Module 1

The Next Generation of Distance Education

The ideas presented in this week's articles and videos are very interesting. Simonson discusses the prediction that distance education will grow "exponentially"  in the coming years. We have seen it's growth from correspondence courses (a phenomenon that began perhaps centuries ago) to what we now know as distance education. This type of education relies on interaction between both educators and students as well as between students and other students. It is different from correspondence courses because it relies on the social interaction that correspondence courses do not need to be successful. As a result of this change, distance education will need to evolve to become a working part of the next generation of learners. 

As time moves forward, the pool of resources and tools that learners have available to them is growing. There are many new technological advances being thought of almost daily and this is creating a need for teachers to change the way that they are teaching. It also means a change in WHAT they teach. Moller, Foshay, and Huett suggest in part 1 of their article that any learning done by students must be done in a manner that learners will actually use. No matter what kids learn, they must be prepared to use their knowledge to do things that haven't even been invented yet. 

This idea has implications in the higher education realm as well. In this area though, we see issues with the amount of work that educators are expected to do. A big issue for any college or university is the idea of misuse of intellectual property. It is so easy in distance education to take the ideas of others and use them as your own. I have struggled with this in the past. We are expected to do so much reading and processing of information that sometimes I don't remember where I learned about an opinion that I have suddenly developed. 

The most exciting part of this article for me was the last part. It discusses the idea of distance education in the k-12 realm. There are many issues that public school systems face today such as attendance (or the lack thereof in many cases), shortages of teachers, and budget cuts are just some of those issues. Distance education would be a good supplement for some of these things. While it seems to have the most use in the high school age range, it can be used at any level. Simonson discusses the idea that distance education can be used in conjunction with regular school situations to boost learning. I like this idea as someone who is very comfortable with technology. I am lucky enough to work in a school (teaching 4th grade) that is overflowing with technology. The best part of that equation is that the school is located in a lower socioeconomic area of my city and our students are kids who don't have the access that many other kids do in upper-middle class areas of our city. They don't have computers in their homes (many of them) or other forms of technology that people in the area that I grew up in have become accustomed to. I get to use technology every single day with these kids and teach them so many more amazing things than I could do without it. 

I agree with the positions presented to me this week. I see the need for the growth of distance education. I also see some exciting possibilities on the horizon in relationship to using distance education in conjunction with general education. It is inevitable that we will see so many new technological advances in the coming years. We need to be prepared for it as educators and help our students be prepared for it as well.

Links to the 3-part article referenced in this blog post:

The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instruction Design on the Potential of the Web

1) http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=edeae248-d5a9-4c8c-b990-a8d5c9c7de75%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=3

2) http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c73ecf0f-0c55-4641-884c-97b7703bf6e0%40sessionmgr13&vid=2&hid=3

3) http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a6640bc7-4556-4c68-ab9d-2e26196f9a9d%40sessionmgr13&vid=2&hid=121