Distributed Education Theories and Models (2)
A. Frank, T. Sharon
1
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Contents
DE Challenges
Prominent Theories
Proven Technology Models
2
A.Frank - T.Sharon
DE Prominent Theories
0. Pre-Industrial (until mid 20th century)
– "Written Correspondence Study" - (1900s)
1. Industrial (3rd quarter 20th century)
– "Independent Study" - C. Wedemeyer (60s)
– "Industrial Production" - O. Peters (60s)
– "Guided Didactic Conversation" - B. Holmberg (70s)
2. Post-Industrial (4th quarter 20th century onwards)
– "Transactional Distance" - M. Moore (70s)
– "Transactional Control" - R. Garrison (80s)
– "Collaborative Learning" - F. Henri (90s)
3
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Industrial Production (1)
 Peters, O. (1994). Distance education and industrial
production: A comparative interpretation in outline
(1973). In Keegan, D. (Ed.), Otto Peters on distance
education: The industrialization of teaching and
learning (pp. 107-127). London: Routledge.
• Most coherent, rigorous and pervasive example of DE
theory to date.
• Adopts industrial approaches & production techniques:
division of labor, mass production, and organization.
• Organizes the educational process to realize economies
of scale and reduce unit costs.
4
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Industrial Production (2)
5
Peters, O. (2000). The transformation of the
university into an institution of independent
learning. In T. Evans & D. Nation (Eds.),
Changing university teaching: Reflections
on creating educational technologies
(pp.10-23).
• Communications technology and lifelong
learning demands will precipitate a
“transformation of the traditional university
into an institution of self-study and distance
teaching”.
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Industrial Production (3)
• Offers a new structure for university education to
include three basic forms of academic learning:
self-learning, tele-learning and social intercourse.
• Self-learning and tele-learning are very much
autonomous approaches to learning.
• Social intercourse supports a general social
presence among learners rather than an
academic critical discourse.
• While social intercourse is a new recognition of
interaction, there is still a strong identification with
the ideal of independent self-study.
6
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Industrial Production (4)
• Difficulty of replicating face-to-face interaction by
mediated means.
• Face-to-face interaction cannot be reproduced in
whole within a text-based environment.
• Text-based environment can support critical
discourse in a community of inquiry.
• Need to study characteristics of spoken and
written communication for use in ComputerMediated Communication (CMC) for educational
purposes.
7
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Guided Didactic Conversation (1)
 Holmberg, B. (1989). Theory and practice of
distance education. London: Routledge.
• “Guided didactic conversation” refers to both real
and simulated conversations, although the
reliance is upon simulated conversation.
• Course developer create simulated conversation
through well-written materials.
• Emphasis is on the content and conversational
character of the written pre-produced course
package and clearly within the industrial
paradigm.
8
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Guided Didactic Conversation (2)
• Posits “Friendly conversation [fostered by] welldeveloped self-instructional materials [resulting
in] feelings of personal relation ... intellectual
pleasure [and] study motivation“.
• Structural assumptions and the central role of the
self-study learning package limit teaching to oneway communication.
• Real conversation with the tutor is, by economic
necessity, supplementary to the pre-produced
course.
9
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Guided Didactic Conversation (3)
• The role of the teacher was largely simulated by
way of written instructions and commentary.
• No recognition that written communication may
be qualitatively different from verbal discourse
when guiding students.
• Organizational assumptions and principles of the
industrial model and the dependence upon
written communication seriously constrain and
limit the role of conversation and the full
emergence of a transactional perspective.
10
A.Frank - T.Sharon
2. Post-Industrial Era
(4th quarter 20th century onwards)
• Similar Terms
– Transactional (teaching and learning)
– Pedagogical
– Constructivism
• Prominent Theories
– "Transactional Distance" - M. Moore (70s)
– "Transactional Control" - R. Garrison (80s)
– "Collaborative Learning" - F. Henri (90s)
11
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Transactional Distance (1)
Moore, M. (1993). Theory of transactional
distance. In D. Keegan (Ed.), Theoretical
principles of distance education (pp. 22-38)
London: Routledge.
• Recognizes the limitation of the structure
of the independent learning package by
including dialogue as a second variable.
• Moves the field towards the realization of
a pedagogical theory.
12
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Transactional Distance (2)
• Necessitates “special organizations and teaching
procedures” composed of 2 variables: structure and
dialogue.
• Structure reflects the course's design and is largely a
function of the teaching organization and communications
media employed.
• Dialogue is also associated with the medium of
communication and may include either real two-way
communication or guided didactic conversation.
• Most distant program has low dialogue and low structure
while the least distant has high dialogue and high
structure.
13
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Transactional Distance (3)
• Also adds another dimension - learner autonomy.
• Autonomy appears to be associated with a
personality characteristic - that being personal
responsibility associated with self-directedness.
• The greater the transactional distance the greater
responsibility is placed on the learner.
• Also defines autonomy as “the extent to which in
a programme the learner determines objectives,
implementation procedures, and resources and
evaluation”.
14
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Transactional Distance (4)
15
• Incorporates the structure of the industrial
approach with the interaction of the transactional
approach.
• Extends the pedagogical perspective but appears
to retain the dominant structural features of the
industrial model.
• Exact nature of the interrelationships among
structure, dialog and autonomy is not made clear.
• There is confusion around whether structure and
dialogue are variables, clusters or dimensions.
• Is autonomy a psychological or educational
variable?
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Transactional Control (1)
Garrison, D. R. (1989). Understanding
distance education: A framework for the
future. London: Routledge.
• CMC is a defining characteristic of DE and
an important design concern.
• Places sustained real two-way
communication at the core of the
educational experience, regardless of the
separation of teacher and learner.
16
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Transactional Control (2)
• Avoid the restrictive trap of describing
distance education based upon its
existing forms and structures.
• Focuses on the functional basis of
education first by placing the teaching
and learning transaction at the core of
distance education practice.
• A clear attempt to break loose of the
organizational assumptions of the
industrial model.
17
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Transactional Control (3)
• Proposes a paradigmatic shift.
• Concept of control is at the center of the
transaction.
• Control was defined as the opportunity and
ability to influence the educational transaction.
• Shared control is reflective of the transactional
nature of an educational experience.
• Share control of the educational transaction
through frequent two-way communication in
the context of a community of learners.
18
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Collaborative Learning (1)
 Henri, F. (1992). Computer conferencing and
content analysis. In A. R. Kaye (Ed.),
Collaborative learning through computer
conferencing: The Najaden papers,
(pp. 117-136). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
• Collaborative learning by way of CMC.
• Provides a collaborative educational perspective.
• Consists of 5 dimensions of the learning process:
participation, interaction, social, cognitive,
meta-cognitive.
19
A.Frank - T.Sharon
Collaborative Learning (2)
20
• Emphasizes a collaborative view of teaching.
• Facilitates interaction for collaborative learning.
• Provides a psychosocial, transactional
perspective focusing specifically on teaching
and learning facilitated through CMC.
• Silent with regard to structural or distance
constraints.
• Focuses on educational and transactional issues
and, therefore, is a significant shift away from
the industrial model.
A.Frank - T.Sharon