Module 2 Post: Technology enabling collaboration

While I agree with George Siemens’ (Laureate Education Inc., 2008) that distance education creates more opportunities for /facilitates group interaction and cooperation, I do feel that it may have some negative impact on how we communicate. What I mean is, I feel that there is a growing expectation of immediacy when the medium of communication is online. Instead of the lag time between message and response as we would have had maybe even 10 years ago, the expectation is that you are always connected and therefore always available to meet others’ needs.

That said, there are conveniences to the collaboration afforded by current technology. No longer are students forced to meet up face-to-face at a set time to complete group projects. There are video resources like Skype and Youtube, or social networking tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Wikispaces which allow students to discuss topics as well as upload and share files. The challenge may then be with whether each group member is comfortable enough using these technologies for communication. I suppose the advantage that individuals have now is the amount of choice in mode of communication. We’ve gone beyond the three choices of meet face-to-face, call, or e-mail. In addition to those options, we can also Skype, message someone on a social networking site, text, and communicate via blogs/wikis.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). The future of distance education featuring George Siemens [Video]. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4449103&Survey=1&47=5970302&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Future of Distance Education: Reflections on quality and the status of traditional education

Distance education may be growing as a medium of instruction; however people and institutions are in different places regarding transitioning. In his video on the future of distance learning, Simonson (2008) notes that online education is “nearing that point” of critical mass in society. He also claims that distance learning will not function as a full replacement for traditional, classroom-based education. However, Moller, Foshay, and Huett (2008) bring up the idea that distance education is at a stage where quality control and quality assessment are concerns within higher education. If we do not gain a better understanding of the quality needs for online curriculum, then certainly Simonson is correct: traditional education is here to stay. On the other hand, there are different standards in place nationwide for traditional school systems, and quality of education is just as much of a concern for face-to-face classroom instruction as it is for online instruction. It is simply that online learning is still considered a “new” medium, whereas many educators may feel that they have a stronger background in their understanding of classroom-based instruction. I think that with time, as with many new developments, effective standards and quality-control measures will develop for online education.

References

Moller, L., Foshay, W. And Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web. Tech Trends, 52(4), 66-70.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). “Distance education: The next generation” featuring Dr. Michael Simonson [Video]. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4449103&Survey=1&47=5970302&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1