Distance Learning

Distance learning can also be defined as asynchronous learning. Distance and asynchronous learning is for students who want to study from home or abroad. Massive open online courses are being offered on the internet, providing inter-active participation between students and lecturers. Distance learning has become popular, by virtual schools and universities offering their curriculum and course materials online. 
Distance learning utilizes interactive radio instruction (IRI), interactive audio instruction (IAI), online virtual worlds, webinars, e-mails and webcasts, all of which are referred to as e-Learning.  Many online and open schools and universities use a “self-paced delivery” which allows for learners to accomplish the completion of the course in accordance with their time, skill and commitment levels. In addition, the benefits of distance education is, it allows for a flexible scheduling structure, minimizing time constraints which may be imposed by personal responsibilities, or if an individual is working and studying simultaneously. 
Distance learning minimizes the need for institutional buildings and infrastructure. Distance education has been a more cost-effective form of learning, and can sometimes save students a significant amount of money as opposed to traditional education. And lastly by being involved in global institutions, the learner is able to communicate with a variety of individuals who contain different backgrounds which could positively impact on their learning process, as they are able to combine new opinions with their own. 
The disadvantages of distance learning are that it could provide obstacles such as distractions due to the lack of discipline that traditional education provides. The lack of reliable technology could negatively impact a learners learning process. The lack of advanced technology skills can lead to an unsuccessful experience. And lastly, students become comfortable with communicating online, but however find it difficult to socialize in real life, which may negatively impact them.

Author :Devona Mudaly

Editor  : Zainab Bibi Mohammed

References:

Distance Education 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance_education 
[Accessed on 24 April 2016] [ONLINE]

Trends in distance education research 
[Accessed on 26 April 2016 [ONLINE] 
https://www.academia.edu/11056576/Trends_in_Distance_Education_Research_A_Content_Analysis_of_Journals_2009-2013

The Distance Education Accrediting Commission

www.deac.org/ [Accessed on 25 April 2016] [ONLINE]

Promotion Of Anywhere And Anytime Learning Via e-Learning

E-learning stands for electronic learning. This encompasses the collaboration of technology in the classroom but moreover in education as a whole. With e-learning an educator is able to deliver part or all of their lesson via the internet and the student then has access to it anytime and anywhere as long as they have a reliable internet connection.

It has not been easy trying to incorporate technology into the learning routines of learners. A number of challenges have risen such as the following:

• There is a lack of motivation on the part of students due to the fact they need to be have a drive in them that enables them to actually do the work.
• Contrary to popular belief that students need to be tech savvy in order for them to use the interfaces that come with e-learning, students actually just need to know they basics as they can be taught how to use the interfaces. The real work lies with the instructors. The instructors need to make the interfaces simple but meaningful.

With disadvantages and challenges comes benefits. The following are the benefits:

• It is cost and time effective.
• Students are able to track their progress and work on more exercises by themselves if they need help.
• It is more discreet thus making students more comfortable with regards to interacting with their teachers.
• Teachers are able to teach each student at different paces because they can deal with each students individually.

There have been a lot of discussions when it comes to e-learning as a whole because learning institutions are slowly moving away from paper-based learning to electronic learning for a number of reasons. This transition has brought about blended learning. Blended learning is the combination of technology and face-to-face teaching. In this way, the teacher still interacts with the students majority of the time.

Author : Kanyisa Kabane

Editor  : Tanki Mphatsoa

Bibliography:

https://sites.google.com/a/ccpsnet.net/anytime-anywhere-learning/i-m-a-parent/benefits

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/jun/19/technology-future-education-cloud-social-learning

http://elearningindustry.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-online-learning

http://elearningindustry.com/5-common-elearning-challenges-overcome

http://www.virtual-college.co.uk/elearning/elearning.aspx

How IT Can Make Learning Fun

It is important for learning to be made interesting because most learners tend to lose concentration if what they are being taught isn’t captivating. So how do we make the classroom interesting?

Information technology is the key to fun classrooms. Several professors who focus on visual literacy have conducted a study that proves that our brains store information in long term memory when we are shown the information as opposed to reading the information. Teachers can take advantage of this fact and apply the theory in the classroom. Videos are one way of making the most of this. They can be accessed on YouTube since almost any topic is covered there.  Alternatively, teachers can just make the videos themselves. Video games are fun and the good news is that they can also be educational, covering a variety of subjects. Social media is also a good tool when it comes to making learning fun. It provides platforms such as blogs and vlogs for students and teachers to interact outside the class room. Classroom participation is also a way of keeping learners interested, so introducing clickers is a good way of initiating participation, learners can answer clicker questions that way you can also tell what area they are lacking in. For the schools with little resources, simple power point presentations can be made more interesting by pictures that relate to the topic.

Thanks to information technology and these helpful hints the phrase “School is fun” will no longer be a myth.

Author : Tanki Mphatsoa

Editor  : Kanyisa Kabane

References:

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/11/04/how-the-power-of-interest-drives-learning/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_educational_video_games

http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/engaging-students-in-learning/teaching-with-technology-2/

http://www.gov.pe.ca/newsroom/index.php?number=1047927&lang=E

Access To Education For Disabled Children Through IT

Information technology has brought drastic changes in the life of disabled children. IT provides various applications and resources to educate children with disabilities.

Research shows that unless provided early with special training(using IT), people profoundly deaf from birth are incapable of learning to speak and that a delay in learning language may cause a child's academic progress to be slower than that of children who can hear.

The academic lag tends to be cumulative, so that a deaf adolescent may be four or more academic years behind his or her hearing peers.

Deaf children who receive early language stimulation through sign language and IT however generally achieve academically alongside their hearing peers.
So we can say these children have better access to education through IT.

This implies that the integration of IT in teaching is a central quality in the educational system, more especially for the disabled.

There are two equally important reasons for integrating IT in teaching. Pupils must become familiar with the use of IT, since almost all jobs in the society of the future will depend on it, and it must be used in teaching to make learning more effective especially for the disabled.
Thus we all have a better and equal access to education, all thanks to IT.

Author : Musa Rikhotso
Editor : Daryl Kekana

References:

1. Use of ICT in Teacher Education Article by MP Barodiya, 2015

2. Special Educational Needs and Disability: The Basics by Janice Wearmouth, Chapter 1

3. Deaf-blind infants and Children: A Developmental Guide by John M Mcinnes, Jacquelyn A Treffry Chapter 1.

4. Neuroplasticity. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity [Accessed 24 Apr. 2016]