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EurasiaJournal of Mathematics, Science&TechnologyEducation, 2014, 10(6), 575-580
Effects of Distance Learning on
Learning Effectiveness
Hong-Cheng Liu
I-Shou University, TAIWAN
Jih-Rong Yen
National Pingtung University of Education, TAIWAN
Received 16 March 2014; accepted 15 October 2014
The development of computers in the past two decades has resulted in the changes of
education in enterprises and schools. The advance of computer hardware and platforms
allow colleges generally applying distance courses to instruction that both Ministry of
Education and colleges have paid attention to the development of Distance Learning. To
improve the quality of distance learning and students’ learning effectiveness in the
investigated universities, quantitative survey with SPSS19.0 is applied to analyzing data in
this study, in which Factor Analysis, Reliability Analysis, Regression Analysis, and Analysis
of Variance are utilized for organizing and analyzing data. About 600 college students in
Department of Public Administration are proceeded questionnaire survey, and 472 valid
copies are studied. The research findings show that 1.Distance Learning appears
significantly positive effects on Curriculum Instruction in Learning Effectiveness;
2.Distance Learning presents notably positive effects on Technological Media in Learning
Effectiveness; 3.Distance learning reveals remarkably positive effects on Curriculum
Management in Learning Effectiveness; and, 4.demographic variables appear notable
effects on the correlations between Distance Learning and Learning Effectiveness.
Keywords: Distance Learning, Learning Effectiveness, Public Administration.
INTRODUCTION have learning break through the restriction of regions,
In such an era when information is rapidly developing, and synchronous and asynchronous distance learning is
the Internet presents the characteristics of instantaneity, used for achieving the learning effect. Distance courses
not being restricted in solid space of classrooms, and have been commonly applied to the instruction in
convenience for two-way interaction. When computer- colleges. Distance learning therefore has become a
based information is included in instruction, students’ critical channel between school instruction and student
learning interests could possibly be enhanced. Distance learning. Some information experts predict that printing
Learning, with various versions, is also named digital will no longer be the mainstream, but audio/video
learning. In 1990s, the rapid development of network contents would be the major propagation.
and the general applications of computers and network In such an information society, information literacy
and the application capability are the essential
Correspondence to: Hong-Cheng Liu, intelligence for modern people; and, the applications of
Assistance Professor of Department of Public information technology to enhancing national
Policy and Management, I-Shou University, No.1 competitiveness have been the common objective of
Sec. 1, Syuecheng Rd., Dashu District, Kaohsiung advanced countries. Accordingly, information education
City 840 Taiwan, ROC. is regarded as the foundation stone for a nation and an
individual toward information era. Since the era of
Email: hcliu@isu.edu.tw knowledge economy, the Internet, instead of traditional
doi: 10.12973/eurasia.2014.1218a subjects, has become a critical and potential element in
Public Administration. The explosive development of
Copyright © 2014 by iSER, InternationalSociety of EducationalResearch
ISSN: 1305-8223
H.-C. Liu & J.-R. Yen
State of the literature LITERATURE REVIEW
The study aims to develop a scale instrument to Distance Learning
allow us to determine the self-efficacy perceptions
of primary education teachers regarding their use of Distance Education, originated in mid-18th century,
technology when educating students. aimed to compensate the insufficiency of traditional
The developed scale instrument was obtained in the education. It rapidly developed from correspondence
wake of the data gathered from primary education courses and tapes (Williams, Paprock& Covington,
teachers. 1999) to the release of personal computers and the
According to the conducted analyses of the applications of computer-based multimedia applications.
developed scale instrument, it was determined to The maturity of network technology has computer-
have validity and reliability. based network technology become the advantageous
media in current Distance Education, which provides
Contribution of this paper to the literature more flexibilities and learning opportunities (Huang et
The developed scale instrument is going to al., 2009; Yin et al., 2010). The emphasis of Lifelong
contribute to the literature in that it will make the Learning has challenged the traditional ideas of schools
information technologies coherent with the being the final learning places. The broad applications
education, thus creating a model for teachers of the Internet have Distance Education become
developing and designing the learning another wave of learning mainstream (Tsou, 2009).
environment. Web-based instruction is open-ended, in which the
That the developed scale instrument on information resources are almost endless and infinite. Learners could
technologies included numerous expressions about receive resources of texts, figures, audio and video, and
different aspects is vital in terms of it being interpersonal interaction through hyperlinks and online
intended for the use of all education instruments. inquiries (Chen, 2010).
It is thought that the scale instrument puts forth the Distance Learning used to be confused with
self-efficacy perceptions regarding the use of Distance Education and Distance Instruction. As a
information technologies from the point of view of matter of fact, Distance Learning stresses on students’
basic skills and the anxiety state. learning processes in Distance Learning that it is
student-centered (Huang et al., 2009). Distance Learning
was described, in American Education Conference in
the Internet and e-commerce in the past two years has 1996, as a system or process connecting the classified
researchers, practical managers, and the public witness learning resources and learners (Lewis, 2000). Williams,
the fact and potential of 3C1 technology changing the Paprock& Covington (1999) regarded Distance
social style, commercial behaviors, organizational Learning or Distance Education as learning allocation –
management, and political operation. It is undeniable the instruction presented when learners and teachers
that the Internet would be a key power leading the were separated in space and time. Billings et al. (2001)
public organization. In such an information era, Public described Distance Learning as the segmented
Administration belongs to the fiercely competitive time/space between learners and teachers that
management that most researchers regard Distance education technology was utilized for establishing a
Learning and digital communication ability as the basic learning environment for the continuous education of
competence of public administrators. Apparently, nursing staff.
Distance Learning is getting important in Public Distance Learning could be segmented by time and
Administration. space and generally presented by synchronous and
According to the international concerns about asynchronous (Billingset al., 2001; Lewis, 2000).
Distance Learning, it is found from the development of Synchronous activities refer to several people
general distance curriculum in domestic colleges and the simultaneously communicating on the computer-based
certification of distance curriculum and materials that network, such as videoconferencing, with which the
the development of Distance Learning has been users could see images and hear voice at the same time.
extremely emphasized in the world, Ministry of Asynchronous activities indicate the communication
Education, and colleges. The development of domestic among several people not at the same time that the
Distance Learning has shown certain scale that the information is stored in a designated computer, which
effects of Distance Learning on schools and students theoretically could be read, seen, or heard by the users at
are considerable. As a result, Distance Learning deserves any time and places (Chiu, 2009). In adult education,
the emphasis of researchers. autonomous and flexible learning is emphasized. The
asynchronous learning approach offered in computer-
based network technology features the flexibility of
576 © 2014 iSER, Eurasia J. Math. Sci. &Tech. Ed., 10(6), 575-580
Distance Learning
learning time that learners could precede individual and could adapt to learners with different learning styles and
collaborative learning (Lu, 2009). It is estimated that reduce the effects of Learning Styles.
asynchronous computer-based network learning would Regarding Learning Effectiveness, Biner (1993)
become the mainstream in the future. For nursing staff explored the evaluation tools for Learning Attitude in
in public health, asynchronous distance learning would Distance Educationandfound the key dimensions of
be suitable for the work characters and the restrictions Curriculum Instruction, Technological Media, and
of family responsibilities (Cragg, 1994) that it is Curriculum Management. This study therefore refers to
considered as the best approach for on-job training the research dimensions of Biner (1993) for the
(Farel&Polhamus, 2001; Yin, 2009; Chiu & Wu, 2010). questionnaire of Distance Learning Effectiveness.
Simonson et al. (2000) pointed out learners as the key
members in Distance Learning and Attitude, RESEARCH METHOD
Experience, Cognition, and Learning Styles being the
primary indices to measure Distance Learning, in which Research hypothesis deduction
Attitude was regarded as the most important index.
Attitude is considered as a lasting and consistent Uribe et al. (1995) pointed out the factors in
psychological response to people, affairs, and objects. Learning Effectiveness as personal characters (age,
The questionnaire of Distance Learning Effectiveness in education background, seniority) and work
this study therefore refers to the research dimensions environment. Hsu (2010) regarded the factors in
proposed by Simonson et al. (2000) training effectiveness as personal characters (including
gender, age, education background, class, and seniority),
Learning Effectiveness participation motivation (containing Attitude,
Expectation, and Opinion of training contents), and
Learning Effectiveness refers to the learner’s environmental factors (covering organizational climate,
learning results in formative and summative work environment, and supervisor and peer support).
evaluations.Gilliver, Randall &Pok (1998) discussed the With the integration of above literatures, the factors in
effects of online courses on learning and found higher Learning Effectiveness generally contain demographic
Learning Effectiveness of the experiment group with variables (like age, education background, gender,
web-based learning.Shiratuddin (2001) studied 169 seniority) and learning factors in education psychology
college students with lecturing and online learning and (such as individual personality trait, self-efficacy,
also discovered the higher Learning Effectiveness of the learning participation, learning satisfaction, learning
online learning group.However, Freeman, Grimes & ability, learning motivation, learning style, learning
Holliday (2000) found no distinct effect of distance approach, learning cognition, learning attitude, response
audio/video and two traditional instruction on Learning to learning content).
Effectiveness. It was discovered that team learning Learning Effectiveness, as an index to measure
appeared higher Learning Effectiveness than individual learners’ learning results (Wang, 2009), is one of the key
learning did on computer-based curriculum; besides, items in instruction quality evaluation. Learning
team learning presented significant promotion on Effectiveness would be affected by learning styles,
Learning Effectiveness of low-achievement students. curriculum design, and instruction (Kearsley, 2009) that
Uribe et al. (1995) proved the higher Learning a lot of researchers invest in discussing the effects of
Effectiveness of the matched group than the individual personal characters or learning behaviors on Learning
group. However, Klein & Doran (1999) concluded Effectiveness. For instance, Lynch et al. (1998) explored
different findings that, in the computer-based course, the effects of Learning Styles on Learning Effectiveness
no remarkable difference in Learning Effectiveness of students in medical schools and the relationship; and,
among the individual, the extended interactive, and the Jones (1996) discovered the partial effects of ability,
random interactive groups. There are a lot of factors in self-efficacy, and individual objective on effectiveness.
Learning Effectiveness. Wang (2009) indicated that Apparently, there are plenty of factors in Learning
learners preferring abstract concepts, in passively Effectiveness. Aiming at some factors in Learning
observed learners, appeared higher Learning Effectiveness, the effects of Distance Learning on
Effectiveness.Chien (2009) noticed the notable Learning Effectiveness are investigated in this study.
differences between Learning Styles and Learning The following hypotheses are further proposed.
Effectiveness, but the effects of Learning Styles on H1: Distance Learning shows notably positive
Learning Effectiveness became insignificant after the effects on Curriculum Instruction in Learning
use of multimedia-assisted materials. In this case, Effectiveness.
interactive multimedia–assisted materials could reduce H2: Distance Learning presents remarkably positive
the effects of Learning Styles on Learning Effectiveness. effects on Technological Media in Learning
In other words, interactive multimedia-assisted materials Effectiveness.
© 2014 iSER, Eurasia J. Math. Sci. &Tech. Ed.,10(6), 575-580 577
H.-C. Liu & J.-R. Yen
Figure 1. Research Frame
H3: Distance Learning reveals significantly positive With Factor Analysis three factors were extracted
effects on Curriculum Management in Learning from Learning Effectiveness Scale, containing
Effectiveness. Curriculum Instruction (eigenvalue=2.419, α=0.87),
H4: Gender appears remarkable effects on the Technological Media (eigenvalue=1.897, α=0.80), and
correlations between Distance Learning and Learning Curriculum Management (eigenvalue=1.335, α=0.84).
Effectiveness. The co-variance explained reached 72.684%.
H5: Age shows significant effects on the correlations
between Distance Learning and Learning Effectiveness. Correlation analysis between distance learning
H6: Class reveals notable effects on the correlations and curriculum instruction in learning effectiveness
between Distance Learning and Learning Effectiveness.
Applying Regression Analysis to testing H1, Table 1,
Research framework the regression equation achieved the significance
(F=16.884, p ＜ 0.000). Distance Learning appeared
According to domestic and international research, significant effects on Curriculum Instruction, where
the research framework is proposed to discuss the Attitude and Learning Styles showed remarkably
correlations between Distance Learning and Learning positive effects on Curriculum Instruction and achieved
Effectiveness. the significance (β ＝ 0.196*, β ＝ 0.173*). H1 was
Research subjects and sampling therefore partially supported.
Based on top ten universities in Department of Correlation analysis between distance learning
Public Administration in Taiwan, including National and technological media in learning effectiveness
Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, Applying Regression Analysis to testing H2, Table 1,
National Taipei University, National Chi Nan the regression equation reached the significance
University, National University of Tainan, Taipei (F=19.435, p ＜ 0.000). Distance Learning showed
Municipal University of Education, Tamkang notable effects on Technological Media, where
University, Shih Hsin University, Chinese Culture Experience, Cognition, and Learning Styles presented
University, and Tunghai University, the students in remarkably positive effects on Technological Media and
Department of Public Administration are selected for achieved the significance (β＝0.153*, β＝0.212**, β＝
the questionnaire survey. With convenient sampling, 0.182*) that H2 was partially supported.
total 600 copies are distributed, and 472 valid ones are
retrieved, with the retrieval rate 79%. Correlation analysis between distance learning
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION and curriculum management in learning
effectiveness
Factor analysis of distance learning Applying Regression Analysis to testing H3, Table 1,
With Factor Analysis, four factors were extracted the regression equation achieved the significance
from Distance Learning Scale, including Attitude (F=25.362, p ＜ 0.000). Distance Learning revealed
(eigenvalue=3.131, α=0.83), Experience significantly positive effects on Curriculum
(eigenvalue=2.683, α=0.81), Cognition Management, where Experience, Cognition, and
(eigenvalue=2.162, α=0.88), and Learning Styles Learning Styles showed remarkable effects on
(eigenvalue=1.527, α=0.86). The co-variance explained Curriculum Management and reached the significance (β
achieved 77.945%. ＝0.167*, β＝0.158*, β＝0.179*). H3 was therefore
partially supported.
578 © 2014 iSER, Eurasia J. Math. Sci. &Tech. Ed., 10(6), 575-580
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