Posts Tagged e learning

Special Education Inclusion

Special education inclusion signifies the participation of special education students in regular education classrooms and provision of support services to these students. The main objective of inclusion education is that all students in a school, regardless of their strengths and their weaknesses in any area, become part of the school community. Every student develops a feeling of belonging with other students, teachers, and support staff. In segregated special education, children will not learn how to function in a non-disabled world. For instance, children who are disabled in terms of communication and are emotionally distressed would not communicate and might remain in a more emotionally disturbed state in segregated settings. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) holds it mandatory for schools to educate children with disabilities in general education classrooms.

The prime advantage of special education inclusion is that both disabled and non-disabled students are brought together in an environment of togetherness. Children learn to accept individual differences in inclusion education and this would lead to the development of new friendly relationships. Inclusion education also enables active participation of parents in their child’s education. The law also states that students with disabilities have a legal right to attend regular classes and receive an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. Although the advantages are many, inclusion education creates an uncertainty regarding the roles and responsibilities of regular classroom teachers and special education teachers. However, researches show that inclusion education can be made effective by a healthy collaboration of special education teachers and regular teachers. With the assistance of services that would be available from the health department, physical education department, occupational therapists, speech therapists, etc., the school administration can aid the teachers to develop active lesson plans for inclusion education. Thus schools can create a cooperative learning environment and promote socialization.

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Is Distance Education Right for You

Distance education is seen both as a way to offer more equitable distribution of educational resources to special populations of students, and as a way to make instruction more cost-effective by sharing teachers and instructional materials. Distance education is a newer term for correspondence courses, which arose from the need to provide schooling to students in remote, sparsely populated areas that could not support a school. Distance education is the current hot topic for educators in all fields, including second and foreign language, and it was the focus of the CALL-IS academic session and other panels this year at the international TESOL convention. Distance education is often used to enhance the quality of traditional primary and secondary schooling and to deliver instruction to students in remote rural areas.

Teaching

As the National Science Foundation (NSF) provided access for universities to the Internet, educators gained a powerful means for teaching and learning, which was radically different with previous electronic media. As we look today, educators can define and design effective and robust teaching and learning systems that would be responsive to the needs of student communities close and afar. In addition, institutions with 10+ years experience used satellite and videotape delivery more often, paid for faculty release time for DE teaching, and paid for a DE teaching assistant. According to these respondents, institutions compensate faculty more to develop distance learning courses than to teach them, in spite of anecdotes from faculty that teaching a DE course requires a lot more time and energy than traditional face-to-face courses.

Courses

Courses are delivered though a combination of printed texts and both live and prerecorded television broadcasts, with communication between faculty and students facilitated by computers. Enhanced streaming video and broadband delivery will change the face of distance education once again, as web-based interactive communication changed paper-based correspondence courses. One hundred and thirty respondents (61%) indicated their institutions have a maximum enrollment level for DE courses. Given the fact that more institutions are moving toward offering distance courses for many reasons including accreditation demands, a systematic evaluation is needed on whether DE is truly more time intensive.

Conclusion

Distance education is becoming more accepted by academia and the public. Distance education is not prevalent among elementary students but distance learning as a supplemental program has been successful implemented by pioneers. Currently, distance education is structured mostly for graduate-level and professional students. A critically important component of distance education is multimedia, in particular streaming media and Web-enabled DVDs. Distance education is undergoing enormous change, and not all the pieces are in place yet.

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Definition of Distance Education

Distance education is oftentimes referred to as “Distance Learning” as well, and is simply defined as “a field of education focusing on the andragogy and pedagogy, instructional systems, and technology which endeavor to deliver an education to students who are not physically in a classroom or campus setting.” In its simplest terms, it means earning a degree online.

The use of electronic (i.e. computers) and printed media enable the student to pursue their education without attending classes on a college or university campus. They are enabled to communicate and study at the times they select, through various technologies that allow them to interact in real time and through many different ways using the internet.

Additionally, distance education courses do not require any physical presence on-site for reasons inclusive of taking examinations that are considered to be blended or hybrid courses of study.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Education

Naturally, there are advantages and disadvantages to distance education degree programs. However, contrary to varied beliefs and opinions, the distance education advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

The Advantages of distance learning are:

  1. Distance learning requires no commuting – therefore saving you money and time
  2. You complete most of the classes at your own pace – no pressure
  3. You can live anywhere in the world, study from anywhere in the world, and pursue your choice of distance education course studies
  4. Gain extra knowledge while you are learning – taking those computer and internet skills you gain and then applying them to other facets of your life
  5. The self-paced learning environment can be taken advantage of by the quickest or the slowest of learners – increases the satisfaction level while reducing stress in the process
  6. Accessibility factors – distance education courses address the physical accessibility issues that people with mobility problems oftentimes encounter while being enrolled in the traditional on-campus classes

Unfortunately, you can’t discuss the advantages of distance education without covering the disadvantages. These disadvantages are the following:

7. Sometimes the technology is complex and costly – despite the numerous opportunities of distance education, there are always accompanying costs

8. Advance planning is necessary – both the instructors and the students oftentimes need to make sacrifices scheduling the times to get things done

9Beware of hidden costs – If you’re in naval branch of the military for example, and you are out at sea, how do you receive your study materials?

  1. Distance learning does not offer immediate feedback – in the traditional classroom setting, the student’s performance is immediately assessed, whereas with distance education, the student has to wait for feedback while the instructor is reviewing their work
  2. Distance learning does not always offer all the necessary courses online – students pursuing specific certificates or degrees may not be afforded all the necessary courses that are available through distance education programs so some programs are not suited for all course of study.
  3. Distance learning may not be acknowledged by all employers – granted, most employers will acknowledge distance education, but there are some who don’t
  4. Distance learning does not give students the opportunity to work on oral communication skills – students in distance education courses do not always get to engage in verbal interaction with fellow students and professors
  5. Social isolation – more often than not, you study alone and distance education students oftentimes feel isolated and miss the social interaction that accompanies the traditional classroom on campus
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