Defining Distance Learning

Personally, prior to this course I would have defined distance learning as a place where students remotely accessed content and materials under teacher facilitation and supervision. I would have also described it as a virtual place where students could interact and communate with each other for the purposes of collaobration. Prior to this class, I had already participated in a distance learning course by obtaining my Masters from Walden University. Thinking back, however, to the time prior to my first distance learning experience, I am not sure how I would define it. I really didn't know what to expect. My co-worker at the time was finishing up her Masters from Walden and I would often peek in to see what she was experiencing through her studies. I hadn't formed a solid definition yet.

When I first began my classes with Walden, I had recently decided to not puruse my Masters with a nearby, local college with whom I had started the process. Physically attending the weekly classes were a challenge for me because of additional activities and responsibilities at home and the professors that I had did not provide much depth or required as much metacognition about what was shared in class or presented. Upon starting Walden, the first observation I made was the similarity of the online class structure to that of the face-to-face structure I had just left. There was still a requirement to discuss information and provide support for your coursework. The only difference between the two was the lack of synchronous meetings and how my work was submitted.

The second observation I made prior to this class was the necessity of communicating and establishing an open network with the peers in my classes. In a previous class, my colleagues and I were grouped together to complete a course project. Unfortunately, some ot the behaviors exhibited by my peers were similar to those of students in a face-to-face class. Nonetheless, I learned how vitally important it was to keep an open and constant line of communication in order to accomplish the requirements of the proejct.

After beginning this course and just reading the first week of learning resources, my definition has changed. Dr. Simonson says it best when he writes "Distance education was defined in Chapter 1 as instuition-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources and instructors (Simnson, 2009). My experiences with Waldenu University has provided a formal educational process of learning in which most of my professors, with the exception of one, was located in another state. Additionally, all of the materials for the courses, except the books, were provided via the Internet.

Where do I see the future of distance learning?
Even though I think Walden will do this better, The Open University has the right idea:

OR



My Distance Learning MindMap

References:

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

MaryAnnCLT (Poster). Education Uses of Second Life [video]. (2007, August 10). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOFU9oUF2HA

TheOpenUniversity (Poster). University of the Future [video]. (2011, February 2). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki7ZKNcbX5Q