It seems I had been participating in distance education decades ago. As a small child I remember eagerly waiting with others in my classroom in hushed anticipation for the weekly Rediffusion programme that would bring exciting new orchestral pieces and songs to us. Rediffusion was a British based company that delivered audio and audiovisual programmes to several Commonwealth countries. In Jamaica during the 1960s into the 1970s the urban primary schools were equipped with wired radio-like speakers in each classroom. These provided a channel for government-sponsored programming that may otherwise never have reached so many students.
Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek (2012) note
that one definition of distance education involves interactive means of
communication among tutors and students; being conducted by institutions, involves
a geographical distance between the tutor and the students and involves video,
voice and other modern means of sharing content. Although I would be hard
pressed to describe those ancient speakers from my past as “interactive,” I can
clearly recall the teacher’s voice singing new songs line by line with rhythmically
timed pauses for us to imitate the previously sung line. He would even encourage
us with the occasional, “Very good!” It certainly seemed interactive to me.
Fast forward to the 1990’s when the Internet had
blossomed unto the scene as an educational force. By then I was taking online courses in Web
design from Sessions.edu. It was going well until tragedy struck by way of the
fatal illness of a family member which caused me to focus on other more urgent
matters. The same family member also had been participating in distance
education, as I saw it then, by way of a snail-mail photography course. He
would dutifully follow instructions for his photo projects and mail these back
to the institution (I cannot recall the name) for assessment and further
instructions.
My definition of distance learning before beginning
the Distance Learning class at Walden University up to this point involved any
learning in which the instructor and learner were separated by distance. To me
the method of delivery, whether interactive or non-interactive did not play a
role.
With ever evolving Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, podcasts, social bookmarking and others which allow for easier collaboration and creation Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek (2012) note that definitions for distance learning continue to change. One challenge from the past, that is the relative lack of interaction among the learners, is receding. Perhaps a more contemporary definition of distance education, should include interaction among the learning community.
Although I use “learning” and “education” almost synonymously
I think “education” carries a greater institutional feel as it implies a more
traditional social learning setting. Speaking in a vodcast “Distance
Education: The Next Generation” (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.) Dr. Michael Simonson
notes that self-paced learning online is not distance education. Simonson insists
that distance teaching is an essential element of distance education.
Bearing all this in mind my current definition of distance
education includes instructors who are physically separated from their
learners; learning resources and the learning community which are interactive
with the resources and among themselves, an institution responsible for
certifying the learning outcomes and interactive means of communication.
I believe that as technology becomes increasingly able to
provide more life-like educational opportunities, there may be greater
opportunities for learners to increase abilities from a distance which are not possible
today. I am thinking especially of skill-based learning which is quite
challenging with today’s technology. I do not think at this time a piano tutor could
conduct lessons entirely online although technology could really enhance his or
her classes by measuring finger pressure on the keys, for example. Also, at the
K-12 level where the physical presence of a caring and observant teacher can
make a significant positive difference in a child’s life, a complete adoption
of distance education is not feasible no matter how capable technology becomes.
Dr. Simonson believes distance education will not entirely supplant
face to face teaching but will supplement it and will become a regular feature
of academic and corporate training classrooms.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer) (n. d.) “Distance Education:
The Next Generation.”
Simonson,
M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning
at distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
No comments:
Post a Comment