Distance Learning Definition

This post is going to include a discussion of the different ways that people define distance learning. Feel free to comment or post as well.

I feel bad about admitting this because I used to be a teacher in a previous life but my definition of distance learning was always extremely basic. I felt as if distance learning was learning that was done either online with a computer or through watching a video or digital conference. Different software and methods could be used but my definition was very limited. Not that I didn't do other things that would be considered distance learning, it's just that because of the definition I personally had I never considered them distance learning.

How the things that I learned this week affected my previous definition was mostly to broaden my understanding. I know what distance learning is but never really considered all that was involved in it. I liked some of the things I learned and feel that it is time to improve on my personal definition of distance learning. What I learned is that there are four components to distance learning. It must be institutionally based, have separation of teacher and student, use interactive telecommunications, and sharing of voice, data, and video.

I don't completely agree with everything I learned about distance learning this week but I am going to change my definition. The most important part of distance learning I feel is the separation of teacher and student. Without this distance learning is not going on. To accomplish this we need a form of interactive telecommunication which could include, but is not limited to, the sharing of voice, data, and video.So my definition of distance learning is learning that takes place through the use of interactive telecommunication where things like voice, data, and video is shared when students are separated from there teachers.

The future of distance learning has a lot to get excited about. There are many technologies that have been around for a long time that have yet to become mainstream in education. We see both new inventions that get used to further education and to keep students interested and old inventions that people have found new use for in technology

One of the old technologies that always come to mind for me when I think of education is video teleconferencing. This could have many positive effects on students learning and for distance learning. Students could connect with teachers from all over the country and also see some of the cuture in other countries. Also the fact that the students have a good chance of using the technology in the business world is another good reason to introduce them to it. A new technology that has been upcoming for years is Web 2.0. This is actually a very broad term and Web 2.0 tools refer to different software that can be used on the computer for a wide range of things. Like software to help with organization or to help you create citations. The best thing to compare it to would be apps that you find on smart phones these days. There seems to be one for everything. With Web 2.0 it's the same way, all you have to do is look.