Distance Education Farhad Saba, Ph. D. Professor Educational Technology fsaba@mail.sdsu.edu

Distance Education

Farhad Saba, Ph. D.ProfessorEducational Technologyfsaba@mail.sdsu.eduhttp://distance-educator.com

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

How New, How Old!

1880’s Chautauqua, NY Correspondence Education

Educational Radio (1920-1940) Educational Television (1940-present)

Cable (1970-present) Satellite (1980-present)

Internet (1990-present)

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Definitions

Geographic separation of the learner and the teacher

Large lecture halls?

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Transactional Distance

Quality of communication Student-Instructor Student-student

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Why Distance Education?

Increasing cost Increasing time-to-degree Increasing debt

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Modern Era

Standardization One size fits all system of education Performing uniformed tasks

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Post-Modern

Individualization Personal differences

Differential personalized learning Critical thinking Problem solving

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Who Are Our Students? Largest generation (36% of total population). 31% are minorities; more diverse than the

adult population. Have come of age along with the Internet. Information has been universally available to

them. Community is a digital place of common

interest, not just a shared physical space.

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Education Beliefs 96% say doing well in school is important in their

lives. 88% of students report that attending college is

critical or very important to future success. 76% of students would like to learn more about the

world. 28% of high school students use a foreign news

source to learn about current events.

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Internet Use by Age

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2-5 6-8 9-12 12-15 16-18 19-24 25-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 65+

Age2000 2002

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Even Young Children

72% of all first graders used a home computer during the summer on a weekly basis.

Over 85% of young children with home computers used them for educational purposes.

By 1999, 97% of kindergartners had access to a computer at school or home.

35% of children ages 2-5 use the Internet.

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Online Teens

71% of online teens say they relied mostly on Internet sources for the last big project they did for school.

48% say their use of the Internet improves their relationship with friends.

94% of online teens report using the Internet for school-related research.

74% of online teens use instant messaging. 24% of online teens have created their own Web

pages.

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Virtual Schools 40,000 to 50,000 Students in 1999-

2000 (Clark 2000) Virtual High School (VHS)

(http://vhs.concord.or) Florida Virtual School (FLVS)

(http://www.flvs.net/) Electronic classroom of Tomorrow

(ECOT) (http://www.ecotohio.org/)

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Corporate Universities Expenditure on Web-based training

was estimated to be $5.5 billion in 2002. (Berge, 2001). The Thomson Corporation provides

innovative online learning to as many as 86,000 GM salaried employees through General Motors University

Ford has 20,000 online students in one of its programs

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Government (1) U. S. Armed Services

TRADOC The U. S. Navy Video TeleTraining (VTT) The Air Force Institute for Advanced

Distributed Learning (AFIADL) Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL)

SCORM (http://adlnet.org) The Defense Activity for Non-Tradition

Education Support (DANTES)

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Government (2) eGovernment initiative (eTraining)

Gov Online Learning Center (http://www.golearn.gov)

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) The Emergency Education NETwork (EENET)

FBI Virtual Academy Departments of Education, Labor and

Agriculture

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Government (3)

State Human Resource Development Programs

Law Enforcement Municipal, water and power agencies

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

0

10

30

40

50

20

60

70

80

90

100

All Institutions

Private 4-year

Public 2-year

Public 4-year

Fall 1995 1997-98

1222

58

7262

79

4433

Growth of Distance Education

Source: U. S. Department of Education

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Total Number of Students

1995 754,000 1997-98 1.6 Million 2001 3 Million Current Estimate 6 Million(U. S. Department of Education)

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

“Baby Boom Echo” Growth in General Student Population

1997-2007 21% 2007-2011 17%

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Faculty Involvement35

30

25

20

15

10

5

02.5% 13.5% 34 % 34% 16%

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Lagg

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s

Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation model

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Faculty Involvement35

30

25

20

15

10

5

02.5% 13.5% 34 % 34% 16%

Inn

ovato

rs

Earl

y A

dopte

rs

Earl

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Late

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Lagg

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s

Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation model

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Investment in Technology National

The Internet Super Computers Internte2

Local Fiber and Phone

Lines Servers PCs

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Level of Investment

Millions Billions Trillions

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Industrial Age Standard Goods and Services On size fits all

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Post-Industrial Society

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Post-Industrial Society Critical thinking Decision making Problem solving

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Differences

• 150 Miles/hr

• 2000 passenger/run

• Safe & Comfortable

• 50 Miles/hr

• 200 passenger/run

• Unsafe & Uncomfortable

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Feedback Loops: Positive

KnowledgeKnowledge LearningLearning

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Feedback Loops: Negative

Room TemperatureRoom Temperature HeaterHeater

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Transactional Distance

structurestructure IndependenceIndependence

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Distance in education…

…depends on individual differences

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Individual differences

Prior-Learning Differential progress

Course Structure Mini Courses Micro courses Learning Objects

Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005Farhad Saba, Ph. D. © 2005 Distance EducationDistance Education

Structural Issues

Flexible organization (Time to establish a new course)

Flexible Process (Time to degree)