Distance education has
become a great phenomenon due its advantages on time management and distance issues.
Every day, the number of distance learners is increasing, and more and more students
are achieving their goals; which are also the purposes of teachers in charge of
the distance learning programs administration. However, not everyone who starts
this kind of learning manage to finish the courses; the reason is a combination
of characteristics as could be personality, learning styles, level of
organization, motivation, and some other related factors. To reduce the amount
of students who abandon their distance education programs, the teachers have to
acquire the responsibility of helping students to overcome their learning obstacles;
and so, they can successfully complete their objectives.
Following instruction can be
an issue for many students due the interpretation that they might give them;
even more when these instructions lack of explicitness and precision. James and
Galbraith (as cited in E. Dooley, M.
Dooley & Linder, 2005, p.67) recommend that educators match instruction to their
learners’ styles of perception. To accomplish this, a survey of learning styles
of the students should be made and, as Rita Dunn, co-creator of Dunn and Dunn’s
model recommends, develop the teaching program according to the style that gets
the highest number of learners, and re-teaching programs for secondary styles.
Another way of dealing with this issue might be the creation of a section of
questions for every topic that it is being studied; if the learning program is
permanent and changes to it are made rarely, it would be wise to have a “Frequently
Asked Question” section. Both alternatives are good options because they aim to
the needs of the student and try to solve their problems with the perception
and the interpretation of instructions.
Procrastination seems to be
another of the most common inconveniences for distance learners due the
tendency of most of the people to stay in their comfort zone and leave behind their
duties and obligations; students in this situation tend to leave their home
works and projects for the last minute. This is an issue that concerns mostly
to the students; they must create a schedule of activities and due dates and
stick to it as possible. But even then, to help students who are struggling
with this predicament, teachers in charge can conceive a step by step checking
program where they can monitor the advancement of learners during the process
of their tasks until they reach the final goal. This action could stimulate students
to keep working regularly on their assignments and keep them in time.
Finally, motivation is a
factor that affects students most of the time and the lack of it is a major
cause of abandonment. According to Howard, Schenk, & Discenza (as cited in
E. Dooley, M. Dooley & Linder, 2005, p.57) Distance education as a
contextual application, we would argue, is mature. The widespread appeal and
acceptance of online learning, however, has not resulted in changes necessary
to maximize its effectiveness and efficiency (p. vi). In this case, the teachers
that create online distance learning programs could aim to this effectiveness
and efficiency by trying to motivate their students to persist on their study
objectives. Taking advantage of technology, teacher can include in their
learning programs online interactive and auto-evaluating activities. Knowing how
well they are performing is very important for learners; so, another measure to
keep them motivated is the prompt and positive feedback by their teachers to
their assignments.
There are many issues that
distance education learners have to face in order to achieve their educational
objectives. Despite overcoming them depends mostly on the efforts of students
themselves, teachers can plan play a very important role as guides and advisors.
Adapting to the learning styles of the students, helping them to keep on track with
their assignments, and motivating them with entertaining activities and
positive feedback could be great resources to succeed over their obstacles.
References:
Dooley, K. E.,
Linder, J. R., & Dooley, L. M. (2005). Advanced methods in distance
education. London: Idea Group Inc.
Howard, R. (1995). Distance
Education for Language Teachers : A UK Perspective. Great Britain: Cromwell Press.
