Online Distance Learning

Distance education has been in existence for a long time and it will be around in the foreseeable future. The earliest version of distance education, correspondence education, developed in the mid nineteenth century in Europe and later spread to the United States of America. Well known pioneers include Isaac Pitman, an English educator who taught shorthand by mail in 1840 (CDLP, 2011), and Anna Ticknor, an American educator who founded a society that introduced home based study for American women in 1873 (Nasseh, 1997). “Technology has always had an intimate relationship with distance education because it mediates the separation between teacher and learner through the use of print, radio, telephone, television, audio and videotapes, and computers” (Sumner, 2000, p. 271).

When I enrolled for online studies with Walden University in October 2011, I had no previous practical experience with distance education although I fully appreciated the critical role played by technology in distance education.  To date, I have benefitted immensely from the six courses that I have successfully completed. The current course, Distance Learning, is promising to consolidate the gains that I have made in my studies.

Before the commencement of this course, my understanding of distance education was limited to learning at a distance in an asynchronous learning environment. Although I have always appreciated the benefits of online distance learning in terms of the fact that access to learning is no longer restricted by time and place because e-learning facilitates “on demand-learning access” (Moller, Foshay and Huett, 2008, p. 70), my appreciation of distance learning was further enhanced as the first week of this course draws to a close.

I have learned new concepts about distance learning including the following: the need to focus on open learning because open learning offers great potential for effective learning and “lifelong learning” (Mocker & Spear, 1982); open learning is learner-centered and helps to remove barriers to learning that are inherent in conventional education settings (Lewis, 1986); technology supported open learning provides an environment where learners can learn at their own pace, collaborate freely and learn by trial and error (Khan, 2011); distance education is expected to change significantly in future, however, it will not replace formal education but will become “incorporated into most learning environments” (Simonson, n.d.)

What I learned this week has influenced my personal definition of distance education. My revised definition of distance education now includes my previous thoughts and new information that I have since acquired. Distance learning is technology supported open learning that provides flexible learning opportunities for learners to learn at their own pace at the same time collaborating freely in either an institution-based or non-institution-based learning environment.



My mindmap



My vision for the future of distance learning as it continues to evolve in harmony with advancements in technology is particularly profound. Mobile computing has already taken education by storm because it allows learners to learn whilst in transit. Ubiquitous computing, a term coined by Xerox researcher Mark Weiser in 1980, is the next hype in education. The presence of technology will become not only more omnipresent and pervasive but also less conspicuous as it seamlessly blends into our everyday lives (Jones and Jo, 2004). Ubiquitous computing provides an environment where anyone can learn continuously at anyplace, anytime (Yahya, Ahmad & Jalil, 2010). Distance education has evolved to encompass not only e-learning but also mobile learning, and is progressing towards encompassing ubiquitous learning.

References

CDLP California Distance Learning Project (2011). What is distance learning? Retrieved from  http://www.cdlponline.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=whatis&pg=3

 

Jones, V. & Jo, J.H. (2004). Ubiquitous learning environment: An adaptive teaching

system using ubiquitous technology. In R. Atkinson, C. McBeath, D. Jonas-Dwyer & R. Phillips (Eds), Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE Conference (pp. 468-474. Perth, 5-8 December. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/jones.html

 

Khan, S. (2011). Salman Khan talk at TED 2011. Video. Retrieved from

http://www.khanacademy.org/

 

Lewis, R. (1986). What is open learning?  Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning. 1(2).

 

Mocker, D. W. & Spear, G. E. (1982). Lifelong learning: formal, nonformal, informal, and self-directed. ERIC. Retrieved from

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED220723&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED220723

 

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. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete

 

Nasseh, B. ( 1997). A brief history of distance education. Retrieved from

http://www.seniornet.org/edu/art/history.html

 

Simonson, M. (Walden University). (n.d.). Distance education: The next generation.  [DVD]

 

Sumner, J. (2000). Serving the system: a critical history of distance education. Open Learning, 15(3). Retrieved from http://pages.towson.edu/bsadera/istc717/modules05/module8/3888263.pdf

 

Yahya, S., Ahmad, E.A. & Jalil, K.A. (2010). The definition and characteristics of ubiquitous learning: A discussion. International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology, 6(1). Retrieved from: Education Research Complete.