How the Internet has Impacted on Distance Learning

Distance learning and the Internet have given us many opportunities and some challenges as well. On the one hand, it saves us time, is a convenient way to learn and connects us to others. On the other hand, it can be isolating and can distract us with technological problems.

Internet has changed the distance learning experience
Do you remember when distance learning was just waiting for the postman to receive your course material and send back your homework? For decades, the correspondence course model has barely changed, with just a few audio tapes or occasional phone calls to vary the paper format. Then the Internet started to make its way into the lives of instructors and their students, changing everything.

Distance learning and the Internet are today linked. Whether you’re already studying remotely or thinking about it, there are not many courses that are not taught, at least in part, online. They often use the speed and efficiency of the Internet in communication between the teacher and the students.

As the Internet is now part of our daily lives, it’s easy to take for granted how it has transformed our professional and personal lives. However, if your last academic experience was in the mid-1990s, you may not have experienced how it has transformed the distance learning experience. Most of these changes have been very positive, although some of the benefits may also be negative.

Time
The most obvious benefit of the Internet in distance learning is perhaps time saving. There is no need to wait until the essential course material arrives – many, if not all, will be available online for you to access at the beginning of the course. Need to contact your instructor? You can send an e-mail and, depending on your instructor’s schedule, receive an equally quick response. The messages you post in the online course area will be instantly accessible to other users. You may even find that your instructor and other students in the class are communicating in real time, using instant messaging or Voice over IP (VoIP) applications such as Skype.

Connecting with others
This brings us to another advantage, a benefit that was largely lacking in traditional paper distance learning: that of connection. Unless you have registered for a particular course, you will learn as a member of a group. In the past, this group may have been invisible and communications with them infrequent. It was possible to feel like the only student in a class. Online learning has created the feeling of being a member of a class. A good online course format offers many opportunities for interaction with other people, both to discuss course content and perhaps in a more social sense. This promotes learning from others and gives you information about your own ideas.

Convenience
The attraction of distance learning via the Internet for many students is its convenience. Although you may have fixed hours for discussion activities and you almost certainly have assignment deadlines, it is likely that the flexibility will be much greater overall than in a classroom opposite. -face. If you can only access the course material during the lunch break or wait for the children to be asleep before logging in for the day, or if you do your best work at 6 am, no problem. The beauty of asynchronous discussions (those that take place via written messages and do not rely on everyone being online at once) is that you can tailor your participation to your own daily activities.

More engaging learning
Depending on your subject, distance learning today always involves reading texts, whether textbooks or online documents. However, teachers have many other options for presenting course materials and involving learners. They can include videos, podcasts or live chat sessions. You may contribute via a wiki (linked web pages, often written and edited by the entire group) or work with others on a multimedia presentation. A distance course using the full power of the Internet is rarely boring!