In elementary school as a child, I remember doing something called 'learning by radio'. Its elements were Social Studies, Science, Poetry and singing. Later, I heard persons talking about taking "correspondence"(Simonson, Smaldino Albright &Zvacek 2012) courses and wondered, but never asked it meant. Then in 2001, I happened to do a short program of study in distance education. However. before I could continue being involved in the program, I changed residence to this country and all was forgotten until now.
Subsequently, having read the history of distance learning and its evolution this past week, I made the connection of the 'learning by radio' in school and the "correspondence" 9Simonson et al 2012) courses I heard about, to the short course I did. it was all distance learning. What a revelation! Unfortunately, I cannot remember the definition that was given of distance education, but looking back to the information given and the materials used then, I would have viewed distance learning/education as a 'learning program consisting of modules, which a tutor disseminated via radio/television to the remote locations in the vast interior of the Republic of Guyana.'
Now, armed with the present knowledge, I would say that distance learning/education is an 'economically based, online, formal education, designed to be delivered anywhere through electronic communication'.This definition implies that distance learning is affordable, its as effective as traditional education. In addition, distance learning/education is not constrained by "geographic separation" (Simonson et al 2012) and it uses technological devices such as computers and the internet.
It stands to reason then, that since distance learning/education instruction is delivered through rapidly changing technology, therefore, it will supersede the face to face experience in the future due to the following situations:
"distance learning(e-learning) is explosive in almost all sectors" of learning despite the challenges presented to its instructional delivery( Moller, Foshay & Huett 2008)
enrollment at colleges and universities have greatly increased since they "now offer hundreds of courses online." (Simonson et al 2012)
business organizations in corporate America and around the globe are providing training for employees through "timely and on-demand learning access...to exploit communications technology" (Moller et al 2008).
In conclusion, these conditions have the capacity to forge a marriage between distance education and technology which cannot be annulled.
References
Moller,L., Foshay, R., Huett, J.(2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for
instructional design on the potential of the web. TechTrends 52 (3) 70-75
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S.(2012).Teaching and learning at a distance:
foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Pearson
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