APDI: A Converging Framework to Analyze Distance Education Perspectives

The pandemic has greatly accelerated conversations and research on distance education. Countless disciplines received increased scholarly attention and some even received their first significant wave of research. Tertiary music distance education is a prime example of a discipline that received a significant influx of scholarly articles with direct reference to the pandemic. This presentation summarizes the results and implications of a qualitative systematic review in the field of tertiary music distance education. Specifically, the presentation introduces the APDI framework, a visual education research tool that emerged during the study's data analysis phase. The APDI framework takes the shape of a four ellipse Venn diagram and serves as a tool to analyze qualitative data based on the converging themes of access, perception, design, and interaction. Following a brief introduction of the framework and its background, the presentation proposes three functional applications in research. The first application facilitates an analysis of distance education perspectives with increased granularity. Coded data segments may be allocated to one, two, three, or all four themes. Next, the second application enables heatmap-based data snapshots. This use allows the identification of thematic patterns within and between study samples. Finally, in context of literature reviews, a populated APDI framework can help visualize the state of distance education research and facilitate the formulation of informed research questions. With the context of tertiary music distance education in mind, brief connections to other distance education fields will be drawn at the end of the presentation. Following the presentation part, attendees are welcome to share their thoughts and ask questions. This presentation is intended for distance education researchers and administrators who wish to explore new approaches to visualize qualitative education data.