Distance Education

Hannah Scholten

ED 225 MWF 9:00am

I think very few people would argue that teaching distance education is the same as teaching in a regular classroom. The entire approach that one would need to take in preparing lessons and communicating with students would be very different. If the class were asynchronous I, as a professor, would need to make sure that I was available almost at all times for students. This would be a definite draw back of the course. In an asynchronous course students are allowed to work on the assignments whenever they like, and this means they will have questions at all different times. That doesn’t mean that I would have to be available to respond immediately all the time, but it does mean that I would need to check my e-mail (or other form of communication) very, very regularly. So, in this way the course starts to intrude in your life in a way that a regular class would not. However, one advantage of this aspect of asynchronous education is that it would allow me to grade assignments at different times. Although, this advantage would be dependent on some students not waiting until the last minute to complete assignments.

Teaching an online course in a synchronous way would be much more suitable to my tastes as a professor. This allows both professor and student to interact with each other in a way that is similar to a regular classroom setting. Ideally I would like to teach the class via video communication using CODEC. I think this is a better way to approach the online class because it allows a more personal connection in that all the members of the class get to see each other. I think this is huge in creating a classroom community. It also helps in reinforcing due dates and the idea that the class is just as important as traditional class.

Even though we were studying asynchronously this week, I enjoyed it. Although, I think this is because it was only for a limited amount of time, and I know that we will get back together as a class and discuss it. However, if this fact is ignored then I did not enjoy the way we were studying this week. I waited until the day it was due to do most of the assignments and I feel like we’ve just not been having class. I haven’t felt like part of a classroom community this week, even with discussion board. For me to learn best I need to feel that there is a connection between me, fellow students and the professor. With an online course similar to our studying this week I haven’t felt that. Overall, my experience with distance education has not been exceedingly positive; I much prefer the traditional classroom.