VOLUME 2, NUMBER 2, 1988
Editorial
Presentation and Participation
Michael G. Moore
Articles (for abstracts, click
here)
Problems in Defining the Field of Distance Education
Desmond Keegan
An Economic Analysis of Inservice Teacher Training Alternatives
Sara Rule, Michael J. Dewulf, and Joseph J. Stowitschek
A Conceptual Model of Correspondence Course Completion
Diane M. Billings
The Performance of Nonresident Students in the "Economics
U$A" Telecourse
Paul W. Grimes, Joyce E. Nielson, and James F. Niss
Student Perceptions on the Effectiveness of College Credit
Courses Taught via Satellite
Bruce O. Barker and Marvin R. Platten
Grass Roots
Microcomputer Training in Minnesota
Charles R. Blinn and Jan A. Flack
Forum
The Global Electronic University
Takeshi Utsumi, Parker Rossman, and Steven M. Rosen
Interview
Speaking Personally with Gayle B. Childs
Mary Beth Almeda
Book Reviews
Distance Education in Canada
by Ian Mugridge and David Kaufman
John Minnis
Teaching Telecourses: Opportunities and Options, A Faculty
Notebook
by Toby K. Levine
Charles E. Feasley
Problems in Defining the Field of Distance Education
Desmond Keegan
This article represents the author's response to a
charge that his book The Foundations of Distance Education presented "too
narrow a view of distance education." In responding to this charge,
Keegan discusses the relationship between distance and conventional education,
with specific reference to the issue of whether distance education is
merely one teaching mode which will gradually merge with conventional
delivery or whether it is one of two specific, unrelated educational dimensions.
He argues that, although distance learning has been intellectually and
practically accepted, it has yet to be emotionally accepted by conventional
educators; administers of conventional programs are therefore unlikely
to merge their programs with those in which students study away from educational
institutions and "outside the oral, group-based structures of Western
culture". On the basis of this assessment, the author presents a
view of distance education as complementing conventional provision by
being the "normal" provision of education for those not served
by traditional institutions: working people, taxpayers, homemakers, and
those who do not with to attend conventional institutions. He concludes
that educators must work to guarantee distance learners educational experiences
of equal quality, quantity, and status to those provided to conventional
learners. (13 references)
An Economic Analysis of Inservice Teacher
Training Alternatives
Sara Rule, Michael J. Dewulf, and Joseph J. Stowitschek
This paper examines the costs of providing inservice
training via interactive television to early education staff teaching
young handicapped students in three rural communities. Staff and children
participated in their own or in adjacent classrooms, while the trainers
were located in studios 120-300 miles away. Participating teachers, aides,
and student interns implemented teaching techniques as trainers observed.
Trainers subsequently delivered feedback and the participants modified
their teaching techniques accordingly. Training cycles included 12-26
sessions distributed across 6-12 weeks. Costs of telecommunications training
were gathered and used to estimate costs of training that would have been
incurred had staff traveled to project sites. Results suggested that telecommunications
training is more economical than an equal amount of on site training and
can be a viable alternative for delivering individualized training to
teachers in rural and remote areas. The advantages of providing training
to remote sites are discussed. (7 references)
A Conceptual Model of Correspondence Course
Completion
Diane M. Billings
The study of correspondence instruction and course
completion behavior and a lack of a conceptual framework to guide the
investigation of the problem of high rates of correspondence course noncompletion.
A conceptual model of correspondence course completion, adapted from Bean's
synthetic model of attrition in Institutions of Higher Education is proposed.
The model links background, organizational, environmental, outcome/attitudinal
variables, intention to complete the course, and lesson submission behavior
with progress toward course completion. The model shows relationships
which are linear, additive, and causal, and which can be estimated empirically.
Use of the model is advocated for further study and search for solutions
to this and related problems in distance education. (52 references)
The Performance of Nonresident Students
in the "Economics U$A" Telecourse
Paul W. Grimes, Joyce E. Nielson, and James F. Niss
As the number of students enrolled in nonresidential
college degree programs increases, questions are being raised concerning
the quality of instruction in courses which are offered through nontraditional
methods. One of the most popular and often criticized forms of nontraditional
instruction is the telecourse. This paper presents a summary of results
from a study commissioned by the Annenberg/CPB Project to evaluate the
effectiveness of the recently produced and released "Economics U$A"
telecourse. (9 references)
Student Perceptions on the Effectiveness
of College Credit Courses Taught Via Satellite
Bruce O. Barker and Marvin R. Platten
Many college and university administrators across the country are showing interest in courses which are transmitted live via satellite. Interactive instructional television is a viable alternative for course delivery to students in distant or geographically isolated settings. This article briefly describes one of the first graduate level college credit courses taught over the TI-IN interactive satellite network in Texas. A compilation of student responses regarding their experience with satellite instruction is also presented. (1 reference)
