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Education

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Is Distance Learning Education?

James Barzcz's position that education is more than the mere acquisition of knowledge, while basically correct, does not support his position that computer generated course work is merely the "mechanistic acquisition of information." While education certainly includes the acquisition of knowledge, it is more than the mere acquisition of knowledge. Education includes the development of logical reasoning skills, which means that a student is able to integrate newly-acquired knowledge with existing knowledge, to come to new conclusions. Finally, education includes an immeasurable aspect: the acquisition of maturity.

Distance learning provides students with the opportunity to engage in all three aspects of education, and therefore should not be disparaged as merely the "mechanistic acquisition of information."

Of course, the most basic part of any type of education is the acquisition of knowledge. At its core, education must involve the acquisition of knowledge. This is best demonstrated by early learners, who ask thousands of simple questions, to help them understand the world around them. Preschoolers begin by learning the alphabet, which forms the basis for learning to read, which opens up tremendous venues for learning. However, as essential as these basic skills are, they are simply the acquisition of information. Likewise, in distance learning, or any other type of education, no other learning can occur until the student acquires basic information. Distance learning provides an unparalleled opportunity for the student to engage in the acquisition of knowledge. Unlike traditional real-time classrooms, the student controls the online learning environment, so that he can review information as many times as necessary to make sure that it is understood before moving on to the next piece of information. 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 or figures. However, this danger is not unique to distance-learning, and can occur in any type of learning environment. Competent distance educators go beyond asking students "what?" And ask them "why?" By challenging students to address why things happen, educators in any environment help students synthesize knowledge and learn their reasoning skills.

Finally, distance education provides students with a way to acquire maturity. Unlike the traditional educational environments, distance education forces students to be completely personally accountable for their educations. Students must arrange the time to study their coursework, turn in their assignments in a timely manner, and approach their professors with any questions or issues. Unlike a traditional learning environment, the lack of one-on-one interaction means that students have to be more personally accountable.