Designing forOnline Distance Education: Putting Pedagogy Before Technology

Theological schools are increasingly exploring online distance education as a mode of course delivery. Yet while online course delivery has the potential for effective, deep learning it can also have a number of pitfalls. This article introduces online distance education and examines in detail the pedagogical possibilities for online learning by providing a number of examples drawn from online courses. While championing the use of online course delivery for theological schools, it also sounds a note of caution by advocating that the use of technology should be driven by sound pedagogical principles. Putting pedagogy before technology will insure quality education no matter what the content or mode of delivery. Linda Harasim has correctly stated ``all education ± face to face, distance mode, online ± requires understanding the nature of the medium in order to conceptualize and design it as an educational environment'' (Harasim et al. 1995, 138). That is to say, good pedagogy requires an awareness of the opportunities and limitations of the mode of education. In this paper I will argue that online distance education provides opportunities for quality education, although it can lead to poor pedagogical practices. For online distance education to be effective one must understand the medium and the pedagogical principles that can lead to deep learning in the online environment. At a foundational level, putting pedagogy before technology will allow for the effective delivery of online distance education courses. We will investigate this under seven areas: the parameters of online distance education; the purposes of online distance education; the planning of online courses; the pedagogical possibilities in online distance education; the pitfalls of such use; the institutional, faculty, and student prerequisites for effective delivery of online courses; and a few predictions about the impact of online distance education. Parameters: What Is Online Distance Education? Distance education has had a long history, extending back to the nineteenth century (Moore and Kearsley 1996; Patterson 1996; Cannell 1999). The development of an extensive, relatively inexpensive postal service in the late nineteenth century led to the creation of printbased correspondence courses. Such courses allowed for the distribution of information and the sustained exchange between learner and instructor via print. Such correspondence did not require physical proximity, and one could reasonably assume that a turn-around time of a few weeks was all that was necessary for each response. Correspondence study continues in many institutions today and is one of the foremost methods of distance education. With the development of telecommunications, distance education was given new opportunities. From the early twentieth century, radio broadcasts allowed for the widespread distribution of aural course delivery. This was soon joined with the televised broadcasts of both visual and aural delivery of material. Voice recording abilities allowed for the distribution of audio lectures with print-based material. Today the development of electronic communication media has opened further possibilities. While correspondence courses and radio and TV broadcasts are still in use, new technology has broadened such delivery mechanisms. Two-way audio-visual equipment allows for simultaneous interaction among a number of physically separated locations. Computers, and particularly the Internet and ß Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2002 Published by Blackwell Publishers Ltd, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA Teaching Theology and Religion, ISSN 1368-4868, 2002, vol. 5 no. 1, pp 17^29.