Perception of Distance Learning

Distance learning as a whole has grown in the past 5 years. It has been incorporated in many K-12 environments as the teachers create their own websites, with adult education, and in corporations for training purposes. The growing acceptance of distance education is “fueled by an increase in online communication, practical experience with new tools, growing comfort with online discourse, and the ability to communicate with diverse and global groups” (Siemens, n.d.). The growing technology we have in our society is a big part in distance education increasing and the perception of it becoming a positive one. “The concept of distance education is exciting, and recent hardware and software innovations are making telecommunications distance education systems more available, easier to use, and less costly. Distance education has begun to enter the mainstream” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek 2009). Distance education has been around for many years, but only within the past 5 has it grown in education and corporate businesses.

The question is what it will become in the future – next 5-10 years. This will depend on how our technology grows as distance education will be impacted by “new communication technologies, contribution by experts around the world, and increased use of multimedia, games, and simulations” (Siemens, n.d.). The more people embrace technology and the more technology creates, the bigger the opportunity there is for distance education to become even more popular than it currently is. It has seemed to have spread like wild fires throughout all areas of our world and predictions indicate that it will likely become the preferred method for courses and/or training. It provides many benefits that more people are gaining access to and although it is unlikely face-to-face traditional classroom will disappear, I can see it becoming drastically less of what people want. For K-12, it would be difficult for children to have the discipline for solely distance learning to be beneficial to them, but for adult education and the business environment, it offers so much potential and allows corporations to interact with different offices around the world bringing the communication level to an all-time high and increased productivity (Siemens, n.d.).

To keep distance learning growing, it is also the responsibility of the Instructional Designers and Facilitators to promote this type of learning. For me, I am an advocate of distance learning and truly believe it is the better option for some learners and learning environments (e.g., corporate trainings). In my career, I fought to incorporate online courses into our training program and offer it for associates to attend at their desks as well as blended learning in the classroom for our new hires. After months of research and presentations on the benefits, it was agreed that this would work for our corporation and software was purchased to make this happen. Currently, material has been created for the blended learning environment in our new hire classes. The facilitator is there to provide the content and the learners go online to take the assessments, some activities, and simulations. It has improved our new hire class greatly and after initial quarks were worked out, it is the preferred method for our site. Online courses for the associates to complete at their desks on their own time are currently being developed and will hopefully be implemented by the end of the year. The managers are raving about this new opportunity training has provided and we anticipate many requests for online training. It has also been shared with our other sites across the United States and that has proven to be a huge benefit because we are now all delivering the same information.

Keeping the exciting perceptions of distance learning alive in the company is going to be a challenge as the programs we have don’t allow for everything people are going to want. There are restrictions that we will have to overcome and at the same time keep promoting this type of education and its benefits. Another key challenge will be “bridging the gap of comfort for the learners” (Siemens, n.d.). Most associates have a high school diploma and very little are savvy with technology beyond their job requirements. My next job is to make sure I create something that will help them be comfortable with the new learning environment and we plan on holding orientation sessions to help everyone become familiar with the programs we’ll be using and provide them with the knowledge needed to be successful in the online training modules. Continually improving the content will also help the perception of the distance learning courses as well as being sure to keep it interactive, fun, and non-stressful. The goal is for us to create an easier way to train everyone and be sure we are able to reach as many associates as possible.

Distance learning “provides the opportunity to widen intellectual horizons, as well as the chance to improve and update professional knowledge. Further, it stresses individuality of learning and flexibility in both the time and place of study” (Simonson, et al. 2009). Distance learning has many benefits that outweigh the main downfall of no face-to-face interaction with the facilitator because webcams have helped bridge that gap. It is the Instructional Designer’s job to create an interactive course that will be beneficial to each group of learners and the Facilitator’s job to support the learners to ensure their success. Instructional Designers and Facilitators need to work together so the idea behind what the ID has created is communicated to the Facilitator so they can in turn communicate that to the learners (Piskurich, n.d.). Ultimately, distance learning is only going to be as successful as we all make it.

References

Piskurich, G. (n.d.). Facilitating Online Learning. Laureate Education, Inc. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4442081&Survey=1&47=6260654&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Siemens, G. (n.d.). The Future of Distance Education. Laureate Education, Inc. Retrieved October 27, 2010, from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4442081&Survey=1&47=6260654&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek S. (2009). Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education (4^th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.