Distance Learning Reflections

     This has been an interesting course and has taught me a lot about different aspects of distance learning.  This blog deals with the future of distance learning and how Instructional Designers can impact it.

 

     Dr. Siemens talked about the reasons for the growing acceptance of distance education and its future (Laureate Education, n.d.).  One of the biggest reasons, he says, is because of the increase in online communication around the world.  People in many countries communicate with friends by texting, so they are used to being online and talking with others.  This is just a short hop away from online discussion in a class.  Their classmates may either be or become their friends, as many people “friend” strangers on social media.  Currently, more and more people are accepting online education as a new norm so that perception should grow as technology improves.  One of the problems with it now is that learners need good Wifi connections to be able to take classes.  It isolates those without good Wifi (Naidu, 2014).  Yet people can communicate with others around the world on smartphones without the use of Wifi.  Within 5-10 years, I think this will be normal for computer communications also.  You’ll be able to connect the computer/laptop to other laptops through phone towers instead of Wifi.  This will open the doors to many more people and even allow them access to free education sources, such as massive open online courses (MOOCs). 

     Virtual reality is still in its infancy and is growing in popularity.  I’d like to think that it will be available and popular enough to be a normal part of online training around the world, but I think it will not.  The main reason for this is the same reason online courses aren’t more popular around the world, the lack of availability to countries that do not have good Wifi.  So what will online education look like in 10-20 years?  I think it will be more popular than classroom training.  More and more Ivy League universities are offering online courses and degree programs today (Naidu, 2014).  If more students start taking online courses, colleges will spend more time and effort in developing and improving them.  Traditional classroom instruction may become a thing of the past.

     Instructional designers (IDs) should be proponents for improving how society views distance learning.  One of the ways IDs can help is to design and develop courses that meet the needs of the students.  When they learn the material in an online environment, are able to communicate and discuss the material with people from all walks of life in far-away countries, and feel challenged but not overwhelmed, they will spread the word about the experience.  Word of mouth advertising is the best kind because the people they spread it to will tell others and so on.  The same holds true for negative experiences.  The problem is that positive experiences tend to spread far slower than negative experiences. 

     Working in a corporate environment affords me more opportunity to have a positive impact on distance learning than many who work in the school education field.  The reason for this is simple economics.  Schools are much slower to spend money on changing course development or on technology because there are other more pressing concerns.  Corporations look at the bottom line, ROI.  They will spend money on course development and technology if it looks like the ROI will be substantial enough.  Have students take courses online at their locations and save the money in travel, hotel and meals for them to travel to a different location.  The technicians’ time away from billable work remains the same. 

References

Laureate Education,  (Producer). (n.d.). The future of distance learning [Motion Picture].

Naidu, S. (2014). Looking back, looking forward: the invention and reinvention of distance education. Distance Education, 263-270.