Distance education: the bad

A while ago, my husband tried to take some distance ed classes. The format was perfect for him- online and asynchronous, so he could complete at his leisure. Since he works full time, that was important. However, it soon became apparent that these classes were just NOT going to work.

photo credit: Wrote For distance education, as far as libraries go, it’s what’s online, not how many books there are, that counts.

He got through the first class OK, despite the fact that the teacher disappeared completely and a new teacher was brought in 2/3 of the way through to try and salvage the course. This class was a prerequisite for anything else- an information literacy course of sorts. I was eager to see what kind of class this would be, and I have to say I was appalled by it. The students were made to read horribly out of date information about the internet, information literacy, etc. Some of the tutorials were from 1997. The courseware, Web CT, hindered communication more than helping it. He was quizzed on such important topics as the vendor that provides the OPAC for the library (do students really need to know this?)

Despite this awful first class, my husband gave it another shot and signed up for two more classes. This time, the courseware software went down two weeks into the class for almost a week, and everything the students did during the first two weeks was lost. The students were encouraged to use student email, which was difficult to use and down often. Geoff ended up dropping the courses, and I can’t blame him. It helped, for him, that these were not classes he had to take- they were just an attempt to learn something new. I imaging the whole process would have been a lot more frustrating to a student actually working towards a degree.

Judging by comments on the web, my husband’s experiences are not unique- distance education is truly bad a lot of the time. Unfortunately, many times failure is attributed to the students rather than the university. What’s sad is, I don’t think it has to be this way. The tools are here to make distance education a rewarding and fulfilling experience, but colleges aren’t using them. I get the feeling that a lot of these online programs were implemented because someone thought it would be a good idea, with no planning, foresight, or expertise. Colleges seem to think that distance education is an easy road to more money, that distance ed is cheaper than “regular” education.

There are some savings to be had with distance education – facility costs, insurance, etc. But a lot of the costs stay the same or increase- teachers may be able to handle a 200 student lecture in face to face classes, but this gets unwieldy in an online setting. Courseware, even of the free variety, is expensive to host, maintain, and support. Ideally, schools will always hire a qualified instructional design professional to assist teachers in setting up and conducting online classes. Distance education needs to be systematically considered in ALL aspects of the college, not just mandated by administrators.

photo credit: piphoto Large seminar courses might work face to face, but might not work online.

I think whole school integration with distance ed it one of the best steps a school can take to making the entire experience more worthwhile. When I call the campus to figure out a financial aid or billing issue, I am often told to “just stop by so and so’s office, it is easier in person.” When I tell them that I am a distance student, they stammer a little and then give me a phone number to call instead. All departments need to be able to deal with the special needs of distance students. As another example, I am required to fill out a plan of study a year in advance, and then submit changes whenever that plan changes. This process was designed for the on campus student, who can just drop by their advisor’s office and take care of changes. Managing these changes through email is awkward and difficult.

Campus life is missing for distance students. It is obvious that campus activity committees never give distance students a second thought. I get several emails every day to my school email (which I have to maintain and check, because it’s where professors email me) talking about activities, study groups, and lectures on a campus I have never been to. As a distance student, I cannot serve in any official capacity to the student government or my college’s student association. I asked once about participating, and they talked about setting up an adviser position for the distance program, but it never happened. I am pretty lucky as a distance student, though. Many of my classes do meet once a month, due to a satellite education partnership between the University of Omaha and the University of Missouri-Columbia. Three people at my workplace are in classes with me. I can’t imagine how alone and isolated people with NO in person contact must feel.

Schools need to wake up and realize that distance education is not just a novelty anymore. Distance ed students usually pay the same, and sometimes more than, their on campus counterparts, but get a fraction of the benefits. Sometimes they get a fraction of the education. Many students never set foot on campus, and these students would benefit from other avenues for socialization- mailing lists for distance students, social spaces where students can blog, post photos and videos, and form study groups, etc. I think the trend toward on campus orientation at the beginning of the program is a good one.

photo credit: qbirdnumber1 It doesn’t matter how pretty the buildings are if a student is not on campus to see them.

Unfortunately, I don’t think any of this will change until students start voting with their dollars. It’s hard to determine, though, which distance education programs are good, and which, frankly, suck. Lacking a reliable rating system, students will have to do a little bit of leg work. They can ask question like:

• What is the courseware software? What version? When was it last updated? What is the uptime?
• What avenues are there for distance students to connect with other distance students?
• How big are the class sizes- what is the student to teacher ratio?
• Does the school employ instructional designers or others whose sole responsibility is to facilitate creation and implementation of courses? Is there tech staff available for students to call if they need help?
• What kind of computer/software will be needed? Are there license agreements to cut down on the cost of said software? How much freedom does the student have in picking their own platform/software?
• Will the student have to pay out of state tuition? (Some distance programs allow distance students to pay in state tuition)
• Are library resources geared towards distance students? Does the school have a wide variety of materials full text and online? How easy are these resources to find and use? Will Interlibrary loan scan and fax or email documents to off campus students when needed?
• Is there one or more dedicated distance librarians who work on a full time basis? Are there distance reference services (phone, chat, email)?
• Are the writing centers, health centers, and other student services set up to help distance services and answer questions?
• Is the school’s website easy to navigate? Can you find what you need? How’s the search? Is it clear from the website what the requirements are for graduating? Are necessary forms easily accessible online? A distance student might want a demo of the school’s accounting, grade, and other systems.
• Will the student be assigned an adviser? How many students does each adviser handle? Are the advisers trained to assist students (and especially distance students), or are advising duties just tacked onto other duties?
• Do the promotional materials they send you mention distance ed at all? Does all the focus seem to be on on campus students?

There are a ton of other questions a student could ask, but they’ll probably get a feel for a school by asking just a few. A badly organized distance education program will shuffle you around from person to person, and no one will know the answers. They might even get defensive. A good program, on the other hand, should be able to direct you to the right person for each question and should be able to answer with a minimum of fuss.

BTW, these ideas are hardly new. Articles back to 1997 have discussed evaluating distance ed programs. But I think there has been a rush to get more and more distance ed courses going, and little research into what such a move actually requires. Sad to say, I don’t think distance ed is much better today than it was 10 years ago, despite the remarkable tools and methods of communicating we have.

One of the hardest hurdles universities have to overcome with distance education is realizing that distance students don’t care about a pretty campus, student activities, campus food, parking or transportation. What we want is quality teaching by instructers that care and the technological infrastructure to back it up. Ideally, we’d also like some way to find fellow classmates to form study or discussion or just social groups. This might be as easy as setting up an online address book for all students, with a picture and a place to put a brief bio.

I will have another post later on that discusses the good of distance education: what are schools doing right? If you have good or bad stories to share, please do so in the comments.