Distance Learning

Distance education, or distance learning, is a field of education that focuses on the pedagogy/andragogy, technology, and instructional systems design that is effectively incorporated in delivering education to students who are not physically "on site" to receive their education. Instead, teachers and students may communicate asynchronously (at times of their own choosing) by exchanging printed or electronic media, or through technology that allows them to communicate in real time (synchronously). Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason including the taking of examinations is considered to be a hybrid or blended course or program.

Types of distance learning courses:

• Correspondence conducted through regular mail
• Internet conducted either synchronously or asynchronously
• Telecourse/Broadcast where content is delivered via radio or television
• CD-ROM where the student interacts with computer content stored on a CD-ROM
• Pocket PC/Mobile Learning where the student accesses course content stored on a mobile device or through a wireless server

One of the oldest distance education universities is the University of South Africa, which has been offering Correspondence Education courses since 1946. The largest distance education university in the United Kingdom is the Open University founded 1969. In Germany the FernUniversität in Hagen was founded 1974. There are now many similar institutions around the world, often with the name Open University (in English or in the local language), and these are listed below.

There are many private and public, non-profit and for-profit institutions offering courses and degree programs through distance education. Levels of accreditation vary; some institutions offering distance education in the United States have received little outside oversight, and some may be fraudulent diploma mills. In many other jurisdictions, an institution may not use the term "University" without accreditation and authorization, normally by the national government.

In Distance Education, students may not be required to be present in a classroom, but that also may be a question of option. As for an electronic classroom or Virtual Learning Environment, it may or not be a part of a distance education set up. Electronic classrooms can be both on campus, and off campus. We would call such institutions as using a 'flexible' delivery mode.

Distance Education may also use all forms of technology, from print to the computer. This range will include radio, television, audio video conferencing, computer aided instruction, e-learning/on-line learning et al. (E-learning/online-learning are largely synonymous). A distinction is also made between open learning and distance learning. To clarify our thinking we can say that while 'open' education is the system in which the student is free to choose the time and place, but distance education is a teaching methodology used when the student and teacher are separated by time and place. Thus it follows that not all open-learning institutions use distance education and not all organizations that use distance education are open learning institutions. Indeed there are many cases in which students are in traditional classrooms, connected via a video-conferencing link to a teacher in a distant classroom. This method is typical in geographically dispersed institutions. Conversely, the term virtual university is sometimes used to describe an open-learning institution that uses the Internet to create an imaginary university environment, in which the students, faculty, and staff can communicate and share information at any time, regardless of location.

Distance Education has traversed four to five 'generations' of technology in its history. These are print, audio/video broadcasting, audio/video teleconferencing, computer aided instruction, e-learning/ online-learning, computer broadcasting/pod casting etc. Yet the radio remains a very viable form, especially in the developing nations, because of its reach. In India the FM Channel is very popular and is being used by universities, to broadcast educational programs of variety on areas such as teacher education, rural development, programs in agriculture for farmers, science education, creative writing, mass communication, in addition to traditional courses in liberal arts, science and business administration.

In short then, though a range of technology presupposes a distance education 'inventory' it is technological appropriateness and connectivity, such as computer, or for that matter electrical connectivity that should be considered, when we think of the world as a whole, while fitting in technological applications to distance education.

The communications review is intended to assess the level, quality, and effectiveness of all interactions between the faculty member and the students as well as among students.

The hallmark of a quality online course is a high degree of student-to-student and faculty-to-student interaction. Students who keep in touch are more likely to be successful. Build situations requiring communication and be clear about expectations. For example, if students are to participate on a regular basis, say so. Then, define what you believe is a regular basis: twice a week, at least once per unit, etc.

Communication between the instructor and student should be clear and concise and should support the learning objectives. This holds true for all instructional settings, but is critical for distance teaching and learning, where students cannot rely on casual contact and conversation to build expectations regarding these objectives. Establish an open, inviting, non-threatening environment and try to “go beyond” the technology to create a positive learning environment, which focuses on the student rather than the delivery methods.

Students should know if the instructor plans to check email everyday, or less frequently. Students will know what kind of timeframe they can expect a response. Acknowledgement of messages or receipt of assignments, even if more time is needed to properly respond is ideal. Setting these expectations for students will reduce the amount of uncertainty they experience.

Interaction with information and with other people leads to greater learning. Interactive opportunities can occur with course materials, with outside resources, with other students, with outside guests, and with the instructor. Use technology to foster these relationships for learning by building opportunities for students to work together in small groups, in pairs, and where feasible, the entire class.

Based on the format of the class, synchronous chat may be desirable for discussions, office hours, before major assignments, or for a “check” of student comprehension. Be sure the use of chat is serving a purpose.

Threaded discussion is the most commonly used method of guiding class discussion. It can be organized around study questions, major course topics, assigned readings, or a pervasive course theme. In addition, many instructors feel the need to provide a thread or conference for students to talk amongst themselves about topics that may or may not relate to the course content.

Some tips for enhancing the communication process:

1. Email is a great medium for delivering individual, prompt feedback. However, the flood of mail from students can become overwhelming. The use of threaded discussion boards will provide a greater level of organization to student postings, track dates, and provide an archive of the course for later reference by the instructor and students.

2. First of all, it is critical to clearly communicate your expectations. Provide a policy on expected student participation and a description of your grading criteria. Always include a grade for participation and a MINIMUM number of weekly student contributions to the discussion. At first, students may submit short, superficial responses – but at least they will start "talking." In time their responses and contributions will show more depth and insight. As another incentive for quality work, the instructor should grade on quality of the postings.

3. Provide a weekly agenda of what will be covered, assignments for the week, and due dates. This is very important to help students stay on track and be aware of what is expected of them.

4. Put the discussion questions and assignments together in a way that will help students focus on the course material as they process the assignments and share ideas. It is key that you limit your participation to a level you can sustain and that your contributions complement and expand on ideas generated by the participants.

5. Make the tone of your online lectures and other communication conversational. Avoid the lofty academic tone found in academic writing, but at the same time avoid colloquialisms and over-use of acronyms and abbreviations. Be precise in your use of language; write in complete, well-structured sentences. Oh, and don’t forget a touch of humor and a personal comment every now and then. This reminds your students that their Virtual Professor is actually a real person.

6. Communications to the Virtual Classroom should not be more than 1-2 screens long. This serves two purposes: It encourages students to contribute without placing too much of a burden on them to write lengthy responses. Readers begin to lose interest and focus if a message is more than 2 screens in length.

7. Be sensitive to different communication styles and varied cultural backgrounds. For example students may have different language skills, and humor is culturally specific and won’t be perceived the same by everyone.

8. Diversify and pace course activities and avoid long lectures. Intersperse content presentations with discussions and student-centered exercises.

9. Make the activities interesting and relevant to your students’ needs. Give students a reason to become actively involved in a discussion topic by appealing to their life experiences, interests and ambitions. Sometimes it may be appropriate to let your students choose their own topics for research papers and essays provided they are within the academic framework and objectives of the course.

10. Stagger assignment due dates to give participants ample time to read and comment on their classmates’ postings before the next course module begins. For example, make discussion questions due on the third day of the seminar week instead of the last day.

11. Be aware that participants will have different learning styles. Some will learn more easily in groups, while others will excel when working independently. Provide a variety of activity-types allowing for differences in learning styles.

12. Summarize substantive material previously covered, ask for questions about the material and post a public answer so all students can benefit from the answer.

13. Require a hand-in assignment (either a group project or individual paper). This requirement will ensure that students integrate, synthesize and apply the information that has been discussed in the Virtual Classroom.

14. Nip deviant and unacceptable behavior in the bud via private email.

15. Provide plenty of timely, constructive, and quality feedback. When the instructor participates in the discussion, providing critique, encouragement, and feedback, students cannot help but become more involved. For example: Thank students publicly for comments submitted to the Virtual Classroom showing insight or depth. This will serve to model the types of responses and critical thinking skills from the participants as well as give positive reinforcement to the student who contributed the message. Where appropriate, add to a student’s answer engaging him/her in more dialogs.

16. Encourage participants who have submitted shallow responses to consider a more in-depth contribution by asking for specific details pertaining to his/her posting, or for an example from his/her workplace.

17. In large classes (50 or more students), the students can be broken up into Discussion Sections similar to what happens in on-ground courses. The discussion sections can have from 10-20 students each, and they can either be led by Teaching Assistants or by the course professor. These sections "meet" once a week asynchronously to discuss the course content for that week or to go over practice problems. The above general conferencing strategies can also be applied to these discussion groups within the larger class.

Suggested check-offs for a review of Communication:

1. Timely and appropriate interaction between students and faculty, and among students is excellent 2. Responses to students are timely and consistent with stated expectations 3. Facilitation of discussion sessions strongly encouraged participation from all students 4. Demonstrated dedication to improving students opportunities for learning 5. The software used to facilitate the communication process is appropriate and effective 6. Opportunities for students to interact/react to persons or websites other than those within the course.

Distance education has had trouble since its conception with the testing of material. The delivery is fairly straightforward, which makes sure it is available to the student and he or she can read it at their leisure. The problem arises when the student is required to complete assignments and testing. Whether quizzes, tests, or examinations; Online courses have had difficulty controlling cheating because of the lack of teacher control. In a classroom situation the teacher can monitor students and visually uphold a level of integrity consistent with the institutions reputation. With distance education the student can be removed from supervision completely. Assignments have adapted by becoming larger, longer, and more thorough so as to test for knowledge by forcing the student to research the subject and prove they have done the work. Quizzes are a popular form of testing knowledge and many courses go by the honor system regarding cheating. Even if the student is checking questions in the textbook or online, there may be an enforced time limit or the quiz may be worth so little in the overall mark that it becomes inconsequential. Exams and bigger tests are harder to regulate. Obviously the mark-oriented students cannot be trusted with their own marks. In smaller tests a professor may employ another computer program to keep all other programs from running on the computer eliminating the possibility of help from the Internet. Used in combination with invigilators, a pre-arranged supervisor trusted with over-looking big tests and examinations may be used to increase security. Many Midterms and Final examinations are held at a common location so that professors can supervise directly. Many of these examinations are still on the computer in which case the same program blocking software can be used. When the Internet became a popular medium for distance education many websites were founded offering secure exam software and packages to help professors manage their students more effectively.