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Distance
Education:
Foundations And Fundamental Concepts
byFarhad Saba, Ph. D.
Distance
education is a general concept, that has its roots in
general and adult education; embracing non-traditional
education, and independent study. Distance education has
become possible through the use of technology, starting
with print and transportation, as in correspondence education,
and later with electronic communication as in educational
radio, instructional television, and web-based education. It, therefore,
includes the discipline of educational technology.
A
general introduction to the field is presented in:
Distance Education: A General Introduction.
For
formal definitions of the field, as proposed by its pioneers
see:
This
brief overview, and the introductory articles show distance
education is a vast concept with complex interrelated
fields, each of which have their own substantial theoretical,
methodological and practical base. The question, then,
becomes how to understand various aspects of distance
education coherently and comprehensively.
The
means for exploring, and understanding concepts with several
interrelated parts was introduced by Ludwig
Von Bertalanffy almost in the middle of the
20th century. Bertalanffy proposed the general
systems theory, and its related mathematical modeling
for understanding biological organisms. Soon, social scientists
adopted the principle of general systems for explaining
complex phenomena, with many interrelated parts.
This
was a radical departure from the normal scientific method,
which proposed to reduce phenomena to their constituent
parts in order to understand them. In contrast, systems
approach takes a holistic look at a phenomenon in order
to understand not only its parts, but also the interrelation
among the parts.
Reducing
distance education to one line definitions, and characterizing
it as a "technology," or a "method of delivery"
does not do justice to the entire field. Distance education
is a complex and hierarchical system of interrelated
sub-systems, each of which has its own internal complexities,
but in general each affect the other parts and are affected
by the other parts.
- Hardware
and software technologies are the base of this hierarchy.
Other sub-systems include
- means
of telecommunications, which put the student and the
teacher in contact with each other,
- the
instructional and learning subsystems which are usually
defined in academic programs and courses,
- the
management system which keeps the the entire enterprise
together,
- the
social system which provides funding, and regulates
the operation of the entire enterprise and,
- the
international systems, such as the world wide web, which
allows people in different countries engage in teaching
and learning at a global level.
It
is the understanding of this entire system of interrelated
sub-systems which the subject of discussion here.
Figure 1,
shows the sub-systems defined here.
| International
Sub-system: |
| International
institutions, governments, and individual citizens
who use systems such as the telecommunication satellites,
and the world wide web, for teaching and learning at
a distance. |
| Social
Sub-system: |
| Federal,
state, and local executive, and legislative branches
of the government, foundations, special interest groups,
and other social institutions, which fund, regulate,
and influence the operations of distance education organizations |
| Educational
Sub-system: |
| Universities,
K-12 schools, training departments of major corporations,
training divisions of armed services, police departments,
and other civil service organizations, which engage
in teaching and learning at a distance. |
| Instructional/Learning
Sub-system: |
| Courses,
modules, learning objects, and other organized units
that are specifically designed for teaching and learning. |
| Telecommunications
Sub-system: |
| Local
telephone loops, coaxial cable networks, radio and television
transmitters, telecommunications satellites, and other
means of connecting the students with the teachers,
and students among themselves. |
| Software
Sub-systems: |
| Course
authoring and management tools, browsers, databases,
and countless other types of software, such as email,
chat, white board, etc. necessary for teaching and learning
at a distance. |
| Hardware
Sub-systems: |
| Video
cameras, computers, transmitters, scanners, microphones,
receivers, monitors, and other hardware necessary for
producing and displaying and transmitting instructional
and learning sub-systems. |
This
hierarchical system model serves several purposes:
It
is an analytical tool to identify various sub-systems
of distance education, and concentrate on a specific sub-system
It
is also a design tool for identifying the sub-system under
consideration
It
is a conceptual tool for formulating hypotheses about
its completeness, each sub-system included, and
their interrelations, and test such hypothesis using systems
methodology.
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