Technology Friend or Foe???????

Some educators feel that distance technologies will greatly improve education; some feel education will suffer if they are overused.

Distance technology better known as distant learning is a great tool to be able to utilize. If it had not been created many would not be able to further their education. Those benefiting from this technology are homebound people, single parents, working people, and children. One such example is women, who placed their education on hold to care for their family. We also have the luxury of working at our own pace and when time allows for working on out assignments. Then we have the availability to access information at a touch of a button.
But this great innovation has its down side too. For teachers it requires a lot of time that must be dedicated to maintaining the on line curriculum. Then you have lack of interaction with fellow students and the instructor. We also have difficulty accessing the information or lack of accurate information. Feedback is also slow from the student as well as the instructor. Then you also have to deal with the fact that there are some professors unable to operate this new technology.

What are factors you can cite in support of each of these positions?

Factors that support distance learning:

• It is a core differentiator in attracting students and corporate partners.
• Online learning is considered key to advancing their mission, placing advanced
education within reach of people who might otherwise not be able to access it.
• Future education and training endeavors will be increasingly knowledge based.
The amount of information available to individuals will continue to explode.
• Putting education within reach of many more individuals around the world.
• Professional and educational training opportunities
• Experts working at other locations
• Personnel in remote or dispersed locations with access to primary site personnel,
instructional materials and other resources
• Network-dispersed groups
• Humanizing is the process of creating an atmosphere that focuses on the importance
of the individual and overcomes distance by generating group rapport
• Participation in teleconferencing is defined as the process of getting beyond the
technology by providing opportunities for spontaneous interaction among
participants.
• Message style is presenting what is to be said in such a way that it will be
received, understood and remembered.
• Feedback is the process of getting information about the message which helps you
and the participants complete the communications loop.

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Future-of-Higher-Ed-(NMC).pdf

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=Will+distance+technologies+improve+education&page=1&qsrc=2417&dm=all&ab=2&title=Distance+Education+Primer&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.teletrain.com%2FPrimer.html&sg=veCXtzRTIfgRjdrgL9wUxInDUT9Qma2GtUrY%2FlmOWKI%3D&tsp=1257352149480

Factors that oppose distance learning:

• Operational challenges may hinder the full benefits from being realized technology
may be disruptive in ways not intended: respondents note a rise in student
plagiarism, cheating and distractibility, which they attribute to easy and ready
access to mobile technologies.
• Funding and controlling costs are key concerns.
• Technology remains a disruptive innovation—and an expensive one.
• Rapid change
• Lack of humanization to the list of planning considerations.
• Low participation which may detour interest in the program.
• The message style needs to be more effective and enjoyable.
• The way to get feedback during program time as well as off the-air may be timely
or lacking. Educators are unable to read body language due to being physically
separated from you.
• Students increasingly associate educational value with campus technology.
• Students rate faculty lack of tech knowledge as the biggest obstacle to classroom
technology integration and see it as a growing problem.
• Lack of Access to library resources, electronic link with the institution’s
library, and lack of Cooperative agreements for students to use the libraries of
other agencies
• Students learn from other students. Emphasis on student-to-student interaction
through group tasks and cooperative activities has increased as we move from a
teaching to a learning paradigm.
• The educational experience from teacher-centered to learner-centered.
• This form of education requires new skills for both the instructor and the
students.




http://www.ask.com/bar?q=Will+distance+technologies+improve+education&page=1&qsrc=2417&dm=all&ab=2&title=Distance+Education+Primer&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.teletrain.com%2FPrimer.html&sg=veCXtzRTIfgRjdrgL9wUxInDUT9Qma2GtUrY%2FlmOWKI%3D&tsp=1257352149480

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=how+education+is+suffering+because+of+distance+education&page=1&qsrc=2417&dm=all&ab=8&title=Distance+Education%3A+Facing+the+Faculty+Challenge&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.westga.edu%2F%7Edistance%2Fojdla%2Fsummer42%2Fbower42.html&sg=%2B81rdcrnPdB8ZTqbcSkTxwl9Zb0Sgufgzyn0GgFr7Bs%3D&tsp=1257353986805