An Assessment of Training Needs in the Use of Distance Education for Instruction

Under the Far View Distance Learning Project, the Pacific Mountain Network (PMN) was granted the responsibility to develop and administer public television programming, educational products, and planning and dissemination of distance education courses throughout the Greater Denver area. This report summarizes results from a needs assessment study of four Far View sites, performed for PMN by the University of Colorado at Denver (UCD). The study has as its goal to identify the greatest training needs in the utilization of distance education for instruction. Based upon these findings, PMN, UCD, and the Denver Public Schools (DPS) are now collaborating to develop a professional development certificate for promoting the awareness and use of distance education. The certificate program is aimed at three groups of educators:

• pre-service educators who need to be aware of the possibilities of distance education and how to integrate distance education programs into their future teaching programs,
• inservice educators who need to know what resources are available as well as methods and strategies to adapt their current teaching techniques to distance education,
• professional development personnel who will work with distance education organizations to design and implement distance education programs.

This report is divided into four sections:

• a description of the method utilized in the study,
• a summary of key findings,
• a discussion of possible curriculum implications, and
• suggestions for future research in identifying training needs in distance education.