Week 13- Distance Education

In class today we discussed distance education. Distance education is using technology to instruct and educate information to students who are not physically on site at the school. Whether a student is taking all of their classes online, or just one, 96 percent of schools offer online classes. Distance learning can be done through many different types of mediums, some of which include; mail, CD-ROM, the internet either synchronously or asynchronously, TV, radio, or nowadays even through one's phone! There are three categories of Distance education; online, where the student and teacher interact solely through the internet. Blended, which involve both in-class assignments and instruction as well as technology based instruction. The last is virtual, which all student services are done online through the internet. As with any system, there are pros and cons to distance learning. Some of the advantages are that the courses are online so it makes learning flexible and easy to fit in ones schedule, you can work at your own pace, and if the class you are taking already deals with technology, working through an online system helps to enhance your learning of the material. Some disadvantages are that one must have the right technology to access the instruction, their are security issues that may be concerns, and the student must be motivated to work on the material because they are not going to class to remind them to do their work. Virtual schools are an offshoot of distance learning the only difference is that the student is able and in some cases must be in contact with their instructor via phone to take oral quizzes, ask questions, and make sure they fully understand the material.

As a telecommunication major, distance learning does not so much relate to my field career wise but there is some online classes that I can take now that relate. one of the classes that is offered online that is offered in conjunction with my major is online storytelling. This is a class that shows students how to use the internet to enhance and convey a story whether it be through blogs, or other online media. While there is an actual class that I am supposed to go to I assume that there will be a lot of online instruction and homework. This type of learning environment would probably be a blended learning environment.

This video I found is a news report on virtual schools becoming more popular. In the video it discusses the advantages of virtual school. It also talks about how the virtual school provides the textbooks and supplies needed for school.


In addition to the video, this website provides a good list of advantages and disadvantages of virtual school not mentioned in the powerpoint slides. Some of these include giving the students the freedom to express their opinions where they may be shy in an actual class and having to depend on the computer to answer question may be frustrating because the teacher may take awhile to get back to the user with the answer.