The Future of Distance Learning: Designing Interactivity

The global environment has changed remarkably with respect to the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) at all levels of education. Distance education technologies are expanding at an extremely rapid rate. Too often, instructional designers and curriculum developers have become enamoured of the latest technologies without dealing with the underlying issues of learner characteristics and needs, the influence of media upon the instructional process, equity of access to interactive delivery systems, and the new roles of teacher, site facilitator, and student in the distance learning process. Today, most educational institutions are developing or planning to develop web-based course delivery capability. A significant number of government, institutional, corporate and private websites have emerged to chronicle the burgeoning numbers of virtual education initiatives. The book is meant to provide a foundation from which educators throughout the world will view distance learning as an appropriate approach for meeting the ever-expanding needs of students. It examines the fundamental concepts of distance learning, the basic technologies that are now available, planning and designing strategies for implementing distance learning programmes. It is designed for administrators, managers, teachers, distance learning coordinators, chief information officers, and media specialists, who are involved in initiating and interacting distance learning.