Distant Learning

[Dr. Shane]

United States Distance Learning Association

Distance education

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Distance education, or distance learning, is a field of education that focuses on the pedagogy/andragogy, technology, and instructional systems design that is effectively incorporated in delivering education to students who are not physically "on site" to receive their education. Instead, teachers and students may communicate asynchronously (at times of their own choosing) by exchanging printed or electronic media, or through technology that allows them to communicate in real time (synchronously). Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason including the taking of examinations is considered to be a hybrid or blended course or program.

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One thing I don't understand about distance education is why it is so expensive. I would think it would be much cheaper than traditional education. With the cost of education rising so rapidly and techonology so advanced, I would think this would become more common.

[Taylor]

My feelings exactly! However, I know there is still lots of grading, communicating and all to be done with the students...but still

[Michelle]

Good point. The degree programs I've been researching cost the same OR MORE if you take them via distance as opposed to being a warm body in the classroom.

M

[Gail]

Our office has a staff member who takes care of this for our conference. I forget the number of students she has now but I was surprised at how quickly she got that many.

[cricket]

Well, one of these days education will be fully automated.

No more classrooms,

No more books,

No more teacher's nasty looks!

How much would one be willing to pay for an education that is based solely on an automated system? Furthermore, with what will you pay--as most likely, the majority of other jobs will be fully automated?

Grasshopper

[Dr. Shane]

There is all kinds of overhead in regular education. Buildings have to be built or purchased and then maintained. Utility bills must be paid. Student services must be paid. Many colleges have atheletic programs that are subsidized by other departments.

I would much rather see established universities getting into the distance education market rather than new online universities. However they should be offering classes for less money.

In a typical university a professor actually teaches the class over and over. In distance education the professor teaches it once and instead of just 30 - 50 students, the video is used for 100s or 1,000s of students. Most of the exams can be taken online and graded electronically so one professor could actually teach many more students in a semester through distance education than could be done in the traditional classroom.

I don't see why more Adventist univeristies are not getting into this. We could be educating more people for less money - a lot less money. A person should be able to get an Adventist education through distance education for less money than they would pay to attend their local public university.

[Barbara]

Things to think about with online classes there is still the equipment and programs that need to be bought. Maybe in the future the cost will be less.

[LynnDel]

I looked at the cost of some comparative online courses, and University of Phoenix, widely advertised, is one of the most expensive for my area of interest. I ended up starting a masters from Western Governors University, because you pay for the time it takes, not by the unit - and if you're fast and dedicated, you can finish early and pay less (within limits). It is fully accredited by four accrediting agencies, and just as much more work as any other distance education course. In other words, it seems if you sit in a classroom, you have fewer assignments than if you do correspondence or distance learning via the internet.

Online courses are more fun than correspondence, in my opinion, because of the added sense of community you have via the required discussion boards.

LynnDel