Distance Education

The Distance Education Program within the National Research Center on Rural Education Support has investigated the use of distance education in rural schools and the feasibility of offering advanced and upper-level courses in science, mathematics, and foreign languages though distance education.

Distance education technology has changed a great deal over the last decades as communications technologies continue to evolve. These changes have resulted in a greater diversity in the type of delivery systems as well as possible differences in the effectiveness of types of delivery systems for differing courses.

Distance Education has a history of being used to help provide courses in rural communities.

Why This Matters

Distance education can play an important role in rural schools. Rural school districts face many problems and educational issues that are unique to rural schools. These issues can effect the way that rural districts can and do use distance education. The ability to attract highly qualified teachers and offer them competitive salaries can be reduced because of changing economics in the communities. Distance education is one way of offering courses to a small number of students while reducing the need for teachers certified in a particular subject.

National Survey of Distance Education

NRCRES has conducted a national survey of distance education in rural schools across the country in order to determine the current use of distance education, the variety of courses being offered though distance education and the different types of technologies currently used for distance education courses. This survey also helps to pinpoint the barriers encountered in distance education, the satisfaction with distance education, and the interrelationships among all of these factors.

The survey provides a better overall picture of distance education in rural school districts than was previously available.

Distance Education for Professional Development

Distance education can play an important role in professional development. Many issues that rural schools face in being able to offer advanced courses to their students are the same issues they face when trying to find professional development courses for their staff.

Teachers may be unable to travel to the closest college to receive training on the latest teaching methods or certification in teaching advanced placement courses. Finding time to complete these courses in a traditional setting may also be harder for rural teachers. The ability to be able to take the courses via distance education can allow the teachers to take the courses at a more flexible time and at a more convenient location.

Distance Education Staff

Dr. Wallace Hannum- Principal Investigator

Dr. Matthew Irvin- Investigator

Julie Keane- Graduate Research Assistant

Claire De La Varre- Graduate Research Assistant

Distance Education Publications

de la Varre, C., Keane, J., Irvin, M. J., & Hannum, W. (2009). Social support for online learning in rural high schools. In Whitworth, B. & de Moor, A.(Eds). Handbook of Research on Socio-Technical Design and Social Networking Systems (pp. 575-588).

Hannum, W., Irvin, M. J., & de la Varre, C. (in press). Extending educational opportunities in rural areas: Application of distance education in rural schools. In S. Mukerji & P. Tripathi (Eds.). Cases on technological adaptability and transnational learning: Issues and challenges.

Hannum, W. H., Irvin, M. J., Banks, J. B., & Farmer, T. W. (2009). Distance
education use in rural schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education,
24(3).

Hannum, W. H., Irvin, M. J., Lei, P.-W., & Farmer, T. W. (2008). Effectiveness of using learner-centered principles on student retention in distance education courses in rural schools. Distance Education, 29, 211-229. 

Irvin, M. J., Hannum, W. H., de la Varre, C., & Farmer, T. W. (2009). Barriers to Distance Education in Rural Schools. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Irvin, M. J., Hannum, W. H., Farmer, T. W., de la Varre, C., & Keane, J. (2009). Supporting online learning for Advanced Placement students in small rural schools: Conceptual foundations and intervention components of the Facilitator Preparation Program. The Rural Educator, 31(1), 29-36.

Keane, J., de la Varre, C., Irvin, M. J., & Hannum, W. (2008). Learner-centered social support: Enhancing online distance education for underserved rural high school students in the United States. In Whitton, N., & McPherson, M. (Eds). Rethinking the digital divide (pp. 39-48). Research Proceedings of the 15th Association for Learning Technology Conference (ALT-C 2008).

Distance Education Presentations

Barber, J., & Hannum, W. (2005, November). A Distance Learning Approach to      Enhancing Technology Use in Rural Schools. Presentation was made at the Annual Convention of the National Rural Education Association, Tucson, AZ.

Hannum, W. (2008, April). Enhancing Distance Learning with Learner-Centered    Principles. Paper presented at the International Conference on Interactive Mobile and Computer-Aided Learning, Amman, Jordan.

Hannum, W., Farmer, T., Banks, J., Irvin, M., Keane, J., de la Varre, C. (2007, June). Enhancing Rural Online Learning. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Institute of Education Sciences Research Conference, Washington, DC. 

Hannum, W. (2006, October). Distance Learning & Technology Research Agenda. Presentation made at the National Rural Education Association Research           Symposium, Kansas City, MO.

Hannum, W. (2006, April). Analysis of Distance Education Use in Rural Schools. Paper   presented at the annual American Education Research Association Conference,             San Francisco, CA.

Hannum, W. (2005, November). Survey of Distance Education. Presentation made at the Research Symposium sponsored by the National Rural Education Association. Tucson, AZ.

Irvin, M. J., Hannum, W. H., Farmer, T. W., Lei, P-W, de la Varre, C., & Keane, J. (2009, June). Enhancing Rural Online Learning: Impacts on facilitators. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Institute of Education Sciences Research conference, Washington, DC.

Irvin, M. J., & Hannum, W. H. (2009, June). Rural distance learning project: Overview of research and recent findings. Invited presentation at Organizations Concerned about Rural Education (OCRE), Washington, DC.

Irvin, M. J., Hannum, W. H., & de la Varre, C. (2009, April). Barriers to distance education in rural schools. In Kevin P. Brady (Chair), Distance education in rural contexts. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association - Rural Special Interest Group, San Diego, CA.

Irvin, M (2008, October). Supporting Online Learners: An Investigation of the Effects of Preparing Local Facilitators. Paper presented at the National Rural Education   Association Research Symposium, San Antonio, TX.

Irvin, M. (2008, June). Enhancing Rural Online Learning: Overview & Year 1 Findings.
Poster session presented by Matthew Irvin at the Institute for Education Sciences          Research Conference, Washington, DC.

Keane, J., de la Varre, C., Irvin, M. J., & Hannum, W. (2008, September). Learner-Centered Social Support: Enhancing Online Distance Education for Underserved Rural High School Students in the United States. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Learning Technology Conference, Leeds, England.

Distance Education Book Chapters

de la Varre, C., Keane, J., Irvin, M. J., & Hannum, W. H. (2009). Social support for online learning. In Whitworth, B., & de Moor, A (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Socio-Technical Design and Social Networking Systems (pp. 574-587). IGI Global: Hershey, PA.

Distance Education Tools

Survey of Distance Education - Questionnaire
A survey of distance education in rural schools was conducted through telephone interviews with a national sample of rural school districts. This is a copy of the questionnaire that was used in the interviews.