Application

Application:

     Prior to starting this course in Distance Education, I look at Distance education with a narrow mindset.  Unaware, of the variety of combination of how Distance education could be offered.  I recalled during my undergraduate classes, I took English comp 2.  via a combination of f2f class and a television session with community college twice a week at a set time (in the middle of the night). I also recalled that years ago in Nigeria, my father received mail correspondence from Cambridge University seeking admission or taking a course from them. I am fascinated by the different forms of distance learning from the 1800 to date. Moller (2008) suggests, “e-learning allows for learning strategies that may not be possible in a classroom or other traditional environments”   I used to define distance learning as a form of self-study education acquired through the use of internet (as a medium) to impact knowledge, pushing the bulk of the course work on the learners.    

   Teaching and Learning at a Distance,” Simonson states, “as more technology resources are becoming available to educational settings, more students are becoming more involved in learning at a distance” (2009).  This week resources exposed me to a wealth of information, increased my awareness and refresh my long-term memory by associating previous experiences to the ideas on Distance learning. In my view, DL has grown to a critical part of everyday lives in educational and corporate environment. DL now involves the use of annotated video, animation, and social networks with open access to an interactive global community to make learning impactful.

I am a benefactor of DL, and I have learned and grown to embrace the flexible learning opportunities in both time and space (Huett, Moller, Foshay, & Coleman, 2008). My progress depends on my individual efforts, ability and self-motivation. Also, attending a DL course, there is a need to improve my technology skills from a basic user to a more advance user. In the previous courses, there were occasions when I felt that I should put the course on a hold, and take a course in IT to enable me be more successful. 

My organization is currently exploring DL to enable them meet the expansion needs geographically. Decentralization was a major consideration.  I recalled one of my conversions with my supervisor. He carelessly said, “Let’s do it” I laughed because, initiating and conducting courses online in a corporation requires way more than that. Though I discovered that there are some organizations out there marketing a complete package for online learning, I do not believe it could be successful without a person on the ground with the expertise required to run such programs. 

Personal Definition of Distance Learning:

With all these said, I will like to define Distance Learning as all inclusive form of education  that requires collaboration and effective communication between the learners,  institutions and the instructors

( instructional method)  the curriculum experts, with the use of adequate technology required to bring about effective learning. 

Future of Distance Learning:

 In conclusion, we are the future of Distance learning. The changing demographics of students are one of the driving forces behind distance learning. DL is becoming a commonplace for adult learners and technology savvy instructors.   Nowadays, the use of computers, iPods, phone, cell phones, internet and social networking tools such as blogs, wikis and  face book  just to name a few have become a more integrated part of society.  As technology evolves, distance education is changing the approach to learning in all facet of life. Blended learning is becoming the order of the day at almost every educational setting from k1-12 and above. Learners and educators are encouraged to stay on top of their game with the new trend in technology to continue fostering the best education practices across the board.

References:

 Kaufman and Watkins (1997) Assuring the Future for Distance Learning. Retrieved September 9, 2011 from  http://www.megaplanning.com/articles/DEfuture.pdf. P.2-3.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 1: Training and development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75.

 Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
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Please view my mind map with the link below

https://docs.google.com/viewer?attid=0.1&pid=gmail&thid=13256135cf6af45f&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D00d5ae107a%26view%3Datt%26th%3D13256135cf6af45f%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&docid=6ac4c58b349c636b3ccaadd2ac5a656a|996a1fd2391208b413e84cf037e7aba1&chan=EQAAAFrBsKHhjreWZU8X1oxdwj7%2BuTxBbyMt1dNgSOr4pV8D&a=v&rel=zip;z1;Mind_map_of_Distance_Learning_definition_by_Folashade_Fawehinm.pdf