According
to Dr. Siemens (n.d.) in the Laureate Education video, the growth in technology
has given distance education a chance to become more accepted in today’s
corporate and educational realms. The area
in distance education that I believe has benefited the most is
communication. This has occurred because
of the growth of technology in communication tools such as webmail, chat rooms,
and instant messaging. These tools have allowed
people to communicate in new and profound ways.
These
communication tools have allowed people to not only connect asynchronously but
synchronously as well (Bilger, 2012).
Communication tools such as Skype, blogs, and even wikis have given people
new and exciting ways to work cooperatively (2012). Students can be more flexible not only in the
times they can set aside to study but also when they can work collaboratively
with other students (Sikkim Manipal University, 2012, a and b). Also the quality in these tools has improved
enough where people are becoming more comfortable using them when communicating
with other students (Laureate Education, n.d.)
In
the area of communication, distance education is helping students to enhance
their verbal and written skills as well (Sikkim Manipal University, 2012,
a). These skills arise from the need to
complete online correspondence, project work, research papers, and discussions
with fellow students (2012, a). These enhanced communications skills allow
students to not only interact with others but the content in a more diverse and
unique way.
Resources:
Bilger,
L. (2012). Distance education:
Collaborative blog. Retrieved
from http://lukebilger.blogspot.com/2011/12/distance-education-collaborative.html
Laureate Education, Inc. (n.d). The
future of distance education. Baltimore, MD: Author. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2643771_1%26url%3D
Sikkim Manipal University (2012) Inculcating
effective communication through distance education. Retrieved from http://smude.edu.in/blog/distance-education/distance-education-promises-better-reach-through-information-and-communication-technology-ict
Sikkim Manipall University (2012).
Distance education promises
better reach through Information and Communication Technology ICT. Retrieved from http://smude.edu.in/blog/distance-education/distance-education-promises-better-reach-through-information-and-communication-technology-ict
Lori Ann,
ReplyDeleteWe have progressed past a society where only a certain age group is tech-savvy. We are in complete agreement that communication technology has improved to the point that we can communicate at anytime with any spot on the globe. However, not only has the technology improved but also the education of the people using the technology. I started out this post stating the there is no longer a certain age group because there was a time when the "older" generation was not using technology. As the first generation of technology consumers and users get older, we truly have a society where every age group is able to use communication technology in some meaningful way.
Hi Lori
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your school district has progressed successfully. This is great that some schools are able to keep up with the competition across the board. Certaily Communication is the most effective way to develop collaboration strategies. Great Post!
Hi Lori,
ReplyDeleteSiemens 2008 makes a good point concerning collaborative assessments. How do instructors grade students on these projects? Once I had an instructor that said every team member would get the same grade because each members should contribute to the completion of the project. This was great since everyone got 100% of the grade.