The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web
The evolution of online courses has caused many questions as to what is expected of the learner and the instructors. There have been several issued raised concerning these types of courses.
From a faculty perspective, it is suggested that there are three major contentions about e-learning courses. These contentions are it is more work than traditional classes, fear of lower evaluations than traditional courses, and courses can carry a stigma which reduces the credit given to the instructors (Moller, 2008, p 68).
In order to change these thoughts, it is suggested that one of the most important things that institutions can do is promote the concepts to faculty and in-return gain more faculty buy-in. In order to gain this buy in, there needs to be clarification on training and the development process for the instructor, salary, workload and intellectual property right information determined, and how will teaching these courses affect tenure and promotions. If many of the questions in these areas can be answered in a way that faculty are more comfortable with these courses, then it is believed that more faculty will buy into the concept and be willing to teach these types of courses.
The authors suggest that the instructional design faculty should lead the effort for more distance educational courses and the accreditation of them. These faculty members should be some the ones engaged in the consultation and design of the courses. The fear however is “the train is leaving the station, but it’s not clear that ID (instructional design), as a field, will be on board.” (Moller, 2008, p 70).
Moller, L, Foshay, W. R., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web. TechTrends. 52, 66-70.