VOLUME 2, NUMBER 3, 1988
Editorial
The American Symposium on Research in Distance Education
Michael G. Moore
Articles (for abstracts,
click here)
An Epistemological Justification for the Role of Teaching in Distance
Education
Morris Sammons
Integrated Telecommunications Systems and Instructional
Transaction
Farhad Saba
Toward a Reconceptualization of Distance Education
Doug Shale
Psychological Type Elements and Goal Accomplishment Style:
Implications for Distance Education
Kathryn Atman
Methodological Issues in Distance Educational Research
Dan O Coldeway
Learning from Teletraining
Alan G. Chute, Lee B., and Carol O. Poston
Continuing Professional Development in Distance Education
Harold Markowitz, Jr.
Grass Roots
The Installation and Use of a Remote Electronic Bulletin Board in Teaching
a Graduate Level Course
C. Hugh Gardner and Murray Tillman
Forum
U.S. Higher Education and International Distance Learning
Daniel Granger
Interview
Speaking Personally with John Horlock
Alan Tait
Book Review
ZIFF Paper 66: The Influence of an Instructional Design Upon Learning
of Distance Education Students in Venezuela
by Anne Benko de Rotaeche
Grover E. Diehl
Media Review
Interactive Audio: Available Training Resources
Charles E. Feasley and Ron Payne
EDITORIAL
The American Symposium on Research in Distance
Education
Michael G. Moore
In Spring 1988 The Office of Distance Education, a graduate teaching and research group at Penn State University, extended invitations to nearly fifty leading thinkers about distance education to participate in the first symposium on American research in this field. The Symposium was held at the Penn State campus from 24-27 July 1988. The Symposium was a unique event in the history of distance education. Not only was it the first time that American leaders of the broad field of distance education have assembled to review and discuss its condition with particular reference to research, but also it was the first time that such a group has met for such a purpose anywhere in the world.
More than thirty of the Symposium participants submitted papers for discussion. We hope next year to publish a report of the proceedings in book form, including the papers. In the meantime this issue of AJDE is devoted to giving our readers a selection of the papers from the Symposium. Articles represent the four topical areas that were the foci for discussion, namely:
- Institutional, organizational and policy issues;
- Learners, learning, and questions concerning instruction;
- Issues regarding curricula and course design; and
- Questions concerning the theory and concept of distance education.
In discussing those aspects of distance education, participants at the Symposium, both in discussion and in their papers, were encouraged to: share knowledge about practice and research; subject what is presently known, including the existing research, to analysis and critical examination; identify problems, issues, controversies, and uncertainties as bases for future research; and produce a list of priorities for research, with suggestions and ideas about methods and resources for carrying it out. A list of the Symposium participants follows. There will be more information on the proceedings, including the research agenda, in later issues of The AJDE and in the forthcoming book.
Why should we be so concerned about research in distance education? Our first concern springs from the almost unbelievable rate of expansion of distance education in North and South America, and throughout the world. Of course, expansion is very welcome. Distance education methods have been neglected for too many years for us not to be excited about the enthusiasm with which they are now being widely adopted. However, that enthusiasm is sometimes excessive when administrators and educators in corporations, colleges and universities, public school systems, health care institutions and the military, make favorable decisions with a limited view of distance Often those decisions are hurried and based on lack of information about our methods. Enthusiasm is misplaced when it reflects the view that distance education is easier or more simple than face-to-face teaching, while in fact it is pedagogically more complicated.
There is an expectation that distance education programs can be introduced without a long and sophisticated process of needs assessment, course design, and review of instructional procedures. That expectation demonstrates ignorance about the time, money, procedures, and human skills that are required and must be organized to achieve well-designed learning programs and good instruction of distant learners.
In terms of design and instruction, there are already too many poor programs around. We should be concerned about ill-informed actions that might result in any more such programs. As a result of too many failures, our methods could get a bad name, and we will then lose opportunities to create better, more effective programs.
We should all be concerned about the fractured nature of our emerging field. Currently we see a multitude of mini-projects in different states, even in different school districts, universities, and colleges. The military services have their own projects, as does each major corporation. Programs are planned and taught by computer, audio and video, correspondence, and telecommunications specialists, but seldom do these specialists plan or teach in coordination with each other.
Distance education is most successful where there is specialization of human resources and communication resources. It is unreasonable to expect any state or organization to be rich enough to pay for all its learning needs, and it is certain that no medium is good enough to meet all learning needs. There appears to be some resistance to these facts, and therefore research must prove the benefits of collaborating with others, as well as demonstrate what can best be done by each medium. In a related manner, each sector of the fragmented field needs to learn, from the research, what has been and is being done in the other parts. There is a serious need for distance education in this country to "get its act together" both in research and in practice.
Finally, there is an academic need for review and analysis of research and for the organization of a research agenda. There is growing student interest in our field. In the past year Penn State has offered graduate courses in Introduction to Distance Education, Theory and Practice of Distance Education, and Course Design and Development in Distance Education. More than fifty doctoral and masters' students have taken these courses. Being a leading graduate program in the field, we feel perhaps more acutely the need for information about research, for a degree of cohesion and collaboration in its conceptualization, planning, and execution. We want to know what has been happening and what is happening. We also want to work with others to decide what needs to be done, and organize ourselves to do it.
Symposium participants:
Kathryn Atman, U. of Pittsburgh
Bennett H. Berman, Center for Information Technologies, Washington, DC
Dee Brock, PBS, Alexandria, VA
Alan Chute, AT&T National Teletraining Center, Cincinnati
Chére Coggins, U. of Wisconsin, Madison
Dan Coldeway, Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada
Peter Cookson, Penn State University
James R. Daniel, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Frankfort
Diane Davis, UESP, Pittsburgh
Peter Dirr, Annenberg/CPB, Washington, DC
Becky Duning, U. of Colorado, Boulder
Frank Dwyer, Penn State University
Steve Eskow, Electronic University Network, San Francisco
Barbara Florini, Syracuse University
Marlowe Froke, Penn State University
Arturo Garzón, Organization of American States, Washington, DC
Daniel Granger, Empire State College, Saratoga Springs, NY
A.H. Joseph, Associacion Argentina de Educacion a Distancia
Patricia Kovel-Jarboe, University of Minnesota, St. Paul
Michael Mark, Ohio University, Athens
Harold Markowitz, Jr., U. of Florida, Gainesville
William Mason, Aetna Institute, Hartford, CT
Gary Miller, International University Consortium, College Park, MD
Michael Moore, Penn State University
Stephen Murgatroyd, Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada
Rebecca Oxford, Annenberg/CPB, Washington, DC
Sara Parks, Penn State University
Ronald Pedone, Office of Research, OERI, Washington, DC
Gerald M. Phillips, Penn State University
Von V. Pittman, U. of Iowa, Iowa City
Carol Poston, Learning Systems for the Future, AT&T, Cincinnati
Farhad Saba, San Diego State University
Morris Sammons, U. of Illinois, Champaign
Gerry Santoro, Penn State University
Doug Shale, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Harvey Stone, University of Delaware, Newark
Bill Toombs, Penn State University
Takeshi Utsumi, Global Information Services, Flushing, NY
Armando Villarroel, Universidad Nacional Abierta, Caracas, Venezuela
Ellen Wagner, U. of Northern Colorado, Greeley
Nil Whittington, Kansas Board of Regents, Topeka
Doug Widner, Public Service Satellite Consortium, Washington, DC
An Epistemological Justification
for the Role of Teaching in Distance Education
Morris Sammons
This paper examines the ideas of those who advocate an emphasis on learner independence and shows that little substantive information is available on how well learner autonomy works in the context of distance education. After this examination, it will discuss a theory of learning developed by Hugh Petrie (1981), in which the role of teaching is justified on epistemological grounds and learner independence is promoted through teaching. (5 references)
Integrated Telecommunications Systems
and Instructional Transaction
Farhad Saba
Discussion of how learner and teacher communicate in distance education. Focuses on Moore's concept of transactional distance in light of recent developments in telecommunications. Integrated telecommunications systems are described, adult learning and instructional transactions are discussed, and system dynamics are presented as a tool for modeling concepts in distance education. (ERIC #EJ384367) (11 references)
Toward a Reconceptualization of Distance Education
Doug Shale
This article describes and discusses the conceptualization of distance education. It elaborates on the fact that education is a process, not a product; and provides a model for the educational process to which distance education should be striving. Further, the educational relationship between teacher and student is described in greater detail. The author contends that technological developments are eroding the traditional points of distinction between distance education and conventional education. The article concludes that distance education does not require a definition because it can be viewed as education at a distance. If distance education is not taken to be different from education as we normally understand it, then the characterization offered for education will suffice for distance education. (8 references)
Psychological Type Elements and Goal
Accomplishment Style: Implications for Distance Education
Kathryn Atman
The capacity for self-management is crucial to the success of individual performance in distance education programs. Therefore, consideration of two related questions is mandatory: (1) How can nonorganizers be identified? and (2) What type of orientation program, based on recognition of individual differences, should be designed for distance education learners? This paper rests on the following three propositions: (1) Psychological type (Jung 1971), as explicated by Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Myers 1976), provides a useful framework through which the phenomenon of individual differences can be examined. (2) An individual's goal accomplishment style (Atman 1987) provides a means through which each individual's goal setting/accomplishment potential can be reviewed. (3) The capacity to structure things, space, and time contributes to each individual's measure of success in educational settings. Such settings include those found in distance education, where self-management (the predisposition to organize/plan) is essential for course completion. (7 references)
Methodological Issues in Distance
Educational Research
Dan O Coldeway
Provides brief analysis of methods for conducting research on distance education. Topics discussed include education research in general; qualitative versus quantitative research; the distinction between research and evaluation; the concept of triangulation as a research method; component research; and a conceptual framework for distance education research. (ERIC #EJ384368) (14 references)
Learning from Teletraining
Alan G. Chute, Lee B. Bathazar, and Carol O. Poston
The article presents five years of experiences from the National Teletraining Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. This AT&T teleconferencing showcase center uses audio, audiographic, and video media.The article includes experiences about instructional effectiveness, cost-benefit analyses, course and curriculum development, instructor competencies, and media attributes. The article also discusses some future research directions. (2 references)
Continuing Professional Development
in Distance Education
Harold Markowitz, Jr.
The article focuses on the development of leadership in distance education. The following two questions are discussed: "What should be done to assist professional staff in acquiring the knowledge and honing the skills that will contribute to future success?" and "Is the current leadership effective in supporting staff development and in sharing experiences and values?" The discussion is based on selected literature on professional preparation in adult and continuing education and in distance education. (23 references)
