Distance Education theorists 2011

An Overview of the MajorTheories of Distance Education
Terry Anderson
Dr. Seminar, Nova University
Lisbon, 2011

Wed. Agenda
Major Theorists in DE – overview
Small groups – what theory resonates with you??
Break
Community of Inquiry Model

Three Wise Men of Distance Education Theory

First Distance Education Courses
Weekly lessons (by newspaper) for Sunday School Teachers
Pitman Shorthand – distributed “how to manuals”
University of London from 1870- production of course Syllabus –ie content

Holmberg’s Theory of Didactic Interaction (1980’s)
A Theory of conversation, based on empathy
Print publication NOT like discourse on subject
Conversation like tone
Personal anecdotes
Personal disclosure
Opportunity for one to one interaction
synchronous – F2F
Asynchronous – post
Claims to be predictive, ill defined
"Theory and Practice of Distance Education 1989"
.)

Theories of Industrialization
From beyond craft production to industrial age
Specialized labour – course team
Assembly line
Mass market and Centralization
Individualized study and tutors
Scientific Control & New pedagogy
Embraced new (mass) technology
Learning and Teaching in Distance
2002 Distance Education in Transition

Michael Moore
Theory of Transactional Distance: the cognitive space between instructors and learners in a distance education setting
The greater the dialogue, the lesser the structure and vice versa.
Moore, M. G. (1973). Towards a theory of independent learning and teaching.
Journal of Higher Education, (44), 661-679.
Available online at http://www.ajde.com/Documents/theory.pdf

Elaborations
Desmond Keegan – defining distance education:
separation of teacher and learner
influence of an educational organization
use of media to link teacher and learner
two way exchange of communication
learners as individuals rather than grouped
educators as an industrialized form
Farad Saba (1994) empirically testing Moore’s theories of Transactional Distance

D. Randy Garrison
Proclaimed a new era (1994) – distance education is really ‘education at a distance’
NOT industrialized
Based on interactions and transactions
Student-Student and student- teacher interactions

Equivalency Theory
http://www.authorstream.com/player.swf?&pt=0&p=chocxtc-67609-equivalency-theory-education-distance-learning-ppt-powerpoint
Michael Simonson

LaniGunawardena
Gunawardena, C. N., & Zittle, F. (1997). Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction within a computer mediated conferencing environment. American Journal of Distance Education, 11(3), 8-25.
Cultural Influences in DE

GeertHofstade Cultural Definitions
PDI
Power Distance Index
IDV
Individualism
MAS
Masculinity
UAI
Uncertainty Avoidance Index
LTO
Long-Term Orientation
http://www.geert-hofstede.com/

Anderson Interaction Equivalency

Moore (1989) distinctions are:
Three types of interaction
student-student interaction
student-teacher interaction
Student-content interaction
Anderson (2003) hypotheses state:
Deep, meaningful learning is produced from 2 out of 3 interactions at a high level
High levels of more than 1 out of 3 interactions will produce satisfying educational experience
Increasing satisfaction through interaction may not be as time or cost-effective as less interactive learning sequences
Bernard, R., Abrami, P., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Tamim, R., et al. (2009). A meta-analysis of three types of interaction treatments in distance education. Review of Educational Research, 79(3), 1243-1289.

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What have we learned about the effects of interaction on achievement?
The presence of any type of interaction enhances achievement outcomes
Increasing cognitive engagement (i.e., providing the conditions for interaction to occur) improves achievement (i.e., learning)
This is especially true for student-content interaction and any combination that involves student-content interaction
Strengthening student-student interaction also appears to influence achievement

21
What have we learned about the effects of interaction on attitudes (satisfaction)?
The relationship between attitudes and interaction is more complex than for achievement
Student-student interaction seems important
Strengthening interactions (in general) has a modest impact
The role of the teacher in DE seems to have a variable effect on attitudes
There is a slight suggestion that increasing SS + ST has an effect on attitudes
Bernard, R., Abrami, P., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Tamim, R., et al. (2009). A meta-analysis of three types of interaction treatments in distance education. Review of Educational Research, 79(3), 1243-1289.

3rd Generation - Networked Learning usingConnectivist Pedagogy
Learning is building networks of information, contacts and resources that are applied to real problems.

Connectivist Learning PrinciplesGeorge Siemens, 2004
Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions.
Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.
Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
Capacity to know is more critical than what is currently known.
Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.
Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.
Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.
Decision-making is itself a learning process.

Connectivist Knowledge is
Emergent
Distributed
Chaotic
Fragmented
Non sequential
Contextualized

Connectivist Learning designs
Connection forming
Selection
Filtering
Awareness and Receptivity
Contribution and Involvement
Reflection and Metacognition
Pettenati, M. (2007).

Special Issue of IRRODL on Connectivism Mar. 2010
Free Subscriptions at www.irrodl.org

Jon Dron
Generating Structure through dialogue
Learner up control, creating learning content
Dron, J. (2007). Control and Constraint in E-Learning: Choosing When to Choose. Hershey, PA: Information Science Pub.
.

28
Current WorkJon Dron and AndersonTaxonomy of the Many
Sets
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Exercise
In 3 groups:
Do a round robin – Which of these major theories resonates most with you?
Try to turn some aspect of the theory into a research question or intervention design that you find interesting

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Distance Education theorists 2011

by terrya on Mar 31, 2011

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