American Indian special educators and distance education

In this study the factors promoting and issues inhibiting participation in distance education (DE) courses for American Indian (AI) special education teachers were investigated. Information from this study can be used to develop and enhance distance education and thus aid in the retention and recruitment of highly qualified American Indian special education teachers. One hundred and ten AI special educators who had and had not experienced distance education completed a survey.;Two questionnaires were developed based on review of the literature and a prior pilot study. One questionnaire (A) was administered to American Indian special educators who had taken a DE course. The second questionnaire (B) was administered to American Indian special educators who had not taken a DE course.;The questionnaire contained seven demographic questions. Based on their previous experience with distance education, respondents were directed to complete either survey A or B. Survey A consisted of 42 statements categorized into eight sections: access, technical skills (e.g., reading, writing, downloading), social, motivation, support services, family/time, instruction, pretraining workshops (e.g., formats, navigation). Survey B consisted of 25 statements categorized into seven sections: access, technical skills (e.g., navigation, delivery formats), social, motivation, support services, family/time, and prerequisite skills. Results of the study suggested that distance education, when implemented effectively, was perceived positively.