The First Wave of Distance Education OMDE 601 9040 An interesting aspect brought about by one of my classmates, Jan Mentz, is the concept of alienation. Alienation is something to think about on the part of instructors and students I think, especially with the growing trend towards working remotely. I like Paul's thoughts on looking into the work of Karl Marx in understanding the aspect of alienation of the workforce. My understanding of distance education is indeed getting more insightful! At the end of week 4, reflections on the first wave of distance education have been shaped. I particularly like the concept of 'waves of development' as it signifies ebbs and flows of development, and does not exclude overlaps, as waves usually merge into one another - sometimes seamlessly, sometimes with various tidal 'prints'. The video interviews by Peters (2011) highlight these waves of distance education (discussed in a previous post). In identifying the waves of development, Kentor (2015) also discusses the evolution of distance education, emphasizing the role of information and communication technology in the widespread acceptance and popularity of this form of education. The common thread in most of the readings up to now, is the physical separation between students and instructors, and how advances in technology and infrastructure have been instrumental in bridging this gap - so much so that distance education has many features of traditional education. Platforms such as radio, television, and the Internet are utilized in both face-to-face and distance education. Nonetheless, distance education requires a different pedagogy as instructors deal with 'digital personalities', which leads to estrangement and alienation, as pointed out at the beginning of this post! This is an interesting point that is evident in the Department of Communication Science at the University of South Africa (Unisa). The Department has partnered with Google in setting up a platform for live broadcasts that are automatically recorded during the transmission. Students can view the broadcast (in real-time or asynchronously), using any platform (laptop, tablet, smartphone, etcetera) by clicking on a link generated by the system. Professor D.F. du Plessis, the leader of this project, calls this "face-to-face at a distance". I have already discussed many aspects of the first wave of distance education in my previous blog posts - so be sure to have look at these to see how my views about distance education have evolved! The video lectures and readings of seminal authors,such as Borje Holmberg (2005) and Otto Peters (2004), as well as the vibrant discussions in the online threads for this course have stimulated my critical thinking and analysis of distance education. Onto week 5...... Distance education bridges the gap between geographically dispersed students and instructors References
Holmberg, B. (2005). Concepts and terminology - Student bodies. In B. Holmberg (Ed.), The evolution, principles, and practice of distance education. Oldenburg, Germany: BIS-Verlag der Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (pp. 9-11). Retrieved from http://www.box.com/shared/y97qyc7m0t Kentnor, H.E. (2015). Distance education and the evolution of online learning in the United States. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 17 (1/2), pp. 21-34. Retrieved from https://learn.umuc.edu/content/enforced/288131-006366-01-2182-GO1-9040/eReserves/Kentnor_2015.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=GDOmuZvrwH5EcDYRYBuIb8aE0&ou=288131 Peters, O. (2011, December 2). Industrialization theory and distance education, Parts 1-4. [Video interviews.] Haag, Germany. Retrieved from Part 1: http://vimeo.com/33107755 Retrieved from Part 2: http://vimeo.com/33523216 Retrieved from Part 3: http://vimeo.com/33525745 Retrieved from Part 4: http://vimeo.com/33109477
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