Description of Issue

            With distance learning comes many benefits for faculty members, such as its convenience of use and flexibility.  Distance education allows faculty members to take their work with them and gives them the flexibility to work more than one job.  They have the ability to fit teaching in between another job and also in between their busy life schedule.  However, many issues for faculty members also arise with distance education.  Issues such as preparing and delivering materials in digital form, communication problems, resistance to technology changes/uses, and technology misuse can occur (Bulajic & Sambasivam, 2014).  The many issues listed can arise due to technology illiteracy.  Whether the faculty member is trying to deliver information through digital form or is trying to communicate through discussion forums, being literate in technology use is necessary.  When faculty members are illiterate in technology use, distance education no longer becomes beneficial, instead it becomes a nightmare.

            Many individuals may be familiar with the terms literacy and illiteracy, but may not understand what technology illiteracy is and why it is an issue for faculty members in distance education.  Technological literacy is the learnt ability to gain and combine technical know-how together with other forms of social and cultural understanding to identify and qualify opportunities for the development, use ,and application of new, existing, and disruptive technologies within professional context (Hasse & Wallace, 2015).  Another word, an individual who is literate in technology is able to use new and existing technologies appropriately, while also recognizing technologies that may be disruptive during teaching and education.  In addition to being able to use the technology appropriately, individuals who are literate in technology also know basic troubleshooting skills to fix minor technological problems (Yi, 2012). 

Technology illiteracy among faculty members is a major problem in distance education because of the lack of training (Vaill & Testori, 2012).  Many institutions are quick to adopt online education to support institutional growth and student needs, but they do not realize that teaching online is a new skill for many faculty members, that requires training (Vaill & Testori, 2012).  As the definition states above, technology literacy is a learned ability.  Without proper training, illiteracy in technology occurs. 

            Since technology is the only form of communication and is the main teaching tool in distance education, illiteracy in technology for faculty members is a major issue.  This is a major issue in education because technology illiteracy leads to improper use of technology that can affect the way information is provided to students, can cause communication delays or an absence in communication between student and teacher, as well as a disruption in instructor roles (Yi, 2012).  All of these problems that occur from the issue of technology illiteracy can lead to ineffective teaching.  The next section of this blog will explore the significance of this issue and the effect on distance education.