For the majority of my professional career, I have traveled extensively training and educating people in various industries on various topics. In 2005, this changed when I stopped traveling abroad and started traveling to one location each day. During the past ten years, through various personal and professional experiences, distance learning has slowly integrated itself into my career path. Just like my own experiences, I have seen the term “distance learning” stop and a new path instantly develop in its place.
My definition of distance learning is built upon the understanding that students, the individual leading the course (a teacher, facilitator, or instructor) and all course materials are generally only accessible by electronic means (internet based instruction). A traditional class held in a physical location at a specific time and place do not apply in terms of distance learning. Communications for these courses are computer based, generally through a specific system or method. Surprisingly my understanding closely resembles the information presented in our class resources.
As noted in our text, “distance education opportunities are quickly growing through the use of computer mediated communications and the Internet.” (Simonson, Smaldino & Zvacek, 2015) As the technology continues to shift, my view of distance learning will also continue to shift. I believe technology is the key element which will shape the future use of distance learning by students globally. For example, one trend associated with distance education is the ability to “personalize” the learning for each student. According to the Innovating Pedagogy 2014 report, “Learning Through Storytelling” is designed in a way that each user develops their own view of understanding by creating stories that link memories together to develop larger learning chunks. (www.openuniversity.edu, n.d.) This concept along with many others will aid in developing options for students to “choose their own learning path.” (Smith, 2014)
Since the mid-1980’s (Simonson, Smaldino & Zvacek), both credit and non-credit courses have been offered via the internet which increases the potential for all students. With more technical portability options, students will have the opportunity to take their education with them. I believe this changes the dynamic of how information will be presented which will ultimately determine how and when individuals will process their information.
MFABRAMS - ID ARCHITECH
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education
Innovating Pedagogy 2014. (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://www.openuniversity.edu/sites/www.openuniversity.edu/files/The_Open_University_Innovating_Pedagogy_2014_0.pdf
Smith, D. (n.d.). 10 Online Learning Trends to Watch in 2015 [#Infographic]. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2014/12/10-online-learning-trends-watch-2015-infographic-0 