Distance Education and Special Education: Promises, Practices, and Potential Pitfalls

Abstract

Shortages of trained personnel in special education are widely recognized. This need typically translates to special education programs as efforts to increase the numbers of professionals who are appropriately prepared to teach students with disabilities. The difficulty of increasing on-campus sections to respond effectively to the escalating need for more and better trained teachers, has in some cases led to an increased emphasis on alternative ways to deliver required course work. Distance learning is one such alternative. Distance learning can be defined as the separation of the learner from the instructor in location (learner and instructor in different rooms or at different sites), and, in some instances, by time. The promise of distance learning offers an attractive alternative for increasing the numbers of appropriately prepared special education personnel by making college-level instruction easier to receive. Current practices support synchronous communication (e.g., two-way audio, two-way video in real time, or two-way audio, one-way video in real time) and asynchronous communication (E-mail, or the Asynchronous Learning Network which does not necessarily occur in real time but at varying times depending on participants needs). Although it is possible to increase enrollments via distance learning, professionals recognize that there are some potential problems as well. If careful planning and course delivery are not clearly articulated students at remote sites can feel as if they are not part of the whole and that the education they are receiving is substandard. This article reviews promises, practices, and pitfalls associated with distance learning in an effort to inform special education professionals about this increasingly popular personnel preparation alternative.

A Comparison of Traditional and Online Instruction in an Introduction to Special Education Course

“…In special education, the demand for distance instruction arose from somewhat different needs. Spooner, Spooner, Algozzine and Jordan (1998) noted that the severe teacher shortages of the late 1990's created a demand for ''creative, practical, and productive personnel preparation programs' ' (p.122). Distance education specifically addressed the need for teacher preparation programs in rural areas (Grugenhagen, McCracken & True, 1999;Knapczyk, Chapman, Rodes, & Chung, 2001).…”

Educational Considerations, vol. 27 (1) Full Issue

“…The on-line discussion forum gave "voices" to this otherwise silent half of the class. This finding, when joined with others' data regarding which students are most likely to succeed in Internet-based courses (Brown, 1998), adds one more piece to the puzzle regarding the potential of online applications in special education related coursework (Spooner, Spooner, Algozzine, and Jordan, 1998;Zorfass, Remz, and Ethier, 1998) The data were also encouraging with regard to giving students a more active role in generating discussion topics. While the data showed students in the course generating ten new student-initiated discussions, that number does not accurately reflect the content of the other threaded discussions.…”

“…The goal of exploring various technology-based applications was to address some of these concerns and thus, better meet the needs of adult-learners in my classes (Spooner, Spooner, Algozzine, and Jordan, 1998). An over-riding goal was to move away from the traditional classroom experience best characterized as a "sage on the stage" structure with its a one-way flow of information.…”

Perceptions of Graduate Students on the Use of Web-based Instruction in Special Education Personnel Preparation

“…The convenience of WBI is well documented (e.g., Brescia et al, 2004;Ludlow & Duff, 2001;Spooner et al, 1998;Thompson & Lynch, 2003). This view was strongly supported by the findings from this study.…”