My name is Dr. Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw (zap_q).
As a core faculty member for an educational technology program, school counseling, and doctoral program I created this blog to reflect upon educational technology, distance education, counseling education, and doctoral education.
As such, I am posting today about distance education. Distance education in not simply online education. Distance education, according to Taylor (2007) has progressed through five generations. DE began as correspondence education and was limited to printed materials sent via the postal service. It progressed to the second generation that included video tapes, audio tapes, and computers. Telelearning education utilizing television and radio broadcasting was the third generation of DE. The Flexible Model and the Intelligent Flexible Learning Model are the fourth and fifth generations, respectively. These models of online education encompass the internet, online interactive multimedia (IMM), computer mediated communication (CMC), and, more recently, online portals that provide virtual access to a majority of university facilities. Online education, the fourth and fifth generations of DE, is where we are currently and is the most rapidly growing form of education both nationally and internationally (Albrecht & Jones, 2007).
In the United States alone, 61% of 2-year and 4-year institutions offer online courses, 90% of public universities offer online courses, and over 3.94 million higher education students are participating in courses via the Internet (Allen & Seaman, 2008; National Center for Educational Statistics, 2008). Despite the high level of practice, I still think that we have a lot to learn about effective practice and what truly constitutes rigorous and quality e-learning experiences. I believe that our transition to e-learning and m-learning can truly be transformative if we can get beyond the “old” ways of doing things. I look forward to reflecting on this topic and many others.
References
Albrecht, A. C., & Jones, D. G. (2001). High tech/high touch distance learning in counselor preparation. Alexandria, VA: Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.
Allen, E., & Seaman, J. (2008). Staying on course: Online education in the United States. Needham, MA: The Sloan Consortium.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2008). Distance education at degree-granting postsecondary institutions: 2006-07. Retrieved fromhttp://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009044
Taylor, J. C. (2007, June). 5th generation distance education: A sustainable approach to development. Invited plenary address delivered at the Global Development Learning Network, Tokyo, Japan. Retrieved from http://www.usq.edu.au/users/taylorj/conferences.htm