Distance Education

Distance Learning

Objectives

• Definition of Distance Education

• Overview of Adult Education

• History of Distance Education

• Distance Education Today

“The Idea and Evolution of Distance Education”

Basic Definition of Distance Education

• A form of Adult Education

• Teacher and learner are separate

• During the majority of the instruction.

Expanded Definition of D.E.

• The separation of teacher and learner during at least a majority of the instructional process

• The influence of an educational organization, including the provision of student evaluation

• The use of educational media to unite teacher and learner and carry course content

• The provision of two-way communication between teacher, tutor, or educational agency and learner

Expanded Definition(continued)

Adult Education vs. Adult Learning

• Adult Education:– teaching of adults

– using an organized formal or informal plan of education

– direct involvement of a teacher

• Adult Learning: – a continuous part of

adult life

– primarily skills and knowledge for personally relevant situations

– without a formal educational institution or teacher

Adult Education Growing

Percent of College Students 25 yrs and Older

0

10

20

30

40

50

197719871997

3 Categories of Adult Education

• Career Education: – to prepare for vocation, profession or to

upgrade job skills

• Adult Basic Education: – to acquire basic skills to function

• Leisure and Enrichment: – to enrich life or lives of others

Dates in Distance Education

• 1840– Correspondence for

shorthand - England

• 1873– Society to Encourage

Study at Home

• 1874– Distance Ed begins at

Illinois Wesleyan University

• 1878 – Chautauqua Movement

• 1892– first printed use of term

“distance education”

Distance Education Today

• Open University of United Kingdom (OOUK) a model

• A worldwide phenomenon - 10 million people study at a distance

Distance Education Today

• Adult Learning Services (ALS) telecourses sponsored by Public Broadcasting Service - 1 million people from 1981 - 1988

• More than 90% of distance education in US is through postsecondary institutions other than colleges

Distance Education Today

• 4 million students enrolled at a given time in schools accredited by the National Home Study Counci

• International Correspondence School : first and largest privately licensed home study proprietary school

Typical Adult Learner

• Married

• White

• Female

• Attends school part-time

• Employed full-time

• Pays for tuition

Key Factors in Adult Learning

• Motivation tied to value adults place on learning

• Adults learn primarily for job-related reasons

• Adults like hands-on experience

• Adults are pragmatic learners who emphasize practical utility

Key Factors in Adult Learning

• Adults like to choose the time and place for learning

• Adults like to work at their own pace

• Adults like feedback

• Adults do not like to waste time

Distance Educations Barriers

• Dispositional: Preference for traditional classroom

• Situational: Cost and lack of time

• Institutional: Lack of support and information, red tape and prerequisites

Dimensions of Adult Learning Style

• Content

• Conditions

• Mode

• Prediction of Success

Design Considerations

• Learning Domains: Cognitive, Psychomotor, Affective

• Learning Style: Preferences

• Maturity: The more mature the student, the less direction needed

Food for Thought

• How can Distance Education be designed to accommodate individual differences in adults?