Distance Education: Internet Tool Selection Process

New audio, visual and textual communication technologies, both synchronous and asynchronous, allow instruction in ways and places that were previously not available. Numerous new choices are becoming available for the engineering educator, but the high rate of introduction is making it difficult to select among the different tools. To help in this respect, this methodology encourages engineering instructors to identify what factors should be considered during the design of distance education experiences through the internet and other low-budget supporting media. The focus is on the educational objectives that are sought in these educational interactions and the motivational objectives to energize the students. To test out the application it is applied to the design of an actual educational interaction between the University of Missouri Rolla and Cibertec Institute of Technology in Lima, Peru, to be held in April, 1997 and a brief description of the interaction plan is included to further describe this process. INTRODUCTION The advent of internet tools and the widespread distribution of the internet are opening new windows of opportunities for engineering educators. These new low-budget tools allow for more choices with regards to how, when and where information is shared between the instructor and the students, with promising results. Most of the distance education research has found that students in well-designed distance education courses perform as well as students in welldesigned traditional courses . At the same time the need is rising for instructors to find more economical methods to educate students. These are the driving forces behind the frantic development of new distance education tools which are revolutionizing the education industry. METHODOLOGY The methodology, shown in Figure 1, links the educational and motivational objectives of an educational interaction with appropriate educational techniques and delivery media. This interaction can constitute an entire course or seminar, or specific functions within the course. It is important to recognize that different delivery media can and often should be utilized to simultaneously achieve a number of the educational objectives. The key to this approach is the identification of the educational and motivational objectives of the interaction. Once these objectives are clear, the selection of the educational methods and the delivery media are greatly simplified. The educational method is the approach that is used to P ge 255.1 achieve the objective, such as lecture, discussion or simulations. The delivery media is the medium of communication that is utilized to perform the chosen educational methodology, such as hard copy documents, video conferences and web pages. The objectives, educational methods and delivery media are the building blocks of this methodology that are now described in more detail. Identify Educational Objectives Characterize Recognize Recognize Select the Class & Educational Delivery Appropriate Instructor Methodology Media Combination Identify Motivational Objectives Figure 1. Tool selection methodology Characterize the Class and the Instructor The characteristics of the class that will influence tool selection include: the telecommunication hardware and software currently or potentially available; type of internet connection; number of participants in the class; their location; their level of knowledge regarding the topic; and their level of intrinsic, or self motivation. The characteristics of the instructor include: the telecommunication hardware and software currently or potentially available; type of internet connection; level of knowledge regarding the topic; time and financial resources available for the session; and the teaching style preferences. Educational Objectives These objectives are the desired outcomes of the educational interaction and can be segregated into three domains 2 : cognitive, affective and psychomotor. This article focuses on cognitive domain objectives since these are the ones that most commonly are emphasized in engineering classes. These objectives are related to the depth of knowledge that is desired, where each lower level domain is necessary but not sufficient to attain the next higher level. x Knowledge become familiar with facts, conventions and jargon. x Comprehension grasp the meaning of the material and be able to paraphrase. x Application use abstract ideas in particular concrete situations. x Analysis break down complex problems into parts so that each part can then be solved and the relationships between the parts can be determined. x Synthesis take many parts and put them together to make a new whole solution. x Evaluation appraise characteristics of a solution, process, design, document or concept. Motivational Objectives Motivating factors can greatly impact the success of the educational interaction. This is particularly true in distance learning situations where the direct contact P ge 255.2 between the instructor and the class that often provides a major motivating force does not exist. For this reason the instructor should explicitly consider methods to encourage the students to participate with a high level of commitment and energy. The distance education experience should be designed to maximize the utilization of the following motivational enhancers 3 : x Confidence attainable by minimizing the perception of failure and maximizing the perception of success. Self assessments and tests can be used to inform the student of their level of competence in specific areas as well as motivate them during the learning process to assure acceptable performance. A clear communication of what is expected from the interaction helps generate confidence that it can be achieved. x Challenge accomplished by the progressive and responsive modulation of the task difficulty in an attempt to apply the maximum level of achievable challenge and excitement, while avoiding boredom. x Sense of control in which the students are given the opportunity to decide what to do, when and how. x Curiosity the student’s natural desire to satisfy their curiosity can be nurtured to direct their attention. Educational Methodology Once the objectives have been identified, the planned interaction between the class and the instructor can be designed choosing among the following methodologies: x Lecture This includes any transmission of knowledge through audio and or visual presentations that is a predominately one-way in nature, not limited to traditional lectures. x Discussion The use of video, audio, and document conferencing technologies can be used to promote discussions that help students comprehend, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the knowledge being transmitted. x Project based learning Individuals or teams of students apply directly the concepts being taught and develop advanced skills that are achieved though the learner’s interaction with the subject matter. The role of the instructor are to provide structure, feedback and modulation of the task difficulty. x Modeling and experimental simulations: Models provide students synthetic environments to experiment and apply their knowledge. This method is very promising since it allows for active learning and effective motivation with the growing interactive and virtual reality capabilities. x Independent study Multimedia, hypertext, and hard copy documents are used to provide and enhance the knowledge, comprehension, analysis, and synthesis skills of the students. Computer-assisted instruction can also allow the student to apply the knowledge shared while providing immediate personalized feedback and monitoring. This allows for modulation of the level of challenge to enhance motivation. Delivery Media -These include traditional as well as new tools to perform the chosen educational methodologies. Some of these new tools do have current limitations in terms of reliability. However, taking their limitations into account they can be effectively used today and their role will greatly expand as they continue to improve. Web pages are quickly becoming very P ge 255.3 effective and widely utilized for instructive purposes because of their flexibility, low cost and global access. These delivery media can be categorized as synchronous or asynchronous. Asynchronous media allow the instructor and the students to interact at their own convenience and are less susceptible to the variability in performance inherent in today’s internet connections. x Hard copy documents books and journals. x Correspondence e-mail, FTP, mail (Post Office) and fax. x Prerecorded media web pages, CD-ROM’s, video cassettes tapes, and audio cassette tapes. x Interactive computer programs PC and network based programs in which there is immediate response to the actions taken by the student. These include applications that use expert systems and JAVA. Synchronous media require the coordination of all the participants, but allows for faster interaction among the players and generates an added level of interest and energy. Until till the arrival of the new internet-based media, live audio-video media have been very expensive. Even though their reliability and quality shortcomings are currently limiting their industrial and educational applications, they are quickly improving creating vast areas of opportunities. x Live textual communication chat conferences (IRC). x Live audio internet teleconference, radio, and phone. x Live audio-video internet: one-way broadcasts, one-way broadcasts with textual or audio feedback, and two-way audio-video.