RESEARCH PAPER TEMPLATE

North American University

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

Date: ______Oct 21, 2016__________

Topic Selected:
Topic 3: 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:

The main advantage of distance learning is that it allows you to fit your learning
around your work and home life (Why choose distance learning?). If a student
also work in a job, or have other responsibilities besides school, distance
learning is a good way to continue education from work or home. It is flexible for
class time. A majority of distance learning students are female and many are
single parents who want to stay close to home for various reasons. They might
not be able to afford child care or must care for a confined relative at home
(CUNY). Other students are physically disabled and cannot easily travel to
campus. Also it is cheaper than traditional classes. Those were advantages, for
the major disadvantage is lack of seriousness, competition, and learning
(surejob). You are dealing with machines not with people. So, it doesnt give real
college environment. Sometimes you need to clarify your doubts by yourself. You
cannot interact with the professor as you wish. In distance learning, study in a
group is difficult, one just have to do by himself which becomes publicly one-off
as there is no communication with other classmates (Vlasenko, L. & Bozhok, N.).
Chats, or emails and even online conferences might not be enough sometimes.
Understanding the system (website, moddle, online conference apps etc.) of
distance education may be hard for new comers or if someone who is not good
with technology. It was interesting for me that in the international association for
distance educations article, they stated no communication as an advantage. It
may be an advantage as well, there may some students who distracts class, or
confusing by asking different questions. So, you have your own study way, and

your own understanding if you can study better individually.

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:

Research supports my opinion in some sense. My opinion is distance education

has only one advantage which is flexible class time for people who are working
or have children. I took 100% online course from HCC this summer, and it was
terrible. From my experience, My grade was good but I think distance education
is not eligible to learn efficiently. As a student, you cannot ask questions one by
one to the professor. Even if you do, it is not as efficient as face-to-face learning.
You need to clarify your doubts by yourself. Also you need to be a punctual and
planned person; you need to draw your own learning path by yourself. Also they
were using eagle online website which is similar to our moddle system. It was
really hard for me to understand how it is working at the beginning, the structure
of the website was really confusing. Another thing is you are always with
mechanic things, in our nature we need some interaction with the class, too. I do
not even know whom I took the class with. It may be easier for me if we work
together, or ask if I did not understand what the professor really want us to do for
an assignment. I am not the fan of distance education but it might be good for
persons situation. I do not know how to overcome with those disadvantages but
what I would do if I was a professor is I would have office hours for students to
come and study face-to-face.
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:
Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Education - SureJob. (2013, July
16). Retrieved October 21, 2016, from http://surejob.in/advantages-and-disadvantages-ofdistance-education.html
Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved October
21, 2016, from http://iadl.org.uk/article1.htm
Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Learning. (2004, August 13).
Retrieved October 21, 2016, from
http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/SocialSciences/ppecorino/China-QCC-DE/AdvantagesDisadvantages-DE.html
Advantages and Disadvantages Why Choose Distance Learning? (n.d.).
Retrieved October 21, 2016, from
http://wickedissues.blogspot.com/2015_10_01_archive.html
Vlasenko, L., & Bozhok, N. (n.d.). ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

OF DISTANCE LEARNING. Retrieved October 21, 2016, from

http://dspace.nuft.edu.ua/jspui/bitstream/123456789/20684/1/1.pdf