Distance Education

Introduction

• Distance education, often called e-learning or online learning, is a form of education where the main element includes physical separation from instructors and students. Different forms of technology are used to remain in communication and build student-teacher and student-student relationships. Distance education has become a 21st century resource and model that has exponentially grown in the last few years. This form of education has broaden the opportunities for people to return to school in hopes of obtaining a degree or certification. There are many benefits that have become associated with distance education; the following slides highlight some of them.

Intro Continued

• resource and model that has exponentially grown in the last few years. This form of education has broaden the opportunities for people to return to school in hopes of obtaining a degree or certification. There are many benefits that have become associated with distance education; the following slides highlight some of them.

Characteristics: Convenience & Flexibility

• Convenience – take online courses when you need them, not based on some college’s annual or semester schedule. Meaning you do not have to take English 1301 at 8am every other day. A course is as close as a computer with an Internet connection. This has helped full time employees still stay in school and earn a degree.

Characteristics: Convenience & Flexibility

• Flexibility – with no set class times, you decide when to complete your assignments and readings. You set the pace. The class still has deadlines and time requirements, but it’s tailor made to your availability. In some programs, you can even design your own degree plan and receive credit for the stuff you already know.

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Characteristics: Availability & Accessibility

• Availability – distance-learning opportunities have exploded over the past few years, with many accredited and reputable programs. If the initial institute you were looking at does not have the degree you want more than likely there is a university that does. There are thousands of online degree programs that want to meet the needs of students.

Characteristics: Availability & Accessibility

• *Note: Students should ensure that the institute they are looking at is accredited and meets all state requirements, not simply another Diploma Mill or an organization that pushes faulty degrees.

Characteristics: Availability & Accessibility

• Accessibility – with an online class, you can work on the course just about anywhere you have computer access. Some places have extended their hours of operation to help students who need internet/ computer access.

Characteristics: Time & Cost

• Time – now you can take a course on just about any subject without ever having to be in — or travel to — a classroom so you have very little wasted time. Note, however, that some distance-education programs still do have an in-class component making the course a hybrid. The time it takes to complete the class may be less than a traditional setting.

Characteristics: Time & Cost

• Cost – prices are often cheaper for online courses than traditional college and trade courses — with no housing or meals plans to worry about. Additional costs may include books, materials, and at some institutes a long distance fee. In comparison the overall costs are lower than traditional settings.

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Characteristics: Learner centric

• Learner centric – distance-education courses are often better for people who learn through visual cues and experiential exercises and those that require more time, are language-challenged, or introverted. Even methods and technology used in e-learning are centered around the capabilities of the student.

Characteristics: Learner centric

• Ensuring they know some foundational knowledge and scaffolding that to incorporate new tools and resources, enhancing the online experience. Instructors check in frequently and are simply an email away if students have questions.

Conclusion

• Distance education has many benefits that the modern student has come to enjoy. The amount of pros have been convincing students to rethink the possibility of getting an education. No longer are students required to sit in a classroom taking notes from lectures, with e-learning as an option students have more opportunities to earn a degree.

Conclusion

• This is important to educators and the realm of education as a whole, in that it allows for more learners to be reached and content to be taught.

Conclusion

• The quality of education has not diminished but rather grown with the help of modern technology. Curriculum and instruction have changed greatly and will continue to do so as the needs of students change. Distance education may not be for everyone but the benefits and opportunities are far too valuable to ignore.

Resources

• Academic partnership. (Producer). (2012, January 12). Future of public education [Video file]. Retrieved July 3, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YarRXJtVp10

Archambault, L., & Crippen, K. (2009). K –12 distance educators at work: who’s teaching online across the united states [Abstract]. Journal of research on technology in education, 41(4), 363-391. Retrieved July 6, 2017, from http://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?EbscoContent

CBS news. (Producer). (2012, September 2). Khan Academy: The future of education? [Video file]. Retrieved January 3, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QJRBniY1N8

Learn USI. (Producer). (2014, August 21). 7 common misconceptions about distance learning [Video file]. Retrieved July 5, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K_JoBkxVI0

Skills network. (Producer). (2016, May 16). Advantages of distance learning [Video file]. Retrieved July 6, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m-l-QpqxOo