Distance Learning: Is It Right For You?

Distance learning is an ever-expanding method of study

, and increasingly used in acquiring high school, GED and college level degrees. Here is the obvious: there has to be a distance and there has to be learning - sounds simple doesn't it? It is not. There are many types of this style of learning and it is delivered in many, many ways (not just by the computer, even though the computer has far over taken this area of study). There is always a distance though - the student may study anywhere and at anytime as long as there is feedback of some sort with the teacher, who could be anywhere and at any institution of learning or training. You get the idea, it is wide open. Often the learning is done on the student's own time, while sometimes the learning happens in real time by live feed video or audio.

This pathway of learning has been around for a long time. It did not just come into being with the internet. It began about one hundred years ago with correspondence courses in Europe and the USA. Then in the late 1950s radio and television began to play a role. Video and audio taped materials have been very popular modes for distance learning from the late 1960s right up to today. But, the overwhelming use of distance learning today is by computer (on or off the internet).

Distance learning has many hopeful benefits. It saves money, time, space, overhead, and drives certain types of technology. It directs resources into technology that are usable over and over and is easily updated and adjusted. There are various shortcomings though - things like technology that does not measure up or is not compatible with the student's hardware; downtime because of system malfunctions; administrative and organizational over-sites can sometimes make students feel out of touch with their programs. The good news is that each of these areas of potential difficulty are being rapidly worked on and much progress is being made toward excellence. Gone are the days when distance learning is looked down on as second rate. It has achieved a needed place in the mosaic if learning methods today.

by: Emily Retherford

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