Review of the USDLA Journal

by Mark Drozdowski

AN AGE-OLD APHORISM, attributed to President Garfield, contends that the ideal learning environment involves a student at one end of a log and Mark Hopkins at the other. Were he still with us, Garfield might instead opt to log on via modem to reach his college mentor. But would his education be appreciably different?

The USDLA Journal might provide some insights and answers. The official publication of the United States Distance Learning Association, the Journal has been around in one form or another since the organization’s founding in 1987. It has since undergone several facelifts, becoming a free, on-line-only publication in 1998; it assumed its current title last year. The editors, based in California, are Drs. Donald and Elizabeth Perrin.

According to Elizabeth Perrin, the Journal was the first peer-reviewed publication dedicated to this field. Articles examine distance learning research and “praxis” (i.e. assessment, design, implementation and evaluation), while other sections feature relevant legislation (“State Exchange”), collaborations between the communications industry and education (“Technology Exchange”), and students’ first-hand experiences with distance education (the new “Student Exchange”). You can also find a few job announcements. It’s published monthly; Perrin suggests they might soon create a hard copy quarterly to complement the on-line version. All back issues are archived on the association’s Web site (http://www.usdla.org) and can be downloaded as .PDF files.

I sampled several feature articles, concentrating primarily on the last two years’ worth. As a newbie to this field, I’d hoped to gain a better understanding of precisely what constitutes distance learning. I’m not so sure I did. I also must admit to harboring skepticism for the whole endeavor, no doubt owing to my traditional, classroom-based experiences. After reading the Journal, let’s just say I’m less skeptical but still not convinced.

Most articles discuss the philosophical dimensions of distance learning, citing advantages and limitations in comparison with in-class education. In “Why Add an On-line Course to the Curriculum?,” Walt Volland concludes that students are more responsible learners in the virtual environment, forced to assume a more active role in the educational process. Normally shy students, he claims, become “less inhibited by the keyboard and monitor than they are by a room full of other students.”

In a piece on distance education in rural schools, another author discovers that this medium might afford students access to information otherwise unavailable. She concludes that, for rural students, learning improves. And one piece, on keeping on-line students motivated, discusses the challenge of reading body language without bodies. In the classroom, the author points out, “it becomes quickly evident that you are losing your audience if the entire class is looking out the window.” In the virtual world, windows are everywhere.

Other key advantages to distance education are obvious, namely convenience of time, travel and scheduling. For many working adults, on-line programs are the only option. Heck, if distance learning has been the answer for more than 130 million Americans since 1890—including Franklin Roosevelt, Walter Cronkite, Barry Goldwater and Charles Schulz—then why shouldn’t it work for you? What’s the drawback?

In a word, quality. As the author of “Selecting a Distance Education School” contends, “The absence of face-to-face contact with professors and other learners raises concerns about the affective dimension of distance education.” Another concedes the widespread belief that an on-line degree is an “interesting exercise,” but not as intellectually vigorous or rewarding as a traditional degree.

Take a more specific example, from an article analyzing differences between on-line and traditional MBA programs. On-line MBA programs have, on average, lower admissions criteria and higher attrition rates. They don’t sharpen presentation, interpersonal and verbal communication skills. Placement success is limited by employers who question the value of such an education. Yet these programs cost as much as traditional programs. Knowing this, would you pay $90,000 for an on-line MBA? Duke, among other universities, hopes so. But many elite B-schools, such as Cal-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, wish to remain exclusive and ensure quality across the board; they therefore don’t offer an on-line option.

Perhaps this perception of inferior quality is perpetuated by a certain ignorance, a lack of understanding of what distance education truly looks like. For many of us, our formal education consisted of lectures, class discussions and exams at our desks. We didn’t fiddle with threaded discussions, chat rooms, CD-ROMs, slide shows, MIDI files and video clips. As a result, it’s difficult to picture the on-line learning environment and get a clear sense of how it works. Even the Journal’s authors admit to confusion surrounding what constitutes distance learning.

“Some on-line classes are ‘on-line’ only because the syllabus and the assignments are posted on a server,” says Volland. “In others, real-time instruction takes place in a virtual classroom….”

I wish more articles offered detailed accounts of how such virtual teaching takes place. Faculty interested in adopting distance learning technologies might be better informed as a result.

Part-time faculty leaning in this direction will find little content relevant to adjuncts per se. The only specific mention of part-timers I found was in Andrew Feenberg’s “Distance Learning: Promise or Threat?” Feenberg points out that between 1970 and 1995, the number of full-time faculty increased by about half, while over the same period part-time faculty grew by 250 percent. He warns that “part-timers will overtake full-timers on college campuses in three years.” Calling this a “worrying trend,” he suggests that the “replacement of full-time by part-time faculty is merely the opening act in the plan to replace the faculty as such by CD-ROMs.” Flattery, indeed.

The Journal, then, succeeds in establishing a context for distance learning, particularly in relation to classroom education. I have a better sense of its utility, its raison d’etre, its potential. I see what advantages—at least in theory—distance education might offer. And I understand that its proponents aren’t necessarily radicals seeking to overthrow the traditional academy in a wireless coup. As Feenberg put it, new technologies should be a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, classroom teaching. The campus experience, he admits, will “remain in demand for the foreseeable future.”

The publication’s shortcomings are threefold. First, as I’ve suggested, it fails to offer enough specific examples of distance learning in action. Second, the editorial quality could stand improvement. I found numerous examples of incorrect punctuation, run-on sentences and questionable diction. Here’s one example, from “Impact of the Internet on Learning and Teaching”: “It is predicted a widespread shortages of qualified on-line teachers.” And third, some articles, perhaps reaching too high into the philosophical strata, are downright odd.

For instance, one piece examines learning environments as predicted by science fiction novels, concluding that we don’t currently offer such models. No kidding. My favorite, though, is the timely yet twisted treatise, “The Taliban in America: Corrupting the Tools of Education and Training.” After warning us that, “I’m not a nut, nor am I one of those conspiracy quacks!” the author offers his perspective that “America’s Taliban” are found in the field of learning. Here’s a clip:

“I don’t mean to suggest that everyone who subscribes to the behaviorist position is a Taliban, but an awful lot of them are. You can easily tell the difference, are you willing to expose yourself to find out? All you have to do is mention that you subscribe to something different, cognitivism, for example. Oh that’s really a good one. If you’re lucky, the Taliban will only pooh-pooh you. If the Taliban glares at you, prepare yourself because the tumultuous tempest that is about to come upon you. You’d be better off dealing with a banshee than a Taliban!”

Besides setting a record for the most exclamation points in a journal article, this piece just plain scares me!

However, I must admit I found the USDLA Journal a worthwhile read. I learned quite a bit about the field of distance learning if not the practice of it. You’ll certainly get your money’s worth and then some.