Design, development and delivery of distance study materials: An industrial approach to distance education

Traditional education as we know it is usually the result of a craftsman-like approach to its design, development and delivery. In this approach the teacher fulfils all of the tasks necessary for the student's study from its inception through its delivery. The teacher here is a jack-of-all-trades and carries the full responsibility for the entire process. The effective and efficient design, development and delivery of distance study materials requires a more industrial approach in which the process is broken down into a series of well defined and planned stages in which the teacher/content area expert is just one of the many participants in the total process. In this model the teacher/expert is a member of a team and is assisted in his or her role by experts in the fields of instructional design, media technology, media design and production, course content, evaluation, tutoring, project planning, etcetera. This paper presents a framework for the design, development and delivery of distance study materials according to this industrial approach. It will describe and define the operational issues in the process of course development, its approach to design and media selection, the steps in a course development project, and the roles and functions of the participants.