Distance Learning: Step by Step

Abstract

Executive Summary Distance learning is rapidly becoming pervasive in every aspect of education. From elementary school through doctoral programs, information technology enables self-paced learning with some degree of distance from teaching professionals. Educators sometimes begin this online delivery system without fully examining the academic soundness of this approach. Other considerations are administrative matters involving the hardware, software, and service needed to execute the methodology, and most importantly, the impact on the teachers, or facilitators. This paper presents a model of thinking and teaching styles and presents teaching strategies for the evolution from a basic to a complex learning scenario. In discussing the ultimate transition from traditional to an online learning environment, the differences are highlighted. The following questions are raised at the outset and are addressed: • Do you really want to teach online courses? • If so, how do you move from a traditional style to the online style? • Is this medium suited to your teaching style and your goals and objectives? • Will students learn more effectively? • What are the roles and commitments of faculty and students in this new learning scenario? • What are the international and/or cross-cultural issues of online instruction? Using Bloom's taxonomy for learning style and teaching strategies from traditional to online learning as the two dimensions, the paper discusses how a teacher can progress to advanced steps of the process. Starting with the traditional lecture/discussion method, moving to experiential learning techniques and case studies, and finally team teaching and distance education, the model discusses alternate progressions from structured learning (traditional/lower order thinking skills) to unstructured learning (online/teams/higher order thinking skills). Three pathways are delineated from which the teacher can enter at any point and progress to an advanced level. After discussing each step of the process and the factors to be considered in moving from one level to another, following any of three pathways, the paper culminates with practical guidelines for the teacher contemplating transition from traditional to online teaching. In this way, the various tradeoffs of teaching style, course content, use of lecture, case and experiential techniques, and time necessary to prepare any new teaching delivery system can be evaluated at the outset. Such advance notice of the impact of major teaching style changes on the learning environment can prove to be invaluable for teachers, administrators, and learners. Teachers learn to adapt to new methods. Administrators Material published as part of this journal, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the publisher of the Journal of Information Technology Education. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage AND that copies 1) bear this notice in full and 2) give the full citation on the first page. It is permissible to abstract these works so long as credit is given. To copy in all other cases or to republish or to post on a server or to redistribute to lists requires specific permission and payment of a fee. Contact Editor@JITE.org to request redistribution permission. Distance Learning: Step by Step 116 are more aware of the resource requirements for such online methods. Students reap the benefit of appropriate information technology enablement for their learning process.