Distant Learning Article Review

Geri Keane

March 10, 2003

EDCP 820

The research article that I choose was titled, “Preparing Personnel with Expertise in Severe Disabilities in the Electronic Age: Innovative Programs and Technologies” by Spooner, Agran, Spooner and Kiefer-O’Donnell.  The main reason I chose this article was because it discussed the topic of distant education, our required topic, and it also covered my area of interest, teachers working with students who have severe disabilities.  The article I choose came from The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps. 

            This article discusses the fact that there is a teacher shortage in the area of special education and more specifically in the area of teachers who are certified to instruct students with severe disabilities.  The use of telecommunications technologies is studied as a potentially effective was to impact this shortage, especially for teachers who may live in a rural area and find it difficult to travel to a university.   This article discussed two teacher education programs that use two different types of distant learning modes to deliver collage courses.  One mode of distant learning was asynchronous communication.  This method involves two-way communication, but the communication is only one-way at a time.  Some examples of this would be e-mail or the use of bulletin boards.  The other mode of distant learning was synchronous communication.  Synchronous communication provides two-way video and audio communication in real time.  Some examples of this mode include videoconferencing and two-way audio/video fiber optics networks.  This example of distant learning is the closest thing to being in a classroom with an instructor and classmates.  The authors of this article state that the results of their study show that a key to successful distant learning relies on the instructor and his/her ability to interact with students.  Preparation for distant learning is also more involved for the instructor.  The authors also state “we can be just at successful at a distance as we can teaching students in one classroom”. 

            Although this article focused on distant learning for teachers who instruct students with severe disabilities, I feel the foundation of the article can apply to teachers who teach any subject and may want to participate in a distant education program. This article made me wonder about a “backup” plan for when technology fails, and it always seems to fail when you least expect it to.  Although the preparation and materials needed for distant learning may require more time and finances, the results are positive; teachers can be successful in distant learning programs.