How Is Technology Affecting Education - Essay Example

Inserts His/her Inserts Inserts Grade (30, 11, How is Technology affecting Education? Introduction The rise and evolution of technology has contributed significant changes in many different fields, and education is one of them. Education has been completely transformed today and much of this can be owed to the increase in technology. Possibly the most valuable contribution of technology to education is distant learning. Technology has today allowed people living all over the world to study together in different courses. Distant learning has also opened avenues for quality education for a wide range of people and has eliminated the restrictions posed by geographical distances. Some argue that distant learning programs compromise on quality of education and are not successful in imparting communication skills, but this criticism is not true and is based on misconceptions. All this is today possible because of the increasing use of technology in the field of education. In this paper, arguments will be made in favor of distant learning programs and misconceptions regarding such programs will be removed. Quality of education is not compromised in distant learning because technology has made geographical distances unimportant and therefore everything that is offered by on campus programs is offered in distant learning programs. Distant Learning Distant learning involves combining technology with education in such a way that learner is able to acquire education even though the learner and educator is separated by large geographical distances (Honeyman & Miller, 67). Distant learning allows people to get education and complete courses when they cannot physically be present on campus. This allows a wide range of students to take courses, usually online. Many people who are juggling jobs cannot take out time for formal education and therefore these people turn to distant learning programs. Arguments against Distant Learning Although there are many advantages of distant learning, some argue that there are serious weaknesses in distant learning programs. People argue that distant learning program cannot substitute traditional education. In this section, arguments given against distant learning programs will be discussed. First argument made against distant learning is that the quality of education is compromised in distant learning and students who graduate with distant learning programs are not equal to students who graduate with traditional degree programs. People argue that because in distant learning there is less interaction between the students and the teachers, it is not possible to impart all the necessary knowledge to students. Quality is also compromised because a wide range of students can be admitted in such programs. All these issues affect the quality of education in distant learning programs and therefore they are no substitute to traditional on campus learning programs. Quality of education is also said to be affected because of teachers are not able to understand students due to lack of contact and therefore quality of education imparted is adversely affected. One of the main disadvantages of distant learning is that there is a significant distance between students and teachers, and therefore understanding each other’s need might be a problem. This is why it is argued that distant learning programs affect the quality of education. Because students are not able to regularly interact with teachers, they are not able to achieve the desired level of excellence. Another common argument made against distant learning is that there exist many communication issues with distant learning, and students are not able to learn verbal communication skills (Cowan, 1). This argument is made commonly and is perceived to be true by a wide range of people because verbal communication is something that is not usually a part of distant learning programs. Technology has made verbal communication unimportant but it remains an important part of education. This divide between verbal communication and distant learning is forwarded as an argument against distant learning. Verbal communication skills are not imparted in distant learning and therefore distant learning programs are not quality wise equal to traditional on campus programs. Arguments in Favor of Distant Learning In this section, arguments in favor of distant learning will be discussed in this section. Arguments made against distant learning will also be replied in this section. Firstly, distant learning programs allow students who do not have proper time to attend on campus classes an opportunity to get education. This is a great advantage of distant learning and therefore distant learning programs are playing a great role in making education available to people who could not previously think of getting educated. Also a great amount of international students are taking advantage of distant learning programs (Lipsett, 1). These programs allow them to save a significant amount of time and therefore distant learning programs are helping in imparting education. Distant learning programs significantly save costs of education for international student. This is one of the biggest advantages of distant learning programs. Distant learning is evolving the education industry as we know it. It is opening new avenues of education for students who were previously not able to get quality education. People of all ages, irrespective of their physical location are able to acquire education through distant learning programs. This is not a benefit that was previously available to people and it has only been possible because of the availability of distant learning programs. Another major advantage of distant learning programs is that disable people who cannot travel to universities for their classes can get quality education at home without travelling to universities. Distant learning programs are actually helping those who couldn’t get quality education before at affordable rates, and this is forwarded as an argument in favor of distant learning programs. The arguments made against distant learning programs are based on misconceptions. People usually don’t understand how distant learning programs work and therefore are quick to think of them as of low quality. Distant learning programs are not of low quality because they have everything that traditional on campus programs have to offer. Distant learning programs have not compromised the value of education because there are no big differences in students who get formal education and students who receive education from distant learning programs. This is evident from the fact that people don’t find any issues in their job search because of degrees that are obtained from distant learning programs (Burnsed, 1). This is why distant learning programs cannot be regarded as programs of inferior quality of education. Quality of education imparted is also not affected because of the level of technology that is available today. Students can go online and study like they do in traditional on campus programs. They can interact with other students and teachers, and can also have a face to face conversation of Skype. All these features have made distant learning programs very similar to traditional on campus programs (Valentine, 1). Also the concerns raised regarding verbal communication skills are no very valid because there are specialized language programs that are offered by universities as distant learning programs. If students can learn languages while sitting at home then they can definitely improve their verbal communication skills through distant learning programs. Also technology has made it possible for students to interact using videos and therefore verbal communication skills can also be imparted using distant learning programs. Conclusion Distant learning programs have made it possible for students to get education without considering physical distances. Distant learning programs play a great role in imparting education to students regardless of their physical location and therefore they are benefitting a large number of people. Arguments made against distant learning programs are based on misconceptions and are not valid. Work Cited Page Burnsed, Brian. Online Degrees Dont Impede Job Searches. USA News, 2010. Web. http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2010/03/29/online-degrees-dont-impede-job-searches Cowan, John. The advantages and disadvantages of distance education. In R. Howard & I. McGrath, Distance education for language teachers: A UK perspective, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1995. Print Honeyman, M. & Miller, G. Agriculture distance education: A valid alternative for higher education? Proceedings of the 20th Annual National Agricultural Education Research Meeting, 1993, 67-73. Print Lipsett, Anthea. British degrees exported to overseas students. The Guardian UK, 2009. Web. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/apr/16/overseas-students-british-degrees Valentine, Doug. Distance Learning: Promises, Problems, and Possibilities. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Vol.5, No 3, 2002. Web. http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall53/valentine53.html Read More