Week 1 My comments on Scott's blog.

EMDT Scott

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

LMO Wk 1 Blog 1

Honestly, I am not at all surprised that our readings this week trace the origins of distance learning back almost 300 years. More importantly, I think it is critical that supporters of distance learning programs reiterate this fact in light of the many recent criticisms which have been brought to bear on VLEs within the last several months.

I think the social nature of humanity is ingrained deep within our beings. For millennia, we have communicated with each other and passed down information through oral history, hieroglyphics, pictographs, stone tablets, and virtually every other medium discovered. Furthermore, communication and negotiation between peoples is vital to the stability of any civilized community.


Scott,

I certainly agree that many of my colleagues seem skeptical about online education. Even my administrator tried to talk me into looking into a program at Georgia State (since she is currently pursuing an additional advanced degree there). I did actually look in to their programs, but my reason for choosing Full Sail was not because it is online, but because I was interested in the particular line of courses that comprise this program. I would have been interested in taking these courses even if a degree program wasn't in place.

After nine complete months with the program, I am a strong and vocal advocate of both online/distance education in general, and Full Sail in particular. I do realize that an online program's effectiveness depends on many factors, not least of which is the VLE.