The Future of Distance Education

I think that as what we currently consider new tools of learning and communicating  become more widely and commonly used, the perceived difference between distance learning and traditional face-to-face learning will diminish. I suggest that this will occur as part of the “Psychological Immersion” Dede (2005) presents. One of the keys to this will be education “driven by the tools and media [learners] use every day” (p. 8).

I believe that more attention will be given to methods beyond university degrees to determine if someone is qualified for a particular job. As globalization continues and society looks out from within the immersion of continual global connections, portfolios of completed work (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek 2012), will continue to gain acceptance in a “broader range of disciplines” (p. 276) and become strong influences on employment decisions.  As collaboration is becoming the hallmark of globalization (Beldarrain 2006)in both business and education, an online presence will also be a key factor in such decisions (Papacharissi 2009), (Garavan, Carbery & Rock 2012).

I can be a proponent of distance learning by doing excellent work in anything I do. As Siemens ( ) points out, society is experiencing online communication more and more. The time will soon come when DE is not considered very different from what we now call traditional learning because it will simply be another example of how people communicate.

References

Dede, C. (2005). Planning for neomillennial learning styles. Educause Quarterly, 28(1), 7–12.

Garavan,T., Carbery, R., & Rock, A. (2012).Mapping talend development: definition, scope and architecture. European Journal of Training and Development. 36(1), pp.5-24.

Papacharissi, Z. (2009) The virtual geographies of social networks: a comparative analysis of Facebook, LinkedIn and ASmallWorld. New Media & Society February/March 2009 11: 199-220. doi:10.1177/1461444808099577

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.