Running head: DEFINING DISTANCE EDUCATION

Sherma Edwards OMDE 601 Section 9021 09 June 2013 Defining Distance Education

Running head: DEFINING DISTANCE EDUCATION Defining Distance Education The book, An Introduction to Distance Education: Understanding Teaching and Learning in a New ERA found that, within the last few decades, pervasive technology and significant social and economic development have forever changed our society (Garrison, D. R. & Cleveland-Innes, M. F, 2010 p.1).

Those changes have made it difficult for education to operate in insular ways (Keller, 2008 p.1). As a result, distance education has grown drastically and utilized by major developing countries worldwide. Distance education was characterized by teaching and learning being brought about by media: in principle students and their teachers do not meet face to face (Holmberg, 2005 p.10). In choosing this definition theres ingress and as long as there is no interfacing in the classroom, then such an environment would fall under the distance education umbrella. I will provide supportive rationale for my definition throughout this essay. The history of distance education has seen a preoccupation with geographical constraints along with technologies to neutralize distance education and increase access (Garrison, 2000 p. 13). However, the beginnings of distance education and learning in the industrial era existed but as correspondence education. In 2000, Garrisons study found that correspondence education contrasts with the modern or post-industrial era and that the emergence of correspondence education was a direct result of developments in communications

Running head: DEFINING DISTANCE EDUCATION technology (Garrison, 2000 p.14). This represented a foundational change from

conventional classroom teaching and learning (Garrison, 2000). A shift in the interaction and collaboration were included to recognize the growing use of audio conferencing, internet-based audio an emerging technology for distance education at the time. Likewise, the technology and scale of production was observed by Otto Peters to be consistent with the principles of industrialization and he elaborates in the book, Learning & teaching in Distance Education. Industrialization transformed teaching in the extreme in terms of becoming depersonalized (Peters, 2007). This unique pedagogical form of industrialized learning caused a dramatic pedagogical shift (Garrison, 2010 p.15). According to Pocket Oxford English Dictionary, pedagogy means "the profession or theory of teaching." (Peters, 2010), on the other hand had his own view as it being, "the study of the theory and the principles of learning and teaching. This meant; learning would have priority (Peters, 2010). In particular, Peters (2007, p.61) argues that it obliged students to become autonomous and self-regulated with regard to goals, methods, and media. In essence, students became independent, depersonalized and isolated because they no longer met face to face in the classroom. While some independence in terms of time is sacrificed for synchronous conferencing, asynchronous text based conferencing makes possible time and place independence with sustained interaction. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that distance education is no longer limited to contextual and structural constraints (Garrison 2010).

Running head: DEFINING DISTANCE EDUCATION

The Internet is an integral part of life globally. Most nations have moved into the Internet age and the potential for online learning communications, especially two-way communications is being realized in higher education. UMUC and other communities follow the asynchronous nature of online learning. Since technology has developed quite intensively, students can now interact when and where they choose and still be able to engage in-group activities such as discussions boards. Advantages also include broad Internet access, time independence, and students being able to work at their own pace. In conclusion, I defined distance education by teaching and learning being brought about by media and the lack of face-to-face interaction. I have discussed how the Internet age and technology have impacted on distance education. The collaboration of the correspondence study and industrial era and how it impacted on distance education today. The widespread technology and significant social and economic development have forever changed our society, in the way we educate, learn and the way knowledge is obtained.

Running head: DEFINING DISTANCE EDUCATION

Garrison, D. R., & Cleveland-Innes, M. F. (2010). Foundations of distance education. In M. F. Cleveland-Innes & D. R. Garrison, An introduction to distance education: Understanding teaching and learning in a new era (pp. 1-25). New York and London: Routledge. Holmberg, B. (2005). Concepts and terminology - Student bodies. The evolution, principles, and practice of distance education. Vol. 11 (pp.9-11) (Adobe Digital Edition) Retrieved from Carl von Ossietzky Universitt Oldenburg website http://www.mde.uni-oldenburg.de/40895.html Peters, O. (2010). Distance education in transition: Developments and issues: Vol 5 (5th ed.) (Adobe Digital Edition) Retrieved from Carl von Ossietzky Universitt Oldenburg website http://www.mde.uni-oldenburg.de/40922.html