Defining Distance Education

Is that possible today?

By Charlotte Lani Gunawardena University of New Mexico

PLEASE READ THROUGH THE

FOLLOWING SLIDES

The following slides contain famous and brief definitions of distance education and brief listings of the characteristics of distance education. As you read the definitions, think if we need to create a new definition of DE.

ACCORDING TO DESMOND KEEGAN (1986)

There are five main elements central to defining distance education:
Quasi-permanent separation of teacher and learner throughout the learning process Influence of an educational organization Use of technical media Two-way communication between teacher and learner Quasi-permanent absence of learning group

GARRISON AND SHALE (1987)

Keegans definition is too narrow DE implies majority of educational communication among teacher and students occurs noncontiguously DE must involve two-way communication for supporting the educational process DE uses technology to mediate the twoway communication

Wedemeyer (1981)Essence of DE
Is capable of operation any place Assumes greater learner responsibility Frees faculty from custodial-type duties Offers students more choices Uses all appropriate teaching media Mixes media & methods Offers an articulated program Meets & enhances individual differences Evaluates student achievement simply Learns at own pace

MOORE (EARLY 70S): AUTONOMOUS AND NONAUTONOMOUS DE

Is selection of learning objectives the responsibility of teacher or learner? Is selection of resources the decision of the teacher or learner? Are the decisions about evaluation made by teacher or learner?

Otto Peters (1988)

Use methodical measures to reduce input, power, time, money Divide tasks into subtasks Use machines Instructional materials produced by assembly line Produce materials in large quantities Centralization of money, administration Involve experts in preparatory phase Create organization fixed materials at fixed times Methods analyzed by systematic studies Formalization of DE cycle Teacher functions splitlecturer & content designer Little individual scope for teacher

BORJE HOLMBERG (1985)

DE is a guided didactic conversation
Core of teaching is interaction among teacher and student Emotional involvement and personal relation contribute to learning pleasure Learning pleasure supports motivation Participation in decision making supports motivation Strong student motivation facilitates learning Personal tone and easy access to subject matter contribute to learning pleasure, motivation Effectiveness of learning is shown by students learning

MALCOLM KNOWLES (1990)

Andragogy applied to DE
Establishment of place conducive to adult learning Creation of participatory learning Diagnosis of needs for learning Formulation of directions for learning Development of a design for activities Development of a plan for meeting objectives Use of evaluation for rediagnosis of needs for learning

HILARY PERRATON (1988)

Use any medium to teach anything Achieve economy of scale as a function of the level of education, audience size, media, sophistication of production Use dialog Group discussion brings relevant information to the group In most communities, resources are available Multimedia will be more effective Systems approach is helpful Feedback is necessary Learners must undertake frequent and regular activities over and above reading, watching, listening

WIKIPEDIA
Virtual education (distance learning) refers to instruction in a learning environment where teacher and student are separated by time or space, or both, and the teacher provides course content through course management applications, multimedia resources, the Internet, videoconferencing, etc. Students receive the content and communicate with the teacher via the same technologies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_education

WHAT DEFINITIONS OF DE CAN YOU FIND?