Transcript Nature of Distance Education

Nature and Forms/Levels of
Distance Education
EIT 813 – ICT in Distance Education
Presentation by:
Mark Valentine Aikins
ED/MIT/12/0001
Objectives
By the end of this presentation you should
be able to;
Explain what Distance Education is?
Describe the nature of Distance Education
Explain the forms/levels in Distance
Educations
Introduction
As Francis Bacon said:
“Knowledge is power”, then
communication is freedom. The
freedom for people to reach
information and acquire
knowledge that empowers
them.
Introduction
Students and teachers are in different places
for all or most of the time that they learn and
teach. Being in different places, they depend on
some kind of technology to deliver information
and give them a way of interacting with each
other.
What is Distance Education?
Distance education is planned learning that
normally occurs in a different place from
teaching, requiring special course design and
instruction techniques, communication through
various technologies, and special organisational
and administrative arrangements.
Characteristics of Distance Education.
Distance education is the study of:
Learning and teaching
Learning that is planned and not accidental
Learning that is normally in a different place from
teaching
Communication through various technologies
Nature of Distance Education
Nature of Distance Education
Distance education activities (course delivery
systems) usually replace classroom instruction and
involve costly resources, implementation
strategies, and changes from the traditional
classroom structure.
Provides ready access to a variety of people and
information resources.
Changes in Teacher & Student Roles
Nature of Distance Education
Creates opportunities for collaboration between
classrooms.
Supports leaner-initiated study.
Offers advanced or otherwise unavailable courses.
Delivers staff development programs with
minimal restrictions on time and place.
Form/Levels of Distance Education
Single Mode Institution
Distance education is the sole activity of this institution
 Duties of staffs are different from those at university school
system

Dual Mode Institution
Distance education is added to the previously established
campus and class-based teaching
 Special unit is setup alongside the resource dedicated to the
conventional teaching.
 It seldom has its own faculty; faculty of the parent body
provide subject expertise.

Form/Levels of Distance Education
Individual Teacher

Individual teachers design and deliver their own courses

Designing, teaching and administration rest on the oncampus teachers and administrators

Teaching and learning can rarely achieve high quality
distance education or sustain it for very long.

It difficulty getting a number of teachers to work together as
course team
Form/Levels of Distance Education
Virtual Universities and Consortia

The term (consortium) is used to describe an organisational
arrangement of two or more institutions that work together
in designing and delivery of courses.

Generally intended to emphasize the high-tech character
internet-based communication

Marketers in both single and dual mode institutions use
“virtuality” to sell distance education as a exciting high-tech
enterprise than the older textbook based method
Distance Education
Courses and Programs
 Course is usually in sequence of study of body of subject
matter that is structured according to norms of the parent
institution.
 Courses are taught by a wide variety of technologies.
What is common
 Every course has both learner and teacher
 Content organised around a set of learning objectives
 Design learning experience and evaluation
References
Saba, F., & Twitchell, D. (1988). Research in
distance education. A system modeling approach.
The American Journal of Distance Education,
2(1), 9-24.
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