Distance Education

Distance Education
Distance education, I would think, is teaching a class from some distance or being a learner from a distance. Distance education means you are teaching to or learning from somewhere other than a physical/traditional classroom.

Pros
Distance Education and virtual schools are a very unique idea and can provide opportunities to students.
- Unique opportunities for students
- Learn from comfort of own home
- Teachers can use resources from home while still teaching students
- Students can tailor learning to specific path
- Numerous paths of study to fit every need

Cons
Although there are opportunities there are some drawbacks to distance education and virtual schools
- No face-to-face interaction between student and teacher
- Too much freedom for students
- Lack of interaction with peers
- Students may not learn to full potential
- Teachers may not be able to provide feedback in a timely manner

How would you determine the readiness of students to participate in distance delivery?
I think that the readiness of students would depend on their level of maturity and their home situations. If they do not have access to computers and internet it would be hard for them to learn properly in a virtual classroom. At the same time virtual classroom’s may not be the route, but a distance education or some kind of meeting room may be more helpful to some students and may not be for others.

What would you need to do to be able to teach in a virtual school?
To teach in a virtual school I would need to be equipped with a fast and high quality computer as well as high speed and reliable internet. I would also need to become more familiar with technology and especially the system that was used for my virtual school. It seems however, especially for my area of teaching, that it might be difficult to teach in a virtual style and this would be something that would need to be practiced and looked into in greater detail.