Focus On...Distance Learning: Confessions Of A Luddite

By: Terri Premo

Not all of us were born with a love of technology, especially those born in the early baby boom years. Some of us, in fact, still struggle with the most basic technologies. (Students in my spring quarter class can testify that I can still be flummoxed when operating a VCR!) So it is ironic that I have come to be a staunch advocate for distance learning (DL) here in McMicken. How did this happen, and what turned me around?

For the past sixteen months, I have chaired the college’s ad hoc committee on alternative instructional design. Although I was not the “resident skeptic” on the committee (Jon Kamholtz held that honor), I was not at all convinced that quality education and distance learning were compatible. Nor could I envision many faculty, other than self-identified geeks, who would want to learn about furls, blogs, and wikis.

What I learned over the course of the past year, however, is that I was misguided in most of my preconceptions. As we read, studied, and inquired, our committee came to realize that distance learning is much like other approaches to teaching and learning – it can be done well or poorly. When done well, it can be as good (and in some cases, even better) than traditional face-to-face instruction. Here’s some of what I’ve come to realize.

• Hundreds of highly-esteemed colleges and universities, not merely the for-profit institutions, currently employ distance learning. When we asked what other like-minded institutions are using distance technologies, we quickly discovered the more appropriate question: “Who ISN’T doing it?”


• Courses taught at a distance are not dumbed-down versions of the original. Quite the opposite. With careful design, a DL course can provide a rich, multi-dimensional learning experience for students. Instructors, also benefit from the experience of re-envisioning a traditional course into a non-traditional format. “I learned how students think about and approach their coursework,” said one instructor after revising her course into an online one. Course goals and sound pedagogy guided the revision, rather than habit or the comfort of the familiar.


• Online courses can involve more work than face-to-face instruction, but they don’t have to. Many early adopters to distance learning were dismayed by the hours of computer-generated work that faced them daily. Careful course design, however, can eliminate much of this.


• Amazingly, relationships between students and instructor can be enhanced in a distance learning environment. One instructor marveled at the level of intimacy that she repeatedly noticed in her DL classrooms. Students who might be reluctant to speak out in traditional classrooms felt free to express themselves in online environments. This finding was echoed in course evaluations and among conversations with other DL faculty.

It’s safe to say that I’m no longer a Luddite. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but I’m sure now that I’m in good company.