Talk:Distance education

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Advantages[edit]

Some advantage are mentioned in the article (Major benefits of use), but I think we can add more stuff there:

  • more flexible study hours (making it easier for students to work)
  • Some people may be more comfortable and perform better with distance learning, because of social matters, because they might prefer to follow their own methodology, or because of other reasons.

In short, for some people, it is a preferable option, even if conventional learning is available.


—Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.42.144.105 (talk) 16:58, 28 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The major benefits of use at the time of your post was actually sourced from an article explaining the benefits to the institution, not the student. Someone subsequently added a couple of benefits alleged to be from the student's perspective but did not source them. I've just removed them due to lack of sourcing - feel free to reinstate under a new section if you can provide the evidential back up. Sitush (talk) 09:14, 23 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]


I think the whole section on advantages and disadvantages needs a major edit. They both ramble and could be better organized perhaps under challenges and advantages from perspective of students, teachers and institutions. Terguy (talk) 21:24, 17 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Italian Culture addition[edit]

I added a link to "Italian Culture on the Net" and it was removed for supposedly being vandalism. It might not have been the correct place (it redirected to an external link, not a Wikipedia article) but it certainly belong to this topic.

"Italian Culture of the Net" is a website from a consortium of Italian Universities funded by the Italian Government (just check the link to confirm) to explorate the possibilities of e-learning, which grants academic degrees recognized in all the European Union.

I wasn't logged in, sorry. Just to make sure that the comment above isn't anonymous. :) user:tresoldi

It would belong under the 'External links' section. --Spinboy 22:49, 28 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Location of students[edit]

article wikifyed, feel free to move ^_^ --Skaterblo 18:02, 4 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, content at many colleges including video, audio, text and testing and assesment are all being packaged up in multiple different formats. The student may take a quiz or test online, but even this can be accomplished at some institutions via a Pocket PC and a wireless connection. So "Distance education is a method of teaching in which the students are not required to be physically present at a specific location during the term." The field of distance learning covers non-restrictive geo-spatial areas not strictly limited to computer clusters like computer electronic classrooms. Furthermore, content which is properly "chunked out" and thought out can be distributed outside of the restrictive parameters of locus or time. The introduction should be reinstated, as it encompasses the broader definition of distance education only realized by the technological advances of the last decade.159.115.73.97 01:08, 3 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. The article starts with "Distance education is a method of teaching in which the students are not required to be physically present at a specific location during the term." In K-12 (at least in Upstate NY) the students go to the same electronic classroom each day. Depending upon which school is hosting the course, the teacher may or may not be in that classroom. Therefore, I would say that there are many cases where the students are required to be in a specific physical location, but that location may not be the same one that the teacher is teaching from.

Given that, how should we rephrase the opening? --Ira

That's not distance education, that's an electronic classroom. The definition is correct for this article. --File:Ottawa flag.png Spinboy 23:00, 2 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Although the electronic classroom mentioned above may not be the best example, there are other examples in which remote students need to be at a specific location, such as a designated closed circuit facility. I would suggest rephrasing the above sentence as something like "Distance education is a method of teaching in which the intructor and students need not be physically co-located." This would leave open the possibility of including electronic classrooms at distance as well as the more prevalent model, which is independent of location.
Thoughts? -- File:Ottawa flag.png Jpslone 17:00, 16 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that "electronic classroom" noted above is just another example of a form of distance education. The standard definition used in most DE texts is as Jpslone notes above that the teacher and the student(s) are not in the same location for all or most of the instructional time. As noted in the artcile they may share same time (sychronous) or be meeting at different times (asynchronous). Terry Anderson — Preceding unsigned comment added by Terguy (talk • contribs) 20:41, 17 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The way technology is being used today, in education, there seems to be a convergence between ' distance education' and the traditional educational system. In other words electronic gadgetry is used for both on campus and off campus learning. This has made education, more flexible and open: call it distance education, on line learning, e learning etc. Moreover technology can be used in the traditional setting of the classroom as well, but the classroom can be extended; and teachers can communicate with students outside of it. Wireless technological forms of communication such as the laptop, and the mobile are adding exciting dimensions to technological interventions in education. In summation, education, is technology driven, distance education has actuated this force and has brought a rapprochment betweeen traditional and non traditional forms of education.

Ananya.S.Guha INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY, Shillong, INDIA.

The number of universities/institutions offering distance education courses in India is incomplete.Firstly we have to keep in mind the open universities.There are more in India. In addition to the ones listed in the write up, we have: B.R.Ambedkar open university, Kota open university, Netaji Subhas open university, Nalanda open university, Rajarshi Tandon open university, Yashwantrao Chavan open university etc.State Open Universities are being established in the states of Assam, Orissa and Uttaranchal.Secondly we have to distinguish between open universities, and the traditional universities which offer distance or corresponence courses.These are called dual mode universities.There are about hundred of them in India.The first university to start correspondence courses, was; the Delhi University in 1962.It sowed the seeds of distance and open learning in India.Sorry, I forgot to mention three more state open universities in India.They are:the Madhya Pradesh Bhoj open university, the Ahmedabad state open university, and the Karntaka state open university.One more state open university, in India is in the offing in the state of Nagaland.

A.S.Guha Indira Gandhi National Open University, Shillong,INDIA.

Re: Open Universities Australia merging suggestion[edit]

The article on Open Universities Australia is just ridiculous. It is actually copied verbatim from the OUA website, and should really not be permitted on Wikipedia at all, as they have not even bothered to phrase it as anything but a corny advertisement. Should be merged or removed, pronto. 203.52.129.250 12:29, 19 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Chinese article[edit]

The zh: article which I interwikied to is not actually entitled distance education, but something like "free floating universities" (slang for "Open Unis" in taiwan). Due to the crap nature of the Chinese wikipedia, I think this is the best place to link it, as it was previously incorrectly linked to the UK's open uni. 218.102.71.163 03:49, 5 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Succeeding in Distance/online education[edit]

I would like to add an entry for succeeding in distance/online learning based upon my Guide ([1]) under Distance Education but see that links are discouraged. Still I see a need for that type of information at least to get the conversation going. In addition there is a cluster map of the process. What to do? Josfl 17:32, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

We shouldn't link to that page as it is not providing analysis of Distance education but is providing advice. We aren't a howto site and external links should be kept to a minimum and only include sites that directly add something to the content of the article.-Localzuk(talk) 17:39, 26 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I believe that HowTo articles are a very important part of WikiPedia history and function in Wiki culture. I do agree with your suggestion that the link should probably be pointed as an external link to an object in WikiBooks. This would allow Josfl to contribute in a meaningful manner to the Wiki. My recommendation would be to start a textbook on success using DL at "http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page" Jacob M Metro 23:51, 14 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I disagree with your initial statement with regards to howto articles being an important part of Wikipedia history but I agree with your conclusion that such information could go into Wikibooks.-Localzuk(talk) 00:32, 15 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Accreditation[edit]

all ok

Engineering Learning .. External Links Addition[edit]

I would like to add a link to my engineering learning wiki, TechKnow. It provides references to engineering learning and reference content. There are no ads, no goal other that to help folks find content. I've maintained a blog on this subject for a number of years ... and have never included ads, etc. My focus is basically the same as Wikipedia's. Access to knowledge should be free.

Here is the link:

While I truly appreciate you asking in Talk about this link, I don't really see how it related to distance education. Can you please explain how the link is relevant to this article? --ElKevbo 16:38, 24 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sure ... Rich Hoeg here. I knew I was logged in, but given the note above, my signature must not get added automatically. In answer to your question, I manage technical education and engineering information services for Honeywell, and focus very heavily on providing access to engineering learning. I've become intrigued with wikis over the past few years, and have built my own internal wikis at Honeywell, attended Wikimania last year, and now have my own external wiki. 100% of the content / links on TechKnow relates to engineering distance learning. Under the various category headings such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineerng, etc you will find links to free engineering webinars, screencast tutorials, eBooks / manuals. The content is high quality ... from organizations like the IEE (Institute of Electrical Engineers), Oxford, Stanford, and many other schools and organizations. Thus, in the final analysis I am trying to help engineers find this content. However, I am just one person ... a wiki will help the knowledge be expanded. This is a personal effort, and does not relate (or link) to my employer.

Rich Hoeg —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rhoeg (talk • contribs) 17:39, August 24, 2007 (UTC)

Merger proposal for Online degrees[edit]

I ran across the article Online degrees, which is about aspects of the topic of distance learning in higher education, with a strong "how-to" component (see WP:NOT) and a heavy focus on the United States. I see the article as essentially redundant with this one, but I think there may be some content there that could be productively added to this article. Accordingly, I am proposing a merger. --Orlady (talk) 04:25, 29 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that Online degrees should be merged with distance learning. Online degrees directly relate to distance learning because that is the form in which one receives training. Paul82588 (talk) 16:04, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose: Online degree refers to certificates which can be obtained by studying through Internet. Distance education is a vast subject and it includes a variety of techniques. A major technique in distance education is delivering study material by post. Otolemur crassicaudatus (talk) 15:20, 29 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Alternative I proposed merging online degrees and virtual university which would address deficiencies in both articles.--Nowa (talk) 11:43, 22 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Listing Distance Education Platforms[edit]

I see there is a little conflict of the addition of a particular distance education platform to this article. If we are going to list distance education platforms in this article, there are certainly more which could be included.Mysteryquest (talk) 18:29, 8 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Merge with virtual education[edit]

The contents of virtual education could be absorbed into this article.--Nowa (talk) 11:57, 22 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I oppose conflating distance education with online (or virtual) education. The two ideas are related but different, a common mistake both of the articles seem to make. --ElKevbo (talk) 15:36, 22 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

South Africa[edit]

Can someone provide a citation for: "In South Africa, the University of South Africa became an almost exclusively distance education institution in 1946, after most of its constituent colleges became autonomous universities." please. Two IP editors have tried to introduce this statement into the article but it is unsourced. They have used exactly the same wording, so perhaps it is one person using 2 IPs or perhaps it is lifted from somewhere else. Thanks. Sitush (talk) 22:59, 11 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

History of correspondance courses[edit]

The history section should include information about older correspondence courses that didn't belong to University education; for example, correspondence courses in electronics were common after WW II (tip: check all occurrences of the terms "correspondence courses" at G.I. Bill. --Jorgen W (talk) 04:11, 23 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

rambling[edit]

this paragraph has no citations, poor grammar, and seems to be pure speculation. Communication is key between teacher and student in a Distance Education environment. Without key communication, the learning is not existent. The communication being used must be an effective communication device and a positive relationship with student and teacher. How often do the teacher and student need to communicate? Frequency of dialogue between teacher and student is still at discussion by many. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.167.244.17 (talk) 15:07, 3 September 2012 (UTC) [reply]

In case any one else wonders what this paragraph refers to, or how it got here, or what to do with it, the introductory part (13 words) is what would more conventionally be in the "edit summary" and the entire remainder is what was redacted. There is no remaining action to be taken on this, as it amounts to a completed on closed edit log. The absence of grammar and formatting had me misread it as a self-referential paradox. FeatherPluma (talk) 02:03, 9 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Philippines distance education[edit]

A few editors have recently added a rather extensive section about distance education in the Philippines. I don't think this material belongs in this article as the intention in this article is not to discuss distance education in particular countries but distance education broadly construed. Although I removed the material, another editor has added it back without discussion or substantive comment. I propose removing it again. Comments? ElKevbo (talk) 16:35, 20 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with you.-Nikolas Tales (talk) 00:41, 15 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Merging in controversial pieces from MOOC#Precursors[edit]

The Precursors section to MOOCs' history is a little long-winded, reads a bit like an essay, and contains lots of details that are not included in Distance education. I'll be merging in some of these details from the MOOC article, but I'm hoping someone else can take a look at some of the unreferenced parts and verify before inserting them in the Distance education article. Here they are:

The English language programme "Hello China" which delivered lessons to an estimated 4 million Chinese citizens via radio, Internet, a newspaper and mobile phones is considered by some to be the first MOOC. (Citation needed)

The United Kingdom's UKeU offered online university courses from 2003, but closed down within a year. Publicly funded, it cost £50m but attracted only 900 students, and was widely criticized as a dismal failure.(Citation needed)

→ozhu量 (talk·contribs) 15:56, 12 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I deleted them as unsourced. There have been thousands of distance ed programs, and to get included they have to be very early and wee sourced. Lines like "is considered by some to be" andf "was widely criticized as " wave the red flag because they reference unknown and unknowable people. Rjensen (talk) 16:41, 12 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Correspondence Schools[edit]

see: nationalschools_lesson.jpg, advertised in magazines like: Radio-News-1957-10
search: "National Schools" Figueroa "Los Angeles" 1905 Rosenkranz Xb2u7Zjzc32 (talk) 19:43, 12 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

New ref for the first paragraph in the history section[edit]

I have the digitalized Boston Gazette newspaper section of March 20th 1728, which would make for a way better reference then a book in which someone else just referenced the article. + In the newspaper you can read that Caleb Philipps was in fact not written with two 'L's (I'm not sure about the 'P's, because some spots of the newspaper are blotted out.

I have no idea how to upload a pdf to wikipedia though (I got mailed the pdf from a Librarian of the Library of Congress in the United States. So I don't have an official online link just the pdf.

I uploaded the file to TinyUpload.com: http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=00009262694269252460 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2003:66:6927:F00:5449:7C58:74A3:4667 (talk) 17:04, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

You can use the tools bar on the left to upload the PDF file, and then paste a copy of that advertisement on the page. Please do not delete the citation to a reliable secondary source; That is where the information comes from, and Wikipedia prefers Secondary sources over original Primary sources. Do not upload the entire newspaper, just crop the advertisement and enlarge it so it is legible. Rjensen (talk) 18:29, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks will try that now. (The newspaper pdf is only 2 pages long: The first page (With the header of the Boston Gazette) and the page with the ad in question. Shouldn't I keep it that way to provide a reference to the origin?)John Robert Westman (talk) 19:55, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Can't upload the file yet, since this is a new account (First time trying to contribute to wikipedia) John Robert Westman (talk) 20:01, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
just crop the ad. the caption of the illustration can give the newspaper name & date. Rjensen (talk) 20:49, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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New topic suggestion[edit]

We should add the section "During the Coronavirus outbreak".

Discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject COVID-19 § Online education articles are a mess of forks[edit]

 You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject COVID-19 § Online education articles are a mess of forks. {{u|Sdkb}} talk 07:26, 16 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Open University[edit]

I added a paragraph referring to the institution in my country. If this is not deemed relevant to the article please revert my edit. Otherwise, I do see the importance of improving the main page regarding Open Universities. --Sabaybayin (talk) 21:18, 4 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Propose a "List of Educational Freemium Websites"[edit]

I have become aware of two "freemium" websites, both of which have articles here:

-- OpenClassrooms (French)

-- Duolingo

Freemium is an article as well.

I suggest that an article "List of Educational Freemium Websites" would be useful.

2601:8A:C180:70:C1C:215B:BAD8:FAF0 (talk) 07:53, 27 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

"List of Distance Education Universities in India"[edit]

I spotted this article: List of Distance Education Universities in India

I suggest that similar American and British lists would be helpful.

2601:8A:C180:70:C1C:215B:BAD8:FAF0 (talk) 07:55, 27 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Gap in history[edit]

There seems to be a large gap in history between "Open University" and "COVID-19" I think it might be worthwhile to add a section on online degrees, and online courses that are not from open universities.

SemicolonExpected (talk) 05:47, 17 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 18:08, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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