Pro's of distant learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pro's of distant learning - Essay Example eo conferencing, and virtual mode) has been a mechanism that has been used to reach out into communities where individuals want to obtain an education but has not been necessarily easy to obtain using the traditional classroom setting. It has been geared to reach individuals that are at a distance and want to study but are not physically at the university campus and its surroundings and/or do not have time to take these courses using the traditional classroom setting. In today ´s day and age of information technology, distant education continues to exist and many more higher education institutions are offering these non-traditional courses. Information Technology is here to stay. There are different paradigms that are used by institutions of higher education (synchronous/asynchronous). There are forums where the students and the assessor discuss topics, ask questions, and make comments. This type of communication opened infinite possibilities in making distant education accessible to all of those individuals who want to obtain higher education recognition (diploma/degree). The visual mode within distant learning is a powerful asset. You not only communicate by writing and in some instances sound is included, but by having the visual mode incorporated into this virtual paradigm augments the possibilities given the different learning styles. According to Veenema & Gardner (1996) interactive technology could become a valuable tool in education if it takes into consideration how the human mind works. These authors stated that â€Å"†¦cognitivists argue that individuals do not just react to or perform in the world; they possess minds, and these minds contain mental representations-images, schemes, pictures, frames, languages, ideas†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 70) They emphasized that some mental representations that individuals have are that they are born with them or are formed at an early age, have proven to be enduring but that others are created, transformed or dissolved over time