Introduction to Distance Education:

Theorists and Theories: Otto Peters

March 2, 2014

Dr. Fred Saba

By Dr. Farhad (Fred) Saba
Founder, Distance-Educator.com
Born in Berlin in 1926, Dr. Otto Peters , is Professor emeritus of the FernUniversitt
( Distance Teaching University) in Germany. For 10 years he had been its Founding Rector,
and for 17 years he held a chair in a discipline called, Methodology of DistanceTeaching in
the same institution. In this capacity he conducted an extensive research project: University
Study for Persons who have to Work for a Living (Studium neben dem Beruf). From 1969
1974 he was engaged in comparative distance teaching research at the German Institute for
Distance Education at the University of Tbingen. Over the years, Dr. Peters has made
numerous contributions to the conceptual development of distance education . However ,
his writings on the industrial nature of distance education demonstrated the contrast of
teaching and learning at distance with teaching in a classroom. He characterized distance
teaching as a standardized mass system of education in contrast to face-to-face education
that is craft oriented as each instructional session is produced by one person at the time of its
presentation. class lectures , even on the same subject by the same instructor differ from one
class presentation to another. As we are making a turn from the modern to the postmodern,
Peters theory of distance education as an industrial endeavor has found new importance to
understand the current status of the field and how it may evolve in the future.

On the concept of industrialized form of education, Peters ( 1993 ) wrote:

Implicitly, it underlines the fact that distance study must be carefully pre-planned, prepared
and organized, and that there is a division of labor , a growing use of technical equipment,
and the necessity of formalized evaluation. People become aware that these and other features
of distance study are the same as those that can be found in an industrialized production
process. Explicitly, these ideas are expressed by using the image of a teacher in the classroom
working like a craftsman, as opposed to a teacher being a part of a complicated teachinglearning system organized like an industrialized process. The catchphrase industrialized from
of instruction helps to recognize structural elements which are typical for distance study.
(Page 16).
To illustrate the industrial characteristics of distance education , Peters applied concepts from
business management literature and developed the following categories:

Rationalization- Methodical measure that are applied rationally with the purpose
achieving output with a comparatively lower input of power, time and money.

The Division of Labor- Materials required for development of the distance study
course can be assembled by subject matter experts, and educationists and
experienced practitioners who can develop course materials and facilitate course
presentations.

Mechanization- Distance teaching uses modern means of communication and

electronic data processing.

Assembly Line- In the development of the distance study course the manuscript is
passed from one area of responsibility to another and specific changes are made at
each stage.

Mass Production Instructional materials are mass produced and delivered to

learners.

Preparatory Work- In a production situation where a division of labor prevails,

economy, quality, and speed of the work processes depend on the right type of
preparation.

Planning- An essential element of preparation is planning , which needs to be far

more comprehensive and detailed than industrial manufacturing process than in
manual production, as it requires the coordination of many interacting factors.

Organization- In distance study there is an immediate connection between the

effectiveness of the teaching method and the rational organization.

Scientific Control Methods- With its efforts to measure the success of a teaching
method, distance teaching has introduced a hitherto neglected aspect into university
teaching.

Formalization- On account of the division of labor and mechanization in the

manufacturing process there is a much greater need to predetermine the various
phases formally than in manual labor.

Standardization- It is characteristics of production situation involving division of

labor and high technology that manufacture is limited to a number of types of one
product, in order to make these more suitable for their purpose.

Change Function- Whereas it was typical for the craftsman to plan the production of
a piece of work as well as acquire the necessary materials, carry out the work and
finally sell the finished piece of work himself, industrialization led to a more market
functional differentiation.

Objectification- The more the production process is determined by machines and

organizational principles, the more it loses its subjective element which used to
determine the craftsmens work to a considerable degree.

Concentration and Centralization- The investment required for mechanized mass

production involving division of labor has led to large industrial concerns with a
concentration of capital, an frequently centralized administration, and a market that is
not seldom monopolized.

These Industrial characteristics of distance education explicate the current lack of

synchronization between faculty in higher education and university administrators. Faculty
work as solo workers in a craft-oriented profession that has no division of labor,
standardization of routine tasks, or workflows. In contrast, university administrators work in
an industrial workflow to provide mass education to hundreds of thousands of enrollees in
their respective campuses.
As personal technologies of communication, such as social media, became ubiquitous and
faculty will be able to present mass personalized instruction to the learners with some level of
standardization, it will be interesting to see how the dynamic between faculty and
administrators change in the postmodern era.
REFERENCE
Keegan, D. (Ed). (1994). Otto Peters on distance education: The industrialization of teaching
and learning. London, UK: Routledge.
Peters, O. (1993). Understanding distance education. In K. Harry, M. John, and D. Keegan
(Eds.). Distance education: New perspectives. (10-18). London, UK: Routledge.