Harold Innis' notion of time and space: A content analysis of the distance education literature

Abstract

New technologies are rapidly changing our concepts of space and time. Through the theoretical framework of Canadian scholar Harold Innis’ “bias of communication,” this study uses content analysis to investigate how current distance education literature (as represented by five peer-reviewed journals over 15 years of publication) reflects evidence of a space-bias in distance education technology. An understanding of Innis’ notion of time and space can inform distance education practice by proposing the use of more synchronicity and orality in the design of distance education learning materials.