13.8 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Distance education programs will continue to grow both in the United States and abroad. One of the reason for this growth is related to the ever growing global need for an educated workforce combined with financial constraints of established educational systems. Distance education offers life-long learning potential to working adults and will play a significant part in educating societies around the world. Distance education will become of far greater importance in the United States in the years ahead because it is so cost efficient and because it allows for independent learning by working adults. If society is to cope with this growing need for an educated workforce, distance education must continue to make its place in the educational community.

A lthough distance education has been difficult to establish in a number of European countries, influential networks are being established to facilitate future growth. The European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) have combined with Eurostep (which organizes educational television across Europe using satellite) and the Budapest Platform (providing satellite television to central and eastern countries) to develop a system of distance education programs throughout Europe. Distance education programs will become major components facilitating economic progress throughout the world.

Future research should focus on establishing theoretical frameworks as a basis for research, and should examine the interactions of technology with teaching and learning. Researchers should address issues of achievement, motivation, attrition, and control.

Distance education is no longer viewed as a marginal educational activity. Instead, it is regarded internationally as a viable and cost effective way of providing individualized instruction. Recent developments in technology are erasing the lines between traditional and distance learners as more students have the opportunity to work with multimedia designed for individual and interactive learning. Print, once was the primary method of instructional delivery, is now taking a backseat to modern interactive technologies.

The content of future research should:

• Move beyond media comparison studies
• Examine the characteristics of the distance learner and investigate the collaborative effects of media attributes and cognition
• Explore the relationship between media and the socio- cultural construction of knowledge
• Identify course design elements effective in interactive learning systems
• Contribute to a shared international research database
• Examine the cultural effects of technology and courseware transfer in distance education programs

Research methodologies should:

• Avoid micro-analyses Progress beyond early descriptive studies
• Generate a substantive research base by conducting longitudinal and collaborative studies
• Identify and develop appropriate conceptual frameworks from related disciplines such as cognitive psychology, social learning theory, critical theory, communication theory and social science theories
• Conduct thorough qualitative studies which identify the combination of personal, social and educational elements that create a successful environment for the independent learner
• Combine qualitative and experimental methodologies, where appropriate, to enrich research findings. Technology may be driving the rapid rise in popularity of distance education , but it is the well designed instructional situation which allows the learner to interact with the technology in the construction of knowledge. It is the effective interaction of instructor, student and delivery system that affords distance education its prominence within the educational community. Distance education can offer the opportunity for a research based, practical, integration of technology, instruction and instructor creating a successful educational package.