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.
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.
Blog replies to:
Karen Wagoner
http://wagzz1.blogspot.com/2012/12/compare-and-contrast-articles-and-video.html
Erin Rocha
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Blog replies to:
Karen Wagoner
http://wagzz1.blogspot.com/2012/12/compare-and-contrast-articles-and-video.html
Erin Rocha
http://erinrocha1981.blogspot.com/2012/12/module-1.html
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4 comments :
Hi Sarita,
Thank you for providing an extremely well written analysis of the readings for this module about distance education. I have heard the same kinds of comments and concerns about how a PhD compares in rigor to a brick and mortar university. The Equivalency Theory provides a framework for how to respond; however, when looking at traditional doctoral programs at brick and mortar universities many are already providing distance education classes within their programs. There seems to be a growing demand for working professionals who want to pursue advanced degrees to look for distance education opportunities. What are your thoughts about distance education in K-12 compared to higher education?
Sincerely,
LeAnn
Sarita,
I enjoyed reading your blog and agree with your analogies and comments. You mentioned that others look down upon online learning and I have seen this from my own school principal, who is a major supporter of technology in our schools. Of course, I think there may be a bit of fear in these comments, as fear of the unknown. They definitely need to research the theories and results of online education. Your comments about embracing the differences in our online students were outstanding and wonder if you have any specific strategies that you would suggest for differentiating with the online students?
Thank you,
Karen
Sarita
I have been teaching in a Virtual Classroom for 14 years and I agree when you say online learning is looked down upon. I have been asked if i would ever want to teach in a "real school". Teaching in a virtual setting is difficult because of what you wrote with "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." I have found that there are different issues in a virtual classroom than in the brick-and-mortar setting. The students have busy lives such as actors and students training for the olympics or students extremely behind in their education. I have found that I have to make more IEP's due to the students lifestyles rather than their educational level. Our society is evolving so we do need to find ways to maximize learning in new ways. I have been out of the tradional setting for a long time. Do you find that you need to adjust your teaching to students lifestyles or their out of school activities?
Blog replies to:
Karen Wagoner
http://wagzz1.blogspot.com/2012/12/compare-and-contrast-articles-and-video.html
Erin Rocha
http://erinrocha1981.blogspot.com/2012/12/module-1.html
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