I was thinking yesterday about how distance learning had changed, and continued to pursue this line of thinking, working out how online courses are different from the traditional paperbased courses in terms of how you learn.
In fact, I came to the conclusion that online courses are a kind of half-way house between traditional paperbased learning and classroom learning. Online learning allows you to interact with both tutor and fellow students, and in given situations with some immediacy. However it also allows you to study materials on your own, at your own pace, and in your own time.
In my opinion it is a real improvement on paperbased distance learning, but then I'm a technologist, so the technology base is second nature to me. Maybe if this wasn't true, I might be happier with paper.
We take the advantages of the Internet for granted these days, and it's difficult to imagine life without it. But it's only really for the last 8 years that it's had such an impact on our lives, and only ten years ago was it quite normal to study for a degree using traditional distance learning techniques, rather than online programs.
We used to send out great tomes of notes via snail mail, sometimes so weighty that they had to be delivered by parcel post or the courier services. The cost of materials was enourmous, using up trees by the score, and each course would involve at least a 4" loose-leaf binder filled to the top with notes and course materials.
Assignments had to be mailed to tutors, and we waited with baited breath for the letter that gave us our results. Exams had to be sat at designated centers, and we met fellow students often for the only time on the program.
Home
