Distance Education Research Research Articles

Maintaining Core Values in Postgraduate Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The novel coronavirus identified in 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted pharmacy graduate and postgraduate education. This crisis has resulted in a cosmic shift in the administration of these programs to ensure core values are sustained. Adjustments may be needed at a minimum to ensure that postgraduate trainees complete program requirements while maintaining safety. Moving forward, additional issues may arise that will need to be addressed such as admissions and program onboarding, acclimating students to new training environments, and managing inadequate resources for distance education, distance practice, and remote versus in-person research opportunities.

Qualitative research paradigm

A number of researchers have commented on the death of substantive research within the field of management, education, social science and other related disciplines. The plea to use experimental type of research has interestingly been the major area of concentration by most modern researchers. This paper outlines an alternative methodology known as the qualitative research paradigm. More recently an overview of distance education research showed that more than 80% are identified as having used qualitative methods. The qualitative research is seen as a research methodology that engages in research that probes for deeper understanding and insight rather than examine surface features. This paper outlines the key characteristics of the qualitative research methodology and further discusses the reasons for its selection by most students in distance open learning. There is a growing body of literature devoted to qualitative research and some of which is synthesized in this paper for the benefit of researchers and educational practitioners. The goal of this desktop research is to elaborate on and present on the major reasons for using qualitative methodologies and also to provide a basic introduction to the features of this type of research which is commonly used by distance education students.

Shifting the focus from motivated learners to motivating distributed environments: a review of 40 years of published motivation research in Distance Education

ABSTRACTThis article reviews motivation research published in Distance Education since 1980, highlighting the major foci of investigation and reflecting on past findings. A major trend was that past research has focused predominantly on learners’ motivational attributes using sociocognitive models of motivation. We therefore have developed a good understanding of motivating variables such as self-efficacy and their power in engaging learners. However, this can be problematic because sociocognitive research situates motivation within an individualistic paradigm with limited attention given to examining whether learning supports and instructional designs in open and distance learning mediate and motivate learning engagement. Building on the review, this article seeks to shift the research attention from whether learners are motivated to crafting an open and distance learning system that is motivating and engaging by tapping into multiple motivation sources available beyond the confines of an individualistic frame.

The Intellectual Structure of Knowledge in the Field of Distance Education Using the Co-Word analyses

Background: Co- word analysis is one of the content analysis methods used in scientometric studies and mapping the scientific structure of various fields. The purpose of the present research is to map the structure of distance education using the co-word analysis. Methods: The research method is content analysis using co- word analysis. The research population are 31607 documents indexed in the field of distance education domain in the Web of Science database from 1985 to 2016. For data analysis, the UCInet and BibExcel softwares have been used. In this research, the symmetric matrix as well as the cluster analysis and the strategic diagram was used for analyzing the data. Results: The findings showed that the concepts of electronic learning and blended learning had the highest frequency in distance education research. The pairs of e-learning- blended learning, e-learning-education and training, and higher education-e-learning with 446, 328, and 302 word co-occurrences respectively, and took the first to third places in the field of distance education studies. Findings on hierarchical clustering led to the formation of 13 clusters in this field. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that based on the co- word analysis, the structure of the distance education is composed of thirteen clusters as follows: “The process of designing e-learning environments”, “E-literacy”, “The role of information and communication technologies in the process of teaching and learning”, “Strengthening the process of virtual teaching and learning”, “Educational scenario”, “educational planning” and “Individual learning style” and “Learning and teaching quality”, “Human interaction in the virtual environment”, “educational feedback”, “Educational system”, and Miscellaneous. Newly emerged fields of distance education include “human interaction in the virtual environment”, “educational feedback”, and “learning system”.

The Student Experience of Distance Education over Time – A Research Challenge

Introduction This brief essay provides a context for Penelope Rush’s research article titled “Isolation and connection: The experience of distance education” (2015). My aim is to highlight what to me are the two main highlights of this article and their importance to the field of distance education research: a refreshing focus on the sadly neglected field of early distance education research, and welcome attention to the student experience in distance education as a valid area to theorize in ...

Analysis and Enlightenment of the Present Situation of Rural Distance Education Research in China

Analysis and Enlightenment of the Present Situation of Rural Distance Education Research in China

Introduction to <i>Open Praxis</i> volume 10 issue 3

This third Open Praxis issue in 2018 includes seven research papers and a book review. These contributions by sixteen authors from various countries (Canada, Turkey, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Pakistan, Australia/United Kingdom, Timor-Leste and the United States of America) explain their research and experiences in open, distance and flexible education.

Mapping the Open Education Landscape: Citation Network Analysis of Historical Open and Distance Education Research

The term open education has recently been used to refer to topics such as Open Educational Resources (OERs) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Historically its roots lie in civil approaches to education and open universities, but this research is rarely referenced or acknowledged in current interpretations. In this article the antecedents of the modern open educational movement are examined, as the basis for connecting the various strands of research. Using a citation analysis method the key references are extracted and their relationships mapped. This work reveals eight distinct sub-topics within the broad open education area, with relatively little overlap. The implications for this are discussed and methods of improving inter-topic research are proposed.

An Analysis of the Structure and Evolution of the Distance Education Research Area Community in Terms of Coauthorships

This article aims at characterizing the research community of Distance Education (DE) with respect to coauthorship, a special kind of collaboration among researchers, according to publications of 11 relevant DE journals. This article identified who the central researchers are, the topological properties of the coauthorship networks analyzed, the coauthorship patterns of each journal and the evolution of the DE community in the last 30 years. In order to achieve these goals, Social Network Analysis (SNA) was used, deriving centrality metrics, which depict the importance of researchers in the networks. This study found out that researchers who publish more papers are not necessarily the ones considered more central according to SNA. Besides, promising researchers, those linked to central researchers and are considered more likely to coauthor papers in the near future. Different coauthorship patterns among journals are described. Finally, a steep increase in the number of publications and coauthorships in the last decades was observed.

Review and Content Analysis of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance/Distributed Learning (2000–2015)

<p class="3">This paper presents a review of distance education literature published in the <em>International Review of Research in Open and Distance/Distributed Learning</em> (IRRODL) to describe the status thereof and to identify gaps and priority areas in distance education research based on a validated classification of research areas. All articles (<em>N </em>= 580) published between 2000 and 2015 were reviewed for this study. An analysis of abstracts using the text-mining tool Leximancer over three 5-year periods reveals the following broad themes over the three periods: the establishment of online learning and distance education institutions (2000–2005), widening access to education and online learning support (2006–2010), and the emergence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Open Educational Resources (OER) (2011–2015). The analysis auf publication and authorship patterns revealed that IRRODL is a very international journal with a high impact in terms of citations.</p>

Sandcastle competitions

This commentary discusses reasons that lead scholars to feel entitled to make judgements in areas where they have little or no expertise. Three current reports about the future of online learning are considered, issued by the Global Learning Council, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Gates Foundation. Two of these publications contain contradictions and confusion that may simply be due to lack of awareness of distance education (DE) and online learning research. The third report gives good evidence but has been criticized for being too academic. The conflicting standards and criteria evident in such writings may be due to institutional pressures to promote policies and principles despite lack of supportive evidence, and to weaknesses in the DE literature itself. As major institutional policies about online learning are likely to be based on the recommendations of such reports, it is important for DE specialists to challenge them where appropriate.

Mapping research trends from 35 years of publications in Distance Education

This article maps out trends in distance education research and scholarship from 35 years of publications in the Distance Education journal. Titles and abstracts of 515 full papers were analyzed using the text-mining tool LeximancerTM to identify and describe themes in distance education research covered by these publications in the journal over the period 1980–2014. Analysis of titles and abstracts over 5-year periods reveals the following broad emerging themes over the seven time periods: professionalization and institutional consolidation (1980–1984), instructional design and educational technology (1985–1989), quality assurance in distance education (1990–1994), student support and early stages of online learning (1995–1999), the emergence of the virtual university (2000–2004), collaborative learning and online interaction patterns (2005–2009), and interactive learning, MOOCs and OERs (2010–2014). The place of these themes within waves of alternating institutional and individual research is discussed.

REVIEW: Trends And Issues In Distance Education: International Perspectives, Second Edition

Over the last decade, the field of distance education (and e-learning) has substantially strengthened and assumed a more international scope. There has been an impressive growth in the conceptual, empirical and experiential foundations of the field. Trends and Issues in Distance Education: International Perspectives (2nd Ed) captures a representative snapshot of the breadth of current global trends and issues in distance education theory, research, and practice. Through 21 chapters (from over 30 international authors), the book documents new developments in distance education scholarship and practice, presenting a diverse set of viewpoints on the trends and issues affecting this increasingly central discipline. The book is for researchers, practitioners, and students. Chapters speak to the many creative ways in which distance education addresses learning and human development needs around the world. They focus on distance education in dissimilar settings that extend beyond the limitations of the dominating paradigms of the highly developed economies. Contributing authors touch upon conceptual as well as practical issues. They critically reflect on both large- and small-scale distance education initiatives, discussing the use of everything from the most advanced technologies (e.g., 3-D computing) to the most rudimentary technologies (e.g., wind-up radios) (Quated Amazon Pages)

The Development of Distance Education Systems in Turkey, the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia

Abstract In many countries, open and distance education is perceived as a way to meet the growing need for higher education. This paper explores the development of online and distance education in three countries that are still a white spot on the landscape of international distance education research although they have implemented elaborated distance education systems: Turkey, Russia and Saudi-Arabia. In order to understand the current state of distance education systems in the three countries, their respective systems are described from a historical perspective, compared in regard to their organization, important institutions for open and distance education and current developments. This comparative analysis directs the focus on little investigated education systems and contributes to an enhanced understanding of their past, present, and future.

Innovation, research and best practice in open and distance education

This last 2015 issue of Open Praxis brings together eight articles. First five contributions were awarded an ICDE prize for Innovation and Best Practice in the field of open and distance education (second edition). The three last papers were submitted to Open Praxis following the regular process.

Trends in distance education research: A content analysis of journals 2009-2013

<p>This study intends to explore the current trends in the field of distance education research during the period of 2009-2013. The trends were identified by an extensive review of seven peer reviewed scholarly journals: <em>The American Journal of Distance Education</em> (AJDE), <em>Distance Education</em> (DE), <em>The European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning</em> (EURODL), <em>The Journal of Distance Education</em> (JDE), <em>The Journal of Online Learning and Technology</em> (JOLT), <em>Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning</em> (OL) and <em>The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning</em> (IRRODL). A total of 861 research articles was reviewed. Mainly content analysis was employed to be able to analyze the current research. Also, a social network analysis (SNA) was used to interpret the interrelationship between keywords indicated in these articles. Themes were developed and the content of the articles in the selected journals were coded according to categories derived from earlier studies. The results were interpreted using descriptive analysis (frequencies) and social network analysis. The reporting of the results were organized into the following categories: research areas, theoretical and conceptual frameworks, variables, methods, models, strategies, data collection and analysis methods, and the participants. The study also identified the most commonly used keywords, and the most frequently cited authors and studies in distance education. The findings obtained in this study may be useful in the exploration of potential research areas and identification of neglected areas in the field of distance education. </p>

Detecting bias in meta-analyses of distance education research: big pictures we can rely on

This article has two interrelated purposes. The first is to explain how various forms of bias, if introduced during any stage of a meta-analysis, can provide the consumer with a misimpression of the state of a research literature. Five of the most important bias-producing aspects of a meta-analysis are presented and discussed. Second, armed with this information, we examine 15 meta-analyses of the literatures of distance education (DE), online learning (OL), and blended learning (BL), conducted from 2000 to 2014, with the intention of assessing potential sources of bias in each. All of these meta-analyses address the question: “How do students taking courses through DE, OL, and BL compare to students engaged in pure classroom instruction in terms of learning achievement outcomes?” We argue that questions asked by primary researchers must change to reflect issues that will drive improvements in designing and implementing DE, OL, and BL courses.

Online and Distance Education Demands Researchers Pick a Topic and Get to Work

Online and distance educations continues to grow as a field, attracting students and educators from various disciplines and cultural backgrounds. Despite, a growing interest in online education, many argue there is a need for deliberate, well-informed research that helps in the continued development of the field. "Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda," edited by Olaf Zawacki-Richter and Terry Anderson, attempts to bring a renewed energy to online and distance education (ODEL) research by inviting a number of experts to discuss issues impacting this sector of education today.

Influence of academic self-regulation, critical thinking, and age on online graduate students’ academic help-seeking

Academic help-seeking is an invaluable learning strategy that has not yet received much attention in the distance education research literature. The asynchronous nature of distance education and many online courses presents an inherent roadblock to help-seeking. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of academic self-regulation, critical thinking, and age on online graduate students’ help-seeking. Results indicate that these variables did significantly influence help-seeking, and that as self-regulation and critical thinking increased so did help-seeking. However, as age increased, help-seeking decreased. These results and implications for practice are discussed.

Learning through reflection: Supervising DRC master’s degree students within the open distance and learning context

The internationalisation of higher education is a global imperative that impacts on students and supervision practices in various ways. Culture and language diversity, as well as the characteristics of the students themselves in Open and Distance Learning, have been given little attention and the impact is not always taken into account. When implementing a scholarship development programme across language borders, factors such as culture and socio-economic background need to be taken into account because both can have an effect on the supervisory practices and success of such a programme. Supervision in a language not understood by the supervisor and the master’s degree students in the DRC challenged traditional western methodologies and paradigms. A qualitative narrative reflection was therefore undertaken to both critically reflect on the challenges encountered and initiate innovative ideas. Indeed, I can say that, in my supervisory practice, the western body of knowledge was challenged. As a result, new research methodology initiatives to improve distance education research supervision had to be initiated and implemented.