Distance Learning

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Views on Distance Learning

My pre and post idea of distance learning, I consider myself as technology savvy wanting to learn more.  At times I would question my career and wondered why I didn’t become an electrical engineer, I would have enjoyed making cpu’s and motherboards, but I didn’t because my first love is working with students with disabilities.  Now with the idea of distance learning I get a chance to mix both loves.

In my idea of distance learning; is the use of technology to enhance teaching methods to students.  There are different types of distance learning but I knew of some labels, but not all of them.  Even though I didn’t know what the labels were doesn’t mean I haven’t used the idea, for example, my past year with  the changes I made for my behavioral course , at the beginning was used as blended type but now has turned into a hybrid type.  I just did it without knowing what the labels were. 

The idea of synchronous vs. asynchronous learning I learned from my previous courses at Walden U. but have practice them before.  I remembered in college taking a language course- Italian wanting to learn another language other than Spanish.  Being in a traditional class and language lab would be synchronous learning but having problems learning the language I would purchase Learning Italian on tapes so I listen and practice while driving my car, this would be asynchronous learning.  Other types are open schedule and fixed online courses, computer based distance learning (http://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/7021E31E/Different-Types-of-Distance-Learning/).   These labels are obvious, open schedule pretty much mean no live learning, learning revolves around the student’s schedule, where fixed  is always at a specific time and always online.

Distance learning will always be evolving because as technology expands then the creativity of using the technology expands which then leads to technology expanding again like the Ying Yang symbol, they balance each other.  Back in college I would send a fax to my cousin in Peru who I am close to once a month to see how she was doing and to avoid the cost of phone calls.  As time went on, internet became more famous to the public which lead to emails becoming more popular.  As emails replaced my use of faxes I then started to use video calling when webcams came out to have the ability to see my cousin while talking to her.  3 years ago I purchased Magicjack and gave it to my cousin so she can use a regular phone and use it to call any one in the US from Peru, for only $20 a year.  Now I can recently added Skype to my smart phone, and I can use call any one in my family that is outside the US and they can contact me without being on a station computer.  Look how technology keeps getting better through the years to make communication better, these ideas then are modified to more teaching tools to use.

The future will definitely be interesting, I think online education will be a norm for every student, students will still be going to school( a physical location) but only until the age of 13. Once 14 then the students would be entering a work study program, tailored towards what the student would want to be for their careers while taking online courses to earn their high school diploma.  Depending on their desire can go to college which also would be online courses but the physical location of the university will offer a work study program that also is tailored towards their future career, but in college it would be more advanced.  The same will go if they continue to graduate school.  This idea is very similar to project base learning which I see this country leading towards, and with the creativity of technology will allow this to expand.  Distance education will be the foundation of education in the future.