Technology-Driven Change: Where Does it

¶ … Technology-driven change: Where does it leave the faculty (Moore, 2000) paints distance learning as an attempt by universities to turn their institutions into digital paper mills for greater material benefit. As a result, professors are greatly concerned about how distance learning will impact their profession with many fearing a reduction in jobs through the displacement caused by Internet economies of scale and a "dumbing down" of their profession through labor division.

Moore begins with an analysis by Professor Jack Simmons of Savannah State University who has two major worries. He fears that technology will replace labor and that there will be a division of labor between those who prepare content and those who teach it. Simmons quotes Andrew Feenberg on this division as saying what remains "are a few highly paid, content experts acting as stars. The rest of the faculty have little more than adjunct responsibilities and privileges." According to Simmons, online teaching and tutoring will be done by lower-skilled assistants and temps.

The editor, also a professor, agrees with many of Simmons' opinions. Moore believes there will be divisions of labor, but sees more than the two roles of content development and teaching. For instance, he also mentions media design and production. Nevertheless, Moore, like Simmons, is afraid that a reduction in professional responsibility will lead to a reduction in professional autonomy. Moore states there are only two possibilities for the future: the interest in distance education will not be as great as predicted and universities will scale back or abandon initiatives; or distance education succeeds and Simmons fears of distance education will become a reality. However, Moore believes that it may be possible for both traditional face-to-face and distance learning to coexist with institutions specializing in one or the other. Moore also believes that face-to-face and distance learning may exist within the same institution provided there is unusually expert leadership to manage them, but concludes that most universities trying to do both will fail.

Analysis

Certainly, differences have arisen between instruction in the traditional classroom and instruction in the online virtual classroom. but, does that really mean that the role of the facilitator in distance learning is really going to be degraded to a low-skill job? Most likely not. Those who believe this to be the case wrongly undervalue skills when it comes to the needs of distance education, most of which are the very same as face-to-face education. To be effective, both traditional and online instructors should motivate students, facilitate communication, and foster collaboration. In fact, the onus for communication and collaboration is even higher to overcome the isolating nature of distance learning. Perhaps Simmons and Moore had not realized more than eight years ago how much communication channels such as e-mail, phone, video, discussion forums, and online chats would become a part of distance learning technologies. Thus, their view of facilitators is very limited. Further, rather than dividing labor between those who prepare content and those who teach it, it is actually more useful to have the same person perform both functions so that communication and collaboration are effectively integrated into course materials.