Principles of Distance Education Blog 2

Communication is vital and very important as it pertains to the online learning environment.  Communication has evolved through many factors such as the use of ace to face talking with one another to the use of various online tools that are currently used today such as web cam, and email. 

In the online classroom, there are some tools that are used to facilitate learning among learners.  These tools include email, web cams, the use of chat rooms, and the exchange of phone numbers in order to communicate through phone with one another.   Email is a great tool that is used between the instructor and the students and between student to student.  In today’s society, most people generally check their email daily since they are mostly on the computer on a daily basis.   The use of web cams is also used on the online classroom settings.  With the web cams, the instructors and students are able to see each other in conversation.  Chat rooms are also great tools because the students can converse with each other online at the same time.  This is a tool that was used during my last course and some courses within my master’s program, we were able to set up plans on how to complete assignments and set up deadlines as well.  The exchange of phone numbers is always a good form of communication.  This can be used within any kind of environment whether online or face to face. 

As stated by Dr. Siemens, people have reached a point where they have a comfort level with distance education (Siemens, 2008).  There are many different types of communication tools available and they are able to use the ones that they are most familiar or comfortable with, especially if they are not a very tech savvy person.  Communication in the online environments allows for individuals to communicate with each other from different parts of the world (Siemens, 2008).  Students do not just communicate from people within the same state, but they can communicate with people from all over the United States and in other countries as well.   The ability to communicate with people from a variety of places allows for students to see and understand the diversity in the content that they are learning about (Siemens, 2008).  

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education, Baltimore.


Blog Postings
http://langstonnotes.blogspot.com/2011/12/module-2-assignment.html?showComment=1325309162482#c5823722556074796785

http://ktino1.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/elements-of-distance-education-diffusion/#comment-6

Principles of Distance Education Blog 1

According to the articles, there is a need to evolve distance education to the next generation because technology is a part of the next generation and it is considered as part of the future.  Under training and development, technology has greatly increased over the past years (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008).  Conducting any kind of business without technology technology is seen as unbelievable (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008).   Part of the reason is that technology has become very popular and so many tasks have been completed using various technology tools and people have come to rely very heavily on technology which makes it difficult to imagine conducting many daily tasks without technology.

Under higher education, many colleges and universities are evolving into the online or distance education form of learning (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008).  Many of the staff members at the colleges are also engaging in learning about online learning and how to instruct within the online environment (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008).  This is allowing students to have options about what type of education they would like to pursue.  Distance education is the future and is what many learning institutions are working on in order to prepare students for 21st century learning.

In the K-12 learning environments, there have been creations of the virtual schools well as as online programs to go along with traditional schools settings (Moller, Foshay, Huett, & Coleman, 2008).  These programs also allow and give students the opportunity to learn using a variety of ways such as through the online environment.  As many students begin to attend college, online learning may increase for students and learning institutions.  Students would be able to work while go to school at the same time which will be an advantage for students in the next generation.

Moller, L., Foshay, W.R., Huett, J. (2008).  The Evolution of Distance Education:  Implications for    Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web.  Volume 52, Number 3.

Moller, L., Foshay, W.R., Huett, J. (2008).  The Evolution of Distance Education:  Implications for    Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web.  Volume 52, Number 4.

Moller, L., Foshay, W.R., Huett, J., Coleman, C. (2008).  The Evolution of Distance Education:  Implications for    Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web. Volume 52, Number 5.



Blog Posting
http://slayeduc.blogspot.com/2011/12/next-generation-of-distance-education.html#comment-form

http://transeyblogs.blogspot.com/2011/12/need-to-evolve-distance-education-to.html#comment-form