Define Online Teaching and Learning
Week 2, Question 3 - Define online teaching and learning.
Using Google "define:online learning", I found several definitions, but the one that seemed to me to be the most accurate and comprehensive is as follows: “What occurs when education and training (typically credit but also non-credit) are delivered and supported by networks such as the Internet or intranets. Learners are able to learn any time and any place. In this report, we use the terms "on-line learning" and "e-learning" interchangeably.”http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=8&oi=define&q=http://www.eduspecs.ca/pub/e-learningresources/doc_acol/glossary.html. Ko and Rossen (2004) in their book, "Teaching Online, A Practical Guide, simply define online teaching as "conducting a course partially or entirely through the Internet."
Not assuming anything, I typed in “define:online teaching” in the Google search engine and got no hits! Using only the search terms “online teaching” did I get a multitude of links, one of the best of which was Yahoo’s Education directory listing at: http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Instructional_Technology/Online_Teaching_and_Learning/ of which some of the entries that I accessed had more of a resources slant rather than a methods orientation.
posted by Paul Castelin @ 1:17 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I think that "online learning" and "online teaching" are good names for courses. However, I prefer the term, distance education, in lieu of the former two terms. According to Mike Simonson, who represents the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), online learning and teaching are subsets of distance education. In the same Educational Pathways article, mention is made of the fact that the word “online” is becoming obsolete because of the increase in the use of wireless connections. (Lorenzo, 2003.)
I understand how to get an online or wireless education, but I don’t quite understand how to use the term “online learning” interchangeably with it. More information on the above mentioned article can be found at the following Web site.
Lorenzo, G. (2003, July-August). The Mainstreaming of Distance Education and Online Teaching and Learning [Electronic version]. Educational Pathways. Retrieved February 1, 2006 from http://www.edpath.com/mainst.htm .
Interesting discussion here. Pam, you are correct that online learning is a subset of distance education. That's a purposeful choice in our program, as distance learning has historically emphasized televised courses, correspondence courses, etc. We don't really explore the greater world of ditance education in our program.
Kelly, your definition is interesting. I like it a lot. However, for me, it's missing the piece that focuses on the purposeful and effective use of technology to support learning--which is what we study in this program, in particular. As we move into new forms of technology in the years to come, "online education" might become an outdated term, not even relevant, who's to say? But in our current times, to teach using online technologies (whether live or online) requires skills and knowledge of effective integration in the teaching/learning process. Would you agree?
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