Module 1: The Next Generation of Distance Education

Although there are some commonalities amongst traditional education and distance (online) education, they provide two totally different methods of educational delivery and should not be looked at as the same. Moller, Foshay, and Huett (2008) supports this belief when they say that “models of classroom instructional delivery and models of online delivery systems are vastly different; they should not be seen as one and the same (p. 67). This is so due to differences in pedagogy and instructional strategies, as well as the onset of more and various technologies within distance education courses.  For instance, Moller, Foshay, and Huett (2008) “The inclusion of technology often requires new skill sets, new ways of thinking, new time and resource management skills, new ways of communicating and new communication boundaries” (p. 68).

Furthermore, in the video, Dr. Simonson identifies the Equivalency Theory as a theory that is “based on the idea that distance education is not identical to face to face education, but equivalent... trying to make everything equal/identical is a fallacy – Courses should be designed around not trying to duplicate or replicate or make identical…” (Laureate, 2008). Because of this, it is important to consider how students learn, as well as which technology should be incorporated to support the learning process. This is what is most important as opposed to trying to make the distance learning experience the same as the traditional learning experience.

References:

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer) (2008). Distance Education: The next Generation. Baltimore, MD: Author