Browsing by Subject "Distance Learning"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 16
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    Access Barriers Experienced By Adults In Distance Education Courses And Programs: A Review Of The Research Literature
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Zirkle, Chris
    Distance education in the American education system continues to expand. However, despite technological improvements and nearly universal accessibility to the Internet, adult learners continue to experience barriers to accessing distance education courses and programs. Building on prior work by Cross (1981) and Darkenwald and Merriam (1982), this literature review focuses on the institutional and student barriers experienced by adult learners. Institutional barriers consist of program costs, resource availability, lack of equipment and infrastructure, scheduling, instructional concerns and technical assistance. Student barriers include costs and motivators, feedback and teacher contact, alienation and isolation, student support and services, and a lack of experience and/or training. Recommendations for addressing institutional barriers include continual evaluation of noninstructional areas, faculty training, and adoption of new technologies. Recommendations for alleviating student barriers include providing opportunities for distance students to interact with faculty, other students, and other parts of the campus, providing toll-free phone support to all areas of the campus, requiring faculty to have online office hours, and developing electronic tutorials for new distance students. The use of distance education in the United States continues to grow. A recent study by the National Center for Education Statistics (Waits & Lewis, 2003) documented the increased use of distance education in a multitude of academic and technical disciplines in postsecondary institutions. Private industry and business, along with governmental agencies, have also recognized the attraction of learning “any time and any place” in providing education and training opportunities for their employees. Relieving adult learners of the time and place constraints of a traditional classroom, distance education can present a new set of constraints, or barriers, to accessing educational opportunities. These barriers can be significant for adult learners, many of whom are “non-traditional” students, i.e., older, employed, needing job skill updates, seeking career change, or returning to college after a long absence. These students may also be single parents or transfer students, who, because of family responsibilities, work commitments or geographic limitations, are seeking to access educational opportunities at their convenience. Distance education offers the promise of unfettered access for these individuals; however, at present, the promise remains unfulfilled.
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    Assessing & Improving Online Learning Using Data From Practice
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2003) Merrill, Henry S.; DiSilvestro, Frank; Young, Raejean C.
    This research uses a qualitative case study approach to investigate online course instruction, and the dimensions of both learner and facilitator/instructor engagement. The research team analyzed archival data from course management software "Course Statistics," and coded indicators using word processing software to examine learner and facilitator writings in the courses.
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    Distance Education Learners’ Perceptions In Learning Computer Technology: Implications For Practice
    (Midwest Research-to Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Atchade, Pierre Jacques
    Distance education demand explosion since the 1990s is expected to continue over the next ten years. As technology gets better, distance education courses will increase both quantitatively and qualitatively and will eventually compete with the largely text- and instructor-based courses taught in all institutions. Using online questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and lab and class observations to explore the perceptions of twelve K-12 teachers and administrators as they learned computer technology (QuizEditor JS, and WebQuest Generator) taught in two ways: Audio-video conferencing and online, four categories of learners emerged: (1) the mentor,(2) the mentee, (3) the illiterate, and (4) the “context bound (Atchade, 2002).” This study suggests alternative ways learner-learner interaction could be organized to maximize student learning and minimize teacher’s work.
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    THE EXPERIENCE OF REAL WORLD CONTEXTS IN VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS:
    (2005-09-27T17:26:46Z) Smith, Regina O.; Dokter, Christina; Dirkx, John M
    The purpose of this qualitative case study was to develop a deeper understanding of adult learners’ experiences participating in an online, problem-based course, and to enhance our understanding of PBL as a means to foster a sense of context in these environments. The findings the perception of meaningful context, is constantly mediated through differences among group members, and the need to manage group and interpersonal processes, particularly around unresolved issues of authority and intimacy. Implications for adult educators are discussed.
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    Exploring The Relationship Between Learning Style And Critical Thinking In An Online Course
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Conceicao, Simone
    As online courses become more widespread in adult education programs, adult educators begin to explore teaching strategies that effectively facilitate student learning based on different learning styles. One teaching strategy commonly used in online courses to develop adult learners’ critical thinking skills is the discussion forum. Using online discussion forums in courses, often some students lack effective strategies for participating in discussion forums in courses. Therefore, this study explores the relationship between learning style and critical thinking in an online course that used discussion forums and concept maps as teaching strategies. Learning strategies used by students in the course were assessed using a Kolb-based learning style inventory. Students’ critical thinking skills were assessed by asking them to create concept maps of the reading materials and discussions in the course. Findings of this study show that there was no relationship between learning style and critical thinking; however, it suggests that individual factors (learner’s competency using concept map software, learner’s motivation about topics discussed, and individual learning style) and group factors (combination of learning styles in a group and group facilitation) influenced the ability of students to demonstrate successful critical thinking skills in the course. As online courses become more prevalent in adult education programs, adult educators explore teaching strategies that more effectively facilitate student learning based on different learning styles. A variety of teaching strategies for the online environment have been offered to practitioners in articles and books; however, few studies examine these teaching strategies based on student learning styles. One teaching strategy that is commonly used in online courses is the discussion forum. In an online discussion forum, a group of learners engages in a computer-mediated interchange of ideas through e-mail, chat, or bulletin board technology. As in a face-to-face discussion, each message is seen by all members of the group, but the lack of direct personal contact presents certain challenges. In my experience with discussion forums in courses, I have observed that some students lack effective strategies for participating in this activity. Therefore, as part of my Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research, I proposed to explore the relationship between learning style and critical thinking in an online course that uses discussion forums and concept maps as teaching strategies. My initial conjecture was that certain learning strategies would help learners be more successful in online discussion forums. To study this issue, I offered an Internet-based course using online discussion forums with the purpose of fostering learners’ critical thinking skills. The learning strategies used by students in the course were assessed using a Kolb-based learning style indicator. Students’ critical thinking skills were assessed by asking them to create concept maps of the reading materials and discussions in the course.
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    Faculty Mentoring At A Distance: Coming Together In The Virtual Community
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Stein, David S.; Glazer, Hilda R.
    This mixed-methods study explores how faculty in a virtual university experience the role of mentor working with doctoral students at a distance. This study uses faculty narratives to identify faculty actions that might be different from mentoring traditional doctoral students in a face to face program. In the new working adult universities, learners are not necessarily seeking initial careers through doctoral study but are enhancing established careers. The study investigates the mentoring skills on line faculty bring to the virtual learning space and describes how a graduate faculty teaching in a virtual learning space perform the role of mentor.
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    The Heart Of Adult Peer-Group Learning: Living The Learning Together
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2003) Gilly, M. Sue
    The experience of learning in peer-groups has not been adequately studied. This researcher used her own experience with 2 other graduate students for over 2 years as the basis for her dissertation. Various literatures, not previously linked were pulled together that shed light on this particular phenomenon. Qualitative analysis of her peer-group’s conversations produced 8 key themes. A synthesis of the literature and of the themes provides an overview of adult peer-group learning; summed up by the theme living the learning together.
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    Instructional Perspectives Of Nurse Educators Engaged In Teaching Via Distance Education
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Drinkard, Gretchen; Henschke, John A.
    The purpose of this study was to contribute to knowledge regarding instructional perspectives of 35 University of Missouri-St. Louis nurse faculty, who were teaching via distance education formats. The study was designed to identify differences of respondents rating the seven factors of the Instructional Perspectives Inventory (IPI), which include: teacher empathy with learners; teacher trust of learners; planning and delivery of instruction; accommodating learner uniqueness; teacher insensitivity toward learners; learner-centered learning processes; and teacher-centered learning processes (Henschke, 1994). This study also identified differences between the seven factors and specific demographic data (age, number of years teaching nursing, number of semesters teaching via distance education, formal exposure to adult education concepts and highest degree earned). The two areas of statistically significant findings from the analysis of the data were regarding the factor “teacher trust of learners.” Respondents with doctorates outside of nursing scored significantly higher on teacher trust of learners than those with doctorates in nursing. Also, respondents with a Master of Science degree in nursing scored significantly higher on teacher trust of learners than those with doctorates in nursing.
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    Learning To See Through The Invisible: The Problem Of Process In Online Collaborative Learning
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Dirkx, John M.; Smith, Regina O.
    Educators are increasingly incorporating collaborative and other group methods into the design of online learning. For the most part, however, these efforts reflect technical-rational views of group process. In this paper, we argue that this view of group process understates the significance of unconscious and invisible processes in online learning. Using psychodynamic theory, we discuss the role of unconscious processes in online learning and pedagogical strategies that may be helpful in making these processes more visible. In The Little Prince we are taught that it is only with the heart that we see rightly and what is essential is invisible to our eyes. We are interested in fostering online learning environments characterized by teaching and learning from the heart. Such an approach, however, requires a richer understanding of the emotional dynamics of online collaborative groups and how deep learning reflects a process essentially invisible to the eye. Online learning programs are increasing at exponential rates (Bishop and Spake, 2003; Kariya, 2003) and many of their participants are adult learners. The design of learning experiences within these programs is also evolving. While early online programs focused largely on transmission and mastery of bodies of information, more emphasis is now being placed on collaborative methods (Bruffee, 1999; Dirkx & Smith, 2003)), such as case study, problem-based learning, and the fostering of learning communities in online contexts. For the most part, these collaborative approaches remain defined within a technical-rational paradigm that stresses subject matter or skill mastery. More expressive dimensions of adult learning, such as fostering awareness of and reflecting on the process and dynamics of individual and group learning remain underdeveloped or ignored by both researchers and practitioners. Yet, adult learning principles and constructivist approaches stress the centrality of meaning-making to learning and the dialectical relationship of the self of the learner with the content and context of learning (West, 2001). Process issues, however, are often difficult to discern even in face-to-face groups and can remain largely invisible in virtual, online contexts. The purpose of this paper is to explore the problem of group process in online learning, to elaborate a deeper understanding of the role of process in fostering deep learning, and to discuss pedagogical strategies that make more visible unconscious emotional processes and dynamics associated with these deeper forms of adult learning.
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    Lost In Familiar Places: The Struggle For Voice And Belonging In Online Adult Learning Groups
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2003) Smith, Regina O.; Dirkx, John M.
    Many adults express a preference for learning in small groups but often find their group experiences frustrating and dissatisfying. This tension is increasingly evident in online learning, as collaborative methods become more popular within these environments. The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of the emotional dynamics and processes reflected in this tension within online collaborative environments. Our findings suggest that online learning groups display behaviors that reflect two powerful, alternating, cyclical fears. On the one hand, the groups act as if they perceive a definite threat to individual identity. Such actions, however, seem to precipitate a corresponding fear of alienation and disconnectedness among group members. Getting stuck in this cycle of alternating fears may account for the lingering dissatisfaction adults have with group learning.