RESEARCH PAPER TEMPLATE

North American University

Education Department
M.Ed. in EDLE & CUIN
EDUC 5324: INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO EDUCATION
Name:NAZIFE AKTAS

Date: 11/1/2015

Topic Selected:

What does the research say about advantages and disadvantages of distance education?

1. LITERATURE REVIEW:
What does the literature/research say about this issue/topic? By using NAU
Library or Online Search engines, conduct a literature review.

You need to include 5 different sources (book, journal article, web article
etc.) in your review. Try to use current sources as much as possible.

You need to summarize and synthesize your sources by discussing a

common theme or issue.

You don't need to critique your sources

You don't need to evaluate your sources (if the sources are trustworthy,
weather the author has a bias or not)

You need to provide background information such as history and

definitions

Brief Literature Review:

Distance learning is any type of instruction in which the student and instructor are
separated by physical distance (i.e., not in the same room; Wahlstrom, Williams, & Shea,
2003). It is a medium of teaching and learning using modern technology so that teachers
or students do not have to be together in the classroom. With the growth of distance
learning programs, the online format has led to a growing interest in learning among
adult learners and in continuing the pursuit of their educational goals. Distance education
delivers classes (live or pre-taped) to students in their home, office, or classroom. It is
used by K-12, higher education, continuing education and business. As the cost of
delivering quality education increases, institutions find that limited resources prevent
them from building facilities, hiring faculty, or expanding curricula. They are using
distance education to maximize resources and are combining their assets with others to
produce programming. Distance education is offered internationally, nationally,
regionally, and locally over all forms of conferencing technology.
Throughout the history of human communication, advances in technology have powered
paradigmatic shifts in education (Frick, 1991). Communication between teacher and
student is a vital element of successful distance education. Media has played an essential
role in the establishment of teacher and student communication. For communication to

take place, at a bare minimum, there must be a sender, a receiver, and a message. If this
message is intended as an instruction, then besides student, teacher, and content, we must
consider the environment in which this educational communication occurs (Berg &
Collins, 1995). Moore (1990) sees the success of distance education to be based on the
content of the dialog between teacher and student and the effectiveness of the
communication system in an educational process.
Distance education is first and foremost a movement that sought not so much to challenge
or change the structure of higher learning, but to extend the traditional university and to
overcome its inherent problems of scarcity and exclusivity. Second, distance education
developed as a creative political response to the increasing inability of the traditional
university structure to grow larger (Hall, J. 1995). Distance education dealt with the
problem of too many students in a single physical space. The university could, in effect,
reach out, offering not seats, but the opportunity to learn.
With the increase in demand for distance education, the growing concerns were
knowledge about effectiveness of distance education and changes in pedagogy enabled
and required by the advancement of technology.
A recent American Federation of Teachers (AFT) task force report states that too little is
known about the effectiveness of distance learning and that more independent research is
needed (Twigg, 1996). At the same time, Clark (1996), in his paper mentioned that media
forms are mere vehicles that deliver instruction, but do not influence student achievement
any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in our nutrition. Clark
believes that it is not media, but variables such as instructional method that foster
distance learning.
Even with the growth in the amounts of distance education in our higher educational
institutions, few studies examined students learning experiences, effectiveness of
instructional methods, and strengths and limitation of this model of teaching and learning.
According to study portals, distance learning has a number of benefits as compared to
traditional classroom, which include:

The student gets an opportunity to learn at his own pace.

Classroom learning allows you to listen to any class lesson only once. But with
distance courses, the learner has the freedom to replay that portion of the audio or
video tape or re-read a particular module which he/she is not clear about.

In classroom learning, the time spent on a particular module depends on the

teacher, which is not the case with distance learning. Here, student can decide the
amount of time to be spent on any particular module.

Distance programs offer students the flexibility to use time according to their
requirements

Another added benefit is that students have access to learning anywhere and at
any time with no limitations and restrictions time and location of study. It gives
students ample time to spend with their family and work.

Above all, distance education saves the time and cost incurred in travelling.

It is also important to be aware that there are certain difficulties to distance learning
that students encounter regularly. The most significant drawback is that some of
students taking classes online lack self-discipline and time management. For some of
the students, the expenditures required for computer equipment and Internet
connections outweigh the usual expenses of taking a conventional course, such as
commuting, parking, and perhaps babysitting (Wahlstrom et al., 2003).

Some feel lonely without face-to-face contact with other students, no matter how
much they may communicate with others by phone, e-mail, or discussion
board/chart room. Internet-based distance learning courses, in particular, rely less
on lectures as a means of instruction and more on reading and discussion; thus,
students who are uncomfortable with their reading and writing skills find
themselves equally uncomfortable with distance learning courses.

Heinich et al. (2002) indicated that, among other shortcomings, learners who
participate in broadcast lessons without talkback capabilities feel like secondclass citizens, having little rapport with the rest of the group. Technical problems
may interrupt the instruction and may create confusion and frustration for the
instructor and students. Also, because of inexperience, instructors may not feel
comfortable teaching in this type of setting, and students may also be reluctant to
assume greater responsibility for their own learning. Students also have difficulty
making certain types of online connections as a result of their type of access to the
Internet.

Often considered to be the lesser cousin of regular education, distance education

is often plagued by lack of enough good quality faculty members. In other cases,
even if the instructor is good, he or she may not be comfortable with teaching in
an online environment. Sometimes the technology might not do full justice to the
delivery and design of the course. A student loses out in all these scenarios.
Distance education providers should realize that it is not the technology, but
good and effective teachers that teach students.

Even though distance and online education is starting to get recognition, there are
still a lot of fraudulent and non-accredited degrees being offered. With the
increase in the number of distance/online programs, the numbers of scam
operators are also rising. This affects the credibility of recognized distance
learning degrees among prospective employers.

Despite these perceived drawbacks, distance learning is gaining popularity among

students like never before, with many students satisfied with their learning

experience. With further advances in technology and more training to adapt teachers
to this new mode of learning, the disadvantages in distance learning can soon be
sorted out.

2. REFLECTION:

What is your personal opinion on this issue? Do you agree with the
research? If you agree or disagree, please explain why?
Provide examples/experiences regarding this issue from school
perspective or If you are not working in a school, from your profession. Be
specific with your examples. You can mention software/hardware names,
specific methods that you plan to use, etc.
How would you implement this research in your career? (At least 1
paragraph)

Reflection:

Communication is a major concern relevant to and influenced by the development of the

distance learning between students and teachers, as both students and teachers have an
important role to play. Students need to know their roles in distance learning and how to
use the technology to communicate with the teacher and with each other. They not only
need to know how to operate the microphone or how to post to a bulletin board
discussion, but they also need to understand communication etiquette. The role of the
teacher in an online learning environment is to assume more responsibility for planning.
The materials that students will need must be prepared in advance, while students must
also understand what is expected of them in terms of their patterns of responses (Heinich,
Molenda, Russell, & Smaldino, 2002).
The situation for online teachers appears at first to be a difficult one in that they cannot
see or hear students and cannot interact directly with them, as in a face-to-face situation.
Online learning is student centered and structured such that the course materials are
presented in a suitable online format, with learning tasks, collaborative activities, and
seminar and tutorial conferences planned by the teacher but not teacher led and directed
(Stansfield, McLellan, & Connolly, 2004). It has been argued that online teachers cannot
observe students, cannot see and interpret their facial expressions or signs of inattention,
and cannot react immediately to rectify matters that may have gone wrong.
With this assignment, I realized that so many students including me,
administrators, and even the teachers did not know and understand that the definition and
role of distance education are very broad.
Over the years, distance education in various forms - distance learning programs
from open universities, online programs and so forth.
Students like me often have anxieties over opting for higher education via distance
learning, as they lack clarity about the pros and cons of this mode of education. It's
a good idea to understand the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing a degree
through distance education before you decide if you want to go for this mode.
Distance education needs to be clearly defined and understood for a variety of
reasons. Without a clear definition, meaningful conversation and research on
pedagogy cannot occur. Additionally, an accurate definition is also needed so that
students can make an informed decision on whether distance education is the best

fit. A better word to define the education going on today in distance education is
online.
While not part of the strict definition of distance education, it is also important to
clarify the timing of distance education as asynchronous, synchronous or a
combination of the two. These clarifications help inform students of the class
expectations expectations not fully understood by just defining a class as being
at a distance. In some instances, students have registered for online classes, only to
be told after the class starts that they are required to attend synchronous classes.
This is unfair to students who hadnt realized they would have to virtually attend a
scheduled class.
In addition to this, from my own experience in distance education, I found the
writing assignments are time consuming. As a writer, I would classify myself an
average. It requires a lot of time for me to communicate in writing which I found
myself very uncomfortable.

3. REFERENCES:

Cite at least 5 References in APA.

You may use http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-journal for citing
your sources in APA style.

References:

Gatewood, K. (2014, February 24). Why Defining Distance Education Is an

Important Task. Retrieved November 1, 2015, from
http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2014/02/why-definingdistance-education-important-task

Nasseh, B. (1997). A Brief History of Distance Education. Retrieved

November 1, 2015, from http://www.seniornet.org/edu/art/history.html

Lane, C. (n.d.). Distance Education. Retrieved November 1, 2015, from

http://www.tecweb.org/eddevel/edtech/distance.html

Advantages of Distance Learning Programs Study orientation. (2012).

Retrieved November 1, 2015, from
http://www.distancelearningportal.com/articles/131/advantages-of-distancelearning-programs.html

OLawrence, H. (2007). An Overview of the Influences of Distance Learning on

Adult Learners. Journal of Education and Human Development, 1(1).