Elements of Distance Education Diffusion

George Siemens discussed the growing acceptance of distance education in today’s corporate and educational spheres, including three possible elements of distance education that are creating more effective learning experiences and giving distance education an identity of its own distinct from F2F courses: (a) global diversity, (b) communication, and (c) collaborative interaction. Do you agree or disagree with his view?
Select one of these three elements for your reflection in this module and respond to the following in your blog:

• How has this element evolved?
• What online tools are available today to facilitate these interactions among learners?

Find at least two blog posts by other educators on this topic and reflect on their positions in your blog. Include links to these other blogs as you critique their ideas.

I agree with George Siemens's view of distance education. It is difficult to choose just one element to reflect upon. Each element builds upon the other.  The way distance education fosters communication, collaborative interaction, and global diversity, it is very distinct from F2F courses. Siemens explains that distance education gives people in the corporate and educational world the ability to communicate with diverse and global groups (Laureate, 2008). Distance education and training benefits corporations by allowing them to interact with different offices around the world at anytime from anywhere. Distance education has triggered the inventing of new communication technologies. Corporations have increased the use of simulations and multimedia games.

Today learners use blogs, vlogs, podcasts, and wikis to foster communication, collaborative interaction, and global diversity. These online tools allow learners to actively participate in learning process. I just discovered that teachers can also use teach with Twitter. The following link is to a blog explaining how teachers are using Twitter to enhance the learning process:

http://mpbreflections.blogspot.com/

Educators may also want to check out a video titled "Teaching in the Age of Participation." This video was posted to a blog (http://mpbreflections.blogspot.com/2011/07/teaching-in-age-of-participation.html) and in it a teacher shares how she uses many different forms of technology that evokes student participation and learning. For example, the speaker explains how she uses cell phones to complete class surveys. This video is very informative for both the corporate and education world.

Reference:

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Author

edtech4teachers: Learning Theories for Distance Learning

I too am an elementary school teacher. I teach 3rd grade and there are numerous ways to implement technology into the lessons. Many people only think of technology as the use of computers. However, that is not the case. Technology comes in many forms of electronic devices. Listening to a story or lesson on a CD or tape is a way to use technology in the classroom. Taking photos of or video taping students at work is another way to implement technology into the lesson. Watching a video relating to the lesson is another way to use technology in the classroom. You probably already use these things that I just mentioned. We as teachers do so many things that we don't even know we are doing. That's what makes us so special. :)

Principles of Distance Education: Discussion Prompt: After reading the three article...

Hi Tawana,

First let me begin by apologizing for posting my blog late. I got the timeline when this was due mixed up. I tried emailing you and letting you know this but my email was returned.

In regards to your comments, your comparison of the video and artcles really gave me a better understanding of this module. I agree that when concepts such as distance learning is actually developed it's a great endeavor. However, the question of how to maintain it so that it remains relevant and useable for the future is what the articles really focus on. Since I am completing my project on learners' assessments in distance education, so I am going to reread the articles to find the learning strategies that are facilitated my technological innovations you mentioned. Thanks for the great read Tawana. Once again I apologize for my tardiness. Now I am aware that the initial blog is due on day 3 and reponses are due on day 6. :)

The 3 articles written by Huett, Moller, and Foshay supports the evolution of distance education to the next level for future generations. I agree with their view points of what needs to be done in order for the concept of distance education to be relevant in the future.

Part 1 of the article deals with the instructional design of e-learning and the benefits of businesses using it to train individuals. Businesses may choose to train employees via e-learning as a cost saving tactic. E-learning is readily available at any time and thousands of employees can use it simultaneously. However, according to this part of the article the instructional design of e-leaning is lacking and there is a need for new methods for designing and developing web-based instruction and better models for for instruction that is actually used by the learner.

Part 2 of the article focuses on distance education in post secondary learning and the role of distance education instructors. Distance learning is becoming more and more popular. Institutions and universities are using distance education to sustain growith. The article also addresses how the faculty members at institutions and universities are being forced to evolve. Instructors are responsible for designing and developing courses and materials based on traditional classroom learning. The article points out some disadavantages of instructors being forced to do such things. Instructors aren't using the available technologies to enhance student learning. They only use what they are most comfortable using. Having to design and develop course materials can become stressful for the instructor. Instructors are being forced to change the way they communicate and even assess students. At the conclusion of part 2 of this article, it is stressed that the Instructional Design faculty should spear head  policies, accredidation, and developing an effective distance learning course at institutions.

Part 3 of the article focuses on distance education in the K-12 learning setting. Now there is site based distance education programs and virtual schools. The No Child Left-Behind Act supports the idea of on site based distance education programs for those schools who must provide alternative learning options due to not making adequate yearly progress. There is much argument about whether or not virtual schools are viable options for K-12 learning. Some virtual schools allow students to take courses totally at home and others require students to be in a setting that is monitored by facilitators/teachers. The instructional design of onsite distance education programs and virtual schools may prove to be a challenge for teachers because of the lack of training.

I would like to point out that the authors stress the importance of instructional design training whether in a strictly business setting, post-secondary education, or K-12 learning. I conclude that in order for distance education to be relevant for future generations, then we must adequately train instructors/facilitators in the area of instructional design of e-learnig courses or have an instructional design team that focuses strictly on developing the e-learning courses.

For more information click on the links below to read the full 3 part article:

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008, September/October). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5). 63-67.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). 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.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70.

Module 1:Theories and Paradigms of Distance Education