Distance Education
My definition of distance learning was rather simple. When I thought or have been asked to define distance education I would just say going to school online. I think of distance education as a way for colleges and universities to make additional money from patrons that weren’t really interested in going to school on campus. It was a way for them to get more adult learners to go back to school who did not necessarily want to be around the young students or in class with them. I took some distance education classes when I first arrived in Arizona and it was great. No teacher to lecture and bore me to death. No assignments due but once a week. Finally, no time limits for being on the computer or chatting with a class.
My revised definition would be that of Dr. Simonson. That would state, “Distance learning is defined as, “Formal Education, that is institutionally based, in which the learning group (teacher, student, resources) are separated by geography and sometimes by time. (Simonson, 2012). Also, after being challenged by Dr. Paige, I found myself looking deeper into the meaning of distance education. There are several meanings for distance education. There is a distance education program called blended or hybrid education. Hybrid instruction, or hybrid courses, refers to classes where there is a carefully planned blend of both traditional classroom instruction and online learning activities. In other words, hybrid classes combine the best of both styles of instruction. (Fanter, 2012). I even discovered that learners that are in a different country are not only separated by time and space (maybe an ocean) they could also separated by the use of internet and streaming video information. I have a lot to learn about distance education.
My new definition, combined with my old definition would have to include the thought that Colleges and Universities have taken an entrepreneurial approach to distance education. They also do attract older learners who are busy in life and can sometimes only accomplish that Master’s Degree by getting online and going in the evening when they have the time and can focus without distraction. Forshay, Huett and Moller state that Colleges and Universities, therefore, see distance education as a way of sustaining growth and also competition. (Forshay, Huett and Moller, 2008). Universities make money from distance education and as mentioned in the article on Implications for Instructional Designers on the Potential of the Web it can mean the difference between budgetary surplus and loss. My new definition would encompass a broader approach to distance and approach to teaching and delivery methods.
“It is not only possible, but likely, that users of e-learning have never encountered a product built according to sound Instructional Designer Principles.” (Forshay, Huett and Moller, 2008). What does that say about the future of Instructional Design? We should not only be offended that we are not important enough, in the field, to control this type of statement but we should relish the fact that we must get out there and show the e-learning, distance education world what we are capable of doing when given the opportunity. We have the tools and we are the Subject Matter experts. We can revolutionize the potential of the web for education. According to Forshay, Huett and Moller, “ID practitioners are inclined to underestimate the importance of this demanding trend” we do not even realize our own potential and worth to the education world or web.
I see the future of Instructional Design as so bright we will need shades. We hold the keys to sound learning principles and practices. The Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) calls distance education a “mainstream” educational delivery method and predict a 300% increase in students served in the next five years (DETC, 2004). Instructional Designers should be leading the way in designing cost effective courses that are user friendly for students and faculty. We should be evaluating and revising courses that are meaningful to learners and create a connection and drive students to significant developments in the distance education classrooms.
References:
Simonson, M. Distance Education, the Next Generation, Laureate Education (2012)
http://www.technical-vocational-schools.com/online_classroom_learning.aspx Retrieved 03/04/2012.
Fanter, Amy. Teaching And Learning Center (http://courses.durhamtech.edu/tlc/www/html/Special_Feature/hybridclasses.htm)
Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66–70.
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