Why So Distant, Ed? Distance Education

 

            In today’s digital world, more people are recognizing the value of continuing or completing their education or training.  Many times, distance education courses are delivered through the Internet or online to both traditional and nontraditional students. Therefore, distance education is one of the fastest growing forms of education.  With the advent of the internet and improved computer technologies, distance education courses offer opportunities for students who might otherwise not continue their education. It is an alternative to the traditional educational setting where participants learn together through instructor centered activities in the same place at the same time.

The delivery of distance education courses offer participants convenience and access as well as challenging content within a learning community. It is often described as course offerings in which the instructor and student are separated by geography (place) and time. In their book, Teaching and Learning at a Distance, Simonson, Smaldino, and Zvacek (2015), describe distance education as a “variety of [educational] programs serving numerous audiences via a wide variety of media.” Within these learning communities, students are offered differentiated activities and technologies.  To insure student success in distance education, courses must provide high standards, incorporate the best instructional practices in a teaching and learning environment.  The best practices for distance education focuses on a learner-centered pedagogy where students interact with one another and the instructor (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015). Although distance and time may separate the instructor and student, the instructor should seek to understand the unique needs of the learner. New and developing technologies “extend beyond a direct one-to-one interaction and encompass… interactions with…others” throughout the distance education experience (Greenhow, & Askari, 2015). In the distance education environment, the instructor becomes a content expert, facilitator and resource person.  It is important that distance education courses are designed within a framework for teaching adults.  Although, the majority of distance education is offered at higher levels such as colleges, there are many virtual schools and distance education opportunities for K-12 grade levels today.  There are vast difference between pedagogy for the K-12 grade levels and andragogy for adult learners.  

This is a short video clip of Knowles Theory of Andragogy.

     Learning is socially constructed, and is often found within the context of relationships.  It is also a process of actively creating connections and constructing knowledge. Therefore, many distance education programs offer students active and collaborative learning experiences which supports social interactions. Although, distance education provides students with many opportunities to interact, it also provides authentic learning experiences in which students work independently, conduct research, reflect and reason. Throughout my college experiences, I have enrolled and satisfactorily complete many distance (online) educational courses. Many those courses have offered me the opportunity to raise my kids and work as I obtained a degree. Most have also followed a pedagogy (andragogy) for adult learners, implemented emerging technology, and provided many opportunities for social interactions (Simonson, & et al., 2015). By using effective instructional design methods along with purposeful technologies, the courses I participated in were enhanced thus ensuring a high level of learning. Distance learning experiences have offered me ways to become a self-directed individual who is motivated and ready to learn.

References

Greenhow, C., & Askari, E. (2015). Learning and teaching with social network sites: A decade of

            Research in k-12 related education. Education and Information Technologies. doi:

            10.1007/s10639-015-9446-9

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance:

            Foundations of distance education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.