My First Encounter With Distance Learning

As an avid user of technology, it appeared difficult to recall a first encounter with distance learning and how I came to define it. The memory eventually recalled was not my own but a few fleeting moments shared with a departed love one. A few years before I met my husband, his father was in an automobile accident that left home partially paralyzed. At that point, he became a stay-at-home Dad and my mother-in-law went to work. In essence, they switched roles.

When my husband and I started dating we went to visit his parent's for Spring Break. One day my father-in-law walked into the house giddy, with a small box wrapped in brown paper in his hand. He said. "My homework is here! I have to go do my homework! My homework is here!" I followed him into a room at the back of the house. At first glance it looked like a junk room, filled with electronic wires, transistors, tools, and all sorts of gadgets. Over time, I noticed letters on the wall, certificates of completion, and completed projects. Each time it looked less like a junk room and more like an electronics lab. As you might have guessed, my father-in-law was taking an electronics correspondence course.

My earliest memory of distance learning is that of an Electronics Communications Correspondence Course. The roots of distance education are at least 160 years old (Simonson pp4). Distance learning was initially defined as an institutionally-based, formal education where the learning group and instructor are separated geographically and mail service was used to connect the learner to the instructor and resources. As shaped by my experiences, distance learning was initially defined by correspondence courses wherein registered students would receive a series of reading assignments and projects via the mail. The student would complete the assignments, tests, and projects, and then return key items for grading before the next course was delivered. After completion of all course requirements, the student received a diploma.

Improvements in Internet connectivity and computers moved some aspects of distance learning from mail to online. For example, at Walden University students still receive course text through the mail. The basic definition of distance learning remains but was modified to include electronic delivery. My current definition of distance learning mirrors that of the course text. Distance learning is an institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive communications systems are used to connect learners. resources, and instructors (Simonson pp7).

The next evolution of distance learning will be three fold. First, the incorporation of the Kindle, Nook, or other eReader will enable course textbooks to be delivered electronically. Second, virtual reality and game simulators will be used to meet the objectives of hands-on project construction and applications. Lastly, the definition of teacher will be adjusted to distinguish between the lead instructor and a facilitator. In the future, the current definition may be revised as follows: Distance learning is an institutionally based, formal education wherein interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect the learner to the group, resources, and instructor-facilitator. The instructor is defined as the professional, including virtual instructors and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), directly responsible for educating the learner. The facilitator is the person managing the learner.

RESOURCES:

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009) Teaching and Learnin at a Distance: Foundatios of Distance Education (4th Ed.), Pearson Education, Inc., Boston.