Lectura Sobre Holmberg

8/16/2019 Lectura Sobre Holmberg

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ReadingsIn

Distance Education


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INTRODUCTION

Everyone Wants To. . . !................................................................................................................... 3

THEORY AND RESEARCH

Equivalency Theory and Distance Education................................................................................... 5Distance Education Research: ........................................................................................................ 11

INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

Instructional Design for Distance Education.................................................................................. 18

APPROACHES AND APPLICATIONS

Convergent Technologies in Distance Education Delivery .......... .......... ........... .......... ........... ........ 25Best of Both Worlds - The Nova ITDE Model of Distance Education .......................................... 32Designing a College Web-Based Course Using A Modified Personalized System of Instruction(PSI) Model.................................................................................................................................... 38The Challenge of Interactive Chemistry at a Distance—The Iowa Chemistry Education Alliance46

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

What’s My Grade? Assessing Learner Progress ............................................................................ 50In the Quest for Knowledge: Traveling the Back Roads of Iowa........... ........... .......... ........... ........ 57


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Everyone Wants To. . . !

Michael SimonsonInstructional Technology and Distance Education

Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services Nova Southeastern University

Fort Lauderdale, FL


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In 1995, it was stated that “no one really wants to learn at a distance,” but “…everyone demands theopportunity to learn at a distance…” (Simonson, 1995). Actually in 1995 there were not many in educationeither wanting , or demanding distance education . The field in the early 1990s was still immature andconsidered by many to be relatively unimportant when compared to mainstream education.

Well, in 1999, it seems that “ demands ” for distance education are everywhere. Distance education is beginning to effect almost everyone. Everyone wants to – learn at a distance, teach at a distance, or have adistance education program. Students are signing up for distance education courses in staggering numbers.Teachers, even Chemistry teachers, are offering courses using technology of all categories and offeringthese courses to distant learners. And, every self respecting school administrator, college dean, or university president is spouting off about their institution’s distance education program.

This monograph tries to capture some of the excitement of the field. Distance education has become BIGand there are big ideas presented in this issue that includes articles dealing with all aspects of distanceeducation – from “soup to nuts.” First, foundation information is presented. Second, the practice of the fieldis discussed in four articles. Finally, two articles discuss techniques for assessment and evaluation.

Foundations: Three articles deal with basic, foundation issues. First, Michael Simonson reviewstheories supporting distance education and proposes an emerging theory. Next, Gary Morrison and AmyAdcock review the research on distance education. This section concludes with an article by SharonSmaldino that discusses techniques for instructional design of distance education.

Applications: There are four articles in this section. First, an article by Steve Wheeler examinesconverging technologies for distance education. Next is an article by Robert Price that discusses theapplication of PSI to the design of WWW-based instruction. Kathy Burke and Tom Greenbowe revisit a

project discussed in Tech Trends in 1995 that involved the collaborative teaching of chemistry at adistance. Finally, Charles Schlosser and Marsha Burmeister explain the Nova Instructional Technology andDistance Education model of distance education.

Assessment and Evaluation: This issue concludes with two useful articles dealing with studentassessment and program evaluation. Susan Zvacek presents an excellent overview of the techniques for assessing student learning in her article “What’s My Grade?” The issue concludes, as would be expected,

with a review by Nancy Maushak of intensive evaluation activities of distance education in Iowa.

Nine articles are included in this monograph. Given the massive growth of the field in the last few years,this is obviously not enough. It is hoped however that these articles will provide an overview, a summary,and a starting point for those interested in what is happening in distance education.


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Equivalency Theory and Distance EducationMichael SimonsonProgram Professor

Instructional Technology and Distance EducationFischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services

Nova Southeastern University


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"Theory helps us bear our ignorance of fact"G. Santayana, 1896

In the rapidly changing and diverse environment in which distance education is practiced, many questionsremain unanswered. In this environment it is difficult to arrive at one approach to guide the practice of distance education. New technologies and new ideas about student learning challenge the traditionaltechniques for the practice of distance education. This theme of change is evident in the discussions of distance education and its definitions and theories.

Numerous definitions for distance education have been proposed, and most include the separation of teacher and learner, the influence of an educational organization, the use of media to unite teacher andlearner, the necessity for two-way communication, and the potential for individualized learning. Theclassical, European definitions of distance education concentrate on teaching and learning taking place atdifferent times and in different places, while recent definitions enabled by new interactive technologiesemphasize educational experiences occurring at the same time in different locations.

Many cringe at the thought of a discussion of theory. This need not be the case. Theory is important to thestudy of distance education because it directly affects the practice of the field. Traditionally, theories of distance education have come from sources external to the USA. Recently, the field in the United States hasmatured to the point where indigenous definitions and theories have begun to emerge; most notablytheories based on the American system of education. Local control of the curriculum, elected schoolgoverning boards, small classes, rapport between teacher and students, community-based funding, andhighly personalized instruction are important characteristics of the American system of education. Manyeducators are now advocating the need for forms of distance education that retain traditional aspects of American education while taking advantage of the opportunities of telecommunications systems. In thisenvironment, equivalency theory has emerged.

The Need for Theory

Keegan (1986) reaffirmed the continued need for a theory of distance education when he said:

Lack of accepted theory has weakened distance education; there has been a lack of identity, a sense

of belonging to the periphery and the lack of a touchstone against which decisions on methods, onmedia, on financing, on student support, when they have to be made, can be made with confidence.(p. 63)

Keegan (1995) has noted that a theory is something that eventually can be reduced to a phrase, a sentenceor a paragraph, and which while subsuming the practical research, gives the foundation on which thestructures of need, purpose, and administration can be erected.

Holmberg (1985) defined theory as:

A systematic ordering of ideas about the phenomenon of a field of inquiry, and an overarchinglogical structure of reasoned suppositions which can generate testable hypotheses (p. 4).

Holmberg suggested that distance education has been characterized by a trial and error approach with littleconsideration being given to a theoretical basis for decision-making, and that the theoretical underpinningsof distance education are fragile. Most efforts in this field have been practical or mechanical and haveconcentrated on the logistics of the enterprise.

In his landmark work, The Foundations of Distance Education , Keegan classified theories of distanceeducation into three groups: theories of independence and autonomy, theory of industrialization of teaching, and the theory of interaction and communication.

Theories of Independent Study


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#1 - Wedemeyer

For Wedemeyer (Keegan, 1986), the essence of distance education was the independence of the student.This was reflected in Wedemeyer's preference for the term “independent study” for distance education atthe college or university level. Wedemeyer was critical of contemporary patterns of higher education and

believed that outdated concepts of learning and teaching were being employed. It was felt that universitiesfailed to utilize modern technologies in ways that could alter an institution.

Wedemeyer set forth a system with characteristics emphasizing learner independence and adoption of technology as a way to implement that independence. Wedemeyer noted four elements of every teaching-learning situation: a teacher, a learner or learners, a communications system or mode, and something to betaught or learned. He proposed a reorganization of these elements that would accommodate physical spaceand allow greater learner freedom. Key to the success of distance education, Wedemeyer believed, was thedevelopment of the relationship between student and teacher.

#2 - Moore

Formulated in the early 1970s, Moore’s theory of distance education was a classification method for distance education programs. It examined two variables in educational programs: the amount of learner autonomy and the distance between teacher and learner.

For Moore (1994), distance is composed of two elements, each of which can be measured. First is the provision for two-way communication (dialog). Some systems or programs offer greater amounts of two-way communication than others. Second is the extent to which a program is responsive to the needs of theindividual learner (structure). Some programs are very structured, while others are very responsive to theneeds and goals of the individual student.

In the second part of his theory, Moore addressed learner autonomy. He notes that in traditional schoolsettings learners are very dependent on teachers for guidance, and that in most programs, conventional anddistance, the teacher is active, while the student is passive.

In distance education there is a gap between teacher and student, so the student must accept a high degree

of responsibility for the conduct of the learning program. The autonomous learner needs little help from theteacher, who may be more of a respondent than a director. Some adult learners, however, require help informulating their learning objectives and in identifying sources of information and in measuring objectives.

Theory of Industrialization of Teaching

After examining a research base that included an extensive analysis of the distance teaching organizationsof the 1960s, Peters (1988) proposed that distance education could be understood and practiced bycomparison to the industrial production of goods. Peters stated that from many points of view conventional,oral, group-based education was a pre-industrial form of education. Distance education, on the other hand,

permits the incorporation of characteristics of industry, which makes education standardized, widelyavailable, and extremely cost effective. His statements implied that distance teaching could not haveexisted before the industrial era. Critical to this theory are concepts such as:

• Division of labor - which means that different professionals and paraprofessionals have specificroles in the teaching and learning process.

• Mechanization – which means that machines and devices are a required component of the teaching process.

• Assembly Line – which implies that techniques are used so materials and students move past or areinvolved at different times with distance education professionals who have specific duties.

• Mass Production – which means that techniques are used to develop large quantities of instructionalmaterials very inexpensively in order to reach large numbers of learners uniformly.


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• Standardization – which means the entire instructional process is made standard according to pre-established criteria so that learners receive the same curriculum in uniform ways.

• Concentration and Centralization – this means that a monopoly is instituted so that one organization provides educational experiences to large numbers of students.

Theory of Interaction and Communication

Holmberg’s (1989) theory of distance education, which he calls guided didactic conversation, falls into thegeneral category of communication theory. Holmberg noted that his theory had explanatory value inrelating teaching effectiveness to the impact of feelings of belonging and cooperation as well as to theactual exchange of questions, answers, and arguments in distance education.

Distance teaching will be successful to the extent it supports student motivation, promote learning pleasure and make study relevant to the individual learner and his/her needs, creating feelings of rapport between the learner and the distance-education institution (its tutors, counselors, etc.),facilitating access to course content, engaging the learner in activities, discussions and decisions andgenerally catering for helpful real and simulated communication to and from the learner.

Holmberg himself noted that this was admittedly a leaky theory. However, he added, it was not devoid of explanatory power. It did, in fact, indicate essential characteristics of effective distance education.

Equivalency Theory - An Emerging Approach to Distance Education

New telecommunications technologies have impacted significantly on education. Many feel that theavailability of powerful telecommunications systems is responsible for the popularity of distance educationin the USA. Interactive television systems, such as the Iowa Communications Network (Simonson &Schlosser, 1995), permit distant learners and instructors to see and be seen, hear and be heard, and learnand teach in almost the same manner as they would if everyone was in the local classroom.

Keegan (1995) suggested that electronically linking instructor and students at various locations could createa virtual classroom.

The theoretical analyses of virtual education, however, have not yet been addressed by the literature:

Is virtual education (interactive, live televised instruction) a subset of distance education or to beregarded as a separate field of educational endeavor? What are its didactic structures? What is therelationship of its cost effectiveness and of its educational effectiveness to distance education, and toconventional education?

It is in this environment of virtual education that the equivalency theory of distance education has emerged.Equivalency Theory -

Distance education's appropriate application should provide equivalent learning experiences for allstudents – distant and local – in order for there to be expectations of equivalent outcomes of theeducational experience.

Stated another way, this theory is based on research that indicates that learning at a distance and learninglocally are fundamentally different, even when interactive technologies are used. Equivalency theory

advocates the design for distant and local learners of a collection of probably different but ultimatelyequivalent learning experiences. The objective of the designer of distance education instruction is to provide for appropriate learning experiences for each student that are based on their unique needs,including physical location.

This theory is based on this definition of distance education.

Distance education is a formal and institutionally-based educational system where learners and teachersare separated from one another, and where voice, video, and data interaction occurs usingtelecommunication systems (Simonson & Schlosser, 1995).


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Instructional experiences are essential to learning. It should not be necessary for any group of learners,local or distant, to compensate for different, possibly lesser, instructional experiences. Students shouldhave learning experiences designed and made available to them that are tailored for the environmentand situation in which they find themselves. Thus, those developing distance education systems shouldstrive to provide appropriate learning experiences for students no matter how they are linked to theresources or instruction they require.

One key to this theory is the concept of equivalency. Local and distant learners have fundamentallydifferent environments in which they learn. It is the responsibility of the distance educator to designinstructional events that provide learning experiences for individuals and groups of students. A triangle anda square that have the same area are considered equivalent even though they are quite different geometricalshapes. Similarly, the experiences of the local learner and the distant learner should have equivalent valueeven though specific experiences might be quite different.

Also a key to this approach is the concept of learning experience. A learning experience is anything thathappens to or with the student that promotes learning, including what is observed, felt, heard, or done. It islikely that students in various locations, learning at different times, may require a different mix of learningexperiences. Some will need a greater amount of observing, and others a larger dosage of doing. The goalof instructional planning for distance education is to develop an approach that makes the sum of experiences for each learner equivalent. Instructional design procedures should attempt to anticipate and

provide the collection of experiences that will be most suitable for each student or group of students.

A final key to equivalency theory is the idea of telecommunications, which means communicating at adistance. Most often in the USA, telecommunications refers to electronic telecommunications systems suchas those using synchronous audio, video, and computer networks. Synchronous interaction need not be themandatory, however. Various communications systems, including asynchronous ones, can and should beused for distance education, as long as the goal of equivalency of experiences is met.

The equivalency approach is based on core values such as local control and personalized instruction thatare held almost sacred in classical American education. If distance education is to be widely accepted androutinely available it must be high quality, easily obtained, and familiar to those in need. Powerful, moderntelecommunications systems enable the delivery of powerful and recognizable learning experiences to

students anytime and any place.

Summary

The changing and diverse environment in which distance education is practiced has inhibited thedevelopment of a single theory upon which to base practice and research. A variety of theories have been

proposed to describe classical distance education. They include theories that emphasize independence andautonomy of the learner, industrialization of teaching, and interaction and communication. These traditionaltheories emphasize that distance education is a fundamentally different form of education.

Recent emerging theories based on the capabilities of new interactive audio, video, and computer systems,state that distance education is not a distinct field. These approaches utilize existing educational theory andadvocate the creation of equivalent experiences for distant and local learners.

Theory helps guide the practice of a field, and permits a certain “ignorance of fact.” Equivalency theory provides a framework for design and production of instructional experience for local and distant learnersthat need not be the same. The key will be whether equivalent experiences produce equivalent outcomes.

References

Holmberg, B. (1985). The feasibility of a theory of teaching for distance education and a proposed theory (ZIFF Papiere 60). Hagen (West Germany): Fern Universität, Zentrales Institute fur Fernstudienforschung Arbeitsbereich. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 290 013)


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Distance Education Research:Messages to the Field

Gary R. MorrisonProfessor

Wayne State University

Amy B. Adcock Graduate Student

University of Memphis


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Distance education research is beginning to mature as evidenced by the increasing number of reports of scientific inquiry. The purpose of this article is to organize the research on distance education. The writingson distance education are vast and address a number of issues, yet, only a small proportion of this literaturemay be of interest. As your knowledge and expertise of distance education increase, you may find a need toexplore different issues in the literature. In this article we will describe six major categories of research thatwill guide your readings and search for information to use when designing and implementing distanceeducation courses or when conducting research.

The Right ResearchIt seems with each new technology, many feel a need to compare its effectiveness with existingtechnologies as a proof of its worth. There are considerable arguments and research against conducting thistype of research, as it has not proven fruitful (e.g., Clark, 1983, 1994; Ross & Morrison, 1989; Simonson,1997). Similarly, there are others who argue that we should compare different technologies (Kozma, 1991,1994) (see also ETR&D, 1994, 42 [2 & 4] for a discussion of this topic) to discover their functions. Rather than focusing on a comparison of distance education to traditional delivery systems, we are concentratingon the research that provides answers to those instructional design questions that are most beneficial to

practitioners. We believe that research that helps answer the following four questions will be of most benefit to instructional technologists.

1. What are the most effective ways I can make the instructional design and developmentdecisions with which I am confronted?

2. What instructional strategies are most effective for a given instructional task?3. What are the best ways I can approach policy issues that I must address?

As a linking science, we need to make our instructional decisions based on the research (Kemp, Morrison,Ross, 1998). One task then, is translating this research into heuristics that we can use for instructionaldecision making. The problem is determining which research will answer your specific design questions. Asecond task is identifying potential areas for future research that will help us generate new designheuristics.Distance Education Research

We have identified six categories of research, each of which provides information you can use to makedecisions about the design, development, implementation, or research related to a distance education

system. The six categories of research are evaluation reports, research on the technology, research on the process, general instructional research, policy issues, and preresearch. The following pages describe each of these categories and provide examples of the research.Evaluation Reports

One advantage to working with distance education is the variety of evaluation reports readily available in journals and on the Internet. The availability of these reports makes it very easy for new and old adopters tolearn from the experiences of others. Evaluation reports typically provide a rich source of both data andinformation about one or more offerings of a distance education course (see Simonson, 1997 for examples).You can use this information to help you determine if the delivery method or strategies are appropriate for your course content, students, faculty, and technology. Some reports also include information on whataspects of the course worked or did not work (e.g., submitting assignments by email). We typically findthat most evaluation reports include a number of recommendations for improving the course that you can

generalize to your design effort.

We have selected two evaluation reports from two different time periods to provide a sample of theinformation you can glean from such literature. Each focuses on one course and provides a thoroughevaluation of the course delivery. The following is a brief summary of the information we found useful ineach report.

The first report is from an introductory psychology course developed by the University of Mid-America(Sell, 1976). This course was based on a series of broadcast television programs and print materials. Thefollowing recommendations from the report are applicable to a variety of distance education technologies.


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1. Improve the content relationship between the television programs, text, and newspaper articles

2. Improve the access to the recommended readings3. Develop an optional unit on study skills and how to use the distance learning system4. Provide students with additional feedback beyond the test grade5. Revise the schedule so that there is a week break after each testThe second report was published in the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks and describes

the evaluation of an asynchronous learning network (ALN) course at Vanderbilt University (Bourne,McMaster, Reiger, & Campbell, 1997). Bourne et al. evaluated an engineering course offered on-line. Four of the lessons learned reported were

1. Students tended to procrastinate more in the ALN courses.2. Encouraging students to develop and use peer-to-peer networks was valuable.3. Students did not like the volumes of information that was readily available, but preferred to

have the information limited to what they needed to learn.4. The use of mentors worked for some of the groups and needs further research.

Both of these evaluation reports provide valuable suggestions that can be incorporated into the design of new course(s). For example, as a designer you might be tempted to provide many links to interestingmaterials that support your course. Yet, the Bourne et al. report suggests that students prefer to focus on theessential information. Rather than providing the extra information on a main web page, you might consider assigning this information to another page that is linked to the main instructional pages. Students who wantto read the additional materials then have the option of exploring the additional information rather thaneveryone having to sort through volumes of data.Research on the Technology

Our next category includes research that is focused on the delivery technologies used in distance education.Studies in this category evaluate the suitability or effectiveness of technology (i.e., the hardware, software,or system) for delivering instruction. This research can be conducted as part of a course or it maybe atraditional research study with various treatments of shorter time periods. The emphasis is on the

performance of a single technology rather than on a comparison of two or more technologies. Informationfrom these studies can help you adopt and design instruction for new distance educational systems. Let’sexamine two studies in this category.

The first study focuses on the design of a two-way, compressed video classroom (Jayasinghe, Morrison, &Ross, 1997). Specifically, the study sought to determine the placement of the instructor camera (e.g., eyelevel or above eye level) and the use of a single large monitor versus small groups of students seatedaround a smaller monitor (multiple-monitor treatment). The study found that camera and monitor

placement affect instructor credibility. First, participants in the multiple-monitor condition rated theinstructor as more credible. Second, participants viewing the eye-level camera had a more positive attitudescore than those viewing the instructor through the high-angle camera. Third, participants were more likelyto be engaged if they were watching the instructor in the multiple-monitor condition. Towards the end of the lecture, the multiple-monitor subjects were observed to be engaged while the instructor was lookinginto the eye-level camera, but were restless and looked away when the instructor was looking at the high-level camera (representing the other class). Jayasinghe et al. recommend that the instructor camera be

placed in the center of the first row of students at their eye level to provide the offsite students with arealistic image of the instructor. They also recommended that rooms be designed with multiple monitors

placed on a table with small groups of students, which would also facilitate collaborative work.

The second study was an evaluation of the feasibility of video conferencing for distance learning (Kies,Williges, & Rosson, 1997). Kies et al. conducted an innovative two part study consisting of a controlled labstudy and classroom implementation of the video conference system. In the controlled study participantsviewed a digitized video program at different frame rates and resolutions. In the second study, the videoconferencing was implemented in two classrooms with one using a LAN and the second using the Internetfor delivery. While the frame rates and resolution did not hamper learning, they found that participantscould easily perceive the poor video at the smaller resolution and slower frame rates. The poorer quality


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video conditions resulted in negative attitudes, which could affect motivation in longer sessions such as areal class. Kies et al. made the following recommendations.

1. Avoid frame rates slower than 6 fps and resolutions less than 320 x 2402. If motion is required, then use a faster frame rate3. If considerable detail is required or there are subtitles, then use a high resolution4. Provide an easy mechanism for students to ask questions during a video conference5. Use high quality audio

Studies that focus on the technology can provide valuable information for selecting equipment, designingthe instruction, and designing the instructional environment.A thorough search of relevant articles can help you design a more effective instructional environment witha shorter trial-and-error period.Research on the Process

Distance education provides many opportunities to study the communication and instructional processes, perhaps because much of it is documented in emails and chat rooms. Process research ranges from ananalysis of email communications to the impact of the process on the learners. You can use the findingsfrom these studies to help you structure the instruction, manage student discussions and communications,and improve course discussions and communications. Two themes that appeared in several distancelearning papers address the need for communication with and among students, and improving faculty skillsfor encouraging and managing online discussions. Suggestions for accomplishing these tasks can often befound in research articles on the distance learning processes. The following two studies provide examplesof research in this category.

Our first example study investigated the effect of attending a remote-site for course delivery on studentsatisfaction (Biner, Welsh, Barone, Summers, & Dean, 1997). Undergraduate students in 17 differentcourses at 68 different sites completed a survey assessing their satisfaction and motivation in the course.Biner et al. reported that larger class sizes reduced student satisfaction with the course and lowered levelsof relative performance. They suggested that a smaller group might afford the students with more controlover the equipment and create a less intimidating environment. Biner et al. suggested that smaller distanceclasses or even the capability of taking the class at home appear to have benefits for the students.

The second example is an analysis of listserv emails from a graduate seminar conducted exclusively via

listserv (Weiss & Morrison, 1998). Emails from all students and instructors were collected during the eight-week course and analyzed. Students also completed a questionnaire at the end of the course on student

perceptions of the discussion process. The analysis of the emails indicated evidence of critical thinking andthat students were critically analyzing and synthesizing the course materials. There were also examples of humor, hurt feelings, and sarcasm in the messages. The analysis found few misunderstandings, and thosewere due to content not the technology. The authors concluded that a listserv was viable system for thistype of class, however, the major concern was the discussions, which went for 7 days a week and almost 24hours a day. It afforded both the students and instructors the freedom of not having to attend a regularlyscheduled class, but required them to check their email several times a day to be involved in the discussion.The authors recommended controls to limit discussions to a more manageable time frame [Note: Thesecontrols failed to limit the discussion in the second offering!].

Articles that focus on the processes of distance learning can provide valuable information for designing the

instruction and managing the instruction process. These results can help you avoid mistakes others havemade and create a more effective instructional environment for your courses.General Instructional Research

The distance education environment provides several opportunities for conducting instructional researchthat has application beyond distance education. Research in this category may be of less interest than theothers for those individuals searching for specific information related to distance education issues. Thereare, however, articles that are useful for the design of a distance education courses. Let’s examine twoarticles in this general instructional research category.


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The first study in this category investigated the impact of visual and verbal learning on the use of groupware in a distance education course (Becker & Dwyer, 1998). Groupware was selected because it

provides a means of conducting collaborative work in distance education. The researchers predicted thatstudents who prefer to learn visually would feel the groupware was effective in helping the groups achievetheir goals. The results support their prediction. They did not, however, find any differences in the variousgroup’s use of the software.

Another example of research in this category is a recent study of the use of social presence to predictsatisfaction in a distance learning course (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997). Prior research on social presence(see Jayasinghe et al., 1977 for another study investigating this concept) suggests that various levels of social presence can influence student perceptions. This study assessed participants’ perceptions of social

presence while using a computer mediated instructional environment that was all text based. The findingsindicated that social presence was a strong predictor of student satisfaction. They found that for thosestudents who rated the social presence as high, the use of emoticons (e.g., “:)” that are text-based iconswhich communicate emotions ) further enhanced their experience. The emoticons did not have ameasureable affect on participants with a low perception of social presence. The researchers suggested thatfaculty members who rely on nonverbal cues to provide feedback may need to learn other methods whichthey can adapt to a text based environment.

General research studies using distance education environments as well as those in more traditionalclassroom environments can provide useful information for designing distance education courses. Thesestudies often have a very narrow focus and require a more specific search is required to find ones that areapplicable to your needs.Policy Research

Papers that focus on policy issues are grouped into this category and can include qualitative research andscholarly papers. These papers provide guidelines and action plans for implementing distance educationcourses and administrative services. This information can be used to establish policies and procedures for

programs ranging from implementing a listserv in a class to establishing library support for distancestudents. Policy issue papers can also provide find solutions to several problems as well as determiningwhat issues to address during course design and implementation.

An example of a policy article that may be beneficial to a faculty member who wants to integrate electronicconferencing in a course is one on Indiana University’s Teaching and Learning Technologies Lab’s website ( www.indiana.edu/~ecopts/ectips.html) . This article provides guidelines for creating activities tointroduce the conferencing system (e.g., personal introductions, debates, and fieldwork), a discussion of thetypes of conferences, how to create a structure, as well as things to avoid.

The second example of a policy paper is one that addresses the issue of faculty participation in distanceeducation (Olcott & Wright, 1995). They discuss a number of barriers to faculty involvement such ascompensation, tracking, incentives, and the role of teaching a distance education course in tenure and

promotion. For example, they maintain that a faculty-centered framework in the distance education systemincreased faculty commitment to their courses. They also present a model for increasing facultyinvolvement and suggest ways that faculty can provide instructional leadership.

Policy research in distance education can provide the information needed to establish a framework for anindividual course component such as a conferencing system to guidelines and issues that must be addressed before implementing a distance education program at high school or university. The literature we havecited will provide a good starting point for finding answers and identifying issues you must examine.Preresearch

This last category, preresearch, describes articles that suggest ways of designing or improving distanceeducation courses. While they do not constitute actual research, this literature typically includes ideas or

problem areas that can be used to generate research ideas. Most research articles include specificsuggestions for future research; however, the articles in this category often have underlying implications for


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future research. These articles are typically reports of individual experiences with distance education thatdescribe strategies that worked or did not work along with suggestions for improvements. They do not,however, present formal evaluation results. Nonetheless, you can use this information to generate aresearchable question for a distance education environment, or to point to other research that providesempirical support for their practical recommendations.

Our first example article in this category describes strategies to use with online groups (Kimball, 1995).This article describes 10 different strategies to encourage online communication with a class. One strategysuggests using different types of approaches to nourish a conversation. Since online, collaborative work isrelatively new, it would seem that this area has a rich potential for research. For example, how does aninstructor initiate and nourish an online conversation with students? If you ask questions what type of questions should you ask? If you offer a case study what type of information and initial questions shouldyou provide to start the discussion? How do you manage and keep a discussion on target, and when do youallow a discussion to deviate from the planned topic?

The second article in this category describes an online writing community (Keenan, 1996). Keenandescribes on an online writing course based on MOO (a Multiple user dimension Object Orientedapplications used to participate in chats) where parts of a manuscript were posted for critique and feedback

by the group. One potential study from this paper is the extent to which students incorporate commentsfrom other class members into the revision of their papers. Related questions could investigate how theinformation is incorporated, that is, do the students simply cut and paste the comments, or do they rework the feedback into their paper using their own style? Similarly, one could seek to determine how studentsreact to peer criticism and whether such criticism hampers or improves the writing process. Prereseach

papers, such as these, provide a rich source of potential research topics that have resulted from individualexperiences with the technology.Research and Distance Education

Distance education is creating a rich source of instructional technology research, not only because of theexponential growth of distance education projects, but also because of the electronic trails created in theform of emails, postings, and videotapes. Such data provides a valuable source of technical information andknow how. Well informed instructors and instructional designers can capitalize on the knowledgegenerated in the six categories of research we have identified to design and deliver even better distanceeducation courses for the next generation of students. Similarly, researchers can use these categories to

organize and search for information to generate new research projects. The application of theory-basedresearch guides the practice in a field and provides the practitioners with new tools and strategies that leadto improved instruction.

References

Becker, D. & Dwyer, M. (1998). The impact of student verbal/learning style preference on implementinggroupware in the classroom. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, [On-line] 2. Available:www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/vol2_isue2/becker.htm.

Biner, P. M., Welsh, K. D., Barone, N. M., Summers, M., Dean, R. S. (1977). The impact of remote-sitegroup size on student satisfaction and relative performance in interactive telecourses. The American

Journal of Distance Education, 11, 23-33.Bourne, J. R., McMaster, E., Reiger, J., & Campbell, J. O. (1997). Paradigms for on-line learning: A case

study in the design and implementation of an asynchronous learning networks (ALN) course. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, [On-line] 1. Available:www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/issue2/assee.htm .

Clark, R. E. (1983). Reconsidering research on learning from media. Review of Educational Research, 53,445-459.

Clark, R. E. (1994). Media will never influence learning. Educational Technology, Research, and Development, 42, 21-29.Gunawardena, C. N. & Zittle, F. J. (1997). Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction within a computer-

mediated conferencing environment. The American Journal of Distance Education, 11, 8-26).


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Jayasinghe, M. G., Morrison, G. R., & Ross, S. M. (1997). The effect of distance learning classroom designon student perceptions. Educational Technology, Research & Development, 45, 5-19.

Keenan, C. (1996). Technology in English 105: Building low-cost, high powered writing communities [On-line]. Available: horizon.unc/projects/monograph/CD/Language_Music/Keenan.asp

Kemp, J. E., Morrison, G. R., & Ross, S. M. (1998). Designing effective instruction (2nd ed.) . Columbus,OH: Merrill.

Kozma, R. B. (1994). Will media influence learning? Reframing the debate. Educational Technology, Research & Development, 42, 7-19.

Kies, J. K., Williges, R. C., & Rosson, M. B., (1977). Evaluating desktop video conferencing for distancelearning. Computers and Education, 28, 79-91.

Kimball, L. Ten ways to make online learning groups work. Educational Leadership, 53, 54-56.Olcott, D. & Wright, S. J. (1995). An institutional support framework for increasing faculty participation in

postsecondary distance education. The American Journal of Distance Education, 9, 5-15.Ross, S. M. & Morrison, G. R. (1989). In search of a happy medium in instructional technology research:

Issues concerning external validity, media replications, and learner control. Educational Technology, Research & Development, 37, 19-33.

Sell, G. R. (1976). Introductory Psychology (Second Offering:) Course Evaluation Report. Lincoln, NE:University of Mid-America.

Simonson, M. (1997). Distance education: Does anyone really want to learn at a distance? Contemporary Education, 68, 104-107.

Simonson, M. (1997). Evaluating teaching and learning at a distance. In T. E. Cyrs (Ed.), New Directions for teaching and learning: Teaching and learning at a distance: What it takes to effectively design,deliver, and evaluate programs (pp. 87-94) . San Francisco: Josey-Bass Publishers.

Weiss, R. & Morrison, G. R. (1998, February). Evaluation of a graduate seminar conducted by listserv .Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for Educational Communication and Technology,St. Louis, MO.


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Instructional Design for Distance EducationSharon Smaldino

Professor University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA


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Instructional design is critical to distance education and planning for effective teaching is neededfor learning to occur. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on the planning process. The instructional design

process organizes and systematizes planning. It is essential to consider elements such as the content, thelearner, the strategies for teaching, and the means for assessing the learning experience. By followingthrough with this process, the instructor will find that teaching at a distance is an exciting and dynamicexperience. One that will be welcomed by both the instructor and the learners.

A n aly s is Des ig n Ev alu at io n LearnersContentEnvironment

StrategiesMedia

Learner AssessmentInstruction Evaluation

Adapted from Dick & Carey, The Systematic Design of Instruction , 1996

The instructional design process considers all aspects of the learning environment, following a wellorganized procedure that provides guidance to even the novice distance instructor. Viewing theinstructional environment as a system, fosters a relationship among and between all the components of that

system - the instructor, the learners, the material, and the technology. When this procedure is followed,attention is drawn to considering the components of the system. Especially when planning for distanceeducation, the instructor must make decisions that will affect all aspects of the distant instructional system(Moore & Kearsley, 1996). Focusing on the distant system will help the instructor plan for effectivelearning experiences and the instructor will have a greater opportunity for developing a balanced distantlearning experience.

Principles of Instructional Design SystemsSystematic Process

With the goal of student learning in mind, an instructor can consider the components of a successfullearning system (Dick & Carey, 1996). The interaction of the components - learner, content,method/material, and environment - provides results in creating the type of learning experience necessaryfor student learning. These components must interact both efficiently and effectively to safeguard qualitylearning experiences. There should be a balance among the components, none can take on a higher

precedence over the others. This equal interaction of the system’s components safeguards that theinstruction will reach the goal of student learning.

Planning for Instruction at a DistanceThe planning and organization for a distance education course is multifaceted and must occur

well in advance of the scheduled instruction. To eliminate trial and error preparation, distance learningfaculty should consider the following:• Courses previously taught in traditional classrooms may need to be retooled. The focus of the

instruction shifts to more visual presentations, engaged learners, and careful timing of presentations of information.

• As traditional classroom materials that have been used during instruction are revised, considerationsfor illustrating key concepts, or topics, using table, figures and other visual representations need to bemade.

• Activities that encourage interactivity need to be incorporated. Planning for interactivity helps learners. Not only does the instructor have to plan for interaction, but students may require training to participate actively in these types of distant interactive activities.

• Activities that allow for student group work need to be well planned. This helps construct a supportivesocial environment. For example, the instructor could present case studies related to theories andconcepts covered in the course, then groups of students, perhaps in different sites, could discuss casestudy questions and reach consensus on a solution to the problem.


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• Technical problems can occur, so alternatives for the class must be considered. If equipment fails, it isimportant for students to have projects and assignments independent of the instructor and alternativemeans of communication (e.g., fax, phone, e-mail). Prior discussion of the plan for technology failureswith students will eliminate confusion and loss of productive class time (Herring and Smaldino, 1997).

In addition to considerations related to planning for instruction, there is also a need to examineissues associated with the separation of instructor and some or all of the students. Time constraints for class delivery, lack direct contact, visualization of the materials, and planning for interaction requires areconsideration of classroom dynamics. Often instructors use visual cues, such as student facialexpressions, within the traditional classroom or conversations with students after class to decide quickly toadjust the instructional approach for a course. These cues give instructors insights that help them

personalize the instruction for the students and insure a quality learning experience for all. Teaching at adistance eliminates many of these cues. Alternative approaches to on-going evaluation of instruction must

be incorporated. If instructors ignore this area of preparation, and plan to teach as they always have, theywill feel frustrated. Likewise, students may feel alienated and will begin to “tune out” the instructor. Theinstructional development process should be based on the unique characteristics and needs of students,meshed with the teaching style of the instructor and the course goals and content. Interaction should bemaximized, visual potential of the medium should be explored, and time constraints addressed.

Issues to Address in the Planning ProcessWho are the Learners?

Taking the time to learn about the learners in the class yields a more productive learningenvironment. Along with the general information about the learners, an instructor needs to know morespecific information about the students in the class. Factors such as whether the students are from urban or rural areas, age range, grade range, and educational background can have a marked impact on the levels of interaction among students. The instructor may have to plan more carefully for the types and levels of interaction to ensure a quality learning experience for all members of the class.

The cultural, social, and economic backgrounds of the students is also important information for the instructor (Willis, 1994). Educational expectations of learners can also influence the quality of thelearning experience. The attitude and interest students bring to the class will impact the learningenvironment. Thus, an instructor who is interested in creating a quality learning experience for allmembers of the class, with the ultimate goal of learning as the outcome, will be certain to account for thesevariables in planning.

Students who are less social may find the distance education environment more comfortable for them. Students may become more expressive because of the perception of privacy and the informativenature of mediated communication. They may perceive the increased and varied interactivity andimmediate feedback as a positive input to their interface with the learning experience.

Additionally, students can benefit from a wider range of cognitive, linguistic, cultural, and affectivestyles they would not encounter in a self-contained classroom. The emphasis should not be on the inherentefficiency of the distance learning, but on the values and services offered to students through their exposureto others (Herring & Smaldino, 1997). Relationships can be fostered, values can be expanded, and a shared

purposes or goals can be developed.To be effective, an understanding of the target audience is necessary. Willis (1994) suggested the

following questions be asked prior to development of distance-learning environments:• What are student ages, cultural backgrounds, interests and educational levels?• What is the level of familiarity of the students with the instructional methods and technological

delivery systems under consideration?• How will the students apply the knowledge gained in the course, and how is it sequenced with other

courses?• Can the class be categorized into several broad subgroups, each with different characteristics?

What is the Essential Content?The content of a course needs to reflect articulation within the curriculum. It is essential to examine

the nature of the content, as well as the sequence of information. In any distance learning environment, one particular issue, that of time constraints, impacts other planning areas. Time constraints refer to the actualon-line time for delivery, which is often limited and non-flexible. The issue of limited time makes it


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necessary to closely examine the essential elements of the course content. The instructor needs to balancecontent with the limited time for learning activities and possibly remove extraneous, nonessentialinformation.

Generally speaking, the scope of the content for a course needs to be sufficient to ensure the entirelearning experience will lead to the desired outcomes. Concepts, knowledge, and specific skills need to beidentified (Dick & Carey, 1996). Supporting information or knowledge is important to the scope of contentanalysis. Follow-up and applications of the content should be considered.

It is important to remember that no matter which media are used, the trend is to reduce the “amount”of information delivered and to increase the “interactive value” of the learning experience (Herring &Smaldino, 1997). Thus, the instructor may need to “throw out” content that had been included in atraditional presentation of a course. Or, the instructor may need to reconsider means of “delivery” of theinformation through alternative means, such as additional reading, booklets designed specifically for thetasks, links to special sites, etc.

What Teaching Strategies and Media to Use?Successful teaching at a distance places the recipients’ needs before organizational convenience and

at the center of planning and decision making. The individual needs of the learners are brought to theforefront in education that uses electronic technology, because separation of learners from the instructor requires students to take more responsibility for learning. Consequently, the learner’s opinions and needs

play a more important role in decision making than is usual in an instructor-centered environment(Macfarlane & Smaldino, 1997).

It is oversimplified to suggest that there is one better way to teach at a distance. In any given contentarea there are several potential ways of providing a quality learning experience for the students (Heinich,Molenda, Russell, & Smaldino, 1999). What is essential in deciding which strategy or strategies to employis the issue of engaging the learner. The one thing that has been repeatedly demonstrated through researchis that lecture, or the “talking head,” approach is the least successful strategy to employ in distanceeducation (Schlosser and Anderson, 1996).

The instructor needs to focus on selecting instructional strategies that engage the learners in activelearning. To do this, the instructor may need to de-emphasize the “informative” part of the instruction for more “discovery” of information. The emphasis on keeping the learners engaged in learning ensures thatstudents will be “in tune” with the class.

For the selection of media there are several models often used (Dick & Carey, 1996). One commontheme with all of these models is the learning context, which is the content, the intended outcome, and the

nature of the students. Practical considerations such as available resources for creating media and thetechnologies for delivery of instruction also play a hand in the selection process. Mainly, though, goals andobjectives should be the primary influence on the selection of media.

McAlpine and Weston (1994) have delineated a set of criteria for selecting media, whether they arecommercial media or media developed specifically for a particular course. The first item on the list is tomatch the medium to the curriculum or content. Also included are related items such as accuracy of information, motivational quality, engagement quality, technical quality, and unbiased nature of material.These should be considered in selecting media in order to match student needs to the strategies employed.

Visuals provide a concrete reference point for students, especially when they are engaged in a non-televised learning experience. Providing visuals, even if they are lists of concepts and ideas, can helpstudents. Visuals also help learners by simplifying information. Diagrams and charts often can make iteasier to understand complex ideas. A visual that breaks down a complex idea into its components, canshow relationships that might be otherwise confusing to students. Also, preparing visuals that serve as

mnemonics can assist student understanding. And, visuals help students in their study. They can use themto prepare for tests and other means of assessing their learning.Finally, there are two very important additional issues to be raised. First is that of copyright. No

matter what technologies are incorporated in the distance environment, the instructor needs to respect thecopyright restrictions that might apply. For example, in a televised class, the instructor may not be able touse a video without first obtaining permission to display it to the class. In a Web-based class, the instructor may have to have permission to post a journal article. An instructor needs to be responsible to obtainingcopyright permissions where appropriate.

The second issue is that of access. The instructor cannot assume that all students at a distance haveequal access to resources. Students may not have the technologies available. Also, students may not have


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the facilities at hand. The instructor needs to be certain that all students have similar learning experiences,including the materials. For example, if the instructor wishes students to use certain books or journals for outside reading, it is important to check with the local library to be sure theses materials are available.What is the Learning Environment?

Educators are familiar with classroom settings. They are comfortable with using the space availableto enable learning to take place. But it is when the classroom shifts into a distance learning setting that theenvironment becomes a challenge to the instructor. There are several important elements to address withinthe distance learning environment.Technology. The type of setting, be it place or time shifted, will influence planning decisions.Environments that are place-shifted are those that are synchronous but are not in the same location (e.g. alive video-based distance class). Those that are time-shifted are asynchronous, where students access theclass at different times. Assessing the use of the technologies in a distant setting is essential. In anydistance learning environment the technology becomes the element of most concern for the instructor.

There are several issues associated with technology when teaching in a distance learning mode. Firstis the basic operation of the equipment. In a televised distance learning setting, switching between sites isusually a simple procedure, but it does require time to acquire the finesse to operate the switching buttonssmoothly. Second, using additional cameras in the classroom can create some concern for the instructor.The overhead camera needs to be focused and materials lined up to ensure that learners in all sites can seethe material. Third, the instructor should always consider what the student should be viewing during thelesson. Is it better to see the instructor, the visuals, or other students? When a instructor has hadexperience with teaching with the equipment, these decisions become automatic, making learning thefoundation for the decisions made (Herring & Smaldino, 1997).

In an Internet-based learning environment, the instructor should be concerned with the layout of thecourseware and the types of resources available to the students at the distant sites. The instructor needs to

be certain materials are designed in a way that is intuit ive for the various types of learners. Further theinstructor need to be concerned about student access to the appropriate hardware and software to besuccessful in connecting to the courseware. And, the instructor should be concerned that the students cancomplete the tasks expected of them. Finally, the instructor needs to be certain they understand theterminology being used.

It is essential the instructor be prepared with alternatives for each lesson in case of problems. Whatwill the students do during the lesson time if the technology is not operating properly? The instructor andstudents need to be prepared for times when the entire technology system is not working properly. Pre-

planned contingencies should continue the learning process even though the technology is malfunctioning.

Alternative lessons must always be ready, but hopefully never needed. And, students need to be preparedto know what to do with those materials. They must be designed to be used without instructor intervention.Resources. The second element to consider in the instructional environment is the resources available tostudents. What materials will they have at hand? What materials will be available in libraries andlaboratories? Will students have access to resources for easy communication with the instructor?How to Determine the Quality of the Instruction?

In the instructional design process, formative evaluation becomes an important aspect. Twoquestions need to be considered. The first relates to reflection on the action or activity: "Is this approachgoing to work?" (Schon, 1987). To be an effective educator, it is important to consider what can happenwithin an instructional event. All experiences, both those considered to be positive or negative, have someelement of surprise. It may be expectations were not achieved; it may be a serendipitous event led to analtogether different, but pleasant, outcome. Whatever the nature of the event, it is essential to reflect uponwhat has happened.

Reflection may take the form of critical assessment of the events, satisfying curiosity about thenature of those events (Macfarlane & Smaldino, 1997). Reflection may consider the success of the learningsituation. It brings the instructor into a state of knowing about the learning event. It is now possible tomove into the second question of the formative evaluation process, that of considering how to improve thesituation.

The second question then is, "How can I make this better?" The instructor needs to examine theinstructional event in terms of what worked and what appears to have been a problem. The second phase of the formative evaluation is concerned with helping the instructor ensure a more successful educationalexperience for students. The instructor needs to consider not only issues such as the learning task, the


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instructional materials, and the teaching strategies, but also where the technology may have played a role inthe instruction.

When examining effective instruction, it is important to look at the role technology plays ininstruction. The instructor should consider the elements of technologies and their effect on the students. If a problem occurs with the lesson because of the hardware components of the system, what was the natureof the problem? Was the problem because of a temporary interference with the transmission? Was weather or some other non-controllable issue causing problems with the transmission? Can the hardware beimproved? Can things be done to the interactive instructional classroom to aid instruction in the future?

If a problem does not relate to hardware, then what was the problem? Perhaps students needed to be better informed about how to use the equipment. It may be that students needed preparation for the lesson.Perhaps the instructor needed to prepare other types of handouts or manipulatives to ensure that thestudents could accomplish the tasks. Maybe the instructor needed to select an alternative teaching strategyto improve interactivity and student outcomes.

Because so many different factors effect the interactive learning environment, reflective teaching practices play an even greater role in developing of effective teaching practice. To consider what has transpired andhow to change it creates a dynamic educational experience for both the instructor and the learners.Formative evaluation is essential for successful interactive distance learning experiences.

It is important for the instructor to think about handouts within the context of the planning process.The types of handouts will vary according to the age of the students and the content of the course. But, it isimportant that the instructor realize that when planning a distant course, handouts become an essentialcommunication link with students. Therefore, the instructor needs to invest time and energy in creatingquality handouts for students.

Even within a traditional class, the instructor is concerned with getting materials to the students.Often papers and books are distributed at the beginning of the class period. But, when teaching at adistance, this is not as easy as it might seem. Often the majority of the class is at a distance and distributionof materials becomes a logistical nightmare.

An instructor needs to consider: (a) getting the materials to the distant sites on time. A distributionnetwork must be established for getting tests and other materials to those remote sites. The technology can

be useful in transferring materials; (b) communicating with the students. The effect of separatinginstructor and students does affect this communication; (c) time delays in material transfer. Students mayhave to wait a longer time than normally expected to receive written feedback. Instructors may elect to useother forms of telecommunications with students to facilitate this feedback.

Summary

The instructional design process provides the framework for planning. It is essential that the instructor takethe time to plan and organize the learning experience prior to implementation when engaged in teaching ata distance. The instruction will be at a standard that is acceptable in all venues. The students will beengaged and the instructor will be satisfied. Planning make the difference in a successful learningenvironment.

References

Dick, W. and Carey, L. (1996). The systematic design of instruction . New York: Harper CollinsPublishers.

Heinich, R., Molenda, M., Russell, J. and Smaldino, S. (1999) . Educational media and technologies for learning . Columbus, OH: Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Herring, M. and Smaldino, S. (1997). Planning for interactive distance education: A handbook .Washington, DC: AECT Publications.

Macfarlane, C. & Smaldino, S. (1997). The electronic classroom at a distance. In R. Rittenhouse & D.Spillers (Eds.), Modernizing the curriculum: The electronic classroom . Springfield, MO: Charles ThomasPublishers.


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Convergent Technologies in Distance Education Delivery

Steve Wheeler Senior Lecturer

Distance Learning through TelematicsFaculty of Arts and Education

University of PlymouthUK


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Introduction

British education has recently been witnessing a revolution in the development of distance learningtechnologies. This revolution is taking place in three areas:

• in technological innovation, where equipment is decreasing in size and increasing in usability;• in the development of the techniques for delivering learning materials to students using thetechnology;• in the trend towards converging technologies to create a seamless delivery platform.

The ‘revolutionaries’ are the movers and shakers of education and training. They are the innovators andearly adopters who are prepared to take the risk to try out new ideas. They are the visionaries who attemptto enhance teaching delivery and promote improvements within the distributed learning environment. Thiskind of environment has no bounds, because the technology provides freedom from time and placeconstraints. It offers a widening of traditional catchment areas to include anyone who wishes to participatein life-long learning.

Networking the rural areas

The University of Plymouth is situated in the southern part of the South West peninsula of England (Figure1) and surrounded by rural farmland and moorland. It has six main campuses and a number of other smaller learning centres, such as the Institute of Health Studies centres based in local hospitals, and theRATIO centres – European funded telecentres based within remote villages and towns throughout theregion.

0 50 100 km

SWAN - South WestArea Network: ATMinter-campus and inter-site links at bandwidthsup to 155 Mbps

Gloucestershire

Wiltshire

Dorset

Somerset

Devon

Cornwall

TDS4Uplink, TV

Studio

Plymouth*

Exeter*

Exmouth

Taunton*

Newton Abbot

South Wales

Digital satellite TV transmissionsand data sub-carrier

University of Plymouthmain campuses andsites

* Denotes Institute ofHealth Studies (IHS) centreon this campus or site

University of PlymouthIHS study centres (inhospitals)

RATIO project regionalcommunity telematics

learning centres (total 40) Truro

South Molton

Barnstaple

Yeovil

Bodmin

Torbay

Honiton

Isles ofScilly

SuperJANET

Pool*

Wells

Figure 1

All HIS and RATIO centres are equipped with a range of technologies, including computers, digitalsatellite TV and data reception, video conferencing and Internet connectivity.


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The University has invested heavily in the development of its telematics infrastructure for a number of reasons. Firstly, the geography of the South West requires a substantial amount of travel on small countryroads, and this can be problematic. Secondly, seasonal tourism creates travel problems during the summer months. Thirdly, the University views telematics as a means to develop the human resources within theregion. In particular small businesses in the South West of England require high quality training products,delivered flexibly, direct to the workplace (or very near) and in a differentiated, student centred manner.

The rationale for the establishment of the network is that a great many rural residents are socially isolatedfrom others and from the rest of the world, making them doubly disadvantaged (Stevens, 1994). Poor travel and communications infrastructures prevent many from participating in lifelong learning activitiesenjoyed by their urban counterparts. Furthermore, lack of access to educational facilities has disadvantagedthe region as a whole, as a great many rural residents are under-skilled or lack the personal finance to re-skill during periods of unemployment. Prospective employers who wish to employ skilled workforcescurrently tend to look elsewhere in the country, or even outside, in order to recruit quality staff and therebymaintain a competitive edge. One of the University’s main objectives, therefore, is to ensure the deliveryof high quality training and education to the villages and local communities in which these individualsreside. In this way, it is hoped that the local workforce will raise its profile within the job market.

Communication and community

Distance learning is not just a move away from learning within the classroom. It is a complete paradigmshift – a change in the fabric and culture of education. It is based on the premise that students are at thecentre of the learning process, take responsibility for their own learning, and work at their own pace, and intheir own place. It is about ownership and autonomy.

As any educator will tell you, good communication in the traditional classroom setting has always been at a premium. When delivering learning materials outside the classroom across any distance, it is all the moreimportant that technologies and techniques support learners and improve communications between studentsand teachers. Course delivery into remote rural communities compounds the matter still further. Barriersof cultural differences and resistance to change present as many problems as the need to effectivelycommunicate with others at a distance. The establishment of robust delivery and support systems istherefore vital.

To achieve these aims a multi-layered delivery system has been established, utilising establishedtechnologies such as personal computer and telephone communications networks, combined with the newer technologies, such as digital transmission systems and associated hardware. This includes ISDN Internetconnectivity, digitally compressed satellite TV and data broadcasts, and digital video teleconferencing.The technology used to combine these modes of delivery can be referred to as convergent technology.

Digital compression techniques

Technological convergence is almost totally reliant on digitization. This technique makes possible the production, storage and dissemination of text, graphics, speech, sounds, still and moving pictures inessentially the same format (Kirkwood, 1996). Furthermore, in digital format less bandwidth is required totransmit course materials such as live TV or multi-media, as they are compressed. Digital compression

offers the user the opportunity to send materials that time and expense would previously have prohibited.For example, wide band FM television signals would normally require a complete transponder on asatellite. The transmission of digital satellite TV (sound and vision) takes approximately one eighth of thespace on the same transponder. You only pay for what you use. The remainder of the transponder cansubsequently be hired out to other users. Furthermore, redundant audio channels can be used to sendcoded materials, graphics, Internet web pages, lecture notes or technical updates. These files are received

by a data capture card residing in a personal computer connected to the satellite receiver. Files can then be printed out for immediate use or stored onto hard disk.


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It is from the merging of two general technologies, TELEcommunications and inforMATICS the term'telematics' has been derived. The advent of telematics has been instrumental in ensuring that manytraditional modes of learning delivery are supported and, increasingly in some cases, superseded. Satellitesystems, terrestrial transmission through conductive materials and through photonics (optical fibre) basedcomputer networks and video systems can all be seen as components of a sophisticated and multi-layeredyet singular delivery system. Figure 2 outlines an integrated approach combining satellite and terrestrialtechnologies to enhance the learning experience.

Figure 2

Distance delivery

The delivery of learning materials to multi-sites from a single point is highly desirable. For example, allstudents within a distributed environment need to receive certain information simultaneously. This is

particularly important for those managing the centres – rumour factories in small villages can be quicklyeliminated if everyone is given the same information at the same time.

Point to multi-point dissemination of materials can be achieved cost effectively by the use of convergenttechnology. For example, satellite transmissions can send live pictures and sound to as many or as fewreceiving sites as required, for the same cost. Data can be sent simultaneously, ensuring that studentsreceive paper based support materials such as handouts and course notes as they leave the teaching session.

Experts and presenters are situated in a central TV studio, and broadcast to a dispersed population of students using compressed video techniques. Students who wish to participate in the proceedings have theoption to telephone, e-mail or video conference into the TV studio. If they videoconference, their picture isintegrated into the live studio picture and re-transmitted. In the same way, remote experts can be broughtinto the studio, without the need for expensive travel.

Delivery of course material

The implementation of telematics is beginning to occur across the entire spectrum of education in the UK,

from primary schooling through to the tertiary sector. More and more students of all ages are becomingcomputer literate and proficient in using networked information technologies. Children as young as 5 yearsold are now learning to use the Internet. Partially as a result of these developments, moves away fromcontiguous towards distance approaches to education, and moves towards open access and 'lifelong'learning are now becoming common place in educational practice.

System flexibility

Whereas interactive television via satellite is time constrained, web based material delivered over theInternet ensures flexibility of study, as web servers can be accessed at any time during the day or night andthe learning material can be easily and regularly updated to keep pace with trends and changes. Flexibilitymust also be a by-word in computer mediated conferencing (CMC). Full interactivity between users can

be achieved using on-line computer conferencing (Hiltz, 1986). Students can either 'chat' live to their tutors

and peer groups in synchronous mode, or alternatively, leave electronic mail messages for each other,creating an evolving, discursive 'open forum' in asynchronous format (Rawson, 1991).

Social Support

The provision of tutor support is vital for the success of learning. Students who are left to survive withoutexpert help and advice often flounder and fail, whether they are studying at a distance or not. Rowntree(1989) argues that without feedback on their performance, students find it difficult to perceive a reference

point from which to measure up, and are thus deprived of performance standards. Moreover, social supportis a vital component of the learning experience (Oborne, 1993). Cullen & McNieve (1993) and McConnell


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(1991) agree that the social presence function of telematics is essential in facilitating working and learningat a distance.

Social support may be forthcoming as a direct result of using telematics. Hiltz and Turoff (1978), Kleiner and Davis (1979) and Theobald (1980) all offer evidence to suggest that CMC improves rather than inhibitsthe personal sense of social interaction and support across distances.

Learning support can of course be achieved by traditional face to face contact with staff and other users atthe telecentre, but it is anticipated that telestudents will spend just as much time interacting with student

peer groups at other centres, and tutors at a distance. The latter two groupings can offer social support onlythrough telematics mediated communications, and this is the challenge.

Students studying at a telecentre must therefore be offered contact with their tutors and peers electronically.By the same token, teachers delivering material to remote students must achieve a virtual presence whereonce a physical presence was possible. The advantage of the telematics approach is that the teacher can 'bein several places at one time', and depending on the technology employed, can perform a variety of tasksthat would previously be impossible.

One technology for example, known as the 'One Touch Key Pad' operates using conventional analoguetelephone cabling. ‘One Touch’ offers each student a device featuring several simple functions such asYes/No and ? keys. Students can see and hear their tutor on a television screen. The presenting tutor cantarget questions to individuals or the entire group, and receive responses on the control screen. The tutor can gather a consensus of opinion from the entire student population in seconds on a graphic display, or cansee at a glance, which students are in need of further tutor support by the record of their responses.

By the use of a video conferencing link, teachers can share applications and literally 'take control' of their students' computer screens. Using this technique, tutors can indicate specific features, demonstrate newfunctions or create free drawn diagrams with white board facilities. Tutors will also discover thatcompletely new interaction patterns will result due to teaching using new technology (Lewis, 1995).Contact with some students may mean that tutors never get to meet their students, and that what isconveyed across a network may have to be more concise and salient than material delivered within aclassroom environment. There are obvious staff development issues here.

Some potholes ….

There are of course disadvantages to teaching or studying using convergent technologies. For example, invideo conferencing a time lag is often evident due to the distances involved and the speed restrictions of some computer processors. Low screen refresh rates can create picture lag and pixellation - the appearanceof jerky motions, ill defined vision and intermittent interference on screen. The techniques of turn takingand speaking in a deliberate manner must be mastered as the time lag can create confusion with the

participants tending to 'talk over' each other.

Teachers may be less able to detect non-verbal cues from their students when using satellite conferencingor web based materials. A whole new range of presentation skills in both verbal and written modes musttherefore be developed if convergent technologies are to be a useful learning tool rather than a poor

pedagogical substitute.

Assessment

Assessing students who are learning at a distance can be extremely problematic. Issues of authenticity andreliability need to be addressed - is the student who s/he says s/he is, and how do we know we are assessingfairly and accurately – are questions needing answers.

Arguably, the assessment of remote student learning can readily be effectively achieved throughconvergent technology solutions. Video conferencing has a data transfer facility enabling the student tosend large quantities of written, pictorial or mixed mode data to tutors across any distance, and the tutor can


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quickly confirm receipt of the work for marking. Viewers of satellite programmes are able to audio, videoand e-mail conference back into studio to respond to the presenter's questions, or ask questions of studioexperts.

Tutors can also visually assess some forms of learning using video links, particularly within the psychomotor (skills) domain by observation and affective (attitudinal) domain by direct interaction such asinterviews. Where cognitive (knowledge) assessment is required, course writers can devise a multitude of text based activities to test the student’s understanding and expertise. It has been strongly argued thattechnology has an ever increasing role as a recorder and analyser of learning performance (Chickering &Ehrmann, 1994).

Ultimately, teachers can interact with their students and establish a ‘telepresence’ which is the next bestthing to actually being in the room with the learner.

Conclusion

Convergent technologies are beginning to make an impact on the delivery of learning material at a distancein the UK. The author predicts that as course providers purchase more telematics equipment, two thingswill happen. Firstly, as has been historically the case with the adoption of new technologies, costs of unitswill decrease as the user base increases. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, users will discover anddevelop new and innovative techniques to exploit the capabilities of the technology. The only limits toinnovation will be the imagination of the proponents of the new technologies. Time will reveal just howfast these developments occur.

REFERENCES

Chickering A W and Ehrmann S C (1994 ) Implementing Seven Principles of Good Practice: Technology as Lever . Occasional Paper. Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. Paris, France.

Cullen K and McNieve A (1993) The social implications of telework for teleworkers, ConferenceProceedings ; Psychological Aspects of Teleworking in Rural Areas (PATRA) , Dublin, Ireland. October,1993.

Hiltz S R (1986) The virtual classroom: Using computer mediated communication for university teaching, Journal of Communication , 36, (2) 95-104.

Hiltz S R and Turoff M (1979) The network nation - Human communication via computer, in Kerr E B andHiltz S R (1982) Computer Mediated Communication Systems: Status and Evaluation , Academic Press,

New York.

Kirkwood A (1996) Convergence and Media for Teaching and Learning , Innovations in Education and Technology International. 33, (

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