Anticipating and supporting the needs of users of technologies, programs, and services are critical to the success of distance education programs. Principal stakeholders are instructors who teach at a distance, learners pursuing distance education courses, site facilitators, and administrators. (JOW)

Discusses methods for evaluating the return on investment of training. Compares the effectiveness of electronic learning and traditional methods and suggests that measuring hard numbers might not be a true indicator. (JOW)

Suggests that training on the Web, or e-learning, falls short of its promises. Offers an agenda for improvement: (1) stop pretending that reading is training; (2) increase bandwidth; (3) adopt interoperability standards; and (4) conduct internal and external evaluations of web-based training. (JOW)

This discussion of the possible endorsement of library technician programs by the Canadian Library Association examines various program evaluation options, including accreditation, certification, licentiate, and public review. The role of the library technician and guidelines for educational programs are also discussed. (Author/CLB)

Describes the evolution of distance education courses at the University of South Carolina and the results of a study of students who participated in those courses. Highlights include student performance and reactions of both students and faculty to the telecourses. (Author/CLB)

Examines the problems affecting evaluation of distance education in developing countries in terms of economic, political, and social issues. Discusses one solution, a meta-analysis for synthesizing the results of research studies. (JOW)

This report of the proceedings of the 50th anniversary year of the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE) includes: (1) the text of the address given by Kevin Smith, the outgoing president of the organization; (2) a review by the outgoing president of activities of the ICDE during its first 50 years (from 1938 to 1988); (3) the text…

Designed to provide a broad picture of the state of instructional television for adults and to identify major issues relating to instructional telecourses, this reader presents 50 articles in seven categories relating to the production and distribution of telecourses. Section I presents six articles on the growth in the use of telecourses, which…

The first of two volumes, this report provides a brief description of a 1987 conference on distance education together with the papers presented by three of the four keynote speakers; presentation notes are included for the fourth presentation. It is noted that, in addition to these papers, the conference included 41 informational sessions and…

Discusses six major themes related to public policy and distance learning: (1) quality/evaluation and accreditation; (2) credentialing; (3) enhanced public access; (4) organization and governance; (5) partnerships; and (6) financial support. (JOW)

Reviews a computerized monitoring system for distance education students at Athabasca University designed to solve the problems of tracking student performance. A pilot project for tutors is described which includes an electronic conferencing system and electronic mail, and an evaluation currently in progress is briefly discussed. (LRW)

Presents the results of two surveys conducted to evaluate distance education courses offered at a community college: one of students who enrolled in, but did not complete, a distance education course; and one of the faculty and administrators involved in telecourse planning and delivery. Describes how the results were used to improve the programs.…

Examines the Fridays Only part-time/distance education program of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois. Provides a history of the program and a composite of a typical day for the Fridays Only student; discusses strengths and weaknesses from the perspectives of the students, faculty, and…

For a number of years it has been suggested that distance education is a natural extension of existing teaching methods that includes learners who are separated from the instructor by time or distance. This paper takes an alternative look at distance-education research and evaluation and proposes an evaluation model built on that view. That…

This paper describes the first venture of the author (a professor at Kentucky's Morehead State University) into the world of distance learning technology, specifically interactive television. Highlights include the one-way video classroom; multimedia development; compressed video classroom; and use of listservs. An informal evaluation of the…