Before starting this course distance learning for me fell into two categories: 1) having materials and assessments sent to you so that you could receive a high school diploma and 2) taking courses online to futher you education. I had never personally experience distance learning, not unless you count driving two hours every week to take a class to graduate. When I became a teacher, it seemed like all my co-workers were taking online courses to get there Master’s, Specialist, of Doctoral Degree. It appeared to me that while the new generation at that time was still in the traditional setting of undergrad, the professional world at advance to a new way of learning.
There is not a specific definition of distance learning. It has been defined from a number of perspectives. (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, Zvacek, 2009) The Office of Educational Research and Improvement defines distance learning as applied telecommunications and electronic devices that enables learners to receive instruction that originates from a distant location. (Simonson et al, 2009) Greenville Rumble believes that distance learning takes place when there is a teacher, one or more students, and a curriculum that the teacher is capable of teaching and that the learner(s) are trying to learn. (Simonson et al, 2009) I do not believe that there can be one definite answer to the question “What is distance learning?” Personal experiences shape people’s idea of what it means to them.
Distance learning has been around since the early 1800’s where people were receiving educational materials and test through the mail. The University of Chicago was the first institute to start courses through the mail, but smaller schools and people were offering learning before then. As technologies started to enter society, telephone, radio, and television, distance learning grew and began reaching more and more people. When people today think of distance learning, they think of online courses, but that is a result of the technological world that we live in. I do not think that people realize the historical evolution this nonstandard form of education has taken.
After reading this week’s resources, my thoughts on distance learning have changed. Distance learning does not have to take place online. I think that as long as the instructor and the learners are not in the same location and do not interact face to face 100% of the time than the learning is distant. There are some schools that offer part time online courses and part time face to face learning in a traditional setting. Sometimes learners have to travel a great distance a few times out the year and other times learners meet twice a month in a closer location. People who never graduated high school can get their degree through the mail or online. There is a such a wide variety that distance learning can fall in, but the one category it does not fall in is meeting each time in the same location with other learners and the instructor where discussions, assignments, and assessments are always taking place face to face.
As technology continues to become more and more advance, so will distance learning. In the future, there could be people that have never been to a classroom. There could be learners who enter high school or college and that would be their first experience in traditional classroom. Even the traditional classroom could be overtaken by distance learning. Learners could gather in a place where they are taught by someone who is doing a webcast thousands of miles away. The road is endless to where distance learning will go. Look how far it has come in 177 years. Imagine what it has in store for us in the next 100 years.
Multimedia Program. (n.d.). “Distance Learning Timeline Continuum”
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson
