Distance Education

I. Distance education can provide a richer and more engaging educational experience than is possible within the confines of the classroom. It requires creativity and innovation in the design and development of Internet-delivered materials, especially since materials may have to stand alone, and in the use of delivery technologies. The same issues of quality and effectiveness that exist in the classroom occur in distance education, often compounded by the delivery mechanism and lack of contact between students and teachers and between peers.

Distance education existed long before the Internet, but it has become more prevalent and has changed significantly through technological advances. All sectors, especially higher education, corporate training, and continuing and professional education, want to take advantage of Internet technologies to provide education, training, and collaboration capabilities to geographically dispersed populations to enhance educational experiences and increase enthusiasm for learning.

Distance education is most typically defined as education that takes place independent of location, in contrast to education delivered solely in the classroom, and that may be independent of time as well. In fact, the definition is quite fuzzy and is understood and interpreted differently by different groups and in different contexts. In particular, the definition varies in the inclusion and role of teachers and peers. While traditional education places great emphasis on the role of the teacher, in distance education the teacher can be completely removed from the learning process. Traditional education also delineates a duration for a learning situation, with a start and end date, which is only the case with some distance education.

ASTD, an education-focused professional organization, defines distance education in part by how it is delivered, as a Distance education can be characterized as an "educational situation in which the instructor and students are separated by time, location, or both. Education or training courses are delivered to remote locations via synchronous or asynchronous means of instruction, including written correspondence, text, graphics, audio- and videotape, compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), online learning, audio- and videoconferencing, interactive television, and facsimile (FAX). Distance education does not preclude the use of the traditional classroom. The definition of distance education is broader than and entails the definition of e-learning.

There are many terms that are used interchangeably, or with subtle distinctions, including distance learning, online learning, Web-based learning, and e-learning. E-learning, as seen in the previous quote, typically refers to education delivered over the Internet while distance education can more broadly include videoconferencing and audioconferencing delivered over phone lines.

Commonly used terms delineate a subset of distance education. Synchronous e-learning encompasses same-time interaction independent of location, while asynchronous e-learning includes any situation where learners are dispersed in time and location. Most distance learning is actually blended learning, which refers to a mix of synchronous, asynchronous, and classroom.

One of the challenges in planning effective distance education is selecting the appropriate mix of synchronous, asynchronous, and classroom activities, as well as determining the role of teachers and peers. There is a considerable range in the sophistication, quality, cost, and development time of distance education curricula. At the same time, outside of the confines of the classroom, there is the opportunity to rethink and redefine learning activities, materials, and courses.

Distance Education Compared to Traditional Education

II. Traditional classroom education serves a valuable role for children and young adults, where there are many benefits to face-to-face interaction and where maturity and self-discipline are still developing. The classroom is often necessary for supervised practice or for team-building activities that could not readily take place without face-to-face contact. Distance education is different from education delivered in the classroom in many respects besides the lack of proximity. Education in the classroom is traditionally developed and delivered by one person. This teacher may or may not have extensive training in how to teach. In many universities, for example, a professor can be an excellent researcher but have little knowledge about how to plan and deliver a lecture. Distance education separates the development and delivery processes. Development and delivery may be done by different people, or many people may be involved in different capacities such as multimedia experts and technical support people. Even in the case of asynchronous courses, distance education may be delivered on a Web site without human intervention or assistance.

Many of the issues from the classroom still exist in distance education, occasionally amplified by delivery through technology. For instance, cheating has always been a problem for educators. Unless cameras or biometric devices are used, the opportunities to cheat are typically greater online. Other issues are similar; for example, a good teacher structures and teaches a small or large class differently, and the same is true for an online course.

The History of Distance Education

III. Distance education started in the 1800s with a for-profit school developed by Sir Isaac Pitman for rural residents in Bath, England. Correspondence classes became an alternative for people needing education or training who were not able to attend or did not have access to a traditional program. There have been many notable instances of early distance education playing a major role in people's success; for example, in the 1920s Edwin Shoemaker took a correspondence course in drafting and co-developed the La-Z-Boy recliner, which started an entire industry.

Following correspondence courses delivered by mail, radio became the next delivery vehicle, and it is still commonly used in developing regions where access to the phone or Internet is limited. Instructional television became common in the 1950s and 1960s and, like radio, is still in use. While instructional television never achieved the success anticipated in those decades, arguably the most successful offshoot has been the very popular Sesame Street-type shows and the cable in the classroom programs for children. And certainly, television is still a delivery vehicle in the sense that educational videotapes are still being produced.

As computers became more widespread, computer-based training (CBT) distributed on CD-ROMs became common. Web-based delivery followed in the 1990s. John Chambers, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cisco, predicted in 1999, that "Education over the Internet is so big it is going to make e-mail look like a rounding error." This growth, while not as rapid as predicted, has been fueled by travel reductions, by the increased need for professional development in the workplace, and by perceived cost reductions.