Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 2242

Distance Education: Internet Tool Selection Process

Halvard E. Nystrom, Diego Rodriguez University of Missouri - Rolla

ABSTRACT

New audio, visual and textual communication technologies, both synchronous and asynchronous, allow instruction in ways and places that were previously not available. Numerous new choices are becoming available for the engineering educator, but the high rate of introduction is making it difficult to select among the different tools. To help in this respect, this methodology encourages engineering instructors to identify what factors should be considered during the design of distance education experiences through the internet and other low-budget supporting media. The focus is on the educational objectives that are sought in these educational interactions and the motivational objectives to energize the students. To test out the application it is applied to the design of an actual educational interaction between the University of Missouri - Rolla and Cibertec Institute of Technology in Lima, Peru, to be held in April, 1997 and a brief description of the interaction plan is included to further describe this process.

INTRODUCTION

The advent of internet tools and the widespread distribution of the internet are opening new windows of opportunities for engineering educators. These new low-budget tools allow for more choices with regards to how, when and where information is shared between the instructor and the students, with promising results. Most of the distance education research has found that students in well-designed distance education courses perform as well as students in well- designed traditional courses1. At the same time the need is rising for instructors to find more economical methods to educate students. These are the driving forces behind the frantic development of new distance education tools which are revolutionizing the education industry.

METHODOLOGY

The methodology, shown in Figure 1, links the educational and motivational objectives of an educational interaction with appropriate educational techniques and delivery media. This interaction can constitute an entire course or seminar, or specific functions within the course. It is important to recognize that different delivery media can and often should be utilized to simultaneously achieve a number of the educational objectives.

The key to this approach is the identification of the educational and motivational objectives of the interaction. Once these objectives are clear, the selection of the educational methods and the delivery media are greatly simplified. The educational method is the approach that is used to

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Nystrom, H. E., & Rodriguez, D. (1997, June), Distance Education: Internet Tool Selection Process Paper presented at 1997 Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 10.18260/1-2--6518