Evolution of Distance Education

I agree with the authors' point of view that distance education needs to evolved to the next level. In the video Simonson says that distance education is nearing the point of critical mass, where it no longer needs much promotion, but needs nurturing. In K-12 education, distance education is evolving in the forms of virtual or cyber schools, online credit recovery, and for use in areas of teacher shortage. In my experience in a large, urban school district online education is just beginning to be used as credit recovery in a limited amount of schools. Students in my district also have the option of cyber school if they do not succeed in a traditional school.

I agree with the article in that online education, especially in the K-12 setting needs to be developed so that it can be used effectively, and not become a "dumping ground" for credit recovery. From my personal observations, the cyber schools have not been effective for my students. They never complete the program and end up either dropping out or coming back to a traditional school. In contrast, my friend's daughter graduated from a nearby suburban high school where she took an online course in driver's education (the written part, of course). I think this is a great way to use online learning, as electives that may be too costly to run in a regular setting. I think we can with proper training and planning develop effective online learning in K-12 settings but these programs should not be implemented haphazardly.

Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C., Huett, J.(September/October, 2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3:K12). TechTrends, 52 (5), 63-67.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Distance Education: The Next Generation featuring Dr. Michael Simonson. Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Author.

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