Acknowledgments. Preface. Defining Distance Education. Emerging Definitions. A Brief History of Distance Education. Theory and Distance Education. Summary. Glossary of Terms. References. Additional Readings.

The universal availability of computers through the adoption of notebook computers for faculty by the University is an organizational answer to the adoption of computer technology by faculty. The researcher studied solutions to this problem through a survey of faculty at three undergraduate institutions that adopted notebook computers for their faculty and students. Participants completed a Computer Technology in Teaching (CTIT) questionnaire composed of the above measures as well as demographic and computer-related questions. Faculty received the questionnaire prior to the adoption of notebook computers on three undergraduate campuses. The faculty received the same questionnaire one year later. Dviring the interim between the questionnaires, the three campuses adopted notebook computers for all faculty. One of the campuses also adopted notebooks for all students. In the first phase of the study the dependent variable, Level of Computer Use, was determined using responses to the second questionnaire. The independent variables: age, academic rank, innovativeness and subjective norms, were drawn firom responses to the first questionnaire. Two variables— Subjective Norms and Innovativeness—were significant predictors of the faculty's levels of computer use. The last variable, academic rank and age, did not add to the predictive value beyond that indicated by Subjective Norms and Innovative Scale.

AbstractThis study examined computer anxiety and its relationship to four areas: previous computer coursework, relaxation exercises, achievement in a computer course, and need for cognition, which is a personality variable. Subjects were college students in a semester-long introductory computer course that was part of a teacher preparation program. Computer anxiety was measured three times during the course using the Computer Anxiety Index. The relaxation treatment was a published muscle relaxation technique. Achievement was assessed using final lab and lecture grades assigned in the class. Need for cognition was measured using the Need for Cognition Scale, which was administered during the second week of the class. The course was effective in reducing computer anxiety in the last half of the semester. The relaxation treatment was not found to be effective in reducing computer anxiety. It was found that course grades were more strongly related to postcourse computer anxiety than to precourse computer anxi...

The major purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of fashion merchandising or education students' cognitive style consisting of nine dimensions to three media choices provided through a hypermedia lesson in historic costume. High‐average standard scores were identified in three of the nine dimensions of cognitive style. Further statistical analyses indicated that students' cognitive styles affected the type of media selected. Both fashion merchandising and education students scored significantly higher (p = .01) on the postassessments than the pre‐assessments, but neither group achieved significantly more than the other. From these data, it appeared that students used hypermedia effectively as an educational tool to accommodate learning style. It was possible to individualize instruction regardless of the learning style when the hypermedia system was used within the same instructional package.

(1988). Subliminal Messages, Persuasion, and Behavior Change. The Journal of Social Psychology: Vol. 128, No. 4, pp. 563-565.

A fundamental assumption of the research presented above was that attitude change is an important concern of the educator, and that if attitudes are important, information on how attitudes might be formed or changed with media is needed. Four studies were conducted to examine the use of media to deliver persuasive messages. The results of the four studies presented in this article tended to support the following conclusions. First, attitudes toward educationally relevant topics, such as conservation, smoking, and disabled persons, can be modified by using persuasive messages delivered by media. Next, it appeared that some types of media may be more effective than others at delivering information designed to change attitudes. Motion pictures seem to be more effective than slides. There also seems to be sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation into the relationship between the content of persuasive messages, the media used to deliver those messages, and the learning styles of the target audience. In short, attitudes can be modified by mediated messages, and the degree of modification may be related to the characteristics of the students who view the message and to the way the message is mediated.