Final Thoughts... Perceptions of Online Learning
I think that as standards are being
implemented and improved, the perception of distance learning is improving.
There was some bad publicity concerning online universities where it appeared
that if one could finance the degree, one could earn the degree, whether
qualified or not. Certainly in some of my online earlier online classes at
other institutions, I met up with classmates who were in no way qualified to be
in any graduate program, due to their lack of even the simplest writing skills
or their inability to grasp and apply complex ideas. The result of the bad
publicity was, in the end, positive, as it compelled online schools to improve
their standards, and made potential online students aware of the differences
between poor programs and more robust, demanding curricula worthy of a college
education. I believe that because of this crisis of public perception, online
learning experiences have undergone constructive change; as a result, opinions
are gradually changing and computer-based education is finding growing
acceptance.
Popularity Will Follow Availability

Institutional
Resistance to Change
Online schools focus on teaching
and learning. There is no sports agenda, and there are no corporate or
federally funded laboratory complexes. Learners do not have to find themselves
in second place to a professor’s research and textbook authoring schedule. Given
the cost to maintain the major institutions of learning, one would suppose that
online education, with its ability to cut costs through technology and
economies of scale, would appeal to cash-strapped brick-and-mortar schools.
This has not been the case until recently. I suspect that the biggest reason
for traditional colleges and universities to oppose online learning efforts is,
as Steven Pearlstein (2010) noted, “…that they
would disrupt just about everything – routines, hierarchies, to say nothing of
the incomes and job security of the tenured faculty” (p. 1) . In spite of the
resistance to change, however, the Sloan Consortium’s eighth annual survey
reported that online enrollments enjoyed a 21% growth rate for the 2010 school
year, compared with 2% growth for traditional schools; furthermore, almost 30%
of all students in higher education now take at least one course online (Allen & Seaman, 2011) . Clearly, a movement
for distance learning exists, whether the traditional educational establishment
wishes it or not.
Consumer Demand
George Siemens (2010) states:
“Growing
acceptance of distance education is fueled by:
·
The increase in online communication
·
Practical experience with new tools
·
Growing sense of comfort with online discourse,
and
·
Ability to communicate with diverse and global
groups.”

1.
I keep a grocery list on my smart phone,
complete with estimated cost and the capability to enter the actual cost. While
I’m out, I can check my bank balance and all recent activity, so I know I can
pay for the groceries. While I’m standing in line, I can check email and send
out a message telling my family where I am and how soon they can expect me to
be home.
2.
I’m sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for
my appointment. Earlier, I downloaded my course readings to my iPad and made
sure they were in the machine’s memory, knowing I would probably not have a
connection at the clinic. While I wait, I read, and the application on the iPad
allows me to add comments, highlight text, and even write in the margins just
as I would do when I was an undergraduate with hard text books in the 1970s.
3.
I pay every bill except my rent online. I could
use my bank’s online bill pay feature for this last one, but I like my landlord
and enjoy seeing him once a month when he comes by for the check.
4.
In my house, we never, ever watch a movie or
television program without a computer handy; we use it to look up trivia,
fueled by questions like “Wasn’t that guy on the Stargate series?” “Where was this filmed? The scenery looks like
Moab,” or “What year did this movie come out?” We are so accustomed to having
information at our fingertips that we feel deprived when we go to the movies in
a theater and don’t have the answers right at hand.
I am by no means alone in this
continuous-connection existence. Everywhere I look, people are connecting with
their stored information, and with one another, using their Internet
connections. As the newer generations are born to this lifestyle, the notion of
school online will become more and more acceptable, and demand will overcome
resistance to change as it currently exists. In my own role as an instructional
designer, I will use my variety of social connections to advocate for online
education, both in the higher learning venue and in the realm of P-12
(preschool through high school), where I believe there is great potential to
improve the “school” experience for young people.
Changing what Education Means
Education as we have known it
consisted of a teacher having the information and the student learning it. The
structure of traditional education was formal and hierarchical. Students were
assigned to their learning peers based on age, not ability, and location of
school district rather than choice of venue. It did not matter if these
age-peered students from the same neighborhood had the same interests or needs;
the educational system determined for them what was needed and how it should be
taught. The future of learning, I believe, will be much more open and learner
centered.
A Focus on the Learner
One area where I see a serious need
for improvement is the education of the brightest and most intellectually
gifted individuals. My experience with so-called “gifted” classes has, for the
most part, consisted of “harder” classes with more work added, but no real
connection to what the students wanted to explore, or encouragement to seek
information on their own. There is no value in adding on work to keep the
bright student occupied while the others struggle to catch up. In an online
learning environment, the student can be set free to discover the wide world of
information available from experts all over the world. Rather than closing
students into a test-driven box, I want to offer a relevant opportunity to seek
out answers and connect with others of similar interests to create communities
of practice where participants work together to achieve new levels of learning.
Stephen Downes (2008) proposes informal
learning, where
“People pursue
their own objectives in their own way, while at the same time initiating and
sustaining an ongoing dialogue with others pursuing similar objectives.
Learning and discussion is not structured, but rather, is determined by the
needs and interests of the participants” (p. 14) .
This is precisely the kind of
education I want to offer students as I move into the arena of distance
learning. I picture myself as a guide, directing learners in one route or
another to get them started, and then providing an open map for them to follow
in any direction they choose to achieve their personal learning goals. I
believe that each person has within himself or herself the thirst for knowledge.
Traditional education has not quenched the thirst so much as attempted to
convince the learner that the knowledge only comes in one flavor. My wish is to
open up the learning “cooler” and let the students choose the best flavor for
themselves; in other words, I want to offer all the world has to learn and let
the learners decide which portions are relevant and applicable to their
individual lives.
A Lasting Legacy?
I spend a lot of time sharing my
ideas on education with my grown children; two of them are in college now, one
online and one in traditional school. They both intend to pursue secondary
education as their career field, so these talks are not just my rambling on
about what I am studying; our exchange of ideas is relevant to them, and to the
students whose lives they will effect in years to come. So, while I intend in
my own career to be a catalyst for educational change, I also hope to pass on
my dreams to a new generation of educators. I suppose it could be said that I
am “walking the talk” in my pursuit of my own online degree, but I believe I
will be most effective in the future by becoming part of the online
collaboration of educators, instructional designers, and other advocates for
using technology. I am gradually building my own network of likeminded people
and organizations, exchanging ideas with some of the finest minds in distance
education and advocating for open learning for everyone. I see a day when
everything we know will be available to anyone who wants to know it; the online
world will be the neighborhood library of the distance learner of tomorrow.
References
Allen, I., & Seaman, J. (2011). Going the
Distance: Online education in the United States, 2011. Sloan Consortium.
Retrieved from
http://babson.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6Xpu84FGPyTh6CM&SaveButton=1&SSID=SS_0Bw5T45abJ3su0c
Carey, K. (2012, May 14). Stanford's credential problem.
Retrieved from The Chronical of Higher
Education:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/stanfords-credential-problem/46851
Downes, S. (2008). The future of online learning: Ten years on. Retrieved from Half an Hour: http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2008/11/future-of-online-learning-ten-years-on_16.html
Lewin, T. (2012, May 2). Harvard and M.I.T. team up to offer free
online courses. Retrieved from The
New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/education/harvard-and-mit-team-up-to-offer-free-online-courses.html
Pearlstein, S. (2010, August 11). Despite scandal, for-profit education offers
valuable model. Retrieved from Washington
Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/10/AR2010081006390.html
Siemens, G. (2010). The Future of Distance Education. Laureate Education.
Photo Credits
Making
Too Much Money? Wealthy Affiliate
University Scam. Retrieved from http://www.wealthyaffiliateuniversityscam.com/images/wealthy-affiliate-banner.jpg
Harvard/MIT
Online Classes. Ste(a)m Scholars Pathway
Project. Retrieved from http://kcen.images.worldnow.com/images/18066992_BG1.jpg
No
Football. The Eastside Perspective.
Retrieved from http://theeastsideperspective.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/bad-college-programs-1.jpg
Kindle
3 ways. Planning Startups Stories.
Retrieved from http://timsstuff.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/Kindle_Reader_4-12.jpg
Media-Interactive-Community.
TNCC English 109. Retrieved from http://community.tncc.edu/faculty/dollieslager/images/learner_centered.gif
Online
Scholar. Examiner. Retrieved from http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/large_lightbox/hash/18/1d/181d1c4cc4384b4aa60dfdf56e1981fa.JPG