The future of distance education is bright. The enrollment into distance education courses has increased over the years, as more and more people start to realize its benefit. “The Sloan Consortium has documented steady growth in online course enrolments. The 2012 survey that more than 6.7 million students took at least one online course in Fall 2011” (Simonson, Smaldino, Zvacek, p. 301, 2015). This is a significant increase over previous years. In fact, it is more than double the reported “3.1 million in fall 2005” (Simonson, Smaldino, Zvacek, 301, 2015). If we rely on numbers like this, “it is abundantly clear that distance education, it all its forms, is here to stay” (Simonson, Smaldino, Zvacek, p. 301, 2015).
In one of this week’s resources, George Siemens points out that distance education has been “growing acceptance in society as a whole” (Laureate, n.d.). Overall, I agree that distance education is the future. I think as time goes on more and more people will see the advances in technology, and they will realize that learners can have really rich, meaningful educational experiences online. “The technology will allow for more individualized, passion-based learning by the student, greater access to master teaching, and more opportunities for students to connect to others–mentors, peers, sources–for enhanced learning experiences” (Schaffhauser, 2012) Even so, there will still be some that believe that face to face education “is necessary for effective education” (Schaffhauser, 2012).
As an instructional designer, two things come to mind that I can do to make the greatest impact. First, I need to do my best to create effective courses. “Ultimately, what we must stay focused on is that this is about learning” (Shearer, 2012). As such, I need to not take shortcuts when designing courses, which means I need to be an advocate for the learner in my process and creation of courses. I need to be consistent in how I approach creating my courses. Consistency will ensure I cover who my audience is, what my audience needs, and how I can best transfer the knowledge to the learner. If I do this each time I approach a project, the end product will be a quality product, which will address one of the primary concerns of online education, which is quality. Secondly, I need to stay current on changes in the world of distance education. Those “who aren’t already incorporating new tools in their courses should be strongly encouraged or incentivized to participate in training” (Schaffhauser, 2012).
The primary thing I can do as an instructional designer to be a positive force in the continuous improvement in the world of distance education is to keep learning myself. Learners have so many options available at their fingertips in regards to learning online. There are courses offered via universities, community colleges, and from open source options, as well. In order to stay current not only in different technologies, I can take courses from different sources each year to stay current on different instructional methods, as well as evaluation methods that others are using. Seeing the world of online education from the learner perspective could help me be an advocate for learners, as well as distance learning as a whole.
As I move forward into the rest of this degree program and beyond to a new career, one word will constantly be at the forefront of my mind: quality. It is something, as an instructional designer that I do have control over, to some extent. It is certainly a huge focus of both proponents and skeptics in the world of distance education.
Rachel Pannell 
We survived Distance Learning! I enjoyed reading your reflection post, Rachel, especially your thoughts on designing learner-centric instruction. That was a key theme at the conference I attended recently, and especially in the e-learning world where conducting needs and learner assessments are more challenging, there’s a trend to focus on style over substance to manipulate learner engagement. I appreciate your dedication to designing for your audience, not the bells and whistles.
I look forward to sharing our next class with you!
Lori
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Hi Rachel, I am now following your blog! Can’t wait to read what Project Management has to hold 🙂
Jessica
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