Elements of Distance Education Diffusion

Elements of Distance Education Diffusion

George Siemens discusses and explains three elements that give distance education an identity of its own different from face to face courses, which include global diversity, communication and collaborative interaction. Although I believe that all three elements are equally important, the element of collaborative interaction has vastly evolved.

As Siemens mentions his belief on the growing acceptance of distance education is due to, “more of us are having experiences communicating online” (Siemens, 2009). The increase of communication online enables people to develop a sense of comfort and even discovery that meaningful relationships can develop using online medium (Siemens,2009). This comfort and development of meaningful relationships are due to collaborative interaction. The element of collaboration interaction online enables people to communicate with a diverse group of people all over the world. This collaborative interaction fosters appreciation and acceptance of different perspectives concerning various topics and issue. The use of collaborative interactions allows for people from different backgrounds, countries and professions a means to discuss and solve worldly problems that are too large to solve alone, through effective problem solving using interactive collaboration.

I agree with Siemens when he states, “the concept of interaction in an online environment has changed significantly” (Siemens, 2009). Various technologies such as blogs, Skype, email, discussion boards, instant messaging and wikispaces enable us to see that we do not have to be in the same location and time to have effective collaboration. Therefore, collaborative interaction no longer has to be geographically confined.

“So, as those communication technologies improve in quality, we’re going to start to see the educational model around it also ramp up significantly” (Siemens, 2009). With this increase in communication technologies, distance education and the process of education will change. Distance education will increase so will the integration of multimedia games and other new technologies that will be utilized in education.

Seimens, George. The Future of distance Education. Video posted to http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=3649019&Survey=1&47=2625189&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

The Next Generation of Distance Education

The Next Generation of Distance Education

There are numerous reasons why distance education should evolve to the next generation. “Distance learning is rapidly becoming a popular choice for continuing professional education, mid-career degree programs, and lifelong learners of all kind” (Huett, 2008). The reason distance learning is becoming so popular is economics and accessibility (Huett, 20008). Some significant benefits to distance education are broadening a variety of courses and increase student population without the expenses of building new schools (Huett, 2008). Distance education provides for independence and flexibility, which motivate many students to participate that have other responsibilities and inflexible schedules that may prevent them from attending a traditional classroom setting. Although unsure about the results Simonson believes that other reasons for the evolution of distance education include, increase student motivation to learn, distance education can provide equivalent learning experiences traditional classrooms, and distance education may offer increase returns on investments for colleges and universities (Simonson, 2008).

I agree with their positions and promote distance education because of the independence and flexibility. Distance education allows students to complete course work at their own pace and create a schedule that enables them to work full time, while pursuing higher education. Moller, Foshay and Huett state that, “As part of the process of mastering content, significant learning often occurs as a result of learner to learner communication. Distance education allows for this collaboration and communication to occur among students, which may increase mastering of content and learners actively engaging in the learning process.

References:

Huett, J., Foshay, W., & Moller, L (June/May, 2008). The evolution of distance education: implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher Education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 33991516

Huett, J., Foshay, W., & Moller, L (June/May, 2008). The evolution of distance education: implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3: K-12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63-67.

Simonson, M. (2008). Equivalency theory. Laureate Education, Inc. Baltimore: Author