The Future of Distance Learning
What do you think the perceptions of distance learning will be in the
future (in 5–10 years; 10–20 years)
In the fall of
2005 I enrolled in a brick and mortar M.S. program in order to advance my teaching
career and, of course, my salary. I had previously enrolled in the same program
the prior fall, but was forced to withdraw because of a back injury sustained
in a car accident. When I was finally able to begin the program, I was
hard-pressed to earn my degree as quickly as possible, as a promotion was all
but guaranteed to me. My graduate enrollment advisor informed me that I had the
choice of taking the majority of my classes either face-to-face or online. I
had never taken an online class before; additionally, every educated person
that I knew would make light of online courses, usually poking fun at
commercials from schools like the University of Phoenix. I was quite reluctant
to sign up for any of the online courses, fearing that I would not receive that
same quality of instruction that I would receive in the brick and mortar
classes. This attitude was not uncommon among the general populace for the
majority of the next decade.
Today, things are
quite different. A decade later, people’s attitudes have changed immensely
towards distance learning, particularly with full time professional adults that
do not have the time or scheduling flexibility of a younger person. Due to the
fact that I am a public school teacher, I am surrounded by professionals that
can only get a significant pay raise by attending graduate school. I found that
a lot of teachers spend much of their adult lives in graduate school in an
attempt to improve their quality of life and. This has led to a large number of
adults that don’t have any choice but to enroll in a distance learning program.
What I have noticed in my profession is that over time there has been a gradual
change that went from teachers justifying their choice to attend an online
program, almost ashamedly, to the present where we routinely discuss the rigor
of our programs and often express shock and awe when we encounter a graduate
student that has chosen to attend brick and mortar classes. 
The Instructional
Design program that Walden offers is a completely different experience than the
online courses that I participated in almost a decade ago. Programs such as
Walden’s show that while not perfected, distance learning has seen a
significant amount of refinements, making it my personal choice for graduate
education. Due to both the rapid growth and change in perception of distance
learning I can only surmise that the field will continue to grow in both quality
and scope. I also believe that distance learning will become an integral part
of undergraduate and high school education. I don’t think that it is too
far-fetched to see a teen parent at home with their new born engaged in a
remote course instead of missing out on valuable educational time. Also, with
the rapid increase in mobile technology, it is almost assured that the “instant
gratification” populace that is currently emerging will also demand to have their
education a la carte; tools such as the iPad will most likely play an integral
role in the growth of distance education.
How can you as an instructional designer be a proponent for improving
societal perceptions of distance learning?
As an
instructional designer it is my responsibility to show learners that distance
learning is not only a credible form of education, but in some cases, a superior
one. What it all comes down to is the fundamental building blocks of education:
effectiveness and validity. As a designer of distance courses it will be my
responsibility to design courses that are engaging, informative, enlightening,
challenging, and effective. I feel that one of the reasons that online learning
still suffers from a negative perception is partially due to course designers
that “phone it in” or so to speak. If a course designer takes the path of least
resistance and makes the minimal effort when designing courses, it will be
apparent to the learner, as well as clients. As an Instructional Designer I
must strive to make every course an experience that each learner would love to
return to.
How will you be a positive force for continuous improvement in the
field of distance education?
I recently applied
for an Instructional Design position at a well-established company in my local
area. One of the most attractive aspects of this company is the fact that
employees are encouraged to continually educate themselves and attempt to innovate
when designing courses. While fulfilling a contract is always the primary goal,
employees are given the liberty to try new approaches and strategies. In a
position such as this, I would most definitely use the opportunity to find and
implement new ways to engage learners and improve the current methods of transferring
knowledge remotely. The key to accomplishing this would most definitely lay in
time spent performing research, as well as studying the research of others.
