February 15, 2004
Print and radio technology
Lenora Giles
Distance education uses a number of communication technologies to deliver content to students. This paper will define two historical distance education technologies; print and radio, and discuss two key features common to both technologies. One key feature is that they are accessible and familiar to a wide learning audience. Another feature is that neither technology alone facilitates interaction between student and teacher without careful design and presentation. The issue of terminology used in distance education will also be analyzed. The paper will conclude by identifying the most important issue that emerges from the analysis and why it is the most important.
The first courses offered by distance education were correspondence study based on print technology. Printed course materials were delivered to students via the postal system. According to O’Rourke (2000, p. 49), print technology is defined as:
“paper-based learning materials using words, images, graphics, and photographs presented in a visual format and captured on a permanent one-dimensional surface that can be used for individual and group learning with or without the presence of an instructor and in formal or informal learning context.”
Moore (1996) further identifies printed course materials as textbooks, manuals, course notes and study guides. Print materials can be used as the main method of delivering content or in addition to other media. Two key features of print are that it is accessible and familiar to a wide audience of learners and, that while it does allow student to content interaction, it does not, by itself, facilitate interaction between student and teacher.
Print technology is a universally recognized learning medium that is accessible and comfortable for literate students. It is also a traditional technology that is familiar to teachers who use it to develop and deliver coursework alone or as a supplement to other media (Moore, 1996, p. 79). Print is the dominant technology in all forms of teaching and learning, requires no special equipment to use and is easily transported (Bates, 1995, p. 117). According to Bates (1995, p. 118) print maintains its importance and accessibility because of its standardization, the low cost of mail delivery services, the infrastructure of the publishing industry, and its wide area of marketing and distribution.
Print technology can support interaction between the student and materials but is not as effective for teacher to student interaction. According to O’Rouke (2000, p. 50), students can interact with print technology and learn from print through the content presented, learn with print in the form of study guides, and learn beside print by recording ideas and notes. Facilitating interaction between the learner and teacher requires effective materials design and presentation as well as use of other media such as telephone, email, fax or letters to stimulate two-way communication.
Bates (1995, p. 139) and Maskow (2000, p. 62-63), define educational radio as broadcasts used in distance education to air public information and to deliver both formal and informal learning content. Radio requires no special skills or training for students to operate but development of course materials requires a team of technical and teaching professionals (Maskow, p. 62-63). Two key features of radio are that it is a universally known technology accessible to more people than any other single technology and that it is a one-way communication technology that does not facilitate interaction and participation between teacher and student.
Radio is more accessible than other technology worldwide because most households around the world, including in developing nations, own radios (Bates, 2000, p. 139). According to Maskow (2000, p. 62 -63), year 2000 data available from the Radio Advertising Bureau show high radio listening levels in the United States:
The lack of technology infrastructures in poor areas and developing countries like Latin America, make radio an accessible, low cost medium to serve disenfranchised populations (Maskow, 2000, p. 66; Bates, 1995, p. 139). Illiteracy and language barriers also makes it an accessible delivery method in distance education because illiterate learners or learners who cannot understand a foreign language cannot use print technology. Programs like the Farm Radio Program developed in Canada in 1941 show that educational radio provides informal education in developing countries using local language covering subjects such as family planning, nutrition, and agriculture (Nwearondu and Thompson, 1987). Radio literacy schools in Latin America and school radio programs in Australia are examples of the use of radio in areas were learners are isolated and literacy skills are needed (Bates, 1995, p.169).
Teacher to learner interactivity is a challenge for radio because it is a one-way communications technology. Well-planned and designed educational radio can encourage critical thinking and analytical skills (Maskow, 2000). However, to facilitate two-way communication, radio must be supplemented by other technology such as telephone, email, or print as well as systematic planning and monitoring (Chaudhary and Bansal, 2000).
Distance education as defined by Moore, (1996) is:
"is planned learning that normally occurs in a different place from teaching and as a result requires special techniques of course design, special instructional techniques, special methods of communication by electronic and other technology, as well as special organizational and administrative arrangements.” (Moore and Kearsley, 1996, p. 2)
According to Keegan (1996, p. 34), in order to define and fully understand distance education as a specific form of education, it is necessary to clarify the terminology used within the field. Some of the terms associated with distance education include:
Terminology used to describe distance education has developed throughout its history and is associated with the technology used, the practitioners institution’s attempt to define and legitimize what they do, and the geographic location of providers (Bates, 1995, p. 23; Keegan, 1996 p. 34; Moore and Kearsley, 1996, p. 25; Mugridge, 1999.).
Correspondence was the first term used in distance education. In the United States, it was later called "home study"in the field of business and "independent study" in the field of higher education (Moore and Kearsley, 1996).
Open learning began in England in the late 1960's as a way to relax requirements on students entering university and to allow flexibility in learning (Moore and Kearsley, p. 26-27). Open learning can include face-to-face as well as distance learning and is a term used by university systems around the world. Australian universities used the term external studies to indicate that although students were not present, they were not separate from the institution (Keegan, 1995, p. 36). The term used more recently in Australia is flexible learning indicating that the student can receive learning through a combination of on and off campus learning. Online learning, web-based learning and e learning are terms associated more with the technology used than with specific institutions. Many businesses as well as higher education institutions use e learning and web training.
The most important issue regarding print and radio technology as well as the terminology of distance education is accessibility. Learning materials need to be accessed by learners and teachers in order to be effective. Distance education by definition responds to the needs of learners separated from the teaching institution by providing learning materials through technology. Illiteracy, language barriers, and inadequate technology infrastructure in many areas of the world make print and radio the only accessible technology to deliver distance education.
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