The Future of Distance Learning

Distance education is growing at an alarming rate due to the advancement of technology. As mentioned in this week’s video: Growing acceptance of distance education is fueled by the increase in online communication (Laureate Education (Producer), 2017). With the Internet becoming more accessible, individuals have a greater opportunity to participate in online education programs.

I believe in the next 5 – 10 years, distance learning will continue to grow, and more institutions and businesses will invest in this method of content delivery. In addition, I believe the traditional face-to-face venues will begin to diminish. Within the next 10 – 20 years, I believe that distance learning will become the new norm for society.

As an instructional designer, it is our responsibility to be a guardian of the learning process. We should ensure that we are equipping and educating the learners so that they have all they will need to be successful in their learning endeavor. As an ID we should advocate for the appropriate use of distance learning when it fits the content and the learners. Furthermore, as an ID, we should push back on the stakeholders who request distance learning, when distance learning is clearly not the solution.

I will remain a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of distance education by ensuring to apply the proper instructional design process to my training curriculum. Also, ensuring that all projects I develop continue to go through an evaluation process, in which I am able to enhance further the content based upon items identified in the analysis. I believe that continuing to be a supporter of distance learning and looking for innovative ways to help design content to keep learners engaged will assist me in my journey.

I feel this class on distance learning has opened my eyes to the software available for designing distance learning courses and keeping the learners fully engaged. Using the CourseSite page to design my first distance learning course, was challenging, yet rewarding. I belevie the more I get to interact with the software I will be able to further develop the content that I program on the site for learners.

Reference

Laureate Education (Producer) (2017). The future of distance education [Video podcast]. Retrieved from http://class.waldenu.edu

Converting to a Distance Learning Format

This week I was challenged with a scenario in which a trainer wanted to convert their current face-to-face content, into a distance learning format.

In the paper I wrote, I identified what pre-instructional elements the instructor would need to perform prior to updating his training content. Whenever an instructional designer must convert training materials, they should always approach the project as a new project request and perform an analysis of the request and the impacted audiences.

In addition to the pre-planning strategies, I communicated in the paper how the role of the instructor would change from what he was doing in the face-to-face environment, to how he will need to facilitate in a distance learning format.

Finally, I provided a list of best practices that can assist the instructor with converting his content, and ensuring the learning delivery is conducive to the training environment.

Converting to a Distance Learning Format.pdf