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The Success of Quality Distance Education*
Open and distance teaching and learning, virtual learning, teaching
on-line via the Internet or the web, distance training, distributed
learning and other various terms used to refer to the variants and dimensions
of distance education, are today indispensable tools for education in
general, professional training and re-training, continuing education
and cultural promotion at different levels, professional areas, subjects
or economic and social sectors. It is not a stretch to say that one
can obtain knowledge and competencies via this modality that has at
least as much quality as one would find using more traditional methods
of education.
Institutions, organizations and businesses can, using this modality,
offer courses and programs adapted to current demands and to very
different sectors, areas, disciplines, environments, levels and learning
styles and that are directed at populations that may reside in disperse
geographic regions.
Those students who are actively working can pursue their studies
at their own work places or homes without the rigid requirements of
time and space or learning rates that traditional learning requires.
Unlike ordinary on-site training, these students can place themselves
at the center of the learning process and become active recipients
of their own training.
Along with the advantages of independent learning tailored to the
needs of each student, are the ways that learning with a partner,
in a group, or with peer tutoring strengthen the social construction
of knowledge.
To all the advantages of Internet-based technology, others could
be added, but suffice it to say that the future advantages, possibilities
and perspectives for distance learning are currently accepted and
highly regarded by prestigious research institutions, universities
and international programs.
However, studies of our own experiences reaffirm that the greatest
problems that this modality and its pedagogy face and that serve to
discredit some of its offerings, are those related to the improper
use of the design, resources, support and control of the various processes.
The search for quality in these processes, the fulfillment of good
practices in distance education can be guaranteed to a large degree
when the designers, authors of materials, software developers, teachers,
tutors, evaluators, technicians, auxiliary personnel, managers, etc.,
of these courses, programs or institutions, possess the necessary
qualifications. That is, the rare instance of failure of these projects,
designed for whatever area or sector, can be traced to the belief
that technology by itself can guarantee developmental success. No
one thinks of piloting a plane (because of the advanced technology
that it requires) or being a part of its crew, without having received
adequate training. No one, likewise, should “pilot” a distance learning
course, program, or institution if they have not been adequately trained
in advance.?
Dr. Lorenzo García Aretio
Guest Editor
Rector of the UNESCO Chair of Distance Education
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)
*The
ideas, thoughts, and opinions expressed are not necessarily of the OAS nor of
its member states. The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors.
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