Ralph Hameni Bieleu

OMDE 610-Summer 2015

6/6/2015

What does DE have to teach Online Learning?

In the 21st century, online teaching and learning has become a mainstream form of
education. Some states such as Virginia and Michigan require high school students to
successfully complete an online course. But where does this teaching and learning trend come
from? Does it build upon another form of learning that already existed? This paper will present
how online teaching and learning was informed by the tradition of distance education (DE)
through learners interaction, the impact of technology, and the models in the field of DE.
Harasim (2012) defined online education as learning or training conducted via computer
network, such as the internet and the World Wide Web, a local area network (LAN), or intranet.
The use of a computer network allows the instructor and learner to be at different places and
times if needed. This flexibility created an opportunity to reach one of the distance learning
goals, a great learners interaction while keeping instructor and learner at distance. The increase
of learners interaction has been a goal of distance learning through the different waves of
distance education. During the first wave, (Correspondence and independent study), the learner
received the course content, learned and completed the assignment required, and returned these
assignments for grading. The learner-content was the only interaction observed at this period.
During this era, we have an industrialization of learning (Peters, 1994) where materials were
mass produced to reach a large number of learners at a reduced cost. In the second wave of
distance education, we saw an insurgence of huge distance education institutions such as Open
University in United Kingdom or UNISA in South Africa driven by the need for higher education
at low cost. We saw the use of mass media such as the radio, teleconferences, and audio

Ralph Hameni Bieleu

OMDE 610-Summer 2015
6/6/2015

cassettes. These DE institutions attempted to reduce learner isolation and add another dimension
of interaction (learner-teacher) with the creation of support centers where learners could walk in
or talk to tutors over the phone for support. In the current wave (third wave) of internet/webbased communication and online learning, we are seeing the reduced level of learners isolation
and a movement toward three different types of interaction (learner- content, learner- teacher,
and learner-learner) as the part of the teaching and learning process. So, learner isolation and
human interaction are two of the areas in which online education tries to improve on the tradition
of distance education.
Technology is another area where online education has learned from distance
education. In the history of distance education, technologys evolution created changes in
distance education. The first wave in DE was correspondence and independent study because the
technology available at that time was the printing press and postal service. The introduction of
printing technology brought a change in the way the content was delivered to the learner.
Learning content was duplicated in mass print and dispatched through the postal service. The
creation of large DE institutions in the second wave was due in part to mass media availability at
that period. These mass media such radio or teleconference also allowed the diffusion of welldesigned content to a huge number of the learners at low cost. The DE landscape was filled by
mega universities of hundred thousand students due in part to the technology available at that
time. Nowadays, we are observing the link between technology and online learning repeating
with different forms of online learning delivery: synchronous and asynchronous modes, adjunct
mode, mixed mode, 100% virtual, etc. (Harasim, 2012). With an on-going evolution of
technology, we shall continue to observe different pedagogies and practices of online learning.

Ralph Hameni Bieleu

OMDE 610-Summer 2015
6/6/2015

Learning theory is another area that has been influenced by distance education. The four
major learning theories are specific to the field of DE that attempted to explain the different
conceptual synergies observed in the 20th century. For example, Borje Holmberg, Charles A.
Wedemeyer, and Michael G. Moore put the learner and his or her interaction with others at the
center of the educational process (Saba, 2003). In the digital era, online learning require
development of learning materials that will allow the learner to connect old and new knowledge.
Furthermore, the three forms of interaction that theorists of DE believe are necessary for learning
should be a part of the learning process. Some researchers of online learning believe that there is
a need for new learning theory as all the other learning theories came out before online learning
as we know now. Siemens (2004) wrote that we now need a theory for the digital age to guide
the development of learning materials for the networked world. Some of theorists of the online
collaborative learning theory (G. Siemens and S. Downes) believe that the new theory should
include all the previous learning theories.
Online learning is in the mainstream of teaching and learning at different levels of
education in the United States and around the world. The recent forms of distance learning and
teaching could provide important information for the future of the field of DE. This paper
presented the areas of learners isolation and interaction, technology, and learning theory where
online learning and teaching could have been informed by following the trends of distance
learning and teaching.
REFERENCES
Harasim, L. (2012). Learning theory and online technologies. New York, NY: Routledge.

Ralph Hameni Bieleu

OMDE 610-Summer 2015
6/6/2015

Peters,O. (1994). Distance education and industrial production: A comparative interpretation in

outline (1967). In D. Keegan (Ed.). The industrialization of teaching and learning
(pp.107-127). London,UK: Routledge.
Saba, F. (2003). Distance Education Theory, Methodology, and Epistemology: A pragmatic
paradigm. In M.G. Moore & W.G. Anderson (Eds.), Handbook of distance education.
(pp. 3-19). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Siemens, G. (2004). A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved June 6, 2015 from
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.