When I was in high school, my mother brought home a computer. My sister sat in front of it almost every day after school, doing what I then thought “who knows what!” I remember saying: “I rather be in front of people, than in front of a machine”. I have considered myself a “people person” and find great value in listening to, talking to and sharing with people.
I did not know that twenty and some years later I would be studying through a computer with the use of the Internet. Throughout this time, I have made and nurtured friendships through the use of the computer and I have stayed in contact with family members who live in my home country (and with those close by as well!). Geographical distance is not an issue anymore to communicate, or to learn.
Online education will become mainstreamed as people get more comfortable with the technology (as I did) (Siemens, G., n.d.). There are already various paths to acquiring an education, from GED’s to technical schools, to community colleges and four year colleges. Presently we add online degrees to the list, which are becoming a real option not only for adults, but for children also. See below for links to options for children. I another decade or so, online education might be a totally “normal” way of getting an education for some, and still provoke skepticism for others.
One way to have online education reach the same level of acceptance than other existent forms of education is to make it available by sharing information. In doing so, it would help the field to portray online education not as the answer in the field of education but merely as another viable option for their education. An option through which educational technologies are used as tools to convey content and contribute to meaningful learning (Jonassen, D., Peck, K., & Wilson, B. (1999).
Furthermore, professionals who continue to record and publish the short term and long term impact of online courses will confirm the validity and reliability that online education is already providing (Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S., 2009). To contribute to the improvement of distance education as an instructional designer or instructor, I would continue to put emphasis on quality of instruction and go on with my own training on the use of technology as valuable tools to facilitate learning.
Resources
Jonassen, D., Peck, K., & Wilson, B. (1999). Learning with technology: A constructivist perspective. Special Education Technology (Vol. 16, p. 0). Prentice Hall. Retrieved from http://www.mendeley.com/research/learning-with-technology-a-constructivist-perspective/
Siemens, G. (n.d.). "The Future of Distance Education." Video Program.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Online Education for Children
http://www.k12.com/
http://www.connectionsacademy.com/free-online-public-school.aspx
http://distancelearn.about.com/od/onlinepublicschools/a/OnlinePS.htm
http://www.onlineschools.com/elementary-school/list
I did not know that twenty and some years later I would be studying through a computer with the use of the Internet. Throughout this time, I have made and nurtured friendships through the use of the computer and I have stayed in contact with family members who live in my home country (and with those close by as well!). Geographical distance is not an issue anymore to communicate, or to learn.
Online education will become mainstreamed as people get more comfortable with the technology (as I did) (Siemens, G., n.d.). There are already various paths to acquiring an education, from GED’s to technical schools, to community colleges and four year colleges. Presently we add online degrees to the list, which are becoming a real option not only for adults, but for children also. See below for links to options for children. I another decade or so, online education might be a totally “normal” way of getting an education for some, and still provoke skepticism for others.
One way to have online education reach the same level of acceptance than other existent forms of education is to make it available by sharing information. In doing so, it would help the field to portray online education not as the answer in the field of education but merely as another viable option for their education. An option through which educational technologies are used as tools to convey content and contribute to meaningful learning (Jonassen, D., Peck, K., & Wilson, B. (1999).
Furthermore, professionals who continue to record and publish the short term and long term impact of online courses will confirm the validity and reliability that online education is already providing (Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S., 2009). To contribute to the improvement of distance education as an instructional designer or instructor, I would continue to put emphasis on quality of instruction and go on with my own training on the use of technology as valuable tools to facilitate learning.
Resources
Jonassen, D., Peck, K., & Wilson, B. (1999). Learning with technology: A constructivist perspective. Special Education Technology (Vol. 16, p. 0). Prentice Hall. Retrieved from http://www.mendeley.com/research/learning-with-technology-a-constructivist-perspective/
Siemens, G. (n.d.). "The Future of Distance Education." Video Program.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Online Education for Children
http://www.k12.com/
http://www.connectionsacademy.com/free-online-public-school.aspx
http://distancelearn.about.com/od/onlinepublicschools/a/OnlinePS.htm
http://www.onlineschools.com/elementary-school/list
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