Collaborative Course Development in Early Childhood Special Education through Distance Learning.

Overview & Synopsis

Although the creation of new models of higher education is revolutionizing the way colleges compete for students, distance education has a long history, with correspondence courses as the earliest examples. Presently, distance learning through multimedia technology and the Internet is the newest solution for delivering instruction to personnel who are unable to travel to on-campus training sites. This article describes the current status of distance education methods for personnel preparation programs in early childhood special education (ECSE). A case study illustrates key design issues and presents the process and resources that assisted in development of a course in Wisconsin. Topics discussed in the case study include course development and content; the course delivery and design process; and the environment, instructional team, format and strategies, support, and evaluation. The article includes a glossary of terms in distance education, information on other ECSE distance education programs, and a list of online resources. Contains 29 references. (Author/EV)