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A Conceptual Planning Tool Developed by University of Maryland University College for the University System of Maryland Institute for Distance Education

Overview

The term distance education represents a variety of educational models that have in common the physical separation of the faculty member and some or all of the students. As with all types of education, the various distance education models are built around the central components of the instructional process: presentation of content; interaction with faculty, peers, and resources; practical application; and assessment. Each distance education model uses technologies in various ways to address some or all of these components.

The various distance education models differ not only in the types of technologies that are used, but also in the locus of control over the pace and place of instruction. In some models, the faculty and institution have primary control, as is the case in a traditional classroom environment. In others, the control rests with the student.

The three distance education models presented in the matrix do not represent all the possible approaches to distance education. Rather, they represent the two ends and the middle of a continuum from faculty/institution-control to student-control. They are presented to stimulate the thinking of educators who are faced with the problem of how best to serve learners who cannot or choose not to come to the campus.

Planning Issues Common to All Models

A number of issues need to be addressed regardless of the model of distance education that is adopted.

Logistical Support

• When setting up a system for distributing materials, it is critical that all students are treated equally. Students must have the materials they need to complete assignments, to participate in group or class sessions (in Models A and C), and to benefit from instructor feedback. Students who are not at the origination location should not be disadvantaged.
• This support may be achieved with one or a combination of the following: courier, overnight delivery (FedEx, UPS, Express Mail), priority mail, electronic file transfer, and fax. With a long lead time, regular mail service may be an alternative. Students should always keep a copy of any significant assignments they complete, such as papers or projects.
• If faculty choose to give written examinations, students will need access to a proctored examination site. Proctors may be provided by the originating institution, or by the receive site. Proctors check student photo IDs to verify the identity of the test-taker and monitor the process to ensure that the same conditions apply in all locations.

  In some cases, the student may be given the opportunity to propose a proctor for institutional approval. This requires especially careful institutional guidelines and checks.

• Security of examinations is an issue from the time each examination leaves the instructor's hands until it is delivered back to the instructor for grading. Before and after the examinations are administered, they should be handled only by authorized personnel and stored in a locked desk or cabinet. It may be prudent to make copies of completed examinations before they are sent back to the instructor for grading.
• Faculty may incur expenses directly related to their distance education activities. These might include long-distance charges (telephone and computer/modem), postage, and mileage for travel to off-campus locations. The institutional policy on reimbursement for such expenses should be clearly stated and procedures should be set up to facilitate the reimbursement.

Student Support

• Students who do not come to the campus need access to academic advising services. Student contact with trained academic advisors is crucial because both the students and the credit-granting institution need to be confident that information given to students is appropriate and accurate. Advising can be accomplished by telephone or e-mail, or by providing periodic on-site advising at off-campus locations.
• There must be easily accessible, authoritative sources of information about nonacademic matters. Students should be informed as to whom to contact about specific types of questions or concerns. This is often best accomplished through printed materials that are written specifically for distance education students.
• Faculty members typically have office hours during which time they deal with questions and concerns of individual students. A mechanism must be identified so that off-campus students can easily contact a faculty member. Instructors might provide students with their telephone number and hours during which they can be reached or with their Internet or e-mail address for individual, private discussions. In cases where there are class sessions, faculty might designate a period of time before or after class, or during the break, to use the telecommunications technology to discuss more general issues and concerns with off-campus students.
• Much of the planning for traditional course delivery assumes easy access to campus-based resources such as library holdings, science laboratories, and computer software and hardware. In distance education, it is essential that faculty and administrators work together to think creatively about how to accomplish the educational objectives when students may not have ready access to all the campus-based resources. Solutions to particular problems may involve altered assignments, interinstitutional resource-sharing, special services at off-campus sites, and greater use of computer technologies and networks. (See also section entitled "Laboratory Experiences.")

Faculty Support

• The institution must determine what training the faculty will be provided on 1) the particular model of distance education they will be involved in and 2) the technologies they will be using. Faculty are likely to be more confident and effective if they understand what they are being asked to do, and why. They need to know the capabilities of the technologies available to them so that they can use these tools effectively to meet their instructional objectives.

  Orientation and training should be scheduled well in advance of the beginning of the semester to give faculty sufficient time to redesign, modify, or adapt their course and assignments specifically for the new delivery mode.

• Traditional higher education institutions have few built-in incentives to encourage faculty to become involved in distance education activities. The traditional reward structure, with its emphasis on research and publication, may actually discourage faculty who might otherwise be interested. Institutions should establish some faculty incentives that recognize the additional time faculty may spend in training and in planning an effective distance education course.
• To adapt their courses to new modes of delivery, faculty may benefit from having access to a variety of resources. Types of support might include instructional design, video production, graphics production, access to authoring tools, and other computer-based resources.
• The recruitment and selection of good distance education faculty is critical to the success of the program. Faculty who volunteer to participate in new modes of delivery are usually more successful and experience greater satisfaction than those who are assigned to participate. However, there are not always volunteers willing to teach the needed subjects. Using experienced and successful distance education faculty to recruit others is generally effective.

  Over time it may be possible to identify several personal characteristics that are most conducive to faculty success in each model of distance education.

Evaluation

• Typically, the faculty evaluation form that students complete for traditional classroom courses needs to be modified to yield useful information about faculty effectiveness in a distance education environment. Information about personal characteristics of successful instructors should be factored into future planning and hiring decisions. Information about effective instructional strategies should be included in faculty training and support materials.
• The technical systems and administrative support systems should be evaluated by the students, the faculty, and, if appropriate, the technical support staff. In designing the evaluation instruments, every effort should be made to separate issues related to the technical and administrative systems from those related to individual faculty performance; faculty evaluation typically rests with academic units, whereas systems evaluation is the purview of non-academic units.
• Evaluation of the faculty orientation and training process should be done each time the sessions are offered and the results should be factored into the ongoing refinement of the sessions and materials.

Laboratory Experiences

One of the most challenging aspects of distance education is to provide students who are not on campus with experiences that are equivalent to those of other students in fully equipped laboratories. A critical initial step is for faculty to determine how crucial a hands-on experience in a laboratory setting is in ensuring that students achieve the desired learning. For example, it is possible to design activities that teach students the skills of close observation without conducting lab-based experiments. When alternative activities to lab experiences are not suitable, one or more of the following solutions might be appropriate.

• Some institutions develop lab kits that contain the special equipment and supplies students need to complete one or more lab experiences, and written directions that outline the assignments and list the other materials students will need to complete the assignments. For example, the University of Maine sends out a kit containing a fetal pig for dissection.
• Another option is to conduct lab experiments at one location on an interactive video network. Students at all sites actively participate by conferring on the steps to be followed, and by observing, interpreting data, and suggesting follow-up activities.
• Videotape the experiments and edit them, using graphics to pose questions of the viewer as the experiment progresses: What do you think will happen next? Why did such-and-such happen? Which of the following explanations are consistent with the data?
• Off-the-shelf computer simulations are increasingly available. Depending on the cost and the hardware requirements, students might either purchase simulations as part of their instructional materials or travel -- either alone or in groups -- to a library or off-campus location to work with computer simulations.
• Students are sometimes required to travel to a central location with laboratory facilities to complete an intensive lab module over several days or weeks. Similarly, they might travel to decentralized locations -- study centers or regional campuses -- to do lab assignments over a week or several weekends.

Planning issues unique to the distributed classroom models

Institutional policies and practices frequently need to be reexamined when two or more institutions are involved in distance education course delivery. Following is a list of issues that cooperating institutions are likely to face. It is not intended to be exhaustive; rather, its purpose is to stimulate thinking and encourage discussion.

• Will courses originating at one institution be included in other institutions' class schedules?
• Do faculty get a single class list that includes students registered from all participating institutions, or separate lists from each institution?
• When the students register, whom do they pay? If there is a difference in tuition, how is this handled? If the student is registered full-time and at the top limit, how is this handled?
• Which institution pays the financial aid?
• Which institution gets credit for the student for reporting purposes? If they are receiving credit from the sending institution, is it transfer credit or residency credit?
• How will scheduling of rooms be coordinated among campuses?
• Do all institutions have the same semester start and end dates? The same time block for classes?
• Will institutions be charged for rooms and equipment at other institutions? If so, will the charges be consistent?
• Will support services be the same at each location (i.e., site coordinator, technical support, fax, photocopy machine, and telephone)?
• Who is responsible for hiring and training site coordinators and technical support staff?
• Who pays for the cost of distributing materials (via courier, UPS, FedEx)?
• How will equipment repair and maintenance costs be handled?
• Who ensures that appropriate computer software and hardware is available at each site; who pays for licenses?
• How do students get access to electronic information?