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Distance education

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Distance education, or distance learning, is a field of education that focuses on the pedagogy/andragogy, technology, and instructional systems design that are 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 education 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
  • PocketPC/Mobile Learning where the student accesses course content stored on a mobile device or through a wireless server

Origins

Sir Isaac Pitman popularized distance learning in Great Britain.[1]

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 authorisation, normally by the national government.

In the twentieth century, radio, television, and the Internet have all been used to further distance education.

Methods

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 organisations 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/podcasting 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 programmes of variety on areas such as teacher education, rural development, programmes 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.

Delivery systems

Older models of distance education utilized regular mail to send written material, videos, audiotapes, and CD-ROMs or other media storage format (e.g. SDRAM or CompactFlash cards) to the student and to turn in the exercises. Today's distance education course makes use of E-mail, the Web, and video conferencing over broadband network connections for both wired physical locations and wireless mobile learning. In some countries, the material is supplemented by television and radio programming. To compete with the conventional sector, course material must be of very high quality and completeness, and will use modern technologies such as educational animation.

Full time or part-time study is possible, but most students choose part-time study. Research study is possible as well. Distance education is offered at all levels, but is most frequently an option for university-level studies. A form of educational program which is similar to this but which requires some amount of presence during the year is a low-residency program.

Distance education programs are sometimes called correspondence courses, an older term that originated in nineteenth-century vocational education programs that were conducted through postal mail. This term has been largely replaced by distance education, and expanded to encompass more sophisticated technologies and delivery methods. The first subject taught by correspondence was the Pitman Shorthand, a tool of stenography. Primary and secondary education programs were also widely available by correspondence, usually for children living in remote areas.

Quality Assurance for Faculty

The Planning Process

Content that is presented to students in modules generally works best. Many specific deadlines rather than “complete this by the end of the course” type assignments tend to keep students engaged and active in the course. Even the best students will procrastinate if there are no or very few set deadlines. Students working at a distance will frequently study in smaller time blocks and will appreciate the modular structure.

Employ strategies that save time. Institutions should provide access to many resources that allow the instructor to “automate” many of the rote activities involved in teaching online (or otherwise) that can free up time to concentrate on the teaching activities.

Suggested check-offs for a review of the Planning process:

1. Is there an atmosphere of collaborative teamwork?

Students will depend on one another for a large portion of their learning. The facilitator needs to know how to work as part of this team as well as help the students work with each other.

2. Are materials and questions constructed that will have a variety of intellectual levels, varied in their instructional purpose and open-ended?

3. Is there a balance between leading the group and creating an environment where students themselves meet the learning objectives?

4. Are there mechanisms that provide for learner feedback and reinforcement?

5. Is the sequence, the presentation of content, and pace of the material so as to avoid content overload?

6. Is the instruction personalized to be relevant to the needs of individual participants?

Clarity

The intentions of a clarity review is to assess the simplicity and intelligibility of the course with respect to the speed at which a student can become familiar with the layout and navigation of an online course. Directions, expectations, objectives, requirements, timeline, and criteria for success should be explicitly stated. Should the level of clarity in any of these aspects be underdeveloped, confusion is a likely outcome, resulting in an increase in the need for communication not related to the academic content of the course. Online faculty should work to reduce the amount of non-academic (navigation or process related) communication in order to focus on the already large task of responding to student academic inquiry and facilitation of discussions.

For example, a quality online course will have objectives. If objectives are not clear, students may have significantly more difficulty learning, not because of their inability to do the work, but because they must work harder just to communicate using technologies with which they may not be familiar or comfortable. Students are more comfortable knowing ahead of time exactly what it is that they are expected to know after completing a chapter or unit.

Students working at a distance may not be able to ask questions during “work hours” and will most likely not see the instructor two to three times a week in a classroom. They may move a little slower, doing little of what is intended, because of the asynchronous and sometimes unfamiliar nature of the communication process.

In addition to objectives and directions, the requirements, timeline, and criteria for evaluation must be clear. Be sure that students understand the instructions and terms that are used. Instructors should try to anticipate the problems that students are likely to encounter and address them up front, possibly in the form of a “Frequently Asked Questions” page or section.

If particular equipment/software and/or prerequisites are required to be successful in the course, be sure the requirements are stated plainly. If possible, provide students with hints or additional information that deal with the use of technology or the communication process and help students organize themselves. If successful, they will be more likely to complete the course on time and with good work.

Suggested check-offs for a review of Clarity:

1. Clearly stated objectives and requirements (both technical and academic)

  • Minimum level of computer competency
  • Clear orientation/instructions on sending assignments, use of courseware, etc.

2. Understandable criterion for success (what does it take to get an “A” in this course?)

  • Test dates and format (online/proctored/on campus)
  • Grading scales with point/percentage values for each assignment
  • Office hours and directions for how communication with the instructor is accomplished
  • How will assignments be graded and how fast

3. Is the course presented in a coherent, easy to navigate, manner

  • Good web page design…no long download times
  • Clear, consistent navigation patterns
  • Well-designed and organized course format
  • No dead links or irrelevant links
  • Courseware is appropriate to the nature and objectives of the course/program

Communication

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.Today we can find software like TalkAndWrite a freeware, Skype's Plug-in, that allow us to work together with a Buddy, on a document, as we were sitting side by side.

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.

Evaluation

The evaluation process consists of two areas: Student Assessment and Course/Instructor Evaluation.

Student Assessment

Regular assessment of student progress helps both the faculty and the student evaluate progress and helps students determine if they are moving at an adequate rate and that the necessary learning is taking place and shows when and where additional work is needed. Assessment can encourage student progress, helping to motivate students to do better if they are falling behind or not understanding adequately. Evaluation provides feedback to the instructor and helps him/her become aware of ineffective parts of the course, of parts that might need a different approach, or of parts that are not explained adequately.

Objective assessment is neither the only way to assess student comprehension, nor the best way to assess students at a distance. There are many alternatives that may provide greater insight into student understanding, while elimination or greatly reducing the likelihood of cheating. Here are some examples:

Tests - short-answer; true/false; multiple-choice; essay Projects - summary or other papers; projects and reports; group online presentations; problem-solving analyses of real-life situations including suggested solutions, writing joint research papers, brainstorming sessions, etc.

  • Faculty or peer assessments
  • Student self-assessment (ex.: by taking quizzes to evaluate progress)
  • Homework
  • Online methods - group discussions; collaborative assignments
  • Lectures and questions on the lectures
  • Other methods - such as having the students create a portfolio of items that demonstrate their learning, or have them do a detailed analysis of a situation that will show what they have learned in the course

Course/Instructor Evaluation

At the end of a course, it will be valuable to evaluate the impact of the course on the students, to determine what - if any - changes could or should be made to it. Some of the items that you will probably wish to evaluate include:

  • Is/was the instructor effective?
  • How can the course be improved?
  • What alterations will make the course better, such as adding information, revising tests, changing time distribution, and so on?

If you are new to teaching an online course, completing course evaluations may be particularly important for you. They can make you aware of problems that might not yet have been brought to your attention, or alert you to the fact that students may not be communicating with you or with others in the class when they have problems. This can be important because an online course is conducted and presented differently from one that is taught in a classroom. It may also alert you to technical problems that might not have been reported to you. Finally, you can learn about any instructions or assignments that were unclear to the students - something that you might have become aware of earlier in a classroom situation then in the online course. Classroom Assessment Techniques workshops provided by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning can be easily adapted to an online format and are generally very effective.

By carefully considering what aspects of the course you wish to evaluate, and by constructing types of evaluations that will help you learn, you can receive information that can be very useful in determining how your course is affecting your students.

At the end of a course, it is a common practice for the faculty member(s) teaching that course to have their students fill out an evaluation form, so the faculty can determine the effectiveness of their teaching. Many Institutions have developed a Course/Instructor Evaluation Instrument that is made available to all online faculty. The instrument is modeled after the traditional end of term student evaluation instrument, but with modifications that are specific to the online environment. This instrument may be modified by the instructor in that additional questions may be added based on specific course content or delivery tools. Given that additional questions may be added to the assessment, faculty may also wish to solicit information about whether the following either did occur or need to occur, to help with revisions:

  • Changes in policies that may be necessary
  • System enhancements and changes - is anything needed to make course delivery smoother?
  • Errors in communication - is anything unclear, or were there glitches, which made communication difficult?
  • Technical errors - any technical problems that affected the course delivery or its receipt by your students?
  • Changes in material or delivery that may be necessary

All online courses are offered with the assumption that the course was developed from the exact same learning outcomes as it’s traditional counterpart and contains the baseline objectives and goals for a give course that is taught via any format at the College…in a classroom, via interactive video, telecourse, or online.

Additionally, all online courses should require the same rigor as the traditional course, the same writing requirements, and the same outcomes, objectives and academic assessment procedures that are used to assess the corollary course in the home academic department.

Suggested check-offs for a review of Evaluation

1. Has the course been developed/taught with the same criterion specified on the Course Master or Course Information Form?

2. Does the online course require the same rigor as the traditional course, at a minimum?

3. Is the course evaluated using an Online Course/Instructor Evaluation instrument?

4. Are student assessments appropriate based on the content and delivery mode of the course?

5. Are there enough assessments to provide students a good feel for how they are doing in the course?

6. Are the student assessments diverse…more than just multiple choice?

7. Is there a mechanism to allow students to respond/comment on the assessment results?

Testing and Evaluation

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.

Cheating in online courses, distance education, and tele-education

Methods

Students are given many different assignments and tests during an online course, and as such the methods of cheating vary from task to task. For as many honest students who genuinely care to learn the material and get the most out of a course, there will be twice as many who are after marks and find some way around the prevention methods.

Assignments

Assignments are a fairly safe region (in that they are hard to cheat on) as they involve actual work that must be completed and cannot usually be copied. Many institutions use websites like www.Turnitin.com to test for replicated material. They automatically match any similarly structured sentences to massive databases of websites, other assignments and scholarly material and look for replication or plagiarism.

Testing

Using the known methods of prevention is usually enough to halt cheating for online courses. There are many holes in the defenses however and in future institutions will have to crack down on students or risk damaging their reputations. Tests are hard to regulate especially for distance education. Firstly the student usually gets to pick the invigilator who is trusted with overseeing the exam. There is a chance that this trusted person will administer the test according to protocol, but there is also a chance they are in cahoots with the student and will allow them to use the text book as an aid, or let them cheat in whatever way suits them best. The exam software is easily out-maneuvered using two different computers one with the exam software and exam and the other with all relevant information, chat programs to consult other students, and prepared questions and answers. In-classroom testing is much safer and cuts down on cheating tenfold. It does not eliminate it though, there will always be wandering eyes and notes written on watchbands.

Punishment

Although harder to identify and prove, cheating in an online course is still a punishable offense. Varying by University or college punishment is usually based on a court-like system wherein the Professor will submit the evidence and the student will be subject to trial and what can only be referred to as sentence. Most if not all Universities support a zero tolerance procedure and punishment is unquestionably expulsion.


See also

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