Session 1

Session 1 - Introduction

My name is William Norris and I am enrolled in the M.A. Degree in Career and Technical Studies program at California State University San Bernardino. After working a number of years as an accountant and a financial manager I set my career goals towards education. I taught computerized accounting for several private vocational institutions and then moved to vocational education administration. My technical experience started years ago as a computerized cost analyst utilizing the IBM System/370 and later the IBM PC. As the technology advanced I have always tried to utilize the technical tools available in practical applications. I have taken many online classes but have never taught an online class. My current training goal is adapt the various accounting and business courses I have taught in a traditional classroom setting for an eLearning environment.

Session 1 - Response to Prompts

Respond to the following questions based on your interaction with the session 1 podcast:

1. Explain the relationship between distance learning and online learning.

Distant learning, also called distance educational, takes place when instructor and student are separated by a physical distance. There is no minimum or maximum distance requirement.  This distance may be as little as from one side of a campus to another or as great as one side of the world to the opposite side. However, there is a requirement that the instructor and student must have some form of interaction. For communication to succeed there must be a sender, a receiver, and a message. Interaction is when the message travels back and the receiver becomes the sender. In the classroom the sender is the instructor, the receiver is the student, and the message is the lesson. Distant learning expands the learning environment beyond the physical constraints of a schoolroom to anywhere the communication can travel.  Online learning is the modernization of distant learning facilitating the Internet as a means of communication and interaction.

 2. Discuss the main difference between distance learning and online learning.

Today the terms distant learning and online learning are in most cases interchangeable. However, distance education refers to all methods in which education can be distributed to students in separate locations. Although the most widely used, online learning is only one of these methods. In the early days, distant learning was initially accomplished by the instructor sending lessons my mail which were completed by the student and mailed back to the instructor. This type of distant learning was referred to as the correspondence model.  As technology advance, distant learning providers adopted new avenues of communication such as television and radio to deliver learning content, while the postal system was still used by student to return lessons.  Advances in computer technology and the development of the Internet made online learning possible.  The adaptation of these technologies to distant learning allows the instructor and student to communicate instantaneously over great distances though a variety of media with text, voice, and images.

 3. List the three types of interaction proposed by Moore (1989) and explain each type of interaction in your own words.

Learner – content Interaction is the interaction between the student and the subject matter. It can be in the form of a text, video, lecture, etc. This is where the student is exposed to and develops an understanding of the course subject. 

Learner – instructor interaction is the interaction between the student and instructor. Using this interaction, the instructor can stimulate the student’s interest, support the student learning goals, and councils the student on how best to organize assignments

Learner – learner interaction is the peer group interaction supporting the learning goals of the student by exposing the student to different skill sets of other students. This fellowship helps the student navigate through the subject matter. This camaraderie can also provide additional support in an environment absence of the instructor.  

4. Discuss some of the differences between the early days of online learning and today. Then make some predictions about the future of eLearning. Please include at least one good article/website/citation for this item. For example:  http://tinyurl.com/8zkvedh.

Early days of online learning was limited to text messages on institutional bulletin boards and in emails. Today numerous technologies support online learning by producing more engaging environment. Classes can now be fully synchronous requiring that all student are online at the same time or asynchronous where student work independently. However, along with the advance eLearning tools comes more expense and increased complexities.

Views regarding the future of eLearning have been mixed. Some studies suggest that students become overwhelmed with being constantly online and in front of a computer. Other views are that eLearning classes will increase due to possibility of larger enrollment in an online class as opposed to a class that is physically restricted by the space of a classroom (Caruth & Caruth, 2013). Another incentive for adopting the less costly eLearning is that the reduction in cost can be applied to a reduction in student tuition. Although the future of online learning is not clear the advancement of distant learning will be proportionate to the advancement in technology.

References

Caruth, G. D., & Caruth, D. L. (2013, April). Distance Education in the United States: From correspondence courses to the internet. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE, 14(2), 141 - 149. Accessed from ERIC on April 9, 2012. http://eric.ed.gov/?q=From+Correspondence+Courses+to+the+Internet&id=EJ1013772