ATTITUDE OF DISTANCE LEARNERS TOWARDS MULTIMEDIA APPROACH TO INSTRUCTION

Abstract

Distance education is fast emerging as an alternative method for course delivery, thereby increases access to higher education at the national and international level. Distance education adopts a multimedia approach to instruction which differentiates it from the conventional mode of teaching-learning. The present study was undertaken to examine the attitude of distance learners towards multimedia approach to instruction. Participants were enrolled at Indira Gandhi National Open University, in its various programmes. An adapted attitude scale (Thurstone type) was administered to 1200 students, of which only 243 responded. Data analysis revealed a mean attitude score of 7.17, indicating a favourable inclination of respondents to learn through the multimedia approach. Further research is warranted in this area to explore the attitude of learners in various other distance education settings. It would help distance educators to expand the outreach of education through distance mode, motivate learners and reduce attrition rates considerably.

Keywords

• attitude of distance learner
• attitude scale
• multimedia approach to instruction