Refelction

Siemens (n.d.) described it best during his narration of distance education five years ago: “…it seems almost comical, five years ago, if you sat down with someone and said, you’ll be on Skype having a video conference with a group of friends the voice quality clear as if you’re on a telephone, a lot of us thought it would have been impractical…” When the internet was first introduced, I remember it being this wonder that many thought would not last. From the days of dial-up (slow connection speeds) to sharing a telephone and internet line, we have now been ushered into the age where connection to the world is instant and various communication mediums are readily available at our fingertips.

      It is my belief that we as educators will come to the realization that technology and distance education will continue to be intertwined in the next 5 – 20 years. The main factor that is driving the future of distance education is technology, and the rate it advances. A 2009 article published in the Wall Street Journal described the technological advancements best; corporations are able to view feedback and response to technological innovations at a much lower cost almost instantaneously now versus 10 years ago. Education is not stagnant and this is evidence by the new and emerging theories that we have about distance education.

      Previously, education theories were limited to the classroom experience, however, once distance education developed, theories emerged and became popular. For instance, the theory of independent study, the theory of independent study and theory of transactional distance and the theory of industrialization of teaching are only some of distance educations theories that were developed in the past 30 years or so. According to Simonson, Smaldino and Zvacek (2015), Holmbery described the need for theory as a way for educators to gain understanding of what the future of distance education will be and under what circumstances distance education will develop.

      As an instructional designer, one thing we have to remember is there is an audience for distance education and the considerations of that audience is important to what we do. Without our learners, there will not be a market to satisfy and what then will be our future? Gambescia and Paolucci (2009), noted that regardless of the continuing issues faced in distance education, the main issue that lies at the forefront is the topic of academic integrity and fidelity. The article discussed how certain academic fidelity attributes were noted by future participants based on what was seen on a university’s website. The attribute that stood out to me in this study was the presentation of faculty members to students. The study indicated that once it is presented that faculty members were well trained as those in the traditional setting, fidelity was high. It is our responsibility to keep abreast of emerging technologies and also be well trained in order to keep a high confidence level to our participant. Never will we want to appear as “individuals who decided to teach” but rather professionals who are well versed in the education field.

      It is important that we always keep an open mind and embrace the role technology plays in distance education. Any new technology will be met with skepticism at first, but it is an educator’s responsibility to make an attempt to explore how it will be useful in the classroom. In my daughter’s kindergarten class, during the last week of school prior to the Winter break, her classroom teacher sent home a contract to sign for use and guidelines of a school sponsored iPad. Can you imagine what the reaction was initially regarding the costs and other underlying issues in providing every student with an iPad? However, someone or a group had to have been a strong proponent of its use and demonstrated how it would be beneficial to students. It is because of the strong support of instructional designers and theorists why we are able to implement such technologies, and it will be our duty to continue to push these agendas to these emerging technologies a mainstay in our educational environment.

References

Brynjolfsson, E., and Schrage, M. (2009, August 17). The new, faster face of innovation. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 19, 2015, from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204830304574130820184260340

Gambescia, S., & Paolucci, R. (2009). Academic fidelity and integrity as attributes of university online degree program offerings. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 12(1). Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring121/gambescia121.html

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). The future of distance education [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., and Zvacek, S. (2015). Definitions, history, and theories of distance education. In Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (6th eds., pp. 40). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.