Distance Learning-Education Beyond Buildings

▪ 2009

      By 2008 distance learning was an established part of the educational world. In U.S. higher education alone, by 2006 more than 20% of total enrollment was online. More than 3.5 million college students enrolled in at least one online course in the autumn of 2006, up from 1.6 million in 2002. In the 2005–06 school year, approximately 700,000 primary- and secondary-school students took at least one online or blended course. Higher education administrators reported in 2007 that the demand for online course work would continue to grow.

      Students and institutions embraced distance education with good reason. Universities benefited by adding students without having to construct classrooms and housing, and students reaped the advantages of being able to work where and when they chose. Public-school systems offered specialty courses such as small-enrollment languages and Advanced Placement classes without having to set up multiple classrooms. In addition, home-schooled children gained access to centralized instruction.

      Various terms have been used to describe the phenomenon. Strictly speaking, distance learning (the student's activity) and distance teaching (the teacher's activity) together make up distance education. Common variations include e-learning or online learning, used when the Internet is the medium; virtual learning, which usually refers to courses taken outside a classroom by primary- or secondary-school pupils (and also typically using the Internet); correspondence education, the long-standing method in which individual instruction is conducted by mail; and open learning, the system common in Europe for learning through the “open” university.

      Many U.S. states committed resources to the facilitation of distance learning. For example, Iowa built an extensive fibre-optic network, called the Iowa Communications Network (ICN), to connect more than 700 classrooms at every level, from kindergarten through university. The ICN facilitated live video for instruction, allowed for extensive Internet-based courses, and served as a high-speed link to the Web. Similarly, South Dakota created the Digital Dakota Network (DDN), which connected more than 400 schools and colleges and enabled the delivery of thousands of courses and events each year. Network Nebraska was established to serve distance learning in the state's schools, colleges, and universities.

      An increasing number of colleges provided distance-learning opportunities. A pioneer in the field was the University of Phoenix, which by 2008 had more than 300,000 students. Capella University (owned by Capella Education Co. and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn.) offered many graduate programs at a distance; Nova Southeastern University's Fischler School of Education and Human Services (its campus was located in North Miami Beach, Fla.) enrolled more than 14,000 masters and doctoral students; and Western Governors University (a nonprofit online university founded by the governors of 19 states) served thousands of students.

      Four characteristics distinguished distance education. First, distance education was by definition carried out through institutions; it was not self-study or a nonacademic learning environment. The institutions might or might not offer traditional classroom-based instruction as well, but they were eligible for accreditation by the same agencies as those employing traditional methods.

      Second, geographic separation was inherent in distance learning, and time might also separate students and teachers. Accessibility and convenience were important advantages of this mode of education. Well-designed programs could also bridge intellectual, cultural, and social differences between students.

      Third, interactive telecommunications connected the learning group with each other and with the teacher. Most often, electronic communications, such as e-mail, were used, but traditional forms of communication, such as the postal system, might also play a role. Whatever the medium, interaction was essential to distance education, as it was to any education. The connections of learners, teachers, and instructional resources became less dependent on physical proximity as communications systems became more sophisticated and widely available; consequently, the Internet, cell phones, and e-mail had contributed to the rapid growth in distance education.

      Finally, distance education, like any education, established a learning group, sometimes called a learning community, which was composed of students, a teacher, and instructional resources—i.e., the books, sound, video, and graphic displays that allowed the student to access the content of instruction. Social networking on the Internet promoted the idea of community building. On sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube, users constructed profiles, identified members (“friends”) with whom they shared a connection, and built new communities of like-minded persons. In the distance-education setting, such networking could enable students' connections with each other and thereby reduce their sense of isolation.

      The most commonly expressed concern about distance learning and teaching was whether the process was as effective as traditional education. Research into the question produced clear results: if all factors were taken into account, the learning outcomes were equivalent. Factors such as course organization, teacher involvement, class interaction, and feedback were critical to the effectiveness of instruction, whether in a classroom or at a distance.

Michael Simonson

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