Background
In Chapter 4 "Research on Effectiveness" of Moore and Kearsley's Distance Education: A Systems View (1996, p. 76), the authors conduct a review of the literature which leads them to conclude that "teaching and studying at a distance, especially [when using] . . . interactive electronic telecommunications media, is effective when effectiveness is measured by the achievement of learning, by the attitudes of students, and by cost effectiveness." However, they add a few cautious remarks about allowing the "sheer weight of opinion in the literature" to "overestimate its significance [the effectiveness of distance education], since much of what is written is based on anecdotal evidence offered by persons and institutions with vested interests in the techniques being evaluated or in the very programs they are evaluating" (p. 76). Further, Moore and Kearsley emphasize that the institutional research on distance education is "usually unrelated to any theoretical framework" (p. 76), which limits the degree to which findings may be accurately generalized to larger populations. And the authors fear that without a theoretical context, "researchers are unlikely to ask the important questions" (p. 76).
Nonetheless, Moore and Kearsley cite several research studies, dating from 1968-1993, comparing the achievement of learners (as measured by grades, test scores, retention, job performance) taught at a distance to those taught in face-to-face classes. They authors note that the "usual finding in these comparison studies is that there are no significant differences between learning in the two different environments, regardless of the educational level of the students, or the media involved" (p. 61-62). And from their review of the literature, Moore and Kearsley emphasize that "what makes any course good or poor is a consequence of how well it is designed, delivered, and conducted, not whether the students are face-to-face or at a distance" (p. 65).
Scope
Moore and Kearsley point out that the single largest group of research studies in distance education focuses on the effectiveness of the communications technology (p. 60). They also note some gaps in the research on distance education. These include: student characteristics, effective course design, and teaching strategies. This paper will identify two studies that add value to the research on the effectiveness of distance education.
John Tiffin and Lalita Rajasingham's In Search of the Virtual Class (1995) focuses on the roles of the instructor/designer, the learner, and technology in education in the information age. While these authors do not address in much detail student characteristics, they do offer significant findings about effective course design and teaching strategies in the virtual classroom. Tiffin and Rajasingham examine computer-assisted instructional design (CAID), utilizes artificial intelligence mapping to lead the student through a flowchart of "what-if" scenarios. In this method of distance education instruction, the authors warn that "there is a danger that reliance on virtual teachers could further separate what is taught from real life," as is sometimes the case in the conventional classroom (p. 154). The authors assert that the virtual teacher will not be able to bridge "the gap between a protected learning environment like the classroom [traditional or virtual] and the problems of the real world . . . [which] has always been a function of the good human teacher" (p. 154). In essence, Tiffin and Rajasingham are supporting some of the traditional notions about good education that are based on student needs and instructor training to capitalize on the teachable moment--when a student makes a comment or asks a question that the instructor will seize as an opportunity for teaching a key concept and/or moving the class forward. Moore and Kearsley would likely concur, because of the importance they place on instructional design and delivery of the distance education course. Perhaps synchronous chats and audio-video teleconferencing would assist both learner and teacher in capturing the teachable moment in cyberspace.
Another researcher, Thierry Bardini, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the Universite de Montreal, writes about the lack of interface, or a dynamic exchange such as a teachable moment, with current hypertext language--the predominant communication style used in on-line distance education courses. However, he stresses that a successful computer interface between the designer and the user would be one in which the two "reach a consensus on the competence of the [interface] agent to perform a task (an action) and the medium (the computer) disappears in the process" (1997, September). Further, Bardini makes a point that embodies the essence of the teachable moment. He states that "when using a system, the user should be able to change it, to re-design it. To call for an extended virtuality is to call for an alternate reality where roles can be exchanged" (1997, September). Here is where the promise lies for making the kinds of student-teacher connections that are so important in face-to-face interactions in the traditional classroom. Further, Bardini stresses that virtual communication will involve reciprocity, the kind that is so important in education transactions:
I believe that distance education has a long way to go to achieve the quality of certain face-to-face interaction, such as the teachable moment, that have long been a tradition for achieving transactional learning in the classroom. However, new technologies and improvements in design capabilities which promise more interactivity between the user/student and the designer/instructor should preserve this fundamental educational need for mutual communication and the collaborative exchange of ideas and information.
Moore, M. G. & Kearsley, G. (1996). Distance education: A systems view. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Tiffin, J. & Rajasingham, L. (1995). In search of the virtual class. New York, NY: Routledge.
Online
Bardini, T. (1997, September). Bridging the gulfs: from hypertext to cyberspace. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3(2). http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol3/issue2/bardini.html.