| Once designed, distance education courses must be delivered to learners. Course
delivery normally involves interaction between learners and instructors. Courses are
delivered through symbol systems called media—text, sound, pictures, realia (things), or combinations of these. Media are
distributed through a variety of technologies, mainly print, computer, recorded audio or
video tapes, discs or cassettes, radio or television broadcasting, audio, video, or
computer teleconferencing, or in packages of materials. Combinations of media may be
packaged for delivery via the Internet, including the World
Wide Web.
Each medium is best suited to communicating a particular type of message. And different
media are preferred by different learners. So a key challenge in designing a distance
education course is media selection—finding
the most cost-effective mix of media. |
