Everywhere one looks, the Internet and information technology are transforming every aspect of life all over the world. We are living, shopping, working, governing, and communicating in new ways that are enabled by technology. Technology is having a dramatic effect on college and universities, producing what may be the most challenging period in the history of higher education. By giving students access to a new world of information, and facilitating communication and collaboration across vast distance, computers have become a powerful tool in education. At the same time, the Internet has brought an unprecedented level of great education content to a wide audience, encouraging teachers to share curriculum and resources worldwide. E-mail has facilitated improved communication among administrators, teachers, students, parents and emerging Web services technologies will create even further opportunities for collaborative learning. In a few years, a whole generation of kids will leave college and enter the workforce with a broad understanding of the ways they can use technology effectively in their jobs. One manifestation of the convergence of technology and education is distributed learning. The World Wide Web provides alternative means for the delivery of courses and services, providing learners a variety of options at their fingertips. In fact, the web is affecting how students learn.
What do we mean by “distant learning”, “e-learning”, or “distributed learning”? According to Chris Dede, distributed learning is a term used to describe educational experiences that are distributed across a variety of geographic setting, across time, and across various interactive media (Dede, 2004). Distributed learning can occur either on or off campus, providing students with greater flexibility and eliminating time as a barrier to learning. A common feature of both distance and distributed learning is technology. Regardless of whether students are on campus or online, there are many implication of integrating technology into education. Distributed learning is much more than an online substitution for lecture. Distributed learning extends the opportunities for interaction between faculty and student that incorporates collaborative learning. The learning experience also accommodates to those with learning disabilities or alternative learning style. In distributed learning, the learning experience is no longer enclosed by the length of the classroom. With learning materials available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, time is no longer a limitation to learning. In an era when many students have never known life without the internet, when time is constrained for adult learners seeking additional education, and when worldwide demand for education is at an all-time high, the classroom no longer bounds the learning environment.
Over the past decade, there has been steady growth in the utilization of distance learning and distributed training by both private and public organization (Salas & Bowers, 2001). Recent estimates suggest that nearly 80 percent of all institutions are using some form of distributed, computer based training (Kiser, 2001). The recent growth in the use of distance learning and distributed training, what is refer to collectively as distributed learning system (DLS), has been stimulated largely by the practical benefits associated with developing learning environments that transcend space and time (Welch, 1999). In educational setting, DLS allow universities to reduce instructors and facilities expenses, by reusing course content for example, and enable them to tap into a larger student market. In addition, electronic learning applications are extremely flexible; content can be updated quickly and students often have the ability to structure their own learning experience. Distributed learning was once limited by relatively simple technology (one-way video and voice communication), recent advance have led to the development of more sophisticated, reliable, and cost efficient technology (Collis, 1997). One reason that distance education has attracted so much attention in the past few years is the recognition that the higher education market is large and growing. The
For a number of years, distributed learning was limited to relatively basic computer-based text program or video based instruction. However, recent technological advances have expanded greatly in DLS technologies. Several of the more advanced technologies currently being used by institutions including: interactive media, web based (e-mails, thread messages, PDF’s, Podcasting discussion forums, chat room, wikis, instant messaging, and blog), video conferencing, hypermedia (nonlinear traversal of multimedia information), user specific limited-vocabulary voice recognition, virtual reality ect.. At the lower end of the technology continuum are CD-ROM and DVD, which offer the capability to integrate text, graphics, animation, audio, and video into a multimedia presentation. CD-ROM and DVD primary features include integrates text, graphics, animation, audio, and video. They also provide students with an opportunity to interact with content and greater control over sequence learning. One advantage of CD-Rom and DVD over more traditional videotapes is that the computer based delivery makes it possible to create programs in which trainee interact with content using a keyboard, mouse, or touch pad. Whereas videos require a linear progression through instructional material, CD-DVD can provide learners with greater control over the sequence of instruction through independent navigation and branching features (hyperlinks). At the high end of the technology continuum there is virtual reality system, which can offer a higher degree of psychological and contextual fidelity by immerging students in a realistic performance environment. With virtual reality provides students with three-dimensional learning experience. Students will be able to move through the simulated environment and interact with its components. Another feature of virtual reality is that it provides different locations can be linked in a simulated environment. Another high-end technology system is interactive video. With interactive video, instructions are broadcasted either live or via videotape and students can use a keyboard, interactive monitor, or touch pad to interact with the program. Live instruction may also incorporate communication system. There are other ways to transmit distant learning through blogs and wiki. These are databases that allow uses to freely create and edit web pages content using any web browser. They also support hyperlinks and have a simple text syntax for creating new pages and cross links between internal pages on the fly. They both provide group communication mechanisms in that it allows the organization of contributions to be edited in addition to the content itself. Like many simple concepts “open editing” some has profound and subtle effects on blogs and wiki. Allowing everyday users to create and edit any page in a web site is exciting in that it encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by non-technical users.
What is Eclectic theory? According to Webster’s dictionary Eclectic is defined as selecting or choosing from various systems, methodologies, etc. not following any one system (Webster, 1997). Basically an eclectic theory it focuses upon bringing different methods (blogs, wiki, emails, thread messages, discussion forums, Web CT and chat rooms) together with different technology (Podcasting, interactive video, video conferences, virtual reality CD-ROM, and DVD) to promote learning in several different ways.
The future of education will be profoundly affected by information technology. But even more important, it will be affected by how educators and students use the technology to prepare for life long learning in the face of change. I will close my paper with a quote from Chris Dede,” The most significant influence on the evolution of higher education will not be the technical development of more powerful devices, but the professional development of wise designers, educators and learners (Dede, 1996).
Reference Page
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2. Collis, B. (1997). Desktop multimedia environment to support collaborative distant learning. Instructional Science. 25, 433-462.
3. Dede, C. (2004). Enabling Distributed Learning Communities via Emerging Technologies. Proceedings of the 2004 Conference of the Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education. pp. 3-12.
4. Dede, C. (1996). Emerging Technologies and Distributed Learning and Distributed learning. American Journal of Distance Education. 10, 2, pp. 4-36.
5. Salas, E., & Bowers, J. A. The science of training: A decade of progress. Annual Review of Psychology. 52, pp. 471-499.
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