The Next Generation of Distance Education

According to Moller, Foshay & Huett (2008, May/June), the occurrence of Distance Education (DE) for training and education purposes have been steadily increasing over the past years. In the K12 learning environments in particular, it has been incorporated to accommodate many different issues affecting students such as course variety, credit deficiency, and scheduling (Huett, Moller, Foshay & Coleman, 2008, September/October). Some factors contributing to this increase include economic, time, and scalability benefits (Huett et al., 2008). DE is seen as a viable approach to address many situations that arise in the educational environment without straining resources; however, there are some misguided perceptions in regards to DE that have the ability to detract from the possible effectiveness of utilizing DE as a viable option for learners. According to Huett et al (2008) responsible entities for the selection and implementation of DE programs perceive no real difference between DE and traditional classroom settings. This includes the application of the same policies as those applied to traditional settings, as well as, applying the same quality indicators for DE as traditional settings (Huett et al., 2008). Unfortunately these perspectives do not give consideration to key components such as the characteristics of the learner or optimum learning approaches for the environment. For DE to be a dependable and effective learning opportunity for learners in K12 education, evidence-based research is necessary to identify and develop appropriate approaches (Ahmed, 2010, September 18). Huett et al (2008) discussed the impact of insufficient evidence-based research on online learning and curriculum specific interventions in regards to K12 education, and the authors expressed the concern that if research did not increase, the effect on the future of perceived reliability of DE for K12 education could be irreversibility damaged. This is a serious concern. It is important to understand the chosen technologies are not the answer for innovation; it is the methodologies and approaches that can be delivered through the tools of technology in response to the challenges that arise in education that are the true innovations. Successful methodologies and approaches will need to be diverse enough to accommodate the differences in learners, as well as, the necessary components for the delivery modality itself. The concerns expressed by Huett et al., (2008) should be heeded if DE is to reach full potential as an effective educational opportunity.

References
Ahmed, A. (2010, September 18). Online education expanding quickly-but is it effective? The Seattle Times. Retrieved from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012929861_onlineskul19.html?syndication=rss

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 1: Training and Development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75. doi: 10.1007/s11528-008-0158-5

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, July/August). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 2: Higher Education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66–70. doi: 10.1007/s11528-008-0179-0

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C. (2008, September/October). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67. doi: 10.1007/s11528-008-0199-9

PBS Teachers. (n.d.). Technology intergration. http://www.pbs.org/teachers/librarymedia/tech-integration/#distance