Distance EducationDistance EducationDistance EducationDistance Education

Facts• Last year, 1680 institutions offered over

54,000 online courses

• The state of Iowa has a state-owned, 2800-mile fiber-optic network with over 700 high-tech classrooms for the purpose of offering distance instruction throughout the state

Facts• Satellites used for distance education orbit

approximately 23,000 miles about the equator at an orbiting speed that matches the rotation of the earth (location where the satellites orbit is called the Clarke Belt)

• Research on the effectiveness of distance education clearly shows that students who learn at a distance do no learn any worse or any better than traditional students

Research Summary• Distance education is just as effective

as traditional education in regard to learner outcomes

• Successful distance education learners tend traditionally to be abstract learners who are intrinsically motivated and possess internal locus of control

Research Summary• Distance education learners generally have a

more favorable attitude toward distance education than do traditional learners and distance learners feel they learn as well as if they were in a regular classroom

• Focusing on building collaboration and group interaction may be more important than focusing on individual participation.

Online Courses - Advantages

• Courses could be available to any qualified individual in the world at any location

• Course components are available 24 hours a day

• Students can work at their own pace• Course materials are distributable across

multiple computer platforms

Online - Courses Advantages

• Learning resources are available across the entire Internet

• Online course materials are easy to update or modify

• Internet promotes active learning and facilitates students’ intellectual involvement with the course content

Online Courses - Advantages

• Students become skilled at using Internet resources

• Personal identities remain concealed - all students are on equal ground

Online Courses - Limitations

• Access may be a problem• Traffic congestion on the Internet can

be a problem• Courses may focus on the technology

rather than the content• The courses may be labor intensive to

develop

Online Courses - Limitations

• The instructor may have to accept a new teaching paradigm (facilitator and manager of learning)

• Active learning emphasis may be difficult for students conditioned by previous courses to be passive

• The courses may attract undesired nonstudent participants

Online Courses - Limitations

• Copyright violations are in plain sight• Some topics may not adapt well to delivery

by computer• Online courses require students to take more

responsibility for their own learning.• Feedback may be delayed• Instructional design support may be

unavailable

Sources• WorldWideLearn

http://www.worldwidelearn.com/

• Open University http://www.open.ac.uk/

References• Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, Zvacek

(2003). Teaching and Learning at a Distance. Merrill Prentice Hall.

• Hazemi, Hailes, Wilbur (ed.) (1999(. The Digital University. Springer

• Harrison (1999). How to Design Self-Directed and Distance Learning Programs. McGraw-Hill