Policy on Distance Education

Baccalaureate Program Directors

Two similar definitions of "distance education" are widely used in this country.

The American Council on Education (1998) states that distance education is a process of extending learning by connecting students with distributed learning resources. This distribution alters at least one or more elements in space and time relationships that connect students with faculty, with other students or with facilities that are typically found in the single institution, on-campus learning environment. At minimum, all distance education involves:

    1. separating some or all students from the instructor in place or in time, and the separations(s) may occur for some or all of the learning activities;
    2. separating some or all students from other students in place or in time and the separation(s) may occur for some or all of the learning activities; or
    3. separating some or all students from campus-based learning resources and experiences (libraries, lab, computer rooms, formal and informal meeting opportunity, etc.) to an extent that makes their utilization infrequent or impossible and necessitates development of alternative resources.
Secondly, a comprehensive definition of "distance education" has been proposed through the 1998 Amendment to the Higher Education Act (U.S. Department of Education, 1999). It is as follows: The term "distance" education means an educational process that is characterized by the separation, in time or place, between instructor and student. Such term may include courses being offered principally through the use of (1) television, audio, or computer transmission such as broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave or satellite transmission, (2) audio or computer conferencing, (3) video cassettes or discs; or (4) correspondence. Such courses, when offered by accredited higher education institutions, shall be designed in such a way to meet the same standards of instruction as a traditionally delivered course. (American Association of University Professors, 1999).

Substantial advances in electronic -based technologies have increased the options available for the delivery of distance education. These technologies are rapidly being integrated into the delivery modes for distance education. Thus, in the 21st Century, distance education delivery modes include the following:

    1. one-way live or prerecorded television or video;
    2. audiographics (combining voice with computer graphics);
    3. two-way audio with one-way video;
    4. two-way interactive video;
    5. two-way ,on-line, computer-based, interactions (online course ware, electronic bulleting boards, chat rooms, on-line testing, on-line posting of student reports, etc)
    6. CD-ROM based instruction in combination with one of the other methodologies.
Research in the area of curriculum design and instruction and actual experience of professional educational programs in the field of medicine and nursing (i.e. Cornell University's Medical School) suggest that courses delivered via any of these methods can be equal to or superior to traditional delivered courses.

Baccalaureate social work programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) fall within nine curriculum areas: social work values and ethics, diversity, social and economic justice, populations-at-risk, human behavior and the social environment, social welfare policy and services, social work practice, research and field practicum. (Council on Social Work Education (1994). Differences in the knowledge, values and skills taught in these curriculum content areas suggest that different delivery approaches be utilized when offering these courses as traditional classroom focused courses or as distance education classroom enhanced courses.

  1. Accreditation policy about the accreditation of these courses should follow these criteria:CSWE accredited courses , that are primarily information dissemination and comprehension (e.g. social work values and ethics, diversity, social and economic justice, populations-at-risk, human behavior and the social environment, social welfare policy and services), when well-developed, and delivered as a distance education course using any of the above modes, may be delivered as a distance education courses when the quality of instruction level is equal to or better than traditional instruction;
  2. CSWE accredited courses that fall in the practice area and field instruction area (seminars), when well developed, and delivered by a combination of two-way interactive video and internet-based technology that allows for face-to-face contact between instructor and student(s), may be delivered as a distance education courses when the quality of instruction level is equal to or better than traditional instruction.
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American Association of University Professors, Special Committee Report on Distance Education and Intellectual Property Issues, December, 1999, http://www.aaup.org/deguide.htm

American Council on Higher Education. Adapted from the Policy Statement: Distance Graduate Education Opportunities and Challenges for the 21st Century , Council of Graduate Schools Task Force on Distance Graduate Education, Jeanne E. Gullahorn (chair), Council of Graduate Schools, One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 430, Washington, DC 20026, September 1998.

Council on Social Work Education (1994). Commission on Accreditation. Handbook of Accreditation Standards and Procedures (4th edition). Alexandria, Virginia.

Interview: Dr. Dennie Templeton, Director of Distance Education, Radford University. May 26, 2000.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, 1999. Distance Education at Postsecondary Educational Institutions: 1997-98, NCES 2000-13, byLaurie Lewis, Kyle Snow, and Elizabeth Farris. Project Offices, Bernie Greene, Washington, D.C., p. 56.
 
 

Submitted by:

Dennis Cogswell, Professor and BSW Coordinator, School of Social Work, Radford University, Virginia

Debra Gohagan, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Minnesota State University, Minnesota