I agree that education has to evolve with times. In today's society almost everybody has access to a computer and internet. Gone are the days when distance education meant sending correspondence through the mail, and waiting weeks for a response. With the invention of the internet we expect information to be at our fingertips, why not education. There are a lot of misconceptions about distance learning. The main one that your not getting the same education that you would in a classroom. Your not, in the equivalency theory Dr. Simonson states "It's once we realize that students are learning in a variety of places, different spots, it's impossible for that to be identical" (Simonson, 2000). I have to admit that I was one who kind of doubted an online degree out of ignorance, but once I took an online course, I had to admit that I learned as much or more than when I actually went to a class.
There's also a need for distance education especially in the k-12 setting and is one of the fastest growing areas. With the number of students outgrowing the number of seats in classes, the shortage of highly qualified teachers distance education could is the answer according to Huett, Moller, Foshay, and Coleman. I agree that there are benefits to distance education in the k-12 setting. But, I believe that before students and parents jump into it that they have to understand what this fully means. To me it means that the parent is going to have to take a bigger role in their child's education, since the teacher is not physically there, the parent is going to have to make sure their child is actually online during instructional time, using all the resource provided, and play the role of a tutor or hire one.
Distance education for adults was one of the best things that ever came available. Adults now can get a quality education without leaving home, taking off from work or driving long distance from campus. For Universities this "could mean the difference between a budgetary surplus and a loss..." (Moller, Foshay, and Huett, 2008). Universities just like corporations are all about the bottom line, what is going to make them money. With the increase of non-traditional students trying to obtain degrees and certificates, they had to come up with another way to provide these services so that everybody would be able to obtain it.
In the past before this big explosion of distance learning, there were a lot of errors made on how to approach teaching to students, that you did not have to see face to face. Like with anything else time changes that, educators found out what worked and what did not work.
Sources:
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: K12). TechTrends, 52(5). 63-67. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from Academic Search premier database, and search using the article's Accession Number: 34729472.
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 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's Accession Number: 33991516.
Simonson, M. (2000, Winter2000). Making Decisions: The Use of Electronic Technology in Online Classrooms. New Directions for Teaching & Learning, Retrieved September 16, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.
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I do believe more schools will venture into virtual classrooms for students K - 12, but will those students be able to do it on their own? I doubt it. I could see them being successful doing online learning with the use of a facilitator. I could also see it being extremely beneficial to home-schooled children for advanced math and science classes.
ReplyDeleteDistance education certainly has advanced since the days of waiting for the brown envelop. I can see how they have advanced over the last decade, and I can also see how challenging they can be if there is no communication between the instructor and the student. Face-to-face learning has an advantage of interaction between peers and instructors, but with distance learning, the learning is more on the learner's term and dedication level.
Shauna,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if distance education will really take off in the k-5 classrooms. You said you have learned more from your distance education classes then traditional methods, but I think most of this learning comes from maturity and also our cognitive ability to understand. I would have done miserably if I took online course my first or second year of undergraduate, but now that I understand how I gain knowledge I am also more disciplined, thus I feel online education classes benefit me. I have friends in their mid 20s that are still not disciplined enough for online classes and how can we expect a 12 year old to do what we do. The idea and concept is nice, but how do we execute online learning to all ages...is it really possible?
Shauna,
ReplyDeleteWith homeschooling on the rise,I think that distance learning will become a choice some parents make for educating their children and themselves. These parents already take responsibility for their children's education and know how to facilitate the process.
I can't say that I've learned more from distance learning. I can say that it certainly is more convenient in terms of when I can study. I am still juggling deadlines. I would like to see distance learning become as popular as face to face learning for all levels of learners. I feel that this would help everyone's learning style to have a choice that actually best suits their way of learning with credible schools or universities that are not thought of as "less than" because they are online.
Sayrah, I agree that virtual schooling for k-5 would not be the best scenario. Students that age need the interaction from the peers as well as the discipline from teachers. K-5 is the exception students learn how to act properly in a structured environment I do not believe that they would get this at home if all they were getting was virtual schooling.
ReplyDeleteLaVerne, I don't think I would have exceeded either the first couple of years of undergrad doing an online program. But students now may feel differently with some of them already taking courses online. The reason I believe I've may have learned more by taking online courses is that if I didn't know something in a regular class I would have just asked the teacher for an explanation. Online I could do that but its so much easier looking something up and that's where my knowledge has expanded.