Definitions of Distance Education

There is no one definition of distance education. In fact there is no one term to define as the term distance learning is also well accepted and widely used. Distance education and distance learning are often used as synonyms or near synonyms in the field. In the European context, distance learning is generally perceived to be a more learner-centered term, and is also used here.

The series of definitions below indicate the range of approaches which have been used in defining these two key terms in the field, all of which emphasise distance – in space and/or time – between teacher and learner; The term distance learning and/or distance education refers to the teaching-learning arrangement in which the learner and teacher are separated by geography and time. (Williams, Paprock and Covington 1999: 2) 

Distance education is planned learning that normally occurs in a different place from teaching and as a result requires special techniques of course design, special instructional techniques, special methods of communication by electronic and other technology, as well as special organizational and administrative arrangements. (Moore and Kearsley 1996: 2)

Distance learning is an educational system in which learners can study in a flexible manner in their own time, at the pace of their choice and without requiring face-to-face contact with a teacher.(Shelley 2000: 651) 

Distance education implies that the majority of educational communication between (among) teacher and student(s) occurs noncontiguously. Distance education must involve two-way communication between (among) teacher and student(s) for the purpose of facilitating and supporting the educational process. Distance education uses technology to mediate the necessary two-way communication. (Garrison and Archer 2000: 175)

There are several starting points for a definition of distance education;most begin with structural concerns, a few begin with pedagogical concerns, and fewer still begin with learner-based perspectives of the meaning of distance learning. When distance education is approached from the point of view of organisational or structural concerns, definitions generally include the following components, based on the work of Keegan (1990):

• The separation of teacher and learner in time and/or place. 
• The influence of an educational organisation in preparing and delivering materials and in providing support services. This distinguishes distance learning from private study contexts, and learning using open courseware. 
• The use of a range of media including print, audio, video, and computer-based applications to carry content. 
• The use of communication devices to facilitate two-way communication.Providing opportunities for interaction is an important challenge, and these are increasingly viewed as integral to distance learning experiences. 
• The possibility of face-to-face contact usually in the form of tutorials, regional courses, summer schools, and self-help groups. Face-to-face contact serves the function of providing motivation, social contact, group cohesion, and opportunities for support. In some language courses attendance may be mandatory. 
• The provision of a range of support services, including what is given by the teacher, relating to wider aspects of study and the role of the distance learner. This may include opportunities for interaction and response to individual learners as well as guides such as the Open University UK Toolkit Series produced by Student Services to support distance study.

Richards and Roe (1994), in an introduction to distance learning in ELT, argue that a simple and deceptive conceptual trap in distance learning is to assume that it is the individual learner who is distant, or remote, from the centre of things. They offer the view that it is in fact the teacher who is remote from where the learning takes place.

An alternative approach to defining distance education comes when pedagogical concerns are taken as the starting point, at which point a different set of distinctive characteristics can be identified. According to Peters (1998) these include the extent to which ‘written’ teaching dominates in contrast to ‘spoken’ teaching; and so learning by ‘reading’ is stressed rather than learning through ‘listening’. This has important implications for the development of oral and aural skills and interactive competence in distance language learning. In distance learning, pedagogic structures are formed using a range of technical and electronic media and different generations of provision can be identified.

The way in which different pedagogical structures – such as those using CMC or Internet audioconferencing – impact on the development of target language (TL) skills is an important, and relatively unexplored, area for research in distance language learning. And the situation in which distance language learning takes place is quite different, in decisive ways, from that of learners in face-to-face settings. The impact of individual learning sites on the learning process has only been recognised more recently. A further point is that specific institutional and organisational conditions are required to provide and develop learning opportunities.

When learner perspectives are considered, the defining characteristics of distance language learning may be found to be markedly different from the perspectives adopted by researchers and theorists.
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