DISTANCE EDUCATION : QUALITY CONCERNS

Article by Lekshmi S., Research Scholar; supported by Dr.Minikutty A., Reader, SPS

Introduction

India is a vast country with more than 100 billion people. Her people and their favourite institutions are separated by great distances, often obstructing the mainstream style of education. The emergence of distance learning as a significant component of education in society has become a source of opportunities for a sizeable segment of our people.
‘Distance education is a form of education in which the students of universities and institutes of higher learning do not attend regular classes or lectures, but instead study teaching material especially prepared for this purpose by professors and their staffs together with experts in distance education and interact indirectly with members of the teaching staff by means of technical media for the guidance and control of learning.
While distance education has been in existence for several years, it still faces some quality challenges. This paper examines some of the relevant factors that affect the quality of distance education. Each one is briefly discussed below.

Faculty

The faculty’s composition & qualifications are essential components for creating high-quality distance learning programmes. Inadequate faculty selection adversely affects distance education programmes. Faculty is the key to a successful distance education programme. Administrators must understand what motivates and inhibits faculty distance education participation in order to maximize efforts (Schifter, 2002).
Gaining faculty commitment is vital to successful implication of a program. It often is helpful to begin with the involvement & development of a small cadre of faculty who are highly respected by their peers. These early-entry faculty then can become resources to assist the development of additional faculty. Issues that have been noted as barriers to faculty participation include insufficient training, lack of applicability towards promotion and tenure, lack of release time, insufficient instructional and administrative support, minimal monetary compensation, and an expanded teaching load (Clark, 1993., Dillon & Walsh, 1992., Koontz, 1989., Olcott, 1993 & Wolcott, 1993)
Faculty members must be efficient enough to perform their roles as – content experts, learning process design expert and process implementation manager.

Learners

Due to the nature of the distance education process, students need to take considerable responsibility in managing their own learning.
Distance learners must
1. Assume greater responsibility of their learning
2. Take more initiative in asking questions and obtaining help
3. Be flexible
4. Be prepared to deal with technical difficulties
To be a successful distance learner, one must stress time managements and discipline. The students must know what is expected of them and direct their efforts in a purposeful manner toward the attainment of learning goals.

Availability and utilization of instructional resources

Appropriate instructional technologies and related support should be available and used by faculty and students. They should receive adequate training in the use of technology. When on-campus resources cannot be duplicated for distance education programme, comparable access should be provided through inter-library loans, electronic delivery systems, agreement with other libraries etc. The emphasis should be on student use of the technology and the resultant availability and quality of leaning resources. The most up-to-date technology may not be the most suitable or cost-effective option. Consideration should be given to equipment compatibility with anticipated receiver sites to minimize cost and ensure successful connection. Inorder to assure quality of open and distance learning materials, the following points have to be considered.
1 Recruitment of high-quality staff for materials creation.
2 Training of staff
3 Incorporation of substantial face-to-face student contact within staff duties.
4 Striving to retain staff so that they become experienced
5 Working in well-established teams.
6 Teams permitted plenty of thinking –time to re-draft and refine materials.
7 Teams working to a student-centred set of design principles, which are frequently reappraised.

Design of learning experiences

The design of learning experience will greatly influence the quality of distance education programme. Institutions must articulate clearly what is to be taught (e.g., content) and how content will be delivered to students (e.g. Pedagogy and technologies). Educators should design learning experience to take advantage of various modalities that best fit with the learning objectives and with student leaning styles. Adapting all learning goals to a fixed technology or delivering traditional lecture presentation over technology-based media are likely to produce disappointing results

Student-faculty and student-student interaction

A quality distance learning program may include a mix of interactions, including one-to-one tutorial meetings/workshops and residential programmes, plus a variety of interactive sessions utilizing a range of technologies (e.g. video /satellite conferences, internet, email, etc.)

Assessment method

The choice of assessment methodologies is a significant factor affecting the quality of distance education. Assessment choices should support intended learning outcomes, but they also should be consistent with desired learning approaches. (e.g. individuals vs. group-based learning and integrated vs. isolated subject approaches.) Assessment policy should set out the need for formative assessment of students (e.g. application level projects and assignments). It should also supply summative assessment through formal examination or testing, to measure the attainment of knowledge and skills at specific points in the program. Decisions on timing of assessment should be made with a view to encouraging student progression and program completion.

Availability of funds

A primary concern for both distance learning institutions and students is availability of funds. When technology is used, costs increase substantially for both the students and institution. Universities must consider the staff training costs and initial costs as well as the continuing costs of installing, maintaining, using and upgrading technology to support distance services.

Organisational commitment

To be successful, distance education requires considerable organizational commitments. The institution should establish policies and infrastructure (including processes for continuous improvement) for distance leaning initiatives to achieve and maintain high-quality. Institutions introducing distance leaning should recognize that this could shift the focus of its efforts from traditional concern for teaching to a broader conception of effective institutional methods.
All these factors affect the quality of distance education.

Conclusion

Although distance education is not new, it has not received respect in the academic community because of the quality problems in distance education. The dramatic growth of the adult learner population is making distance education an increasingly popular choice of learning techniques. Close scrutiny into the above mentioned facts will help overcome problems in enhancing the quality of distance education programmes.

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