Victoria Nazarko, Valeria Tikhonenko
Distance education
Distance education, or
distance learning, is a field of education that focuses on the pedagogy,
technology, and instructional systems design that are effectively incorporated
in delivering education to students who are not physically “on site” to receive
their education. Teachers and students may communicate asynchronously (at times
of their own choosing) by exchanging printed or electronic media, or through
technology that allows them to communicate in real time (synchronously).
Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any
reason including the taking of examinations is considered to be a hybrid or
blended course or program.
There are many private and
public, non-profit and for profit institutions offering courses and degree
programs through distance education.
Everything that
needs to complete course of study arrives at the student’s door. There are no
commuting hassles, no parking fees, no class schedules and no deadline
pressures. Right from the start, students are in control of their education.
Students decide when and where to study, decide when to take exams, decide how
they are going to use their education as a foundation for a career.
The students open a textbook to the
assigned lesson to see page after page filled with useful information. Everything
is clear and easy to follow. Than they take the self-check review at the end of
each lesson, and answer practical questions to help them grasp key concepts.
If the students need a personal assistance
they just call, write or e-mail the staff of expert
tutors. They will give every student friendly, knowledgeable guidance. Exam
sheets arrive with course materials. The students submit them by mail or online
for faster grading. They will receive their score promptly, along with helpful
suggestions and comments on what was missed.
Many courses provide with the option
of correspondence (print-based) study and online (Web-enhanced) study, which
offers greater learning flexibility and promotes faster progress. Career
techniques will come alive at PC and meaningful examples help make abstract
concepts crystal clear. And all students may access to online Student Services
Web site to take exams, track lessons and grades, make tuition payments and
manage student activity. To provide human interaction and social presence there
may be video teleconferencing or a mix mode of distance and occasional
face-to-face meetings.
Distance
education has had trouble since its conception with testing of material. The
problem arises when the student is required to complete assignments and
testing. Online courses have had difficulty controlling cheating because of the
lack of teacher control. Assignment have adapted by becoming larger, longer,
and more thorough so as to test for knowledge by forcing the student to
research the subject and prove they have done the work. Even if the student is
checking questions in the textbook or online, there may be enforced time limit
or another computer program may be used to keep all other programs from running
on the computer eliminating the possibility of help from the Internet. Many
Midterms and Final exams are held at a common location so that professors can
supervise directly. Used in combination with invigilators, a pre-arranged
supervisor trusted with overlooking big tests and examinations may be used to
increase security.
The UDL System is not only a distance
education service provider, but also a public union addressed to identify how
excellence in higher education can be defined and achieved in the third millennium. The Objectives of
the UDL System are:
To broaden
the scope of educational services in
o
To provide professional development
in distance education, web course design for on-line teaching;
o
To join market research and distance
learning promotion;
o
To create common course portfolio and develop
professional certificate programs, and distribute them to students,
entrepreneurs, managers and corporations on the base of Partnership for
Distance Learning Development (PDLD);
o
To assist universities and business
schools in using multimedia, telecommunications networking technologies to
force promotion of their product and services in business environment;
o
To conduct research in pedagogy and
methodology of online learning;
To provide the skills, resources, and information to
support the continued growth of distance learning in business throughout