Module 1 - Blog

After reading the three articles by Moller, Huett, Foshay and Coleman, and listening to the Simonson video programs, compare and contrast the reasons these authors believe there is a need to evolve distance education to the next generation. Do you agree with their positions? Why or why not?

After reading and listening to various authors about the development and growth of distance education, I learned there are many different beliefs, both similar and different.  Moller, Forshay, Coleman, and Simonson all appear to be in agreement that distance education is approaching critical mass.  Therefore, the focus does not need to be on promoting distance education, but rather finding ways to support it within training and educational settings.  Moller, Forshay, and Coleman focus more on the instructional design, implementation, and overall quality offered from distance education.  Simonson discusses how distance education has evolved over the years, and become more expected and established within businesses and schools.

According to Moller, Forshay, and Huett (2008a), distance education can offer learning strategies that are not possible within a face to face environment (p. 74).  This does not mean that distance education should replace traditional schools.  Simonson believes distance education technology will take on a major role in higher education, K-12 education, professional development, and trainings within corporations (Laureate Education, 2008).  It is important to evolve distance education to the next generation because it has gotten uniform in design and implementation, and therefore, hard to recognize the quality of learning.  For e-learning to become successfully adopted the instructor must be interested, motivated, and adapt to the variety of student needs.  The authors acknowledge that e-learning is going to continue to increase, and everything is already in place for success.  It is up to the instructors to use technology to connect with the learner in such a way that they think the instruction has been catered specifically for them. 

I believe every author has their own assumptions and beliefs about distance education.  Overall I agree that changes must occur within areas of design, implementation, standards, guidelines, and faculty support or the credibility of e-learning will be forever damaged.  A distance education teacher should not be expected to be the instructional designer because it will take way from content, delivery, and implementation (Huett, Moller, Foshay, & Coleman, 2008, p. 63).  I agree the online learning environment should be equivalent to the traditional classroom environment.  I respect the positions of each author because too many e-learning programs today are already designed, and the only thing that changes is the professor’s information in the sidebar.  “There must be a means for both producers and consumers to recognize high quality e-learning” (Moller et al., 2008a, p. 71).  Lastly, distance education should ensure technology is used efficiently as a means of connecting the learner with information and users.

References

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. R., & Coleman, C. (2008). The evolution of distance

education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 52(5), 63-67. doi:10.1007/s11528-008-0199-9 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Distance education: The next generation, defined featuring Dr. Simonson [DVD]. United States: Walden University 

Moller, L., Forshay, W. R., & Huett, J. (2008a). The evolution of distance education:        Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web. Techtrends: Linking          Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 52(3), 70-75. doi:10.1007/s11528-008-0158-5

Moller, L., Foshay, W. R., & Huett, J. (2008b). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 52(4), 66-70. doi:10.1007/s11528-008-0179-0

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