Technology and Distance Education.

Overview & Synopsis

The impact of the computer on education may be greater than the impact of any other technological innovation since the development of the printing press. Although distance education has relied more extensively on technological means for delivering education to its students than has traditional classroom-centered education, most distance programs use technology only to the extent that different modes of transmitting education are required by circumstances. Major efforts to use broadcast media, satellite transmission, or computer networking as basic modes of delivery have been limited to schools where distance education is the central emphasis. In most other cases, including the University of Waterloo in Ontario (where the administrative uses of computers and the extent of computer education efforts have been particularly important), costs and logistics have limited efforts to design and produce computer-based instructional delivery systems for off-campus students. Areas in which such effots can be expected to bear fruit first include the speeding up of communication between students and schools, and the introduction of computer education courses relying on student-owned equipment. In any case, the technology should not serve as a reason to change delivery systems, but as a means for doing so. (PGD)