Distance Learning Approach in Engineering Pluses and Minuses - Essay Example

The article under consideration is titled “Distance Learning Approach in Engineering – Pluses and Minuses”. It was written by Adeel Khalid and published in the Journal of Engineering and Architecture in 2014. The gist of the article is discussion of possible advantages and disadvantages of online education which are concluded on the basis of both scientific literature and author’s personal experience. I decided to choose the given article because, in my opinion, it brings to the discussion an important and current issue since although it is recognized that distance learning gives the great variety of opportunities, this method is still under the process of development. Subsequently, investigating its various aspects and increasing public awareness of the potential of this method is a step towards raising general acceptance of distance learning. Also, it briefly mentions implications of distance learning for engineering students to which I belong. As a whole, the article is logically built, written in a comprehensive manner, informative, and properly grounded. According to Khalid, distance learning is still in its infancy, but it is valued due to allowing students and a teacher to stay in touch and productively work while being separated by long distances. Students can easily communicate with each other, form communities and share knowledge, engaging in open and meaningful discourse. However, in order to be effective in an online environment instructor and students should possess certain skills. In general, advantages of distance learning include the opportunity to participate in a learning process at any time, schedule flexibility and possibility to reuse lectures and modules by means of creating archives. Yet, the most important, according to the author, is the opportunity to simultaneously teach great numbers of students from different parts of the world. In contrast, the author agrees that there is still a list of limitations of distance learning conditioned by peculiarities of certain disciplines. Namely, courses in biology, chemistry, engineering that presuppose many workshops are more effective in the campus environment. Among other disadvantages is mentioned lack of face-to-face communication and meaningful university experience and increased requirements for preparation for instructors. At the end of the paper several recommendations according to which an online course can be offered to students are provided. In general, the article is based on author’s experience of teaching students while travelling, so he persuades that although the methods and techniques of distance learning are developing, in the future all its cons will be eliminated and it will become a useful substitution for ordinary classes. “Distance Learning Approach in Engineering – Pluses and Minuses” presents a logically built article that informs readers about the issue in a comprehensive manner. To start with, the strong point of the article is that it starts with the abstract which makes readers acquainted with the issue being raised and prepares them for perceiving the information. It is rather long but manages to grasp concisely all the points that are to be covered in the article. Further, the author starts discussion by providing the background information regarding the topic, such as the current status of distance learning method, its opportunities, possible issues and implications as well as makes references to other authors who expressed their opinion on distance learning. In this way, by the time of turning to the actual discussion of pros and cons of distance learning, readers have already made an insight into the topic. It is also important that the article is written in a comprehensive language and is easy to understand. The choice of a language as well as the manner of expressing ideas are relaxed and clear. The article contains no specific terminology, abbreviations, or references to theories that could complicate its understanding. In contrast, it is obvious that the article is aimed at general public and persons engaged in teaching process alike. In addition, the ease of article comprehension is also enhanced by subtitles that logically divide blocks of information accordingly to the content. Apart from that, the article is properly grounded, in a way that makes author’s point of view plausible. Firstly, Khalid makes justifiable statements that are based not only on subjective assumptions, but on scientific literature as well. From one side, it is explained that much of the material of the article comes from author’s personal experience as a professor after he tried to travel and teach students simultaneously. The following adds to the plausibility of the article in two ways: firstly, a reader knows that the information is taken from practice rather than invented; secondly, the personality of a professor is perceived as worth believing. From another side, Khalid engages conclusions of other authors into discussion that either back up claims made by him or help to better understand a point. For example, while explaining way in which class material and learning plan can be adjusted to the requirements and peculiarities of online education, mentions Edgar Dale’s Cone of Learning that addresses audio-visual methods in education. As a result, a reader approaches to understanding the way distance learning can be effectively built. Also, when making assumptions the author resorts to valid scientific literature, such as when explaining that that the most common portrait of a distance learner is an adult who combines education with other activities and work and who can be characterized by autonomy, independence and self-motivation, and flexibility. Moreover, the article looks objective and does not contain any aggressive techniques of persuasion, but rather aimed at encouraging readers to regard distance learning as a possible alternative to conventional classes. An important point, in this context, is the inclusion of two opposite sides, advantages and disadvantages, into discussion. This shows that the author is aware of both possible weaknesses and strengths of online education and, therefore, is competent enough to be listened to. It also makes the article more profound and prevents it from being one-sided. It appears that by accurate evaluation of both sides, Khalid acknowledges that cons of distance learning are present, but they are amendable. As a whole, I find “Distance Learning Approach in Engineering – Pluses and Minuses” interesting and quite informative. It touches upon current issue and is written in a comprehensive and plausible manner. Moreover, judgments look sound as far as they are logical and stem from evidences. The only minus which came to my mind is the absence of qualitative and quantitative data from research that could be useful to uncover such aspects of distance learning as the changing scale of students preferring distance learning, their age, occupation, etc. However, it does not undermine the quality of the artcle in general. Works cited Khalid, Adeel. "Distance Learning Approach in Engineering – Pluses and Minuses." Journal of Engineering and Architecture. 2.1 (2014): 1-15. Print. . Read More