Challenges Of Distance Education

Distance education (DE) has evolved over centuries and its one distinctive characteristic was, and still is, the physical separation between the delivering institution and students (Heydenrych & Prinsloo, 2010; Moiler, 1998; Moore & Kearsely, 2012, p. 1). DE is first and foremost a movement that sought not so much to challenge or change the structure of higher learning, but to extend the traditional university and to overcome its inherent problems of scarcity and exclusivity (Dianne, 1999). Among reasons cited for introducing DE are: increasing access to learning and training as a matter of equity, providing opportunities for updating skills of the workforce, improving the cost effectiveness of educational resources, improving the quality of

This kind of learning was based on sending the printed material and audio and video taped through the postal mail and broadcasting through the radio, television and telephone conferences (Moore & Kearsley, 2005). This generation featured more interaction. Evans and Nation (2003) declared that “The emergence and success of the British Open University in the 1970s signalled that distance education could hold a preeminent place in higher education nationally and internationally” (p. 789). The fourth generation was based on the teleconferencing technology that appeared in the United States in the 1980s. One-way video and two-way audio communications were used at this stage. In the 1990s, two-way video-conferencing was used broadly to enhance live interaction in distance learning. This generation featured three types of interactions. The three types of interactions are learner-content interaction, learner-instructor interaction, and learner-learner interaction. These three types of interaction are believed to develop effective teaching (Moore & Kearsley, 2005). The latter two generations were characterized by using both methods of communication, synchronous and asynchronous. In 1992, online virtual classes started. This is considered the fastest growing method of education. This generation created more chances for interaction and collaboration in the learning process (Moore & Kearsley, 2005). The first four generations represent distance education. The last one represents both online learning and distance education. In fact, online learning is the digital baby of distance learning. Teng (2005) and Tu (2001) confirm that online learning which is the fifth and current generation of distance learning encourages globalisation which in turn pushes researchers to carry out more studies in this field (Hlas et al.,