Pam Callahan’s EDUC628 Blog
Online Education Course
Distance Learning Definitions Reviewed
As I read the distance learning definitions posted by others, I realized that my own definition was very limited based on my own experience. I was looking at it from a concrete point of view (using technology to bring learners and teachers together). From reading others’ posts, they too realized that there is so much involved with the concept of distance learning. My favorite postings were from Gloria, Barbara, Remona, and Kim. Barbara pointed out how important immediate feedback was to the learning process. This fact is also true in our own classrooms. Barbara said that she felt her definition was small-minded (as I did), but I know that as this course progresses, all of us can go back and write a more indepth definition based on our experiences. Remona brought up to point that distance learning in eastern Kentucky involved the video relay. I had one course at MSU with Mattie Decker using this approach. It was specifically called a distance learning course. Kim said that our definitions are limited to our experiences. It now seems to be that the heart of distance learning is the word learning, just as Dr. Lowell said in his own definition of distance learning. Learning requires communication.
September 2nd, 2007 at 10:09 am
Learning does require communication. Students are not sponges. No matter how you communicate with your students, just conversing with them on the topic you are teaching them helps to reach enlightenment. I, too, realized that my definition was a little small-minded. There is a lot of class time left and I want to broaden my original defintion to evolve something more complex.
September 8th, 2007 at 8:28 am
You are so right. Yesterday, I spent about 15 minutes talking with teachers in my department (math), and we were talking about how hard it is to teach students who have no motivation to learn. We tossed around ideas of how to break the communication barrier. It is easy to give up and just go back to lecture mode. I am incorporating activities which involve them having to communicate with me and other classmates, and I feel that I have made progress. They like using the computers, so I gave them a project where they email me their work. The projects I have so far have been good. It was on roller coasters. I teach geometry, and I am going to have them construct a model of a roller coaster and talk about the geometry used in building their model. It is a semester project. I will post items of interest as the semester goes on.