David Stevens
April 15, 2007
MCS 760
1st Follow up Paper
Distance Education / Technology
As our society becomes an increasingly knowledge based workforce it is important for people to continue increasing and updating their knowledge base. The Internet is providing a viable alternative to the typical learning environment. Distance education via the Internet is providing the modern workforce with a means of staying up to date and even allows them to extend their knowledge by acquiring advanced degrees. The ability of distance education and technology to deliver an experience that is deemed suitable by the end-user is closer to occurring. The experience of the students present for the presentation demonstrated that the almost all of the students had experienced an online class setting. However, the majority of the students present held the opinion that an online class was inferior to that of a traditional class. This was inline with the general national consensus of opinions from faculty and students involved with distance education. The major hindrance to increasing the productivity of online classes is their inability to replicate the classroom setting. The classroom provides an easy means for students to interact with the professor and fellow students. The idea of utilizing virtual classrooms (attempting to almost make a classroom setting that would be found in a video game) was discussed during the presentation. This is one means of providing students a means of replacing the void left by abandoning the traditional classroom.
In addition to providing the modern workforce with a means of furthering their studies, distance education technology also provides companies with a means of conducting online business meetings. With the increase in the cost of transportation and globalization, the ability to conduct meetings without the hassle of long-distance travel is more important than ever. The ability to conduct productive meetings without face to face contact is a technologically viable option; however, the practice has yet to become widely used and accepted as an alternative. The increase in distance education in the higher education realm will create a body of future workers whom base their opinions on distance training and meetings upon their past experiences with distance education technology. The more positive the students’ experience with distance training technology the more accepting they will be of its use in the corporate environment.
As discussed during the presentation the viability of distance learning and the likelihood of its adoption into the corporate world rely on the ability of the technology to mimic face to face interaction. The likelihood that the technology will ever produce an identical experience to that of face to face interaction is unlikely; however, the technology has and will continue to make the experience more productive and pleasant for the end-users. Distance education allows a greater audience of students to experience the learning process that was restricted to a small population when the process is contained upon a physical campus.
The concept of Open Source Classes was put forth during the discussion following the presentation of distance education as institutions attempting to expand the people that benefit from the knowledge of the institutions programs. This is a manner that allows individuals to learn and experience what students are learning about in the school setting. The pseudo students are learning for enjoyment because their experience is without the assignments and tests necessary for earning a degree.
The need for distance education and training is evident by the success of online school programs like those offered by the
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