The Evolution of Distance Learning

Before starting this course, my personal definition for distance learning was simply is the learning process when learners are physically separated from the teachers or the source of the instructions. Learners mostly work on individual basis, and learning materials would be sent to the learner in different forms either text, audio, video, or online instructions. I always had the impression that final assessment still has to be in the same format of traditional class assessment however that changes when I have experienced the online assessments.

From this week’s resources I have learned that four major components are required in order to define distance education: 1- It should be institutionally based. 2- Physical separation between the teacher and student, separation could be in both terms of geographic and time. 3- Interactive telecommunications and interaction could be synchronous or asynchronous. 4- Connecting learners, resources and instructors. (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009).

I believe that the most feasible definition for distance education is the one given by Simonson, 2003 as “instruction-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources and instructors”. Based on this definition, distance education can be simply described as “the process of creating and delivering an access to learning when the source of learning materials and the learners are separated by distance and time or by both of them”.

The definition of distance learning is always changing with the change of the technology used for implementing and managing the learning process. Other different terms could be used based on using locations and the actual use and requirements of distance education such as “ virtual schools” which refer to using distance education in schools and in my company for example we use the term Learning Management System or “ILearn” .

Distance learning programs have grown and multiplied incredibly over the past ten years, I believe in the future, distance learning will continue to evolve at the same pace of developing new technologies that will help in facilitating the delivery of learning materials. I expect it to gain more ground in the schools and universities as well as other institutes with more classes are taught online either by itself or blended with traditional classes. I also believe that the future developments will be even faster in rates than the development rates over the last ten years as a result of the growing population of the technologically educated young instructional designers / instructors who can easily handle and promote the advantages of the current technology towards delivering a highly effective distance learning classes.

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. Chapter 2, "Definitions, History, and Theories of Distance Education", pp. 31–40.