Instructional Design: My Future

While asynchronous online learning is relatively new, distance education has a long history. The first reference to distance education was correspondence courses (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009). In these correspondence courses, learners were sent information and assessments. Then, after the work was completed the information was sent back for evaluation. While these courses still exist today, the more popular distance education is online learning. In the same way that this progression has happened, new distance education technologies will emerge in the future. With each new introduction, the perception of distance education will change. The job of instructional designers will be to make sure that perception continually changes for the better.
Currently, the perception of distance education is mixed. Those who learned in a traditional learning environment may be hesitant to join a distance learning class. These learners may be concerned that the education will not be equivalent to a traditional classroom. These concerns center on the idea that education becomes accessible for all, which makes some concerned that the quality of education will decrease (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009). If the instructional design of a course is good, the learners do not need to worry about the education not being equal. In fact, especially in the American culture, instructional designers try to use the equivalency theory, which says students can get an equal education to those in a traditional classroom. Another felt concern is that those who have been out of school for a long time may be worried about the workload or the technology (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008). Again, these learners do not need to be concerned. As long as they have access to the technology, an excellently designed class will help those students become familiar with the technology. Any concern that can be uncovered, the solution can be found in a well-designed program.
Some people realize the benefits of distance education, and some see the idea of distance education is a prosperous one. Distance education allows anyone to learn at anytime and anywhere, which will allow them to continue their education while continue their career (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2009). Also, companies find distance education to be financially prosperous because they don’t have to pay for travel to meeting or education seminars (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2009). The students who realize that they can truly do it all with distance education can prosper. Of course, those students need to make sure that distance education is for them. Students wanting to take a distance course need to make sure that they have the time management skills, motivation, and technology to do it (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009; Beldarrain, 2006). If the student, or for that fact a company, feels that they fulfill those requirements, they will enjoy the financial and time flexible of distance education.
Instructional designers have the audacious task of promoting distance education. In order to win over skeptics, instructional designers need to do one thing: create meaningful and well-developed courses (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009). In my own personal discussions, I have found that people are turned off to distance education because they have experienced it and did not like it or because they are from traditional educational learning environments and do not think that distance education is valid. As instructional designers, we are capable of handling the first complaint fully. We can make sure that no matter the financial constraints given to us we create activities that are engaging. The internet has so many free tools and videos for instructional designers to grab and utilize. Therefore, by going through the proper design steps of analyzing our learners, analyzing our objectives, gathering learning objects including media, and delivering the instruction, we can encourage online learning. The second complaint is harder to handle. However, as distance education gains popularity, skeptics are going to be forced into some kind of distance learning arena. Once they are in that distance learning, we need to make sure our instruction delivers the persuasion they need.
I have been and will continue be a powerful advocate for distance education. I teach in a traditional public high school. Our state has adopted flexible credits, which enables students to gain more education through online learning. The teachers at my school are outraged that a student would be allowed to learn online. I have to admit that I didn’t like the idea at first either because it wasn’t equal to my classroom. However, I have seen through the equivalency theory that the learning can be equivalent to my classroom (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009). It will not ever be the same as my classroom, but it is not supposed to be. As I shared this theory with other teachers, I see a few of them start to consider the validity of online schooling. I feel that I have an advantage as I go forward. I work with people who are hesitant to the online movement, so I get to see what will and will not change their opinion. I can share theories with them and ideas to see if I can break down their hesitation. On top of trying to persuade people about the importance of the online environment, I will also be a dynamic instructional designer through my willingness to truly reach the student. As I become more and more familiar with different technologies and tools, I will strive to delivery truly effective and meaningful distance instruction. All of this together will help me to be an advocate within the instructional design community.
 
References
Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student
interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2),139–153.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for
instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 1: Training and development).
TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a
distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.