¶ … Pre-Course Program for Entry-Level Online Adult Students
Distance education is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing segments of college and graduate level education. Many educational institutions with long histories of traditional classroom-based learning opportunities are expanding their programs to include distance-based learning via the Internet. In fact, many colleges and universities have invested heavily in their distance education programs. Courses for distance learners are offered in an array of formats that are designed to make learning opportunities accessible to students at anytime, anywhere in the world.
Limited information is available concerning the ability of traditional adult learners to adapt to the online learning environment to successfully complete an online learning degree program. (Baker, et al., 1994)
Today, educational elitism is a serious problem for many distance and non-traditional students. Most traditional learners look down on the non-traditional learner and distance-based educational programs as a whole. Many times these degrees are perceived negatively by employers who feel that the students in traditionally-based programs actually learn more than those in distance-based programs. This "elitist" viewpoint of traditional education vs. non-traditional education remains one of the oldest and most pervasive traditions of university (or advanced) education.
It is also necessary to help teachers get up to speed on the technologies that support the online, interactive learning environment employed in most distance-based educational programs. In many distance education programs, faculty members receive little or no instructional support prior to being assigned a distance education course. "The biggest failure in distance education may be the failure to adequately train and support the needs of faculty (and students)." Successful distance education programs demand harmonious operations with many different elements including instructional support and the technology provided to students who must learn new concepts from remote locations with limited resources or adequate computer training. The purpose of a pre-course program for students would be to teach less technologically savvy students how to operate in an Internet-based environment as effectively as possible. Failure to adequately support the distance-based learner can lead to a low-quality educational experience as well as attrition in online learning programs.
AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A PRE-COURSE PROGRAM FOR ENTRY-LEVEL ONLINE ADULT STUDENTS
Distance education is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing segments of college and graduate level education. A combination of unparalleled demand for access to higher education and the willingness of most companies to pay for these remote learning opportunities have helped to move distance learning to the forefront. Many educational institutions with long histories of traditional classroom-based learning opportunities are expanding their programs to include distance-based learning via the Internet. In fact, many colleges and universities have invested heavily in their distance education programs. Courses for distance learners are offered in an array of formats that are designed to make learning opportunities accessible to students at anytime, anywhere in the world.
Most efforts to date on designing web-based learning opportunities have focused little on the end-users (the students) and instead have focused on course development, delivery methods and faculty training. The assumption made by most distance-based programs is that students enrolling in these programs are already (or should already be) technologically savvy enough to navigate their way through these course with little to no training. Limited information is available concerning the ability of traditional adult learners to adapt to the online learning environment to successfully complete an online learning degree program. "It becomes obvious that it is almost impossible to meet the day-to-day demands of deadlines, software glitches, resource development, and empirical research, and to keep one's eye on the future of (distance learning's) progress. Conceptual bifocals are needed." (Baker, et al., 1994)
But, before we take a look at the future of distance learning, we must fully understand the history of postsecondary education. The earliest roots of the university as an educational institution are more than 2,400 years old and stem from the paideia of the classical Greek Sophists, with the Academy of Plato and the Lyceum of Aristotle being the oldest institutional examples of advanced education in philosophy. "The Sophists believed that education should develop a person's character for effective participation in polis life. The polis was their concept of an ideal sociopolitical order governed by impersonal uniform laws, rather than by the arbitrary acts of a despot. The paideia system of education and training was aimed at developing the whole person -- physically, emotionally, and intellectually. The 4th century BC was the heyday of...
391). This, Vindovich (2002) both acknowledges the difference between traditional and distance education and validates this type of education as having the same academics as traditional education. Although studying distance education in terms of quality and quality comparison with classroom education is valid, another approach to determining whether distance education is of the same quality as classroom education is up to the students. Programs and teachers can influence school quality, but
This places distance learning at a great advantage to traditional educational systems. After learning new information, the student must then move on to the development of logical reasoning, and use newly acquired information in combination with pre-existing knowledge to come to new conclusions. Distance learning can provide students with this opportunity. Of course, there is a danger in the distance-learning environment that students will simply be asked to regurgitate facts
The imperative then is to design and deliver a course that inspires the interaction with the appropriate tools (Summerville & Johnson, 2006). If this is the case social networking sites used in education will shortly become accepted. This would lead us to the belief that the days of lecture and repeat and 'death by PowerPoint bullets' in education are coming to a close and, in turn, its end signals
That should not be surprising in light of the fact that many are surprised to hear of the extent to which people relied on so-called "snail mail" even for correspondence in decades past; let alone the concept of taking advanced education courses through traditional mail service. Pittman seems to make a point that relates to the proposed area of hypothetical research (above) in that he criticizes the adherence to the
nursing school students can apply their critical skills in appropriate ways that maximizes critical thinking. The researchers documented in their research the ability for nurses to interact and learn with people from elder generations. The authors wrote "Educators and instructors who work with young health professionals need to be aware of the short-term effects of service learning activities on students' knowledge of aging in general and their longer term
Distance Learning There is a great responsibility for society to educate its citizens properly and to provide them the necessary tools to become successful. Educational systems are varied and are designed for different purposes that places each member within society according to its skills, talents and desires. One form of education, distance learning, is becoming very popular in today's world. The purpose of this essay is to examine the advantages and
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