Directions for Future Research in On-line Distance Education

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Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE October 2003 ISSN 1302-6488 Volume:4 Number:4

Directions for Future Research in On-line Distance Education

Alaa SADIK,
Faculty of Education South Valley University,
Qena 11183, EGYPT

Introduction

In the last twenty years, educators’ interest enhanced dramatically as a result of the great advances in media and telecommunication technology, which resulted in an increase in the subject areas offered by distance education programmes. By the early 1980s, the rapid developments in computer accompanied by easy-to-use, flexible and effective ways of storage and distribution of course materials created a new paradigm of distance education. These features, plus the interactive nature of the computer as an instructional medium for individualised instruction, have attracted distance educators more than any other medium ever and developed the nature of distance education systems to be more effective delivery modes (Gray, 1988).