Distance Education/Distance Learning

My current post is connected with Distance education or distance learning. Distance learning is not just a way through which people get knowledge it is need in the 21 st century. One of the best advantages which distance education courses require on-site presence.

According to Greenberg, (1998)  contemporary distance learning is  “a planned teaching/learning experience that uses a wide spectrum of technologies to reach learners at a distance and is designed to encourage learner interaction and certification of learning however, its primary distinction is that the teacher and the learner are separate in space and possibly time “.Online learning is the contemporary version of distance education, also called “distance learning” or “open learning.” If we compare distance education with face to face traditional way of teaching there are some similarities and differences. Face to face learning is more collaborative while distance learning considers to be more isolated for learners and individual. Here learners are more  autonomous and have opportunity to develop awareness. (White, J.C.2004).If we talk about distance learning teachers they should  give appropriate support to their students, tutors should be also patient and sympathetic. In distance education there is more  freedom from input and interactions which are not immediately relevant to individual (White 1997b.)
        Distance learning  suggests different courses with the help of which people can get  education, those are :

•     fully online courses 
•    educational partnership
•    hybrid /blended courses- face to face and online 

 Nowadays many people  have opportunity to get their qualification through distance learning and find better jobs. As Daphne Koller (2012), mentions in her video in the countries like South Africa many people have not opportunity to get high quality education, so here distance learning can be very good solution. According to the American Council on Education, the number of students in distance learning doubled from 1995 to 1998 totaling 1.6 million (Devarics, 2001).

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