Distance Education. Overview. ERIC Digest No. 44.

Overview & Synopsis

Technological advancement has both facilitated and necessitated the development of distance education programming. In developing nations, distance education is often used to provide traditional education like that usually available in conventional institutions in the Western world. Whereas distance education in the Soviet Union focuses on improving productivity in the workplace, it is used in the United States to provide extension courses, adult basic education, regular postsecondary education programming, and professional continuing education. Since its beginnings at the University of Wisconsin in 1919, distance education has encountered many obstacles. Included among the media used to provide distance education are teletext, videodiscs, sideband FM transmission, cable television, and instructional television fixed service (ITFS). Of increasing popularity in the United States is the telecourse--an instructional program usually produced by a community college that involves video and printed materials and that generally relies on an array of support services, including computer-assisted counseling and testing, teleconferencing, and appointments with tutors. Although distance education has been slow to find widespread acceptance in the United States, research does document its effectiveness as an instructional form. (MN)