1. Distance Education
and the Internet
TECH4101
Dr. Alaa Sadik
Instructional & Learning Technologies Department
Iman Bait Said 89815
Asma Baqi 90761
www.alaasadik.net
alaasadik@squ.edu.om

2. Distance Education
and the Internet
TECH4101
Lecture One (Week 2)
Defining
Distance Education
Interactive Presentation

3. Defining Distance Education
Background:
The Industrial Revolution in the 19th century →
Developments in various fields of technology →
Offered new solutions for delivering instruction →
Learners’ interests were enhanced →
Increase in the subject areas offered by distance
education →
Became one of the formal means of education.

4. Defining Distance Education
What is distance education or
distance learning?
Defining the meaning of distance education may provide a
good starting point to recognise its elements.
Use Google to search for:
define:distance education

5. Defining Distance Education
Distance Education
is a relatively modern education methods. Its basic concept depends on the
existence of the learner in a place different from the source, who may be a book
or a teacher or even a group of students.
A transfer point of an educational program from its position on the campus of an
educational institution to geographically dispersed locations. It aims to attract
students who not under normal circumstances to continue their learning.

6. Defining Distance Education
What is distance education or distance
learning?
Distance education is often defined as simply a form of
education in which the learner and instructor are
separated during the majority of instruction.

7. Defining Distance Education
Distance education or distance learning?
Regarding the terms "education" or "learning", A review of the literature
showed that the two terms distance education and distance learning have
been used almost interchangeably and there is an overlap between them.
However, many educators (Moore, 1973; Holmberg, 1977; Rumble, 1989;
Moore and Kearsley, 1996) used the term ‘distance education’ to mean a
systematic approach involving the distance learning environment,
educators and separated learners.

8. Defining Distance Education
Distance education or distance learning?
Distance education because it is general more in term and function. distance
education consider as larger term including DL and DT processes with the
integrated technology also the learning process is included as a part of the
education. It also defined as A mode of education in which students enrolled in a
course do not attend the institution, but study off - campus and may submit
assignments by email.

9. Defining Distance Education
History of distance education and technology (old technology)
1.The beginning in the 1850’s, the united states postal system was
instrumental in the first distance education courses.
2.In the late 1800’s, the university of chicago created the first post-secondary
distance learning program.
3.In the 1920’s that technology became associated with distance education
because the invention of the radio
4.In 1934, the university of IOWA became the first institution to broadcast
courses by television
5. In the 1960’s, the FCC created the instructional television fixed service.
6.In 1971, The radical changes in distance education began with the
development of the microprocessor by INTEL.
7.In the 1980’s. The technological revolution gained momentum when satellite
relay of information became affordable.

10. Defining Distance Education
History of distance education and
technology (modern technology)
Today the internet has become the
superhighway of information
dissemination and other technologies
such as videoconferencing, web
conferencing, LMS.
Virtual classrooms and so on.

11. Defining Distance Education
In conclusion, many key features characterize
distance education:
1. The separation of teacher and learner;
2. The separation among learners;
3. The use of one medium to deliver instruction;
and
4. The use of a communication channel to
facilitate interaction and support learners.

12. The development in the definition of distance
education.
There have been many definitions :
Greenberg (1998) defines contemporary distance learning as “a planned
teaching/learning experience that uses a wide spectrum of technologies to reach
learners at a distance and is designed to encourage learner interaction and
certification of learning” (pg. 36).
Teaster and Blieszner (1999) say “the term distance learning has been applied to
many instructional methods: however, its primary distinction is that the teacher and
the learner are separate in space and possibly time” (pg. 741).
Desmond Keegan (1995) gives the most thorough definition. He says that
distance education and training result from the technological separation of teacher
and learner which frees the student from the necessity of traveling to “a fixed place,
at a fixed time, to meet a fixed person, in order to be trained” (pg. 7).

13. The development in the definition of distance
education, with the advances in technology.
From these definitions we can see that the student and teacher are
separated by space, but not necessarily by time. This would include
compressed video, which is delivered in real time. As stated earlier,
this type of live video instruction is the fastest growing means of
distance learning today. Because of this, much of the discussion here
will be dedicated to the promises and problems of this technology.

14. The End
Questions & Discussions