My Reflection on Distance Learning

What do you think the perceptions of distance learning will be in the future (in 5–10 years; 10–20 years)?
Distance learning has become a quickly growing industry. Competition has become the driving force behind the need for continued growth and expansion. With industries placing such importance on growth, it is becoming equally important for employees to stay current on technology and the evolution of the business world. As a result, the need for meeting company standards has forced employers and universities to provide access to learning. It has become extremely important for everyone to have the knowledge and skills to outperform each other. In order to do this there needs to be a form of distance learning that is available to everyone. The industry is evolving and so to must the methods we use to educate our learner. Very often, the learners schedule does not allow for traditional learning to take place. As such, distance learning provides the flexibility and convenience for such learning. “Cyberlearning advocates, on the contrary, argue that online education provides students with better and faster access to information, allows for more individualized instruction, accommodates different learning styles, and increases students’ satisfaction with their courses.” (Navarro & Shoemaker, 2000) I truly believe distance learning is going to change the world. I believe as money continues to be a concern, more and more schools will begin to access the use of distance learning as an alternative form of educating our society. I also believe as more individuals participate in distance learning they will want to incorporate this learning in their own workplace and individual lives. Distance learning forces the learner to take a more active role in their learning and as a result the more individuals that partake in distance learning the stronger a role this type of learning is going to take in our everyday lives, and not just the corporate world but also in k-12 and in higher education.
How can you as an instructional designer be a proponent for improving societal perceptions of distance learning?
As an instructional designer, it is my job to show the world how important interactive learning is to succeeding in the education world. I will be responsible for sharing what I have learned and how successful my experience has been with distance learning. The key for a designer is to create learning that supports the advantages for distance learning. As the designer, it will be important for me to incorporate all that I have learned in regards to learning styles, personalities and learning theories into the courses I design. Each course I design needs to support a variety of learning styles and theories so that my learners can walk away with a positive experience and share their learning with others.
How will you be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of distance education?
I have participated in online learning for the past three years. I have taken courses at two different online learning environments, each school having a very different way of teaching. Experiencing both schools, the one thing that I will walk away with is the emphasis online learning puts on the learners roll in their own education. I believe, from my own experience, that online learning forced me to take an active role in my education. Distance learning encouraged me to focus and work harder to find the answers and put them into practice. Distance learning taught me how to gather information and create my own theories based on the information I found. My active role in my own distance learning has made me a better learner and as such a higher-level thinker.
Reference
Navarro, P., & Shoemaker, J. (2000). Performance and perceptions of distance learners in cyberspace. The American Journal of Distance Education, 14(2), 2. Retrieved 10 26, 2012, from www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/313/494