Students' Distress with a Web-based Distance Education Course (forthcoming) studies the emotional cost of virtual education. Surprisingly, student isolation is not the primary difficulty as some authors suggest (Abrahamson, 1998; Besser & Donahue, 1996). Read the following conclusions from the article to find out why. 

§ Many students in on-line courses complete assignments at home in the evening-conditions that make it difficult to discuss and resolve issues that might more easily be addressed in a regular class. "John" reported that he "still had not received specifications for the assignments from the instructor and was confused about her expectations. "I will finish this work anyway," he wrote at 1:20 AM "It'll probably take an hour and it may not be a good work… But just do it." 

§ While there are abundant resources and tips available for instructors to review before teaching face-to-face classes, the quality and quantity of support materials for online teachers is greatly lacking. 

§ Participants found the e-mail assignments daunting; many felt obligated to produce a significant number of thoughtful messages. Eric: "I don't really like turning on the computer and finding that I have eleven messages on my e-mail. It's a pain. I mean to answer that many things, just talking in conversation would be so much easier." 

§ Another drawback was the lack of facial signals that online students receive from their instructors-cues that students in classes find useful in gauging the success of their performances. 

§ Resolving assignment problems through writing is inherently ambiguous: "I have been in school [all] my life and I didn't realize how much I relied on my knowledge of what teachers are looking for, sort of, you know: You sit in a classroom with somebody and you analyze who they are and what they like and you cannot analyze because you've never seen them. 

How can distance education courses become more successful? 1) students need to modify expectations that they will receive "prompt unambiguous feedback" to certain specified times; 2) teachers should prompt students to give feedback to their directions; 

Web-based instruction allows participants to work in different times and locations. Consequently, distance education is more and less convenient than regular classroom interaction. If students and teachers start viewing themselves as pioneers journeying down a rutted path, they may find themselves better able to appreciate the adventure. 

Sources: [Rebecca Weiner - New York Times] Abrahamson, C.E. (1998). Issues in interactive communication in distance education. Colege Student Journal, 32 (1): 33-43. Besser, H. & Donahue, S. (1996). Introduction and overview. Journal of the American Society for Information Science: Perspectives on… distance independence education. 47(11). Hara, N. & Kling, R. (2000). "Students' distress with a web-based distance education course." Article accepted for publication in Information, Communication, & Society. 

What can I do to make the DE course less frustrating for you? What can you do?

*This DarkGrayBox will deal with ap·pli·ca·tion (pl-kshn) n. 1.The act of putting something to a special use or purpose: an application of a new method.