Distance Learning

I am sometimes amazed at how far technology has actually taken us. For me, I could not have gotten my masters degree without distance learning. I finished my M.ed and never even saw the campus. It is amazing the relationships you can build just by using online tools such as blogs, wikis, or educational tools such as moodle or blackboard. I even had one teacher teach the entire class via a wiki (Thank you Jeff Utecht) and it was amazing. We got to chat when needed, see revisions in real time and all of our projects were listed with clear directions. With email being more relevant than telephone we were able to use that medium as well. Skype was also very helpful. When I took the class, we had arranged times to talk on skype to touch base and have questions answered. I am a true believer in distance education and wonder how well it would work out for say, middle school students. What traits would they need be good distant learners? Just a thought..