Volume #2, Issue #4
Volume #2, Issue #4
Date: May 1989
Editor:
Jason Ohler, Director
Educational Technology Program
University of Alaska Southeast
ONLINE JOURNAL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION
In the industrial age, we go to school. In the information age, school can come to us. This is the message implicit in the media and movement of distance education.
Volume #2, Issue #4
Date: May 1989
Editor: Jason Ohler
Educational Technology Program Director
University of Alaska Southeast
11120 Glacier Highway
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Phone: 907-789-4417BITNET USERID: JFJBO@ALASKA
Until June 1, 1989: 1190 West 12th, #9, Vancouver, BC V6H1L6 Canada
Phone: 604-732-9452.
My BITNET ID remains JFJBO@ALASKA.
Technical Coordinator: Paul J. Coffin
Box 34166
Juneau, Alaska 99803
Phone: 907-780-6211BITNET USERID: JXPJC@ALASKA
WELCOME TO THE ONLINE JOURNAL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION
A number of technical problems conspired to delay distribution of this issue of the Journal. Our apologies. The next issue will appear within a month.
WE ARE ALWAYS INTERESTED IN CONSIDERING YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS.
Bear in mind that the electronic journal suffers from "uncompromising sequentiality"- readers can not skip past articles that don't interest them the way they can in a paper-based journal. Until our technology allows "browsing," our only alternative is to make articles brief and to provide the authors' IDs so they can be contacted directly by readers for more detailed information. This approach cuts down on the network resources needed to distribute the Online Journal and allows for greater reader interactivity, while reducing the amount of unwanted information readers are forced to scroll through.
True, readers can always download the Online Journal and print it out. But I want to make the Journal as electronically complete and accessible as possible, and perhaps spare a few trees in the process.
Therefore, please limit articles to 4 screens (2 pages) maximum if it's possible. If you can, also please indent one tab space on the left and keep the right margin at 70. I look forward to hearing from you.
This issue at a glance:
THIS ISSUES CONTRIBUTIONS
ITEM #1 INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH IN DISTANCE EDUCATION: PROBLEMS
& PROSPECTS
ID is normally ATMXM@ASUACAD. During May & June,'89, ID=
MMCISAAC@TRANAVM1
ABSTRACT
This presentation examines the growing interest in international
research on distance learning and discusses the difficulties
encountered both in locating existing research studies and in
conducting original research. Two projects directed toward
locating research studies are described. The first is the
documentation resource database at the United Nations University
International Centre for Distance Learning. The second is a
research study which explores one method for quantitatively
synthesizing existing research in this field. The second part of the
paper explores difficulties encountered in conducting original
research internationally. Problems and priorities are discussed
from the point of view of the economic, political and social climate
for research. Recommendations are made to first synthesize
existing research and then to conduct programmatic study in those
areas which appear to be of greatest interest to distance educators;
cost effectiveness, student motivation and learning, and
persistence of study.
INTRODUCTION
There is a lack of information about international distance learning
research, particularly in developing countries. Although there are a
number of studies which are done in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa
and South America, many are not reported in international
journals. Often these studies are done at the request of the
government or of an international funding agency. In many cases
problems are encountered in data collection and analysis. Then,
although a significant amount of resources often go into these
projects, results which could benefit countries with similar problems
are not generally available to the international community.
Large scale research in distance learning has been conducted
primarily by countries in Europe, North America and Australia.
Research needs have been defined and research agendas have been
undertaken by countries such as Canada (ref.1). Since 1980, many
developing countries have begun their own distance learning programs to
educate people in rural areas and to raise the literacy rate. Using
Western distance learning institutions as models, countries such as India,
Indonesia, Tanzania (ref.2) and Turkey (ref.3) have instituted
massive programs, often in a very short amount of time. In many of
these situations, model distance learning universities such as the
British Open University or the German Fernuniversitat have
provided guidelines. However, the political and economic
situations of developing countries are often so dissimilar as to
prohibit mass importation of such programs. In many instances,
original research must be done to determine the most cost effective
solution for a country's unique educational problems.
LOCATING RESEARCH
Two solutions are suggested for locating and consolidating
available research in this area. First, increased support should be
given to the primary documentation and retrieval center for
literature on distance learning; the Open University International
Documentation Centre located at the Open University in the UK.
This centre, under the direction of Keith Harry, collects materials
and produces regular accession lists of publications received
(ref.5). Increased cooperation from the community of distance
learning scholars conducting research around the world could help
to make research studies more accessible. Second, a synthesis of
research being done worldwide in distance learning should be
given high priority. One such study is being conducted at Arizona
State University to quantitatively synthesize current research using
a meta-analytic method. In this initial study three major distance
education journals, Distance Education, The American Journal of
Distance Education and ICDE Bulletin were searched. In addition
the literature in Dissertations Abstracts, Eric Documents, and recent
documents from the International Documentation Centre were
analyzed in order to define categories which are currently of
importance to researchers internationally in distance learning. The
categories of note which emerged were cost effectiveness, student
motivation and learning, and persistence of study. Approximately
20 studies which provided the necessary statistical information to
compute effect sizes were selected for the meta-analysis (ref.6).
This pilot study marks simply the beginning. Further work is
needed to locate, replicate and systematically conduct research
on those topics useful to distance educators throughout the world.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Priorities for conducting research
Problems in conducting research
CONCLUSIONS
Research in distance education is still in its youth. Reports from the
first American Symposium on Research in Distance Education in
1988 indicate that questions are still being formulated as to what
types of research need to be done. Numerous studies have been
conducted regarding organization and administration, and course
content. Some of these studies are descriptive and non-
generalizable. However, we are beginning to see increasing
concern with cognitive aspects of distance learning, and
longitudinal studies which examine long term effects. In his review
of research in distance education, Holmberg (ref.7) states that a
research discipline has, indeed, emerged in this field. Many of our
colleagues from developing countries are involved on a large scale
with developing distance learning programs. By paying attention to
the problems and priorities inherent in conducting international
research we may begin to join forces to develop consistent
methods for evaluating results which will benefit the entire field of
distance education.
REFERENCES
ITEM #2 DISTANCE EDUCATION IN TURKEY- AN OVERVIEW
[Editor's Note: When Prof. Yangin subscribed to the Online Journal I realized
I knew nothing about distance education in Turkey and asked him for a brief
description. His report follows.]
Introduction
The first distance education students were enrolled in Turkey in 1968 at
what was then called the Distance Education Centre. Organizational problems
caused it to close down in 1979. From 1979 to 1982 distance education stopped
in Turkey.
Distance education began again in 1982 with the creation of the Open
Education Faculty, founded in Anadolu University, Esk`seh`r. The Open
Education Dept. of the Open Education Faculty offers two programs, business
management and economics. Both programs last four years, consist of 36
courses, and award a license diploma at their completion.
Registration
Open Education Faculty students can register at 18 different offices
of the Open Education faculty in different parts of Turkey, with one in the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. By 1989, 183,000 students were enrolled
in the Open Education program, 66,000 of whom registered in the past year. To
date 16,497 students have graduated.
Media
Examinations
Students have one examination at the end of the year which they take at
the "face to face session centers." Failing students take additional
examinations.
Finances
The Open Education Faculty is financed by the Turkish government;
students pay only for their books.
New Programs
A teacher certification program run cooperatively between the Ministry
of Education and Anadolu University awarded certificates to 130,000 primary
school teachers from 1985-1988.
During the summer months of 1988, 212 educational programs were
produced and broadcast to high school students. Seventy-eight course programs
for the third class students of high school students have been produced since
the beginning of the year.
At the end of April, the Open Education Faculty in cooperation with the
Ministry of Tourism, will begin a new project to train people working in the
tourism industry.
West European Project
Through Anadolu University's office in Cologne, West Germany, the Open
Faculty delivers programs in primary school certification, business management
and economics for high school graduates. Registered students are living in
West Germany, Switzerland, Belgium,Netherlands and France. Students take exams
in their native country.
The Author: Gurbuz Yangin
ITEM #3 First East-West Online Information Meeting to be Held in Moscow
[Found at the 10th National Online Meeting in New York City.]
1st East-West
Preliminary Announcement
Organized by: Learned Information Ltd.
Why an East-West Online Information Meeting?
Learned Information Ltd. and the International Centre for Scientific
Information (ICSTI) announce the 1st East-West Online Information
Meeting which will take place at ICSTI premises in Moscow on 11-13
October 1989.
This unique Conference and Exhibition is made possible by the
relaxation of rules and regulations which the open climate of
Glasnnost and Perestroika has brought. The objective is to enable
East-West information professionals to establish new business
relationships and ventures and to create a forum for mutual
cooperation in information activities of all kinds.
The Conference will be accompanied by an Exhibition of information
systems, technologies and services - including online and optical
products. Exhibitors from the West will have the opportunity to
describe their products and services in depth to Soviet and other East
European/CMEA information managers and decision makers faced with the
challenge of becoming self-supporting in the era of unprecedented
freedom of enterprise. Western Exhibitors will, in turn, benefit from
this unique opportunity to learn about East European information
systems and services.
Objectives of the Conference
The main aim of the Conference is the promotion of broad scientific,
technical and business information contacts between organizations and
companies in the participating countries from the East and the West.
This covers the exchange of information between East and West
conference participants and the discussion of mutually beneficial
cooperation in information services and products.
It is expected that this innovative Conference will result in the
establishment of new East-West business relationships and ventures
within the international information community, embracing
commercially-available databases, new information technology, and
information services and systems.
The 1st East-West Online Information meeting is intended primarily as
a "getting to know you" working Conference rather than as a scholarly,
theoretical information science Conference. The emphasis will be on
the Exhibition:
It is expected that there will be 150-300 decision-makers from
approximately 100 organizations in the Soviet Union and other CMEA
countries, with a further 300-500 delegates from the Moscow region.
In addition some 1000 people will visit the Exhibition.
Doing Business in the Soviet Union
A special session on doing business in the USSR will review the history
and geography of the Soviet Union; information policies and
information resources; what is and what is not possible under
perestroika and glasnost; the lifting of restrictions for conducting
business and establishing joint ventures; and the new rules and
regulations for foreign exchange, foreign company ownership and the
like. Exhibitors with specific questions about doing business in the
USSR are invited to submit these as early as possible to Learned
Information so that they may be taken into account by ICSTI when
preparing the session.
Deal Making Session
As well as the opportunity to arrange and negotiate joint ventures and
business deals during the conference and exhibition itself, there will
also be a special Deal-Making session to encourage further interaction
with colleagues from the Soviet Union and other CMEA countries.
Practicalities
Since conference and hotel accomodation in Moscow is both controlled
and limited there is a limit of about 40 Western Exhibitor stands
and 200 Western participants (including Exhibitor staff). Learned
Information, through ICSTI, will arrange hotel bookings, though
particpants are responsible for their own travel arrangements.
Participants are also responsible for applying for a visa to visit
the Soviet Union for the purpose of attending the Conference and
ICSTI will ensure that visa applications will be processed smoothly by
the various Russian embassies. While Exhibitors must obtain whatever
local papers are necessary for the export and re-import of equipment
necessary for demonstration purposes at the Conference, ICSTI, via
Learned Information, will give whatever assistance is required.
About the Organizers
Learned Information is the sponsor and organizer of the highly
respected International Online Information Meetings held in London
each December and the National Online Meetings held in New York each
May, as well as the Optical Information Meetings and the Expert
Systems Conferences. Learned Information also publishes a wide range
of journals including The Electronic Library; Online Review;
Electronic and Optical Publishing Review; Information Today;
Information World Review; Expert Systems - The International Journal
of Knowledge Engineering; and The International Journal of Neural
Networks.
ICSTI is an inter-governmental organization devoted to the provision
of many different scientific and technical information services to
organizations in Council for Mutual Economic Aid (CMEA) countries and
also carries out R & D in information technology. In addition, ICSTI
is the publisher of a number of scientific journals such as Problems
of Information Systems; Engineering and Automation; Science and
Technical Progress in Mechanical Engineering; Computer Optics; and
Computer Technique, Systems, Management.
If you are interested in Exhibiting and/or presenting a paper please
complete this form and return to Jean Mulligan, Learned Information
as soon as possible and by 19 May 1989 at the latest. Please also
submit, at the same time, an abstract of your Product Review and/or
paper. The extended (2-5 pages) Product Review and/or full paper will
be required by 31 July 1989, together with a brief biography and
details of your company and products, services or systems for the
Conference Programme and Deal-Making session brochure.
_____ I am interested in Exhibiting and presenting an extended
Product Review (title, synopsis attached). Please send
further details.
_____ I wish to offer a full paper (title, synopsis attached).
_____ I would be interested in attending the Conference. Please
send further details when available.
_____ Please send further details of Online Information '89 to be
held in London 12-14 December 1989.
My address is as follows: (BLOCK letters please)
Prof/Dr/Mr/Ms (delete as appropriate)
Given Name__________Surname_____________________
Please attach a synopsis of approximately 300 words.
Return to:
The Conference Department
Tel: (0865) 730275
ITEM #4 CONNECTED EDUCATION: PROGRESS REPORT FROM THE FRONT LINES
OF HIGHER LEARNING
[Copyright (c) 1989 by Paul Levinson (Connected Education and The New School
for Social Research). All rights reserved.]
Until very recently, quality higher education was thought
to require in-person physical meetings (classes or seminars) and
reading of information presented in books. Although much
excellent education continues to take place under these
conditions, the prevalence of "place-based, book-paced" learning
has also hampered the growth of knowledge in many ways. The
vast majority of people cannot physically attend a seminar at a
given place; some of those who are in attendance (including the
teacher) may not be in the mood for learning at the time of the
meeting; even paperback books are cumbersome to carry and
expensive, and the reading of a book in a library precludes
others from reading the book while it is being read. These and
related limitations of the traditional educational setting show
that it is not necessarily the best educational setting.
Since the Fall of 1985, Connected Education(r) has offered
more than 100 courses entirely via computer teleconferencing for
graduate and undergraduate credit in conjunction with the MA in
Studies Program at The New School for Social Research, and
for several programs at Polytechnic University in New York City.
The heart of these courses is "interactive asynchronicity" --
made possible via computer conferencing on the Electronic
Information Exchange System (EIES) at the New Jersey Institute
of Technology. In a typical course offered via computer
conferencing, the faculty begins by word processing and
telecommunicating (through modem and telephone wires)
introductory comments and a course outline to the central
computer system (what we call our "Electronic Campus").
Students registered for this course then access and read these
comments, also via their personal computers and modems. They
can do this any time night or day, from any place in the world
with a telephone connection. (Packet-switching technology
allows participants to access the central system with just a
phone call to a local node in most parts of the world.) They
need not access the system at the same time, and indeed are
encouraged to participate at times most convenient to them.
They are expected to comment upon the "online" texts, raise
questions, complete assignments, and in general further
discussion.
John is the first student to access the course; he reads
the material and enters a comment at 7:50 PM EST; he lives in
Boston. Mary signs on at 9:00 PM EST from San Francisco and
reads both the faculty's and John's comments. James signs on
from London at 2:00 AM EST, reads the faculty's and John's
comments, and enters his comment at 3:00 AM EST. A few minutes
later Mary, who is burning the midnight oil in California, signs
back on and enters two comments of her own. Early the next
morning the faculty member (from Columbus, Ohio) and Toshi (from
Tokyo) sign on, read the new waiting comments (the central
system keeps track of all the comments individuals have read),
and logoff to compose their thoughts. Soon the faculty member
is back on with a comment that summarizes and weaves themes in
the discussion thus far. The asynchronous
cross-temporal-spatial learning ballet is underway.
Some 400 people from 26 states across the U.S. and as far
afield as Japan, Singapore, Senegal (Africa), the Middle East,
the Netherlands, France, Norway, England, Panama, Colombia, and
Canada have taken Connect Ed(r) courses taught by faculty all
across the world in this manner. Most of our students are busy
professionals whose responsibilities would otherwise not allow
them to be graduate level students. Some of our students live
in remote areas -- far from scholarly centers that provide the
type of education we offer online. One of our students has been
deaf since birth; another, blind, uses voice synthesizers to
take part in our courses. Connect Ed and online education
remove or diminish handicaps of distance, economic necessity,
and physical impairment alike. (See Levinson, 1988a, for a
detailed description of technology and demographics of the
Connect Ed programs; Levinson, 1986, for discussion of Connect
Ed and the international community; Levinson, 1988b, for
discussion of computer conferencing in the broad context of
technology and the growth of knowledge; and Levinson, 1989 for
comparison of computer conferencing with other educational
technologies. Brawer, 1989, offers a survey and comparison of
Connect Ed and other online programs. Only Connect Ed permits
students to earn a complete Masters degree exclusively via
online work.)
Connect Ed students can pursue an MA in Technology and
Society -- granted by the New School for Social Research --
entirely online. (The New School was founded in 1919, and is
fully accredited by the Middle States Association and chartered
by the New York State Board of Regents.) The MA requires
completion of 39 credits or 13 three-credit courses, plus an
original thesis. Each of our courses is two months in length;
we begin new terms five times a year (February, April, June,
October, and December). Masters degree students must take
courses in three areas: Theory/Philosophy (e.g., "Ethics in the
Technological World," "Artificial Intelligence and Real Life,"
"Philosophy and Technology," "Technology and Religion"),
Survey/History (e.g., "Telecommunication Applications,"
"Computers and the Democratic Process," "International Issues in
Telecommunications"), and Skills ("Desktop Publishing,"
"Electronic Publishing," "OnLine Journalism," "Technological
Forecasting"). Everyone is required to take "Computer
Conferencing in Business and Education." Our courses can also
be taken for undergraduate credit, or not-for-credit. (New
School tuition in the Spring 1989 term was $948 per three-credit
course graduate credit, $888 per three-credit course
undergraduate or no credit.) Connect Ed also offers special
non-credit workshops -- such as an OnLine Writers' Workshop and a
workshop in English as a Second Language. These are offered
independently of the New School, and generally cost several hundred
dollars per month. Tuition for New School credit courses and Connect
Ed workshops covers all telecommunication charges, with the exception
of the local call to the computer network node. Students are expected
to use their own personal computers and modems.
Students who do not wish to pursue a New School degree may
apply our credits to other institutions (subject to the
receiving institution's acceptance). Connect Ed - New School
credits have been accepted by such schools as New York
University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Fairleigh
Dickinson University, Bank Street College, St. Francis College,
Polytechnic University of New York, and others.
In May 1988, Gail Thomas, a businesswoman in Long Beach,
California, came to march in the New School for Social Research
graduation procession. The trip was voluntary and the march was
symbolic: Ms. Thomas had completed all work for the MA degree entirely
online. (See Thomas, 1988, for her own description of the
Connect Ed program.)
Students speak very highly of their online experiences.
Brian Smith, who used Connect Ed courses to complete his MA in
Media Studies at the New School, says "I'd have taken all my
classes that way [online] if I could have" (Martin, 1987; Smith,
1987). External reporters and evaluators are impressed. Jennifer
Brawer, Education Editor at A+ Magazine, took a look at my
online "Ethics in the Technological World." "What I found," she
says, "was an honest-to-goodness college-level course that
resembled courses I took in graduate school at Stanford
University" (Brawer, 1989).
When students are not participating in their courses, they
have lots of other avenues for stimulation on our Electronic
Campus. Our Connect Ed Cafe has offered continuous discussion
since 1985 -- on any and all issues ranging from the quality of
fast food in New Jersey to the Armenian earthquake and glasnost
in the Soviet Union. Our electronic book ordering service makes
purchase of required textbooks, books written by faculty and
other members of the Connect Ed community, and a variety of out
of print scholarly books as easy as pressing a key on the
computer. Our Connected Education Library contains hundreds of
papers that focus on the impact of computer conferencing,
electronic text and publishing, and related topics -- the only
collection of this sort in existence. Unlike the traditional
closed at midnight Library, Connect Ed's online library is open
all the time; and any number of people can read the same paper
at the same time. Connect Ed also offers gateways to other
collections of online papers, and to the NYU-New School-Cooper
Union electronic card catalog (the "Bobcat" system, with nearly
3/4 of a million titles). Most importantly, students find real
human contact online of electronic messages, obtain business and
professional contacts, comfort each other at times of illness and
bereavement, even fall in love. In short, the online environment, in
which people can communicate freely without some of the anxieties of
in-person communication, is a fertile place for the development of a wide
variety of very human relationships.
As we look to the future, we see expansion of our course
and program offerings into such areas as an MBA and a Ph.D. in
Technology Studies. The scholarly and educational worlds have
too long locked out, by intention or not, many minds who would
like to take part in what Comenius called the Great Debate. The
pressing problems of the world, not to mention the inherent
unfairness of limiting educational possibilities, mean we can no
longer afford such restrictions. Connect Ed will continue doing
its small part to open the realms of education.
REFERENCES AND RELATED READINGS
Allen, T. (1988). The Ultimate Party Line. _The Smithsonian_, September,
pp. 92-93.
Brawer, J. (1989). Digital Diplomas. _A+ Magazine_, February, pp. 37-43.
DeLoughry, T. (1988). Remote Instruction Using Computers Found as
Effective as Classroom Sessions. _Chronicle of Higher Education_,
April 20, p. A15.
Hiltz, S. R. and Turoff, M. (1978) _The Network Nation_. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley.
Levinson, P. (1986). Connected Education and the International
Community. _International Informatics Access_, Nov-Dec., pp. 1-2.
Levinson, P. (1988a). Connected Education: The First Two Years.
_Learning Today_, Winter, pp. 205-220.
Levinson, P. (. _Mind at Large: Knowing in the Technological
Age_. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Levinson, P. (1989). Media Relations. In T. Kaye and R. Mason (Eds.)
_MindWeave: The Use of Computer-Mediated-Communication in
Distance Education_. London: Pergamon (in press).
Martin, T. (1987). Put a Campus in Your Computer. _Computer Update_,
Nov-Dec., pp. 25-27.
Smith, B. (1987). The Electronic University. _New Jersey Monthly_,
January, pp. 38-41.
Thomas, G. (1988). Electronic Campus a Reality with Computer Conferencing.
_Bull. of the American Society for Information Science_, April, p. 23.
Connected Education (r) and Connect Ed (r) are registered trademarks of
Connected Education, Inc.
The Connect Ed Cafe and The Connected Education Library are copyright features
of our Electronic Campus. All rights reserved.
For further information about Connected Education -- including
listings of our courses, access to our online library by researchers, etc. --
please write to
Connected Education, Inc. Or contact us electronically on Compuserve (72517,3107)
The Sourdas.net
Connected Education, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation that
offers graduate and undergraduate level courses in conjunction
with The New School for Social Research and Polytechnic University.
We also provide consulting about computer conferencing to
professional, business, government, and religious groups, and engage in
electronic publishing.
The Author: Paul Levinson, Ph.D., is Founder and President of Connected
Education, Inc., and Director of the New School On-Line Program.
BITNET ID= Levin@dde1PL.DAS.net@stanford
ITEM #5 READER REQUESTS
LOOKING FOR ARTICLES: The American Journal of Distance Education is
interested to receive articles derived from the NORTHEAST DISTANCE LEARNING
CONFERENCE (held April 13 & 14 in Springfield, Massachusetts) for review and
consideration for publication. Please contact:
LOOKING FOR A GERMAN-US CONNECTION: I would like to link an American
high school German class electronically to a high school (Gymnasium) class in
West Germany or another German-speaking country. I am fascinated by the
possibility of linking the classes through BITNET, especially with the use of
Relay.
If anyone teaches a class in a German-speaking country, or knows of
someone who does, please contact me!
L. Daniel York
FYI- Paul Coffin from the Online Journal staff reports the following
countries now have Online Journal subscribers: Canada, Belgium, Spain,
Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Norway, France, Israel, Ireland, Japan,
West Germany, Italy, Turkey, Singapore, Taiwan, Greece, Great Britain,
Australia, US, Brazil.
The only BITNET member countries not being represented right now are:
Switzerland, Iceland, Mexico, Portugal, Argentina, Yugoslavia,Ivory Coast,
Luxembourg, Korea, Chile, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
Send your notes of encouragement to the citizens cleaning up the Alaska
Oil spill to THANKS@ALASKA. They truly appreciate it.
By M.S. McIsaac
Arizona State University
Interest in the field of distance learning is accelerating rapidly with
the development of new communication technologies. In many
cases educators are faced with problems as they search for
solutions to meet their particular needs. Often studies are
conducted quickly at the request of administrators or politicians to
determine needs assessment or provide cost benefit analyses.
Both locating existing research and conducting original research in
this rapidly developing field can present problems.
The first problem encountered is locating existing research.
Although there are a number of journals such as Distance
Education, (Australia), The American Journal of Distance
Education (USA), Journal of Distance Education (Canada) and
ICDE Bulletin (UK) which report research , many describe
programs rather than report empirical studies. In some cases
research is conducted using government or agency funds and the
results become proprietary and are not reported in journals for
general circulation. In other cases studies are of the one-shot
variety and lack the rigor needed to be generalizable. The
descriptive reports are of interest to people in similar situations who
need models as guidelines. However, the time is right to begin to
use descriptive reports to formulate testable hypotheses. In fact, we
are now beginning to see the emergence of serious research
questions in the areas of organizational policy, learner
characteristics, curricular issues, and underlying theory (ref. 4).
In order to advance the applicability of research to practice,
international distance educators must be able to not only locate
studies done by others, but conduct original research to answer
their own particular needs. Both priorities established and
problems encountered in conducting original research can be
considered from three perspectives. Research projects must take
these priorities into consideration if problems are to be avoided.
The Author: M.S. McIsaac,
Arizona State University, College of Education
Educational Media and Computers
FMC-0111, Tempe, Arizona, 85281, USA.
BITNET
ID is normally ATMXM@ASUACAD.
During May & June,'89, ID= MMCISAAC@TRANAVM1.
by Gurbuz Yangin
Anadolu University, Turkey
ID=M140@TRANAVM1
Anadolu University, Turkey
ID=M140@TRANAVM1.
From: Patt Haring
Online Information Meeting
11 - 13 October 1989
Moscow, USSR
Invitation to Exhibit
and
International Centre for Scientific
& Technical Information (ICSTI) Exhibitors will be offered the opportunity to present
their products, services and systems in depth. Each Exhibitor will
have approximately 30 minutes to describe their products. These
product-orientated papers will be supplemented by a small number of
carefully-selected presentations discussing such topics as national
policies, government roles in information; information industry
trends; and information markets for online and optical information
products.
N.B. Important: I would consider bringing ______ (give
number) members of my family with me to Moscow.
Organization
______________________________________________
Department
______________________________________________
Postal Address
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
Post
Code__________Country_____________________
Tel:
______________________________________________
Fax:
______________________________________________
Learned Information Ltd.
Woodside, Hinksey Hill
Oxford OX1 5AU, England
Telex: 837704
Fax: (0865) 736354
by Paul Levinson
ID= Levin@dde1PL.DAS.net@stanford
92 Van Cortlandt Park South, #6f
Bronx, NY 10463
He is also a
tenured Associate Professor of Communications and Fairleigh Dickinson
University,
a Senior Faculty New School's Graduate Program in Media Studies,
and Research Associate at the Center for Philosophy and Technology Studies
at Polytechnic University.
He is on the "electronic faculty" of the
Western Behavioral Sciences Institute and the International School of
Information Management.
His publications include _Mind at Large:
Knowing in the Technological Age_ (JAI Press, 1988), _In Pursuit of
Truth: Essays on the Philosophy of Karl Popper_ (editor) (Humanities Press,
1982), and more than 50 articles on philosophy of technology and
related areas.
Other Notes
Chris Clarke, Editorial
Assistant
BITNET ID= NOG@PSUVM.
D_YORK@UNHH