Key Players in Distance Education
| Characteristics | Recommended Strategies | Effects on Learning |
| A. They are often separated by others who share their background and interests | Form pairs and let them interview each other via e-mail or chat | Create a comfortable environment and give them support |
| Build a web-based Yearbook with pictures of students, school, area, etc. | Builds a sense of community and belongingness within the group | |
| For group projects, pair students from different locations based on interest | Shared interest will make learning to work together at a distance more natural | |
| When assigning groups, give the group suggestions for participation | Helps start communication and participation for individuals that have very little experience in working with distant groups | |
| Set up a class web based bulletin board | Gives students freedom to respond to one another and encourages interaction | |
| Create the web page biography with a photo | Gives students a quick overview of their peers and offers identifying items in common | |
| Create a Who's Who so students will get to know one another's interests | Finding the commonalities of group, bonds group. | |
| Select a Student of the Week- showcase each student, allow others to ask questions | By making the student feel special and included, they are more likely to become involved and be interested in learning about others | |
| B. They often begin class ill at ease with the instructor | Student and teacher alike do introductions. Activity where one like, one dislike, and one goal are shared. Use index cards and illustrate | Will let students know a little bit about their instructor and feel more at ease. |
| Teacher emphasizes his/her desire that students will help the teacher research and/or innovatively present a meaningful topic while learning the objective skills or knowledge | Students will begin the view the teacher as an expert member of the class team rather than solely as an authority figure or adversary | |
| Set up a howdy conference in which even the teacher shares personal information | Gives the students insight into the life of the teacher | |
| Teacher has an activity that will reduce stress | ||
| Post family pictures and outside interests | Allow students to see the personal side of the instructor | |
| C. Technology is typically the conduit through which information and communication flow | Allow learners who are more knowledgeable of using the technology to work with someone new to the tech | Peer tutoring helps everyone to learn |
| The technology offers a sense of anonymity and provides an easy way to communicate and meet deadlines. | The ease of delivery of the assignments offers the learner an efficient environment to be evaluated. | |
| Set up private folders for groups | Allows different means for students to communicate | |
| Allow exploration time with immediate feedback to help make the transition to utilizing new technologies |
| Characteristics | Recommended Strategies | Effects on Learning |
| A. The instructor must develop an understanding and appreciation for the characteristics & needs of students with little first-hand experience. | Develop and distribute a roster of names, pictures, phone numbers, email addresses | Create opportunity for student access to other students . Create a supportive environment |
| Conduct a learner analysis (maybe like the "readiness survey" that you took) of the target audience before the class begins | The instructor will know the learner characteristics beforehand and will be better able to address individual and group needs & capabilities | |
| Allow time during the first meeting for introductions and bios | It opens the lines of communication and lets the learner know that the instructor is interested | |
| Provide a comprehensive list of support available at or near each student (could be part of the pre-course survey, too), including phone#, email addresses, names of Learning Center/online help contacts - perhaps include assignment in which each learner group (by physical location) makes mail or voice contact with a support person in their area, determining exactly what support is available | Vast outside support resources (especially the appropriate and best delivered) will be available at the outset of the course. Student will have backup support if isolated geographically | |
| Explain technical terms when used | Helps those less experiences to feel comfortable and become familiar with content and terminology | |
| Explain what is going on behind the scenes, such as when there are technical difficulties | Gives students an understanding of the process involved | |
| Give students experience in working the equipment (assign groups to set things up | Allows students to feel involved and become familiar with equipment | |
| Be supportive as students learn through trial and error | Model techniques and what can be expected will increase the willingness to try | |
| B. Although many instructors incorporate media and technology in their courses, the distance delivery instructor often relies on technology as the principal link with students | Develop a conference at which technology problems can be entered and discusses | Keeps the link of communication open |
| At a technology conference, each student can share their "fixes" to various problems. | This method would allow for everyone to contribute the many ways that are available to correct any technical problems. | |
| Plan to teach at least one lesson from the distant site. | Allows the distant students to meet the teacher personally instead of only through telecommunications. | |
| C. Most effective teachers consciously and subconsciously adapt their course content, delivery methods, and pacing as the class progresses | Lesson plans are adapted as students are more capable of following direction and become familiar with the teacher. | Allows teacher to see what changes s/he is making. Changes should be made every year as students are different. |
| Use formative evaluations to see what adaptations are needed. | Allows the teacher to know which adjustments and changes need to be made. | |
| Discuss with students their likes and dislikes throughout the course. | Ensures the course is meeting the needs of the students. | |
| D. It takes time to develop or adapt a course for distance delivery. | Program developers must understand this need and allow adequate preparation time for the | Students have a quality educational experience. |
| Faculty who are enticed into utilizing distance technologies should receive proper training in course design and in the use of the media. | Instructors who are ill-prepared to lead a distance course will engender dissatisfaction in the students and may dissuade them from attempting further distance education. | |
| Any faculty new to distance education should take a course or extended in-service training as a student in a course delivered by a variety of technologies, such as chats, conferences, audiographics. This could be an 8 week session. | There is no substitute for actual experience to obtain a student's perspective on technical issues, overload issues, collaboration issues, social presence. The result is a very sympathetic instructor with first-hand knowledge. | |
| Course evaluations or observations should be delayed until weeks into the course. | Accurate evaluations cannot be made until students and instructor have become comfortable with the course and with one another. | |
| Teachers new to distance learning need to have the training and perhaps some models to review when developing their courses. | As the teacher learns how to develop a course and allows feedback from the students, both teacher and students learn. The important fact is that we are all human and learning takes time and courses are continuously modified to meet the needs of the specific group of students. | |
| Teachers should student distance education research findings for information. | The instructor will be better informed to make decisions as to what type of planning and organization will work. | |
| Before distance education delivery, the course must be submitted to Quality Distance Education analysis. | The analysis makes the instructor and distance education committee address all aspects of course needs for distance delivery. | |
| E. The effective distance educator becomes a skilled facilitator in addition to being the primary content provider. | Encourage novice distance educators to sit in and participate in class sessions of experienced distance educators. Encourage peer tutoring. | Novice distance educators will learn from the successes and mistakes of experienced distance educators. The mastery time should be shortened. |
| Provide collaborative teaming with an experienced teacher. | Support and encouragement will lessen the stress in the newer teacher. | |
| Share new information from articles, listservs, and other sources with novices. | Novices may be unfamiliar with current information in the field and may lack knowledge of how to obtain the information. | |
| Focus on the students, not the technology. | The facilitator will be aware of the needs of the students. |
| Characteristics | Recommended Strategies | Effects on Learning |
| A. On-site facilitators may have specific content expertise | Survey the facilitators before the course begins to determine their strengths. When possible, incorporate their unique knowledge into the lesson plan. | Students will feel more comfortable in asking facilitators for assistance. |
| Ask facilitator to list applicable course experience in this (rubric) fashion to determine skills prior to delegating work assignment. | ||
| Allow the facilitators to share knowledge with other facilitators. | Sharing information in specific areas will help other facilitators as they may need that knowledge for a specific lesson. This will only facilitate student learning. | |
| B. On-site facilitators may have limited content expertise | Survey the facilitators several weeks prior to the course. Identify their weaknesses. Send a course overview and outline to familiarize them with the subject matter. | Facilitators will be able to provide some assistance to students. |
| Clarify the role of the facilitator and provide explicit information to the learners. | Learners will be able to quickly grasp the correct sources for various types of information. | |
| C. On-site facilitators may have no content expertise. | The instructor designs the class with this in mind and prepares instructional materials accordingly. | Students are given the tools they need to succeed. |
| The instructor is available at regular times to take phone calss, email or other communication for tutoring. | Students receive tutoring and assistance from the content expert. | |
| Have someone who is familiar with the technology available for assistance. | This allows the facilitator to attempt to facilitate on their own, but they have a help source if needed. | |
| Direct students to resources available outside of class for further reading. | Facilitator should be made aware of good resources available for further knowledge and questions. |
| Characteristics | Recommended Strategies | Effects on Learning |
| A. Support staff are the glue that keeps the enterprise together | Continue to communicate goals and needs to staff and request their input. | Keeps them informed and includes them as part of the process. |
| Involve support staff in the class, even if tangentially, and ensure that they can access course materials and resources. | Learners may have greater access to support staff and receive helpful information regarding syllabi, web locations, etc. Staff will possess a greater feeling of being on the team and will be more committed to the success of the course. | |
| Introduce staff to students at the beginning of the semester. | Support staff will be more than just a voice on the phone. | |
| Invite staff to participate in any meetings to keep them updated on content and process. | When support staff are informed, the process will run more smoothly and students will learn. | |
| Centralized web postings of all course descriptions, materials and contacts that might be need be support staff in aiding students. | Assures quick help to students at all support centers/ | |
| B. They may place orders, duplicate and distribute materials and textbooks, send and receive grading reports, do admissions and records, schedule and troubleshoot technical resources, resolve credit transfer issues, schedule rooms | Create a database for needed supplies for professors and submit requests. | Facilitate structured and prepared learning environments. |
| Instructor should make this task easier by being organized and clearly defining expectations. | Facilitators will perform their jobs in a timely and accurate manner. | |
| Instructor can provide a guidebook to make tasks easier. | Limits initial confusion by providing a reference tool. |
| Characteristics | Recommended Strategies | Effects on Learning |
| A. Typical administrators set the direction for the program | Clearly written goals and objectives must be available to all faculty and staff and to all interested learners. | Faculty and course designers are able to match their strategies to those of the organization; when conflict occurs, the faculty can either change their focus or provide input towards change. |
| It is important to involve administrators in the development of the mission statement for the program. | This develops a sense of ownership among participants. | |
| Provide administrators the opportunity to attend and participate in courses. | This allows the administrator to get a feel for the courses, how they are designed, and the level of student involvement. This will help give them a more comprehensive idea of distance education | |
| B. Effective administrators are consensus builders, decision makers, and facilitators. | Administrators involve students from the target audience as well as faculty in the decision making. | The potential for providing a quality learning experience improves when teachers and students are involved in decision making. |
| Administrators model the process of consensus building so as to engage staff in the process. | As teachers internalize the characteristic of leadership, they become models for the students and the process continues. | |
| Make the administration aware of your needs. | The administration can best help if aware of what is needed and in what way they can facilitate. | |
| Read the lesson plans of the teachers to know what is being taught. | Keeps the administrator aware so if questions come up, s/he can be aware. May help diffuse a situation. | |
| Meet as needed in order to focus on the school's mission and focus and address teachers' needs. | When administrators are focused on teachers' needs, students needs will be met, hence learning takes place. | |
| Conduct frequent observations of classrooms. | Administrators are familiar with courses and the progress in adhering to mission statements and goals. |
Sarah Anderson
Regina Bailey
Cathie Brown
Bobby Hoyle
Mary Johnson
Joyce Kokel
Brooke Redfern
Lisa Ross
Bonnie Rowe
Karen Severn
Roshawn Talley
Dale Underwood
Posted 8/31/98
Revised 4/18/00