Distance Learning Reflection

I really enjoyed the Distance learning course. I know this because I’ve already started to rewrite courses that I teach because of it. Distance learning has been around for a long time in many forms such as correspondence courses by mail long before there were cars but it’s only been recently that it’s been acknowledged and become so mainstream in all facets of training and learning. It’s also become more widely excepted though it’s not as far along as it could be. There are still hurdles for it to overcome.

At the turn of the last century, there were around 900,000 students enrolled in International Correspondence Schools by 1906 and by 2010 there were nearly 3 million students enrolled in online programs in America alone (Craig, 2015). Distance learning has grown and become far more accessible. The perceptions have been varied from skepticism to beliefs that it’s the future of all education and everything in between. Technology has been hugely a part of its recent growth in acceptance. George Seimans gave 4 reasons as to why that is (Laureate n.d.):

1. The increase of online communication

2. Practical experiences with new tools available

3. The current populations growing comfort with online discourse

4. And the ability to communicate with diverse and global groups.

I believe that similar to Moore’s Law, we’re going to see a continued growth and positive perception of distance learning provided that we adapt the structure of learning and not continue to look at and practice distance learning with the restriction of how it’s been taught in traditional brick and mortar schools. It’s been stated that teaching strategies in online environments tend to be locked in traditional approaches with technology being used mostly for convenience and flexibility (Wang, 2015). I’ve witnessed this personally at one of the schools I worked at were the driving force for online was the belief it was going to save money and not much thought was put into the design. It failed.

I believe that in the next decade, we will see this adaptation of design broader in distance learning courses and as it grows, so with the positive perception of distance learning. Though it’s stated time and time again that technology doesn’t drive education, it does help it and make it more accessible to learners along with more tools that can be used to solve problems. It wouldn’t have been possible to teach as many learners effectively in correspondence courses as we can now, and that’s due to technological advancements which allow at times instantaneous exchanges of information rather than weeks. Seimans did state that the factors that will and have impacted Distance Education are:

1. New communication technologies

2. Contributions by experts around the world (once again more accessible through new communication technologies)

3. Increased use of multimedia, games, and simulations

I believe this is the catalyst to have educators think out of the box if they are given the resources and time to take advantage of it. As new techniques are created and shared it will become far easier to have activities and projects in distance education and it will be perceived as a creative and effective alternative to traditional face to face courses as opposed to the skepticism of it replacing traditional courses while not always offering the same amount of quality (or so it’s perceived by some now).

As an Instructional Designer, I believe it’s our jobs to be creative in how to not make online learning different for the sake of it being different but to make it different to make it effective for distance education and the learner’s sake. We don’t need to be tied to the way it’s been done in the past but we do need to acknowledge what has worked and see how it can be reimagined instead of regurgitated.

I personally plan on being a positive force for this change by studying the back door of how to make distance education work. An example is that one of the schools I work for and teach online gives a certain amount of freedom with the content and tools you use as an instructor in the class but is restricted by how the classes are organized in due dates and the time given to create the activities for the course. I want to create specialized templates for the courses I teach and similar ones that are more suited for digital art where teachers new to teaching online would have an easier time to prep for their classes and have better ideas of what they can do to teach certain information. Creating some of this content and broadening this to other areas would help out several departments. I guess I’ll know after my capstone how effective it will be. I’m really excited to find out.

Resources

Craig, R., (2015). A Brief History (And Future) of Online Degrees. Forbes Article https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryancraig/2015/06/23/a-brief-history-and-future-of-online-degrees/#ea21cf848d9a

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). The future of distance education[Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Wang, V. C., & Torrisi‐Steele, G. (2015). Online teaching, change, and critical theory. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 27(3), 18–26.