Global Diversity

I agree with Dr. Siemens comments on the advancement of distance education. Siemen (2010) talked about how geography was not an issue anymore with online education. Students from all over the world can participate within the same online courses as anybody else. It's hard for me to believe that I am taking classes in DE with people from other states, but we are all learning the same material and using communication and collaboration to do it.
Global diversity has evolved by DE being an option for students from many different states or countries. I don't think I have had anyone in my courses from another country, but I can't be sure since I am still getting used to the fact of communicating with people from other states. I must broaden my horizons! Global diversity has evolved by tools such as: Skype, social networking sites, instant messaging, blogging, and of course....distance education. I tend to forget about the World Wide Web because I think we take it for granted now, like it will always be there.
I have not used Skype yet, but I plan to initiate it within my classroom. I want to be able to Skype classrooms from other states and counties for my students to get a look at the diversity offered within this technology.

  Siemens, G. “The Future of Distance Education”

Linda's Edu Tech: Evolving distance edu to next generation

Linda's Edu Tech: Evolving distance edu to next generation

Evolving distance edu to next generation

The authors from this week's module seem to encourage evolving distance education to the next generation. Everything in life is becoming fast-paced including businesses, education, and careers. There is major growth in this field and needs to be taught to the next generation in order for them to keep up with the fast-paced future. Distance education draws all sorts of people including those who are not traditional students, and ones who can't afford to go to a college. They do warn though that distance education may become a dumping ground for credit recovery students. There may also be a lack of trained professionals, which could cause a major problem with distance education.
I do agree with their views because I believe distance education is growing to a point where it may be the number one way students are educated in the future. I don't think that it will replace face-to-face instruction, but I do believe it will come close.

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.

 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.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, July/August). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 2: Higher Education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66–70.

Simonson, M. (2000). Making decisions: The use of electronic technology in online classes. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 84, 29–34.