Week 12: Distance Education

Distance education focuses on the pedagogy and adragogy technology and instructional systems design that aims to deliver education to students who are not physically on site. It is also referred to as distance learning. The concept dates back to 1728 when the University of London offered distance education degrees. Today there are many non-profit and for profit educational programs offering degrees to students through distance learning. Almost 3.2 million US students were taking an online class in the Fall 2005 term. There are five types of Distance Education: Correspondence, Internet, Telecourse, CD-ROM and Mobile Learning.

The advantages of Distance Education are that you can work at your own pace, and continue your education while working or pursuing outside interests. It increases contact to materials that might not be available unless they are offered over the internet. Some of the downsides are costs and security.

Distance educating benefits advertising professionals because the field is always changing. Professionals who work 40 hours or more a week might not be able to make it to a brick and mortor site for class. With the so many advances and changes in communication; distance learning allows for professionals to stay up to date with what is going on in the advertising field.

Click here to view a testimonial from a busy professional about her experience with distance learning. This provides support for what I mentioned earlier about the advertising professionals that might not be able to go to a physical classroom to take courses but are interested in staying competitive in their field. I found the testimonial interesting and enjoyed seeing how much distance learning can impact someones life.