Elements of Distance Education

I agree with Mr. Siemens regarding the growing acceptance of distance education in today’s corporate and educational areas. With all the new online communication and new tools provides an effective approach that will help accelerate interactions among learners by global diversity, communication and collaboration interaction. One of the new tools that allow distance education to have better communication and comfort level is Skype. This new form of technology allows users to communicate to other users through voice over IP technology. The new tool will also allow students to communicate to other students as though they are in face-to-face classroom discussions. All the new technologies will allow students an opportunity to interact with other students in the world. According to Siemens (2008), distance education will continue to increase the use multimedia, games, and simulations over time. Distance education will be influenced by all the different technologies that will allow people the opportunity to continue their education from their homes, offices, and wherever there is access to their classroom. It is very important that learners find that level of comfort when enrolled in an online setting. If you feel comfortable about what you’re doing and how to use the classroom portal, good communication with instructors and peers you would more likely enjoy your distance learning experience.

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Author.

Distance Learning

Distance education can be defined as formal education in which the learning groups are separated by characteristics and time. Distance learning requires interaction between the student and the "instructor" varied but most often was minimal. The quality of the courses varied widely. A lot has changed since the beginning to now. Institutions of higher education are being challenged to provide high quality learning opportunities in the face of shifting market conditions and declining budgets. Many schools and colleges are coming to the same conclusion. The only way to constructively respond to this challenge is by developing distance education programs that apply technological innovation to the fastest growing market in higher education. After reading the article of Huet, Foshay, Molly and Coleman, they believe that distance learning will continue to grow rapidly in the upcoming years. Simonson (2008) also agreed that if we look at the past pattern of educational technology, we can expect exponential growth of distance education to continue. Institutions have to be sure that all instructors who are facilitating the courses trained appropriately.

The week’s readings and discussion have made me more aware of how important it is to provide equivalent learning experiences to those face-to-face instructions when relating to distance learning. I clearly understand how important it is to ensure that your students understand their expectations and instructions when designing courses online, so that they can have the same learning results you will receive in a traditional classroom.

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W.R., & Coleman, C. (2008). Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (part 3). Tech Trends, 52(5), 63-67.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008b). Equivalency Theory [Video program]. Available from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5260640&Survey=1&47=9024095&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1