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According to the ICT, Distance Education is
the process of extending learning, or delivering instructional resource-sharing opportunities, to locations away from a classroom, building or site, to another classroom, building or site by using video, audio, computer, multimedia communications, or some combination of these with other traditional delivery methods.
The first practice of modern correspondence education took place in May 1883, when a school called Houbunkan offered courses in Chinese literature to off-campus students. In the year 1885, approximately a dozen universities had started to institute off-campus learning and by the end of the century is estimated that some 300 students were taking part with numbers increasing. ‘According to an expert research, yearly number of students who took these correspondence courses came to between 250,000 and 300,000 at the turn of the century’ (Hidetoshi's, 2003)
A certain idea that has already started to be used and will most definitely be further associated with distance education is that idea of ‘life-long learning’.
In Japan today, the majority of the distant education systems are designed based on satellite communication systems or the internet. The space collaboration system (SCS) is a typical satellite communication system that provides real time and an interactive distance education environment. The system is expensive and needs specialized staff to manage and operate it. The best feature of this system is its capacity to cover a large area. An occurring problem with this system however has to do with the resolution of the materials, as they are transmitted by taking video pictures. (Cheng, Huang, Koyama, De Hart, 2004, p. 243)
Another important issue to note is the fact that the current distance education systems are concentrating on providing lecture support rather than on any other educational areas, such as distance seminar or distance exercises. (Cheng, Huang, Koyama, De Hart, 2004, p. 244)
Japan Gigabit Network (JGN) was constructed in 1999. It is a test bed for the next generation of high speed networks. It provides new possibilities to build advanced network-based applications, including distance education systems. (Cheng, Huang, Koyama, De Hart, 2004, p. 244)
Ridee consists of two or more remote sites over the Japan Gigabit Network (JGN). Each site is a classroom or a studio. The classroom is for students and the studio is for lecturers. The use of high quality video and audio channels is required for both the classroom and studio sites to support real time interactive activities. All the sites are equipped with video cameras, projectors, projection screens, microphones and speakers for constructing the video/audio channels. Any of the participants can act as a presenter, teacher or instructor and one participant acts as a chairperson. Their basic job is to control the discussions and make sure everyone gets a fair chance to ask questions or present their views. Ridee is an interactive way for lecturers to teach distance education students over high speed networks. (Cheng, Huang, Koyama, De Hart, 2004, p. 245)
Even though distance education is important in today’s society, there has been little research done on the subject. This is the case more so in Japan as distance education has only recently been acknowledged as a legal, established means of education in all levels of learning. So it is expected that in the near future, further research and development of distance education will be carried out. (Hidetoshi's, 2003)
He, A; Cheng, Z; Huang, T; Koyama, A; De Hart, J.A. (2004). Distance Education over the Japan Gigabit Network. In Shih, T.K, & Wang, P.P (Eds.), Intelligent Virtual World. USA: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte.Ltd. ISBN 9812386181
Hidetoshi's, K. (2003).Distance Education in Japan. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from http://homepage3.nifty.com/Katodb/doc/text/2605.html
Instructional Technology Council. (2005). ITC'S Definition of Distance Education. Retrieved September 23, 2005, from http://www.itcnetwork.org/definition.htm
Stephanie Shield 05:41, 28 Oct 2005 (EST)
