Neil Postman's perspective on distance education

Education

Postman's Viewpoint

Carefully reflect upon Neil Postman's viewpoint about the future of distance education.

Postman's view on distance education deals with technology and how society deals with it. His point is well taken, as our current society is so madly infatuated with technology that it permeates just about every aspect of our lives, from phones and iPods to the Internet and Wii. His point about "A bargain is struck in which technology giveth and it taketh away" is exceedingly relevant to society and to distance education. Today, we have the technology to create virtual classrooms and instruction just about wherever we want to, but is the instructional design keeping up with this technology, and is it creating better, more innovative classes for the students? In many cases, no. Instructional design is often the last thing to change in distance education, and in a system that has been modeled on physical development of print courses for so long, it is one of the most difficult things to understand and change when it comes to distance education.

However, Postman's idea that dramatic technological changes are not impressive or joyful seems a bit cynical, to say the least. In fact, technological change has made it possible to create many new forms of distance education, and has brought the entire idea of correspondence schools to a totally different level. This serves the students in many ways, making it much easier to gain a quality education, but it serves the institutions, too. They do not have to invest in brick and mortal buildings to house students and their classes. Instead, they can invest in servers, designers, and instructors to develop online courses for Internet delivery. They can put more money into education, and less into buildings, maintenance, parking, and the many other items that can drain institution budgets seemingly overnight. They can invest more in the quality of the education and the educational delivery, and less on items like utilities, grounds, and even mail delivery. A totally digital institution is completely possible, and there are many online already. It is no longer necessary to attend a class in person, but instead attendance is online at the student's convenience, and that means it is much more possible for students to get an education and support an institution at the same time. Thus, technology has revolutionized education, and has made it much more possible for everyone to attend a university or other school, and that is certainly something to celebrate, rather than grumble about.

It is certainly true that every culture must deal with technology in their own way. Americans have embraced technology, and it makes sense that it would spread to education. Today's young people are a familiar with technological devices as they are with their own families, and this makes them ideal candidates for more distance education in the future. They are already whizzes at texting, camera photography, and video games, so developing additional methods of delivery and training will be extremely attractive to them in the future. It is also a very safe bet that new forms of delivery will continue to develop, increasing the need for trained staff and designers in distance education in the future. All of this is certainly positive for the future of distance education, rather than something to dread or to downplay.