Distance education

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Distance education, or distance learning, is a field of education that focuses on the pedagogy/andragogy, technology, and instructional systems design that are effectively incorporated in delivering education to students who are not physically "on site" to receive their education. Instead, teachers and students may communicate asynchronously (at times of their own choosing) by exchanging printed or electronic media, or through technology that allows them to communicate in real time (synchronously). Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason including the taking of examinations is considered to be a hybrid or blended course or program.

Types of distance education courses:

• Correspondence conducted through regular mail
• Internet conducted either synchronously or asynchronously
• Telecourse/Broadcast where content is delivered via radio or television
• CD-ROM where the student interacts with computer content stored on a CD-ROM
• PocketPC/Mobile Learning where the student accesses course content stored on a mobile device or through a wireless server

Origins

Modern distance education has been around at least since Isaac Pitman taught shorthand in Great Britain via correspondence in the 1840s

One of the oldest distance education universities is the University of South Africa, which has been offering Correspondence Education courses since 1946. The largest distance education university in the United Kingdom is the Open University founded 1969. In Germany the FernUniversität in Hagen was founded 1974. There are now many similar institutions around the world, often with the name Open University (in English or in the local language), and these are listed below.

There are many private and public, non-profit and for-profit institutions offering courses and degree programs through distance education. Levels of accreditation vary; some institutions offering distance education in the United States have received little outside oversight, and some may be fraudulent diploma mills. In many other jurisdictions, an institution may not use the term "University" without accreditation and authorisation, normally by the national government.

In the twentieth century, radio, television, and the Internet have all been used to further distance education.

Methods

In Distance Education, students may not be required to be present in a classroom, but that also may be a question of option. As for an electronic classroom or Virtual Learning Environment, it may or not be a part of a distance education set up. Electronic classrooms can be both on campus, and off campus. We would call such institutions as using a 'flexible' delivery mode.

Distance Education may also use all forms of technology, from print to the computer. This range will include radio, television, audio video conferencing, computer aided instruction, e-learning/on-line learning et al. (E-learning/online-learning are largely synonymous). A distinction is also made between open learning and distance learning. To clarify our thinking we can say that while 'open' education is the system in which the student is free to choose the time and place, but distance education is a teaching methodology used when the student and teacher are separated by time and place. Thus it follows that not all open-learning institutions use distance education and not all organisations that use distance education are open learning institutions. Indeed there are many cases in which students are in traditional classrooms, connected via a video-conferencing link to a teacher in a distant classroom. This method is typical in geographically dispersed institutions. Conversely, the term virtual university is sometimes used to describe an open-learning institution that uses the Internet to create an imaginary university environment, in which the students, faculty, and staff can communicate and share information at any time, regardless of location.

Distance Education has traversed four to five 'generations' of technology in its history. These are print, audio/video broadcasting, audio/video teleconferencing, computer aided instruction, e-learning/ online-learning, computer broadcasting/podcasting etc. Yet the radio remains a very viable form, especially in the developing nations, because of its reach. In India the FM Channel is very popular and is being used by universities, to broadcast educational programmes of variety on areas such as teacher education, rural development, programmes in agriculture for farmers, science education, creative writing, mass communication, in addition to traditional courses in liberal arts, science and business administration.

In short then, though a range of technology presupposes a distance education 'inventory' it is technological appropriateness and connectivity, such as computer, or for that matter electrical connectivity that should be considered, when we think of the world as a whole, while fitting in technological applications to distance education.

Delivery systems

Older models of distance education utilized regular mail to send written material, videos, audiotapes, and CD-ROMs or other media storage format (e.g. SD card or CompactFlash cards) to the student and to turn in the exercises. Today's distance education course makes use of E-mail, the Web, and video conferencing over broadband network connections for both wired physical locations and wireless mobile learning. In some countries, the material is supplemented by television and radio programming. To compete with the conventional sector, course material must be of very high quality and completeness, and will use modern technologies such as educational animation.

Full time or part-time study is possible, but most students choose part-time study. Research study is possible as well. Distance education is offered at all levels, but is most frequently an option for university-level studies. A form of educational program which is similar to this but which requires some amount of presence during the year is a low-residency program.

Distance education programs are sometimes called correspondence courses, an older term that originated in nineteenth-century vocational education programs that were conducted through postal mail. This term has been largely replaced by distance education, and expanded to encompass more sophisticated technologies and delivery methods. The first subject taught by correspondence was the Pitman Shorthand, a tool of stenography. Primary and secondary education programs were also widely available by correspondence, usually for children living in remote areas.

Testing and Evaluation

Distance education has had trouble since its conception with the testing of material. The delivery is fairly straightforward, which makes sure it is available to the student and he or she can read it at their leisure. The problem arises when the student is required to complete assignments and testing. Whether quizzes, tests, or examinations; Online courses have had difficulty controlling cheating because of the lack of teacher control. In a classroom situation the teacher can monitor students and visually uphold a level of integrity consistent with the institutions reputation. With distance education the student can be removed from supervision completely.

Assignments have adapted by becoming larger, longer, and more thorough so as to test for knowledge by forcing the student to research the subject and prove they have done the work. Quizzes are a popular form of testing knowledge and many courses go by the honor system regarding cheating. Even if the student is checking questions in the textbook or online, there may be an enforced time limit or the quiz may be worth so little in the overall mark that it becomes inconsequential. Exams and bigger tests are harder to regulate. Obviously the mark-oriented students cannot be trusted with their own marks. In smaller tests a professor may employ another computer program to keep all other programs from running on the computer eliminating the possibility of help from the Internet.

Used in combination with invigilators, a pre-arranged supervisor trusted with over-looking big tests and examinations may be used to increase security. Many Midterms and Final examinations are held at a common location so that professors can supervise directly. Many of these examinations are still on the computer in which case the same program blocking software can be used. When the Internet became a popular medium for distance education many websites were founded offering secure exam software and packages to help professors manage their students more effectively.

E-learning

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E-learning is an all-encompassing term generally used to refer to computer-enhanced learning, although it is often extended to include the use of mobile technologies such as PDAs and MP3 players. It may include the use of web-based teaching materials and hypermedia in general, multimedia CD-ROMs or web sites, discussion boards, collaborative software, e-mail, blogs, wikis, text chat, computer aided assessment, educational animation, simulations, games, learning management software, electronic voting systems and more, with possibly a combination of different methods being used.

Along with the terms learning technology and Educational Technology, the term is generally used to refer to the use of technology in learning in a much broader sense than the computer-based training or Computer Aided Instruction of the 1980s. It is also broader than the terms Online Learning or Online Education which generally refer to purely web-based learning. In cases where mobile technologies are used, the term M-learning has become more common.

E-learning is naturally suited to distance learning and flexible learning, but can also be used in conjunction with face-to-face teaching, in which case the term Blended learning is commonly used.

In higher education especially, the increasing tendency is to create a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) (which is sometimes combined with a Managed Information System (MIS) to create a Managed Learning Environment) in which all aspects of a course are handled through a consistent user interface standard throughout the institution. A growing number of physical universities, as well as newer online-only colleges, have begun to offer a select set of academic degree and certificate programs via the Internet at a wide range of levels and in a wide range of disciplines. While some programs require students to attend some campus classes or orientations, many are delivered completely online. In addition, several universities offer online student support services, such as online advising and registration, e-counselling, online textbook purchase, student governments and student newspapers.

E-learning can also refer to educational web sites such as those offering worksheets and interactive exercises for children. The term is also used extensively in the business sector where it generally refers to cost-effective online training.

Advantages and disadvantages

Template:Cleanup-date Advantages of e-learning often include flexibility and convenience for the learner especially if they have other commitments, facilitation of communication between learners, greater adaptability to a learner's needs, more variety in learning experience with the use of multimedia and the non-verbal presentation of teaching material. Video instruction provides visual and audio learning that can be paused, and reversed for watching again. For organizations with distributed and constantly changing learners (e.g. restaurant staff), e-learning has huge benefits when compared with orgnizing classroom training.

Others are critical of e-learning in the context of education, because the face-to-face human interaction with a teacher has been removed from the process, and thus, some argue, the process is no longer "educational" in the highest philosophical sense (for example, as defined by RS Peters, a philosopher of education). However, these human interactions can be encouraged through audio or video-based web-conferencing programs.

The feeling of isolation experienced by distance learning students is also often cited, although discussion forums and other computer-based communication can in fact help ameliorate this and in particular can often encourage students to meet face-to-face and form self-help groups.

The cost-effectiveness of e-learning is a subject of much debate as there is usually much upfront investment that can only be recouped through economies of scale. Web and software development in particular can be expensive as can systems specifically geared for e-learning. The development of adaptive materials is also much more time-consuming than that of non-adaptive ones.

Consequently, some of the cost is often forwarded to the students as online college courses tend to cost more than traditional courses.

Growth of e-learning

Among the early institutions of online learning in the mid-1980s were the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, the New York Institute of Technology, the Electronic Information Exchange System - EIES - of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Connected Education. More recently the organization Independent Student Media has developed a working curriculum that instructs students through an Interactive Online Textbook.

By 2003, more than 1.9 million students were participating in online learning at institutions of higher education in the United States, according to a report from the "Sloan Consortium", an authoritative source of information about online higher education. At the same time, in Australia, Shane Hill former teacher and gifted and talented co-ordinator founded eLearning Company 3P Learning. Just one of their products Mathletics has enabled over one million students across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and US to go online and challenge other students at mental arithmetic. The explosive rate of growth — now about 25 percent a year — has made hard numbers a moving target. But according to Sloan, virtually all public higher education institutions, as well as a vast majority of private, for-profit institutions, now offer online classes. By contrast, only about half of private, nonprofit schools offer them. The Sloan report, based on a poll of academic leaders, says that students generally appear to be at least as satisfied with their online classes as they are with traditional ones. Mathletics also supports the full educational curriculum of school students internationally. Private Institutions may become more involved with the online presentations as the cost of instituting such a system decreases. Properly trained staff must also be hired to work with students online. These staff members must be able to not only understand the content area, but also be highly trained in the use of the computer and Internet.

The concept of a Digital native has also become popular, and there are certainly likely to be generational influences on the future of e-learning. As more and more adult learners enter into this field the gap will begin to close.

Pedagogical approaches

Template:Cleanup-date It is clearly possible to apply any specific pedagogical approach to e-learning, however some approaches are more common than others. Two of the most common are those of instructional design and social-constructivist pedagogy. The latter in particular is particularly well afforded by the use of discussion forums, blogs, wikis and online collaborative activities. Adaptability to different learning styles is also still in vogue in certain circles.

Laurillard's Conversational Model is also particularly relevant to e-learning, and Gilly Salmon's Five-Stage Model is a pedagogical approach to the use of discussion boards.

There are four fundamental pedagogical perspectives which historically have influenced the approach to computer based pedagogy, distance education and continues to provide guiding principles for the pedagogy of e-learning:

Cognitive perspective - which focuses on the cognitive processes involved in learning as well as how the brain works.

• Black, J. & McClintock, R. (1995) "An Interpretation Construction Approach to Constructivist Design."
• Bloom, B. S., and D. R. Krathwohl. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1
• Bååth, J. A. (1982) "Distance Students' Learning - Empirical Findings and Theoretical Deliberations"
• Gagné, R. (1970) The conditions of learning
• Holmberg, B. (1995) Theory and Practice of Distance Education
• Moore, M. & Kearsky, G. (1996). Distance Education: A Systems View.
• Rowntree, D. (1986) Teaching through self-instruction: A practical handbook for course developers

Emotional perspective - which focuses on the emotional aspects of learning, like motivation, engagement, fun etc

• Bååth, J. A. (1982) "Distance Students' Learning - Empirical Findings and Theoretical Deliberations"
• Holmberg, B. (1995) Theory and Practice of Distance Education
• Malala, J. N. (2005) Virtual Learning Environments: What's in the Name? Business Research Yearbook, Vol VII, 529-533.
• Malala, J. N. (2005). The E-Business of Online Education: An Ethnographic Probe of Students' Perception of Efficacy. Business Research Yearbook Vol XII, 499-503.
• Malala, J. N.; Moshell, J.M.; Hobbs, D. (2004). The differential Roles of Authors’ Profiles and Students’ Perceptions of Efficacy in Asynchronous Computer-generated Learning. Business Research yearbook, Vol. XI 715-719.
• Moore, M. & Kearsky, G. (1996). Distance Education: A Systems View.
• Rogers, C. (1969) Freedom to learn
• Rekkedal, T. (1985) Introducing the personal tutor/counsellor in the system of distance education
• Rowntree, D. (1986) Teaching through self-instruction: A practical handbook for course developers
• Zimmer, R. (1995)"The Empathy Templates - A way to support collaborative learning"

Behavioural perspective - which focuses on the skills and behavioural outcomes of the learning process. Role-playing and application to on-the-job settings.

• Areskog, N-H. (1995) The Tutorial Process - the Roles of Student Teacher and Tutor in a Long Term Perspective.
• Bååth, J. A. (1982) "Distance Students' Learning - Empirical Findings and Theoretical Deliberations"
• Cobb, B. (1997) HP E-mail Mentor Program
• Distlehorst, L. & Barrows, H. (1982). A new tool for problem-based, self-directed learning
• Feletti, G. (1995) Developing Students into Information Literate Professionals
• Mahling, D., Sorrows, B. and Skogseid, I. (1995) A Collaborative Environment for SemiStructured Medical Problem Based Learning
• McCown, R. & Driscoll, M. (1995) Using Collaborative Writing and Problem-Based Learning in the College Classroom
• Moore, M. & Kearsky, G. (1996). Distance Education: A Systems View.
• Rowntree, D. (1986) Teaching through self-instruction: A practical handbook for course developers
• Verduin, J. & Clark, T. (1991) Distance Education : The Foundations of Effective Practice

Contextual perspective - which focuses on the environmental and social aspects which can stimulate learning. Interaction with other people, collaborative discovery and the importance of peer support as well as pressure.

• Black, J. & McClintock, R. (1995) "An Interpretation Construction Approach to Constructivist Design."
• Moore, M. & Kearsky, G. (1996). Distance Education: A Systems View.
• Phillips, G., Santoro, G. and Kuehn, S. (1988) "The use of computer-mediated communication in training students in group problem solving and decision-making techniques
• Petraglia, J. (1998) The Real World on a Short Leash: The (Mis)Application of Constructivism to the Design of Educational Technology
• Kember, D. (1995). Open learning courses for adults - a model of student progress
• Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning : legitimate peripheral participation
• Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) The Ecology of Human Development : Experiments by nature and design
• Bandura, A. (1977) Social Learning Theory
• Vygotsky, L. (1934/reprinted 1962). Thought and language
• Synnes, K. (1997) Distributed Education using the mStar Environment.

Reusability, standards and learning objects

Much effort has been put into the technical reuse of electronically-based teaching materials and in particular creating or re-using Learning Objects. These are self contained units that are properly tagged with keywords, or other metadata, and often stored in an XML file format. Creating a course requires putting together a sequence of learning objects and open non-commercial peer-reviewed repositories of learning objects such as the Merlot repository exist.

A common standard format for e-learning content is SCORM whilst other specifications allow for the transporting of "learning objects" (Schools Interoperability Framework) or categorizing meta-data (LOM).

These standards themselves are early in the maturity process the oldest being 8 years old. They are also relatively vertical specific: SIF is primarily pK-12, LOM is primarily Corp, Military and Higher Ed, and SCORM is primarily Military and Corp with some Higher Ed. PESC- the Post-Secondary Education Standards Council- is also making headway in developing standards and learning opbjects for the Higher Ed space, while SIF is beginning to seriously turn towards Instructional and Curriculum learning objects.

In the US pK12 space there are a host of content standrds that are critical as well- the NCES data standrds, each state government's content standards and achievement benchmarks are critical metadata for linking e-learning objects in that space.

Communication technologies

Communication technologies are generally categorised as asynchronous or synchronous. Asynchronous activities use technologies such as blogs, wikis, and discussion boards. Synchronous activities occur with all participants joining in at once, as with a chat session or a virtual classroom or meeting.

The term eLearning 2.0 has been used to refer to the user of social software such as blogs and wikis. This approach has been particularly evangelised by Stephen Downes who runs the very popular OLDaily blog and newsletter.

Computer Aided Assessment and Learning Design

Computer-aided Assessment (also but less commonly referred to as e-Assessment), ranging from automated multiple-choice tests to more sophisticated systems is becoming increasingly common. With some systems, feedback can be geared towards a student's specific mistakes or the computer can navigate the student through a series of questions adapting to what the student appears to have learned or not learned. Most software for this is still very primitive however.

The term Learning Design has sometimes come to refer to the type of activity enabled by software such as the open-source system LAMS which supports sequences of activities that can be both adaptive and collaborative. The IMS Learning Design specification is intended as a standard format for learning designs, and IMS LD Level A is supported in LAMS V2.

The first general-purpose system for computer-assisted instruction from which e-learning evolved, was the PLATO System developed at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.The Plato system evolved with the involvement of Control Data who created the first authoring software used to create learning content. The authoring software was called Plato. The Science Research Council then wrote the first CAI system of Math for K-6. Wicat Systems then created WISE as their authoring tool using Pascal and developed English and Math curriculum for K-6. The very first complete CAI classroom for K-6 students was set up at the Waterford Elementary School in Utah using the Wicat system. The first public CAI classroom with its own layout and design was implemented with the Wicat System by Baal Systems (later known as Virtual Systems) in Singapore as a joint operation between Wicat and Baal. It is from this design that all the computer learning centers globally evolved and which were the forerunners of elearning.

M-learning

'M-learning' is the follow up of E-learning which for its part originates from D-learning (distance education). M-learning is the delivery of learning to students who are not keeping a fixed location or through the use of mobile or portable technology. The rapid growth of information and communication technologies (ICT) makes it possible to develop new forms of this education. (Georgiev, T., E.Georgieva, A.Smrikarov. M-Learning - A New Stage of E-Learning, http://ecet.ecs.ru.acad.bg/cst04/Docs/sIV/428.pdf)

Definition

M-learning is the term given to the delivery of training by means of mobile devices such as Mobile Phones, PDAs and digital audio players, as well as digital cameras and voice recorders, pen scanners etc. M-learners are seeking lessons in small, manageable formats that they can undertake when it suits them.

Differences between M-Learning and E-Learning

If e-learning took learning away from the classroom or campus, then m-learning is taking learning away from a fixed point. Where e-learning is an alternative to classroom learning (actually eLearning should/can be complementary to classroom learning) - m-learning is a complementary activity to both e-learning and traditional learning. M-learning respects that a user would like to interact with educational resources whilst away from their normal place of learning - classroom or computer.

In one sense m-learning has been around for longer than e-learning, with the paperback book and other portable resources, but technology is what shapes today's usage of m-learning. Technology now allows us to carry vast resources in our pockets and access these wherever we find convenient. Technology also allows us to interact with our peers instaneously and work together remotely in ways never before possible.

While the opportunties that m-learning devices present us with are new - the challenges are quite old, smaller screen sizes, limited processing power, reduced input capabilities. These challenges mean that adapting existing e-learning services and content to m-learning is not a trivial task.

m-Learning has been gaining appeal among younger generations who have grown up using portable video game devices and wireless technology. In this sense, mLearning appeals not only to those who need learning portable, but to those who have grown up with a cognitive disposition towards using mobile devices- whether or not they have the need for true portability in their learning.

Challenges with m-learning

The connectivity is one of the main differences if we compare a mobile device with the PC (the usual medium for delivering e-learning). Nowadays mobile devices might be connected to ‘The Net’ via many technologies – WAP, GPRS, UMTS, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc. Although it is predictable that in the future the ‘always on’ will be wide spread still it is not the case. Mobile devices often have periods of disconnection, either intentionally (when the connection is too expensive) or not (when no infrastructure is provided).

Devices’ hardware and software characteristics have a big impact on what content is possible and meaningful to be delivered. Usually the web content is designed for desktop PCs, thus unpleasant and even rarely useful from a small-screened device. Nowadays mobile phones are rapidly becoming increasingly powerful (both from hardware and software point of view) however their screens will remain comparatively small. Often also the navigation is hard. Equipped with a small phone-style keyboard or a touch-screen (for the PDAs) the users might lose more time in searching where on the page the information they need is than in reading it. We can imagine alternative ways of navigation, for example voice commands. The memory available on a mobile device is also relatively small. It is possible to use extension packs on some devices like PDAs, which reduces some of the restrictions.

Devices such as the Nintendo DS raise the bar even higher by providing collaborative gaming. The Nokia N-Gage brings an expandable platform of gaming and mobile communications to the forefront.

mp3 players and other portable media devices have also come into the forefront of the mLearning trend with companies using these devices to deploy education to their 'road warrior' sales teams through podcasts or videocasts.

Location is a new thing to be considered. Although up to now we are talking only about limitations confronting m-learning and e-learning, there are also advantages. The small size of the device and the wireless connections make them available anytime and anywhere. The mobility opens variety of new scenarios. Services involving location-discovery are, for example, receiving directions on how to get to a certain room, or alerts for seminars/lectures that can be triggered while taking into consideration the current place and the time to get to the needed destination; location-aware printing of the learning content, etc.

Source: Copied rather too directly from Trifonova A., Ronchetti M. (2004). "A General Architecture to Support Mobility in Learning". Proc. of ICALT 2004 [IEEE Computer Society Press 2004, ISBN 0-7695-2181-9]. pp. 26-30 [1]

Organizing the content

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• For whom do we develop a M-learning environment?
• What is the educational information we need to provide?
• How do we develop the structure?
• For which mobile devices do we develop?
• Which tools / software do we use? For creating? To present?

for instance the software cannt be edited from the mobiles

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• L Low & M O'Connell, Learner-Centric Design of Digital Mobile Learning, Queensland University of Technology, 2006.
• Sharma, S., F.Kitchens. Web Services Architecture for M-Learning, Electronic Journal on e-Learning, Vol.2, Issue 1, 2004.
• T Georgiev, E Georgieva, A Smrikarov - Proceedings of the 5th international conference on Computer Systems and Technologies - CompSysTech'2004. http://ecet.ecs.ru.acad.bg/cst04/Docs/sIV/428.pdf
• A Trifonova, M Ronchetti. A General Architecture to Support Mobility in Learning. Proc. of the 4th IEEE ICALT 2004
• B Sanregret, Hot Lava Software, MLearning Basics 2005
• T Toth. Technology for Trainers, ASTD Press 2003
• D. McPhee and N. Thomas, "Evaluating the effectiveness of m-Learning in the teaching of multi-media to first year university students”, iJET International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning" Vol 1. 2006

External links

• Zimbio's mLearning group Wiki
• mLearning devices
• M-learning : home
• MOBIlearn : home
• mLearning World
• M-Learning News Latest developments in mobile learning
• M-learning and video streaming
• m-Learning project in Sweden- Academic
• PocketEd M-learning program at Coastline College Associate Degree PocketEd Program for military personnel
• Portal de m-learning en Español
• The Math4Mobile Project Mathematics for Mobile Phones
• Mobile Education Center of Excellence Mobile Learning Project at the University of Hagen / Germany

References

As online degree offerings grow, caution is advised

• Athabasca University, Theory and Practice of Online Learning, E-Book under Creative Commons License
• Thomas Toth (2003), Technology for Trainers, ASTD Press. ISBN 1-56286-321-5
• e-Learning & Substance Abuse Prevention, eLearning Management in Non-Profit Agencies,

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