Summary about pros and cons of Distance Learning with suggestions to upgrade Distance Learning.

1. Summary about Pros and Cons of DL
Done by: Yasmine El Zein
(Educational Technology - M1)
Presented to: Dr. Hisham El Khoury
“Perceptions of Distance Learning: A Comparison of Online and
Traditional Learning” is a study showing the pros and cons of Distance
Learning. According to the data of this study, the benefits of Distance
Learning are numerous. Distance Learning, or DL, saves travel time for
an off-campus population. This allows students to balance their other
commitments more easily and professionals to stay up-to-date without
having to travel long distances. Another benefit is that students attend
the class according to their own schedules. In addition, DL provides a
cost-effective means to serve large numbers of students in any area.
Moreover, students may achieve higher quality educational outcomes in
the distance-learning environment. They generally receive feedback on a
more regular basis and find the exams easier than those in traditional
learning. Added to that, they find additional instructor materials and
texts more useful in DL. Furthermore, some students may feel much
more comfortable participating through the online discussion board, so
they are more involved in the class. However, there are also some cons
of Distance Learning. Students may have problems comprehending
course information that is technical, quantitative or scientifically
oriented. Also, the physical separation between the instructor and
student may lead to difficulties in resolving problems. Moreover, DL
does not allow instructors to modify lecture plans on the basis of
moment to moment feedback from learners, which may affect how a
student experiences the distance-learning environment. It is also
possible that the limited interaction between students and instructors
impacts the overall learning experience.

2. Suggestions to Upgrade DL
Suggestion points to upgrade Distance Learning:
 Responsibility and flexibility: Distance learning is a mean for
education that must be used carefully, and the users have to be
responsible while having such type of learning. They have to
benefit from DL pros and try to avoid its cons.
 Use course design to motivate students: Motivation should lead to
engagement and, hopefully, learning. Course designs need to
motivate engagement. This means creating a relaxed environment
where the help is easily accessible so adults feel safe to engage.
 Create open communication channels for students:
Communication is vital in learning. Motivate students to
communicate with each other as well as the communication
between the teacher and the student. It have to be easy, helpful,
and quick.
 Make and encourage use of new resources: Electronic libraries
have resources that improve the access to and experience of
research. Many electronic libraries also offer tutors, writing labs,
tutorials on how to research, citation engines and more. Finding
new ways to integrate the resource with the learning and
assessing both could improve course design.
 Introduce “hybrid” courses into the learning curriculum: These
types of courses are taught approximately 50% online and 50% in
the traditional classroom. This may encourage students to take
charge of their own learning experience, make full use of their
resources (texts etc.), work at their own pace, and provide some
scheduling flexibility (the best of DL), while also providing an
occasional live forum for face- to -face discussions with the
instructor and the rest of the class members to build a stronger
learning community (the best of TL).