Distance Education Research Fields and Methods

The research fields and methodology of distance education as academic discipline include multidimensional object which consists of the educational process, tools used, characteristics of participants (teacher and students), organizational culture, cultural as well as economic aspects. Olaf Zawacki-Richter and Terry Anderson (ed. 2014) divided them into three levels: macro (systems / models and cultural aspects), meso (organization, management, technology, costs, innovations, professional development, ways of learner’s support, quality assurance), micro (design, interaction and communication patterns, characteristics of teacher and learners, dropouts). Research field include humanities and social sciences, computer sciences, educational technology.