Introduction to Distance Learning

Distance Learning and Important Factors

When talking about distance learning it is important to have a understanding of what exactly distance learning is and what are the important factors related to it.  As defined by Dr Michael Simonson, "Distance education can be defined as formal education in which the learning group (teacher, student, resources) are separated by geography and sometimes time."  This definition also brings to light the three most important factors within distance learning and they are the teachers, students, and resources.  

Original thoughts and new understanding

Originally up until this past week I thought of distance learning in the terms I have come to know it through online learning. I was completely unaware that distance learning has been an instructional strategy that dates back to 1833 with Newspaper mailing correspondence.  The time line of the development that Distance learning has gone through seems to be directly related to communication technology advancements.  As communication technologies changed and developed so did the manner in which distance learning was implemented.  Currently there has been a large amount of growth in distance learning due to the recent innovation on the internet of Web 2.0.  Most likely this growth trend will continue especially as we enter the era of web 3.0. As web 3.0 becomes more common place than it will only serve to enhance the current communication provided by the internet.

Thoughts for the Future

With the exponential growth of the distance education has experienced over the past five years by growing 400%.  If the current trend continues we should fully expect to see immense continued growth over the next 5 years and continuing into the future.  Although this growth will continue at a rapid paces it would be very unlikely to see this lead to replacing traditional schools and secondary education.  If The traditional schools will not be replaced and distance learning will continue to grow this would mean more people are receiving more education which would most likely lead to a more intelligent better educated workforce and society.