RESEARCH PAPER TEMPLATE

North American University

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

Date: ____10/31/2015_____________

Topic Selected:
Topic 3: 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 is a generic term that is used to describe a mode of
delivering the education and instruction to the students. Distance learning is
being called e-learning in last a few decades because is being offered through
internet by using electronic communication. There are other distance learning
methods such as CD or MP3 but internet based webcasts are more common.
Because distance learning is less expensive, it has grown so fast and almost all
universities now are providing distance learning courses for their students via
internet. Studies indicate that distance learning can be as effective as the
traditional format when the methods are appropriate to the teaching tasks, there
is student-teacher interaction, and the teachers provide students with appropriate
and timely feedback. However, it is not all advantages and benefits. It requires
compromises and self-motivation is essential for success. There are many
researches and studies about distance learning in order to identify its advantages
and disadvantages. I have reviewed 5 different sources to find out about this
dilemma. There is no such answer like distance education is useless or it is
perfect. As mentioned above, all these 5 sources mentions that there are both
pros and cons of distance education. All these sources have good information
about pros and cons of distance education but the article by Tolga GOK (2015)
provides detailed information about these pros and cons as shown below;

Some advantages of distance education courses/programs could be categorized

as follows: a) the students could easily access online courses/programs
regardless of location and time; b) the students could organize their study plans;
c) the students could participate in an accelerated degree programs; d) the
students could freely express the opinions and feelings in online courses; e) the
students could freely share information with other students in distance learning
courses/programs.
Some disadvantages of distance education courses/programs could be listed as
follows: a) face-to-face personal interaction between students and instructor
might be limited in online courses; b) lack of interaction amongst students
enrolled in distance education courses/programs might be restricted; c) the
students might encounter the issues of negative emotions (isolation,
hopelessness, stress, anxiety, boredom, frustration, overload, and loneliness,
etc.) technical problems (disconnectedness, network, and online communication,
etc) and economical problems (the usage of old technologies and software, cost
etc.); d) the instructor cannot integrate collaboration tools (discussion forum, chat
rooms, etc.) into distance education courses/programs activities.

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 also believe that distance education has both pros and cons. The biggest
advantage from my side is that it does not require commuting and flexibility of
timing. I can complete my course work from just about anywhere as long as I
have internet connection with my computer. It is very convenient for students that
work at the same time. However, lack of social interaction affect students
learning negatively and it does not give students the opportunity to work on oral
communication skills. I also believe that in addition to analyzing the distance
education from students perspective, it should be evaluated for instructors as
well.
Overall, I find distance education is to be useful for myself for some of my
classes but I cannot give the same positive feedback for all my other classes.
Providing distance education from an internet based system, the instructor must
have good computer skills and understand how to integrate technology into
distance education. Unfortunately, not all my instructors have the same level of
competency in terms of using technology which affects my learning and
discourages me about my courses in general.
Distance education does not have direct relationship with my profession.

However I occasionally give webinars in for engineers who need to complete

their professional engineering development credit hours. As an instructor, I also
believe that distance education is very convenient and easy for everyone to
attend even from their office or their home. Thus, besides from all these benefits
of distance education, it has some disadvantages too such as lack of social
interaction and the technical difficulties. Distance learning requires adaptability to
new technologies and students to have constant, reliable access to technology.
As could be summarized from these sources, distance education has both
advantages and disadvantages. If students and instructors know how to benefit
from it, these issues can be overcome.
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:
The International Association for Distance Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1,
2015, from http://www.iadl.org.uk/Article20.htm
GOK, T. t. (2015). THE EVALUATIONS OF THE COLLEGE STUDENTS'
PERCEPTIONS ON DISTANCE EDUCATION FROM THE POINT OF THE
TECHNICAL AND EDUCATIONAL FACTORS. Turkish Online Journal Of Distance
Education (TOJDE), 16(2), 84-93.
Ryan, T. G., & Young, D. C. (2015). Online (Distance) Education: Evolving
Standards. Journal Of Technologies In Education, 11(2), 15-30.
YunJeong (Eunice) Chang, y., & Hannafin, M. h. (2015). THE USES (AND
MISUSES) OF COLLABORATIVE DISTANCE EDUCATION
TECHNOLOGIES. Quarterly Review Of Distance Education, 16(2), 77-92.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1,
2015, from http://www.distance-learning-college-guide.com/advantage-anddisadvantage-of-distance-learning.html