Distance Education

"As the economic, social and cultural diversity of a population increases, traditional modes of learning may have limited value to people based on their varying needs, interests, and lifestyles" (Hsu & Shiue 2005). We have seen the continued move away from traditional modes of education into distance education through electronic media. New forms of teaching and learning will need to be developed to ensure the continued growth of education by electronic means of instructional design.
Distance education continues to grow in the educational community. In the video presentation Dr. Simonson states; "Distance education may be nearing its critical mass and needs to be nurtured". If distance education is to continue to be a major part of the educational community then it has to evolve and ensure that professional design practice is sound (Moller et.al.). Effective instructional design based in educational theory will lead the effort to shape institutional policies on quality standards and accreditation (Moller et.al.). Research should focus on instructional design to give proof of the effectiveness of distance education by using researched based educational theories. "The history of education is a history of so-called advances and new ideas which fail to hold up to scrutiny over time" (Huett et.al.). There needs to be a methodology of distance learning that will hold up to the scrutiny of the skeptics and naysayer on this form of teaching and learning. While higher education institutions have been the primary users of distance learning there has been an increase in this form of education in the K-12 arena. With the growth of distance education in K-12 schools, if distance education is to become mainstream course development needs to be addressed (Moller et.al.).
Conclusion
Distance education continues to be very popular and growing for adult learners, however distance education is beginning to resonant in the K-12 environment. It is convenient for students and teachers and it has far reaching implications on the educational community. Empirical research is needed to enable the professional online educators to be effective when implementing instruction online and meet the standards that are required in a traditional settings. The standards for distance education may not be identical to traditional education it has to be equivalent (Simonson).
References
Hsu, Y. C. & Shiue, Y. M.(2005). THE EFFECT OF SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING READINESS ON ACHIEVEMENT COMPARING FACE-TO-FACE AND TWO-WAY DISTANCE LEARNING INSTRUCTION, International Journal of Instructional Media. New York: Vol. 32, Iss. 2; pg. 143, 14 pgs. retrieved from: http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?index=10&did=1042097821&SrchMode=3&sid=2&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1220991699&clientId=70192&aid=1&cfc=1

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008, September/October). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5). 63-67. retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdf?vid=2&hid=104&sid=d192f111-8723-4efc-9125-0be938b6f1ae%40sessionmgr102

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 1: Training and development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70-75. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's Accession Number: 33281719. retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdf?vid=2&hid=104&sid=5ff488c5-2122-4c5e-bdf9-d54b10d943ff%40sessionmgr103.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's Accession Number: 33991516. retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdf?vid=2&hid=108&sid=bd3994ce-0bb0-4141-a455-9be7b61f192f%40sessionmgr103.