Global Distance Education

Global Distance Education
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Global Distance Education
Education is classified as one of the needs in human beings. However, people may be gifted differently and therefore others may end up in school whereas others may find themselves perfecting on their talents. As the world is evolving and the demand for education is increasing every day, the number of students in the institutions is also increasing at a higher rate. Interestingly, people seek for education in order to gain and expand knowledge on a certain field that they may be interested in. therefore; institutions will offer different faculties especially in the college and university levels in order to provide students with a wide range of curses where they can choose. It is also believed that through education, one can bring changes to the world. Distance education is becoming common in the world of today as many individuals go to school and at the same time working to sustain their lives in the harsh economies. Additionally, the e- learning is common in the work places where employees enroll for education in order to improve on their skills and as a result they can be promoted as well. Despite, many people preferring to attend classes in school, other prefer e-learning since they can learn from the comfort of their living room. This argument is grounded on the scope of distance education, the key elements, concerns and issues on globalization of distance education.
The Extent of Global education
The extent of global education can be measured in terms of the number of students enrolling for the program in institutions across the world. The number has been increasing in the recent years as the program has proved to be effective in providing education to the students in need. For instance, in the case of the U.S. the program has been very effective as institutions are wholly embracing the program and students are also increasingly enrolling for the same (Barak, 2012). The numbers of institutions are also coming up due to the cheap cost in labor personnel that are required to conduct the studies online. This is because, one tutor can manage a high number of students due to non limitations of space provided that the systems used in providing the program are strong in order to enable everyone from every corner of the region to access the education program. Global distance learning has also led to the demand of ICT which is highly recommended to man up the systems in order to allow easy use by the students at any given time of the day (Barak, 2012).
Elements of Globalization of Distance Education
Education falls among the mutual benefits that countries get from each other through their interactions. Distance learning before required that the student should travel to the institution which at times limited many people who were constrained by funds. In this regard the introduction of online distance learning aims at bringing education to a closer range of the students (Barak, 2012). One of the fundamental of globalization in distance learning is access and being conversant to technology. This is because learning from a far distance requires one to learn some basics in technology in order to be able to access the notes and tutorials and also to attend classes. In addition, the student is at ties required to d the exam and continuous assessment tests with their laptops and submits them online to their respective lecturers based in their institutions (Barak, 2012).
The dynamics and improvements in technology is a major element in distance education. In this case technology through digitally improvised devices will help in access of the curse materials and learning modules used by the students in their studies (Barak, 2012). This element is aimed at improving the distance learning by providing the students with an easy time for the students when conducting their studies at the comfort of their living rooms.
Recent Trends in Globalization Distance Education
As many countries are busy embracing globalization in distance education, there has been emergence of a number of trends in the same. In this case, for example, there has been free sharing of content in the form of data and even applications without the need of licenses. Open Education resources (OER) are also a major trend in this category (Chapman, 2006). By definition, the OER refers to the teaching and learning materials that can be accessed online on a free charge. Some of the examples of the OER are the lectures, modules, full courses among many others. On the other hand, there have been also emergence of other inter- governmental organizations like the COL that have supported the sharing of technologies and distance education. It is evident that the OERs have increased the access to education, ensuring that the cost of learning has also been reduced by a greater percentage (Barak, 2012).
The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are also on the emergence in the field of global education. In this context, MOOCs are used to distribute the online courses to any individual who is interested. The MOOCs are currently being used in some of the universities in America like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, the MOOCs are believed to have originated from the Open Course Ware movements which were initiated in the MIT. George and Stephen are among the first teachers who were able to develop some of the MOOCs.
Additionally, collaboration and consortia have also been a major trend in distance learning. Collaboration and consortia are aimed in building successful links and also ensuring that there is no replica in e-learning as the universities work as one (Barak, 2012). These collaboration have been successful in the U.S. where a number of small states have come together to form a common wealth. The main aims of these collaborations were to create skills in regard to college and university education on entrepreneurship, tourism among other faculties.
Challenges Faced With Integration of Globally Available OERs and Global Distance Programs on a Local Level
Despite globalization of distance learning aiming to achieve educational goals that are meant to improve countries economically, on the other hand there are major challenges that face the program and hence acting as a stumbling block to the efficiency of the program (Chapman, 2006). Moreover, if these concerned are not addressed, distance learning might not be achieved. One of the major concerns that have been raised in this case is the concept of culture. There are many cultures in the world and this depends on where someone comes from. When cultures are different, some of the students find it difficult to cope with other students. This has been evident especially when they are required to form discussion groups online and at times use the Skype in communication with the other students spread in other regions (Chapman, 2006). This has been particularly been the case especially for the Asian students who find it difficult to cope with the different environments of people and hence find it difficult in expressing themselves. Moreover, students on the other hand may have different perspectives about distance learning which the instructors may not be aware of.
The issue of access and equality in globalization in distance learning is also a major concern that has been raised in the recent times. This is evident because the access to global education has been limited especially with the institutions concerned and the government that offers scholarships (Chapman, 2006). In this regard all students would not be able to access the education since the chances are at times considered to be minimal and therefore the institutions may limit the number of students that they want. In addition, there has been no equality in the system since learning globally may be quite expensive especially for student from far regions. In this case, a student might be required to pay a huge amount in comparison to the student learning locally and is a native of the country where the institution is located (Ferreira & Gauthier, 2013). Therefore, this will limit most of the students that may be willing to learn but are financially constrained. Therefore, education optimality can only be achieved if education can be accessed equally among all students across the region. For instance, in some other the countries online distance learning has been deemed and has not been regarded as a way of bringing expansions in the field of education. Moreover, some of the states provide and allocate a small amount to cater for the same thereby making it to be less efficient contrary from the way it is supposed to be (Ferreira & Gauthier, 2013).
Technology is one of the major Challenges that have been raised in this field at many times. Without technology the possibility of studies being conducted online are very minimal and even impossible. Therefore the whole process of globalization in online distance learning solely depends on the type of the technology that is being used by the institution in particular (Gulati, 2008). Since students are expected to conduct their studies online, the system used by the institutions to offer the programs should be well equipped and strong in order to avoid failure that may arise due to low network connections. This might be challenging and even pose as problems especially to the students who will be affected highly (McIntosh, 2005). In this regard, students might be unable to access the relevant materials to read especially if the system is weak. Through the online system, the students should also be granted a chance to view their grades. This might as well be raised as a major concern since some of the systems may be vulnerable and therefore hackers may take advantage and tamper with the grades which might be the worst thing an organization can exper...