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Educational Psychology

2004

Series

Distance learning

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Education

Use Of Distance Education By Religions Of The World To Train, Edify, And Educate Adherents, P. Clint Rogers, Scott L. Howell Nov 2004

Use Of Distance Education By Religions Of The World To Train, Edify, And Educate Adherents, P. Clint Rogers, Scott L. Howell

Faculty Publications

Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, Baha'i, Jewish, and Christian organizations are all experimenting with distance education for various reasons and to different extents, due to religious, economic, and political factors. Religious institutions worldwide are not only turning to the World Wide Web (WWW) to place information concerning religious beliefs and provide virtual services for their constituents but are also getting more involved in formally educating their members at a distance. This paper will document some of these educational efforts and the reasons behind the expanding use of distance education by several of the major religious institutions for training, edifying, and educating their …


Reevaluating Course Completion In Distance Education—Avoiding The Comparison Between Apples And Oranges, Scott L. Howell, R. Dwight Laws, Nathan K. Lindsay Jan 2004

Reevaluating Course Completion In Distance Education—Avoiding The Comparison Between Apples And Oranges, Scott L. Howell, R. Dwight Laws, Nathan K. Lindsay

Faculty Publications

Critics of distance education frequently assert that completion rates are lower in distance education courses than in traditional courses. Such criticism comes despite sparse and inconclusive research on completion rates for distance and traditional education courses. This article reviews some of the existing research and then describes some of the caveats and complexities in comparing completion rates in traditional and distance education. Analysis reveals that numerous factors make comparison between these two formats difficult, if not impossible. Problems include limitations in the research design itself, differences in student demographics, and inconsistent methods of calculating and reporting completion. After exploring these …