Thursday, February 10, 2000

Scholar Concludes That Distance Ed Is as Effective as Traditional Instruction By JEFFREY R. YOUNG Is distance education better or worse than traditional classroom instruction? Neither, says Thomas L. Russell, who tracks studies of distance-education methods. Most studies he's seen show no difference in the effectiveness of the two media. Mr. Russell, who is director emeritus of instructional telecommunications at North Carolina State University, had hoped to find scientific backing for his initial hunch that distance education is superior to traditional methods. Though a few studies showed just that, the majority found that the results were about equal, no matter what kind of gadgets or tools were used to teach students. "All delivery mechanisms -- be they simple print or sophisticated computer-based or interactive video-based -- had a like result," he says. Though some educators complain that not enough work has been done to assess the quality of distance education, Mr. Russell disagrees. He's found more than 400 studies on the topic. "There is so much research on this matter that I find it incomprehensible that any reasonable, knowledgeable, unbiased, and professional person could deny the fact that technology can deliver instruction as well as traditional modes -- at least when we look at student populations as large groups." Mr. Russell compiled his bibliography of studies on distance education into a book called The No Significant Difference Phenomenon, and he has made most of the book available on a searchable Web site. He's also created a Web site indexing studies that have found a significant difference between virtual and classroom instruction. More research is needed in related areas, he suggests, such as determining what kinds of students are best suited for virtual education. "I truly believe that there are those who should never attempt a technology-delivered course, as well as those who thrive in such an environment -- just as there are those who thrive and those who fail in the traditional classroom," he says. A similar review of distance-education studies released last year by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, however, found that existing research on distance education leaves too many questions unanswered. (See an article from The Chronicle, April 16, 1999.) "Does distance education, for example, work better for some academic subjects than for others?" asked that report, which was titled "What's the Difference? A Review of Contemporary Research on the Effectiveness of Distance Learning in Higher Education." (The report is a large file that must be viewed with an Adobe Acrobat reader.) "What elements are necessary for student success and have they been evaluated?" it asked. "Is the kind of knowledge acquired the same -- particularly if more than a course or two, possibly the entire academic program, is delivered at a distance?" The report concluded: "Policymakers, faculty, and students need to make properly informed judgments about key issues in distance education." Mr. Russell says he hopes his book will serve both to reassure those who worry that distance education is inferior and also to "prick the bubble" of those who say that virtual teaching environments are better. And his own role? "Primarily to provide some balance." Background story from The Chronicle: 2 Reports Question Utility and Accessibility in Distance Education (4/16/1999) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Rising cost of college could leave many Americans behind, senators warn Court rejects lawsuit seeking better conditions for animals in research labs Gore says he would erase state boundaries on prepaid-tuition plans Report notes a slight rise in minority enrollment and graduation rates Defense Department to award $40.2-million to help institutions buy research equipment Stanford project to test method for preserving digital journals Scholar concludes that distance ed is as effective as traditional instruction