Purpose of Documentary

Opportunities and interest in Distance Education has grown tremendously in the past decade with the advent of personal computers and the Internet. Many colleges and universities are trying to expand their offerings and attract more students by providing distance education courses and degrees. Colleges and universities are competing with corporate American to capture the growing distance education market. This documentary explores distance education in higher education, from its origins in text-based correspondence courses, to its current foundations in digital technologies, as well as possibilities for the future of distance education. The origins, purpose, media used, type of student utilizing distance education, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using distance education are examined. Information presented on this web site was gleaned from recent reports on Distance Education published by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), National Education Association (NEA), Telecommunicatons Cooperative of Colorado (TELECOOP), personal interviews, and other educational publications and online resources.

  

Definitions of Distance Education

  • Distance education is the delivery of instruction over a distance to individuals located in one or more venues. (16)
  • Distance Learning is courses where more than half of the instruction taking place is when students and faculty are in different locations. (National Education Association) (13)
  • For the purposes of accreditation review, Distance Education is defined as a formal educational process in which the majority of the instruction occurs when student and instructor are not in the same place. Instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous. Distance education may employ correspondence study, or audio, video, or computer technologies. (8)

This documentary was created by Kathy Keairns and represents the final project for
Web Building and Site Management Class at the University of Denver
Email: kkeairns@du.edu with questions/comments about this site
References

Distance Education Motto:
Learning
Anytime
Anywhere