RESEARCH PAPER TEMPLATE

North American University

Education Department
M.Ed. in EDLE & CUIN
EDUC 5324: INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO EDUCATION
Name: Fatma Gunonu

Date: 10/21/2016

Topic Selected: What does the research say about advantages and
disadvantages of distance education?
1. LITERATURE REVIEW:
What does the literature/research say about this issue/topic? By using NAU
Library or Online Search engines, conduct a literature review.

You need to include 5 different sources (book, journal article, web article
etc.) in your review. Try to use current sources as much as possible.

You need to summarize and synthesize your sources by discussing a

common theme or issue.

You don't need to critique your sources

You don't need to evaluate your sources (if the sources are trustworthy,
weather the author has a bias or not)

You need to provide background information such as history and

definitions

Brief Literature Review:

Distance education began in mid- 19th century Europe and United States. Isaac Pitman,
is credited as an early pioneer. He began teaching shorthand by correspondence in
England (1840). The postal system, gave opportunities to people who were not able to
attend school. In US university level distance education began in 1874 at Illinois
Wesleyan University. After the invention of radio (1920s) and TV (1940s) created an
important new way of use distance education. Computer-network (1980 and 1990) made
a big impact in distance education. Across the country, online learning is growing at a
rapid pace and a majority of the instructional products and tools used in these
environments are purchased prepackaged from a vendor (Smith & Basham, 2014).
Nowadays people have a chance to communicate all around the world.
According to research, distance education has advantages and disadvantages. First

benefit of distance education is flexibility. Students have chance to log on everywhere

at anytime they choose. This enables students to complete their assignments when they
choose within the timeframe assigned by the instructor. Transportation is another
important factor. Students enrolled in online courses do not need to attend a physical
class.Al-Asfour, A. (2012) That means students in unwanted conditions can still
complete their assignments without delay. As growth in K12 online learning
experiences has increased, so has the number of struggling students and their peers with
disabilities who are enrolled in online learning (Basham, Smith, Greer, & Marino, 2013).
The inclusion of these students in both blended and fully online courses has demanded
reflection and reconsideration of the appropriateness of the content and overall
instruction.Basham, J. j., Smith, S. J., & Satter, A. L. (2016). Distance education
develops students skills in technology allowing them to become better writers.
Resources showed that distance learning provided to more choices for schools. Also
prices for online courses are generally cheaper than formal schools and you wont have
to think about moving, bills or getting meal plans on campus.Distance education
eliminates space and time constraints, the increasing demand for lifelong learning and
distance education programs is obvious. Yildiz, M., & Selim, Y. (2015) As distance
learning can usually be completed on your own schedule, it is much easier to complete
distance learning courses while working than more traditional educational programs.
Keeping your job gives you more income, experience and stability while completing
your degree giving you less to worry about and more time to focus on your
studies.Good planning, design, management and evaluation are required for distance
learning courses to be effective. Yildiz, M., & Selim, Y. (2015)
Research also showed disadvantages. In distance learning students do have luck of
one-on-one meetings with their instructors. Providing relationships with instructor and
classmates will require more effort in an online learning. Resources point that distance
learning is not for every student because some student may feel left behind especially
those who have problems with motivation, delay and needs individual attention from an
instructor. According to studies, distance learner should have strong motivation and
self-discipline. Another difficulty for distance education is that it needs access to the
Internet. Some students do not have adequate technological possibilities. Distance

learning does not offer all courses online. Also it is not possible for all subject. For
example medical classes sometimes require laboratory work. Cheating is becoming a
major concern on distance education (Fishbein, 1993; Haines, Diekhoff, LaBeff, &
Clark, 1986; Singhal, 1982). Jendreck (1989) and Davis, Grover, Becker, and McGregor
(1992) indicated that between 40% and 60% of their student respondents reported
cheating on at least one examination. McCabe and Bowers (1994) There is a commonly
reported perception that students cheat on assessments in online learning because it is not
clear what constitutes cheating or expectations are not clear due to the delivery mode
itself (Dee & Jacob, 2010; McCabe, Butterfield, & Trevino, 2012). However, LoSchiavo
and Shatz (2011) report that while three-quarters of students in their study sample
reported cheating on online quizzes, when honor codes were clearly articulated this
number decreased significantly. McGee, P. (2013).
2. REFLECTION:
What is your personal opinion on this issue? Do you agree with the
research? If you agree or disagree, please explain why?
Provide examples/experiences regarding this issue from school perspective
or If you are not working in a school, from your profession. Be specific with
your examples. You can mention software/hardware names, specific
methods that you plan to use, etc.
How would you implement this research in your career? (At least 1
paragraph)
Reflection:
I agree with both the advantages and disadvantages of the research. There are
times when I have Internet issues, and that is definitely a disadvantage. Also, not
seeing your classmates and your instructor makes it harder to ask for help if
needed. However, I like not needing to go to class everyday and being able to do
my homework whenever I wish. I am a mother of three and it would not be
possible for me to take 3 classes if I had traditional classes. One disadvantage
was cheating. This summer my daughter took two hybrid classes. I thought
maybe examinations of online courses could be done in a hybrid class manner.
She had to take all of her exams in a nearby test center that was approved by her
school. All of the other classwork was online. This prevents cheating and the
professor gives about a week to take the exam so one can still be flexible with the
exam timings.
From school perspective, I think online classes would be more beneficial. More
students would be able to enroll in classes. Work is given and collected online so
there would be no issues of losing a students assignment. Schools would not
have to arrange for physical space or damage made by students. I think it would
be great if students had an option to choose online and regular classroom.

Students that prefer traditional classrooms could take courses physically while
others could take them online.
If I were to teach a distance education classroom, I would try to strengthen the
disadvantages. Videos, slideshows, games, and interactive group activities are all
part of the online teachers tool belt, and when a teacher is as savvy with
technology as the students, amazing things can happen in an online classroom.
These tools for online teachers and learners can improve communication between
participants who may be thousands of miles apart geographically, but learning
together in a shared technologically enabled space.
3. REFERENCES:
Cite at least 5 References in APA.
You may use http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-journal for citing
your sources in APA style.
References:
Al-Asfour, A. (2012). Online Teaching: Navigating Its Advantages,
Disadvantages and Best Practices. Tribal College Journal Of American Indian Higher
Education, 23(3),
Yildiz, M., & Selim, Y. (2015). A Qualitative Study On Transferring The Experience
Of Using Technology From Formal Education To Distance Education.Turkish Online
Journal of Distance Education, 0(0). doi:10.17718/tojde.93452
Yu Yang1, y., & Kanhua Yu1, y. (2016). Construction of Distance Education Classroom in
Architecture Specialty Based on Internet of Things Technology. International Journal Of
Emerging Technologies In Learning, 11(5), 56-61. doi:10.3991/ijet.v11i05.5695
Basham, J. j., Smith, S. J., & Satter, A. L. (2016). Universal Design for Learning:
Scanning for Alignment in K-12 Blended and Fully Online Learning Materials. Journal
Of Special Education Technology, 31(3), 147-155. doi:10.1177/0162643416660836
McGee, P. (2013). Supporting Academic Honesty in Online Courses. Journal Of
Educators Online, 10(1), 1-31.
(n.d.). - Document - Academic dishonesty and distance learning: student and faculty
views. - Document - Academic dishonesty and distance learning: student and faculty
views. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA131318277&sid=googleScholar
&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=fulltext&issn=01463934&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1&is
AnonymousEntry=true