Reflection

What do you think the perceptions of distance learning will be in the future (in 5–10 years; 10–20 years)?

Distance learning has grown exponentially within the past ten years with over 96 percent of colleges utilizing distance learning in some fashion. (Bonham, 2011) The perception of distance learning has been changing over the past 10 years from being looked down upon to now accepted and I personally believe in the next 10 years it will be main stream of education. Most companies currently use distance learning in one way or another for training new employees or continued training.

How can you as an instructional designer be a proponent for improving societal perceptions of distance learning?

As an Instructional Designer we are already tasked with teaching people who we are, what we do and why our service is critical to implementation of curriculum. As ID’s we will play a large role in improving the societal perceptions of distance learning by showing the benefits of distance learning. These benefits run from cost saving, amount of education/training, and the number of people that can be trained at one time.

How will you be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of distance education?

As an Instructional Designer we play a critical role for continuous improvement in the field of distance education as we are building curriculum and training programs we must keep up with the latest and greatest in technology to implement into programs and continually upgrade programs as technology changes. Distance Education has been changing over the past 100 years from mail away learning to what we know distance education is today.

References:
M. H. Bonham, Connect ED Walden University “What is the Future of Distance Learning?” June 27, 2011