VIII Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2016

ABSTRACT

Advancements in information and computer technology have radically transformed the education and training. The use of technology in education is increasing rapidly. Technology-assisted education has changed the distance education or e-learning methods in such a way that beyond the limits of imagination, ten years ago.In this study the differences between distance education and traditional education was evaluated in the light of previous studies. In particular,studies that examine the motivation are taken into consideration in this work. The aim of the study is examining the distance education and traditional educationin terms of motivation according to the results of previous researches.

Key Words:distance education, traditional education, motivation

РЕЗЮМЕ

Достижения в области информационных и компьютерных технологий коренным образом преобразовали образование и профессиональную подготовку. Использование технологий в образовании быстро растет. Десять лет тому назад технология при содействии образования изменило дистанционное обучение и методы электронного обучения таким образом, что за пределами воображения. В этом исследовании различия между дистанционным обучением и традиционным образованием были оценены в предыдущих исследованиях. В частности, исследования, рассматривающие мотивацию принимаются во внимание в этой работе. Целью данного исследования является изучение дистанционного обучения и традиционного образования с точки зрения мотивации в соответствии с результатами предыдущих исследований.

Ключевые слова:дистанционное образование, традиционное образование, мотивация

1. INTRODUCTION

Distance education offers serious proposals to transform the existing education system. The main objective of the distance education is to close the shortcomings of traditional education and provide better and effective learning environment for students (Eastman and Swift, 2001). The most common work related to distance education is has been concerned with identifying the shortcomings and advantages over traditional education. The majority of studies on the comparison of traditional education with distance education focused on the students. Method has always been shaped by the comparison of the students which are in the distance education classes and traditional education classes (Wheeler, 2002).

Thousands of students in Turkey and in the world has applied to take advantage of distance education since 1990 when was the distance education system was emerged. However, because of some reasons such as failure to provide face to face training relationship and lack of social interaction similar to the school environment, students’ motivation level has decreased (Yılmaz and Özkaynak, 2014).

Motivation is the power that makes an individual present a behavior or causes an individual to present that behavior. Motivation is caused by individual needs providing motivation to act, requests and desires. Motivation is the cause of people's effort (Kurt, 2005).

Motivation is the indispensable supporter of education and even it took its place among the educational theories. Keller (1983) used the model “ARCS” (attention, relevance, confidence, satisfaction) to ensure the motivation of the students throughout the learning (Yılmaz and Özkaynak, 2014).

It has been proven by many scientific studies that motivation of the students have an important role in success. Motivated students will be more willing in any environment and they are more willing to do their homework, attend classes better and they can be significantly more successful (Yücel, 2007).

There are many ways to motivate students in real education. Because there is a teacher in the classroom and s/he can motivate the students according to their mood or situations. However, in distance education, the concept of teacher can be virtual (Howland and Moore, 2002). In other words, students and teachers are not present in the same environment. In such teaching environments, an ideal student should be self-motivated. However, it cannot be the same for all the students when considering individual differences among students (Huff, 2000).

2. Distance Education

According to Saritas (2007), distance education is:

“Systematic guiding of distance teaching procedure, namely it is an education system in which students, teachers come together in groups, classes or seminars as in face to face education implemented by a teacher.”

The unique sample of distance education is AnadoluUniversity distance education program. It is a very well organized and should be accepted one of the best. They have high school programs beside license and pre-license programs. The most popular one may be the upgrade program from pre-license to license (Cingi, 2010).

In their paper ‘Three Generations of Distance Education Pedagogy’, Anderson and Dron (2009: 82-90) introduce a typology in which distance education pedagogies are mapped into three distinct generations in a chronological order (Göçmez, 2014):

1. The cognitive behavioral generation of distance education: focuses on the philosophy of learning was “predominantly defined, practiced, and researched”.

2. The social-constructivist generation of distance education: “developed in conjunction with the development of two-way (synchronous and asynchronous) communication technologies”.

3. The connectivist generation of distance education: assumes that “information is plentiful and that the learner’s role is not to memorize or even understand everything but to have the capacity to find and apply knowledge when and where it is needed” and “mental processing and problem solving can and should be off-loaded to machines”.

The communication between the learner-content, learner-instructor, learner-learner groups and learner-intelligent agent can be classified as synchronous or asynchronous communication. Synchronous and asynchronous concepts emerged depending on how and when an activity took place. These concepts also used in distance education (Çınar, 2011).

Grice (2002) mentioned that the communication as a vehicle for education. As education moved out of the traditional classroom and into the arena of distance education, the communication techniques used needed to be modified or replaced to suit the new technological delivery systems and also to reflect the new images and capabilities of communication. Many of the traditional communication techniques used in the classroom can be applied directly to teaching in the distance education classroom; others need to be modified. Others really do not work at all and need to be rethought and redeveloped.

3. Motivation in Distance Education and Traditional Education

For some time, researchers have reported at length about studies that show that there is no significant difference between online and traditionally delivered instruction in education (McFall and Freddolino, 2000, Freddolino and Sutherland, 2000). The important issue is not technology, but rather the teaching-learning methods that are at the heart of the question of distance-education success (Worley, 2000).

Included among studies of distance versus traditional instruction is one that provides a definition of a first through fifth generation of distance education (or draws these definitions from literature). One study examined 688 independent effect sizes from the 232 reports included in the study – 630 were excluded based on failure to meet all inclusion criteria for the study. The result of this meta-analysis is that the researchers are unable to discern significant differences between the two modes of course delivery, except for a small but significant difference in achievement experienced in synchronous Distance Education (Bernard, et al., 2004).

Another part of the research examined the overall quality of the research conducted in these 232 reports. In this review the authors report that the quantitative research practices used to examine and report findings about Distance Education were found “to be of poor methodological quality and severely lacking in critical information about research practices” (Bernard et. al., 2004).

Motivation is an important variable related to adult distance learner success and is often cited in the professional distance education literature (Moore andKearsley, 2005).Research into characteristics of distance learners reported that such students are more likely to have an independent learning style, manifest self-directed behavior, and possess an internal locus of control, although findings regarding achievement and persistence in the distance classroom have been inconclusive (Gibson, 2003).

Merisotis and Phipps (1999), in a review of the distance education literature, suggested that the most important factors influencing student success are student motivation, the nature of the learning tasks, learner characteristics, and the instructor.

A meta-analysis of distance education empirical literature conducted by Bernard et al. (2004) identifies the need to explore more fully, student motivational dispositions in distance education. Accordingly, the present research examines student motivation. The goal is to identify the motivational characteristics of online learners and to identify differences, if any, between distance and on-campus learners.

The e-learning instructor plays a crucial role in maintaining and sustaining students' motivational level by planning structures and facilitating interpersonal events. Additional research is needed to confirm the role of e-learning pedagogy, computer-mediated communication, and course design in nurturing intrinsic motivation. Moreover, learning outcomes that include reduced attrition, deeper information processing, and increased levels of student success, task value, and better well-being tend to cover with intrinsic motivation (Vallerand et.al., 1997).

4. CONCLUSION

During the last decade, the rapid growth of the Internet, communication and multimedia technologies encouraged Distance Educational Technology towards the Web. Most of the universities in the developed countries have started using distance learning Technologies.Distance Education is a developing education system that is parallel with technology and a response to people’s lifelong learning requirements. The technological developments provide new delivery methods in distance education.

Much of the literature on Web-based learning shows that one of the main barriers to the effective use of teaching materials is the technology rather than the design of the learning materials themselves. Through programming, designers can produce interactive course materials containing online activities, animations, and simulations. These can improve learning and are often more enjoyable and meaningful for learners.

From this point, students feel themselves more motivated in distance education. Moreover, in distance education students are aware of what they want to do or learn. So, they are more motivated when they are compared to learners of traditional education.

REFERENCES

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