I posted comments to Luis Avila at http://farawaylearning.blogspot.com and Debra Hanks at
http://debrahanks.blogspot.com/
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
All of the authors seem to agree that distance education is being considered to be a quick fix for several of the problems facing education and training today. Teacher shortages, the need for more advanced courses, and an increasingly diverse learner population and geography are all reasons seen by policy-makers as reasons why distance education (DE) needs to be pursued as an alternative of face to face education at all levels.
Simonson (2000) points out that the brick and mortar environment and the distance education environment cannot be considered one in the same. The evolution of distance education must include ways to be more than a new delivery system for old pedagogy and practices. As the courses that are created for distance education proceed, new ways must also be developed to create an equivalency to the face to face education, while recognizing the unique opportunities afforded by online practices.
Moller, Huett, Foshay and Coleman posit reasoning behind a push toward distance education that seems to expect that DE will solve education ills at the high school, college, and corporate training levels. However, the stress that if the courses are not developed well with new pedagogy and educational philosophy to match the potential of tools that are usable, then the results will not be satisfactory. Instructional designers need to be a part of the systems that are developed from the beginning.
I agree with these authors that distance education is something new. We have an opportunity to create ways to educate and re-educate using research-based thinking and 21st century tools. Unfortunately much of what changes in education often is what is expedient, haphazard, and slapped together. Perhaps we can change that this time.
Simonson, M. (2000). Making decisions: The use of electronic technology in online classes. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 84, 29–34.
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.
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.
Simonson (2000) points out that the brick and mortar environment and the distance education environment cannot be considered one in the same. The evolution of distance education must include ways to be more than a new delivery system for old pedagogy and practices. As the courses that are created for distance education proceed, new ways must also be developed to create an equivalency to the face to face education, while recognizing the unique opportunities afforded by online practices.
Moller, Huett, Foshay and Coleman posit reasoning behind a push toward distance education that seems to expect that DE will solve education ills at the high school, college, and corporate training levels. However, the stress that if the courses are not developed well with new pedagogy and educational philosophy to match the potential of tools that are usable, then the results will not be satisfactory. Instructional designers need to be a part of the systems that are developed from the beginning.
I agree with these authors that distance education is something new. We have an opportunity to create ways to educate and re-educate using research-based thinking and 21st century tools. Unfortunately much of what changes in education often is what is expedient, haphazard, and slapped together. Perhaps we can change that this time.
Simonson, M. (2000). Making decisions: The use of electronic technology in online classes. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 84, 29–34.
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.
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.
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