Summary
- Challenges facing distance education
- Guidelines to overcome these challenges
The advancements in technology have made distance education a reality. Today, anyone from across the globe can attend a class in another part of the world.
Although distance education has become popular in recent times, it does not come without its hardships and obstacles. Unlike regular learning or in-classroom education, distance learning has a few challenges.
A research study conducted and published in International Council for Open and Distance Education revealed three main categories, which comprise internal, external, and program-related challenges.
These challenges are found to be generally interrelated. Additionally, the review yielded a classification of the challenges faced by adult learners in online distance education.
It was also demonstrated that the challenges perceived by adults depend on individual characteristics such as age, gender, knowledge, skills, and context.
Below we have tried to lay down some of the challenges of distance learning and how to overcome them.
Distance Education Challenges
1. Low Academic Standards
In a regular class, students can interact with teachers face to face. Students can clear doubts and ask questions directly.
Whereas in distance education, students are not able to meet teachers face to face. The interaction between teachers and students in online education is minimal or sometimes wholly absent.
The absence of this interaction can lead to low academic standards. This is one of the major distance education challenges.
2. Levels of Discipline Are Not Maintained
One of the most significant features of regular schooling is the instilling of discipline and decorum amongst the students.
Students are taught to behave in a particular manner in a classroom. In a regular class, students are expected to behave in a particular manner and dress according to the school or university rules.
On the other hand, this discipline is completely absent when it comes to distance education. Teachers are unable to maintain discipline amongst the students.
Teachers often find students, shabbily dressed, sitting in unruly manners, and not maintaining the same decorum as in a regular class.
Students do not take distance education as seriously as regular education because of the lack of teachers’ ability to reprimand students for any wrongdoing, from a distance
This is one of the biggest challenges of distance education.
3. Network Availability
Today, distance education is mostly dependent on the availability of internet facilities and power.
Without a good internet connection, it has become almost impossible to enroll in any distance education course. This dependency on the internet has become one of the major challenges facing distance education.
Especially in underdeveloped or developing countries where internet facilities are not fully efficient, distance education is a major issue.
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4. Absence of Peers
Friends and peers are who encourage the students to achieve goals in a classroom. In regular education, there is competition, disappointment, and communication. As a student, all these are required to achieve your academic goals.
However, in distance education courses, there are no friends or peers around. You can say that the fight is your own.
With the absence of friends and classmates, there may be no motivation to do well. The urge to compete is completely lost.
The feeling of isolation can work negatively on the minds of students.
5. Lack of Instant Feedback
Another distance education challenge is the lack of instant feedback. Students cannot get an immediate correction of submissions.
In distance education, physical copies of submissions are usually sent by post. It requires a few days for postal distance coverage.
This means that students will not get immediate feedback on their submissions. This may result in the loss of interest amongst the students.
6. Misuse of Technology
As distance education courses are now mostly online, many students tend to misuse technology. Software programs can run simultaneously in the background of your computer screens.
This gives students access to various other screens and videos while attending distance education classes. Misusing technology is another challenge of distance education.
7. Distractions
In distance education courses, teachers may be unable to completely hold the student’s attention. This may be due to several reasons like bad connectivity, limitations of online classes, etc. Students may not be as attentive in a distance learning class as a regular in-person class.
In distance education courses, students are usually in the comfort of their homes. This also means that family and friends surround the students at all times. This can be a distraction to students who attend distance learning programs.
Also, there may be a lack of a conducive environment to study in a distance education program.
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8. Inability to Create the Right Balance
One of the biggest advantages of distance learning is the fact that students can enroll in these courses while working.
However, this can also prove to be the greatest challenge of distance education, when students are unable to strike the right balance between work and the course.
Many students may not be able to simultaneously work and complete the distance education course which may result in the student not being able to do justice to both.
There may be a lack of support from the workplace which results in the student’s inability to attend or complete distance education courses. Students may feel overburdened with work and incapable of pursuing the online course.
9. Not Being Tech-Savvy
Another one of the challenges facing distance education is the problem of students being computer illiterate. This is one of the more recent challenges of distance education because of the recent online shift in distance education.
Some students or adults taking up distance education courses may not be tech-savvy, leaving them high and dry when it comes to online submissions and classes.
10. Lack of Study Material
Though many distance education programs provide books and study material to students, some courses may not adequately provide the right material for students to refer to and study. This is a challenge facing distance education.
Tips to Overcome Challenges Of Distance Education
Now that we have seen some of the challenges of distance learning, we can now list out certain guidelines to overcome these shortcomings or challenges.
1. Preparation
There must be preparation from both the university and the students before enrolling for a distance education course.
From the universities side, the university must be aware of the needs and requirements of the course. The university must make certain that the college can fulfill all the requirements before embarking on announcing the program.
From a student’s point of view, it is necessary to ensure that you can attend and fulfill all the requirements of the course.
The requirements may range from scheduling classes, creating a conducive atmosphere to learn, fees, course material, etc.
Students must make certain that they can complete the distance education course without any hindrance.
2. Employing Interactive Session
Tutors or teachers in a distance education program must devise interesting and fun methods to capture the attention of the students.
Proactive classes will not only engage students in a class but will also keep them away from distractions.
3. Improving Technology
One of the challenges facing distance education is the problem of the internet and the network, improving technology is one of the ways to overcome these technical challenges.
Technology is constantly changing and developing. Distance education programs must adapt to the changes and implement the positive changes in technology through the courses.
Software for easy submissions of transcripts, proactive online breakout rooms, etc is some of the positive developments in distance education over the years.
4. Share Resources with Students
As mentioned above, one of the challenges of distance education is the lack of study material for the courses. We can overcome this problem by providing the right resources to students.
5. Provide a Personalized Class to Students
Distance education can be more effective if tutors were able to have one-to-one classes with students.
Though such classes may not always be possible, this can be made possible through proper scheduling of personalized classes once or twice a week.
Conclusion
Distance education or distance learning is here to stay. With technology making giant advancements in the field, it is not long before we see brick and mortar classrooms being made into virtual backgrounds.
The challenges facing distance learning can easily be overcome through proper planning.
