| Advantages of Distance
Learning |
There are several advantages
to taking courses online
instead of in a traditional
classroom.
Here are a few:
-
Taking online courses from home
doesn't require commuting.
This saves you time
and money; Time that
you don't have to spend
in the car and money
that you don't have
to spend on gas and
car maintenance.
-
You can complete most of the coursework
for online classes when
it's convenient for
you. Most online courses
are asynchronous, which
means you don't have
to attend a lecture
at a particular place
and time. You can review
what would traditionally
be lecture material
and work on assignments
before or after work,
during your lunch hour,
or after the kids have
gone to bed-whenever
it best fits your schedule.
-
Being able to take classes from
home and working on
assignments on your
own schedule enable
you to be home with
your children. This
can save you child care
costs.
-
Online courses address physical
accessibility issues
that some disabled persons
and senior citizens
encounter when taking
traditional classes.
You don't have to worry
about gaining access
to a campus building
or being forced to sit
in uncomfortable desks
for one or more hours
at a time. Instead,
you access the course
materials from home
through your computer.
The furniture you use
is your own so it's
most likely comfortable.
And you have the luxury
of being able to get
up and stretch whenever
you need to do so without
interrupting an entire
classroom full of students.
|
Definition of Distance
Learning
|
With the history
of distance learning encompassing
so many different learning
environments, we need to find
a definition that fits in
all situations.
Here are some
modern definitions:
Greenberg (1998)
defines contemporary distance
learning as “a planned
teaching/learning experience
that uses a wide spectrum
of technologies to reach learners
at a distance and is designed
to encourage learner interaction
and certification of learning”.
Teaster and
Blieszner (1999) say “the
term distance learning has
been applied to many instructional
methods: however, its primary
distinction is that the teacher
and the learner are separate
in space and possibly time”.
Desmond Keegan
(1995) gives the most thorough
definition. He says that distance
education and training result
from the technological separation
of teacher and learner which
frees the student from the
necessity of traveling to
“a fixed place, at a
fixed time, to meet a fixed
person, in order to be trained”.
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