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David Hooks
EDIT 5370 Midterm
Texas Tech University

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EDIT 5370 Midterm

What is Distance Education?
In 1990s, Dan Coldeway established what are referred to as Coldeways Quadrants. The
quadrants, birthed by intersecting an x and y-axis, symbolized the four contexts in which
education takes place. Those four contexts for education, according to Coldeway are same timesame place, same time-different place, different time-same place, and different time-different
place (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012). See Figure 1 for a visual of the
quadrants.

ST-SP

DT-SP

ST-DP

DT-DP

Figure 1. Coldeways Quadrants in visual form.

The influences of Coldeways Quadrants are superimposed on one of the four traits that
characterize the current, generally accepted definition of distance education (DE). This
definition (Schlosser & Simonson, 2009) holds that distance education is formal education
rooted in an institution where there is a geographical divide between the learners and instructors,
and where interactive telecommunications systems interconnect learners, resources and
instructors.
For many students, the line between what is an online course and what is not can be
blurred by the fact that most classes in every educational setting utilizes the internet to deliver
content in one way or another. The Online Learning Consortium (formerly known as the Sloan
Consortium) has provided a quantifiable means by which to categorize learning environments by

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where they fit on the online learning spectrum. If 80% or more of course content is delivered
online, then the course is considered an online course. 30-79% of course content being delivered
online deams the course blended/hybrid, whereas 29% or less of course content delivery taking
place online moves the class to the web-facilitated end of the spectrum. If traditional courses
deliver no course online, then many traditional classrooms fit more into the mold of a webfacilitated and have been misidentified (Allen & Seaman, 2010; Picciano & Seaman, 2007).
What can be confusing is how students can be taking courses that meet the criteria to be
labeled online courses (80% of content delivered online), and be considered distance learners,
yet they are not separated by a geographical divide because they live in same city, or even on the
school campus in which they are enrolled (perhaps these learners should be more appropriately
called convenience learners). While this seems paradoxical, common themes in this scenario
paint a picture depicting the higher eduscape as a whole - supply, demand, and convenience.
Though students say their first choice is not to learn at a distance (Simonson, et. al., 2012, p.
5), online offerings continue to grow because, conversely, evidence suggest that students are
increasingly demanding to be allowed to learn at a distance (Simonson, et. al., 2012, p. 5). This
affords students a bit more control over time and place when it comes to efforts towards course
progression (Picciano & Seaman, 2007).
The move towards convenience has caused a parallel with on-demand television to
bleed over into the education world. Personally, I prefer establishing rapport with instructors and
forming relationships with fellow classmates in the face-to-face setting, but if going the online
route opens doors for me to explore educational opportunities elsewhere that were otherwise out
of reach, then I appreciate the ability to do so.
Brief History

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Different movements or needs served as catalysts for creating demand for new or
improved methods of providing DE opportunities. For example, being that Europe is comprised
of countries with a variety of official languages in close proximity to one another, expanding
ones repertoire of fluent languages could prove understandably advantageous. For some
industrious pioneers, this possibility also proved profitable. Language study in Europe took off
in the mid 1800s as Isaac Pitman and Charles Toussaint began leveraging the postal service to
provide instructional correspondence to their pupils (Simonson, et. al., 2012).
The Womens Rights Movement created the demand for DE as well. On the heels of the
first womens suffrage law being passed in, then, the territory of Wyoming, Anna Eliot Tickner
empowered distance students (especially homemaking women) to further their education with
the establishment of the Society to Encourage Studies at Home in 1873 (Simonson, et. al., 2012).
One unique example exemplifies how industrialization sparked a new way of using the
newspaper to meet the DE needs of those needing instruction in the coal industry. Deaths in coal
mines were attributed to the ignorance of foremans overseeing mine operations. Legislation was
passed requiring the foremans to pass a technical competency exam to improve facilitate better
safety in this dangerous workplace. At the turn of the twentieth century, William J. Foster
capitalized on this legislation and offered to instruct the mineworkers via his newspaper. His
clientele reach would eventually cover three states and would grow to over 2 million pupils in
the 1920s (Simonson, et. al., 2012).
In the late 1800s, formal education institutions began exploring the possibility of using
correspondence as a tool to extend their reach. Some programs found success with
correspondence (i.e. Skerrys College in Edinburgh, University Correspondence College in

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London, Moody Bible Institute, etc). Others, such as Illinois Wesleyan, the University of
Wisconsin, and the University of Chicago, enjoyed some measure of success until quality
control, finances, and the digression of program enthusiasm called their correspondence
offerings into question (Simonson, et. al., 2012).
The eventual advancement of technology in the forms of radio, television, satellite,
computers, and the internet promoted experimentation with new delivery approaches. The
successes and failures of those who have attempted to hone these technologies to reach learners
in new ways paved the way for present-day distance learners, such as myself, to further their
education with distance courses, such as this one.
The mission to meet learners where they are has never been quite as seamless, at least
in the developed world, as it is today. Developing countries, however, such as Ghana, are
moving to facilitate online learning opportunities to compensate for the fact that some
institutions of higher education are having to turn away qualified applicants due to lack of
campus infrastructure to support the growing student populations (Commonwealth of Learning,
2002). Institutions in developing countries are rushing to acquire the ability to facilitate DE
opportunities while institutions in developed countries are rushing to meet the demand for the
convenience of having more opportunities; all made possible through the World Wide Web. It
seems as though the internet might be the pinnacle of vehicles with which to deliver instructional
materials.
Theory on Distance Education
For most of the time that DE has been in practice, the field has lacked a foundation in
theory. Like a foundation being essential to a home, educators recognized the need to establish

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theory to guide the practice away from following more of a lets just try it and learn from our
mistakes approach (Homberg, 1995).
Desmond Keegan (1996) laid out categories into which theories on DE could sorted.
Keegan called for DE theory to pertain to independence and autonomy; industrialization of
teaching; and interaction and communication. Theories associated with the distribution of DE
and educational philosophy would eventually become a fourth category.
Certain levels of independence and autonomy are inherent with DE. Charles
Wedemeyers (1981) theory of independent study called for higher education to utilize
technology to better foster independence in students and to shift the burden of learning more on
the shoulders of the learners.
Michael Moores theories of independent study and transactional distance (2007) focused
on learner autonomy and the geographical divide between the instructor and learners. His
theories served as a means of measuring an educational opportunities level of communication,
amount of structure, and degree of autonomy.
Otto Peters focused his theoretical attention on organizations which offered DE
opportunities. Peters drew a parallel between industrialization and DE, and pointed to how
principles of industrialization could be superimposed on the production of DE offerings. He
claimed that the planning of DE endeavors would be ill-fated lest industrialization factors are
taken into consideration (Peters, 1988).
While education should always be learner-focused, Peters pointed to the industry-related
considerations inherent with DE. The measures of control, decision-making power, and

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production responsibility can approached from different social, political, philosophical, and
education angles. The approaches taken with regards to DE are not always widely agreed upon
and, thus, the paradigm that characterizes this divide is between Fordism and Post-Fordism.
Likened to the assembly line production of the Model T, the Fordist approach to the producing
DE opportunities is inflexible, yet leads to a high yield for mass consumption where knowledge
is delivered to the learner (Simonson, et. al., 2012, p. 59). The post-Fordist side of the spectrum
flexes with the needs of students, allows instructors more control over the design of instruction,
and is more-aligned with a constructivist instructional approach (Simonson, et. al., 2012).
Class interaction and overall communication are unique when it comes to DE. Brje
Holmberg (1985) tied the efficacy of instructors to student qualitative perceptions of rapport,
interactive experiences, and levels of communication (Simonson, et. al., 2012).
Equivalence theory (Schlosser & Simonson, 2009) can be summed up in that the
experiences of the local learner should have equivalent value to those of the distance learner
though their experiences might be quite different (Simonson, et. al., 2012, pp. 52-53). Though
the theories and experiences associated with DE will by nature be inherently different to those
pertaining to traditional education, the quality of learning made possible by DE should not
qualitatively be degenerate. If we as instructional technologists and designers are not abreast of
theory relevant to the foundations of our field, our competence will compromised, and we
ignorantly destine ourselves to a trial-and-error approach to reinventing an unnecessary wheel.
Research Related to Distance Education
The research for DE has been summarized with the point that it is not different
education, it is distance education (Simonson, et. al., 2012, p. 84). DE being on par with

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traditional education has been a recurring theme throughout the course textbook as well.
Purposeful, not necessarily plentiful, interaction and collaborative opportunities are key
components of effective DE (Simonson, et. al., 2012). DE learners feel they learn as well as if
they were in a regular classroom and have a tendency to be intrinsically motivated and possess
an internal locus of control (Simonson, et. al., 2012, p. 84).
For Module 3, I read, annotated, and synthesized three different research articles related
to DE. My reflections over each article are included in the following paragraphs.
As an educator, I have learned more from my failures than my successes. The first case
study I read serves as a parallel for my own life, both from a personal and a professional angle.
Like Thomas Edison, we benefit in learning the many ways not to make a light bulb, maybe
more so, than learning how to make a light bulb. Additionally, learning from the missteps of our
brothers in arms on the frontlines of the educational battlefield carries, help to arm and equip us
for future endeavors.
With infographics pointing to the flipping of classes actually decreasing the dropout rates
of some high schools, I was shocked to learn that dropout rates were quite high in some of the
online class environments observed in the second paper. Though many benefits have been
experienced through distance education, students, especially those who are considered at-risk,
can easily become frustrated and become indifferent if they perceive a lack of connectedness
and/or support.
The part of the third paper that stood out to me is that student feedback was treated as
valuable data in some of the studies that were focused on. I appreciated this, because student
feedback can easily be overlooked when it comes to gauging the effect of different treatments on

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academic performance. Numbers dont always paint an accurate picture when it comes to the
instructional design of either traditional or distance learning opportunities.
Conclusion
It does not matter what technology or communication tool comes out, the ability to
leverage them for purposeful and effective learning experiences is anchored in the DE
instructors knowledge of theory and research related to the field.
References
Allen, I., & Seaman, J. (2010). Learning on Demand: Online education in the United States,
2006: Midwestern edition. Wellesley, MA: Sloan Consortium.
Commonwealth of Learning. (2002). Ghana distance education programme.
http://www.col.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/Ch3_CS-Mallet.pdf. Accessed on
September 15, 2014.
Holmberg, B. (1995). The evolution of the character and practice of distance education, 10(2),
47-53.
Keegan, D. (1996). The foundations of distance education (3rd ed.). London Croom Helm.
Moore, M. (2007). The theory of transactional education. In M. Moore (Ed.), Handbook of
distance education (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Peters, O. (1988). Distance teaching and industrial production: A comparative interpretation in

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outline. In D. Sewart, D. Keegna, B. Homberg (Eds.), Distance education: International

perspectives (pp. 34-45). New York: Routledge.
Picciano, A., & Seaman, J. (2007). K-12 online learning. A survey of U.S. school district
administrators. Needham, MA: Sloan Consortium.
Schlosser, L., & Simonson, M. (2009). Distance education: Definition and glossary of terms (3rd
ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a
distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Publishing,
Inc.
Wedemeyer, C. (1981). Learning at the back door. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

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