This report of the collected data presents the data gathered regarding the levels of competence in computer and communication skills of teachers who have taught computer-based distance education in one of the higher education institutions in Indiana. The report also presents data on computer competencies of students who registered in computer-based distance education classes taught in one of the higher education institutions in Indiana in the Fall of 1996. The following five sections contain reports of collected data from students and teachers in the present study:

Six demographic variables were gathered in this study: gender, marital status, highest degree earned, progress toward degree, and area of study.

The gender distribution of students in this study were very close: 50.8% female and 49.2% male (see Table 1). All the students in the study answered this question.

Table 1: Gender of Students
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Female	30	50.8
Male	29	49.2
Total	59	100.0

 
The majority (57.9%) of the students were married. The next highest was single with 29.8%. Two students did not answer this question. See Table 2 for a complete listing of frequency distributions and percentages of the marital status variable.

Table 2: Marital Status of Students
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Married	33	57.9
Single	17	29.8
Divorced	5	8.8
Widowed	2	3.5
Total	57	100.0

 Missing Cases: 2
 
The majority of the students were in the age category 31 to 40 with 39.0% (see Table 3). The next highest percent belonged to age category 21 to 30 (30.5%). The age category of 31 and over dominated with 67.8% of the total students in the study.

Table 3: Age of Students
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Over 50	2	3.4
41 - 50	15	25.4
31 - 40	23	39.0
21 - 30	18	30.5
Under 21	1	1.7
Total	59	100.0

 
The majority of students had earned a Bachelor’s (33.9%) or Associate’s degree (33.9%). Only 13.6% indicated their highest degree, Master’s or higher. Table 4 has complete listing of the highest degree earned variable.

Table 4: Highest Degree Earned by Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
High School	10	16.9
Associate’s Degree	20	33.9
Bachelor’s Degree	20	33.9
Master’s Degree	7	11.9
Ph.D./Ed.D.	1	1.7
Other	1	1.7
Total	59	100

 
The majority of students (94.9%) were seeking degrees in their formal education activities. Only 5.1% of students (see Table 5) did not indicate that they were studying toward a degree. All the students responded to this question.

Table 5: Students Studying Toward a Degree
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Yes	56	94.9
No	3	5.1
Total	59	100.0

The final demographic question was an open-ended question, students’ areas of study. The areas of computer science and nursing had the highest percentages, each with 30.9% (see Table 6). Only 4 students preferred to not answer this question.

Table 6: Major of Study of Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Computer Science	17	30.9
Nursing	17	30.9
Recreation	6	10.9
Management	5	9.1
Engineering	4	7.3
Sport Management	3	5.5
Biology	1	1.8
Social development	1	1.8
Psychology	1	1.8
Total	55	100.0

 Missing Cases: 4     4=6.7% of total population

The statistical methods, frequency distribution and the t test were used to analyze the collected data. The student section contains demographic information, students’ computer and communication skills, students’ training and support, motivation for participation in computer-based distance education, students’ tools and connection costs, students’ concerns regarding computer-based distance education, and advantages of computer-based distance education from students’ perspective.

A total of 20 questionnaires were mailed to students who registered in the computer-based distance education in the Fall 1996 and preferred the printed questionnaires. From 20 mailed questionnaires, 16 (80%) were completed and returned. From the WWW version of the questionnaire, 43 students who were registered in the computer-based classes in one of the higher education institutions in Indiana responded to the questionnaire. Lack of centralized information at the state and universities levels made it impossible to accurately estimate the fraction of the sample from the population of computer-based distance education students and teachers in Indiana.

Student’s Skills (Primary Research Question):

One primary question in this research was: Whether the

computer and communication skills of students who registered in the computer-based distance education were adequate for a successful educational experience? The following nine tables relate to one primary question of the present study.

Various comments related to computer and communication skills were reported by students. Some of them very positive and some of them very negative. One of the students wrote: "Thoroughly enjoyable learning experiences", at the same time another students wrote: "I hate it". Some students reported that computer and communication skills were necessary for being a successful member of the information society. One student wrote: "Computer literacy has been a much needed skill in general. I enjoyed learning to incorporate it through class, though it can be frustrating as a novice." Some students reported, in addition to course requirements and contents, learning computer applications were an extra pressure in computer-based distance education. One student wrote: "We are three weeks into class time and I still struggle with the computer applications and operations."

Students were asked about their level of skill in the operation of e-mail applications. The main purpose of e-mail is to provide ability of communicat with teacher and students. The majority (66.7%) of students responded that about 90% of the time they were successful in the operation of e-mail applications (see Table 7). Over 90% of the students indicated that 75% of the time or more they were successful in the operations of e-mail. Only one student (1.8%) indicated that he or she was successful in the operation of e-mail application 25% of the time.

Table 7: Electronic Mail Skill of Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	0	0.0
About 25%	1	1.8
About 50%	4	7.0
About 75%	14	24.6
About 90%	38	66.7
Total	57	100.0

 Missing Cases: 2

The second item asked students for their level of skill in operation of File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is a TCP/IP protocol that can be used for transferring files over the network. About 36% of students reported that they did not know FTP. The second highest 32.1% of students reported that about 90% of times they were successful in the operation of FTP. Table 8 has detailed listing of frequencies and percentages for this item.

Table 8: File Transfer Protocol Skill of Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	19	35.8
About 25%	2	3.8
About 50%	9	17.0
About 75%	6	11.3
About 90%	17	32.1
Total	53	100.0

 Missing Cases: 6     6=11.3% of total population

World Wide Web (WWW) is a global, interactive, dynamic, cross-platform, hypertext information system that runs over the Internet. The majority of students 61.8% indicated they were successful in the operation of WWW at least 75% of the time. From participants in the present study, 18.2% (see Table 9) indicated that they did not know about WWW.

Table 9: World Wide Web(WWW) Skill of Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	10	18.2
About 25%	1	1.8
About 50%	10	18.2
About 75%	11	20.0
About 90%	23	41.8
Total	55	100.0

 Missing Cases: 4     4=7.5% of total population

Gopher is an information management tool that allows students to search and access information over the network. Over forty six percents of students responded that they did not know Gopher (see Table 10). Over 34% of the students indicated that they were successful in the operation of Gopher about 75% or about 95% of the time.

Table 10: Gopher Skill of Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	24	46.2
About 25%	5	9.6
About 50%	5	9.6
About 75%	9	17.3
About 90%	9	17.3
Total	52	100.0

 Missing Cases: 7     7=11.8% of total population

Over forty three percent of students did not know the bulletinboard or had only about a 25% success rate in the operation of this application. The main purpose of bulletinboard is to provide opportunity for asynchronous group projects and group discussions. About 40% of the students indicated that they were successful in the operation of this asynchronous communication tool at least 75% of the time. See Table 11 for frequency distributions and percentages.

Table 11: Bulletinboard Skill of Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	11	21.6
About 25%	11	21.6
About 50%	9	17.6
About 75%	10	19.6
About 90%	10	19.6
Total	51	100.0

 Missing Cases: 8     8=13.5% of total population

CHAT allows people all over the Internet to communicate with one another in real-time. About 47% of students (see Table 12) did not know CHAT (synchronous communication tool). The second highest was 22.4% who indicated that they were successful in operation of CHAT 90% of the time. Ten students did not respond to this question.

Table 12: CHAT Skill of Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	23	46.9
About 25%	7	14.3
About 50%	5	10.2
About 75%	3	6.1
About 90%	11	22.4
Total	49	100.0

 Missing Cases: 10     10=16.9% of total population

Telnet provides the ability to have a remote login to computers over the network. About 38% of students indicated that they were successful in the operation of Telnet at least 90% of the time. About 64% of the students in the present study were successful in the operation of Telnet, at least 75% of the time. See Table 13 for detail frequency distributions and percentages.

Table 13: Telnet Skill of Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	10	18.2
About 25%	1	1.8
About 50%	9	16.4
About 75%	14	25.5
About 90%	21	38.2
Total	55	100.0

 Missing Cases: 4

Table 14 reports the judgments of seventeen teachers of computer-based distance education about students’ competencies in utilization of computer resources and applications. The lowest category, not competent and accounted for 11.8% of the responses. The competent and excellent categories comprised 17.7% of the seventeen teachers made these judgments.

Table 14: Teachers Judgments of Students’ Competency
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Competent	2	11.8
Acceptable	8	47.1
Good	4	23.5
Competent	2	11.8
Excellent	1	5.9
Total	17	100.0

The following Table was based on the teachers’ responses to the question: "Do you think students are ready for computer-based distance education?" The majority 76.5% of the teachers indicated that students were ready for computer-based distance education.

Table 15: Teachers Judgments of Students Readiness for Computer-based Distance Education
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Yes	13	76.5
No	4	23.5
Total	17	100.0

Student’s Training and Support (Secondary Research Question):

One of the secondary research study questions addressed student training and support programs. Training and support were main concerns of some of the students in the present research. For example, one of the students reported:

The majority (58.6%) of students indicated that they have received adequate documentation for utilization of computer applications from the university where they were taking classes. The remaining students responses (41.4%) indicated that the documentation was not adequate. Table 16 displays the frequency distributions and percentages of variables.

Table 16: Adequate Documentation from University of Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Yes	34	58.6
Not	24	41.4
Total	58	100.0

 Missing Cases: 1

Thirty eight percent of students rated documentation good, but about 50% indicated that documentation was fair, poor, or not acceptable. See Table 17 for listing of frequency distributions and percentages.

Table 17: Rating the Documentation of Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Acceptable	2	3.5
Poor	11	19.3
Fair	15	26.3
Good	22	38.6
Excellent	7	12.3
Total	57	100.0

 Missing Cases: 2

The majority (62.5%) of teachers indicated that there were on campus training or orientation in connection, communication, and access to computer resources for their students in computer-based distance education (see table 18).

Table 18: Teachers Response of On Campus Training for Students
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Yes	10	62.5
Not	6	37.5
Total	16	100.0

 Missing Cases: 1

Table 19 displayed the results of students’ responses to the question: Who do you contact for help with computer problems? (please check all that apply). For example from 59 students 29 (49.2%) selected the teachers as one source for helping them with computer problems. The majority of students (50.8%) indicated that they used friends as one source of problem solving regarding use of the computers.

Table 19: Students Sources of Help with Computer Problems
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Instructor	29	49.2
Friend	30	50.8
Classmate	15	25.4
Family Member	18	30.5
University Expert	20	33.9
Vendor/Publisher	11	18.6

The majority of students about 70%, (see Table 20) reported that their teachers’ competency to help them with computer problems was good or excellent. There was zero percent for the options "poor" and "not acceptable" in the present study.

Table 20: Students Judgments of Instructor Competency to Help
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Acceptable	0	0.0
Poor	0	0.0
Fair	18	30.5
Good	21	35.6
Excellent	20	33.9
Total	59	100.0

The majority of students (over 60%) rated university’s support system fair or good (see Table 21). About 25% of the students indicated that support system provided by universities offering the courses were not acceptable or poor.

Table 21: Students Support System by University
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Acceptable	2	3.7
Poor	11	20.4
Fair	16	29.6
Good	16	29.6
Excellent	9	16.7
Total	54	100.0

 Missing Cases: 5     5=8.4% of total population

The majority of students (51%) indicated that the ISP support was good or better. About 25% of students indicated that the ISP support was poor or not acceptable (see Table 22).

Table 22: Students’ Support System by Internet Service Provider (ISP)
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Acceptable	4	7.3
Poor	9	16.4
Fair	14	25.5
Good	18	32.7
Excellent	10	18.2
Total	55	100.0

 Missing Cases: 4     4=7.5% of total population

Students’ Motivations for Participation (Secondary Research Question):

Motivation for participation of 59 students was another secondary research question in the present study. There are many different reasons for participation of adults in formal education. The majority of students indicated that educational value (61.0%), career promotion (47.5%), and improve job performance (23.7%) were main reasons for their participation in the computer-based distance education (see Table 23).

Table 23: Students’ Motivations for Participation in Computer-based Distance Education
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
License/Relicensure	0	0.0
Career promotion	28	47.5
Improve Job perf.	14	23.7
Learning/Ed. Value	36	61.0
Other	6	10.0

About 55% of the 59 students indicated that cost efficiency of computer-based distance education was important or very important for them in computer-based distance education (see Table 24).

Table 24: Advantage of Cost efficiency by Students Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	4	8.0
Not Important	6	12.0
Somewhat Important	13	26.0
Important	13	26.0
Very Important	14	28.0
Total	50	100.0

 Missing Cases: 9     9=15.2% of total population

Flexibility of time and place were very important for 72.2% of students in the present study. Over 90% of students indicated that the advantages of flexibility of time and place in computer-based distance education were important or very important for them (see Table 25).

Table 25: Students Judgments Regarding Flexibility of Time and Place
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	0	0.0
Not Important	1	1.9
Somewhat Important	4	7.4
Important	10	18.5
Very Important	39	72.2
Total	54	100.0

 Missing Cases: 5     5=8.4% of total population

Concerns, Student’s Perspectives:

The following nine tables reported the concerns of students about computer-based distance education. There were many concerns by students about needed skills in order to operate computer which is the only means of delivery of content and communication. One of student wrote: "I have actually spent several precious hours in an effort to successfully complete an assignment as simple as sending my first e-mail message." Another student reported: "The instruction given over the IHETS system have been futile, the TV screen does not transmit the computer screen well; you can not read the computer monitor."

The majority (50.0%) of students indicated that teacher and student communication were crucial when computers were the only means of delivery and communication between teacher and student (see Table 26).

Table 26: Students’ Concern about Student and Teacher Communication
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	1	1.7
Somewhat Important	0	0.0
Important	7	12.1
Very Important	21	36.2
Crucial	29	50.0
Total	58	100.0

 Missing Cases: 1

About 80% of students had high (very important and crucial) concerns for teacher’s computer competency. Only 5.2% of students indicated that teacher’s computer competency was somewhat or of little importance (see Table 27).

Table 27: Students’ Concern about Teacher’s Computer Competency
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	0	0.0
Somewhat Important	3	5.2
Important	10	17.2
Very Important	21	36.2
Crucial	24	41.4
Total	58	100.0

 Missing Cases: 1

The majority (79%) of students indicated that student’s computer competency was very important or crucial in computer-based distance education (see Table 28).

Table 28: Students’ Concern about Student’s Computer Competency
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	1	1.8
Somewhat Important	3	5.3
Important	8	14.0
Very Important	23	40.4
Crucial	22	38.6
Total	57	100.0

 Missing Cases: 2

The majority of students indicated that having a support group through university was important(26.8%), very important (25.0%), and crucial (25.0%). Only 3.6% of the students indicated that the support system of the universities offering the course was of little importance (see Table 29).

Table 29: Students’ Concern about Support Group in University
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	2	3.6
Somewhat Important	11	19.6
Important	15	26.8
Very Important	14	25.0
Crucial	14	25.0
Total	56	100.0

 Missing Cases: 3

The majority of students (37.5%) indicated that they were concerned about the lack of personal interaction in the computer-based distance education (see Table 30).

Table 30: Students’ Concerns about Personal Interaction in the Group
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	7	12.5
Somewhat Important	7	12.5
Important	21	37.5
Very Important	9	16.1
Crucial	12	21.4
Total	56	100.0

 Missing Cases: 3

Over 70% of the students were concerned (very important or crucial) about student’s access to campus resources. Table 31 has the frequency distributions and percentages.

Table 31: Students’ Concern about Student’s access to Campus Resources
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	1	1.8
Somewhat Important	4	7.0
Important	12	21.1
Very Important	19	33.3
Crucial	21	36.8
Total	57	100.0

 Missing Cases: 2

About Thirty Two percents of students indicated that the training program by the university was crucial. The second highest was very important with 29.8% (see Table 32).

Table 32: Students’ Concern about Training program by University
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	2	3.5
Somewhat Important	6	10.5
Important	14	24.6
Very Important	17	29.8
Crucial	18	31.6
Total	57	100.0

 Missing Cases: 2

The majority of students indicated that the connection cost was important (22.8%), very important (42.1%), and crucial (26.3%) of their concerns in the computer-based distance education (see Table 33).

Table 33: Students’ Concern about Connection Cost
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	2	3.5
Somewhat Important	3	5.3
Important	13	22.8
Very Important	24	42.1
Crucial	15	26.3
Total	57	100.0

 Missing Cases: 2

Over 70% of the students indicated that the computer cost was a very important or crucial concern to them in computer-based distance education (see Table 34).

Table 34: Students’ Concern about Computer Cost
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	1	1.8
Somewhat Important	6	10.5
Important	9	15.8
Very Important	25	43.9
Crucial	16	28.1
Total	57	100.0

 Missing Cases: 2

Charts of Students’ Concerns in Computer-based Distance Education:

The Chart #1 presented the results of the last nine tables, students concerns about computer-based distance education in Indiana. All the nine questions were dominated with the responses in the categories of important, very important, or crucial. Teacher and student communication was the highest concern of the students in the present study.

Advantages, Student’s Perspectives:

Advantages of computer-based distance education has direct relation with the growth of this method of education. The following six tables reported the results of analysis related to the advantages of computer-based distance education from students’ perspectives. Some of the students had positive views about computer-based distance education. One of the students wrote: "Computer-based distance education has made a college education possible for me."

The majority (54.7%) of students indicated that the computer-based education was a very important new opportunity for adult education (see Table 35).

Table 35: Students Judgments Regarding New Opportunity for Adult Education
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	1	1.9
Not Important	1	1.9
Somewhat Important	10	18.9
Important	12	22.6
Very Important	29	54.7
Total	53	100.0

 Missing Cases: 6     6=10.1% of total population

The majority (about 60.0%) of students indicated that student-centered education is very important or important in the computer-based distance education (see Table 36).

Table 36: Students Judgments Regarding Student-centered Education
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	1	2.0
Not Important	5	9.8
Somewhat Important	15	29.4
Important	18	35.3
Very Important	12	23.5
Total	51	100.0

 Missing Cases: 8     8=13.5% of total population

The majority (54.9%) of students indicated that teacher’s role as facilitator was an important or very important advantage of computer-based distance education (see Table 37).

Table 37: Students Judgments Regarding Teacher’s role as Facilitator
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	3	5.9
Not Important	4	7.8
Somewhat Important	16	31.4
Important	15	29.4
Very Important	13	25.5
Total	51	100.0

 Missing Cases: 8     8=13.5% of total population

About 55% of the students indicated that the cost efficiency was a very important or important advantage of computer-based distance education (see Table 38).

Table 38: Students Judgments Regarding Cost efficiency
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	4	8.0
Not Important	6	12.0
Somewhat Important	13	26.0
Important	13	26.0
Very Important	14	28.0
Total	50	100.0

 Missing Cases: 9     9=15.2% of total population

The flexibility of time and place were very important for a majority (72.2%) of the students in the computer-based distance education (see Table 39).

Table 39: Students Judgments Regarding Flexibility of Time and Place
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	0	0.0
Not Important	1	1.9
Somewhat Important	4	7.4
Important	10	18.5
Very Important	39	72.2
Total	54	100.0

 Missing Cases: 5     5=8.4% of total population

Over 75% of the students indicated that the variety of learning resources in the computer-based distance education were very important or important for them (see Table 40).

Table 40: Students Judgments Regarding Variety of Learning Resources
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	2	3.6
Not Important	2	3.6
Somewhat Important	9	16.4
Important	20	36.4
Very Important	22	40.0
Total	55	100.0

 Missing Cases: 4     4=6.7% of total population

Charts of Students Judgments about Advantages of Computer-based Distance Education:

The Chart #2 presented the results of last six tables, students perspectives about advantages of computer-based distance education. Responses to all the six questions were dominated with categories of somewhat important, important, and very important. Flexibility of time and place in computer-based distance education was the most important for students.

The teacher section contains teacher’s computer and communication skills, training and support, concerns about computer-based distance education, and advantages of Computer-based distance education from teachers’ perspectives. The primary research question was analyzed first, then secondary questions are examined based on the collected data from the teacher’s survey.

From WWW version of the teacher’s survey, 16 teachers who have taught computer-based distance education in one of the higher education institutions in Indiana responded to the survey. One teacher who requested a printed copy, completed and returned the survey by mail. There was not centralized and accurate information about the number of faculty who have taught computer-based distance education in one of higher education institutions in Indiana.

Teacher Computer and Communication Skills (Primary Research Question):

The primary question in this study was: whether computer and communication skills of teachers who have taught computer-based distance education was adequate for a successful educational experiences? The following six tables were a based for answering to the research primary question.

One teacher wrote: "Teaching my course was an amazing educational experience. I was glad to do it and look forward to the next time." Another teacher reported: "I do not feel that a faculty member need to be a hacker to deal with such a course, but competency helps."

Over 90% of the teachers were competent and excellent in the utilization of the computer as a communication tool such as e-mail and bulletinboard (see table 41).

Table 41: Teachers’ Competency in Communication Tool
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Competent	0	0.0
Acceptable	0	0.0
Good	1	5.9
Competent	9	52.9
Excellent	7	41.2
Total	17	100.0

 
The majority of teachers (65.7%) were competent and 29.4% were excellent. Over 90% of teachers were competent and excellent in the utilization of computer as a tool to access learning materials and resources such as library and Internet applications (see Table 42).

Table 42: Teachers’ Competency in Accessing Resources
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Competent	0	0.0
Acceptable	0	0.0
Good	1	5.9
Competent	11	64.7
Excellent	5	29.4
Total	17	100.0

 
About 50% of the teachers were competent and excellent in designing computer educational applications, such as case study and simulation (see table 43).

Table 43: Teachers’ Competency in Designing Application
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Competent	2	11.8
Acceptable	5	29.4
Good	1	5.9
Competent	7	41.2
Excellent	2	11.8
Total	17	100.0

 
The majority of teachers (64.7%) were adequately prepared for their first computer-based distance education class. The second highest, 23.5% of teachers were not well prepared for their first computer-based distance education class (see Table 44).

Table 44: Teachers’ Readiness for their First computer-based Classes
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Prepared	1	5.9
Not Well Prepared	4	23.5
Adequately Prepared	11	64.7
Well Prepared	1	5.9
Total	17	100.0

 
The majority (92.3%) of teachers indicated that they are adequately and well prepared now to teach computer-based distance education classes (see Table 45).

Table 45: How Prepared are Teachers Now to Teach Computer-based classes
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Prepared	0	0.0
Not Well Prepared	1	7.7
Adequately Prepared	7	53.8
Well Prepared	5	38.5
Total	13	100.0

 Missing Cases: 4     4=23.5% of total population

All the students in their questionnaire indicated that their teachers’ computer competency to help them with computer related questions were fair (30.5%), good (35.6%), and excellent (33.9%) (see Table 46).

Table 46: Students’ Responses to the Faculty Competency
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Not Acceptable	0	0.0
Poor	0	0.0
Fair	18	30.5
Good	21	35.6
Excellent	20	33.9
Total	59	100.0

 
Teacher’s Training and Support (Secondary Research Question):

Training and support were one of the secondary research question in the present study. The training and support systems were main concerns of the teachers who participated in this study. For example, one of the teachers reported: "While I had little formal training, I go to a lot of conference and talk to people on a regular basis." Another teacher wrote: "I have not trained, but I know a lot about what is going on in distance education."

The majority (52.9%) of teachers indicated that they had training in computer connection (using Kermit or Internet service Provider) to campus resources (see Table 47).

Table 47: Training in Computer Connection of Teachers Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Yes	9	52.9
No	8	47.1
Total	17	100.0

Over 76% of the teachers indicated that they had training in the utilization of computer resources and applications (see Table 48).

Table 48: Training in Computer Applications of Teachers Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Yes	13	76.5
No	4	23.5
Total	17	100.0

The majority (88.2%) of the teachers indicated that they did not have any special training for computer-based distance education. Only 11.8% of teachers indicated that they had training in this new pedagogy (see Table 49).

Table 49: Training in This New Pedagogy of Teachers Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Yes	2	11.8
No	15	88.2
Total	17	100.0

The majority (62.5%) of teachers indicated that they think faculty are ready to teach computer-based distance education classes in Indiana (see table 50).

Table 50: Faculty’s Readiness to Teach of Teachers Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Yes	10	62.5
No	6	37.5
Total	16	100.0

 Missing Cases: 1

Responding to the question "when problems arise, do you have technical support?", 82.4% of the teachers indicated that they had the necessary supports (see Table 51).

Table 51: Technical Support of Teachers Responding
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Yes	14	82.4
No	3	17.6
Total	17	100.0

Concerns, Teachers’ Perspectives:

The following nine tables indicate the results of analysis related to the teachers concerns about computer-based distance education.

The majority (82.4%) of teachers indicated that student and teacher communication was crucial for computer-based distance education (see Table 52).

Table 52: Teachers’ Concerns about Student and Teacher Communication
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	0	0.0
Somewhat Important	1	5.9
Important	0	0.0
Very Important	2	11.8
Crucial	14	82.3
Total	17	100.0

About 90% of the teachers reported that teacher’s computer competency was important, very important, or crucial in the computer-based distance education (see Table 53).

Table 53: Teachers’ Concern about Teacher’s Computer Competency
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	1	5.9
Somewhat Important	1	5.9
Important	4	23.5
Very Important	8	47.1
Crucial	3	17.6
Total	17	100.0

Only one teacher indicated that the student’s computer competency was somewhat important, the rest about 95% of teachers reported that it is important, very important, or crucial (see Table 54).

Table 54: Teachers’ Concerns about Student’s Computer Competency
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	0	0.0
Somewhat Important	1	5.9
Important	10	58.8
Very Important	4	23.5
Crucial	2	11.8
Total	17	100.0

 
About 47% of the teachers indicated that a support group within the university was very important in computer-based distance education (see Table 55).

Table 55: Teachers’ Concerns about Support Group in University
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	2	11.8
Somewhat Important	0	0.0
Important	3	17.6
Very Important	8	47.1
Crucial	4	23.5
Total	17	100.0

About 95% of the teachers indicated that personal interaction in the group was important, very important, or crucial concerns of them in the computer-based distance education (see Table 56).

Table 56: Teachers’ Concerns about Personal Interaction in the Group
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	0	0.0
Somewhat Important	1	5.9
Important	4	23.5
Very Important	5	29.4
Crucial	7	41.2
Total	17	100.0

 
About thirty percent of the teachers indicated that student’s access to campus resources was crucial in computer-based distance education (see Table 57).

Table 57: Teachers’ Concerns about Student’s Access to Campus Resources
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	2	11.8
Somewhat Important	4	23.5
Important	2	11.8
Very Important	4	23.5
Crucial	5	29.4
Total	17	100.0

About thirty percent of the teachers indicated that a computer training program by university for students and faculty was very important. About 35% of the teachers reported that the training program was of little or somewhat importance (see Table 58).

Table 58: Teachers’ Concerns about Training program by University
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	3	17.6
Somewhat Important	3	17.6
Important	2	11.8
Very Important	5	29.4
Crucial	4	23.5
Total	17	100.0

About 70% of the teachers indicated that connection cost was important, very important, or crucial in the computer-based distance education (see Table 59).

Table 59: Teachers’ Concerns about Connection Cost
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	1	5.8
Somewhat Important	4	23.5
Important	4	23.5
Very Important	5	29.4
Crucial	3	17.6
Total	17	100.0

 
About thirty-five percent of the teachers reported that the computer cost was very important. The next highest percentage was 23.5% who indicated that computer cost was somewhat important (see Table 60).

Table 60: Teachers’ Concerns about Computer Cost
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Of Little Importance	1	5.8
Somewhat Important	4	23.5
Important	3	17.6
Very Important	6	35.3
Crucial	3	17.6
Total	17	100.0

Charts of Teachers Concerns in Computer-based Distance Education:

The Chart #3 presented the results of the last nine tables, concerns of teachers in computer-based distance education. The most concern of teachers was communication between student and teacher. They rated communication as crucial in computer-based distance education. The important, very important, and crucial were dominated categories for all nine questions.

Advantages, Teachers’ Perspectives:

The following six tables reported the results of teachers’ perspectives about advantages of computer-based distance education in Indiana. The same six questions were asked from students who participated in the present study.

The majority (76.5%) of the teachers responded that computer-based distance education provided a new opportunity for adults’ continuing education. All the teachers (100%) rated computer-based distance education very important or important new opportunity for adult education (see Table 61).

Table 61: Teachers Judgments Regarding New Opportunity for Adult Education
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	0	0.0
Not Important	0	0.0
Somewhat Important	0	0.0
Important	4	23.5
Very Important	13	76.5
Total	17	100.0

The majority (58.8%) of teachers indicated that student-centered activities of computer-based education were very important in this method of teaching and learning (see Table 62).

Table 62: Teachers Judgments Regarding Student-centered Education
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	1	5.9
Not Important	0	0.0
Somewhat Important	2	11.8
Important	4	23.5
Very Important	10	58.8
Total	17	100.0

About forty-one percent of teachers indicated that the teacher’s role as facilitator was very important. The next highest percentage was 29.4% who indicated that the teacher’s role as facilitator was somewhat important (see Table 63).

Table 63: Teachers Judgments regarding Teacher’s role as Facilitator
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	1	5.8
Not Important	0	0.0
Somewhat Important	5	29.4
Important	4	23.5
Very Important	7	41.2
Total	17	100.0

About 60% of teachers reported that cost efficiency in computer-based distance education was important or very important. Only 11.6% of teachers indicated that they do not know cost efficiency or it was not important (see Table 64).

Table 64: Teachers Judgments Regarding Cost efficiency
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	1	5.8
Not Important	1	5.8
Somewhat Important	5	29.4
Important	3	17.6
Very Important	7	41.2
Total	17	100.0

Over 94% of teachers indicated that flexibility of time and place was an important or very important advantage of computer-based distance education (see Table 65).

Table 65: Teachers Judgments Regarding Flexibility of Time and Place
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	0	0.0
Not Important	0	0.0
Somewhat Important	1	5.9
Important	3	17.6
Very Important	13	76.5
Total	17	100.0

The majority (56.3%) of teachers indicated that the variety of learning resources in computer-based distance education was a very important advantage of this method of teaching and learning (see Table 66).

Table 66: Teachers Judgments Regarding Variety of Learning Resources
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Do Not Know	0	0.0
Not Important	0	0.0
Somewhat Important	2	12.5
Important	5	31.3
Very Important	9	56.3
Total	16	100.0

 Missing Cases: 1

Charts of Teachers Judgments about Advantages of Computer-based Distance education:

The Chart #4 presented the results of last six tables, advantages of computer-based distance education from teachers’ perspectives. Majority of teachers indicated that new opportunity for adult education and flexibility of time and place were very important advantages of computer-based distance education.

In this section the t test was used to compare the means of responses to the two common questions from teacher’s and student’s surveys. The two questions were "what are your main CONCERNS in computer-based distance education?" and "what do you see as major ADVANTAGES of computer-based distance education in Indiana." The analysis was done with significance at the .05 level.

Items Related to the Question Concerns:

In the following there are not significant differences in the responses of the teachers and students to the common questions which were related to their concerns to the computer-based distance education.

Charts of Students and Teachers Concerns to Computer-based Distance Education:

The Chart #5 presented a comparison of the means of teachers’ and students’ responses to the nine common questions "Concerns in Computer-based Distance Education". In the six of the nine questions students had higher concerns about computer-based distance education than teachers.

Items Related to the Question Advantages:

In the following there were not a significant differences in the responses of the teachers and students to the common questions related to the advantages of computer-based distance education.

Charts of Advantages of Computer-based Distance Education:

The Chart #6 presented a comparison of the means of teachers’ and students’ responses to the six common questions "Advantages of Computer-based Distance Education". In the all six questions the means of teachers’ responses were higher than means of students’ responses.

Responses to the open-ended questions were tabulated as frequency counts.

Students’ Open-ended Questions:

Occupations of the majority of students in the present study were students (34.6%) and nurse (32.6%). Table 67 has the detail listing of the occupations of respondents.

Table 67: Occupations of student Participants
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Student	18	34.6
Nurse	17	32.6
Computer	7	13.6
Business	5	9.6
Engineer	3	5.8
Education	1	1.9
Retired	1	1.9
Total	52	100.0

 Missing Cases: 7     7=11.8% of total population

The majority of students’ majors were in computer science (30.9%) or nursing (30.9%). The next highest percentage was 10.9% belonged to students with recreation major (see Table 68).

Table 68: Majors of student Participants
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Computer Science	17	30.9
Nursing	17	30.9
Recreation	6	10.9
Management	5	9.1
Engineering	4	7.3
Sport Management	3	5.5
Biology	1	1.8
Social Development	1	1.8
Psychology	1	1.8
Total	55	100.0

 Missing Cases: 4

Additional Comments by Students:

The final open-ended question in the student survey was "Additional Comment" regarding to the computer-based distance education. The following are some of the major thoughts and issues by students who participated in the present study. Training was a major issue in the additional comment section.

A student wrote:

One of the students wrote: "I think the four hours instruction in use of the computer was too short and not well spent." Another student wrote: "I feel the hands on training on the computer was very good, but for first time computer users not quite enough."

Some of the student participants thought computer-based distance education provided them a new opportunity for continuing education. One of the students wrote: "Computer-based distance education is thoroughly enjoyable experience." Another student reported: "Computer-based distance education has made a college education possible for me.’ One of the students wrote:

The following results are tabulated frequency counts from teachers’ inputs in the open-ended questions.

About forty-one percent of teachers indicated that they were from Ball State University. The next highest percentage (29.4%) teachers were from Indiana University. Teachers from six university around Indiana participated in the present study (see Table 69).

Table 69: Universities of Teacher Participants
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
Ball State Univ.	7	41.2
Indiana Univ.	5	29.4
Purdue Univ.	2	11.7
IU East	1	5.9
Indiana State Univ.	1	5.9
Univ. of Southern Ind.	1	5.9
Total	17	100.0

Teachers from 10 different departments participated in the present study. The majority (17.7%) of the teachers were from the Department of English and (17.7%) from the Department of Recreation (see Table 70).

Table 70: Departments of Teacher Participants
 
 

Value Label	Frequency	Percent
English	3	17.7
Recreation	3	17.7
Computer Science	2	11.7
Education	2	11.7
Nursing	2	11.7
Accounting	1	5.9
Engineering	1	5.9
Health Science	1	5.9
Psychology	1	5.9
Social Science	1	5.9
Total	17	100

 
Additional Comments by Teachers:

The final open-ended question in the teacher’s survey was "Additional Comment" regarding to the distance education in Indiana. The following are some of the thoughts and issues were discussed in the comment section. Most of the teachers had positive views about computer-based distance education in Indiana.

One of the teachers wrote:

Some of the teachers emphasized with concerns about computer-based distance education as another way of teaching and learning. One of the teachers wrote:

Through the use of printed and World Wide Web versions of questionnaires, open and close-ended questions, and two statistical tools, several findings have been generated from the present study. One of the important findings was teachers who teach computer-based distance education in Indiana felt they had adequate computer and communication skills for positive educational experiences for themselves and their students. Another major finding was students who registered in computer-based distance education in Indiana felt they had adequate skills in some of the applications, such as e-mail and WWW, but they needed more training and support in some other areas, such as communication from their computer to Internet applications and campus resources. These findings will be discussed in detail in Chapter Five.