CECS6100 - Week 16

Until this course, I have never really had much of an interest in online education. I dont have any experience teaching online, but I do have somewhat extensive experience as a student. It was eye-opening to reflect and express my beliefs of online education. Also, reviewing the literature provided me with many new perspectives to which I can apply to both my academic studies and profession as an educator.

Online, and distance, education is the future of education. The many benefits afforded by this method outweigh the negatives. And with current research, technologists are quickly creating solutions to the few issues that do exist. The current educational paradigm of students inhabiting classrooms for the majority of their childhood, will shift as costs of maintaining facilities rises and technology improves to the point where distance education is a suitable substitute. I believe a hybrid learning environment will prove to be the most effective. Instruction and discussion will take place online, where appropriate, while students will also meet within small learning communities to ensure the social aspect of learning. Learning analytic software will determine the progression of student and will individualize instruction to them.

I really liked the direction I explored in my task 2 & 3 papers: transitioning design education online. I am passionate about design education and have always been intrigued as to the very analog instructional methods, particularly the tools used for craft and instruction. It was interesting to review the literature regarding the subject and to postulate a method to efficiently transition design education into an online format.