Global Diversity in Distance Education

George Siemens believes that there is a growing acceptance of distance education throughout the corporate and educational worlds.  I agree that distance education is going to continue to grow at an insurmountable pace due to the benefits provided by distance education.  Increase in global diversity, communication, and collaborative interaction are the main reasons Siemens’s believes distance education is going to continue to evolve and become more and more acceptable (Laureate Education Inc., 2008).

The element of global diversity will be my main focus throughout this post.  Whether you’re an entrepreneur trying to break through into the global market or on Wall Street trying to make investments in the global economy, global diversity is a skill that will be needed throughout all fields in the workforce.  Global diversity will no longer be an optional addition to highlight your resume.  It will be a required prerequisite.  Alphonse Badoma discusses in his blog how distance education gives the education field a medium to overcome issues in regards to diversity.  In addition, Teri Page (2012) states in her blog that “online programs are preparing students for the corporate world by giving students experiences in working with other student across the world.”

Distance education allows students to work with peers and colleagues from around the globe.  Prior to enrolling in an online degree program, the only global interaction I in education was through a foreign exchange student a friend hosted while in high school.  While working on my master’s degree, I took several courses online with students from different countries.  Interacting with them enhanced my personal learning as well as gave me insight to how education is expanding throughout the world.  Had I attended a traditional university to further my education, my peers would have been limited to others who were geographically and culturally equivalent to me.

Technological advances have provided us with a multitude of tools to interact with peers globally.  Discussion boards, blogs, and chat rooms have been around for a while and allow for basic interactions.  However, technologies such as Skype and wikis allow more personal interactions as well as collaboration from across oceans. With the constant evolution of technology, it is impossible to imagine the capabilities of distance education of the future.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Author

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Erin Rocha
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The Next Generation of Distance Education

In my limited experience, I have found that society often looks down at online learning.  I have heard individuals make comments about how it is better to attend a traditional classroom setting as opposed to an online setting despite better accreditation.  The evolution of distance education will have to negate these beliefs in order for society to completely adopt this innovation.  Often, these comments are uttered from the same mouths that say, “If it was good enough 20 years ago, it’s good enough now.”

Moller, Foshay, Huett, and Coleman (2008) believe that the evolution of distance education needs to occur within instructional design.  I strongly agree with this belief.  Teacher preparation programs prepare educators to enter a traditional classroom.  While technology has become a big emphasis in this, online learning has not.  Many teachers are not prepared to enter such an environment as online learning.  Many of the tactics used within a classroom setting are nonexistent in an online setting.   Therefore, just as traditional systems have instructional specialists constantly staying abreast best practices in the classroom, distance education needs its own experts in instructional design.

In addition to discriminating between the instructional approaches of traditional vs. online classrooms, the individual students need to be considered as well.  Moller, Foshay, and Coleman (2008) state that “the personal and psychological characteristics of successful online learners include autonomy, metacognition, self-regulatory skills, positive self-efficacy, motivation, and internal locus of control.”  A world where every student encompasses these skills exists in fairytales.  We accept the differences among students in a traditional classroom, so why should we assume these differences disappear when entering a learning environment with even larger boundaries?

Simonson (2000) argues that the Equivalency Theory should be used in regards to online learning.  I believe this is accurate as well.  While the learning outcomes should remain the same for both environments, the roads to meet those are different (Simonson, 2008).  Just as students have different learning styles, different learning environments require different means.  Like a traditional classroom, distance education settings must evolve the meet the ever-changing state of society.  Distance education provides a medium to meet many of the needs that are missing in a face-to-face setting.  However, the needs to maximize learning must be met.

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C. (2008, September/October). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 1: Training and Development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75. 

 Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, July/August). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 2: Higher Education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66–70.

Simonson, M. (2000). Making decisions: The use of electronic technology in online classrooms. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 84, 29–34.

Simonson, M. (Presenter). (2008). Distance education: the next generation. [Vodcast]. Laureate Education, Inc.

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