Pedagogical Motivations and Barriers for Developing Multi-modal Distance Education Courses

Advances in technology and desktop access to multimedia have provided an opportunity to enrich learning environments. In 2003, the University of Southern Queensland, a major provider of distance education courses, commenced the process of converting traditional print-based courses to multi-modal courses (typically comprising an interactive CD and course homepage). This change process required academics to adopt and integrate educational technology. The literature indicates that a range of institutional and individual factors influence academics’ motivations to adopt and integrate educational technology. However, the primary focus of this paper is on pedagogical motivations and barriers for designing and delivering multi-modal distance education courses. INTRODUCTION Advances in technology and the emergence of the Internet as a major source of global information have placed pressure on higher education institutions to take advantage of these resources to provide a rich learning environment and thus, remain viable in an increasingly competitive global education market (O’Donoghue, Singh & Dorward 2001). For educators who are willing and able to embrace educational technology, the World Wide Web and desktop access to multi-media provide opportunities to develop ‘interesting and exciting interactive resources, incorporating multi-media’ (Sheard, Postema & Markham 2000, p. 1). Numerous institutional and individual factors influence academics’ willingness and ability to adopt and integrate educational technologies across a variety of educational contexts (Betts 1998; Ebersole & Vorndam 2003; Maguire 2005; Schifter 2000). However, few studies have adequately investigated pedagogical motivations for participation in distance education. Further, the literature that focuses on the use of multi-media or hypermedia for teaching and learning purposes, typically concerns students’ experiences in on-campus classes (e.g. Zwyno & Waalen 2003) or in the organisational training context (e.g. Young 1998). Indeed, few studies have focused on faculty motivations for developing multi-modal courses for distance higher education students (Birch & Gardiner 2005; Sankey & St Hill 2005). This paper focuses on academics’ pedagogical motivations and barriers for designing and delivering technology-based, multimodal courses in the distance higher education context.