LII Backgrounder on Distance Learning
LII Backgrounder on Distance Learning |
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I. Introduction - Why (and why not) to be interested in "distance learning"... for adults Half of all U.S. households have at least one computer; the number of e-mail users in this country exceeds 80 million. Nearly a half of the courses offered at the college level now use e-mail as at least one mode of communication between teacher and student. Nearly a half of today's undergraduates use the Internet at least once a day. And each of these measures of penetration is changing rapidly. Distance learning is an old idea, but its potential has been transformed by the explosive take up of digital technology. As the College Board report (see side panel) notes: [It is now possible] to transcend barriers of time and space in ways unimagined only a few years ago. Almost anything - text, data, images, video, audio - can be delivered electronically, almost anywhere in the world, almost any time and in real time, over the Internet. Imaging and Web-based technologies are also constantly enhancing the potential for two-way communications between and among teachers and students in remote locations. Some viewing these developments imagine or worry about substitution - using the new technologies to substitute less costly alternatives for "conventional classroom instruction." But judging from the past, the new technology is more likely to supplement than substitute in conventional education settings and therefore to add costs rather than reduce them. So far that has been true with campus-based education. With forms of content delivery and communication that are so heedless of time and distance, the challenge for many educational institutions is less "How can we do what we have done more cost-effectively?" but rather "What else is now possible?" Freed of the need to do so much of our teaching by gathering teacher and student in the same place at the same time:
And so on. II. Publishing as a form of distance education (distance learning on demand) Technology shapes the categories we use to discuss and think about human activity. The set of activities we think of as "education" and those we refer to as "research or information gathering" may well blur together as they converge on the same set of new technologies. The successful providers of continuing professional education in law have increasingly become publishers of print materials, audio and video tapes to the point that most provide more "education" in this form than through live programs. These materials share the characteristic that they allow the learner to choose the time, place, and topic. III. Approaching distance education incrementally Many of the players now rushing into distance learning are being drawn by the technology. They can be understood as asking "What problem can this solve?" or "How can this be used to generate new revenue?" Others appear to be paralyzed by the technology, viewing the costs and the expertise required to be a serious player in distance learning to be out of their reach. For most educators an approach that might be termed "attentive incrementalism" may be the wisest approach. "Attentive" suggests the necessity to become and stay aware of what others are doing with digital technology. Those one must attend to include both competitors and one's students. "Attentive" also calls for identifying future infrastructure or support needs. "Incrementalism" suggests adding accessible distance elements to current programs. If Web-based conferencing is not currently available within a unit, that doesn't mean that e-mail or a list can't be used to develop an understanding of how current offerings might be improved through these very similar means and to build a familiarity among faculty with the pedagogical value of asychronous electronic exchange. Course Web pages don't have to be "designer" pages to do the job. One advantage of going incremental and lower tech is that it is likely to provide better access to greater numbers. Because LII's distance learning course (see below) used low-end video conferencing technology students at law schools that lacked a dedicated facility were able to participate. IV. The LII's experience with distance learning A. Distance learning on demand Questionnaire In order to make best use of next Friday's short session I would like to find out more about the experience and concerns you bring to an exploration of "distance learning." To that end I've prepared a short questionnaire. Would you kindly click here and fill it out. Suggestions or Comments? This collection of material on distance learning is a work in progress. If you have suggestions of additional material or sources, comments, or feedback of any kind, please email the author! Prepared by Peter W. Martin for the Legal Information Institute |
 Updated May 20, 1999 References and Suggested Readings
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