My earliest memory of any form of Distance Learning was the written correspondence courses pursued by my adult family members while I was in High School.  They would receive packages in the mail, complete them and mail them back to the sending school.  Now that I reflect, I am clueless as to how they would have learned about these learning opportunities in the first place, as the web was not as “world-wide” at that time (early 1990’s).  

Later on in life, my purview was extended to synchronous learning experiences where part-time students were taught by audio or video conferencing by someone in another location, then finally to asynchronous practices where students in various locations could access learning materials at different times.  I clearly recall though, not being able to clearly differentiate between distance, online and part-time learning.  At home here, we have an Open Campus facility that was recently converted from a Distance Learning facility.  I struggled for some time to understand the difference between the two types of facilities.

My first week of studies in my current course in Distance Learning (DL) has already helped to shape my understanding of the field.  And it is here that I have learned that DL is actually considered by many as a separate professional field and not just a mode of instruction.  Another rude awakening for me was that DL had a theoretical base.  Our reading resources have been clear that the phenomenon of distance education continues to “change, even restructure” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, Zvacek, 2012, p. 28) however, based on my reading and my current understanding, the following reside as ‘must-haves’ in a definition of distance learning:

• ·         Distance between members of the learning group – According to Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, Zvacek (2012), this distance can be geographic, intellectual and by time to access learning;

• ·         Corresponding media – Some mode of communication and access of and to learning material and communication;

• ·         Repetition and Universality – Moller, Foshay and Huett (2008) talk about the scalability of e-learning, where instruction, once developed, is available to thousands immediately and over and over;

• ·         Active participation – This will be facilitated by subject matter that is easily accessible which, according to Holmberg’s theory of Interaction and Communication is important for “learning pleasure” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, Zvacek, 2012, p. 48).  Knowles’ theory of Andragogy adds that active participation can be aided by “the use of work groups or study teams” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, Zvacek, 2012, p. 51).

With my updated definition in mind, my vision for the future of distance learning encompasses its impact on the classroom and on the business world.  Distance learning has already significantly broadened the educational sector and perhaps, most significantly, has made learning available to many more individuals than any another milestone accomplished in the education sector.  I envision that this impact would increase exponentially.  I also envision that the traditional classroom would be transformed into learning centers that utilize distance learning principles, where subject content will be available through a universally accessible medium to be accessed by students on their own time. ‘Class time’ would then be utilized for discussion, application and exploration.

On the corporate end, distance learning would be pivotal to training and development programs.  Organizations would form collaborations with educational institutions that would provide educational programs that would cater for their employees’ needs.  Large multinational companies, for example, can collaborate with educational institutions to produce or offer courses that would be accessed by their staff at any location.  Training Coordinators will be transformed into program handlers or registrars. 

Though distance education has its downsides and has received its share fair of criticisms, it has proven its resilience and shown that it is here to stay.  With the progress made in the field thus far, my vision for the future is certainly attainable, and very soon so.

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VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MY UNDERSTANDING OF DISTANCE LEARNING