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
3 comments:
I agree that a collaborative learning environment is beneficial in a distance education program. When I obtained my master's degree, we did a lot of collaborative learning. I was skeptical at first but after my first experience, I realized that collaborative learning has its benefits.
Sarah,
Wonderful post! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
I agree with Moller, Foshay, and Huett (2008) in that instructional design has to be a core focus in distance education. When you teach an online course there is very little similarities to a traditional classroom and it is a huge mistake to think that what works in a room will work in a virtual setting. Part of the instructional design will have to involve collaboration with students to determine their needs and how best to meet them.
Here is a link that I think you might find useful. It provides further links to topics that are relevant to our course work!
http://www.pitt.edu/~poole/onlinelearning.html
Happy blogging!
Kimberly Arlia
Kimberly while it is true online courses instructional design is a core focus there are some similarities of traditional education and distance education programs. As stated by Charee there is a benefit to a collaborative learning environment which is what you receive in both settings. And in both settings there is teacher student interaction, through chat rooms, the class café, video conferencing, email and in some cases phone calls. Also the instructional design of distance learning courses is carefully designed to meet the same standards as traditional courses.
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