Defining Distance Education

Distance education is defined as:

institution-based, formal education where the learning

group is separated, and where interactive telecommunica-
tions systems are used to connect learners, resources, and
instructors.

There are four main components to this definition. First is the

concept that distance education is institutionally based. This is
what differentiates distance education from self-study. While
the institution referred to in this definition could be a tradition-
al educational school or college, increasingly there are emerg-
ing non-traditional institutions that offer education to students
at a distance. Businesses, companies, and corporations are
offering instruction at a distance. Many educators and trainers
are advocating the accreditation of institutions that offer dis-
tance education to add credibility, improve quality, and elimi-
nate diploma mills.

The second component of the definition of distance education

is the concept of separation of the teacher and student. Most
often, separation is thought of in geographic terms: teachers are
in one location and students in another. Also implied by the
definition is the separation of teachers and students in time.
Asynchronous distance education means that instruction is
offered and students access it at separate times, or any time it is
convenient to them. Finally, intellectual separation of teachers
and learners is important. Obviously, teachers have an under-
standing of the concepts presented in a course that students
may not possess. In this case, the reduction of separation is a
goal of the distance education system.

Distance Education 1
Interactive telecommunications is the third component of the
definition of distance education. Interaction can be synchro-
nous or asynchronous, at the same time or at different times.
Interaction is critical but not at the expense of content. In other
words, it is important that learners be able to interact with each
other, with resources of instruction, and with their teacher.
However, while interaction should not be the primary charac-
teristic of instruction, it should be available, commonplace, and
relevant.

The words “telecommunications systems” implies electronic

media, such as television, telephone, and the Internet, but need
not be limited to electronic media. Telecommunications is
defined as “communicating at a distance.” This definition
includes communication with the postal system, as in corre-
spondence study and other non-electronic methods of commu-
nication. Obviously, as electronic telecommunications systems
improve and become more pervasive, it is likely that they will
be the mainstay of modern distance education systems. How-
ever, older, less-sophisticated systems of telecommunication
will continue to be important.

The final concept is that of connecting learners, resources, and

instructors. This means that there are instructors who interact
with learners and that resources are available that permit learn-
ing to occur. Resources should be subjected to instructional
design procedures that organize them into learning experiences
that promote learning, including resources that can be
observed, felt, heard, or completed.

The definition of distance education includes these four compo-

nents. If one or more is missing then the event is something dif-
ferent, if only slightly, from distance education. It is also
important to recognize that distance education includes both
distance teaching and distance learning. The development,
design, management, and evaluation of instruction (Seels &
Richey, 1994) fall under the heading of distance teaching. Uti-
lization of learning experiences is distance learning. According

2 Distance Education
to the definition of distance education, distance learning is not
possible without distance teaching.

Separation
Institutionally
of Teacher
Based
and Student

Sharing of Data,
Interactive
Voice, and Video
Telecommuni-
(Learning
cations
Experiences)

This definition is not the only one and certainly is not the first
offered for distance education. As a matter of fact, distance
education has been defined from a number of perspectives over
the years. For example, Rudolf Manfred Delling (1987) said,

Distance education is a planned and systematic activity that

comprises the choice, didactic preparation, and presentation
of teaching materials as well as the supervision and support
of student learning. [It] is achieved by bridging the physical
distance between student and teacher by means of at least
one appropriate technical medium.

For Hilary Perraton (1988), distance education is an educational

process in which someone removed in space and/or time from
the learner conducts a significant proportion of the teaching.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational

Research and Improvement defines distance education as “the
application of telecommunications and electronic devices
which enable students and learners to receive instruction that
originates from some distant location.” Typically, the learner
may interact with the instructor or program directly and may
meet with the instructor on a periodic basis.

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Grenville Rumble (1989) offered the following four-part defini-
tion of distance education.

In any distance education process there must be: a teacher;

one or more students; a course or curriculum that the
teacher is capable of teaching and the student is trying to
learn; and a contract, implicit or explicit, between the stu-
dent and the teacher or the institution employing the
teacher, that acknowledges their respective teaching-
learning roles.

Distance education is a method of education in which the

learner is physically separate from the teacher. It may be used
on its own, or in conjunction with other forms of education,
including face-to-face interaction.

In distance education, learners are physically separated from

the institution that sponsors the instruction.

The teaching/learning contract requires that the student be

taught, assessed, given guidance and, where appropriate, pre-
pared for examinations that may or may not be conducted by
the institution. This must be accomplished by two-way com-
munication. Learning may be undertaken individually or in
groups; in either case it is accomplished in the physical absence
of the teacher.

For Desmond Keegan (1986), the following four definitions

were central to an attempt to identify the elements of a single
unifying definition of distance education:

1. The French government, as part of a law passed in 1971,

defined distance education as education that either does not
imply the physical presence of the teacher appointed to dis-
pense it in the place where it is received or in which the
teacher is present only on occasion or for selected tasks.

2. According to Börje Holmberg, distance education covers

the various forms of study at all levels that are not under

4 Distance Education
 the continuous, immediate supervision of tutors present
with their students in lecture rooms or on the same premis-
es but which, nevertheless, benefit from the planning, guid-
ance, and teaching of a supporting organization.

3. Otto Peters emphasized the role of technology, saying that

distance teaching/education (Fernunterricht) is a method of
imparting knowledge, skills, and attitudes that is rational-
ized by the application of division of labor and organiza-
tional principles as well as by the extensive use of technical
media, especially for the purpose of reproducing high qual-
ity teaching material which makes it possible to instruct
great numbers of students at the same time wherever they
live. It is an industrialized form of teaching and learning.

4. For Michael Moore, the related concept of “distance teach-

ing” was defined as the family of instructional methods in
which the teaching behaviors are executed apart from the
learning behaviors, including those that in a contiguous sit-
uation would be performed in the learner’s presence, so
that communication between the teacher and the learner
must be facilitated by print, electronic, mechanical, or other
devices.

Keegan (1986) identified five main elements of these defini-

tions, using them to compose a comprehensive definition of
distance education:

1. The quasi-permanent separation of teacher and learner

throughout the length of the learning process. (This distin-
guishes it from conventional face-to-face education.)

2. The influence of an educational organization both in the

planning and preparation of learning materials and in the
provision of student support services. (This distinguishes it
from private study and teach-yourself programs.)

Distance Education 5
 3. The use of technical media—print, audio, video or comput-
er—to unite teacher and learner and carry the content of the
course.

4. The provision of two-way communication so that the stu-

dent may benefit from or even initiate dialogue. (This dis-
tinguishes it from other uses of technology in education.)

5. The quasi-permanent absence of the learning group

throughout the length of the learning process so that people
are usually taught as individuals and not in groups. Includ-
ed is the possibility of occasional meetings for both didactic
and socialization purposes.

Garrison and Shale (1987) argued that, in light of advances in

distance education delivery technologies, Keegan’s definition
was too narrow and did not correspond to the existing reality
as well as to future possibilities. While declining to offer a defi-
nition of distance education, Garrison and Shale offered the fol-
lowing three criteria they regarded as essential for
characterizing the distance education process:

1. Distance education implies that the majority of educational

communication between (among) teacher and student(s)
occurs noncontiguously.

2. Distance education must involve two-way communication

between (among) teacher and student(s) for the purpose of
facilitating and supporting the educational process.

3. Distance education uses technology to mediate the neces-

sary two-way communication.

Keegan’s definition and the definitions preceding it define the

traditional view of distance education. Rapid changes in socie-
ty and technology are challenging these traditional definitions.

6 Distance Education
Emerging Definitions
The contemporary period is often characterized as one of
unpredictable change. Globalization, brought on by supersonic
air travel, satellite television, computer communications, and
societal changes, has inspired new ways of looking at distance
education. Edwards (1995) uses the term open learning to
describe a new way of looking at education in a quickly chang-
ing and diverse world. He indicates that distance education
and open learning are two distinct approaches to education.
While he does not define the two, he states that distance educa-
tion provides distance learning opportunities using mass-pro-
duced courseware to a mass market.

In contrast, open learning places greater emphasis on the cur-

rent specific needs and/or markets available by recognizing
local requirements and differences instead of delivering an
established curriculum. Open learning shifts from mass pro-
duction and mass consumption to a focus on local and individ-
ual needs and requirements. Edwards states that this can occur
outside of the traditional organization of education. This is a
major difference between his description of open learning and
the previous definitions of distance education.

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