Project Proposal

By Author: Henry Ford
Total Articles: 189
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Distance Education is a formal educational process whereby majority of the instructions are done when the students and instructors are not in the same place or environment. The fact that internet is frequently becoming part of our everyday lives makes its presence in distance education quite unmistakable because most web- based courses seem to dominate the attention of most instructors and students. In distance education instructions may be synchronous or asynchronous. Distance education is not a new initiative to most educators today and the concepts that form the foundation of distance education are more than a century old. Distance education is believed to have experienced development and transformation in recent times though the protracted traditions of the field continue to give it a course for the future (Cook, 2007). Among the many components of the broader category of distance learning is online learning and at times the two names may be used simultaneously. This form of learning has taken the form of correspondence studies for a long time and usually the educators are separated from their students in terms of location ...
... or time. On the other hand, face to face/ traditional education refers to a learning method whereby instructions are given to learners in the same environment and both parties have physical access to each other. Distance learning has proved to be used more often by educators because of its advantages that include overcoming the problems related to distance and time, economies of scale, flexible scheduling, novel instructional methods that it uses among others(Simonson, 2006). Therefore, this study will compare distance and traditional education in regards to providing quality learning to students.
2.2 Purpose of study
The major purpose of this study will be to analyze and compare distance education with traditional education. The study will also look into the advantages and disadvantages of distance education while comparing to those of face to face/ traditional education. In addition, the extent to which tutors interact with learners and the student to student relationships will be analyzed based on both modalities of learning.
2.3 Major objective
The main objective of this study is to compare the quality of distance education to that of traditional education.
2.4 Specific objectives
• To compare the advantages and disadvantages of distance education to traditional education.
• To compare the quality and quantity of tutor-student and student-student interaction in distance education and traditional education.
2.5 Research questions
In order to achieve the above objectives, this study will adopt the following research questions.
• Is distance education better as compared to traditional education?
To analyze this research question more proficiently, the following specific research questions will be used to broaden the scope of this research study.
• What is the quality of distance education in comparison to traditional education?
• What is the extent of instructor-student and student-student interaction in distance education as compared to traditional education?
2.6 Significance of study
This study will be of great importance because it will widen my knowledge and understanding of the principles and concepts of distance and traditional education. In addition the findings of this study will be essential in the process of decision making especially by people who are in need to pursue education in whichever level. This is because they will be able to weigh the method of learning that will suit them most depending on their interests and characteristics of the distance and traditional education.
2.7 Scope of the Study
This study will look into the characteristics, qualities, advantages and disadvantages of distance and traditional education. In addition it will also analyze the level of student-student and teacher-student interaction in both methods of learning.
3.0 Literature review
3.1 Types/models of distance learning.
According to Kevin (2009), there are two forms of distance learning that are commonly used today to instruct students. These are the asynchronous and synchronous teaching methods. Synchronous learning basically refers to a scenario whereby students learn the same things at the same time and in the same location. Through this method, the students get the opportunity to interact with their tutors using the web. This form of training is rare because of the problems it poses in implementing it. It also requires students who are in different geographical locations in order for them to access the same website concomitantly with their tutors. In this kind of learning, the educators most often transmit materials to their students either through the internet or telephone calls. In addition, slide shows are used to educate the learners in the conference rooms and students also have the chance of interacting with their instructors through chat windows or phones.
On the contrary, asynchronous learning permits the students to get their work from their educators and to carry out their assignments at their own expediency of time. Asynchronous learning method is also referred to as store and forward electronic learning. This type of distance learning happens when there is no concurrent communication between the learners and the instructors and its distinct characteristic is that there is no immediate feedback between the involved people. Palloff, (2001) gives an example of asynchronous distance learning as that of taking a self-paced course where there is no time limit. There is also another form of distance learning called Blended learning. It’s a mixed mode learning which involves a combination of face to face tutorials and other internet based activities like electronic mails. This model of distance learning gives a prospect to the learners to get a timely feedback from online activities in order for them to identify the gaps in their acquaintance and understanding (Palloff, 2001).
3.2 Advantages of Distance Education in comparison to traditional face to face
There are quite a number of benefits that evolve from distance education as compared to the traditional form of learning which is otherwise referred to as face to face method of learning. Distance education can be accessed from anywhere hence someone’s location does not become a hindrance in obtaining education. This is because it does not require any form of travelling and in due process; time and money are saved as learning takes place contentedly. However, in the traditional model of education there is a need to move from place to place in order to have accessibility to learning facilities such as classrooms (Sumrall, 2002). In distance education, the learners have the pleasure of planning for their own studies because at their own convenient time especially for the case where the model of learning is asynchronous. On the other hand, studies are normally programmed and scheduled for the case of traditional education and it’s a requirement that students should avail themselves at the places of learning. Another advantage of distance education is that it offers individualized learning whereby it allows learners who are struggling to learn certain topics to pursue remedial work. In this case, those who are interested in learning more can do so at their own pace while those who are more familiar with the topics move on to the next levels (Cook, 2007).
3.3 Disadvantages of distance education.
Distance education does not provide an opportunity for the learners to develop socially. This is mainly because the flexibility in time and location means that the students often study alone more especially when internet is used as the instructional instrument. This leads to a perception of social isolation. On the other hand, face to face education gives the learners the ability to enjoy learning with others and they also get to know their instructors. This in return boosts their social development. Through socializing with their tutors and fellow students, understanding of classroom assignments is boosted hence better grades are achieved in the long run. Distance education is also costly in a way. This is because offsetting the potential economies of scale are the large upfront costs associated with developing of web-based learning which is a component of distance education. It may be simple to convert textbook and syllabus into internet format but these conversions seldom contain effective instructions hence students may find difficulties in interpreting information. In traditional education, tutors and educators are usually around and in a position to help the learners to understand the contexts of study (Cook, 2007).

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