Distance Education Essay

This essay will discuss how my use of online information has grown from being merely a consumer, to now being able to critically evaluate online sources for credibility and suitability for use in academic work. My role in producing an online informational resource has been enhanced by both the readings, and the experience gained in the collaborative process involved in working as a team. This is my first experience at online collaboration and I will examine the challenges encountered using this medium of communication, how I dealt with them, the lessons learned, and what I would do differently during future collaborative work.

We, as humans, fear the unknown, and change is after often at the root of our fears. One of the greatest catalysts for change is today’s rapid technological development, but the concept of traditional education has always been the same. Even that is changing, and as to be expected, there is a substantial amount of fear and apprehension towards distance education. With this, students are presented the chance to overcome of a

“Can You Be Educated from a Distance,” an insightful essay by James Barszcz, brings to focus some of the benefits and disadvantages of Distance Learning education (DL). In it, Barszcz discusses the mechanics of DL courses available to students, the quality of education DL can offer, and some reasoning behind its rapidly growing popularity. “Can You Be Educated from a Distance” is an engaging article that students of all ages can benefit from.

Many advocates of distance education are ardent about their venue and very critical of traditional education. These online education devotees view traditional classes as being unchangeable, inflexible, teacher-centered, and static (Angiello, 2010). However, proponents argue that many simply would not be able to get a degree without distance education—the full-time police officer, the mother of four, or the individual living in a rural area approximately 100-200 miles away from any educational institution. Many individuals desperately need distance education courses because they "have jobs, families, civic responsibilities. They are thirsting. But some want us to say, 'Sorry you don’t want to drink the water there, but we can’t bottle our fresh spring water, so you’ll have to come here or drink nothing" (Baker, 1986). Proponents contend that distance education is "as good as" traditional education. In other words, learning occurs as much in distance education as it does in traditional education. However, is this really so? Does distance education work better for some students

2b. The title of the book is The Distance Education Evolution: Issues and Case Studies.

Many students are absent numerous days throughout the school year due to illness, vacations, bad weather, or other complications. Consequently, these students get left behind in class. Perhaps a big test was missed, or an important lecture or activity, these problems can easily be solved. Some schools have already taken the step to eliminate these problems by offering distance learning; a way to attend classes from home even if the student is not able to attend class physically. Offering these online classes would allow students the ability to attend classes even if they are home sick, on vacation, or if the weather is bad and school is cancelled. Setting up distance learning in a school could improve grades and learning opportunities throughout the

Distance learning (education) has become an integral part of the education process over the past few decades and is growing in popularity as technology advances.(Willis 1992) describes distance education (as) "the organizational framework andprocess of providing instruction at a distance. Distance education takes place when ateacher and student(s) are physically separated, and technology…(is) used to bridge theinstruction gap." (Coutts 1996). Furthermore, "distance learning activities are designedto fit the specific context for learning, the nature of the subject matter; intended learningoutcomes, needs and goals of the learner, the learner's environment and the instructional echnologies and methods." (American

Online education, also called long distant learning, can be defined as a new method of learning through a computer network. This modern way of teaching gives students an opportunity to take classes online. Bill Gates

Distance learning does not provide the advantage of building a strong academic or interpersonal relationship with your Instructor. It also does not allow you to express your individuality in the classroom. Distance learning is more of a multimedia-type learning than anything else. This is because distance learning is accomplished via the Internet. Receiving instruction via the Internet is analogous to receiving instruction to, say, a CD ROM.

E-learning has come to dominate the strategic thinking of employers over the past decade in several countries. Only in recent years in India, there has been focus on e-learning, this is due to the recent development in MNC, BPO and IT concerns. This is widely seen due to the connected economy, become intangible and fast growing among organizations. Due to emerging MNC’s, globalisation has become one of the most important criteria to increase flexibility of communications, and hence become vital among the organization. Despite the emphasis on e-learning and large investments made on training it is still not clear and ongoing success have not yet been recognized, due to the ongoing structural changes among managements. The problem in

Education is an important part of people’s lives; it will either make them or break them in the future depending on the careers they choose. Education is greatly diverse today in comparison to the 1950s because of advancements in teaching and other great inventions that provide easier techniques of teaching. One major issue that has been raised is distant learning courses and online education.

Online distant learning programs help make the easy connection of students in a program connect to the more accessible home environment in a simple way. Students are now given the option of getting their education and making their own schedules, without going through a second person in an easy more efficient way. Consequently, to succeed in online courses and programs the student must have good time management, a computer or laptop, and internet connection. Also online distant learning programs are subjectively done through monologue, not our dialogue; having been previously filmed and then posted on the internet stating course information, not caring about the viewers, or if the

E-Learning is trying to provide a more individualized, self-paced, self-directed learning experience (Clark). A survey by a Sociology Professor at CSU-Northridge showed that students in his virtual class performed 20% better than students in his traditional class (Clark). On the other hand, issues concerned with E-Learning includes the fact that students may not be as motivated since, another survey found out that only 66% of the students involved with E-Learning earned credit with a passing grade for their classes (Washington

Online education has grown since it first came about, there are mixed views on whether it is truly beneficial. The reasons for the huge growth of online education is money even though online education targeted working adults that have little or no time to sit in a traditional classroom for millions of men and women serving in the armed forces online education has made earning a degree much more possible.

Online teaching is defined as any educational activity that requires a student to complete some learning or assessment activity via a personal computer and a connection to a network (Murdoch University Academic Council 1999). This network connection is usually to the Internet (Demirdjian 2002). It is a seen by the Murdoch University Academic Council as a teaching and learning technology, not a method of study (2002), but this depends on how it is to be used and by whom. For example, distance education student using online teaching would be more inclined to see it as a study method than a QUT student who uses online teaching to download and print lecture notes to attend a lecture on campus.