Types of Communication in Distance Education and Their Foundations

Jeannie Azzopardi

OMDE 601

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Topic 2: Facilitating Distance Education

Principle Reflections

It is essential to look at distance education as the distinct discipline that it is. All elements of course design and instruction must reflect this. Critical is the element that imparts a connectedness through concise, clear communication that engages the student with empathy and trust. Interaction facilitates a better understanding and integration of material. Course development must include this type of communication; the instruction must cultivate it; the administration must then effectively support and train the faculty and assist the student and finally, all of it must work together in the vacuity of space.

This Old House: Course Development

Using the analogy of building a house, course development can look like a shed or a grand old Victorian mansion. The shed has little appeal – the Victorian is glorious. The shed has one simple door (if that), while the Victorian has all sorts of fun, fascinating entrances…windows, doors, crawl spaces, a basement, an attic. It is plain which a student would prefer. At a distance, the developer (and consequently, the instructor) must show the student the mansion; must talk …not just tell, about it. Holmberg (2003) states, “this approach means making students see contexts, consider options and generally think about the subject matter rather than merely assimilate facts…” (p.53) It is the quintessence of a good course design that has the exclamatory built in. Every door and window must be made available to the student. Ideally, the text is supported by the use of relevant video/audio clips, a simple study guide, articles, anecdotes and stories, in various combinations. This is the walk around the house…seeing it from all angles. Dialogue is the furnace that keeps it toasty.

It Ain’t Osmosis: Communication

Feng, Lazar and Preece (2004) address empathy and trust in their research, “Empathy is an important phenomenon in interpersonal communication which refers to the ability of accurately inferring another person’s feeling and responding compassionately to another person’s distress (Ickes, 1993, p. 97).” Couple this with Holmberg’s (2003) sum of conversation, motivation, emotional association and mediation of exchange, and you have the exemplary model of a course that not only engages, but keeps the student committed and allows a deeper level of learning. It is the responsibility of the instructor and designer to create the emotional plug for discussion. Something the student can commit and connect to…something that will fit into what I term their port of reference. For the student, it’s a warm invitation into the house for a look around, a cup of tea, and a comfortable conversation and the development of a relationship. It’s the enticement to stay.

Foundations: Administration

He who has not first laid his foundations may be able with great ability to lay them afterwards, but they will be laid with trouble to the architect and danger to the building. - Machiavelli

Murray (2001, p. 2) lists some retention strategies to keep students enrolled in online classes:

·        Train faculty to teach online.

·        Give students lots of upfront information and advising.

·        Make registration easy.

·        Ensure that students feel connected right away.

·        Offer tech support.

·        Provide academic support.

This is the basis for the course foundation. Without the inclusion of these fundamentals, the roof leaks, the walls begin to crack, the floors soften and fall through and the student gets frustrated. Too much frustration and the student loses commitment and leaves. This is underscored by a study done by the Institute of Higher Education Policy in 2000. Of the 24 benchmarks modeled in the study, many rested within the realm of administration, including intensive support for staff and students (from registration to graduation) and concentrated technical support. Administration needs to commit to their faculty and to the singularity of distance education. You wouldn’t ask a home owner to fix the blueprints, nor would you ask a guest to become a contractor. Responsibility lies with the administration as the architect.

References

Holmberg, B. (2003). Distance education in essence: An overview of theory and practice in the early twenty-first century (2^nd ed.). Oldenburg: Bibliotheks – und Informationssytem der Universität Oldenburg.

Feng J., Lazar, J. & Preece, J. (2004). Empathy and online interpersonal trust: A fragile relationship. Behavior & Information Technology, 23(2), 97-106.

Murray, B. (2001, October 12). What makes students stay? Concern over quitters has online programs stepping up retention strategies. eLearning Magazine. Retrieved February 28, 2005 from http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage/sub_page.cfm?

The Institute for Higher Education. (2000). Quality on the line: Benchmarks for success in internet-based distance education. The Institute for Higher Education Policy. Washington, D.C. Retrieved March 1, 2005 from http://www.ihep. org/Pubs/

PDF/Quality.pdf