Distance Learning Instructor Questionnaire


1. How long have you been an instructor for distance education courses? In what field of study?


About five years in Computer Networks.


2. What do you think are the advantages of distance education?


Flexibility. A student can balance between work and studies.


3. What do you think are the disadvantages of distance education?


Lack of interaction between student and instructor. An important aspect of student-teacher relation is mentoring. In my opinion, this is lacking in distance education.

Other disadvantages include lack of interaction between student and instructor.

Another disadvantage is it is extremely difficult and impractical to organize a student presentation or discussions in class.


4. What kind of technologies are being used to deliver your lectures and the course work (video streaming, email, instant messenger, CD-ROMs, web pages, conference calls, online reference books, etc.) to your students?


Video streaming
CD-ROMs
Web pages


5. Which forms of these technologies are most effective?


CD-ROMs are the most effective technology.


6. What would you like to see changed/improved in these technologies?


Video streaming is not high quality at present. I keep getting complaints from students about video or audio. I think, part of the reason is that the people who make this videos are not experts.


7. Do you think there is effective collaboration/interaction amongst instructor/student and student/student in a distance education setting? If not, in what ways could it be improved?


I think collaboration/interaction amongst instructor/student and student/student is completely lacking.


8. Have you ever taught "traditional" higher-education courses? How does instruction for distance education compare?


Yes, I have taught traditional higher-education courses. In my opinion, they are far superior in terms of imparting knowledge and proving better understanding of subject matter to the students.


9. What aspect(s) of traditional education are lacking the most in distance education?

• Student mentoring.
• Student-student interactions
• Student-teacher interactions
• Effective in-class presentations and discussions.

10. What aspect(s) of distance education are an improvement over the "traditional" educational system?


The key advantage is flexibility. Also, I think distance education is better suited for non-traditional students.