Jennifer Blackwell OMDE 601 Section 9042 September 23, 2013 Essay Assignment #1 Defining Distance Education The

term distance education is not a new term; in fact, distance education has been around since approximately 1840 with the introduction of correspondence education (Schulte, 2011). Even considering its lengthy existence, distance education can be difficult to define as there are many definitions and alternate terms used to describe distance education. Some such terms are e-learning, distance learning, distributed learning, or online education (Meyer, 2009). According to Meyer (2009, p. 11), there is some clarity [needed] in the terms used There does not appear to be a common definition or a common term used when discussing this topic, which tends to add to the ambiguousness of the subject and creates confusion. However, a shift towards using the term distance education, as opposed to other various terms, became apparent in the early 1980s (Schulte, 2011). I have read several definitions for distance education; however, the definition that most closely matches that of my own would have to be the definition provided by Moore and Kearsley. Moore and Kearsley (2012, p. 2) defined distance education as teaching and planned learning in which teaching normally occurs in a different place from learning, requiring communication through technologies as well as special institutional organization. The authors provide a thorough rationale regarding why distance education is the appropriate term to be used for the subject at hand and they further break down the definition calling special attention to the fact that education involves both teaching and learning.

The definition provided by Moore and Kearsley (2012) indicates that learning is planned. The term planned is key here in that learning is intentional and is strategized in a way to help the student to gain an understanding of the material being presented by the instructor or teacher (Moore & Kearsley, 2012). Many other definitions and terms speak only to the learning side of education with no regard for the teaching and two-way communication which must occur in order for education to be possible. According to Schulte (2011), as distance education has grown in popularity and availability, the definition of distance education has also changed throughout the years. One of the reasons I prefer the definition provided by Moore and Kearsley is because while distance education will continue to evolve, the definition they have provided is one that will remain apt for describing the field; it is broad enough to remain appropriate regardless of the future direction of distance education. For example, distance education relies on a number of technologies to offer learning and services to students (Meyer, 2009, p. 12), and while the specific types of technology will continue to change throughout the years, the fact remains that technology of some sort will be used to send and receive information. While there are many definitions and terms used to describe distance education, one commonality has appeared in each definition that Ive read the fact that learning is occurring over a geographical distance and that this distance is bridged through the use of technology (Schulte, 2011). Further, there seems to be a common understanding of the evolution of distance education from its low tech beginnings with correspondence study to its rather high tech existence today (Schulte, 2011). There are many complex definitions used to define distance education; however, I found that the definition provided by Moore and Kearsley was simple and yet quite accurate.

References: Meyer, K. A. (2009). New definitions for new higher education institutions. New Directions for Higher Education, (146), 11-15. doi:10.1002/he.341 Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (2012). Distance education: A systems view of online learning. USA: Wadsworth-Cengage Learning Schulte, M. (2011). The foundations of technology distance education: A review of the literature to 2001. Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 59(1), 34-44