Chapter 7: Introducing the Internet and Other Distance Learning Tools

It is obvious that both teaching and learning...will be influenced in varying ways by "the death of distance."

Background on Distance Education
Distance Education: Placing the Internet in Context

* Technology has changed no aspect of society more quickly quickly and dramatically than its commications capabilities.

* Children today regard revolutionary technologies such as fax machines , cellular phones, and the internet as normal, everyday parts of the electronic landscape in which they live.

* If knowledge is power, as Francis Bacon said, then communication is freedom - freedom for people to reach information they need in order to acquire knowledge that can empower them.

* The internet burst on the scene in our society and in education a relatively short time ago, but quickly set fire to the interest and imagination of even the least technical teachers, students, and parents.

Defining Distance Learning
* This definition leaves open the door to more constructivist views of learning, including the possibility that, though learning is taking place, there may not be an instructor at all, and no formal or organized instruction may be offered.

Distance Learning Delivery Systems
* Although the Internet was the catalyst for an unprecedented interest in distance learning, it is by no means the only delivery system for distance learning.

* Distance learning has been done by correspondence study via postal mail (a.k.a. snail mail)since the 19th century.

* The first major change to correspondence courses came when presentations were placed on videotape and mailed along with print materials.

* Videoconferencing (live video and audio communications) via the Internet also is becoming increasingly popular in K-12 classrooms.

Types of Distance Learning Activities
* Once a rarity in education, distance activities have become a mainstream alternative to and supplement for face-to-face learning.

* Student research. Students use the internet to search for materials and information to support their research and production work.

* Online classroom materials. In this type of distance learning. teachers use online materials to help teach themselves and/or their students a topic or skill.

* Web-based lessons. In this type of learning, teachers use website resources to structure a curriculum lesson.

* Virtual courses and programs. Distance courses were popular in higher education long before they caught on at K-12 levels.

Current Issues in Distance Learning
* When communication became more global and accessible, many in education hoped it would mean better access to high-quality education for all students, regardless of location and economic status.

* Digital Divide issues. Recent studies show that while more students are using the internet and other distance resources, children from underserved popluation (e.g., low-income and some minority students) still have far less access at home and school than other students.

* Development and socialization issues. Spending too much time on computers has been cited as harmful to children's development of relationships and social skills.

* Positive and negative impact on education reform. Many educators predict that distance learning will reform teaching methods and increase access to quality education.

Virtual schooling issues. Although an increasingly popular strategy, K-12 virtual courses and programs present the following ongoing challenges:

* Curriculum alignment - to award credit, virtual school curriculum standards have to be aligned to state and local standards where the students reside.
* Teacher certification - to ensure they are qualified, online teachers must receive certification from a state agency.
* Accreditation - course credit can be granted either by the virtual school or the school district.
* Funding - lawsuits have arisen over whether or not virtual schools should be authorized to use public funds.
* Possible negative consequences - there is an ongoing dialog on the possible negative effects of virtual schooling on students' socialization.

Current Research in Distance Learning
* Although fueled by the popularity of the Internet, the current wellspring of support for distance learning seems unlikely be just a passing fad.

* Effectiveness of distance learning compared with face-to-face (FTF) learning. Some distance learning methods are among the most well studied in education. For example, course delivery via instructional television has long been considered equivalent to FTF instruction in its impact on achievement and on attitudes of students

* Course characteristics that affect success. Some studies focus on course factors that correlate directly to dropout rates in distance learning courses.

* High interaction - through some studies find that the convenience distance learning offers means more to students than teachers interaction, the single greatest determinant of satisfaction across studies is the amount of interaction between instructor and students.

* Support during course - many studies show that students value and profit from instructor and other support during their course experiences, from registration through course activities and evaluation.

* Low technical problems - consistent evidence exists that technical problems can doom the best planned course.

Characteristics of successful distance learning. Some researchers have tried to identify certain student capabilities or other factors that could predict whether or not a student might drop out, be less satisfied with, or do less than others in an online activity.

Characteristics of effective distance learning instructors. Cyrs (1997) emphasizes that distance learning instructors need different skills than instructors for traditional courses.
* course planning and organization that capitalize on distance learning strengths and minimize constraints
* verbal and nonverbal presentation skills specific to distance learning situations
* collaborative work with others to produce effective courses
* ability to use questioning strategies
* ability to involve and coordinate student activities among several sites.

Research on cost effectiveness of distance learning.
* technology - hardware and software
* transmission - ongoing expenses of leasing transmission access (e.g., T1 lines, satellite)
* maintenance - repairing and updating equipment
* infrastructure - foundational network and telecommunications infrastructure located at originating and receiving sites
* production - technical and personnel support to develop/adapt teaching materials
* support - espenses needed to keep the system working successfully, for example, administrative costs, registration, advising/counseling, local support costs, facilities, and overhead costs
* personnel - instructors and support staff

Introducing the Internet
A brief history of the Internet in Education
* The Internet has made such a difference in our society that it is different to remember when we did not depend on it for communications, instruction, and even enterainment.

* Because these projects were funded by the DOD's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the network was originally called ARPAnet.

* Networks connect computers to allow users to share resources and exchange information easily.

Current Pitfalls in Internet Use
* As it has become a society-wide tool, the Internet also has spawned its share of society-wide debates and problems.

Potential pitfall # 1: Accessing sites with inappropriate materials. Like a big-city bookstore, the internet has materials that parents and teachers may not want students to see, either because they are inappropriate for an age level or because they contain information or images considered objectionable.

Potential pitfall #2: Safety and privacy issues for students.
* Online predators - some people get on the internet to seek out and take advantage of vulnerable young people.
* Sales pitches aimed at children - this is a problem similar to that possed by television commercials.
* Privacy issues - as Ross and Bailey (1996) note, "student by the family rights and privacy act"

Potential pitfall #3: Fraud on the Internet. teachers may find that the fastest, easiest way to order computer products and/or teaching materials is to go to a company's website and order them online.

Potential pitfall #4: Computer viruses and hacking. Viruses are programs written for malicious purposes.

* Emailing attachments with viruses - an increasingly popular wat to send files and programs to friends or colleagues is to attach them to email messages.
* Downloaded files and programs with viruses - as with email attacnments, viruses can attach themselves to files and programs and be received along with the item being downloaded.

Potential pitfall # 5: Copyright and plagiarism issues. The internet is such a rich and easy-to-access source of documents, images, and other resources.

Using Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)
* Our use of the internet depends on common procedures or internet protocols that allow computers to communicate with each other, despite differences in programs or operating systems.

* One important protocol is how we list website addresses.

Optional parts of a URL.
* If an organization is a large one, it may have more than one server; or it may split up a large computer into sections.
* Optional parts called siffixes can come after a domain designator.

Three URL uses. Three things to learn about URLs are how to locate them, read them, and "fix" errors in them.
* Locating URLs - if you want to visit a site, but you dont know its URLs, one way to find it is to make an educated guess.
* Reading URLs - if someone gives you a URL, very often you can tell what and where it is by reading its parts.
* Fixing errors in URLs - someone may give you a URL with an error in it (or you may write it down incorrectly).

Navigating the Net
* You can move around from web page to web page on the internet by using three differnet options: clicking on links, using forward and back buttons, and using the go menu.

Method #1: Navigating with links. You can "travel" on the internet by using your mouse to click links (also known as hot links or hot spots), text or images that have been programmed into the web page to send your browser to another location on the internet, either within the site or to another site, when you click on them.

Method # 2: Navigating with buttons. Forward and backward buttons are available on your browser menu bars.

Method # 3: Navigating with the Go Menu. While the forward and back buttons let you go in a straight line, back and forth to pages you have been.

Using Bookmarks or Favorites
* You may visit so many sites on the internet that you can quickly lose track of where you found a valuable site on a certain topic.

Adding a Bookmark or Favorite. Making a Bookmark or Favorite is very simple. Just travel to the site and when it is on the screen.

Organizing a Bookmarks or Favorites file. Harris (1998a) says that "well-prepared bookmarks files are great resources for teachers and should be shared with others who have similar interests."

Starting Up Search Engines
* before the internet, it was difficult to locate specific resources or items of information.

Types of search engines. According to searchenginewatch, a site with information on all available search engines, there are many kinds of search engines.

Two search strategies. Search engines can be used in two ways:
* subject index searches - the search engine site provides a list of topics you can click on.
* keyword searches - type in a combination of words that could be found in the URLs of sites or documents you want.

Evaluating Internet Information
* At a time when everything in the world seems so high tech and highly controlled, the internet is, in some ways, a wild frontier.

* Three kinds of problems arise from this lack of control. One of these, the hazards of offensive or dangerous subject matter or illegal activities, has already been discussed. The other two problems are less perilous but still have serious implications for teachers and students.

* Content. The internet's vast information storehouse, unfortunately, contains some information that is incomplete, inaccurate, and/or out of date.
* Design. We have learned a great deal in recent years about what makes a website functional and wasy to use.

Basic Internet Troubleshooting
* Like most technologies, the internet presents its share of "head scratchers."

Problem type #1: Site connection failures. After you enter the URL, the site won't come up on the screen.

* URL syntax errors - a mentioned earlier, each dot and letter in a URL has to be correct, or the site will not load.

* Local or domain server down - if you have checked the URL syntax and are positive it is correct, it may be that the server that hosts the website is not working temporarily.

* Server traffic - a rarer cause of connection failures is that the server handling internet traffic for the network or the users in the geographic region is not working properly.

* Bad or dead links - if a URL repeatedly fails to connect and you are sure the syntax is correct, the site may have been taken off the internet.

* Firewalls - sometimes a site will not connect because a network's firewall blocks it.

Problem type #2: Feature on the site will not work. If an internet site indicates that it has a special feature such as an animation, movie, or sound but it will not work for you, there possible causes:
* Plug-in required - it may be that your computer does not have the special program or plug-in required in order to play the movie or sound.
* Compatibility errors - the internet works because there are agreements in place about how to make various machines and programs "talk" to each other.
* Java and other program errors - internet web pages usually are written in a combination of three programing languages: hypertext markup language (HTML), Java, and less often, Perl.

Communicating on the Internet
Increasingly, the internet has become a primary form of communication for teachers and students, replacing traditional channels such as sending letters and making telephone calls.

* Email. Electronic mail (email) is the most common way to exchange personal, written messages between individuals or small groups.
* The etiquette guidelines that govern behavior when communicating on the internet have become known as netiquette.

Listservs, Bulletin Boards, and Blogs
Three kinds of communication take the form of asynchronous messages rather than synchronous exchanges: listservs, bulletin boards, and blogs.

Chatrooms, Instant Messaging, and Videoconferencing
Three kinds of synchronous (real-time) communications are chatrooms, instant messaging (IM), and videoconferencing.

*Chatrooms - are internet locations that allow "live" communications between two or more users.
* Instant Messaging - one of the newest types of internet communications is instant messaging (IM), a service that allows users to use private chatrooms in which members alert each other when they wish to chat, then may send messages that are receieved immediately, like a telephone conversation but with text messages.
* Videoconferencing - this form of two-way interactive communication allows those involved to see and hear each other.

Cyber Collaborations: MUDs and MOOs, and Avatar Spaces
* Odasz (1999-2000) recommends two resources to support online collaboration, usually for older and more sophisticated learners: multiuser dungeons ( or dimensions or domains) or MUDs, and a MUDs object-oriented (MOOs), a MUD whose code is available and is, therefore, free.

Offering Courses and Programs with Distance Technologies
* As described earlier in this chapter (see section on Types of Distance Learning Activities), web-based courses and degree programs, although problematic (see earlier discussion of virtual schools), are becoming increasingly common in K-12 education.

Web Course Development and Support Tools
* Course management systems - since around 1997, course management systems have become the most commonn means of designing and delivering web-based courses
* Site capturing software - on a high-traffic day, the internet can be as slow as a highway traffic jam.
* Intranets - another way to speed up access to the internet is through an internal network called an intranet.
* Electronic whiteboards (or smartboards) - electronic whiteboards are display screens connected to a computer that multiple users can write or draw on.

Characteristics of Effective Distance Courses and Programs
* Effective online courses have been offered in every content area from math to music and from physics to physical education.

* Well designed and structured to support learning. Just as with any course, effective online courses must be well planned and systematically designed to take advantage of the unique capabilities and constraints of the learning enviornment.

Engaging, collaborative activities. Although some students prefer courses to be individual, tutorial-like ones where they work at their own pace through a sequence of tasks, the most enjoyable courses seem to be those in which students are highly engaged in discussion and collabration.
* Require participation
* Form learning teams
* Make activity interesting
* Don't settle for opinions
* Structure the activity
* Require a deliverable
* Know what you are aiming for
* Use peer grading

An interactive learning community. Teachers and students agree that online courses are more motivating if they simulate the community one finds in a good face-to-face course.

Effective assessment strategies for online courses and programs. While alternative assessments are popular in online lessons, many online learning course systems also offer traditional assessment options.

Assessing the quality of distance courses
* Two rubrics on the DVD that accompanies this text lay out the elements that teachers and students can use to assess the overall quality and usefulness of a distance learning course.

* The rubric for online instruction designed and hosted online by the California State University-chico, focuses on the characteristics and allows courses to be assessed prior to delivering or taking them.