DL Johnston Question 1

From LiteracyTentWiki

QUESTION 1. My questions really revolve around what it takes to be a successful DLearner, especially when you've maybe not had much success as a traditional student or a student in traditional education.

I start with the assumption that distance is not for every adult, regardless of their interest. We encourage states to train teachers to assess learners at intake to see that the following factors are in place before recommending that the student pursue studying at a distance.

- A desire to reach a clearly defined educational goal - Some evidence of self-directed activity in their lives - Support from relevant others (e.g., family members) for engaging in distance study - Easy access to the technologies needed to use a particular distance curriculum - If the curriculum of study is computer or Internet based, computer skills adequate to the task. - High enough reading or math skills to handle the independent reading without getting discouraged. - - We recommend a minimum of seventh-grade level on the intake test - A quiet, easily accessed place to study - A schedule that permits regular work on the distance course

Do you agree that teachers should be selective? Do you think there are other factors to take into account?

I'll post the answer to another teaching/learning question later today.

J E R O M E J O H N S T O N
Director, Project IDEAL Support Center
Institute for Social Research - University of Michigan
734/763-3079 (734) 615-6638 (fax) jerej@umich.edu

This question and Jerome Johnston's reply were posted in the context of a July, 2005 discussion on the NIFL-Technology electronic list. The whole discussion will be found at http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/DistanceLearning