Distance Learning: The Personal Interaction Misconception


by Michael Cockson - Date: 2010-08-20 - Word Count: 290 Share This!

The main argument usually used against distance learning is the lack of interactivity. People refer to the benefits of personal communication between a student and a tutor as one of the main advantages of traditional education. Accordingly, the assumed absence of such communication is used as the burning issue considering the distance learning. The present article, nevertheless, provides a different point of view, stating that distance learning might surpass traditional education in terms of the opportunities for interactions between an instructor and students.

Traditional Learning

It should be stated that the opportunities for interactivity which are ascribed to traditional education are largely overrated. In large groups with more than a hundred students in the lecture, the possibility for personal interaction is not so easy to achieve. If more than 30 students have questions regarding the content of a lecture, it is doubtful that the instructor will have an opportunity to answer all questions.

Distance Learning

The current developments in the sector of communication and information technology resulted in the interactivity surpassed those of distance learning. Accordingly, such developments led to interactivity that can be seen as an advantage of distance learning. Every student enrolled in distance learning has an opportunity to be in contact with the instructor. Any consultation on issues related to the content of the course or the lecture is possible and appropriate. The means to achieve the latter far surpass those implied in traditional education, using online conferences, chats, instant messaging programs, emails, and telephone communications. Comparing distance and traditional learning, it can be stated that such diversity of options are absent in traditional education. Additionally, considering that many students might feel shy asking the instructor in the lecture hall, distance learning might be a great opportunity for personal interaction.

Related Tags: communications, distance learning, online conference, traditional learning, personal interaction

Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: