Definition of Distance Education:
Distance Education is a form of information and learning transference from one point to another point with zero to minimal face to face interaction.
Introductory Reflections:
Although Distance Education seems to be a simple method of learning, it is anything but. Several authors define distance education but more often than not they tend to add specifics to their definitions and those specifics leave out the earliest forms of distance education such as cave man drawings, papyrus writings, apostolic teaching methods through writing, speaking, and long distance travel by foot or animal. From a historical standpoint, we must include this primitive forms of education under the same umbrella with newer technologies and structured methods of education. Moore and Kearsley (2012) have the most general definition of distance education to my own definition although mine is even more general in nature. Even so, their version does include earlier forms of education if you look at the inherent definitions of technology and special institutional organizations which don't necessarily mean modern day advances in these modes of transference.
Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (2012). Basic Concepts. In M.G. Moore and G. Kearsley (3rd Ed.), Distance education: A systems view of online learning. (pp. 1-22). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth-Cengage Learning.
Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (2012). Basic Concepts. In M.G. Moore and G. Kearsley (3rd Ed.), Distance education: A systems view of online learning. (pp. 1-22). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth-Cengage Learning.
Reflections of Otto Peters:
Otto Peters concludes that distance education is the most industrialized form of education (Peters, 2010). Looking at the history of DE and how far it has come from the earliest forms to modern forms, I can see why this is true. Although DE has evolved, it is the revolutionary advances in media and technology such as Internet, television, radio, and video, that has put DE into the limelight as a highly developed form of education that caters not only to traditional minded students but includes students at any stage of life and career. DE systems tend to take on an industrialized format where involvement in the system isn't just a teacher and learner but a full-scale operation where many departments become involved in the structure and content development within the system. Powers that be still have control over what's being taught, how it's being taught, through what methods teaching occurs, and so on. Support networks are created within the system to provide students with the highest form of learning. Manufacturing industries for example have operation systems that provide structure and organization so that the business runs smoothly and efficiently. DE systems have similar capabilities. Then there is the for-profit issue with DE where schools are for-profit here in America at least. We do not have free college education hear. Industry is in it for making money and DE has industrialized itself into a money making machine today with huge numbers of people are signing up for a flexible education program. Where DE used to focus on working adults in industrial settings, it now includes regular college age students just starting out.
Peters, O. (2010). The theory of the 'most industrialized education.' In O. Peters (5ht Ed.) Distance education in transition: developments and transitions (pp. 11-32).
Peters, O. (2010). The theory of the 'most industrialized education.' In O. Peters (5ht Ed.) Distance education in transition: developments and transitions (pp. 11-32).
Wave 1 Reflections:
Otto Peters (2004, p. 14) talks about how distance education began in the time of the Apostle Paul who taught Christian communities via "writing and transportation." Borje Holmberg (2005, p. 13) argues that back in those times one-way communication may not necessarily be attributed to distance education. I think any education that is transferred whether one-way or two-way is still considered distance education if the teacher and learner are not in the same place at the time.
With today's busy working adults, it's harder and harder to get an education to advance in current careers or change to a new career. I know it was for me. Distance education has been a huge benefit to the working class who may not get further education otherwise. The flexibility of DE versus traditional classroom is the key to success in furthering education.
Infrastructure and developing technologies, such as the railway system and postal service in the 19th centuries (Haughey, 2010), were the key in successful DE programs in Wave 1. Although DE has been present for centuries, the onslaught of such technology and of future technology has grown and will grow distance education into not only a unique form of education but a highly accessible form for most people. Underdeveloped countries eventually will catch up if their leaders recognize the value of DE and begin developing infrastructure to better their people.
Haughey, M. (2010). Teaching and learning in distance education before the digital age. In M. F. Cleveland-Innes & D. R. Garrison, An introduction to distance education: Understanding teaching and learning in a new era (pp. 46-66). New York and London: Routledge.
Holmberg, B. (2005). The evolution, principles, and practice of distance education (Chapter 2, pp. 13-36). Retrieved from http://www.box.com/shared/y97qyc7m0t
Peters, O. (2004). Distance education in transition: New trends and challenges (4th edition) (pp. 13-24). Retrieved from: http://www.box.com/shared/5x3tpynqqf
With today's busy working adults, it's harder and harder to get an education to advance in current careers or change to a new career. I know it was for me. Distance education has been a huge benefit to the working class who may not get further education otherwise. The flexibility of DE versus traditional classroom is the key to success in furthering education.
Infrastructure and developing technologies, such as the railway system and postal service in the 19th centuries (Haughey, 2010), were the key in successful DE programs in Wave 1. Although DE has been present for centuries, the onslaught of such technology and of future technology has grown and will grow distance education into not only a unique form of education but a highly accessible form for most people. Underdeveloped countries eventually will catch up if their leaders recognize the value of DE and begin developing infrastructure to better their people.
Haughey, M. (2010). Teaching and learning in distance education before the digital age. In M. F. Cleveland-Innes & D. R. Garrison, An introduction to distance education: Understanding teaching and learning in a new era (pp. 46-66). New York and London: Routledge.
Holmberg, B. (2005). The evolution, principles, and practice of distance education (Chapter 2, pp. 13-36). Retrieved from http://www.box.com/shared/y97qyc7m0t
Peters, O. (2004). Distance education in transition: New trends and challenges (4th edition) (pp. 13-24). Retrieved from: http://www.box.com/shared/5x3tpynqqf
Wave 2 Reflections:
I found Tony Bates’ video interesting in that the speed of growth in OU UK went from just a team of consultants to create a learning model with a team approach and instructional design with some freedom of curriculum to 20 years later being one of bureaucracy and unorganized with more faculty than students.
My brain is one of those that has a hard time learning and focusing. So it doesn't surprise me that many students want lectures to be told what to learn and using memorization as the learning method. I find memorization and exams much easier than writing essays and having to actually think about readings. Unfortunately, that isn't how graduate students learn best, so I find it hard to adjust to the new self-directed learning methods that the UMUC course design and structure provides.
Bates, A. W. (2011, November). The second wave of distance education and history of the Open University United Kingdom. [Video interview]. Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/32292234
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Open Universities are cropping up everywhere and rural areas are also included. Indira Ghandi National Open University is one I studies in assignment 2. It's in a highly developed country but due to the rural nature of some areas they provide networked learning centers so students don't have to travel far to still be able to learn (IGNOU, 2012). On the flip side, an even more rural country like Tanzania doesn't even have the infrastructure to be able to provide much distance education to its population. There are regional centers where students can meet the teachers and take tests and/or use computers for research and class materials but due to lack of power in many areas, networked systems just aren't available for learning. (Mnyani, Bakari, and Mbwette, 2010). It will be interesting to see how much infrastructure Tanzania provides in the future for students interested in learning.
IGNOU. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.ignou.ac.in
Mnyanyi, C. B. F., Bakari, J., & Mbwette, T. S. A. (2010). Implementing e-learning in higher open and distance learning institutions in developing countries: the experience of the Open University of Tanzania.Retrieved from http://linc.mit.edu/linc2010/proceedings/session6Mnyanyi.pdf
My brain is one of those that has a hard time learning and focusing. So it doesn't surprise me that many students want lectures to be told what to learn and using memorization as the learning method. I find memorization and exams much easier than writing essays and having to actually think about readings. Unfortunately, that isn't how graduate students learn best, so I find it hard to adjust to the new self-directed learning methods that the UMUC course design and structure provides.
Bates, A. W. (2011, November). The second wave of distance education and history of the Open University United Kingdom. [Video interview]. Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/32292234
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Open Universities are cropping up everywhere and rural areas are also included. Indira Ghandi National Open University is one I studies in assignment 2. It's in a highly developed country but due to the rural nature of some areas they provide networked learning centers so students don't have to travel far to still be able to learn (IGNOU, 2012). On the flip side, an even more rural country like Tanzania doesn't even have the infrastructure to be able to provide much distance education to its population. There are regional centers where students can meet the teachers and take tests and/or use computers for research and class materials but due to lack of power in many areas, networked systems just aren't available for learning. (Mnyani, Bakari, and Mbwette, 2010). It will be interesting to see how much infrastructure Tanzania provides in the future for students interested in learning.
IGNOU. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.ignou.ac.in
Mnyanyi, C. B. F., Bakari, J., & Mbwette, T. S. A. (2010). Implementing e-learning in higher open and distance learning institutions in developing countries: the experience of the Open University of Tanzania.Retrieved from http://linc.mit.edu/linc2010/proceedings/session6Mnyanyi.pdf
Wave 3 Reflections:
Although Karen Swan (Swan, 2010) places DE into 2 separate categories, pre-industrial and post-industrial era, she still quantifies her post-industrial era as technology based with a Community of Inquiry model. This model is central in wave 3 by combining content, students, and teacher and creating a feature rich communication and interaction/collaboration capable model for distance education. I believe she does this 2 part separation because within wave 2, as other scholars, like Otto Peters, Terry Anderson, and Randy Garrison, describe it, there is a blurring of print-based communication with newer technological advances such as video and audio capabilities which are the forefathers of computer based technology. Swan merely un-blurs that line and separates learning into non-digital and digital eras. Swans model is easier to follow but the three wave model includes the transitions from one to the other and is necessary if one wants to follow the evolution of non-digital into digital formats. I kind of like Swan's separation because it's easier for me to follow and understand, but from a research standpoint, the three wave model is more in-depth in understanding how DE has evolved over time.
Swan, K. (2010). Teaching and learning in post-industrial distance education. In M. F. Cleveland-Innes & D. R. Garrison (Eds.), An introduction to distance education: Understanding teaching and learning in a new era, (pp. 108-134). New York & London: Routledge.
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Blended learning where synchronous (face to face) and asynchronous (non face to face) are mixed is still in action in many distance education programs. As traditional institutions attempt to develop their distance education programs, they blend them to make a smoother transition and allow students to have that student-student interaction that's missing in prior course delivery such as correspondence study. My son's college, Fresno City College, part of the State Center Community College District in the San Joaquin Valley of California, which is a traditional junior college with the majority of classes taking place in classroom situation uses online only and blended online/classroom courses as well. His Comm class has mostly online Blackboard discussion and assignments, but his projects (speeches) were given in the classroom. My UMUC courses have not been blended in this fashion due to distance to the school. But I don't think that the lack of classroom interaction is a negative aspect of my experience in graduate studies due to course design allowing for group projects, text-based conference discussion, email communication, and live chat rooms. Web-based technology eases the peer interaction lack that many traditional classroom instructors seem to hang on to. Some studies on the positivity of blended learning are as follows:
Dzakiria, H., Wahab, M. S. D. A., & Rahman, H. D. A. (2012, July). Blended learning (BL) as pedagogical alternative to teach business communication course: case study of UUM executive diploma program. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 13(3), 297-315.
Vaughan, N. D. (2010). Blended learning. In M. F. Cleveland-Innes & D. R. Garrison (Eds.), An introduction to distance education: Understanding teaching and learning in a new era, (pp. 165-178). New York & London: Routledge.
Swan, K. (2010). Teaching and learning in post-industrial distance education. In M. F. Cleveland-Innes & D. R. Garrison (Eds.), An introduction to distance education: Understanding teaching and learning in a new era, (pp. 108-134). New York & London: Routledge.
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Blended learning where synchronous (face to face) and asynchronous (non face to face) are mixed is still in action in many distance education programs. As traditional institutions attempt to develop their distance education programs, they blend them to make a smoother transition and allow students to have that student-student interaction that's missing in prior course delivery such as correspondence study. My son's college, Fresno City College, part of the State Center Community College District in the San Joaquin Valley of California, which is a traditional junior college with the majority of classes taking place in classroom situation uses online only and blended online/classroom courses as well. His Comm class has mostly online Blackboard discussion and assignments, but his projects (speeches) were given in the classroom. My UMUC courses have not been blended in this fashion due to distance to the school. But I don't think that the lack of classroom interaction is a negative aspect of my experience in graduate studies due to course design allowing for group projects, text-based conference discussion, email communication, and live chat rooms. Web-based technology eases the peer interaction lack that many traditional classroom instructors seem to hang on to. Some studies on the positivity of blended learning are as follows:
Dzakiria, H., Wahab, M. S. D. A., & Rahman, H. D. A. (2012, July). Blended learning (BL) as pedagogical alternative to teach business communication course: case study of UUM executive diploma program. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 13(3), 297-315.
Vaughan, N. D. (2010). Blended learning. In M. F. Cleveland-Innes & D. R. Garrison (Eds.), An introduction to distance education: Understanding teaching and learning in a new era, (pp. 165-178). New York & London: Routledge.
Current Trends in DE:
Current trends in distance education are moving from andragogy to heutagogy according to Hase and Kenyon (2001). Andragogy being study of adult education by Knowles' definition (Knowles, 1970) and heutagogy being the study of self-directed learning per Hase and Kenyon (2001). Even our UMUC program is built on self-directed learning but with teacher facilitation. I think left to our own devices most of us would be too busy to stop and learn, but with teacher prepared schedules and deadlines we are forced to self-direct our learning under specific guidance. So instructional design is still a blend of andragogical and heutagogical concepts. I think blended learning is where education is currently and will continue to head. 100% self-directed learning will probably not be as successful as a blend that includes teacher-student, student-student, and student-content with high communication technology usage.
Hase, S. & Kenyon, C. (2001). From andragogy to heutagogy. Retrieved from http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/pr/Heutagogy.html
Knowles, M.S. (1970). The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy versus Pedagogy. New York: Association Press.
Hase, S. & Kenyon, C. (2001). From andragogy to heutagogy. Retrieved from http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/pr/Heutagogy.html
Knowles, M.S. (1970). The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy versus Pedagogy. New York: Association Press.