Chapter 7 - Distance Learning Tools and the Role of the Internet in Education

Chapter 7 talks all about distance learning courses. There are many benefits as well as disadvantages to distance learning classes although, over recent year distance learning technology has made many improvements. Distance learning is any learning that takes place from a distance.

When I was in high school I participated in several distance learning courses because my school was extremely small and could not offer a wide variety of class choices in the school. I took Spanish via the Internet. Each week we would read an assigned online reading, learn the assigned vocabulary, and then answer online prompts. I became great at writing in Spanish but could not speak a word of it because I never had practice verbally.

I also attempted to take a Calculus class via a distance learning television. Three days into the class the camera and microphones stopped working so the professor could not see or hear us. We simply had to watch and listen to what he was doing and were unable to ask questions because of the technology malfunction. Often we could not see what he was writing on the board because the camera was out of focus of too far away.

Despite my experiences with distance learning there can be many advantages to it. For example, if a student is out ill or has to undergo a surgery that will require a large amount of school to be missed, the teacher can provide online lessons and assignment drop boxes to keep the student on track.

Distance learning can be a very useful option if its use and implementation are considered carefully.