Unit 2          Educational Technology for Distance Education

Unit Objectives:

• Understanding distance education program planning.
• Understanding how policy affects units within the institution when planning distance programs.

Commentary

Picciano does a good job in Chapter 8 in describing the different types of educational technology used in distance education.  He has does some good comparisons of the technologies.  On page 195 he comments that “finding the proper fit of academic program, student need, and instructional tools is the essence of good educational planning.  I would add to that from an administrator’s point of view that you also need financial resources, student services, an effective marketing plan and a good administrative computing system to make a distance program work.  We will discuss these issues more in Unit 4.

In the commentary for Unit 1, I mentioned the nine steps in traditional program planning as presented by Boyle.  While traditional models for programming planning do work in planning distance education programs, there are unique features to distance programs that require distance education program managers to think about program planning at little differently.  That is what we are going to discuss in this unit.

I found an article that addresses some of the unique aspects of distance education program planning.  The following is what the authors, Garrett and Weiner, recommend:

• Hire more faculty specifically for the distance learning program.
• Write policy for faculty compensation.
• Appoint a team of people to work at the micromanagement level to orient first-time students.
• Provide comprehensive administrative support for the entire distance learning team.
• Train faculty well.
• Hire a special virtual librarian and an assistant.
• There should be at least two advisors.
• Establish and test a two-way, effective, and constructive communication system.
• Frontload the program with tailored classes to teach needed technical skills.

Moore and Kearsley (1996) reviewed several similar studies and came up with perspectives on faculty and training.  Generally:

• Faculty indicate that distance teaching requires a personalized and empathic rapport with students.
• Communications skills are critical for distance instructors.
• Faculty motivation for teaching at a distance comes from intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.
• Faculty believe that distance teaching experiences improves their traditional teaching as well.

Some obstacles faced by distance education programs include:

• A lack of awareness on the part of the university community of the general benefits of distance education;
• Lack of incentives for faculty to be involved in distance education;
• The unreasonableness of expecting faculty to commit themselves to a very different teaching approach without any trial period; and
• The faculty’s sense that distance education was not integrated within the university’s programs and plans.  This last obstacle emphasizes the importance of an institution-wide policy regarding distance education.

Finally some recommendations for administrators who wish to support good distance education:

• Hire support personnel to provide assistance with instructional design and the installation, operation, or maintenance of equipment.
• Establish a faculty development laboratory to provide a place to try out and practice technology.
• Provide administrative support for distance education efforts.
• Be sensitive to faculty’s needs for incentives and recognition for distance teaching efforts.
• Provide faculty training, not only in the use of the technology involved but also in presentation and participation skills.

Source:  Moore & Kearsley, 1996, pages 150-151.

The important themes from these sources

• Faculty must be interested in teaching at a distance, they must be good communicators and they must be trained to use the technology.
• Provide the resources the faculty need to do a good job.
• Compensate the faculty for their work; distance education courses are more time consuming.
• The administration and the institution policy must support the distance education efforts.

Policy discussion for Unit 2

In this Unit we are looking at Chapter 2, the Lape and Hart article.  On page 15 the authors mention that it is important to determine what your leaders know about distance education, the importance they place on distance education methods and whether or not differences exist among various groups within the organization.  The article discusses key areas of concern for distance education managers, planning, curricular issues and cost-effectiveness of distance education.

Your assignment this week is to review the article and send me a short email on what policies and procedures you would have to change to make distance education work in your organization.   Also, please email me your paper topic.

My email address is deb.gearhart@dsu.edu and if you want to call and talk anytime the toll free number is 800-641-4309.  Due date – July 21.

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References for this week:

Garrett, L. N. and Weiner, B. J. (1999) “Keys to success in delivering distance learning on the Internet”. In Distance Education Report. Volume 3, Number 4. April 1999. Pages 6-7.

Moore, M. G. and Kearsely, G. (1996). Distance Education A Systems View. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

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