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PROBLEMS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION IN EFL
TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS
Badia Omonillayevna Turakhonova
Teacher of English in Metohodology of teaching English Department,
Tashkent, UzSWL
All over the
world, distance mode of education is gaining a momentum and becoming more
popular than conventional education. Distance learning is an excellent method of reaching the adultlearner. Because of the competing
priorities of work, home, and school, adult learners desire a high degree of
flexibility. The structure of distance learning gives adults the greatest
possible control over the time, place and pace of education; however, it is not
without problems. Loss of student motivation due to the lack of face-to-face
contact with teachers and peers, potentially prohibitive startup costs, and
lack of faculty support are all hurdles to successful distance learning.
Distance education is much more flexible and student centered in approach. By
allowing students to learn in more convenient locations, and often at more
convenient times, distance education opens educational opportunity to previously
un-reached learners. It also enables students to extend the period of their
education from a limited number of schooling years to a lifelong learning
process. It changes power and authority relationships between teachers and
students and often encourages more equal and open communication than occurs in
traditional educational settings.
The distance mode
of education plays an important role in meeting the need of such persons who
are in great demand of education but can’t complete their education from the
formal or regular system of education. They may be- In service persons due to
certain reasons could not complete their educational qualifications without
disturbing their jobs, inferior from of socio-economic conditions but wants to
enhance their education status, such persons who want to learn and earn
simultaneously, such persons who are residing far away from the big cities or
in remote areas and do not have colleges and universities for higher education,
overflow from colleges/universities due to fix number of seats or merit,
dropouts due to some personal reasons, now again motivated to study, such
persons who always want to add something new in their knowledge or update their
knowledge or something training, such women who are housewife but do have their
for knowledge, some very active retired persons who still want to know about
their changing environment and such students who cannot fulfill the basic
qualification for entrance of the university.
Since the day, the
concept of open and distance learning came into materialization, educationists
are concerned about it and trying to give and implement various approaches for
the field. The theoretical approaches by Sewart[6] stress the institution's continuity
of concern for the quality of support of the student as the basis of the Open
University's claimed success of high completion rates. Here, emphasis has been
given to the role of the institution and its concern for the learners. Most of
the educationists like, who are concerned with open and distance learning, talk
of student support and counseling. Careful systems for student support and
counseling have been seen, as perhaps, one of the most important elements in
the distance education system. Knowles [3]believed that learner behaviouris
influenced by a combination of the learner's needs plus the learner's situation
and personal characteristics. Rekkedal[5]studied the role of the teacher for the betterment of the practices and
the learner. No single factor appears to cause nonparticipation; however,
individual student characteristics and life circumstances appear to have the
greatest impact on participation [2]. Garrison [1]pointed out that with new communication technologies the boundaries
between distance education and traditional education will become increasingly
blurred. This may give rise to the solutions of various problems, if implied,
in Indian context. The frustrations resulting from problems with communication between
student and academic institution are factors of which distance education
planners should be well aware. Distance learners demand and expect a high level
of service when it comes to registration, delivery of course material and
exams, quick turn-around times for grading exam and assignments and answering
questions. Here, the need of good quality service has been sought for the
learners in various aspects of open and distance learning. Teachers with higher
aspiration and achievement will make use of modern means to improve their
information and quality of teaching, and incorporate modern ideas to become
innovative [7]. M-Learning also facilitates designs for authentic learning, meaning
learning that targets real-world problems and involves projects of relevance
and interest to the learner. Various educationists are concerned about the
system of open and distance learning. Despite improvements in educational
indicators, such as enrolment, significant challenges remain with regard to the
delivery of quality education in developing countries, particularly in rural
and remote regions. In the attempt to find possible solutions to these
challenges, much hope has been placed in new information and communication
technologies (ICTs), mobile phones being one example. They see the use of ICT
as a major solution to the open and distance learning problems.
These are the problems faced by
distant learners, while undergoing open and distance learning.
•
Nature of Study Material:
This problem is common with newer distance students. Study materials must take
into account the significant proportion of students who enroll with little or
no experience of distance study. These students are at risk of dropping out
unless they develop study survival skills as rapidly as possible. The
background of the learner is important in the preparation of the learning
materials. It is difficult to prepare lessons according to the individual
differences of the learners.
•
Lack of Multi-Media
Instruction: There is more stress on sending of printed materials. But there is
a death of facilities of multimedia instruction. The variety in the learning
materials also improves the quality of learning. The lessons written for the
students usually are written by the teachers belonging to the traditional
system and therefore these materials normally lack in itself instructions
methodology.
•
Insecurities about
learning: More so than traditional students, distance learners are more likely
to have insecurities about learning. These insecurities are found in personal
and school related issues such as financial costs of study, disruption of
family life, perceived irrelevance of their studies and lack of support from
employers. These pressures often result in higher dropout rates than among
traditional students.
•
Lack of feedback or
contact with the teacher: Because there is no daily or weekly face to face
contact with teachers, students may have trouble in self-evaluation. The
separation of student and teacher imposed by distance removes a vital link of
communication between these two parties. The link must be restored through
overt institutionalefforts so that the teaching-learning transaction may be
reintegrated.
•
Lack of support and
services: Provision of student services such as advisement, library services,
admissions and financial aid is a critical aspect of any distance-learning
program.The isolation that results from the distance learning process can
complicate the learning process for adult students.
•
Lack of Social
Interaction: Students of all kinds want to be part of a larger school community
and simply a member of a correspondence course. For many traditional students,
this is the part of their social lives. The "distance" aspect of
distance learning takes away much of the social interactions that would be
present in traditional learning environments. Geographical isolation has been
identified as one of the major problems for distance students. In addition to
the practical problems of contacting academic and administrative staff,
obtaining study materials and borrowing library books, distance students suffer
from the disadvantage of being unable to interact with other students and are
often denied the perception that they belong to a scholarly community. This may
lead to feelings of inadequacy and insecurity, and a lack of confidence in
their own abilities.
•
Lack of student training:
Many adult
students are not well versed in the uses of technology such as computers and
the Internet. Using electronic medium in distance learning can inadvertently
exclude students who lack computer or writing skills. These skills are required
if computer technology is used. Students will typically be offered volumes of
electronic-based information. Using this information will be a problem for some
non-technical students. They must be taught how to manage, not only their study
time, but the materials presented as well.
With these
problems, there is a danger of the system becoming stereotyped leading to
inertia. Until and unless, this inertia is removed, the system of distance
education may deteriorate. Thus, distance education requires better planning
and implementation as this system has to operate in a challenging and difficult
environment of openness. There is need to devise ways and means to improve upon
the external and internal environment of distance education system to avoid
stagnation and generate dynamism and development to reap the potential of this
system. We may say in the words of Fred Jevons, ‘distance Education should no
longer be written off as second best. It has a different pattern of advantages
and disadvantages from campus-based education but it is not intrinsically
inferior. Distance education has some advantages which should be recognized
more widely. Easier access, independent learning opportunities, a more intimate
interface with employment, better quality controls over course materials, the
possibilities of cumulative improvement over course materials, the
possibilities of cumulative improvement in pedagogic quality, the staff
development effect and under certain circumstances, lower cost.’ Distance
education has the potential to make equity and access to education a reality
and, thus, increase opportunities for a population in a vast democracy like
ours. It has great potential for meeting the requirements of the varied demands
for human resources. In doing so, our programsshould not be so stereotyped in
their urban context, that students in rural areas get no benefits from them.
The list of used literature:
1. Garrison, D. R. (1989). Understanding Distance Education: A Framework
for the Future. London: Routledge, 1989.
2.
Kerka, S. ‘Deterrents to Participation in Adult Education’ 1986 ERIC Digest No.
59, ED275889 86.
3. Knowles, M. The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy.
Chicago: Follett Publishers,1980.
4.
Kukulska-Hulme, A. and Traxler,
J. ‘Designing for mobile and wireless learning’.Eds. Beetham, H.
& Sharpe, R. Rethinking Pedagogy for a
Digital Age: Designing and Delivering e-learning. London
:Routledge,2007.180-192.
5.
Rekkedal, T. 1985.
‘Introducing the Personal Tutor/counsellor in the System of Distance
Education’. Project report 2: Final report. NKI, Stabekk, Norway.
6.
Sewart, D. ‘Continuity of
Concern for Students in a System of Learning at a Distance’. ZIFF-Paper
22:1978, FernUniversity, Hagen.
7.
Vig, P. and Singh, A. ‘A
Study of Role-Structure of Distance Education and Open Learning Teachers of
Himachal Pradesh’. Paper presented at International Distance Education and Open
Learning Conference, Australia, Oct 2004.
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