TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE APPLICATION OF DESIGN ELEMENTS

The role of instructors is very important in teaching at a distance. Willis (1994) stated that, to a great degree, “the success of any distance education effort rests squarely on the shoulders of the faculty” (p. vi). In a traditional classroom, instructors’ responsibilities include assembling course content and developing an understanding of student needs. However, when teaching at a distance, according to Willis (1994), the instructor is confronted with special challenges which include:

• developing an understanding of the characteristics and needs of distant students with little first-hand experience and limited, if any, face-to-face contact;

• adjusting teaching style and course content, and considering the needs and expectations of multiple, often diverse, audiences;

• developing a better understanding of delivery technology and staying focused on teaching role;

• working effectively as a skillful facilitator as well as content provider.

Willis here implies that instructors play a key role in the distance education process.

Thach, Murphy, and Korhonen (1994) identify 11 roles for distance education professionals. These roles might be assumed by one individual or by several individuals. One of these roles is instructional designer. However, as Koszalka and Bianco (2001) suggest, few research articles describe the instructor’s views on the successes and challenges of the different types of design elements incorporated into distance education courses. Thus, additional attention needs to be paid to how distance instructors look at their role as instructional designers and how they apply instructional design elements in designing distance courses. There appears to be a strong need to examine how distance instructors understand and apply the instructional design elements.

This study explored distance instructors’ perceptions and attitudes related to applying key elements of instructional design in preparing to teach at a distance. Although one role of a distance instructor is to design instruction, it is not known if and how he or she knows, understands, and applies instructional design elements when he or she teaches at a distance. Teaching at a distance is not an easy task. Yet, instructors will benefit if they understand and apply instructional design elements when preparing their instruction. Thus, it is important to examine the perceptions of their understanding and application of instructional design elements in the distance teaching process. Recent studies show that there has been little research in this field. Therefore, it was the intent of this study to offer a contribution to this aspect of the literature.

Since the design of instruction may directly affect teaching effectiveness in distance education, it is important for distance teaching faculty to understand and apply instructional design elements in the distance teaching process. The information gained from this study will provide an understanding of how the application of instructional design elements affects the design for instruction in distance education. The data acquired from the study will also provide administrators, instructional designers, and instructors involved in distance education with vital decision-making information related to instructional design to facilitate distance teaching. In addition, distance education program planners and educators can use this knowledge to improve the quality of distance teaching by making necessary resources and services available to distance teachers. The information will also serve as a basis for further research in distance education

Little research has been found that addresses instructors’ perceptions of the application of instructional design elements in the distance teaching process. The purpose of this research is to investigate these perceptions. The most critical aspect of successful distance education is good planning, because planning for effective teaching is necessary for learning to occur (Smaldino, 1999). Teaching at a distance requires greater emphasis on the initial planning phase (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2000). For successful planning, distance learning faculty should attend to some key design issues. According to Simonson et al. (2000) the following issues need to be considered:

1. Who are the learners? Instructors need to have knowledge of general learner characteristics. This knowledge about the learners can help instructors successfully handle the physical separation of instructor and students in the class.

2. What is the essential content? The content of a course should reflect its relationship to the rest of the curriculum. Instructors need to consider the nature of the content and the sequence of information. Generally, the scope of the course content should be sufficient to ensure that the entire learning experience will result in the desired outcomes. Thus, the identification of goals and objectives for instruction is necessary.

3. What teaching strategies and media should be used? It is important that distance educators decide which strategy or strategies to use to make sure learners participate. Instructors need to think about selecting those instructional strategies that enable all learners to participate in active learning. Doing so can ensure that students will get along in the class.

4. What is the learning environment? To completely understand distance education, instructors must examine not only the technology, but the learning environments that are created (Herring & Smaldino, 1998). Learning environments as a class of systems integrate the tools, resources, and pedagogical features that enhance student comprehension (Hannafin, 1992).

5. How do you determine the quality of the instruction? Determining the quality and effectiveness of the instruction is something that needs to be considered as part of the planning process.

Therefore, when teaching at a distance, instructors need to address general learner characteristics, the nature of the content, the teaching strategies and media selected, the learning environment, and evaluation.

Moore and Kearsley (1996) stated that many questions should be examined in the design of a distance education course or program, including:

• What content should be included or left out?

• What is the best way to sequence and organize the material?

• What are the best media to use to present the material?

• What kind of teaching strategies should be employed?

• How can learning be measured most appropriately?

• What feedback should students receive about their progress?

• What methods should be used to create the materials?

Moore and Kearsley stressed such issues as content organization, media selection, teaching strategies, evaluation, and materials creation, which are all related to meeting needs of learners.

Sherry and Morse (1995) argued that teachers should take an interest in specific areas of the instructional system design process, such as determining how much content to put into a single lesson, diversifying types of presentations and course activities, designing ancillary materials, developing courseware, assessing teacher effectiveness and student learning, and revising learning modules to fit students’ needs. Sherry and Morse emphasized the issues including content, instructional strategies, the development of materials, the use of media, and assessment. These issues need to be considered to address learner needs as well.

When discussing issues related to instructional design in distance education, these authors all addressed the issues associated with learner considerations, content organization, instructional strategies, distance education technology characteristics, and evaluation. Therefore, these can be considered key elements for designing instruction at a distance. The perceptions of instructors were investigated related to those elements in this study.

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and attitudes of instructors at a Midwest comprehensive university about if and how they understand and apply the instructional design elements when teaching at a distance. With this purpose in mind, the researchers generated three research questions, as follows:

1. To what extent will the instructors report implementation of identified instructional design elements in distance education courses?

2. To what extent have the instructors taken advantage of opportunities provided by the university (or elsewhere) to design instruction for distance education?

3. What information will be gained that could promote better instruction at a distance at the university?

This study was focused specifically on the existing perceptions of instructors on their understanding and application of instructional design elements in the distance teaching process. The study took place at the university during summer 2002. A mailed self-completion questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument to answer the research questions. Responses to the survey were designed to be anonymous with no individual identification. A cover letter and selfaddressed return envelope were included with the survey explaining the purpose of the research study and assuring confidentiality of the respondents. The return envelopes were coded so that follow-up surveys would not be sent to those who had returned the survey instrument. Those distance instructors who had been identified to participate in the study were given 3 weeks to complete the questionnaire and return it. Validity was determined by pretesting the questionnaire before distributing it to the respondents.

The researchers used a selected panel of distance educators as a focus group to test the research instrument to achieve the validation of the research instrument. The questionnaire was designed to explore the instructors’ perceptions of whether and how they understood and applied the instructional design elements in the distance teaching process. The research questions were used as the framework to develop the survey questions. This survey provided instructors with opportunities to reveal their opinions on the research topic. In the survey, three areas were explored concerning instructors’ perceptions of their understanding and application of instructional design elements in the distance teaching process. These three areas were: how instructors report implementation of identified instructional design elements in distance education courses, how instructors have taken advantage of opportunities provided by the university (or elsewhere) to design instruction for distance education, and how instructors could promote better instruction at a distance. There were two sections of information in the questionnaire. The first section, composed of both structured questions and unstructured or open-ended questions, contributed to answering the three research questions as they related to using online and instructional television ITV resources. The second section provided demographic information. The questionnaire used for this study was created from the initial survey, which was conducted in a pilot study. A combination of different scales were used in the questionnaire for the respondents to answer the research questions, including an implicit scale, an explicit scale, a multiple response scale, a comparative scale, and a verbal frequency scale. In addition, open-ended questions were also included in the questionnaire.

Some revisions were made in the initial questionnaire, based on the suggestions and recommendations from the focus group. The revised questionnaire was used in this study. The sample for this study was drawn from the population of the instructors who had been involved in teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses via the Internet and ITV. Convenience and unstratified sampling methods were used to obtain the sampling. Fifty-six instructors who had taught via the Internet and ITV were chosen to participate in the study. Out of those instructors surveyed, 39 (69.6%) questionnaires were returned. Twenty-one (53.8%) of the subjects who returned the questionnaires were females and 18 (46.2%) were males. Their ages ranged from 22 to over 61 (see Table 1). Most respondents came from the college of education at the university. The remaining respondents were from the colleges of humanities and fine arts, natural sciences, and social and behavioral sciences (see Table 2). The participants’ teaching experience at the university level ranged from 1 year to 21+ years: 10 participants had 0-5 years, 4 participants had 6-10 years, 10 participants had 11-15 years, 3 participants had 16-20 years, and 12 participants had 21+ years.

To describe the perceptions and attitudes of distance teaching instructors, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the data regarding instructors’ perceptions of their application of instructional design elements in distance teaching practice. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data. Frequencies and percentages were calculated using SPSS, a statistical computer software package, with results analyzed, summarized, and complied into tables. Demographic data were analyzed also, using descriptive statistics by calculating percentages and frequencies. A coding system was used to analyze the qualitative data regarding the open-ended questions in the questionnaire. Chi-square tests were used to determine if some of the demographic factors were significant predictors of the results related to the training assisting the instructors using the ITV and the Internet for distance learning, and the training assisting them in designing instruction using the two technologies for distance learning. At this university, faculty used WebCT for their Internet-based instructional system.

All of these inquiries contributed to an understanding of instructors’ perceptions and attitudes regarding application of instructional design elements in teaching distance education courses.

The findings of the survey data analysis are organized by the three research questions. The analysis and interpretation of the descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, and open-ended questions, were used to determine some important characteristics of the respondents associated with the three research questions.

Research Question 1 asked: “To what extent will the instructors report implementation of identified instructional design elements in distance education courses?” The results regarding Research Question 1 are presented as follows.

Most faculty found the content module, syllabus, discussion board, and mail to be helpful on WebCT. On the other hand, approximately half of the faculty did not use or find helpful the image database and student homepage.

The university involved in this study selected WebCT as the online courseware option. The advantages of using WebCT for distance learning included overcoming geographical constraints, helpful links and library services, enhanced communication, enhanced student empowerment, helping to establish a learning community, varying instructional strategies, convenient assessment of student learning, and availability of study material. Specific comments on overcoming geographical constraints included the fact that WebCT was convenient for students because it helped reach learners over a wide distance. Learners could access the course anywhere there was Internet service, thus saving travel costs. It also enabled instructors to monitor students anywhere. Specific comments on helpful links and library services included that links and library services helped create a very structured course and enabled students to rapidly access current information via the Internet and electronic resources at the university library. Such beneficial and convenient service to distance learning students helped to ease the loneliness of the distance learner. Specific comments on enhancing communication included using WebCT to enhance instructor/student and student/student interactions to create a better learning and teaching environment by helping instructors communicate with students and students communicate with each other. It also helped instructors provide immediate feedback to students and get feedback from students. Specific comments on enhancing student empowerment included WebCT as a way of enabling students to organize their inquiries for meaningful discussion so as to enhance their learning. The asynchronous discussion feature allowed flexibility for time to reflect on learning, for holding additional discussions, for accessing grades (calculated grades), and for providing easy use of discussions/bulletin boards and an easy access to e-mail for the class. Specific comments on helping to establish a learning community included that WebCT was tremendously useful in supporting instruction because its features helped create an electronic community of learners. Instructors’ specific comments on varying instructional strategies included that WebCT allowed the use of different kinds of instructional strategies, since the student presentation area worked very well for collaboration among small groups and provided consistency in the presentation format. Responses also indicated that the home page was clean and easy to use, a quiz/survey could be designed for assessment at a distance, and discussions could be initiated for participation and interactions, as WebCT had an excellent system for threading discussion boards. Specific comments on convenient assessment of student learning included conveniently assessing student learning because they could easily access both old and new assignments in order to keep student records and track/monitor students’ progress. Under specific comments on the availability of study material, respondents said it was convenient to obtain printed materials via WebCT because there were fewer copyright restrictions and reduced paper costs.

Instructors’ comments on the limitations of using WebCT for distance learning included WebCT framework limitations, an absence of face-to-face instructor/student, and student/ student communication, student participation, and lack of technical support. Specific comments on the limitations of the framework of WebCT included the following: not all students were comfortable with the technology; teaching with WebCT was time consuming and routine tasks took too many steps (setting up, posting information, downloading information, keeping students updated in the grade book, attachments needed to be in RTF or PDF format to work, e-mail needed for text formatting and e-mail attachment being slow); and students’ access to WebCT depended on hard-ware/software/Internet access, and so forth. Specific comments on an absence of face-to-face instructor/student and student/student communication and interaction included a limited student ability to develop relationships with each other, which is critical in education leadership. Lack of face-to-face communication made it difficult to provide personal feedback from instructors. Specific comments on student participation included instructor and student complaints on the class and the use of WebCT. The reasons were that not all students participated in the WebCT class; it was difficult to facilitate/demonstrate constructivist/ hands-on learning/teaching; students could hide and instructors had to watch for students who avoided participation; and some students were not using WebCT or WebCT was not working all the time. Specific comments on the lack of technical support included the lack of technical assistance at the sites, and problems with components that did not work on the Web, such as the server. In addition, when instructors wanted to add more visual components to their course, they needed more fluency in using WebCT. These problems prevented the class from being delivered as effectively as possible.

No instructors reported feeling uncomfortable using the overhead camera, teacher camera, computer, off-site camera, or VCR. In addition, instructors also indicated that they used the CD player, electronic keyboard, personal laptop, fiber phone, fax, recording of sessions, presenters, slide projector, the Internet, and guest speakers at distance sites.

The instructors’ comments on the advantages of using ITV for distance learning included: convenient, efficient communication for teachers and students; enhanced interaction; and an opportunity for diverse experiences. Specific comments on convenient and efficient communication for both teachers and students included the following ideas: ITV could help those students who were geographically isolated get into specific education programs to acquire an education (such as higher degree or certificate programs) not otherwise accessible to them. The comments on enhanced interaction included that ITV could make instruction interactive, owing to its synchronous feature. This allowed interaction between teachers and students in “real time”; there was more contact in remote areas. The use of this advanced technology could make learning and teaching more effective. The comments on creating an opportunity for diversified experience included that ITV brought into the classroom the diversified experience and expertise of in-service teachers who lived and worked in far-flung areas of the state.

Instructors’ comments on the limitations of using the ITV for distance learning included: lack of the face-to-face instructor/student and student/student interaction, technology failures, and pedagogical difficulties. Specific comments on lack of the face-to-face instructor/student and student/student interaction included the lack of personal contact directly with the students as one of the major limitations for using ITV in distance learning. Instructors could not see or feel what students were thinking, how they were reacting, or if students were staying on task, since it was not possible to have eye contact with all students all the time or to read their body language. ITV also hampered normal teacher movement around the classroom. Thus, instructors found it difficult to get to know the students as individuals and it was easy for students to avoid being engaged in class. Students were less likely to seek out the instructor for assistance. Instructors could not visit students when they had problems except via on-line, e-mail, or phone. Moreover, students did not get to know one another, because remote students could not always see on-site students and on-site students could not hear remote students clearly. Specific comments on technology failures noted that, in general, there were inadequacies with the system, poor control over the environment, and no technical staff to create desired learning conditions, especially at off-campus sites. Not all remote sites were equally equipped. Some did not have operable fax machines, closed-circuit telephones, or computers. There were poor VCR and computer transmissions from distant sites. Slide projection resulted in terrible colors. These inadequacies slowed class down and inhibited effective interaction. Specific comments on pedagogical difficulties included: the ITV system pedagogically inhibited effective teaching because it changed the way in which instruction was presented. The system was designed mostly for “delivery,” not for discussion. Running a seminar course was not easy. Therefore, it was difficult to organize instruction via the ITV system.

Almost all of the instructors considered the following when they organized a course: the goals and objectives, the content selection, the best way to sequence or organize the content, the selection of media and resources, and allocation of time. In addition, instructors also considered other elements: having hard copies of necessary materials in their hands in a timely fashion; different levels of students’ capabilities; how to involve the students over ITV; student needs; what media was available; and keeping all students actively engaged, making every minute count, designing varying activities in three hours so that the class was not boring and so that the teacher was not a talking head.

Regarding the instructional strategies the instructors typically use in their distance learning instruction, most instructors frequently used discussions, student presentation, student-student interaction, and student feedback. Few instructors used role playing. With few exceptions, faculty reported they could allow for student interest, skills, knowledge, experience, and learning styles when they taught at a distance.

Research Question 2 asked: “To what extent have the instructors taken advantage of opportunities provided by the university (or elsewhere) to design instruction for distance education?” The results regarding Research Question 2 are as follows.

Most of the instructors had relatively little experience teaching using only the ITV system. Most instructors completed training to prepare for ITV instruction. The training time for approximately half of the instructors was one day or more than one day. Most instructors thought the training was sufficient and that the training assisted them in using this technology for distance learning. More than half of the instructors thought that the training assisted them in designing instruction for distance learning.

Most of the instructors had relatively little experience teaching using only WebCT; less than half of the instructors completed training to prepare for WebCT instruction; the training time for most of the instructors varied between two hours and three days; about one-fourth of the instructors thought the training was sufficient; about one-third of the instructors thought that the training assisted them in using this technology for distance learning, around one fourth of the instructors thought that the training assisted them in designing instruction for distance learning. Most of the instructors had the experience teaching using the combination of WebCT and the ITV system.

Research Questions 3 asked: “What information will be gained that could promote better instruction at a distance at the university?” The findings contributing to this research question are illustrated below.

The instructors’ comments on additional support to make WebCT more effective included technological support, training support, and support for equipment improvement. Specific comments on technological support included continuing to rely on ongoing technological support from the continuing education department. Instructors said it was critical to have someone with WebCT expertise on campus to help with details/conceptual advice to develop WebCT materials for a course to make the class run smoothly. It was difficult to edit the content, and instructors said they needed a support staff to help students at remote sites connect WebCT to make the class go smoothly. Specific comments on training support included needing a course on WebCT in training, providing components of instructional design strategies for distance learning environment, more examples on how to use the tools, and an instructor to walk them through the first class.

The instructors’ comments on additional support to make the ITV more effective included technological support and pedagogical support. Specific comments on technological support included: the need for more accessible technological support in order to enable the technology to always function. These included factors such as voice-activated microphones to make conversations a little smoother; good equipment, such as fax and photocopy machines; good maintenance at distance sites; presence of a facilitator at all times; the provision of an adjacent computer lab; and permission for students to practice using the technology. Specific comments on pedagogical support included the need for pedagogical support to make the television instruction more effective, such as developing more ideas for group work and more strategies for increasing student/student interaction; using effective simulations; role playing; only using the ITV to teach specialty classes; possibly meeting students beforehand; or originating from a different site every class time were suggested.

The instructors needed assistance/support to improve the way they addressed student considerations, such as motivating students to participate, getting assistance completing assessments, and training and pedagogical support. Specifically some faculty commented that student motivation was lower for some than for traditional students. These individual students seemed to be distracted. To enhance the participation of students, instructors needed to have more opportunities to learn about who will be in their classes. For example, instructors might first have these students in a traditional class or survey students to learn about their interests so that they could be accommodated in the distance learning environment.

Specific comments on getting assistance to complete the assessments included the following: teaching on the ITV system is an overload and the unavailability of qualified student assistants to help with the grading makes it difficult to return assignments to students soon. Thus, instructors suggested having qualified work-study students help them.

Comments on providing training included the need for more ITV training, or training on the use of technology in general, and more hands-on experience in order to better address learners’ considerations. Comments on pedagogical support included the instructors’ need to add time before/after class for student comments and to understand students’ learning styles because it is not easy to systematically address the question of adapting to different learning styles in technology-based classes.

A large percentage of instructors reported using papers (79.5%), class participation (84.6%), and performance or product assignment (89.7%) for assessment. A small number of instructors reported using quizzes (33.3%). Thus, most instructors used papers, class participation, and performance or product assignments to assess student performance. The instructors’ comments on additional support to improve assessment of students included helping to design online assessments (it was hard to give quizzes), the need for a personalized counter or informational sheet for his or her Web page, designing a “work sampling” component to coursework, and allowing students to submit papers or journals via e-mail (this may help the instructor know how students were interpreting instruction and have an opportunity to clarify misunderstanding before the final project).

The instructors’ comments on additional support to make instruction more effective in distance education included technological support, more pedagogical assistance, more face-to-face interaction, and more regular workshops on using the technology and improving instruction, having someone observe him or her in “action” on ITV and discussing recommendations for improvement, and initiating ideas on conducting peer assessment in an ITV/Web environment Specific comments on technological support included the need for more technological support to make distance instruction more effective, such as making certain equipment/ network work 100% of the time, providing support for visuals and techniques, updating the ITV technology, having facilitators at every television site, and using better video/ RGB quality from computers.

Comments on more pedagogical assistance included periodic updates for improving instruction; access to a variety of videos, CDs, or Web sites that supplement the primary instruction; more time allowed for discussion, since video demonstrations eliminate down time during demonstrations; and providing models of really effective instruction. Comments on more face-to-face interaction included feedback from students needed on the instructor’s public speaking and technology skills, and making face-to-face presence mandatory at the beginning of a semester. Comments on more regular workshops included the need for more regular workshops on new tools and techniques of WebCT.

Chi-square test analysis showed that significant relationships were not found between any demographic factor and training helping instructors using ITV and WebCT for distance learning and training helping instructors design instruction using distance learning technologies.

Based on the findings of this research, the following conclusions are made:

1. Generally, when teaching at a distance, most of the instructors consider student attitudes or interests, student skills, student knowledge, student experience, and student learning styles.

2. When organizing the content, almost all of the instructors consider such elements as goals and objectives, selection of the content, organization of the content, selection of media, selection of resources, and allocation of time.

3. When teaching at a distance, most instructors frequently use such instructional strategies as discussions, student presentation, student-student interaction, and student feedback.

4. The instructors generally believe that there are more advantages than limitations of using WebCT for distance learning. The instructors believe that there are both advantages and limitations to using ITV for distance learning.

   One of the limitations of using WebCT for distance learning identified in this study was the lack of instructor/student and student/student interaction. This result has expanded Wang-Chavez and Branon’s research findings reported in 2001, in which they found that there was a lack of interaction between the instructor and students for Web/Internet-based instruction.

   One of the limitations of using ITV for distance learning found in this study was the lack of face-to-face instructor/student and student/ student interaction. This finding has provided additional support for what Sorensen and Baylen reported in their survey conducted in 2000, in which they found that there was a lack of teacher/student and student/student interaction for the instruction delivered via ITV.

   Another limitation of using ITV for distance learning found in this study was technology failures. This result supported Thomerson and Smith, who found similar results in 1996.

5. Over half of the instructors think such WebCT tools as content module, syllabus, discussion/bulletin board, and mail are helpful in attaining course objectives. The instructors generally feel comfortable about using such ITV tools as the overhead camera, teacher camera, computer, off-site camera, and VCR in their ITV instruction.

6. To evaluate student performance, most instructors use papers, class participation and performance, or product assignment.

7. Most of the instructors had taught using only ITV and had completed training to use ITV for instruction. Of the instructors who completed training for ITV instruction, most thought the training was sufficient. Most of the instructors believed that the training had helped them use the television system and design instruction for distance learning. Most instructors had taught using only WebCT. Approximately half of the instructors had not completed training to prepare them for WebCT instruction. A majority of the instructors who completed training in WebCT thought that the training was sufficient. A number of faculty held different opinions because they felt that the training only focused on how to use WebCT but did not include how to design instruction using it. One-third of the instructors thought that the training for the instructors helped them use WebCT for distance learning and one-fourth thought the training helped them design instruction for distance learning. Most of the instructors had taught using a combination of ITV and WebCT.

8. The instructors stated a need for the additional support to make WebCT more effective in their distance education courses, which includes technological support, training support, and equipment improvement support.

9. The instructors stated a need for additional support to make ITV more effective in their distance education courses, which includes technological support and pedagogical support. The instructors need more training on ITV or training on the use of technology and more hands-on experience in order to better address learners’ considerations. This finding has supported what Gehlauf, Shatz and Frye accomplished in 1995.

10. The instructors stated a need for additional assistance or support to improve the way they address student considerations, to improve assessment of students of their course, and to make their instruction more effective in their distance education.

The perceptions of the distance instructors at this Midwest university are important in terms of identifying problems and providing suggestions for improving instruction in the future. Implications of the findings in this study suggest strategies to support instructors in applying instructional design elements when they teach at a distance via the Internet and ITV. Based on the conclusions of the study, it is recommended that:

1. 1. Those instructors who teach using WebCT and who did not attend the WebCT workshop offered on campus should be encouraged to attend these sessions.

2. How to design instruction using WebCT should be taught in the WebCT workshop.

3. Instructors teaching via ITV should be more involved in the across-site activities to increase interactions with the students and create more opportunities for students at the host-site to interact with the students at other sites.

4. Additional support, which includes technological support, training support, and equipment improvement support, should be provided to the instructors who teach at a distance to make WebCT more effective in their distance education courses.

5. Additional support, which includes technological support and pedagogical support, should be provided to the instructors who teach at a distance to make ITV more effective in their distance education courses.

6. Additional assistance or support should be provided to instructors who teach at a distance to improve the way they address student considerations, to improve student assessment, and to make their instruction more effective in distance education.

This research is a descriptive study of the perceptions of instructors at one Midwest university on if and how they understand and apply instructional design elements when teaching at a distance. More research is needed to broaden our understanding of instructors’ perceptions of the application of instructional design elements in the distance teaching process and to determine the relative importance of various factors that may assist or hinder such application at institutions of higher education. The following recommendations focus on questions developed during this study that could not be addressed because they were beyond the scope of this research. Based on the findings in this study, it is recommended that:

1. Future research could use a purely qualitative research method of observation and in-depth interviews to help understand instructors’ perceptions of the application of instructional design elements in the distance teaching process.

2. Research should examine the differences in instructors’ perceptions based on their training, length of professional experience, and academic discipline.

3. Future studies could examine the pedagogical changes necessary to deliver undergraduate and graduate education using WebCT and ITV.

In summary, the instructors’ perceptions are for the most part positive. This study employed a descriptive method to analyze data and generated themes that contribute to the advancement of the knowledge level in this field of research.