The sense of Distance Education in Ukraine

Keywords: Distance Education (D.E.), broadcast, software, correspondence, extra-mural, Ukrainian system of education, internet technologies, educational programs

Introduction

Ukraine as a scientific and educational country is looking forward for new ways of developing in such fields as mentioned before and one of these ways is distance education. Distance learning offered many promises to the field of education. In practice however, it is vise –versa. Some of the shortcomings are due to problems with the technology; others have more to do with administration, instructional methods, or students. Despite the problems, many users like technologies such as compressed video and see continued growth in the area. Due to the rapid development of technology, courses using a variety of media are being delivered to students in various locations in an effort to serve the educational needs of growing populations. In many cases, developments in technology allow distance education programs to provide specialized courses to students in remote geographic areas with increasing interactivity between student and teacher. Although the ways in which distance education is implemented differ markedly from country to country, most distance learning programs rely on technologies which are either already in place or are being considered for their cost effectiveness. Such programs are particularly beneficial for the many people who are not financially, physically or geographically able to obtain traditional education. Although there is an increase in the number of distance services to elementary and secondary students, the main audience for distance courses continues to be the adult and higher education market. Most recently, Kaplan College launched the nation’s first online certificate program for security manager and crime scene technicians under their certificate program for homeland security. This article is dedicate to examine some of the current research and thoughts on the promises, problems, and the future possibilities in modern distance learning, particularly types that are delivered via electronic means. The field of distance education has changed dramatically in the past ten years. Distance education, structured learning in which the student and instructor are separated by place, and sometimes by time is currently the fastest growing form of domestic and international education. What was once considered a special form of education using nontraditional delivery systems, is now becoming an important concept in mainstream education. Concepts such as networked learning, connected learning spaces, flexible learning and hybrid learning systems have enlarged the scope and changed the nature of earlier distance education models. Web-based and web-enhanced courses are appearing in traditional programs that are now racing to join the “anytime, anyplace” educational feeding frenzy. Distance education relies heavily on communications technologies as delivery media. Print materials, broadcast radio, broadcast television, computer conferencing, electronic mail, interactive video, satellite telecommunications and multimedia computer technology are all used to promote student-teacher interaction and provide necessary feedback to the learner at a distance.The term distance learning has been used for many instructional methods: however, its primary distinction is that the teacher and the learner are separate in space and possibly time. Desmond Keegan (1995) gives the most thorough definition. He says that distance education and training result from the technological separation of teacher and learner which frees the student from the necessity of traveling to “a fixed place, at a fixed time, to meet a fixed person, in order to be trained. To this definition of distance education it will be good to add the definition of A.V. Khutorskoy. Distance education is education with the help of telecommunications, where subjects of education (students, teachers, tutors, and others) that have space or time distance between, work within one educational process, which is aimed at developing internal educational products and corresponding internal changes (additions) of education subjects themselves. From these words we can see that the student and teacher are separated by space, but not necessarily by time. This would include compressed video, which is delivered in real time. As stated earlier, this type of live video instruction is the fastest growing means of distance learning today. Because of this, much of the discussion here will be dedicated to the promises and problems of this technology. The situation with D.E. in Ukraine is favorable, because here was an experience of extra-mural education in its Soviet Past. Distant education has started to develop in Russia roughly after 1917. The so-called "consulting" model of the distant education which have strongly affected the British Open university, and through it and on other high schools was feature of the Soviet system. It represented something an average between correspondent and correspondence forms of instruction and included two phases: orientational and – credits - examination sessions. On the beginning of 60th years in the USSR there were 11 correspondence universities, thus, that traditional high schools too trained distance students. The Soviet education system became the sample for other socialist countries. There were in the USA in 1989 the system of the public telecasting which have merged 1500 colleges and a broadcasting company. It counted four educational channels. Wide popularity was gained by popular scientific channels Discovery, National Geographic, Animal Planet, etc. On the Central television of the USSR there was the third program consisting of educational and popular scientific programs. It included transfers for schoolboys (by literature, geography, history, physics and other subjects), intending as for viewing at a lesson, as for home free time; were conducted for distance students on philosophy, mathematics and other disciplines; there were program cycles for system of improvement of professional skill concerning economy, the scientific organization of work and production management; Special TV Shows for teachers, doctors, and also for independently studying foreign languages (English, German, French, Spanish) and preparing for entering in high school. From informative TV programs it is possible to recollect «Club of film travel», «In fauna», «Obvious - improbable», «the Person. The Earth. The Universe», "Health".

Qualitatively new stage in development of a communication facility has begun with the advent of computer networks. Victor Mihajlovich Glushkov already in 1968 propagandised idea of a heading of computers in schools in his work «the COMPUTER - the ally of the teacher». Even then, 40 years ago, it was clear, that computers will influence on teaching shape, and not only at school. Academician Glushkov was not only the author, but also the passionate propagandist of idea ОGАS (the nation-wide automated control system of economy). Being carried out, it gave the chance to any scientific employee, and in the long term and to any citizen to take advantage of the information from databases through the terminals had everywhere. In the book which has printed in 1982, Glushkov presents also such prospect: « In exchange each person will care "an electronic notebook", with itself, which will represent a combination of the flat display with the miniature radio transceiver. Keying this "notebook" the necessary code, it would be possible, being in any place on our planet to call from the giant computer databases connected in a network, any texts, images (including dynamic) which will replace not only modern books, logs and newspapers, but also modern television receivers ». It is necessary to mention, that though ОGАS has not been realised in a total storage, but, contrary to a popular belief, in the USSR some steps on a heading of electronic devices in instruction process, for example, in the form of the automated systems of an estimation of knowledge, both at schools, and in high schools have been carried out.

As we see the goals of distance education, as an alternative to traditional education, have been to offer degree granting programs, to battle illiteracy in developing countries, to provide training opportunities for economic growth, and to offer curriculum enrichment in non traditional educational settings. A variety of technologies have been used as delivery systems to facilitate this learning at a distance. Many of the promises of distance learning are financial in nature. Of course Ukraine faced with such problems as a lack of investing money into educational system. In all over the world universities hope to save money by delivering education to students that are unable to attend classes because of time or distance or diseases. The theory is that class size increases while the overhead remains the same. In a 2001 article by Burton Bollag and Martha Ann Overland, they say that developing countries are turning to state run distance education programs to take the place of ever increasing enrollments and a lack of physical building space. Places such as Beijing, Jakarta, and South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina have all begun to use distance-learning techniques to reach those that would by any other means be unreachable. Bollag and Overland say countries like China are moving from “elite to mass education,” and that “traditional universities cannot meet the demand”. China uses a radio and television delivery system to serve 1.5 million students, two-thirds of which are in a degree program. In Australia, Curtain University uses compressed video conferencing to reach remote students in Western Australia, and to enhance classes in Business Studies by connecting with students in Singapore. Other examples can be found in the UK and Norway where several sites have been linked together (Keegan, 1995). Of course there is also wide use in the United States, both in the public and private sectors. It should be obvious by these examples and by the definition of distance learning, that it can meet the promise to deliver classes to a geographically broad and diverse population. Not only that, but the need seems to be strong for such programs. In Ukraine, were presented Memorandum on the organization of informational educational net “Distance Education in Ukraine”. Creation of such net on the free basis allowed to provide in Ukraine informational surrounding, that will encourage the development of different of techniques of distance education. The convenience of time and space is a big promise made by distance learning. Students do not have to physically be with the instructor in space and, depending on the method used, they do not have to be together in time as well. This is a great advantage for non-traditional students who cannot attend at regular times. Satellite campuses such as the ones Arkansas State University have recently opened are drawing out a “hidden market” of adult students in small towns and recent high school graduates who don’t want to go away to a bigger city to get an education. The satellite campuses could conceivably help the school’s enrollment to grow tenfold. At present in the world we can observe rapid development of distance education. All the educational establishments understand that for the beneficial development we need cooperation. One educational establishment can’t create a system of distance education by itself.

Distance education is based on Internet technologies, that is why it is necessary to point out that at the present stage in Ukraine:

1. The capacity of Internet channels is very low, that is why it is usually very difficult to get acquainted with the sites of educational establishments.

2. The sites of educational establishments usually provide very general information and lots of graphics; this doesn’t encourage a user for interactive work.

3. Searching systems in their majority do not include the information from the sites of educational establishments, which makes the search of educational material not very effective.

4. Users usually have very small experience of using Internet.

The most important task in the development of distance education in Ukraine is carrying out the analysis to find out the groups of people who need distance education. Such an analysis was not carried out in Ukraine, but we can use the results of analysis carried in other countries, tacking into account some specific features of this country. The analysis of situation in former Soviet countries shows that despite difficult financial situation the quantity of computers bought for personal needs grows. At the beginning of 2000 the investigation of the Sociology department at the Institute of Youth (Russia) shows that 42% of students and schoolchildren use computers at home, 26% - at schools or universities, 2% - at work, 16% - at their friends’, 3.5% - at their parent’s office, 2.5% - at computer clubs.In 2000 in Ukraine it is planned to have 25.3 Internet connected computers for every thousand people.In 1996/97 academic year there were 28% of part-time students, in 1998/99 the number increased to 35.6% (non-official source). These data shows that working youths becomes more interested in higher education. Distance education is also very popular among the managers aged between 30 and 40, who need professional training and more knowledge mainly in business-connected subjects. The most popular areas of study in Ukraine are the following: business, international economics, management, judicial sciences, and computer technologies. To my mind, during the most recent time the main group of distance students who will be able to pay for their education will be the head managers of small enterprise. This group has just started their activity and doesn’t have enough experience in the areas of economics, management and judiciary. They study not for the certificate but for knowledge.

But at the present moment all these categories can’t receive educational services of high quality with the use of distance education, because the latter is absent in Ukraine. As for the preparation of the teachers for distance education, only two organizations in Ukraine provide such an opportunity that is International Educational-Methodological Center at UNESCO/MPI of Informational Technologies and Systems at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (English-based educational courses) and Research Laboratory of Distance Education at Kharkiv State Polytechnical University (KhSPU). Among educationalists there exist prejudices that it’s impossible for some teachers to acquire computer technologies because of difficulty or fear of technology. But psychologists say that such teachers are afraid not of new technologies, but of the changes in their way of thinking. This problem can be solved by designing such manuals that have examples of using Internet in the teaching process and give the methods of human communication with the help of modern technologies.

Problems of Distance Learning.

Despite the promises and obvious advantages to distance learning, there are problems that need to be resolved. These problems include the quality of instruction, hidden costs, misuse of technology, and the attitudes of instructors, students, and administrators. Each one of these has an effect on the overall quality of distance learning as a product. In many ways, each of these issues relates to the others. We will examine each of these issues separately.

Quality of Instruction

The first issue is the quality of instruction that is given through distance learning programs. Much of the quality of instruction depends on the attitude of the administration and the instructor. Many times it seems that the administration believes the technology itself will improve the quality of the class. Palloff and Pratt (2000) remind us that “technology does not teach students; effective teachers do”(pg. 4). They make the point that the issue is not technology itself, but how it is used in the design and delivery of courses. Too often instructors do not design their lessons to take advantage of the technology presented. This affects the quality of the instruction. Sherritt (1996) found in her survey of higher education administrators that many of the decision makers view distance programs as second rate, a “necessary but deficient form of education” (pg.2).

Cost Effectiveness

The second issue is the true cost and the cost effectiveness of distance learning programs. Are they actually cost efficient? A study by Phelps et al. (1991) found that “the potential cost-effectiveness of using online technologies in distance education is still uncertain” (pg. 303). The study further showed that the concepts of costs and effectiveness are not as simple as they first appear. Starting a compressed video distance-learning program is not cheap. Carr (2001) discusses a report by the California State University System that looked at cost savings in distance learning programs. The report found that only in really large courses with many sections would cost savings be possible. Courses in excess of 500 students would benefit from this setup, while it was still more cost effective to teach smaller groups in a traditional setting. The startup costs, maintenance costs, and personnel costs should also be factored in to arrive at a true cost for a distance-learning program. The minimum number of staff required for delivery of a compressed video class would be one instructor and two technicians, one at each site. This means a minimum of three people is needed to deliver the same class as one instructor does in a traditional setting. The costs associated with training technicians and instructors should not be overlooked. For effective distance education to take place, the staff delivering the instruction should be well trained. Taking into account economical situation in Ukraine we see as the most real way out organization of free informational educational net where every educational establishment will contribute with intellectual product (e.i. educational courses). This proposition of KhSPU is described in the memorandum http://users.kpi.kharkov. ua/lre/memorandum.htm.

Conclusions

What may we conclude from the promises and problems of distance learning? Are there possibilities for improvement in the future? The technology will undoubtedly keep improving and the price will drop, as technology is prone to do once it comes into general use. Already we see improvement in the delivery systems of compressed video and computer assisted instruction. Despite student problems with distance learning, studies indicate they are relatively satisfied with what they are receiving. The today's high level of development of a communication facility has made possible such unique phenomenon in the CIS, as Modern Humanitarian Academy (MHA). Now it trains 160 000 students in 15 countries and, thus, is the unique Russian high school entering in GMUNET - a global network of megauniversities (so the universities accounting more of 100 000 students) are called. The high school rents a satellite communication facility carrying capacity 24 Mbit/with, that allows to organise not only lectures, but also reception of offsets in a situation when students and the teacher are in different cities or even in the different countries. Students from the most remote corners of the country have an opportunity to study at academicians. Television communication occurs in real time to a delay of an order 1 with, that almost does not create inconveniences. At the disposal of students there is the bank of lectures containing including about 4000 records of lectures, transferred on the companion. It is necessary to inform the teachers about possibilities of professional training in educational establishments that have wide experience in organization of distance education. To get the certificate about professional training of the teachers of distance education it is necessary to study three modules and to fulfill the final work. The certificate is issued by the educational establishment where two or more modules were studied. Nowadays quite many conferences are devoted to the issues of distance education, but there are no whole-Ukrainian forums of distance educationalists. Annually during the meeting of representatives of the network they decide the date and the place of conference where it is desirable to carry out the meeting of those who work in the sphere of distance education. It is desirable that such meetings take place in different educational establishments of Ukraine. The recommendation on the development of the network are worked out by special interest groups in the following areas: Pedagogical and psychological issues of distance education; hypermedia in distance education; technology of distance course design; distance education management; certification of distance courses. Informational exchange between the members of the net is organized through the special mailing list. This country needs real clear-cut policy in the sphere of using Internet in education. It should be composed taking into account the peculiarities of national educational informational environment, the quality of which should correspond to European level. Only these measures will make possible cooperation of all the countries in international educational Internet environment.

References

1.Basom, M., & Sherritt, C. (1992). Higher education problems in the twenty-first century: A survey of higher education administrators and politicians. Paper presented at the Annual Conference for International Higher Education Administrators, Nice, France.

2.Bates, T. (1995). Technology: Open learning and distance education. New York: Routledge.

3.Bollag, B., & Overland M.A. (2001). Developing countries turn to distance education. Chronicle of Higher Education, 47 (40), 29-31.

4.Caffarella, E., et al. (1992). An analysis of the cost effectiveness of various electronic alternatives for delivering distance education compared to the travel costs for live instruction. Greeley, Colorado: University of Northern Colorado, Western Institution for Higher Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 380 127).

5.Carr, S. (2001). Union publishes guide citing high cost of distance education. Chronicle of Higher Education, 47 (35), 39-41.

6.Carter, A. (2001). Interactive distance education: Implications for the adult learner. International Journal of Instructional Media, 28 (3), 249-261.

7.Christensen, E. et al. (2001). Receptivity to distance learning: The effect of technology, reputation, constraints, and learning preferences. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 33 (3), 263-276.

8.Clark, T. (1993). Attitudes of higher education faculty toward distance education: A national survey. The American Journal of Distance Education, 7, 19-33.

The Author:

Chernjak Oleg, the 1 year student of Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogical Academy.

Kuhrootin E.V. the main tutor of foreign languages of Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogical Academy.