Elements of Distance Education Diffusion

George Siemens (2008) in the Future of Distance Education says that even people who thought that face-to-face communication was primary have found meaningful relationships using online media.  The notion of geographical separation is not that important in distance learning.  Online communication has created a more effective learning experience in distance learning and has helped create a unique identity compared to that found in face-to-face courses.

Communication has evolved over the past 100 years.  When I was young, if you wanted to talk to someone that was not standing next to you, a telephone was the only way to do it.

If you wanted to send a letter or note to someone, then you had to put a letter in the mail.

Communication in our schools has changed, but a traditional classroom still has teachers standing in the front of the classroom giving lessons.  Students are still sitting at desks doing their work with pencils and paper.  They are still reading paper bound books.  Parents are still being called on the telephone by their children’s teacher.  Grades are printed out on paper and mailed home or given out at school during open house.

Communication has evolved in the digitally connected classroom.  This includes classes that are offered online, as part of a hybrid system, or in a traditional classroom with online technology-infused learning. In this modern system, online learning systems have evolved and there are all-in-one web-based applications that allow students, teachers, and parents to communicate 100% in a digitally enhanced environment.  I use two such applications in my classroom - Ning and Edmodo.

NING

EDMODO

Ning is a private social networking site where I can communicate with all of my students, and they can communicate with each other.  Every day, my students participate in a threaded discussion where they discuss a topic and can respond to their peers' contributions.  This sort of communication could never happen in a non-digitally enhanced traditional classroom.  The students can also ask questions, review the curriculum, see the daily agenda, and read RSS feeds on the day's technology news.

Edmodo is a FREE on-line grading system where my students can submit their work, see their grade in real time, ask questions about assignments, and see what's due and what's been turned in.  Parents also get a log-in code where they can view their student's progress at any time.

I could never have provided this rich of a curriculum in a traditional classroom.  Without this technology, my communication with my students was extremely minimal and there were very few interactions among my students.  Now, I know what is going on in my classroom at all times and my students are connected in a way that is so much more exciting and full of learning.  I can't wait to find out what tomorrow's technology will bring!

Reference:

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

Module 1 Blog: The Next Generation of Distance Education

Simonson (2008) says that formal education that is institutionally based where the learners are separated and technology is used to link the learner and the education is not self-study at a distance.  Our educational system is quickly transforming to a point where over six million students are learning from a distance.  Distance education is going to dramatically increase in the near future, and the Diffusion of innovation theory shows that when a new idea is proposed it needs to be promoted and then reaches the point of critical mass and needs to be supported, widely adopted, accepted, and respected.  If we look at past patterns, we can expect distance education to grow, but it will not replace traditional schools.  Distance education will be incorporated into most learning environments (Simonson, 2008).

Simonson (2000) discusses how equivalency theory functions within distance education, and emphasizes that instructors must create equivalent, rather than identical, learning experiences. There is a need to create equivalent learning environments, rather than identical, learning experiences.  In the early adoption of distance learning, there were many videotaped lectures that would then be presented to audiences off location.  This was an attempt to create an equal experience, but not an equivalent one.

In higher education, colleges and universities see distance education as a way of sustaining growth and could mean the difference between a budgetary surplus and a loss.  It has an importance much greater than the enrollment figures may suggest (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008b, p. 66).  The current business climate places a premium on speed – speed of development, delivery, and dissemination is critical even at some sacrifice (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 200a, p. 73).  Within distance education, and in traditional education, the most effective strategy is the one learners actually use.  On-line instruction holds the promise of increasing communication among learners.  Significant learning often occurs as the results of learner-to-learner communication (p. 74).  In the K-12 system of education, the schools attempt to address previously unmet needs.  State governments typically establish virtual k-12 schools directly or provide funding to traditional schools to create their own virtual programs (Huett, Molle, Foshay, & Coleman, 2008, p. 63).  Like classroom schooling, virtual schooling must address student related issues  including feeling isolated and concerns about social development (p. 64).  The next generation of distance education will have gone through many different challenges such as politics, economics, and social progress.  Just like our human race has changed and transformed with time, so too shall distance education.

References:

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.Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's title.

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

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008a, 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. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's title.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008b, 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. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's title.

Simonson, M. (2000). Making decisions: The use of electronic technology in online classes. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 84, 29–34. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's title.