Distance learning: It’s NOT about the technology!

The phrase “distance and blended learning” is sometimes used as a synonym for “online instruction” or classes delivered over the Internet. While it is true that the web is the predominant delivery medium, we must not let the medium be the message. Sure, as McLuhan postulated, the medium (the Internet in this context) has become pervasive in modern society.

The Internet has changed the way people think, the relationship between generations, and the availability of instruction. However, it is the learning that matters.

… it is the learning that matters.

As Ruth Colvin Clark and others have found, the interaction with modern technology presents challenges to student cognitive load that must be considered when designing effective online courses. David Jonassen and others have found that technology enables a different type of social constructivism than might be found in a face-to-face classroom.

But in the end, just as in the traditional classroom, it is the quality of the relationships among the professor, the content, and the student which affects learning. As in the on-ground class, the professor presence establishes the atmosphere in which the learner may interact with the content and other learners.