Research Paper Draft

While writing your research paper, you'll write several drafts. Here you'll find a very early draft of a sample research paper in which a student writer is still working out ideas. Editing and proofreading are still not primary concerns; ideas are more important at this stage.

Youngstown State University should develop a distance learning program, but the planning committee should pay attention to the needs of students and teachers in order to create a good program. In general, distance learning is a good idea because it fits some widespread student needs, and it seems to be a trend in higher education. To make a program work well, though, planners should consider practical and educational needs of students and teachers.

Distance learning can fit well into the lives of todays college students, whose lives dont always fit well with traditional education. College courses that require students to be on campus at a set time each day can be hard for students with jobs that have changing schedules and for students with families. Also, because they have a lot of work experience and are often older, college students now are well-prepared for independent work, which distance learning often involves. Distance learning programs that use computers as central tools also fulfill students need to learn how to use computers. More and more, employers are looking for workers with computer skills. For all these reasons and more, distance learning appears to be the wave of the future, "more than 90 U.S. colleges and universities deliver degree, non-degree, graduate, and undergraduate courses" by distance learning, "with access to approximately over one and a half a million students" (Weinstein, p. 74). Also, 30 percent of non-traditional student said they would rather take distance learning courses than regular courses (Brooks, p. 10).

In order for distance learning to work well, however, planners need to pay attention to practical and educational needs of students. First, since one of the benefits of distance learning is that students can access it at their convenience, the program should be available in a flexible way. One distance learning expert says that their program tries to make things available "to students at 3 a.m. in their own home basement" (Educational Satellite Loan Hearings, p. 9). A program emphasizing computer-based distance learning, rather than two-way video or televised programs, would meet this need.

Second, YSU should be sure to provide access to the right technology. Kimberly K. Obbink, director of the distance learning program at Montana State University, says that "The second challenge is to focus on affordable and accessible technology" (9). Many students will have their own computers, but others will need to be able to go to a computer lab on campus to complete there on-line courses. The school could work with computer stores in the area to put together packages of equipment to help the student be sure that they are getting the right technology. The program should also have a help center, so the student can call and get help with the technology. An on-line guide to distance learning advises that programs should "Make sure each site is properly equipped with functional and accessible equipment. Provide a toll-free "hotline" for reporting and rectifying problems" (Gottschalk). "Hands-on training with the techology of delivery is critical for both teacher and students" (Gottschalk). The university should give training sessions to students before the distance learning program starts, so they can learn how to use the program.

David Kahle notes that "A long standing problem of distance learning is student isolation." Michael J. Brooks says that "the essence of any effort to enhance teaching and learning must be built around the concept of involvement" (Brooks, p. 10). The program should be set up in a way that makes it possible for the student to interact with their teacher and each other. Interaction and involvement are connected. Also, L. Sherry argues that "Although technology is an integral part of distance education, any successful program must focus on the instructional needs of the students, rather than on the technology itself" (5).

Teachers need the same things. Sherry says that teachers "need training in instructional message design, strategies for delivering instruction on-camera, methods of diversitying types of presentation, selecting various mixes of student-teacher activities and interactions, choosing situations and examples which are relevant to their students, and assessing the level of learning by distant students" (p. 7). Others say that teachers need technical support, like the help line for students. Teachers also need a program that emphasizes interaction, since "TAE may inhibit the rapport that develops between a professor and that is so important to the learning process" (Eddy et al, p. 479). Both teachers and students usually rely on face-to-face contact, being able to see the other persons face, and expressions, in order to understand that there saying.

If YSU will plan well for these needs, though, they should be able to create a good distance learning program.

E-mail your comments and suggestions to the YSU Grant Team (cardcat@bgnet.bgsu.edu).