MODFL/Understanding ODFL/History

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle CC BY-SA 2.0 4.0

Learning and teaching at a distance is a practice that has evolved over centuries, starting with approaches used in the early Christian church which illustrate concepts of modern distance education, (Daniel, J.1995)¹⁵ . Daniel cites the example of St Paul, who developed a method of distance education to instruct a distributed community. “He wrote letters to individual church groups and asked local church elders to read them to their community when it gathered for worship”, (Daniel, 1995:6). Daniel argues that Paul’s communications were asynchronous because his letters were studied when he was not present. However, groups had to be taught at the same time and place.

With the advent of printing and the introduction of universal postal services, distance education could reach individuals in their homes, through written study materials. This era was characterised by correspondence education. Communication with leaners was still asynchronous and central to the learning process were the learning materials and feedback on marked assignments that was given to learners. These elements, communication and feedback are still core in modern ODL systems. Correspondence education continued to develop steadily in the 20^th century, (Daniel, 1995).

Between 1960 and 1990 the evolution of distance education accelerated as a result of the use of telecommunications to link remote classrooms and the enhancement of correspondence education by the integration of other media, (Daniel, 1995). Audio teleconferencing technology made it possible for an instructor to offer a course at numerous sites simultaneously.

Some literature has identified only three generations of distance education, the first generation being the correspondence teaching or what Cleveland-Innes and Garrison (2010) refer to as “teaching through text’, the second generation involves multi-media teaching which integrates print-based materials with video, audio and minimal use of computers, and the third generation focuses more on the use of interactive information technology (Anderson & Dron, 2010, 2012; Guri-Rosenblit, 2005; Sumner, 2000)¹⁶ .

From the developments outlined above, you can see that the evolution of distance education has largely been influenced by technological developments. This trend continues in modern times.

Feedback and comment on Activity 1

Depending on the context, some of the challenges faced include unstable internet network, poor communication with the institution and other peers, learning in isolation, lack of enough/appropriate learning resources, time management, lack of enough time to study due to other commitments, inability to do self-study.

From DE to ODL to ODFL Distance education has potential to expand access to education since learners learn mainly away from campus and from the instructor. There is less investment in physical infrastructure and facilities, unlike in traditional face-to-face education. There are two key elements of distance education that distinguish it from traditional education, which make it more attractive to people with diverse needs. These elements are flexibility of learning and openness of the system. However, practice in different contexts shows that not all distance education is open.

Activity 2

This activity should take you about 15 – 20 minutes to complete.

Study Table 4 below which shows two ODL institutions and elements of their delivery practices.

1. Which of the two institutions is more open?
2. Which institution would you prefer to study with and why?
3. Describe the aspects you would make open in distance education in your context.