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Isolation and Connection: The Experience of Distance Education
Citation
Rush, PA, Isolation and Connection: The Experience of Distance Education, Journal of Distance Education (Online), 30, (2) pp. 1-25. ISSN 1916-6818 (2015) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2015 The Author. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Official URL: http://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/936
Abstract
In 2013, the Student Centre at The University of Tasmania began researching the development of distance learning support. A survey was designed as part of this endeavour, which attracted 1002 responses. The survey’s broad context focused on the primary drawbacks and benefits of distance education in general and sought to identify emergent themes characterising students’ experience with distance education. The narrow context targeted utilization of the university’s online services. This paper presents key broad context results, providing a ground for further research informed directly by student experience. Certain aspects of the analysis are explicated through the lens of existing theoretical frameworks, particularly those of Moore, Tinto, and Holmberg. But the results also contribute directly to theory by revealing complexity and internal differentiation in the dominant themes of ‘connection’, ‘contact’, ‘isolation’ and ‘consideration’; and reinforcing the student perspective as a key dimension of theoretical conceptualisations of distance education itself.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | Experience, online education, distance education |
Research Division: | Education |
Research Group: | Education systems |
Research Field: | Education systems not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Education and Training |
Objective Group: | Other education and training |
Objective Field: | Other education and training not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Rush, PA (Dr Penelope Rush) |
ID Code: | 105486 |
Year Published: | 2015 |
Deposited By: | School of Humanities |
Deposited On: | 2016-01-06 |
Last Modified: | 2017-11-10 |
Downloads: | 100 View Download Statistics |
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