Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE July 2005 ISSN 1302-6488 Volume : 6 Number: 3 Reviews: 1
Encyclopedia of Distance Learning
Edited by Caroline Howard, Judith V. Boettcher, Lorraine Justice,
Karen Schenk, Patricia L. Rogers, and Gary A. Berg,
2005, Hershey, PA: Idea Group
Reviewed by
Cengiz Hakan AYDIN
Hasan CLISKAN
Mestan KUCUK
Figen UNAL
INTRODUCTION
Although controversies over the impact and role of distance education continue (Duffy & Krikley, 2004), it has grown at an explosive rate especially during the last decade. A great number of older institutions as well as new ones have started to offer distance education to reach out more learners in all levels and domains of education. Many agree that the wide spread use of computer-mediated communications is one of the key forces for the explosion of interest for distance education. Computer-mediated communication has provided tools for one of the idealist educators’ dreams, extending the walls beyond classroom, come true. Distance education now dominates the discussion agendas for policy makers, administrators, researchers, faculty, and learners. However, it seems that some experts, policy makers, educators and even learners have not understood “the implications of the shift of focus from teachers to learners, implications for how is education conceptualized, how it is organized, what roles teachers should assume, and how financial and other resources are to be distributed” (Moore, 2003, p. ix) in today’s ever-changing society.
The editors of the Encyclopedia of Distance Learning intended to open up the imagination of readers to the possibilities that distance education offers in all levels and dimensions of education, and to help readers easily follow the evolution and developments of the field. The editors, therefore, has chosen to bring a large range of articles about issues, ideas, practical applications, strategies, theories and concerns associated with distance education together in an encyclopedia.
Target Audience
The Encyclopedia of Distance Learning has been designed primarily as a reference book to address the needs of broad audience involved in all aspect of distance learning. It provides a basic and rich introduction to issues, ideas, practical applications, strategies, theories and concerns associated with distance learning not only in the western countries but also in other regions of the world. That is why, practitioners, researchers, administrators, designers, teachers and learners as well as anyone who is interested in the field of distance learning might find this resource very helpful to start thinking of impact and role of distance learning in today’s and tomorrow’s world.
Content and Organization
Encyclopedia of Distance Learning reference book published by Idea Group consists of four volumes. The encyclopedia edited by 6 editors of whom the five are from USA and one is from Hong Kong. Besides these editors, 19 advisors have supported the encyclopedia. The editors and the advisory board are from different institutions. There are more than 400 contributors to the book. Although majority of the contributors are from USA, some others from Asian, European and Australian countries, such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Germany, Australia, Turkey, Singapore, and Belgium, have also contributed this resource. All of the contributors are academics and represent a variety of universities.
In the encyclopedia, the manuscripts are presented in an alphabetical order. Volume I consists of 73 manuscripts start with initials A, B, C. Adult learning, behaviorism, collaboration, and community, computers are examples of the terms and topics handled in manuscripts included in this volume. Volume II includes 76 manuscripts, those that have initials from D to H; and focuses more on designing learning environments and materials, distance learning systems of various countries, educational technology applications, e-learning, and evaluation of distance learning. Volume III consists of 84 manuscripts, initials from I to Q. This volume covers terms such as online learning, leadership, interaction, K-12, mentoring, multimedia, and so forth. Volume IV involves 83 manuscripts that have initials from R to Z. This last volume deals with social aspects, research issues, students, teachers and teaching, and virtual environments.
Strengths
One of the main contributions of the Encyclopedia of Distance Learning is its extensive coverage of topics regarding distance learning. It includes hundreds of contributions from approximately 400 leading scholars all over the world; more than 2,000 terms, definitions and explanations of concepts, processes and technologies of distance learning; over 6,000 comprehensive references on existing literature on distance learning. So, those who are new to the field of distance learning might find the encyclopedia very useful for being able to access all range of topics in one source. Especially for graduate students, the encyclopedia might be a good first step for selecting a research topic.
We as the reviewers also found the definitions of the important terms at the end of each chapter very useful although they might have been better if these definitions were compiled at the end of each volume rather than each chapter. Sometimes different terms are preferred for the same phenomenon in the field and this may cause confusions. So, a collection of definitions of the terms used often in the field do not only give a brief idea about the phenomenon but also help to overcome confusions.
Moreover, we consider the language of the encyclopedia as strength. Sometimes we encounter some sources that are written for international audiences but include quite culturally biased components that make these sources useless for us. We found the language in Encyclopedia of Distance Learning quite easy to understand.
Weaknesses
Bringing together wide range of works can also be considered a drawback of Encyclopedia of Distance Learning. The book attempts to cover many important issues, ideas, practical applications, strategies, theories and concerns in distance learning, which limits the depth of inquiry allotted to many important topics such as student support services, social aspects of distance learning, technology integration, emerging technologies, virtual/online communities, and so forth. For the novice graduate or undergraduate student, this structure can be helpful but, for those who need more, the content of the book might be a little light.
Furthermore, we found the varying volumes of the articles problematic. Some of articles are shallow while some of is on very specific issue or topics. For example, the article “The Intangibles” is one page. Writer of article just calls attention to topic. However, for example in the article “Interaction in Web-Based Learning”, the writer follows a deductive approach. He moves from a general discussion of the theory of interactivity to the specific strategy for use in an online course, besides a discussion of opportunities and challenges for the future about topic.
Moreover, presentation format of the articles is not reader friendly. The articles presented in alphabetical order since it is an encyclopedia. As a result articles on a specific topic or related topics are located in different volumes. For instance, articles related to interaction spread out all volumes of the encyclopedia: Asynchronous vs. Synchronous Interaction in Volume I, Facilitating Asynchronous Discussions in Volume II, Interaction in Web-Based Learning in Volume III, and Vicarious Learning in Volume IV. This format of presentation makes it difficult to find out the related articles. Titles of some of the articles additionally do not really help reader find out what s/he is looking for. For instance someone who is looking for articles on roles and competencies of distance teachers might fail to spot the article entitled “Two most important competencies for millennium teachers” or someone who is wondering about distance learning applications in various countries might miss “Republic of Ireland”.
In addition, there are three editors’ notes and a foreword at the beginning of each volume. It seems each editor tries to put the background of the work in different perspectives. Rogers talked about TILDE as an acronym and mentions that she included the articles according to this acronym: Technology, Instruction, Learning, Design and Evaluation. Howard focuses on how the encyclopedia compiles the articles covering major arenas of distance learning: K-12 education, higher education, continuing education, professional education and training. Berg indicates that the articles in the encyclopedia can be categorized into 5 groups: geographical region, pedagogy, technology, management, and global issues. These different perspectives confuse the readers. “Which one is the main structure of the encyclopedia?”, “Is there a coordination problem among editors?”, “Which articles related to which category?” are among the first questions came up our minds when we start reviewing the encyclopedia.
CONCLUSION
Overall, for those who want a thorough and knowledgeable introduction to distance learning, Howard and her colleagues’ book, Encyclopedia of Distance Learning, can be a good start. It can be especially helpful for those practitioners, administrators and some researchers who would like to investigate what is happening in terms of distance education in different regions of the world, such as South Africa, Turkey, Ireland, Israel, United Arab Emirates, and Middle East; what are the new roles and competencies distance learning requires for teachers and learners; how to design online learning, or web-based instruction; how to evaluate learners’ and programs’ success in distance learning, and so forth. This work could be very beneficial if it is used with other resources that concentrate specifically on various aspects of distance learning, such as Khan’s (1997) Web-Based Instruction, Peters’ (2001) Learning and Teaching in Distance Education: Pedagogical Analyses and Interpretations in an International Perspective, Simonson and his colleagues’ (2002) Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education, Moore and Anderson’s (2003) Handbook of Distance Education, Duffy and Kirkley’s (2004) Learner-centered theory and practice in distance education: Cases from higher education.
REFERENCES
Duffy, T.M. & Krikley, J.R. (eds.) (2004). Learner-centered theory and practice in distance education: Cases from higher education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Khan, B. (1997). Web-based instruction. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology
Moore, M.G. (2003). Preface. In M.G. Moore & W.G. Anderson (eds.), Handbook of Distance Education (ix-xii). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Moore, M.G. & Anderson, W.G. (eds.) (2003). Handbook of Distance Education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Peters, O. (2001). Learning and teaching in distance education: Pedagogical analyses and interpretations in an international perspective. Open and distance learning series. London: Routledge
Simonson, S M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2002). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (2nd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.