Distance Learning Essay -- Education Distant Learn Essays

Distance Learning "As we enter the Information Age, more and more adults from various economic and cultural backgrounds, already in the workplace, and with families are seeking to educate themselves to keep up in their careers" (Duderstadt, J., 1999). Whether that is through Higher Education, the university system, or their company's Intranet is usually dependent upon the learner. The ways that they seek to educate and re-educate themselves to stay abreast with current trends in their jobs is the topic of this paper, Distance Learning. Many of these non-traditional students are looking to advance their careers through education by non-traditional means. They may have constraints that keep them from attending a structured classroom environment. It is this population that forces Higher Education and the corporate Educational Services to rethink their approach and delivery of instruction. For example, a few days ago I was in the Securities and Loan office of Fidelity National Bank conducting a Needs Assessment on a young SPA Loan Officer Trainee. The young man, a recent graduate in Finance and Economics from Kennesaw State University, planned to enroll in the MBA program at Harvard University. That of course prompted me to ask, "How do you plan to complete a MBA at Harvard and continue your work here in Atlanta?" His reply, "I would take these courses online and meet at the school the second Saturday of every month." He then went on to say that a MBA from Harvard carries a lot of weight in this town's financial community. With new technologies and the Web, more and more Universities as distinguished as Harvard, are putting Masters and Doctorate programs online. Not only are these Universities using the Internet to p... ...orks Cited Comeaux, P. (1995, Oct.). The impact of an interactive distance learning network on classroom classroom communication. Communication Education, 44(4), 353-361. Duderstadt, J. (1999) Can colleges survive in the information age? In Dancing with the Devil. (p.4). San Francisco, Calif.: Joss-Bass Publishers. Harmon, S.W. & Hirumi, A. (1996, May). A systemic approach to the integration of interactive distance learning into education and training. Journal of Education for Business. 71 (5), 2 267-271 Retrieved September 30, 1999 from EBSCO business search on the Galileo: http://www.galileo.gsu.edu. Lohman, J. (1998, Sept.) Classrooms without walls: Three companies that took the plunge. Training and Development (52)9 38-42 Matthews, D. (1999) The origins of distance education and its use in the united states. The Journal. 54-64.