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Schlosser, Lee Ayers and Simonson, Michael. (2006). Distance Education: Definition and Glossary of Terms, 2nd Edition. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc. 160 pp.     $39.95 (papercover)     ISBN 1-59311-515-6

Reviewed by Glen T. Fogerty
Arizona State University

February 14, 2007

An on-going mission for many colleges or universities is to provide “accessible education” (Owston, 1997) to those who seek new knowledge. However, a traditional campus may be limited in the access it can provide due to bricks and mortar, geographic location, or faculty availability.

“Distance education” is now becoming an everyday phrase around campuses as much as “Ivy Towers” or “Biology 101.” It is this term, along with “online education,” that provides students with new opportunities to learn. No longer limited by bricks and mortar, a set geographic location, or a limited pool of faculty on campus, distance education could be the answer to a college or university that seeks new avenues of access for its students.

With this interest in distance education, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) published the first edition of Distance Education: Definitions and Glossary of Terms in 2002. The 2nd edition, published in 2006, offers a great deal more than just, as the subtitle suggests, definitions and a glossary. The authors look at new ways of defining distance education, but also provide a brief history of the subject, review the need for a strong theory base for distance education, and explore a few of the relevant theories in this field. The book concludes with a summary of what the authors, Lee Ayers Schlosser and Michael Simonson, feel is the state of distance education and the need for further study prior to listing the glossary of terms. While the glossary of terms does take up eighty percent of the book, the twenty percent devoted to definition, history, theory and future of distance education does provide a foundation for the subject.

Lee Ayers Schlosser

Whether you are a novice or an expert in this field, the glossary of terms developed for the book should strike you as comprehensive and well defined. The authors offer the reader a quick reference guide, and the terms are written in an easily understood language. However, defining distance education and the review of theories only serve to emphasize the multiplicity of meanings and interpretations. The authors do not attempt to lead the reader to a single definition or to an overriding theory. While a single definition or theory may not have been their goal, they state in their opening sentence of the summary, “many questions remain unanswered.” When readers finish the first portion of the publication (the narrative section prior to the glossary of terms), they are likely to agree that many questions remain unanswered, as Schlosser and Simonson never attempt to give simple answers to the questions posed.

“Distance education is defined as institutional-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors,” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2006, p. 32). The opening quotation used by the authors is one chosen from Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education, for which Simonson was a co-author. The definition is comprehensive and the authors strive for a complete understanding as they breakdown the definition into four parts. First is the idea that distance education must be institutionally based. Consequently, they wish to distinguish distance education from independent self-study. Second is the concept of separation of teacher and student. Separation can be in either place or time.

Michael Simonson

The timing of instruction leads to the notions of "synchronous" instruction—students interacting with instructors in "real time"—and "asynchronous" instruction—students attending to the teachings of instructors at some interval after the instructors have spoken, written, or provided some other form of teaching. Next, interactive communications are defined as the mode of connecting instructor and learner. Again, this can be done synchronously or asynchronously. The last component of this definition is the concept of connecting learners, resources, and instructors or the capacity of sharing the data. This is the ability to make certain that everything is in place so learning can occur.

Schlosser and Simonson review eleven other definitions of distance education. Arguments are made about which words to use when defining this subject (e.g., distance education, distance teaching, open learning). They go on to compare definitions to show how some authors challenge others in the field to keep the debate on this discipline alive. Additionally, they highlight current trends (globalization/technology) to support the notion that no definition can be considered complete due to these ever-changing factions. While the reader is introduced to new concepts in this section, the authors fail to lead the reader back to a single working definition that captures the essence of distance education.

Schlosser and Simonson point out that the concept of distance education is more than a century old. Beginning as far back as 1833, a Swedish newspaper offered the opportunity to study “Composition through the medium of the Post” (p. 6). It was not until 1873 that distance education made its way across the Atlantic and assumed the form of “study at home." For this form of study, prestigious universities lent credibility to distance education as they developed correspondence courses. Early pioneers on the American front included Illinois Wesleyan, the University of Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin.

The author’s follow-up the history lesson with a description of the evolution of electronic communications. While they do offer that distance education can take many different paths of delivery (mail, television, satellite), they recognize that in today’s marketplace computer-mediated communications (internet) is the most accepted mode of delivering high-quality, two-way interaction between teacher and student.

Schlosser and Simonson cite a reference to estimate current internet activity; however, the quantifiable details provided in this quotation are based on what can be considered outdated information. “Tens of thousands of networks are connected to the Internet, with millions of people using the Internet worldwide” (Ackermann, 1995). While this is an interesting fact, the authors could have provided estimates that are more current. With a little additional research, they would have been able to show that actual Internet usage worldwide is currently over 1 billion people. This comes from data collected from Nielsen/NetRatings (http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) (http://www.itu.int/home/index.html), and published on the Internet World Stats website (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats2.htm). While this data point does not sway the reader one way or another, citing current research certainly gives the reader a sense of gaining more accurate information.

Once readers have been taken through defining distance education and looking at a brief history of this delivery mode, they are shown how “theory is important to the study of distance education because it directly impacts the practice in the field” (p. 11). Within the theory section, nine different researchers are cited on the subject of distance education. Highlighting this section was Desmond Keegan’s landmark work in 1986, The Foundations of Distance Education, in which he classified theories of distance education into independence/autonomy, industrialization of teaching, and interaction/communication. His research was further cited in the definitions of “equivalency theory” and the “virtual classroom” (1995). His efforts have been carried forward with work from other scholars building on his initial findings, but no other member from the academy was cited more often in this book than Keegan when discussing distance education.

While the theory section is thorough, it must be noted that of the twenty-one citations in this book, only one comes from the 21st century. The lone quote from the last six years comes from one of the co-authors (Simonson) in his work, Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education. With the phenomenal growth of the Internet and the continued acceptance of distance education as a viable option for delivery of course content, one has to wonder if no other current research is being done on this delivery mode or the authors just failed to update their sources.

The conclusion of the book is what truly leaves the reader looking for more. As mentioned earlier, the glossary of terms is comprehensive and easily understood by either an expert in the field or a layperson. Accolades are due to the authors as they have provided a straightforward reference guide on what constitutes distance education. However, when readers finish the first thirty pages of the book, they are left wondering what is the accepted definition of distance education, what is the accepted theory of this practice and what future research will be conducted in this field. Certainly, no one has a crystal ball to tell the future. Nevertheless, if the authors clearly identified holes in current research – which they did not – they would have made an even greater contribution. Unwavering in belief, the authors agree that change is the inhibitor to the development of a single theory and is affecting the condition of distance education around the world. The last sentence of the book states that the “theme of change will both challenge and motivate distance educators and researchers as they strive to understand and develop effective ways to meet the needs of learners around the world” (p. 30). While this statement leaves readers to speculate on their own where this field of study will be heading, it is this reviewer’s belief that the authors could have provided a few more answers.

References

Ackermann, E. (1995). Learning to use the Internet. Wilsonville, OR: Franklin, Beedle and Associates.

Garrison, D. R. & Shale, D. (1987). Mapping the boundaries of distance education: Problems in defining the field. The American Journal of Distance Education, 1(1), 7-13.

International Telecommunications Union. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2006, from http://www.itu.int/home/index.html

Internet World Stats.(n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2006, from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats2.htm

Keegan, D. (1986). The foundations of distance education. London: Croom Helm.

Keegan, D. (1995). Distance education technology for the new millennium: Compressed video teaching. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service N. ED389931)

Nielsen/NetRatings. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2006, from http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/

Owston, R. (1997). The World Wide Web: A Technology to Enhance Teaching and Learning? Educational Researcher, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Mar., 1997), pp. 27-33.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2006). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (3rd ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

About the Reviewer

Glen Fogerty is a Ph.D. student in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program at Arizona State University and the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education. He is currently the Associate Director of Graduate Admissions for the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU. His research interests revolve around college rankings and the influence they have on admission policy and practice.

Copyright is retained by the first or sole author, who grants right of first publication to the Education Review.

Editors: Gene V Glass, Kate Corby, Gustavo Fischman

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