The strength of the book is its practical utility. The authors have struck a fine balance between offering general principles applicable across institutions and other environmental specifics, and an outstanding, varied selection of practical suggestions from which users can choose. The book would be an excellent choice for any educators planning to begin employing distance learning.
Article 2
Interactive Distance Learning: Perspective and Thoughts
Journal article by Randolph T. Barket, Charles L. Holley; Business Communication Quarterly, Vol. 59, 1996
Economic and academic challenges that confront colleges and universities present opportunities for developing creative solutions that include visualizing problems in new formats, resolving problems in innovative ways, and developing and implementing strategies not previously used. In a competitive university environment heavily influenced by various forms of technology, current and potential students increasingly have choices among diverse course offerings. Students’ decisions about courses are influenced by the relevance of specific course content and the quality of the instruction as well as by the overall perceived value of any alternative course format such as distance offerings.
Whereas some versions of distance learning have existed for many years in various organizations, there is not yet widespread uniformity regarding important issues related to the delivery of distance learning. This article presents some selected perspectives on distance learning (including certain issues related to the delivery of distance learning), describes one school’s structured process of identifying some guiding principles associated with the formulation of new distance-learning strategies, and offers a look into the future of distance learning.
Perspectives on Distance Learning
This section describes selected descriptions and definitions of distance learning, diverse views on the important attributes that characterize distance learning, and summaries of selected empirical studies conducted to examine distance-learning delivery systems. The principles for distance learning described later in this paper are in general influenced by aspects of these descriptions and characteristics.
Descriptions of Distance Learning
Holmberg (1985) described distance education as "the various forms of study at all levels which are not under the continuous, immediate supervision of a tutor present with students in lecture rooms or on the same premises, but which, nevertheless, benefit from the planning, guidance, and tuition of a tutorial organization" (p. 2).
