Distance Learning: Past, Present, Future

Flashback to 2002.

I sat in a high school "distance learning" classroom where I took an SAT Prep class that was offered at a school 35 miles from my physical location. At the front of the classroom was a Large projection screen. On it we saw the teacher as he lectured. On another smaller screen we saw anything he had prepared to present (overhead projection/powerpoint presentations etc.) And on 3 other small screens we could see students in other classrooms around the county who were participating in the same class. There were many times when once of the virtual classrooms would be experiencing technology problems and could not hear, or we could not hear them. There were days when we had trouble with assignments and could not ask questions in real time or had to call the host site classroom to speak on the phone to the teacher. All of our assignments were mailed/emailed to the teacher too.

I took an online graduate program in 2007 and I distinctly remember thinking that I would have loved to have been able to see my professors lecture in real time. But most of our assignments were reading, discussion posts, and group projects. For me, as a visual and kinesthetic learner, this type of distance learning was minimally helpful for me. I learned much more in my real life expereince than I did in that program, but the options I was hoping for (real time interaction with professors) were just not available to students online.

Fast forward to 2015 when I started this LMS program at SUNY Buffalo. Many of my classes now allow for me to participate in real time just like I had hoped for in my first graduate program experience. I can watch the lecture in real time via blackboards collaborate function. I can even raise my hand and ask a question. The professor can hear me and answer in real time too. I have even been able to skype chat with professors during their office hours.

We have come a long way since the days of correspondence classes. There have been many steps a long the way and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for distance learning. It gives students around the world the opportunity to attend programs that their geographical location might otherwise limit. Technology is changing so quickly and thankfully, it is being put to good use to improve distance learning!