The Culture of Distance Learning

Introduction    
    There are fundamental techniques that instructors should include in every distance learning course to make them effective in helping learners achieve the objectives. Distance learning is formal education or training delivered in a manner where the instructor is separated from the students, the instructor and participants communicate through technology, and instructors use media to share training content (Simonson et al., 2019). The definition of distance learning has changed drastically over the years as the internet, and other new technologies, have become available to trainers. Instructional designers must adapt their instructional strategies to design activities that use the technology to accomplish communication and provide learner support. Practitioners use different names to refer to distance learning, such as in K-12 education, where it is called virtual classroom, universities where it is called online learning, and in business and corporations where it is called eLearning (Simonson et al., 2019).

The Future of Distance Learning
    In the future, peoples’ general perceptions of distance learning will continue to become more favorable. Participants’ perceptions will improve as more people are exposed to a high quality of online training. With the invention of the internet, people are connected all around the planet. Given the current world climate changes, pandemics, and population migrations, online training will become more critical because people will need to learn from their own locations when they cannot gather in classes in one location. The proliferation of new technology makes it possible for people to communicate in ways they never could before (Laureate Education, n.d.). Since training participants have likely used the same technologies they use in the classroom to communicate with others at a distance, they may already feel comfortable using the technology they will be asked to use during training, such as blogs or wikis (Laureate Education, n.d.).

Perceptions of Distance Learning
   Instructional designers can improve public perception of eLearning by developing motivational, engaging training, and supporting participants with technical issues, online learning readiness, and facilitating communication among class members. Instructors can support learners by providing clear instructions and criteria, a syllabus, and grading rubrics (Simonson et al., 2019). Instructional designers should facilitate meaningful conversations and activities by providing discussion prompts and assignments that ask learners to apply the knowledge they acquire. To create online discussions where participants can apply the new information, instructors should pose open-ended questions that begin with why, where, when, what, and how (Simonson et al., 2019). When learners interact with the training content in meaningful ways,  they are more satisfied than when they take a more passive role in learning, such as only reading or listening to a lecture (Nauidu, 2014). By providing clear instructions and opportunities to apply training content to realistic scenarios, instructors can demonstrate that online learning can be engaging, motivating, and effective.

The Role of Instructional Designers
    To contribute to positive perceptions of online learning, I will apply evidence-based best practices to my course designs supported by research data. One best practice I follow is to provide learners with a course syllabus, rubrics, a readiness survey, easy-to-follow course layout, ground rules for discussions, instructor contact information, and discussion questions in the course. I will also continue to strive to make training accessible to all learners. I will make the training I develop accessible to learners of all abilities by adding text scripts for audio files and by including captions for graphics and photographs. It is the right of all people to have access to information and training to build the skills required to earn a living and contribute to society (Morgan, 2016).

Conclusion   
    The future is bright for online learning distance learning will continue to grow in popularity to deliver training in future decades. New technologies will be introduced for communicating. There will be new hardware and software to deliver content to learners and gather submissions for learners’ practice assignments. Employers and learners will see more online learning, more degrees offered from online programs, and more open learning courses that are free and accessible to the general public. Instructional designers have an essential role to play in shaping public perceptions of distance learning. Instructional designers have a responsibility to practice instructional design in accordance with evidence-based practice supported by research.

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). The future of distance education [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Morgan, A. (Jan. 2016). Accessibility as a civil right. EDUCAUSE Review. Available at: http://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/1/accessibility-as-a-civil-right

Naidu, S. (2014). Looking back, looking forward: the invention and reinvention of distance education. Distance Education, 35(3), 263–270. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1080/01587919.2014.961671

Simonson, M., Zvacek, S., & Smaldino, S. (2019). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (7th ed.) Information Age Publishing.

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