Distance Learning & The Future
Oct 2014
The definition has changed over time and currently includes education being offered by an institution where the teacher and student are separated by location and or time. I take a much broader view of distance learning. In its broadest sense "Distance Education" is when the teacher and student are separated by location and/or time. I offer the following as an example of distance learning in my own life. I ordered a replacement part to my microwave for under $10 and watched a YouTube video to learn how to open it and replace the part. The first time this piece broke I called the repair man and paid $150 to have it fixed. Since then I've replace a $35 part twice and a $8 piece twice. I didn't go to tech school but I was given a foundation in shop classes at school. Whether it's a correspondence course, a class on TV, a worldwide conference on the Internet or a class in Second Life, as technology advances we will find more ways to separate the teacher from the students and have learning occur. Now the student may even become their own teacher. Technology is advancing at an exponential rate. The Shift is Happening. As the Internet becomes more and more ubiquitous (there is a computer in your pocket with Internet access). There will be as many ways to get information and learn new things as there are people on the planet. Will we need "school" as we know it? Only in as much as we want to specialize our pursuit of knowledge, we may find ourselves joining guilds or apprenticing. For everything else, we may decide to learn it when we need it. (Hello, TED, YouTube, Khan Academy, The Teacher Channel) How much time would that save? How much time would that give us to pursue our true passions.
As I think about the skills that are needed to create life long learners, perhaps "schools" (gatherings of like-minded people) whether in person or in cyber space, will be the place or time where the joy of play, discovery, achievement, LEARNING is celebrated, nurtured, mentored, and rewarded. As human beings are social creatures, there will always be the need for gatherings and gathering places. If schools are places where learning takes place, perhaps we also need to expand our idea and concept of "school".
The definition has changed over time and currently includes education being offered by an institution where the teacher and student are separated by location and or time. I take a much broader view of distance learning. In its broadest sense "Distance Education" is when the teacher and student are separated by location and/or time. I offer the following as an example of distance learning in my own life. I ordered a replacement part to my microwave for under $10 and watched a YouTube video to learn how to open it and replace the part. The first time this piece broke I called the repair man and paid $150 to have it fixed. Since then I've replace a $35 part twice and a $8 piece twice. I didn't go to tech school but I was given a foundation in shop classes at school. Whether it's a correspondence course, a class on TV, a worldwide conference on the Internet or a class in Second Life, as technology advances we will find more ways to separate the teacher from the students and have learning occur. Now the student may even become their own teacher. Technology is advancing at an exponential rate. The Shift is Happening. As the Internet becomes more and more ubiquitous (there is a computer in your pocket with Internet access). There will be as many ways to get information and learn new things as there are people on the planet. Will we need "school" as we know it? Only in as much as we want to specialize our pursuit of knowledge, we may find ourselves joining guilds or apprenticing. For everything else, we may decide to learn it when we need it. (Hello, TED, YouTube, Khan Academy, The Teacher Channel) How much time would that save? How much time would that give us to pursue our true passions.
As I think about the skills that are needed to create life long learners, perhaps "schools" (gatherings of like-minded people) whether in person or in cyber space, will be the place or time where the joy of play, discovery, achievement, LEARNING is celebrated, nurtured, mentored, and rewarded. As human beings are social creatures, there will always be the need for gatherings and gathering places. If schools are places where learning takes place, perhaps we also need to expand our idea and concept of "school".