Distance Education and the Future Rural Teacher Carlos A. Flores, Jr. EdD Angelo State University Texas CEC Annual Conference Aus>n, TX June 2017
Technological Advances • Technology today looks very different from the past and changes almost daily.
• Students who live in rural areas are some>mes unable to aKend classes. • Students unable to aKend a brick and mortar ins>tu>on may now be able to complete their courses of study 100% online. • Online colleges and universi>es are springing up to answer the call – • Capella and Northcentral Universi>es • Kaplan and Walden Universi>es
Distance Education • Distance educa>on, in the form of correspondence courses, has been offered to students who could not travel great distances since the 1700s (Griffin-Shirley, Almon, & Kelley, 2002).
• Online technologies have opened up many possibili>es for teacher educa>on and con>nuing professional development in the field of special educa>on (West, Jones, & Semon, 2012)
• The tradi>onal method of educa>ng educators has morphed into what we see today, from face-to-face classes to programs housed completely online with students accessing the course from their own homes, without the need to travel to the college or university for each class.
• People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want (Johnson, Smith, Willis, Levine, & Haywood, 2011).
Quick Survey • How many people in this room have completed at least one course online?
Distance Education Methods • Classes are 100% online (asynchronous) – only interac>on with the instructor and other classmates is through email, blogs, vlogs, discussion boards, etc. • Synchronous – students may aKend live feeds of classes. In some cases the professor can even see or hear them, while in some case the video feed is one way only. • Closed Circuit – there is a two way feed, such as a videoconference, where the par>es can see each other.
Observations • Classroom observa>ons are huge part of teacher educa>on. • How does a rural student observe a classroom se]ng if that par>cular type of classroom is not available in their area? • Programs have been developed to allow distance students to take part in classroom observa>ons just like their peers who are aKending classes in person.
• Distance educa>on can be a huge point of conten>on in some college and university se]ngs. • Is it truly effec>ve? • Can students learn what they need to learn online? • Can I teach online?
• Some universi>es are implemen>ng distance educa>on classes even over the objec>ons of their faculty and staff.
You can please some of the people some of the >me…
But you can’t please all of the people all of the >me.
Resistance Is Futile J • Distance educa>on has been met with resistance. • In 2007, Allen & Seaman reported that only one in three (33%) of academic leaders believed their faculty “accepts the value and legi>macy of online educa>on” BUT WAIT!! It gets worse!! • In 2013, Allen and Seaman reported that only 30.2% of academic leaders believed their faculty “accepts the value and legi>macy of online educa>on” – IT WENT DOWN!!
• The widespread use of distance educa>on technologies to prepare special educa>on and related services personnel for rural schools and community agencies suggests that distance educa>on is a major force in the field in today’s world (Ludlow and Brannan, 2010). • If this is the case, then why are schools not jumping at the chance to include these types of courses in their curriculums?
Drawbacks to Distance Education • Students need to be able to manage their >me effec>vely. • Online courses require self-discipline, good >me management, and the ability to work independently (Case & Davidson, 2011).
• Online classes are NOT an “Easy A”. They should require just as much work as if the student was si]ng in the classroom. • They should NOT require more work than what is required of students si]ng in the classroom. There might be more reading, but there should not be extra assignments.
• Sense of community – students feel disengaged when they are not able to interact with their peers or instructors. • Instructors need to facilitate ways of ge]ng students to work together and to get to know each other.
• Other disadvantages include less personal contact and interac>on between students and faculty; technological problems arise regularly, setup and gree>ng between sites are >me consuming; students’ reluctance to speak on camera must be overcome; and, there is a high cost of student and course-development >me (Spooner, Knight, Lo, & Wood, 2007)
Contact Me Dr. Carlos A. Flores, Jr. ASU Sta>on #10893 San Angelo, TX 76909-0893 carlos.fl
[email protected]
References Allen, E., & Seaman, J. (2007). Online na(on: Five years of growth in online educa(on. Needham, MA: Sloan-C. Retrieved from hKp://sloanconsor>um.org/publica>ons/survey/online_na>on. Allen, E., & Seaman, J. (2013). Changing course: Ten years of tracking online educa(on in the United States. October, 2015, from hKp://www.onlinelearningsurvey.comreportschangingcourse.pdf Case, D., & Davidson, R. (2011). Accessible online learning. New Direc(ons for Student Services, 134, 47-58. doi: 10.1002/ss.394
Griffin-Shirley, N., Almon , P., & Kelly, P. (2002). Visually impaired personnel prepara>on program: A collabora>ve distance educa>on model. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 96(4), 233-245. Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., & Haywood, K., (2011). The 2011 horizon report. Aus>n, Texas: The New Media Consor>um. Ludlow, B., & Brannan, S. (2010). Distance educa>on programs preparing personnel for rural areas: Current prac>ces, emerging trends, and future direc>ons. Rural Special Educa(on Quarterly, 29(3), 4-15. Spooner, F., Knight, V., Lo, Y., & Wood, W. (2007). Preparing teachers in severe disabili>es across wide geographical areas using videoconferencing technology. Rural Special Educa(on Quarterly, 26(2), 16-25. West, E., Jones, P., & Semon, S. (2012). Promo>ng community for online learners in special educa>on. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Educa(on, 28(3), 108-116.
