Cari Lara

OMDE 601 Section 9040

17SEP2015
Essay Assignment 1

Distance Education as a Process of Education

There are multiple words and manners in which to define distance education, which is
further identified as DE in this essay when appropriate. Moore and Kearsley (2012) publish their
definition to read Distance education is teaching and planned learning in which teaching
normally occurs in a different place from learning, requiring communication through
technologies as well as special institutional organization (p. 2). I most closely relate to this
definition, especially when combined with their views on DE as a systems approach consisting
of all the component processes that operate when teaching and learning at a distance occurs. It
includes learning, teaching, communication, design, and management (Moore and Kearsley,
2012, p. 9). This essay will further explain how these definitions coincide and also blend with
other ideas to form my own definition of DE.
My view on DE is more from an administrator view, as this is how I best view things.
While I do not have any experience on the administrative side of either traditional or distance
education, I have been involved in designing, creating, presenting, and analyzing feedback for
many courses while in the military. Many of these were informal classes via PowerPoint that
were meant to be given either in mass or individually without instruction. Within the constraints

DISTANCE EDUCATION AS A PROCESS OF EDUCATION

of the above definition, this fully meets the requirement as DE; being that the learner was
separate from the teaching, technologies were used, and while it did not necessarily come from a
specialized institution; it was specifically created for that purpose (Moore and Kearsley, p. 9).
The systems view best represents my idea of DE. Garrison and Cleveland-Innes (2010)
remind us that we need to constantly consider first education and only after that the structural
constraint of distance (p. 16). This means that distance shouldnt even be a factor in the design
phase, as the educational goals should be the same. There cannot be an education in the first
place if first the course design and management phases have not taken place. These are not
autonomous phases, conversely I believe these phases are ongoing throughout as feedback is
received, analyzed, and suggestions are incorporated. This further develops my definition of DE
as more of an education process.
However, not all of the focus can be on any one aspect of DE. Sometimes other, vital
aspects of the education process is overlooked in the definition, specifically the educator. Its
important to realize that no matter what format is used, the instructors must choose to move
beyond the tasks of coordinating assignments, receiving student work, diagnosing technical
issues, and setting course structure to taking it a step further by creating a nurturing
environment based around interpersonal outreach (Huss, Sela, Eastep, 2015, p. 81). While it is
logical that the same person, who is instructing the course, is not the same as the one who created
the material, it is vital to understand that even if the instructor is simply regurgitating material,
they are still providing some sort of interaction. By focusing on both the learner and the
educator, Moore and Kearsley equally share the responsibility of making DE successful. This
all-encompassing aspect of DE ties not only into the Moore and Kearsely (2012) systems view of
DE but also my view of DE as an ongoing process.

DISTANCE EDUCATION AS A PROCESS OF EDUCATION

References
Moore, M. G. & Kearsley, G. (2012). Distance education: A systems view of online learning.
USA: Wadsworth-Cengage Learning.
Garrison, D. R. & Cleveland-Innes, M. F. (2010). An introduction to distance education:
Understanding teaching and learning in a new era. New York and London: Routledge.
Huss, J., Sela, O., & Eastep, S. (2015). A case study of online instructors and their quest for
greater interactivity in their courses: Overcoming the distance in distance education.
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(4), 72-86. Retrieved from
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1057909