing improvements in
technology have resulted in many school
libraries having a partnership with digital
publishers that offer course materials for free,
which can help students significantly with
educational costs. [73]
Within the class, students are able to learn in
ways that traditional classrooms would not be
able to provide. It is able to promote good
learning experiences and therefore, allow
students to obtain higher satisfaction with their
online learning. [74] For example, students can
review their lessons more than once according
to their need. Students can then manipulate the
coursework to fit their learning by focusing more
on their weaker topics while breezing through
concepts that they already have or can easily
grasp. [74] When course design and the learning
environment are at their optimal conditions,
distance education can lead students to higher
satisfaction with their learning experiences. [70]
Studies have shown that high satisfaction
correlates to increased learning. For those in a
healthcare or mental health distance learning
program, online-based interactions have the
potential to foster deeper reflections and
discussions of client issues [58] as well as a
quicker response to client issues, since
supervision happens on a regular basis and is
not limited to a weekly supervision meeting. [61]
[69] This also may contribute to the students
feeling a greater sense of support, since they
have ongoing and regular access to their
instructors and other students. [58][61]
Distance learning may enable students who are
unable to attend a traditional school setting, due
to disability or illness such as decreased
mobility and immune system suppression, to get
a good education. [75] Children who are sick or
are unable to attend classes are able to attend
them in "person" through the use of robot
proxies. This helps the students have
experiences of the classroom and social
interaction that they are unable to receive at
home or the hospital, while still keeping them in
a safe learning environment. Over the last few
years [ when? ] more students are entering safely
back into the classroom thanks to the help of
robots. An article from the New York Times, "A
Swiveling Proxy Will Even Wear a Tutu", explains
the positive impact of virtual learning in the
classroom, [76] and another [77] that explains
how even a simple, stationary telepresence robot
can help. [78] Distance education may provide
equal access regardless of socioeconomic
status or income, area of residence, gender,
race, age, or cost per student. [79] Applying
universal design strategies to distance learning
courses as they are being developed (rather than
instituting accommodations for specific students
on an as-needed basis) can increase the
accessibility of such courses to students with a
range of abilities, disabilities, learning styles,
and native languages. [80] Distance education
graduates, who would never have been
associated with the school under a traditional
system, may donate money to the school. [81]
Distance learning may also offer a final
opportunity for adolescents that are no longer
permitted in the general education population
due to behavior disorders. Instead of these
students having no other academic opportunities,
they may continue their education from their
homes and earn their diplomas, offering them
another chance to be an integral part of society.
Distance learning offers individuals a unique
opportunity to benefit from the expertise and
resources of the best universities currently
available. Students have the ability to
collaborate, share, question, infer, and suggest
new methods and techniques for continuous
improvement of the content. The ability to
complete a course at a pace that is appropriate
for each individual is the most effective manner
to learn given the personal demands on time
and schedule. [69] Self-paced distance learning
on a mobile device, such is a smartphone,
provides maximum flexibility and capability.
Criticism
Barriers to effective distance education include
obstacles such as domestic distractions and
unreliable technology, [82] as well as students'
program costs, adequate contact with teachers
and support services, and a need for more
experience. [83]
Some students attempt to participate in distance
education without proper training with the tools
needed to be successful in the program.
Students must be provided with training
opportunities (if needed) on each tool that is
used throughout the program. The lack of
advanced technology skills can lead to an
unsuccessful experience. Schools have a
responsibility to adopt a proactive policy for
managing technology barriers. [84] Time
management skills and self-discipline in
distance education is just as important as
complete knowledge of the software and tools
being used for learning.
The results of a study of Washington state
community college students showed that
distance learning students tended to drop out
more often than their traditional counterparts due
to difficulties in language, time management,
and study skills. [85]
According to Dr. Pankaj Singhm, director of
Nims University , "distance learning benefits may
outweigh the disadvantages for students in such
a technology-driven society; however before
indulging into use of educational technology a
few more disadvantages should be considered."
He describes that over multiple years, "all of the
obstacles have been overcome and the world
environment for distance education continues to
improve." Dr. Pankaj Singhm also claims there is
a debate to distance education stating, "due to a
lack of direct face-to-face social interaction.
However, as more people become used to
personal and social interaction online (for
example dating, chat rooms, shopping, or
blogging), it is becoming easier for learners to
both project themselves and socialize with
others. This is an obstacle that has
dissipated." [86]
Not all courses required to complete a degree
may be offered online. Health care profession
programs in particular, require some sort of
patient interaction through field work before a
student may graduate. [87] Studies have also
shown that students pursuing a medical
professional graduate degree who are
participating in distance education courses, favor
face to face communication over professor-
mediated chat rooms and/or independent
studies. However, this is little correlation
between student performance when comparing
the previous different distance learning
strategies. [57]
There is a theoretical problem about the
application of traditional teaching methods to
online courses because online courses may have
no upper size limit. Daniel Barwick noted that
there is no evidence that large class size is
always worse or that small class size is always
better, although a negative link has been
established between certain types of instruction
in large classes and learning outcomes; he
argued that higher education has not made a
sufficient effort to experiment with a variety of
instructional methods to determine whether large
class size is always negatively correlated with a
reduction in learning outcomes. [88] Early
proponents of Massive Open Online Courses
( MOOC )s saw them as just the type of
experiment that Barwick had pointed out was
lacking in higher education, although Barwick
himself has never advocated for MOOCs .
There may also be institutional challenges.
Distance learning is new enough that it may be a
challenge to gain support for these programs in
a traditional brick-and-mortar academic learning
environment. [58] Furthermore, it may be more
difficult for the instructor to organize and plan a
distance learning program, [61] especially since
many are new programs and their organizational
needs are different from a traditional learning
program.
Additionally, though distance education offers
industrial countries the opportunity to become
globally informed, there are still negative sides
to it. Hellman states that "These include its cost
and capital intensiveness, time constraints and
other pressures on instructors, the isolation of
students from instructors and their peers,
instructors’ enormous difficulty in adequately
evaluating students they never meet face-to-face,
and drop-out rates far higher than in classroom-
based courses." [89]
A more complex challenge of distance education
relates to cultural differences between student
and teachers and among students. Distance
programmes tend to be more diverse as they
could go beyond the geographical borders of
regions, countries, and continents, and cross the
cultural borders that may exist with respect to
race, gender, and religion. That requires a proper
understanding and awareness of the norms,
differences, preconceptions and potential
conflicting issues. [90]
Educational technology
The modern use of electronic educational
technology (also called e-learning) facilitates
distance learning and independent learning by the
extensive use of information and
communications technology (ICT), [69] replacing
traditional content delivery by postal
correspondence. Instruction can be synchronous
and asynchronous online communication in an
interactive learning environment or virtual
communities, in lieu of a physical classroom.
"The focus is shifted to the education transaction
in the form of virtual community of learners
sustainable across time." [91]
One of the most significant issues encountered
in the mainstream correspondence model of
distance education is transactional distance,
which results from the lack of appropriate
communication between learner and teacher.
This gap has been observed to become wider if
there is no communication between the learner
and teacher and has direct implications over the
learning process and future endeavors in
distance education. Distance education providers
began to introduce various strategies,
techniques, and procedures to increase the
amount of interaction between learner and
teacher. These measures e.g. more frequent
face-to-face tutorials, increased use of
information and communication technologies
including teleconferencing and the Internet, were
designed to close the gap in transactional
distance. [92]
Credentials
Main article: Online credentials for learning
Online credentials for learning are digital
credentials that are offered in place of traditional
paper credentials for a skill or educational
achievement. Directly linked to the accelerated
development of internet communication
technologies, the development of digital
badges , electronic passports and massive open
online courses (MOOCs) have a very direct
bearing on our understanding of learning,
recognition and levels as they pose a direct
challenge to the status quo. It is useful to
distinguish between three forms of online
credentials: Test-based credentials, online
badges, and online certificates. [93]
See also
Degree completion program
Distance and on-line learning advocates
Herbert Gross
Linda Harasim
Educational technology
Homeschooling
Learning environment
Low-residency program
Media psychology
New media
Open supported learning
Open-door academic policy
Qualifications frameworks for online learning
Sunrise Semester
Virtual education
Sources
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Further reading
Anderson, Terry. Theory and Practice of Online
Education (2nd ed 2008)
ISBN 9781897425084
Anderson, T., & Dron, J. (2010). Three
generations of distance education pedagogy.
The International Review of Research in Open
and Distance Learning , 12(3), 80-97.
Bates, T. (2005). Technology, e-learning and
distance education : RoutledgeFalmer.
Clark, J. J. (1906). "The Correspondence
School--Its Relation to Technical Education
and Some of Its Results". Science . 24 (611):
327–34. Bibcode : 1906Sci....24..327C .
doi: 10.1126/science.24.611.327 .
PMID 17772791 .
Hampel, Robert L (2010). "The Business of
Education: Home Study at Columbia
University and the University of Wisconsin in
the 1920s and 1930s". Teachers College
Record . 112 (9): 2496–2517.
Holmberg, Börje. Theory and Practice of
Distance Education (2nd ed 1995) online
Kett, Joseph F. Pursuit of Knowledge Under
Difficulties: From Self-Improvement to Adult
Education in America (1994)
ISBN 978-0804726801
Moore, Michael Grahame and William
Anderson (2012). Handbook of Distance
Education (2nd ed.). Psychology Press.
ISBN 978-1-4106-0729-4 . online edition
Major, C.H. Teaching online: A guide to
theory, research, and practice. (Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2015).
Moore, M.G., ed. Contemporary issues in
American distance education (1990)
Peters, O. (1994). Distance education and
industrial production: A comparative
interpretation in outline(1973). Otto Peters on
distance education: The industrialization of
teaching and learning , 107-127.
Saba, F. (2011). Distance Education in the
United States: Past, Present, Future.
Educational Technology , 51(6), 11.
Stubblefield, Harold W. and Patrick Keane.
Adult Education in the American Experience:
From the Colonial Period to the Present
(1994) ISBN 978-0787900250
Taylor, J. C. (2001). Fifth generation distance
education. e-Journal of Instructional Science
and Technology (e-JIST), 4(1), 1-14.
Terry Evans, M. H., David Murphy (Ed.).
(2008). International Handbook of Distance
Education. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing
Limited.
Walsh, Taylor. Unlocking the Gates: How and
Why Leading Universities Are Opening Up
Access to Their Courses (Princeton University
Press, 2011) online
External links
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: ICT in
Education
Distance learning at Curlie
"Radio in education" full text books and
articles online; from 1930s and 1940s
"Issues in Distance Education book series
from Athabasca University Press" . A series
of over 10 books related to distance
education research. Available in print for sale
or online as open access.
The Center on Accessible Distance Learning
(AccessDL) , DO-IT Center, University of
Washington
"Using Telepresence Robots to Bring Online
and Face-to-Face Students Closer." .
Michigan State University Design Studio
Journals
The International Review of Research in Open
and Distance Learning" , widely cited, open
access scholarly journal
The Journal of Distance Education / Revue de
l'Éducation à Distance , scholarly journal
The Journal of Online Learning and
Teaching" , peer-reviewed open access
scholarly journal
Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0
unless otherwise noted.
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