Opinions on Distance Education
Many people have little faith in Distance Education. Comments such as it is the "new version of trade school" and it is the "joke of the twenty first century"(Distance Education pg.2). First of all I would like to make a personal comment by saying that my father attended Williamson Trade School, and is providing for my family very adequately. Second I would like to say tha t the curriculum presented by JIU is above average. For example one of the 150 classes offered by JIU is numbered as F2058. This class has lectures that the students read online, it has assigned readings from both textbooks and web based sources, there are projects both group and individual, and finally they have discussions via email lists. As you can see there is plenty for them to do, hardly a joke, let alone the joke of any century. In addition there are several advantages to be had through asynchronous communication. Work has weekly due dates so it maybe done at anytime the student wants to. No traveling is necessary to learn. Also all that is needed is a midrange computer, a modem, and an Internet connection.
I myself think distance education is great, I think it is perfect for many people. It is a premium alternative to no education at all. When I say this I am referring to DE as being used in the latter stages of an education, as a source of higher education. For some people that maybe the case; either distance education or no education. There are mothers who may want to continue their education but cannot be leaving the h o use because they have to tend to their child or children. There are elderly people who are incapable of driving, or may not have the energy to commute to a campus. There could even be disabled people who cannot leave bed who could earn a degree. One might say "well why would some one who can't get out of bed want a degree, what good does it do them?" Well, it can do a lot such as boost confidence; it could motivate the person, or just occupy the person's time with something constructive. Plus nobody said that a person stuck in bed would never get out. The list goes on for people who could benefit from distance education. It could be a busy working class citizen whose schedule doesn't provide time for driving to class or sitting in class at a set time, he may want to get to his work when he has time, which is exactly what he will get from distance education courses. Although some people are cynical about the validit y of distance learning, the U.S. government has recognized it and started adjusting some copyright laws to accommodate to the easy access the Internet provides for all types of multimedia. By this I mean a class may want to use a clip from a movie or a piece of a song in a lesson. Until now law prohibited uses of copyrighted material as such. Under the new law being passed non-profit institutions will be able to show clips that can be found on the Internet. They will only be barred from presenting things in their entirety.
Here is a web site on the expansion of DE into other countries. http://members.tripod.com/stewart_marshall/
Corey, / Anthony, / Al, / Mike.
Distance Education http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/10/biztech/articles/05soft
U.S. Copyright Proposal Supports Distance Learning http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+site+85727+8+wAAA+distance%7Eeducation