Education Media Options Do the

Education Media Options Do the explanations in the article, "Media Options" apply in the distance education programs you know about? Yes, the explanations about time, cost, and quality certainly do apply in the distance education programs I am familiar with and understand. Studying just about any institution's distance learning options can show a huge variety of options, from homegrown HTML applications to some of the biggest, like Blackboard, WebCT, or Dreamweaver, and a huge variety in quality, too.

It is easy to see that many universities, especially early in the online learning phenomenon, simply thought they could put their print and classroom syllabi online and create an instant online learning application, but of course, that is not the case. Studies have long indicated that students learn differently online than they do in class, and so, online learning has to alter itself to be drastically differently than classroom or distance learning techniques.

I think most administrators and instructors do not understand this, or drastically underestimate just how different the classes must be, and how much development goes into those classes. Even when using a ready-made application, such as WebCT, there is a learning curve for the instructor to know and understand all the abilities of the software, and there is certainly programming and it time involved to monitor, install, and maintain the software.

There is also time to be spent in revision and updating, which is key to online learning classes, as they are often much more timely than other classes and must reflect very immediate concerns and questions. Another aspect of online learning that may escape many administrators is the time spent in actually instructing the classes. Many people think the students simply take tests and post their lessons online, leaving less for the professor to deal with instructionally.

However, most online classes now include forums and message boards where students post questions, discussions and opinions, and someone must monitor those boards as well, because students expect immediate answers today, and immediate response. Thus, an instructor and his or her assistants may actually spend more time with an online class, and it seems many instructors and administrators simply do not understand that concept before they begin designing and programming an online class.

I believe that many people who are still unfamiliar with online programming and development also misjudge the time it takes to create a class and upload it to the Web. Many may be at least a little familiar with old HTML techniques, and unfamiliar with newer programming, like Java and XL, that require a lot more programming knowledge and understanding, and most classes today need sophisticated programming techniques to keep much more Internet-savvy students interested in the content and the course.

An old-fashioned basic HTML course might be good for older students, but for young, college-age students, the programming and design need to capture their attention, like.