Subject: transactional distance: definition
From: Ania Lian (ania@lingua.arts.uq.edu.au)
Date: Tue 09 Nov 1999 - 23:15:24 MET
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 08:15:24 +1000 (EST) From: Ania Lian <ania@lingua.arts.uq.edu.au> Subject: transactional distance: definition
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I thought that many would appreciate the message belowe which I found on
the web using infoseek search database. I also post the name of its
sender, for the record.
Ania Lian
ania@lingua.arts.uq.edu.au
http://education.canberra.edu.au/~andrewl/mlal2
From: "Zane L. Berge, Ph.D." <berge@UMBC2.UMBC.EDU>
Someone asked for a better explanation of transactional distance the
other evening in class. The following passage by Moore, I think, does a
nice job:
"Transactional distance is a function of two variables called "dialogue"
and "structure." Dialogue describes the extent to which, in any
educational programme, learner and educator are able to respond to each
other. This is determined by the content or subject- matter which is
studied, by the educational philosophy of the educator, by the
personalities of educator and learner, and by environmental factors, the
most important of which is the medium of communication. For example, an
educational programme in which communication between educator and the
independent learner is by radio or television permits no dialogue. A
programme by correspondence is more dialogic, yet not to the same extent
as one in which correspondence--or radio or television--is supplemented by
telephone communication. Structure is a measure of an educational
programme's responsiveness to learners' individual needs. It expresses the
extent to which educational objectives, teaching strategies, and
evaluation methods are prepared for, or can be adapted to, the learner. In
a highly structured educational programme, the objectives and the methods
to be used are determined for the learner, and are inflexible. In a
linear, non-branching programmed text, for example, there is less
opportunity for variation, according to the needs of a particular
individual, than there is in those correspondence courses which permit a
wide range of alternative responses by the tutor to individual students'
questions and assignment submissions. . . . In a programme in which there
is little structure, and dialogue is easy, interaction between teacher and
learner permits very personal and individual learning and teaching."
Moore, M.G. (1983). On a theory of independent study.
In D. Sewart, D. Keegan, & B. Holmberg (Eds.), Distance
Education: International Perspectives. London: Croom
Helm. p. 157.
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