Learning at a Distance

How are planning educators responding to the challenges and opportunities of distance education? The authors explore this question through a planning school survey, a case study, and brainstorming about change factors. They find that planning education programs are slow to adopt new technology, except for incorporation of e-mail and Web technology into traditional on-campus courses. Most respondents believe that distance learning will be important, but few distance learning courses are taught. Reported obstacles are extra demands on faculty, lack of compensation for course development, low faculty interest, incompatibility with course content, and inadequate technical support. The case study describes the design and teaching of a successful distance learning course in which student work improved. Four catalysts that could speed adoption of distance learning are (1) generational change, (2) program survival, (3) institutional conformity, and (4) practice demand. The authors conclude that as future-oriented professionals, planners should lead in applying technology to improve planning education.

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