As I sit here and contemplate the ramifications of
developing distance education for the next generation, I wonder what happened
to my generation. It is very surreal to
sit here and write a blog for an assignment about distance education while I am
participating in a distance learning program.
Obviously the need to develop distance learning further comes from a
need. Each one of us in this class
demonstrated a need and searched out Walden University as a way of meeting that
need. It seems that more and more are
turning to distance education as a way to meet needs. The great thing about distance education is
that it is not limited to any particular field.
While many think of distance education solely for the purpose of
attaining a degree, it also provides a pathway for businesses and corporations
to train employees in a cost-effective way (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008). Perhaps this point alone highlights the
benefits of distance learning.
If I could focus both Simonson (Laureate, 2008) and Huett,
Moller, Foshay, and Coleman’s (2008) study to one group that exemplifies the need
for distance learning it would be the emergence of non-traditional students as
a key player in the development of distance learning. This group is distinguished of course by
their age, but it should also be noted that non-traditional students also come
with already established jobs and, more often than not, families for which they
must provide. The need for a medium that
allows them a way to work on course work or training while providing for the
life they have created is met by distance education. In short, distance education creates an
avenue for easier access to education.
While I mentioned non-traditional students as an example, this is true
for people across the globe (Keegan, 1996). Surely something that can have
tremendous ramification for a vast population deserves to be developed further
and improved?
One major concept that I agree with is the fact that
distance education will complement traditional education, but will never
replace traditional education (Laureate, 2008). Huett, Moller, Foshay, and
Coleman (2008) even present a dim view of traditional education, asserting that
present methods are not working. This
alone is reason enough to explore other options when it comes to education. However, I am not ready to wholesale scrap
traditional education, but some change would be welcomed.
I hope that I am around later in life to witness the full
scale implementation of distance education.
While that may seem weird to read as I am writing this for a distance
learning course, I hope that I can see implementation of a program that
complements traditional education from K-12 to post-secondary and beyond.
Resources and Links
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.
Keegan, D. (1996). Foundations of distance education.
London: Routledge.
Access online to Keegan book: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=nYkrTWDj5twC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=non+traditional+students+and+distance+education&ots=UNP9mlbsbZ&sig=pMswIz1v9f9fRonCAI0zaW3mXeo#v=onepage&q&f=false
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). 2008a. Distance
education: The next generation. [Video webset]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2643771_1%26url%3D
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.
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.
Brett you hit the nail on the head in so many ways. I fear that my blog is not long enough or does not have enough space for me to get into the many failures of our current educational system. I will say that my husband and I often talk about the state of public education. We feel that the charter school movement and the development of virtual education will also give way to private sector, for-profit K-12 schools. I know private schools exist now, but I think we will see the emergence of corporations running schools that are completely independent of any local or state school board.
ReplyDeleteTo touch on your last sentence, our school district floated the idea of a four-day school week in hopes of saving money. That idea was quickly shot down by the local community, citing childcare issues for parents. Parents have also been very vocal about the fact that our system has gone from a 180-day school year to 160-day year to save money.
Margaret:
ReplyDeleteYour post has inspired me to seek further understanding of the dynamics involving personal and group identity and the degree to which they can foster actual or hybrid group homogeneity for the successful completion of a given task. It reminds me of an experience I made a few years ago as member of a group working on a Financial Management Project during my Master’s Degree at Columbia University in a face to face learning environment. We were Joseph, Chen, and Ken. I, Joseph, was more than the combined age of Chen and Ken and came from Haiti. Chen was, 23, was a foreign student from Mainland China (Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainland_China), and looking forward to finishing his degree and returning to his country. Ken was 24, a foreign student from Hong Kong (retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong). The common links between us included our fundamental human identity, our status as Columbia students taking that specific course, and the goal to achieve a rewarding and successful future stating with successful completion of the project which was to be assessed on the grounds of personal and collective contribution. We distributed the task at hand into segments, worked as a team to complete the project, and rehearsed the presentation part by mutually critiquing and supporting each other in order to optimize the personal and group outcome for the project. Our successful project was after all the outcome of many factors which included trust, communication, and a mutual commitment to succeed individually and collectively. Each group member had to self-evaluate and other members’ contribution in a confidential communication to the instructor. I think such strategies can increase group performance and can be successfully applied in Distance Education.
I partly agree with your statement that “In the traditional setting, group work creates a purely social situation where the temptation to carry on conversation usually outweighs the motivation to complete the task at hand”. Nevertheless, I have been part of many groups involving academic and professional projects and my recollection remains that completion of the given assignment always remained the target of our efforts. Deviation from the actual purpose occasionally occurred to facilitate unexpected or unintended learning. During the experience with Ken and Chen outlined above, besides the Financial Management Project, we did learn a lot from each other and from our respective cultures and history. I think this is a good thing for teaching and learning, especially when such customs are very common in the work place.
I suspect that we are all novice learners in the video production arena and we need to mutually support each other in this regard. My least expected challenge so far occurred as I was trying to post my storyboard copying from MS. Word to pasting to Wordpress. I was finally able to overcome the limitations of the technology by using another mechanism.
ReplyDeleteI find your topic and storyboard quite appealing and very well sequenced. Best of luck.