Distance Education and Library Services

Author(s):  
Diane M. Fulkerson

Remote access technologies for library collections are the result of the growth of distance education programs in higher education. With the increased demand for online education, students needed a way to access library collections without coming to campus. As technology improved, the ability for students to use a library’s database without coming to a physical campus became a reality. Through such technologies as virtual private networks (VPN) and EZProxy, students could use their ID and password to gain access to library collections. Distance education was the driving force behind the need to provide remote access to collections. As a result, students now have the ability to search a library’s catalog or find articles in a database without coming to campus, anytime of the day or night. Librarians also have the opportunity to promote library resources and teach synchronous instruction sessions in online classes. Remote access technologies provide students, faculty, and librarians with the opportunity to meet user needs regardless of whether or not they are on campus. This chapter examines the growth of distance education programs at post-secondary schools, a trend expected to continue for the near future.

Author(s):  
Diane M. Fulkerson

Technology to access materials remotely has gone from document delivery via snail mail to documents received electronically. No longer do users have to come into the library to find articles in scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers. Books are not always available electronically, but users can search the library’s online catalog to find print and e-books without going to the library. The primary technologies used to access materials off-campus are virtual private networks (VPN) and EZproxy. These technologies authenticate users through a password. Once they are authenticated they can access the library collections for their research.


Author(s):  
Evan T. Robinson

The intent of action is the achievement of something decisive. Within any business, decisiveness is hopefully linked to the successful generation of revenue due to the right product being introduced to the right market at the right time. The challenge is to ensure that once a product is released to the market, the most revenue possible can be earned. In the case of higher education, one potential product is online education offerings that provide learning opportunities to students who cannot participate in a traditional education. The development of digitized educational materials for online use, however, can be costly and subsequent revenue streams may generate little or no revenue, which has occurred in some instances for distance education programs.


Author(s):  
Allyson Washburn ◽  
Terri Pedersen Summey

“The ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services (2000) assert ‘access to adequate library services and resources is essential for the attainment of superior academic skills in post-secondary education, regardless of where students, faculty, and programs are located’ ” (Nicholas and Tomeo, 2005). Additionally, the guidelines include responsibility for promotion of library services to both students and faculty in distance education programs (Association of College and Research Libraries, Distance Learning Section, 2004, p.4). As the number of distance education programs and courses grows, and as methods of delivery evolve, distance education librarians have pro-actively assumed the role of providing equitable services and resources to all distance students using the Guidelines as a framework. However, providing the services and resources accomplishes nothing if faculty and students are not aware of them. Effective marketing efforts are needed to maximize the awareness and use of library services and resources.


Author(s):  
Jan Tucker ◽  
Patricia Neely

Many colleges and universities are expanding their current online offerings and creating new programs to address growing enrollment. Institutions often utilize online education as a method to serve more students while lowering instructional costs. While online education may be more cost effective in some situations, college decision makers need to consider the full range of cost implications associated with these online offerings. The unbundling of faculty roles in online distance education programs is one cost consideration that is often overlooked. As the faculty role has become more distributed, so have the costs associated with providing instruction and instructional support. This paper reviews the hidden costs associated with the unbundling of the faculty role and presents a framework for calculating the true costs of the unbundled faculty role.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Huu Cuong ◽  
Le My Phong

Distance and online education are popular training modes in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and open education. Accreditation is one of the approaches that many countries across the world have implemented to assure the quality of higher education, including distance learning programs. This study investigates the rationale and future directions for quality assurance and accreditation of distance education programs in Vietnam. First, the paper presents concepts of distance education, and quality assurance and accreditation of distance education. Second, the research reviews experiences of implementing quality assurance and accreditation for distance education from several countries in the world. Next, the paper analyses the rationale for conducting accreditation of distance education programs in our country. Finally, the study proposes three groups of recommendations for the national quality assurance organization, accreditation agencies and higher education institutions to be able to implement the quality assurance and accreditation of distance education in Vietnam successfully. Keywords Quality assurance; Accreditation; Distance education; Online learning; Higher education References [1] UNESCO, Distance education in Asia and the Pacific: country papers, Volume III (Singapore - Vietnam), 2009. www.unesco.org/education/pdf/53-23c.pdf.[2] UNESCO, Open and distance learning: trends, policy and strategy considerations, 2002. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001284/128463e.pdf.[3] Owusu-Boampong, A. & Holmberg, C., Distance education in European higher education – the potential, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, International Council for Open and Distance Education and Study Portals B.V, 2015.[4] Australian University, Distance learning Australia, 2018. http://www.australianuniversities.com.au/distance-learning/.[5] Darojat, O., Nilson, M. & Kaufman, D., Quality assurance in Asian open and distance learning: policies and implementation, Journal of Learning for Development, Vol. 2, No. 2 (2015) 1. [6] Jung, I. & Latchem, C., Quality assurance and accreditation in distance education and e-learning: models, policies and research, Routledge, London, 2012.[7] Wang, Qi., Quality assurance - best practices for assessing online programs, International Journal on Elearning, Vol. 5, No. 2 (2006) 265. [8] Friedman, J., 10 facts about accreditation in online degree programs, U.S.News & World Report, February 9, 2017. https://www.usnews.com.[9] U.S. Department of Education., Accrediting agencies recognized for distance education and correspondence education, 2018. https://www2.ed.gov. [10] The Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-learning (ACODE), Benchmarks for technology enhanced learning, ACODE, Canberra, 2014.[11] Bollaert, L., NVAO’s accreditation of online education in a nutshell, 2015. https://www.nvao.net.[12] Henderikx, P. & Ubachs, G., Quality assurance and accreditation of online and distance higher education, 2017. https://www.unic.ac.cy.[13] Stella A. & Gnanam, A., Quality assurance in distance education: The challenges to be addressed, Higher Education, Vol. 47, No. 2 (2004) 143.[14] Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA), Code of practices for open and distance learning, MQA, Kuala Lumpur, 2013.[15] COL, DEMP & UNESCO, Quality assurance toolkit for distance higher education institutions and programmes, COL, Vancouver, 2009.[16] Vietnamnet, Mở đào tạo từ xa sẽ không cần cấp phép, 2017. http://vietnamnet.vn. [17] Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), Quality assurance of online learning: discussion paper, TEQSA, Melbourne, 2017. [18] Nhân dân Điện tử, Phát triển đào tạo từ xa đúng hướng, 2017. http://www.nhandan.com.vn.[19] Nguyễn Hữu Cương, Một số kết quả đạt được của kiểm định chất lượng giáo dục đại học Việt Nam và hướng triển khai trong tương lai, Tạp chí Quản lý giáo dục, Tập 9 Số 8 (2017) 7.[20] Cục QLCL - Bộ GD-ĐT, Danh sách các CSGD đại học; các trường cao đẳng, trung cấp sư phạm, đã hoàn thành báo cáo tự đánh giá, được kiểm định, 2018 (dữ liệu cập nhật đến ngày 31/8/2018).[21] Cục QLCL - Bộ GD-ĐT, Danh sách các chương trình đào tạo được đánh giá/công nhận, 2018 (dữ liệu cập nhật đến ngày 31/8/2018).


Author(s):  
Elizabeth Murphy ◽  
María A. Rodríguez-Manzanares

Compared to the post-secondary level, distance education at the elementary and secondary levels has received little attention from researchers (Kapitzke & Pendergast, 2005; Smith, Clark, & Blomeyer, 2005). This lack of attention is of concern given the rapid and broad growth of this form of education. In the United States, online education programs are experiencing rapid growth. For example, during the academic year 2005-2006, more than 90,000 middle and high school students were enrolled in state virtual schools in the Southern Regional Education Board, which represented a 100% increase in enrollments from the previous year (Southern Regional Education Board, 2006). While we might assume that research from contexts of post-secondary may inform K-12 distance education, Cavanaugh, Gillan, Kromrey, Hess, and Blomeyer (2004) caution against this assumption as follows: “The temptation may be to attempt to apply or adapt findings from studies of K-12 classroom learning or of adult distance learning, but K-12 distance education is fundamentally unique” (p. 4). The authors further observed that, although research in this area “is maturing” (p. 17), it has only been studied since about 1999. The current “explosion in virtual schools” (p. 6) creates a compelling rationale for continued efforts to conduct research on K-12 distance education.


2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia W. Neely ◽  
Jan P. Tucker

Many colleges and universities are expanding their current online offerings and creating new programs to address growing enrollment.  Institutions often utilize online education as a method to serve more students while lowering instructional costs. While online education may be more cost effective in some situations, college decision makers need to consider the full range of cost implications associated with these online offerings. The unbundling of faculty roles in online distance education programs is one cost consideration which is often overlooked.  As the faculty role has become more distributed, so have the costs associated with providing instruction and instructional support. This paper reviews the hidden costs associated with the unbundling of the faculty role and presents a framework for calculating the true costs of the unbundled faculty role.


Author(s):  
Luke Fernandez

As online education programs expand across the country, many universities are adopting course management software (CMS) such as Blackboard or WebCT. Although these out-of-the-box solutions may simplify the administration of online classes, they do not comprehensively meet the needs of mature testing organizations. This chapter describes the process that has led Weber State University to reconsider whether an out-of-the-box implementation of WebCT actually is a sensible strategy.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (S1) ◽  
pp. 24-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Cogdell Boies

This fellowship project addressed the need to increase diversity in public health law. Non-traditional delivery methods of education, such as synchronous online classes and offering courses during an intersession between regular semesters and in the evenings, expanded the opportunities for diverse students to learn about the field and have meaningful internship experiences in public health law. Synchronous distance education is the wave of the future for law teaching and has particular significance in the teaching of public health law.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco J. Jardines

Key words: Distance education, internet based education, online education, information technology in educationAbstract. In this paper we describe the historical development in distance education from a general point of view. We resume the historical evolution of internet, and its relationship with important social issues as communication, defense, and education. The technology of information development in the last two decades has been extraordinary. This techonolgies has been applied to the education sector. The possibility to acces the education programs which are not feasible to study because of the physical distance are now possible by the useof internet.Palabras clave: Educación a distancia, educación en línea, educación por internet, tecnologías de la información en educaciónResumen. En este artículo se describe la evolución de la educación a distancia desde un punto de vista general, abordando los aspectos que se consideraron más relevantes. La evolución señala desde el origen de la palabra escrita hasta nuestros días. Se realizó un resumen del desarrollo histórico del Internet y sus relaciones con algunas áreas sociales importantes como la comunicación, la defensa y la educación. El desarrollo de la tecnología de la información en los últimos veinte años ha sido extraordinario y en periodos cada vez más frecuentes aparecen avances que han impactado el terreno educativo y muchas otras de una manera muy importante, sobre todo la posibilidad de accesar a programas educativos, a los que no se podrían por la distancia física entre el alumno y la escuela.


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