Week 11 - Chapters 9 & 10
Question #3 - What is distance education? What types of support are critical to the success of distance education? Why?
An alternative delivery of instruction that has been created through the adaptation of communications technologies to education has been one of the most dramatic changes enabled by technology. Many schools and institutions of higher education have adopted this idea of moving information rather than people and have applied it to the delivery of instruction. This type of delivery approach has been referred to as distance-education. This IT645 class is a prime example of distance education.
In distance education technology is key to providing a format for academic communication and exchange. Advances in communication technologies and increases in available bandwidth are driving these continual improvements in distance delivery systems. The instructional potential offered by these systems has in turn, caused a rethinking of the nature of instruction.
In a distance-delivery environment, planning is even more crucial than that of a traditional classroom environment. This is due to the fact that in a traditional classroom the teacher is able to adapt and adjust to unforseen circumstances immediately. Where as in a distance-learning environment this timeliness factor is unavailable. Once an assignment has been given, it is very difficult to make changes because there is no assurance that everyone received the changes in a timely manner.
Feedback has been a great challenge for distance learning as well. In the traditional classroom the teacher can use both verbal and visual indicators as feedback . In the distance-learning environment it is critical to plan for adequate and frequent feedback within the instructional design itself. Just as with any instruction, students need confirmation that their understanding of concepts is correct.
Another key issue is evaluation of the distance education course. One of the most common approaches is to provide performance assessment alternatives that can be used in addition to testing. Distance educators must carefully consider the intended objectives and then creatively develop assessment alternatives that take advantage of the technologies in place. Such assessments may challenge students to demonstrate competencies even more effectively than those commonly found in traditional classrooms.
Once the intitial planning issues have been considered, the next step is to examine the supporting technologies that are available or that need to be acquired to implement the instructional design. Such technologies fall into two broad categories, technologies that support synchronous distance education and those that support asynchronous distance education.
Synchronous distance education is instruction that occurs at the same time, although typically not in the same place. In contrast, asynchromous distance education is time shifted. That is, teacher and students can participate at differing times from the same or different locations. The nature of the distance education program that a district or school chooses to implement will depend on whether the distance-delivery approach will be synchronous, asynchronous, or a combination of both.
Blog Reflection Week Ten (Website)
14 years ago
I really liked your blog, it was very informative. I really love distance learning, it has saved me a lot of time and gas money. Instead of having to try to work my job and family time around my classes, I can work my class time around everything else. I like being able to do assignments at my own pace. I do agree sometimes it can be frustrating at times, when I can’t figure out something. I have to email the teacher and hopefully he responds in a timely manner. Good thing Dr. Wang is so great about communication, some teachers I have had were not so considerate. I never thought about all of the planning the teachers have to put into online classes, but it makes sense. I guess from now on I think so badly of a teacher if something goes wrong or they don’t get back to me quickly enough. All in all, I think you hit the nail on the head, distance learning is great. The pros definitely out weight the cons.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you taht at 53 years of age, trying something new is not high on my list of things to do. I understand that online courses, i.e. distance learning, is the wave of the future, but the thought of taking one scared me immensely. I only took this course because there was no option. Now, I find that they are not as bad as I imagined. Mostly, you just have to be a self-starter. Maybe next I will be brave enough to try one of those classes that require the cameras in your computer (Probably Not). I tend to focus on the negatives, because of my uneasiness. The website assignment was very frustrating to me, and I don't think it would have been in a normal environment. I do most of my work late, so there is no chance for immediate response. Even with all of my negative feelings, it is hard to not see the advantages. Especially with budget cuts, distance learning is just going to grow in demand and supply. Good post - very informational.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your reflections and comments from your peers, which helped me to understand more of your feelings and problems in learning online. I know it is hard for some of you, especially those who take pure online course for the first time. You have to pass this stage and will be comfortable with your future online class.
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