Distance Education: The Complete Guide to Design, Delivery, and Improvement, by Judith L. Johnson. (New York: Teachers College Press, 2003. 230 pages, $66.00 hardcover, $32.95 softcover.
Many books have been written and published on the topic of distance education, so I am gratified when I read a book that is both interesting and informative. Distance Education: The Complete Guide to Design, Delivery, and Improvement, by Judith L. Johnson, may not be the complete guide, but it certainly covers important topics and does so in a very readable manner. The author is the director of institutional research at the University of Southern Maine and has significant experience in evaluating distance education programs.
The book is made up of four sections: (1) The Age of Technology: What is Distance Education?; (2) Distance Education: East, West, and Across the Sea; (3) Teaching at a Distance; and (4) Quality that Counts. There is also a forward by George Connick, one of the elder statesmen in the field of distance education, who led the state of Maine in developing the first statewide distance learning network in the United States, the Education Network of Maine—EdNet.
In her preface, Johnson tells of a quote she taped above her computer, in bold print, and referred to daily:
Studying distance learning is somewhat like chasing quicksilver: the pace of change in the field is so rapid—both because of the changes in technology and in the organizational arrangements for delivering it—that establishing a solid base of information will be a never-ending task. (p. ix)
This is certainly an accurate statement, and she deals with the very swift changes in the field by providing principles about distance education, trying to help the reader understand how distance educators might think about issues they must confront. Rather than a dry, pedantic rendition, the book is full of examples, practical ideas, and descriptions of courses. The most interesting and valuable part of the book is the third section, Teaching at a Distance, in which Johnson devotes a chapter to case studies of four professors teaching via different distance education modalities, including Web-based and interactive television. She describes the professors’ thoughts and procedures as they prepare and offer the courses in a way that keeps the reader’s attention, covers pertinent areas for consideration when teaching with each medium, and deepens our understanding.
The first example, a Web-based course with a cohort of students taking Introduction to Counseling, includes both synchronous and asynchronous components. The course requires students to start by coming to campus for a 5-day orientation, after which they access a Web site that contains many resources, use bulletin boards, and apply their learning about counseling during synchronous chats. The chapter includes the professor’s syllabus template along with examples of required learning activities. There is also a description of the “Faculty Center” Web site that the university has developed that contains links to many resources, something extremely helpful to instructors. The professor who teaches this course describes herself as introverted, and finds that the Web-based course allows her to have one-on-one communications with her students. She disagrees with her colleagues who are skeptical about teaching via the Web. She says: “I have seen very powerful learning take place without the face-to-face. By using the Internet as a communication tool and pulling it into a learning situation, the possibilities are unlimited” (p. 78). The professor also shares lessons learned from her Web-based teaching experiences: good planning and communication are essential, convey expectations to students clearly, ensure students feel connected, and stay up to date.
The second example is also from a Webbased course, this one created for law students. Law and the Internet was designed following a constructivist model of learning and is delivered entirely asynchronously. Students identify current issues they are interested in researching during the semester. The instructor assigns topics, then groups of students provide the course content for the class, and this becomes the basis of the weekly discussion. The instructor uses students’ performance in discussions and their final papers to determine their course grades. There is an interesting description of how the Law and the Internet course differs from other face-to-face courses the professor teaches. For example, because of the content of this course, a constructivist model can be used; he believes this model is less appropriate in other law courses, where there is particular subject matter that must be covered. Further, the professor is careful to be a participant rather than an expert in group discussions in the Law and the Internet course, intervening only when students present inaccuracies about the law. He sees that students in his Web-based course are totally engaged in the content, and he has tried to change his faceto-face teaching style to help those students feel more engaged. He describes a number of lessons he has learned, including the importance of using the right technology tools, accommodating diversity, and reflecting on what works and what doesn’t in his courses.
The third example is taken from a unique program, the Associate Fellowship in Integrative Medicine, a 2-year curriculum that includes some residential instruction along with distance learning technologies, including Web, online discussions, audiotapes, and videotapes. Approximately 50 physicians participate in a number of modules, designing treatment plans, which experienced practitioners critique, and discussing their plans in small-group conferences. Faculty and staff find the program exciting but also extremely challenging, as they are constantly developing quality instructional material. They have also found that the material they develop must be “engaging, interactive, and action oriented” (p. 95), and that it is critical that they develop a community of learners. The chapter includes a sample assignment to illustrate the type of learning in which students are engaged.
The final example, an Introduction to Sociology class, taught using interactive television (ITV), represents a synchronous medium. The professor is described as a veteran of ITV, and so is able to offer a number of good suggestions for how to use ITV well, as well as how teaching using ITV differs from the faceto-face classroom. For example, he says this medium forces him to be better organized than he might be in his face-to-face classroom, and that he must make a real effort to encourage interaction among students, and between students and himself. He believes there is more interaction in his ITV class than in most traditional classes. He says: “In traditional classes, just because students are faceto-face with the instructor and with other students, it is erroneously concluded that more interaction occurs. In fact, many students in face-to-face situations never utter a word the entire semester” (p. 98). The professor comments that faculty must have experience teaching in face-to-face classrooms before teaching on ITV.
Another chapter in this section explains the ingredients of a distance learning course. Although the author focuses on online courses, these ingredients are essential for any synchronous or asynchronous distance learning course. She wisely points out that when deciding what distance learning technologies to use, the institution should start by considering the student audience and their needs, as well as the institution’s infrastructure and level of support it can provide. However, her rationale for including discussion questions and interaction is incomplete; there is little discussion of constructivist learning theory and the importance of active learning and student involvement to enhance what students learn. And, while Johnson mentions prompt feedback from the instructor, her rationale is that this makes students feel less isolated, rather than that prompt feedback enhances learning. Her discussion about assessment emphasizes the importance of formative as well as summative feedback.
This ingredients chapter also has a particularly well done discussion titled “Cheating: Are there Impostors Among Us?” One of the issues many faculty members raise when talking about distance learning is the possibility that students whom they will never meet in person can and will cheat. She addresses this well, giving practical suggestions about how to “short circuit” cheating. She recommends that each class begin with an introduce-yourself session. She suggests that the next activity require students to outline their learning goals, and at the end of the course students assess how well they met these goals. To curb cheating she cites examples from assignments and exams and advises that faculty maintain frequent contact with students via e-mail, use peer groups that assess each others’ work, and prominently display a policy about trust and cheating.
The Student Support Services chapter covers the relevant areas that distance learning providers must consider, organized around the services that the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications includes in its “Guide to Developing Online Student Services.” This is a well-respected resource and gives credibility to the services she discusses. She gives a number of examples, reprinting pages from Web sites as illustrations. However, all Web pages are from the University of Maine System; examples from other schools would have been valuable as well.
In the final section, Assessment and Evaluation, the author cites Chickering and Gamson’s seven principles of good practice, accepted by the academy as the foundation principles for good learning. The author does a fine job of explaining how distance education technologies can exemplify and sometimes enhance each principle. She also defines the terms “standards” and “accreditation,” both of which have influenced and been influenced by distance education and telecommunication technologies. The book closes with lessons learned: the format and pedagogy of face-toface classes are inappropriate for distance learning courses, the various technologies available for distance learning courses enable faculty to develop more effective teaching techniques and for students to be in charge of their own learning, support services for both faculty and students are critical for success, and university administration must be committed to distance education courses and programs at their institutions. Finally, there is a fascinating discussion of how distance education technologies have promoted the development of mega-universities to serve large numbers of students around the world.
The last 60 pages of the book contain a lengthy set of appendices, referred to in earlier chapters, including examples of course evaluations, tips for managing a videoconference, and a summary of the components of a Webbased course management system.
I enjoyed reading this book. It provides readers with the basic tenets that are important for those involved in distance education and technologies. I would recommend it to those interested in a good overview of the various technologies that can be used to reach students learning at a distance and the principles involved in using them effectively.
