distance learning courses california

distance learning courses california

Distance Learning: The Future of Education

Carol attends her graduate school class three mornings a week by turning on her computer. She has scheduled this time to respond to the required reading, interact with other students in her class, and pose questions to the professor. Carol hopes to complete her schooling in three years and receive a masters in counseling psychology. John checks in with his clinical supervisor on the progress of his internship by going online once a week. They have scheduled a time to review cases and answer any questions he has regarding the program.

Mike is developing a workshop on counseling children with loss through

his hospitals outreach program. The workshop will be available for continuing education credits and will be offered online through the hospitals home webpage for a small fee. All aspects of learning, from degree program to continuing education to counseling supervision, are now much more accessible to millions of learners due to modern technological advances. Many students are choosing distance learning over traditional campus programs because of its flexibility, affordability, and quality. The Internet has brought a world of opportunity to the fingertips of counselors.

Distance Learning Defined

Fundamentally, distance learning is education delivered over a distance to one or more individuals located in one or more venues.1 Various means of communication are used for interaction between students and faculty.

Types of Distance Learning

Contemporary distance learning has taken on a whole new look and bears

little resemblance to the old fill-in-the blank correspondence courses. For nearly 100 years, these courses were available in most subjects, but they were used primarily for content transmission, not skill development. Often, courses offered on counseling training and development were seen as a poor substitute for the real education you could receive from traditional classroom instruction and face-to-face interaction with the professor and class members. Increasingly, as technology has become much more sophisticated, videotaped class sessions, simulations, and old_resources produced for other purposes are being integrated into distance learning courses to provide a depth to the learning that previously was not available. Satellite technology and videoteleconferencing allows live courses to be shared by students at other locations. Often, the teacher will alternate between locations for the class sessions. More and more seminaries are offering courses using visiting professors teaching one- or two week intensive seminar courses. Technology multiplies the availability of campus events for learners who are not able to attend in person, as well as bringing old_resources to

the campus. The CD-ROM allows for extensive amounts of information

and old_resources to be distributed on a single disk. CD-ROM courses usually use mastery learning techniques of repetition, immediate feedback, and step-by-step progress within a defined process. Many of these courses also provide valuable links with other digital reference tools.

DVD technology promises to multiply the amount of data that can be provided, especially in a video format. This will be especially effective in courses such as counseling skills training whereby the learning of rudimentary skills is reinforced and enhanced by simulation and dialogue. The impending development of high quality online video indicates that virtual face-to-face interaction will soon make live lab components possible in distance learning. One of the best developments in distance learning is called the mentored online seminar or virtual classroom. It utilizes synchronous (real time) or asynchronous (cyberspace) online communication between students and faculty. A cohort of students, perhaps all over the world, begins a course together. A teacher guides them through a series of learning exercises that draw on various old_resources and call for extensive structured and unstructured dialogue. This allows the course to develop in unique ways to meet the needs of the group as it proceeds. The opportunities for thoughtful and thorough interaction are unparalleled in the traditional classroom. Even many campus courses are being transformed through the intentional use of online communication for learning activities outside of the classroom. Clearly, the range of distance education options is great and the opportunities are developing quickly. Entire degree programs are now available through distance learning formats from a wide array of institutions, including many that are considered elite. Accreditation and state licensure of educational institutions now include even some virtual universities that offer only online education.

Benefits of Distance Learning

The distinct benefits of distance learning are many. The most obvious is its accessibility, convenience, and flexibility. Modern distance learning programs literally bring education to you wherever you are via the Internet. A corollary of this accessibility is lower costs. Even if tuition is the same, the real costs of travel and the opportunity of being able to continue working represent real savings. Many modern distance learning programs have been designed with a well-developed educational philosophy that is geared toward the busy life and vast experience of adult learners. The courses recognize the value of learning in the context of real life and help you to customize your learning for your unique needs. Online access to professors provides individualized attention, even when geography separates students.

One of the most powerful benefits of distance learning is its diversity and inclusivity of students. Common obstacles in higher education are removed or significantly reduced by technology. Further, mentored online seminars bring students from an incredible wide range of perspectives

together in the educational endeavor. In a class you could have students from Croatia to California bringing the richness of their cultures and experiences to broaden and deepen the entire learning experience.

Is It Effective?

The findings of dozens of research reports, summaries and papers on the effectiveness of distance learning programs may be found at a website developed by Thomas L. Russell (see http://cuda.teleeducation.nb.ca/nosignificantdifference). Overall, the findings have indicated a no-significant-difference phenomenon. Students tend to do about the same in various types of education. However, the true difference is that people who would otherwise not have access to learning opportunities are able to pursue their own education because of the availability of distance learning options. Research comparing distance education to traditional face to face instruction indicates that teaching and studying at a distance can be as effective as traditional instruction when the method and technologies used are

appropriate to the instructional tasks, there is student to student interaction, and where there is timely teacher to student feedback.2 If you are considering a distance learning program, contact the schools accrediting agency as to whether that school is in good standing and also ask about other schools accredited by that agency. Although it does not guarantee quality, accreditation indicates that significant peer review has taken place and that standard criteria have been met as defined by that agency. If you are seeking to develop a continuing education program or workshop, check with your state professional

regulation governing board to see the specific regulations that need to be met. For most states, they will generally require documentation of the material to be covered along with general criteria of the course, the credentials of the presenters, and a fee.

As followers of Christ, we have been mandated to make disciples. Distance learning provides an avenue to provide tools and education to people who have genuine hearts to serve Christ and reach out to the broken hearted but who lack the valuable knowledge and training. Armed with great passion and enthusiasm, Becky began her ministry to international students in a small Christian school in the Middle East. To her surprise she found the emotional needs of students overwhelming her at times. Her students seek her for counsel regarding parents divorce, broken relationships, and depression among other issues.

Yet, even with all the compassion God has given her, she feels ill-equipped to know how to handle many of the situations she encounters. In addition, the school that she is in has few financial old_resources for training, and she is also limited by time restrictions in an understaffed school. Web counselor plays a vital role for the welfare of society.

Through her networking with other professionals, Becky learns of a counseling course that she can enroll in to begin the process of learning how to more effectively help the students she cares so much about. A distance learning program online has become her lifeline to continue to meet the needs of students around her. It would be wise for us to consider how we may use the wealth of the old_resources that God has given us to connect with people throughout the world through online education.

About the Author

eCounseling.com is the only online counseling help website that allows clients and counselors to connect online – with no software to download or cumbersome technology!  It seeks to be an excellent information resource for consumers, and to connect prospective counseling clients to counseling professionals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. Its director is himself trained professional Dr. Anthony Centore.

Gerry Grossman Seminars: New Video CE Courses