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RESEARCH PAPER
North American University
Education Department
M.Ed. in EDLE & CUIN
EDUC 5324: INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO EDUCATION
Name: Ersoy OSANC (MODIFIED) Date: 03 / 08 /2019
TOPIC: Traditionally, distance education courses lack face-to-face interaction.
What are the consequences of lack of interaction in distance education? What can
be done to increase interaction in distance education so that same type of
learning can occur with face-to-face learning?

1. LITERATURE REVIEW:

Brief History:
Distant education has a long history. In the recent centuries, it took the form of
correspondence of letters, then the exchange of the books and documents. Then with
the development of technology, TV broadcasts, then partially phone communications
became the means. And finally with the outburst of internet, distance education has
made a breakthrough, ending up in the form of Online Education, while the Traditional
Education still proceeds on its own pace. Today distance education is directly
understood as online education, which bifurcates into two styles: Synchronous
(Instructor and the students are online simultaneously) and Asynchronous Online
Education (there is no synchronized immediate communication taking place).
In this review study, we want to cast light on one of the drawbacks of online education,
using some sources from several literatures: Lack of face-to-face communication.

LITERATURE REVIEW:
Students are the receiving part. So, most of the time they may need the attention and
encompassing warmth of the tutor. Sense of isolation when accompanied with more
required effort in online education compared to its counterpart, can be a frustration:
• It is true that online learners do spend more time physically separated from their
classmates than their brick-and-mortar counterparts.
In order to resolve this; classroom blogs may be an effective way to overcome feelings
of frustration and isolation by providing an engaging and interactive forum for
students, and supporting the emergence of individual voices in that environment. All
of the students participating in the study confirmed positive experiences with using
blogs and most believed that it reduced feelings of isolation (Dickey, 2004).
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In distant education, feeling the perpetual control of the educational setting or the
tutor within, could be an assurance for the student to keep in the track:
• With no faculty around for face-to-face interaction and no classmates who can help
with constant reminders about pending assignments, the chances of getting
distracted and losing track of deadlines are high.
In order to resolve this; you need to keep yourself motivated and focused if you want
to successfully complete your distance learning course (Nishatha Abraham Bijeesh).

On the other hand, the both parties should maintain the awareness of the factors
establishing a healthy education:
• Although ‘anonymity’ can be an advantage, Online Courses do not embody
‘Conversational Language’ in their courses. So instructors may ignore student
affective states in online discussions which can be harmful. On the other hand,
ignorance of learning preferences and personal traits are two of the eight factors
affecting learning.
In order to resolve this; A community of learners must be established by setting up
study groups. Accommodating and modeling effective communications, initial and/or
periodic face-to-face meetings. Additionally, online courses must be designed to meet
learner expectations and cognitive styles. Because students value and appreciate the
discussion (Grandzol, and Grandzol, 2006).

As you see, communication is vital. Besides, it is accepted by many and proven to be

true that education must be tailored almost for each individual. Even while the face-
to-face education cannot cope with this phenomenon, it is a matter of curiosity that
how the online education will be able to fill this gap:
• Online education is a one-size-fits-all endeavor. It tends to be a monologue and not a
real dialogue. The Internet teacher, even one who responds to students via e-mail,
can never have the immediacy of contact that the teacher on the scene can, with his
sensitivity to unspoken moods and enthusiasms. This is particularly true of online
courses for which the lectures are already filmed and in the can (Edmundson, 2012).

Additional to what have been cited above, maybe the weirdest facet of the online
education is the pattern that the students are obliged to interact with virtually ‘a
screen’, not with a ‘real person’:
• It is not the same as the traditional classrooms where the teachers can get the
feedback instantly from the reflection of students like asking questions. For example,
in online teaching, students just look at the screen, so the instructors do not have the
connection of nonverbal with students like eye contact. Students may not regard
teachers as a ‘real’ person. (Martin & Taylor, 1997).
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In order to resolve this; since the interaction is the key point of distance teaching and
when students can participate more they can study more and better; then depending
upon the courses, the teachers should choose what kind of interaction is needed, like
single way (asynchronous), two-ways (synchronous), multi-ways, in order to keep
teaching the most effectively. The method needs skills. Teachers had better accept
some training programs, and then know to keep the interaction most. (Chen, 1997;
Findley & Findley, 1997).

2. REFLECTION:

I agree with the researchers and the authors about the major drawbacks of distant
(online) education concerning the insufficiency of communication, and its psychological
thereby educational conclusions. The quality of interpersonal relations between the
students and the instructor is under the ideal level even in the synchronous online
education. In my opinion it is mostly because of the existence of the very self of the
‘technology’ as an intermediary tool, rather than the shortcomings of the same tool.
If I want to bring up an example, I can speak of my current master’s program in NAU. Yes
currently I am enrolled and proceeding in a master’s program, and I am taking the
courses online, from at least 7000 km away. There has always been a sense of isolation
and a creepy self-containment all the time since the beginning, mostly because of taking
the instructions and assignments from a person whom there is a fixed inability to see
and interact with. We use Moodle which is a well-developed software to maintain the
courses, however the sophistication of this WEB 2.0 tool only seems to increase the
level of the isolation.
This research definitely elaborated my understanding of the online education. It became
an eye-opener. Conceptually speaking, the approach of traditional distant education
definitely fits to some people who have some certain kind of approach to the education,
but not to a person of my make. If I ever happen to be an instructor in an online course,
as long as the setting and the regulations permit I plan to try to seek further
opportunities of more interpersonal interactions with my students.
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3. REFERENCES:

1) Dickey, M.D. (2004). The impact of web-logs on student perceptions of isolation and
alienation in a web-based distance-learning environment. Open Learning19(3), 279–291.
2) Nishatha, A.B. Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Learning,
http://www.indiaeducation.net/online-education/articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-
distance-learning.html .
3) Grandzol, JR. & Grandzol, CJ. (2006). Best practices for on line and business education.
The International Review of research and open and distant learning, 7 (1).
4) Edmundson, M. (2012). The Trouble With Online Education. New York Times of the New
York edition with the headline: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/opinion/the-trouble-with-
online-education.html .

5) Martin, M. & Taylor, S.A. (1997). The virtual classroom: The next steps. Educational
Technology, 51-55.
6) Chen, L. (1997). Distance delivery systems in terms of pedagogical considerations: A
Reevaluation. Educational Technology, 34-37.
7) Findley, B. & Findley, D. (1997). Strategies for effective distance education. Contemporary
Education, 68, 118-120.