Semester

Educational Theory and Practice

2
April 19,
2022 Distance Learning
● Student recruitment, advisement,
and testing
OUTLINE
I. Advantages and Disadvantages of ● Major source of professional and emotional
Distance Learning support
II. Clinical Education of Distance Learning ● Orientation of preceptor and evaluation of
III. Interactive Television Classes student
a. Feeling of Alienation
b. Class Management UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
c. Uses of Interactive Television
● Television and part time faculty
d. Research on Effectiveness of
Interactive Television ● Close communication between faculty on
IV. Distance Learning via the Internet campus and clinical faculty
a. Synchronous versus Asynchronous
Classes
INTERACTIVE TELEVISION CLASSES
b. Development of Web-Based
Courses
c. Advantages and Disadvantages of aka. Interactive Television Classroom contains (6)
Online Courses ● Teaching podium w/ a control panel for the
d. Use of Online Education cameras and monitors
e. Research on Online Courses
f. Web-Enhanced Courses ● Microphone for the teacher
● A computer hookup
● a document camera (like an overhead
transparency projector)
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
● Fax machine
DISTANCE LEARNING
● a large television

I. ADVANTAGES OF DISTANCE LEARNING
● People in rural area can have a greater access
to information
● Accessible information wherever you are
● Time efficient and can learn more about
technologies
II. DISADVANTAGES OF DISTANCE LEARNING
● Lack of face-to-face contact and glitches or
shutting down of the technology.
● Inaccessible and struggle with use of
technology
● Cannot learn well and feeling of alienation
CLINICAL EDUCATION
HOW DO LEARNERS LEARN CLINICAL
EDUCATION IN DISTANCE LEARNING?
● Form of video
HOW IS CLINICAL LEARNING ACHIEVED?
● Paired up with preceptor in clinical sites near
their home
Tracking device- is worn by the teacher, the camera
follows him around the front of the room.
Monitors- several of it are placed at the back of room
to see students at the remote sites.
VCR- attached to the front monitors for both recording
and playing purposes. (Videocasette recorder)
Microphone & control pad- placed at each student’s
desk that moves the camera toward the student when
they activate the microphone.
The plan is to allow each teaching/learning site to be
visible and heard and allow maximum interaction.
Each remote site is similarly equipped, so transmission
can occur from any site. The full motion video images
and voices are carried over special telephone lines.
Compressed Video Technology
● Less expensive to install
● Can be transmitted over regular telephone
lines
● Quality of the video is not as good as in full-
motion video (Nichols, Beeken, & Wilkerson)

ROLE OF SITE COORDINATOR The ITV classroom is very expensive to build, equip,
● Off site telecommunications classroom and operate. Many distance education programs are
● Present broadcasting
combining or replacing ITV classroom transmission → Involve the students in group projects that cross
with Internet-based classes.
sites or having students on a listserv or chat room
Instructors may be very intimidated when first where they are guided to interact with each other.
confronted with this high tech classroom. It is important
● ITV technology affords the most normal
that they be well oriented to the equipment and
interaction.
conduct at least one trial run before beginning to
● Video systems allow everyone involved to see
teach. And also consider details such as:
body language and facial expressions and
● His/her Color of clothing- solid colors transmit
interactions between others. Smith and Dillon
best, and teacher should avoid very dark or
report that there is some evidence that
very light colors.
“learners who see each other process
● Shiny jewelry- should be avoided, due to too
information differently than learners who do
much reflection and distracting (Zalon, 2000)
not see each other”.
Instructors must learn to operate the equipment but
II. CLASS MANAGEMENT
also be comfortable enough with it that it becomes
almost invisible during learning experience.
● Plans must be made to deal with tasks like
document transfer and examinations.
According to Chandler & Hanrahan (2000), “The key to
● Mail course the materials to all students
making technology invisible is in knowing how to
before the first class OR to have materials
manage the equipment so that the machines and the
available on a course Web site.
miles between the instructor and students disappear.
The objective is to forget the distance so that all
Single handouts
involved feel like they are having a conversation in the
same room.” → can be faxed to remote sites at the beginning of

class sessions if there is convenient copying capability

Students are also needed to be oriented and be aware
that they must press the microphone on the desk if
they want to speak and that the camera will move to
put them in the screen when they do so.
Teachers should discuss possible discomfort and help
students to feel freer to take the first step to pressing
the microphone control.
I. FEELINGS OF ALIENATION
The students at remote sites often feel alienated from
the teacher and the home classroom. For this reason,
the teacher in ITV classroom must:
● Make a special effort to include students in the
discussion and learning activities and try to
develop rapport with them.
● Direct questions to students at all sites on a
rotating basis, and may be asked periodically if
they are keeping up and understanding the
material.
● Use little humor in helping everyone feel more
at ease
● If possible, the instructor should visit each
remote site atleast once during the course and
broadcast from that site.
in the remote sites.
Examinations
● if there are any, require logistical planning.
● In-class written examinations must be
prepared well in advance so they can be
mailed to the remote areas, stored in a safe
place, and distributed during the class. There
must be a proctor available at all sites (site
facilitator). Often in-class open-book test are
given or take-home exams are used.
Problems with the technology are inevitable.
● Technician during broadcast times is
considered essential even it adds to the cost
of the enterprise.
→ they can fix minor problems like poor
sound levels, camera don’t rotate, or
substandard video quality.
→ However, it is always possible to suffer
complete technological or transmission failure,
the remote sites can play the video later

(Chandler & Hanrahan 2000).

Positive Experience in Distance Learning
● Build rapport among students at the various
sites

III. USES OF INTERACTIVE TELEVISION
● Interactive television technology can be used
to deliver information to college students, staff
nurses, and patients. The majority of users at
present are probably colleges and universities.
● Programs for patients and clients in remote
geographic areas are beginning to grow.
● Example:
- One large regional hospital transmitted a
childbirth preparation class to a remote,
small rural hospital.
IV. RESEARCH ON EFFECTIVENESS OF
INTERACTIVE TELEVIOSION
● Distance learning of various type has been
studied for the last 30 years and generally
been shown to have positive outcomes for
students (Zalon, 2000)
● Student at remote sites said the ITV course
was okay, but they would not recommend it
● Students at home site also wrote rather
negative comments on an evaluation, stating
that “they resented having to push the
microphone buttons to talk, and resented
efforts to involve those at the distant sites in
discussion”. (Beeken and Wilkerson, 1994)
● Students participation was minimal because of
failure to interact were technology limitations,
camera shyness, fear of appearing stupid, and
time constraints. (Kelsey, 2000)
● We found low-quality evidence showing that
digital education is as effective as traditional
learning in medical students' communication
skills training. Blended digital education seems
to be at least as effective as and potentially
more effective than traditional learning for
communication skills and knowledge. (Kyaw
and colleagues, 2019)
DISTANCE LEARNING VIA THE INTERNET
I. SYNCHRONOUS VS ASYNCHRONOUS
Synchronous Classes
-occurs when people interact in real time electronically
via the internet
-the instructor and the students engage in the course
and with each other at the same time, but from
different locations
Advantage
• Greater engagement
-Students can ask questions and get answers
in real-time, as the session is proceeding.
● Immediate responses
-Direct communication with instructors
-The instructor can gauge the students
understanding in real-time, and adjust the
session accordingly
● Dynamic learning opportunities
-Instructors can facilitate workshop-style
classes and run breakout group activities
● Provide schedule for students who struggle
with task initiation
Disadvantages
● Requires strong internet connection
● Needs quiet space to log on
● All learners must be available at the same time
-Some students might not be able to
participate at the required time due to
technical or scheduling problems. They may
be in different time zones.
● Discussion progresses quickly and depth of
ideas may suffer
● Slow typists may not participate as much
Asynchronous Classes
-materials are located on a web page that can be
accessed anytime at the learner's convenience
-the instructor and the students in the course all
engage with the course content at different times and
from different locations.
Advantages
● Self-paced
Students can access the course content, and
initiate or respond to interactions with the
instructor and their peers, when it best suits
their schedule
● More accessible
Allows students to work around unanticipated
challenges such as falling sick for a week, or
dealing with a family emergency
● More democratic
-during a live session, only a small number of
students will be able to ask questions; in an
online discussion group all students can pose
questions or make comments
● More time with learning materials
-Recorded sessions allow students time to
digest the session content and/or conduct
further research before posing questions in a
discussion group
 -Students can re-watch recorded sessions to
deepen their learning, or to review content
prior to an exam.
Disavantages
• Less immersive
-Students might feel less connected to an
instructor when they are watching a recorded
session
● Requires task initiation skills
-Asynchronous learning requires a higher level
of commitment and independent learning
skills.
● Disconnected social environment
-Students might feel less connected to the
course overall when they do not see their
classmates/professor
● Independent learning difficulties
-Asynchronous learning requires significant
task initiation skills since none of the class
time is scheduled, only the assessment
deadlines.
● More distractions
-Students might put off engaging with a
recorded session because they can always
“do it later.
II. Development of Web-Based Courses
• Web-Based Course
-any course delivered entirely by electronic
methods such as the Internet
-typically delivered by higher education
institution as an addition to existing
coursework or even to substitute/ replace an
older course with an online version.
● The development of web-based courses
requires the combined efforts of the instructor
or content expert and an instructional designer
or educational technologist
● Common model for online instruction: half of
the course involves self-instruction through the
use of teacher-provided online
materials,simulations and analysis of online
data the other half involves either synchronous
or asynchronous discussions.
● Many different teaching strategies may be built
in such as simulations, debates, problem-
based learning exercises, logs, and journals.
● Quizzes, examinations as well as course-
syllabus may also be accessed via the website
● Threaded or topic-based discussions
→Expectations and instructions regarding the
conduct of discussion must be clear.
→ Instructions may include information about
using the technology, requiring an antivirus
program, netiquette, time frames, grammar,
and spelling
→ Substantive aspects of the discussion may
include required readings to be done before
the discussion and citing references to back
up opinions
→ As students are evaluated and graded based
on their discussions, expectations must be
clear before evaluation begins (e.g. Students
will not think they will earn points by saying “I
agree with that last comment”)
III. Advantages and Disadvantages of Online
Courses
Advantages
● Access to classes is even greater than with
telecommunications classrooms
● Convenience is maximized in asynchronous
learning formats
● Branching within the software programs
*Branching-refers to the options the
learner has available to move around in the
learning sequence.
● Learners interact in valuable ways through
various discussion group formats
Disadvantages
● Some courses are totally learner controlled
● not an adequate substitute for the full, rich
experience of the classroom
● Technology involved in delivering online
courses may be a distinct drawback
● Academic faculty often say they spend more
time in online classes than they do in teaching
traditional classes
IV. USES OF ONLINE EDUCATION
● They are producing courses for undergraduate
and graduate students
 ● There is a great deal of health-related
information on the web
● Effective means of providing patient and
community education

V. RESEARCH ON ONLINE COURSES

● Learning between traditional and online

learning have found at least equivalent
learning measured by tests and examinations
● Research found that online learning improves
computer competency skills
● Socialization scores of distance learning at
least equivalent to the scores of learners in
traditional programs
● There are many report that they are satisfied
learners

LEARNERS SATISFACTION HAS CONFLICTING

RESULTS REGARDING ON:

● Some are dissatisfied with the technology

● Some with the heavy workload
● Some with the isolation from teacher to
students

VI. WEB-ENHANCED COURSES

● Traditional education and online education

have both strengths and weaknesses, other
professors decided to build on strengths of
both by combining them.
● may involve giving students assignments
related to Web sites and not requiring the
students to come to class during those days

New ways of using the Internet or telecommunications

for education are still evolving. It is important for
educators to keep abreast of changing technology and
its potential for learning purposes.