The Next Generation of Distance Education

The historical correspondence school and being a detective online (Laureate Education, 2013) marked the early wave of distance education.  The European open distance education, 50 years ago, has pioneered the notion of distance learning to include distance teaching and learning.  The Internet, World Wide Web, and open source software have fueled distance education to allow learners to content, to learners, and to instructors interactions, as well as collaborative learning and community and assessment centered principles (Anderson, 2011).  The use of web applications (mashups) promotes collaboration networking and contributes to the use of the principles of connectivism in an online environment (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009) and other forms of content creation (Huett, Moller, Foshay, & Coleman, 2008) for individuals’ scholarship.

Many scholars postulated the need to evolve distance education to the next generation (Huett et al., 2008; Moller et al., 2008a; Moller et al., 200b).  Indeed, current research show mobile technologies contribute to the creation of diverse learning contexts, increase interactions between learners and instructors, and have the potential to overcome the transactional distance divide, in distance education (Fuegen, 2012; Paik, 2011).  Through eclectic learning theories of equivalency theory (Simon, 2013), behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism (Simonson et al., 2009), and the use of connective principles to content and problem-based learning, distance learners ground their erudition in theoretical approaches to learning, generate knowledge, build communities of practice, excel in authentic assessment, benefit from learner-centered contexts, and (Anderson, 2011; Fuegen, 2012). 

The contribution of effective online course design (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008a) that influences the learners’ success, and mobile and communication technologies positively impact distance learning, enable individuals to make distance learning a popular choice for their continuing professional education, mid-career degree programs, and lifelong learning of all kinds (Fuegen, 2012). Moreover, distance education records a wide recognition and many high schools, colleges, universities, training environment, businesses, and cooperation are adopting the new model (distance education) for economic, viability, and competitive reasons (Fuegen, 2012; Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008a) without replacing the traditional schools. The valuable and flexible options for both student and instructor population (Fuegen, 2012) spur the influx of various entities adopting distance education and create the new paradigm nearing the critical mass to simulate Roger’s (2013) innovative S-shaped curve for the trend (Laureate Education, 2013).  From all the peer-reviewed article, like Moller, Huett, Foshay and Coleman, and Simonson, I emphatically could say it is imperative to evolve and nurture distance education to the next generation.
References
Fuegen, S.  (2012).  The impact of mobile technologies on distance education.  Tectrends
Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. R., & Coleman, C. (2008).  The evolution of distance education:  Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web.  Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 52(5), 63-67.  doi: 10.1007/s11528-008-0199-9
Moller, L., Foshay, W. R., & Huett, J. (2008b).  The Evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web.  Techtrends:  Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 52(4), 66-70.  doi: 10.1007/s11528-008-0179-0
Moller, L., Forshay, W. R., & Huett, J. (2008a).  The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web.  Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 52(3), 70-75.  doi: 10.1007/s11528-008-0158-5
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009).  Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.).  Boston, MA:  Pearson.