I commented on the following blogs this week:
Vida Martin - http://vidamartin.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/hello-world/#comment-3
Heather Rogers - http://waldeneducationaltechnology.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-comes-to-mind-when-you-hear-term.html#comment-form
Friday, September 16, 2011
The Next Generation of Distance Education- Module 1
Many people have their own views of what exactly distance education is. For example, I taught myself how to french braid my own hair by watching an online video. Would this be considered in the category of distance education?
If we look at Simonson's (2000) definition of distance education, some of you might have a different opinion on what exactly distance education is. Simonson (2000) defines distance education as "formal education in which the learning group (teacher, students, resources) are separated by geography and sometimes by time". So, by learning how to french braid my hair from and online video by a random person would not be in the same category with this definition. Simonson (2000) would define this type of learning as a "self study at a distance". It is very interesting to think about the difference between the two because there is a lot of self learning at a distance that takes place on the Internet. Simonson (2000) also believes that distance education with significantly grow in the future, but will not replace traditional schools.
Moller, Foshay, and Huett (2008) published a three part series article that discusses the evolution of distance learning. These authors of these articles also agree that there will be an increase in distance learning in the future. Moller, Foshay, and Huett (2008) believes that in order to the increase, there needs to be more focus on Instructional Design. They believe that "faculty members in most e-learning initiatives adopt the craft approach" (Moller, Foshay, and Huett, 2008). By this craft approach the teacher bases the design of the course with a traditional classroom. Moller, Foshay, and Huett (2008) believe this will not work because "instructional delivery and models of online delivery systems and vastly different".
I agree with both Simonson and Moller, Foshay, and Huett on their positions about the evolution of distance education. I also believe that distance education is going to rapidly increase as it has done within the past decade. I believe that to have a successful distance learning experience, the instructional design of the course must be well planned. The teacher, student, and resources play a huge role in the success of the distance learning experience.
Throughout my experience with distance education, I have found that I learn the most when we have to collaborate through a group assignment. Without having to collaborate with peers, one has to rely on self motivation to read and learn the resources. With a busy daily life, sometimes self motivation isn't always there and one could fall behind. This is where collaboration and instructional design plays an important role.
If we look at Simonson's (2000) definition of distance education, some of you might have a different opinion on what exactly distance education is. Simonson (2000) defines distance education as "formal education in which the learning group (teacher, students, resources) are separated by geography and sometimes by time". So, by learning how to french braid my hair from and online video by a random person would not be in the same category with this definition. Simonson (2000) would define this type of learning as a "self study at a distance". It is very interesting to think about the difference between the two because there is a lot of self learning at a distance that takes place on the Internet. Simonson (2000) also believes that distance education with significantly grow in the future, but will not replace traditional schools.
Moller, Foshay, and Huett (2008) published a three part series article that discusses the evolution of distance learning. These authors of these articles also agree that there will be an increase in distance learning in the future. Moller, Foshay, and Huett (2008) believes that in order to the increase, there needs to be more focus on Instructional Design. They believe that "faculty members in most e-learning initiatives adopt the craft approach" (Moller, Foshay, and Huett, 2008). By this craft approach the teacher bases the design of the course with a traditional classroom. Moller, Foshay, and Huett (2008) believe this will not work because "instructional delivery and models of online delivery systems and vastly different".
I agree with both Simonson and Moller, Foshay, and Huett on their positions about the evolution of distance education. I also believe that distance education is going to rapidly increase as it has done within the past decade. I believe that to have a successful distance learning experience, the instructional design of the course must be well planned. The teacher, student, and resources play a huge role in the success of the distance learning experience.
Throughout my experience with distance education, I have found that I learn the most when we have to collaborate through a group assignment. Without having to collaborate with peers, one has to rely on self motivation to read and learn the resources. With a busy daily life, sometimes self motivation isn't always there and one could fall behind. This is where collaboration and instructional design plays an important role.
References:
Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, July/August). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 2: Higher Education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66–70. Retrieved from: http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?did=1607894971&sid=4&Fmt=6&clientId=70192&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 1: Training and Development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75. Retrieved from: http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?did=1607549341&sid=3&Fmt=6&clientId=70192&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, July/August). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 2: Higher Education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66–70. Retrieved from: http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?did=1607894971&sid=4&Fmt=6&clientId=70192&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008 September/October). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web. (Part 3: K-12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67. Retrieved from: http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?did=1608653391&sid=2&Fmt=6&clientId=70192&RQT=309&VName=PQD
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