Wallace H. Hannum

Effectiveness of using learner-centered principles on student retention in distance education courses in rural schools

This article examines the effectiveness of training facilitators in secondary schools to follow APA learner‐centered principles to support learners in distance education. The study was a cluster‐randomized control trial with 36 match pairs of schools and 246 students in the rural USA. The schools were selected at random and assigned at random to treatment condition. Instructors were blind to the treatment condition as were the local facilitators and schools. Data on length of time spent in the course and whether students completed the semester were analyzed. The results indicated that students in the intervention condition completed the first semester at a statistically higher rate than control students where facilitators did not have this training. The number of weeks students remained in the course was likewise statistically different with students in the intervention condition staying in the course more weeks holding instructor constant.

Analysis of task analysis procedures

For the new developer, deciding which task analysis procedures to use can be confusing. In this article, we describe the five functions comprising the task analysis process: inventorying, describing, selecting, sequencing, and analyzing tasks. We then describe some critical distinctions in the task analysis process: micro/macro level, top-down/bottom-up, and job/learning task analysis. We then combine the functions and distinctions in task analysis into a quasi-algorithm to suggest which of thirty task analysis procedures may be used to fulfill each of the functions. Those procedures are described briefly in the Appendix.

Reasons for student dropout in an online course in a rural K–12 setting

Rural schools in the USA use online courses to overcome problems such as attracting and retaining teachers, geographic isolation, low student enrollment, and financial constraints. This paper reports on the reasons that 39% of rural high school students who enrolled in an online Advanced Placement course subsequently dropped the course. Students who dropped the course were asked to provide an email statement detailing their reasons for doing so. On-site facilitators—local staff members situated in the small rural schools where students were enrolled—also provided reasons whenever one of their students dropped the course. Results indicate that the reasons given by students and on-site facilitators for dropping the course often agreed, and tended to fall within the following five categories: scheduling and time constraints, academic rigor and motivation, technology problems, problems with online medium and lack of teacher immediacy, and parental influences.

Design and Effectiveness of a Computer-Based Continuing Education Program for Orthodontists

The design of computer-based continuing education for health professionals is an important consideration for Internet delivery because the size of graphic files greatly affects the speed with which information is delivered. Orthodontists who had indicated an interest in computer-based continuing education were shown via CD-ROM either a dynamic version of a computer continuing education program (with transitions and animations to liven up the content) or a plain version (identical content except that the transitions and animations were omitted). The program provided new information about superelastic arch wires for the initial stage of orthodontic treatment. For both versions, over 90% of the viewers thought the program was well done and provided useful information. Six of the orthodontists who received the dynamic version felt that the animations were distracting rather than helpful; only one who received the plain version felt that it was lifeless. A follow-up questionnaire showed that two-thirds of those who viewed the program had subsequently reviewed the performance data for the initial wire they were using and 20% had changed it, so the computer program was effective in changing clinical behavior. Those who saw the plain version also were more likely to have changed their clinical procedures. For Internet delivery of information to highly motivated professionals, it appears that transitions and animations are not necessary and may be more likely to decrease than increase the effectiveness of the teaching material.

Moving distance education research forward

It was with considerable interest that I read Ian Mitchell’s article discussing the founding of the journal Distance Education. My immediate response was that much has changed with the field of distance education while much remains the same. As Mitchell notes, distance education grew from external studies and correspondence education – topics we hear almost nothing about today. Yet the discussion of distance education itself has grown and is well recognized today, a fact easily and aptly confirmed in the pages of recent volumes of Distance Education. In many ways, distance education is an increasingly important and recognized phenomenon today compared with its status 30 years ago. Volume 1, Number 1 of the journal made a lasting contribution to the field. Keegan’s article defining distance education remains widely quoted today. Talk about standing the test of time! While the term itself remains common today, the word distance is not necessarily as important as it was then. Some prefer the broader term distributed education or distributed learning instead. Today’s information and communications technologies have shrunk the physical distance and added immediacy to communication among people separated by substantial physical distances. Today faculty and students who are not separated by physical distance routinely use what we consider as distance education technology and teaching methods, but we do not call this distance education. Many classes have websites and use Internet tools such as email, discussion boards, blogs, wikis, and course/content management systems; yet the students and the faculty live and work on the same campus and nearby one another. Is distance education really just about bridging physical distance between teacher and student? As Mitchell notes, we have solved most of that problem with the Internet and associated technologies; yet we have perhaps promoted new problems such as psychological (transactional) distance, isolation, and lack of community among students. Perhaps we have also neglected, even removed, some unplanned advantages of traditional face-to-face education as we have moved forward with distance education. Mitchell helps us understand the origins of the journal and the field. He has also raised some questions for us to consider and among these are how should Distance Education move forward? Increasingly, distance education has become a growing worldwide phenomenon. Fortunately the editorial board of the journal reflects this worldwide interest. Progress in distance education as a field depends on high quality research being conducted and disseminated and then put into action to influence

Factors related to rural school administrators’ satisfaction with distance education

The purpose of this study was to examine rural school district administrators’ satisfaction with distance education in the United States and to identify factors that may contribute to their satisfaction. Telephone interviews were conducted with administrators in randomly selected rural districts across the country. Analyses revealed that students’ preparation in their study and computer skills as well as the use of synchronous delivery formats were related to administrators’ satisfaction with distance education. Results imply that students’ study and computer skills should be addressed as needed and, when feasible, synchronous delivery formats used in order to possibly bolster districts’ satisfaction with and effective use of distance education.