Today when one hears words like online learning or distance education, thoughts of digitized content, and images of different types of technological media frequently come to mind. However, traditionally it has been revealed that distance education is actually not a new phenomenon at all. Historically speaking one could actually uncover that distance education was practiced in the United States in the form of correspondence schools as early as the eighteenth century. In fact, one of the first educational programs to provide formal distance educational services to home bound women was founded in 1873, by Anna Eliot Ticknor. The school was called The Society to Encourage Studies at Home, Caruth & Caruth (2013). In the early 18th century these correspondence schools primarily used the U.S. mail system as a method of communication between the student and the teacher. These types of educational systems were also sometimes referred to as independent study.
Notwithstanding, when discerning the above information in historical context, one would have to ask the question, did these pre-industrial correspondence schools help to shape what is commonly known as distance education or e-learning as it exist today? Presumably the answer could be a resounding yes. Not only were there correspondence schools but other forms of anywhere anytime modes of education also existed before the advent of online learning. Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek (2012) state that “The original
Adam Savage once said “I think one of the defining moments of adulthood is the realization that nobody 's going to take care of you. That you have to do the heavy lifting while you 're here. And when you don 't, well, you suffer the consequences.” Now, what if we replaced “adulthood” with the term “higher education”, or more specifically, “distance education”? The words become almost synonymous when you define what it takes to succeed in either field. In the article, College Distance Education Courses: Evaluating Benefits and Costs from Institutional, Faculty and Students’ Perspectives written by Simon A. Lei and Rajeev K. Gupta, distance education is defined as “technology-based instruction in which students are at a location physically separated from their instructor during the entire course of study” (Lei and Gupta 616). In Lei and Gupta’s article, there are many drawbacks of distance education defined, but distance education remains an amazing opportunity because the benefits and the platform to develop useful life skills far outweigh said drawbacks.
“Can You Be Educated from a Distance,” an insightful essay by James Barszcz, brings to focus some of the benefits and disadvantages of Distance Learning education (DL). In it, Barszcz discusses the mechanics of DL courses available to students, the quality of education DL can offer, and some reasoning behind its rapidly growing popularity. “Can You Be Educated from a Distance” is an engaging article that students of all ages can benefit from.
Many advocates of distance education are ardent about their venue and very critical of traditional education. These online education devotees view traditional classes as being unchangeable, inflexible, teacher-centered, and static (Angiello, 2010). However, proponents argue that many simply would not be able to get a degree without distance education—the full-time police officer, the mother of four, or the individual living in a rural area approximately 100-200 miles away from any educational institution. Many individuals desperately need distance education courses because they "have jobs, families, civic responsibilities. They are thirsting. But some want us to say, 'Sorry you don’t want to drink the water there, but we can’t bottle our fresh spring water, so you’ll have to come here or drink nothing" (Baker, 1986). Proponents contend that distance education is "as good as" traditional education. In other words, learning occurs as much in distance education as it does in traditional education. However, is this really so? Does distance education work better for some students
2b. The title of the book is The Distance Education Evolution: Issues and Case Studies.
Nowadays, education becomes one of the important things in human life. Most people are aware of the necessity of a higher education. In this present day with the technology there are more options to obtain education. Besides attending traditional schools, people can get an online education. Although there is a similarity between online education and traditional education, the differences between them are more noteworthy.
Distance Education is connected to the conveyance of classroom substance to understudies who are either on or off grounds and spotlights on understudies isolated from each other and from the instructor.19 This learning action incorporates access to direction that is autonomous of time and place limits.
Casey delves into the history of distance education (DE) from the perspective of technological advances. Though citing three reasons for the growth of DE in the United States, she concentrates on the fact that technological advances paved the way for a similarly rapid expansion of DE. Her argument is that of the three instrumental factors (distance to educational facilities and thirst for knowledge being the other two), technology most closely parallels the growth of DE.
The Distance Education homepage can be found at http://www.lonestar.edu/lsc-online/. I would like to repeat again a few statements from the course set up above. I realize that distant education is a wonderful opportunity to complete a class without having to physically come to class. But this opportunity comes with added cost of more effort from each student. Please review the following items to verify that you have the basic skills, equipment and much needed ambition to properly complete this course.
Distance learning (education) is a modern system of non- formal education. There are different terms used for
This source looks into progress and the foundation of distance and online learning. According to Kentnor “ Online education is no longer a trend, but mainstream” (3). Distance education is defined as a method of teaching where the student and teachers are physically separated (Kentnor). Online learning can be done by mail, internet, face to face, and television. This shows the importance of the progress and how many people participates in distant learning. Distant learning has become an important part of education and the data is here to show that.
Distance learning (education) has become an integral part of the education process over the past few decades and is growing in popularity as technology advances.(Willis 1992) describes distance education (as) "the organizational framework andprocess of providing instruction at a distance. Distance education takes place when ateacher and student(s) are physically separated, and technology…(is) used to bridge theinstruction gap." (Coutts 1996). Furthermore, "distance learning activities are designedto fit the specific context for learning, the nature of the subject matter; intended learningoutcomes, needs and goals of the learner, the learner's environment and the instructional echnologies and methods." (American
Online education, also called long distant learning, can be defined as a new method of learning through a computer network. This modern way of teaching gives students an opportunity to take classes online. Bill Gates
Non-traditional students are finding it easier and easier to maintain a job, a family, and pursuing a college career at the same time. This is possible because more and more non-traditional students are receiving an education using distance learning, as opposed to traditional, in-the-classroom teaching. Distance learning is basically taking college level, credit-bearing courses via the Internet. One of the most obvious advantages of distance learning is that it puts the classroom in your home, office, or wherever you can find a computer and log on to the Internet. However, there is much controversy regarding the quality of the courses being offered on the Internet versus the quality of
Education is an important part of people’s lives; it will either make them or break them in the future depending on the careers they choose. Education is greatly diverse today in comparison to the 1950s because of advancements in teaching and other great inventions that provide easier techniques of teaching. One major issue that has been raised is distant learning courses and online education.
Another reason as to why online distant learning is not practical is because, easy and convenient access to a computer and internet is essential for online distant learning courses, without it the course work getting done is made harder. For people who share computers, it is difficult for the individual to get enough time on the computer in order to accomplish the necessary coursework. Other online distant learners do not own computers and others if lucky, only have computer access at work, but are too busy with their work to spend the sufficient amount of time on their online distant studies. Majority of students in learning programs are self-providers, under strict funds only making money for them tighter, and are not able to afford computers or even the internet connection needed to correspond with their online distant learning programs.