An Issue Impacting Distance Education
by Alberta E. Gudes, BSN, RN
Preface
As modern education has developed and advanced at a pace as prompt as technology over the years, students are provided with flexibility of choice in the type of learning environment they want that would suit their own study comfort. This has given way to the rise of distance learning via the internet, which has gained stronghold in today’s pursuit for career path across all disciplines, and it has not spared the medical professions particularly the study of nursing to be hooked into the bandwagon.
On the other hand, faculty members and leaders in the academic domain have been equally faced with even greater challenge to answer the demands of these students in order to fill the vacuum that may or would cause to diminish the perception of quality education. Thus, a thorough retrospect, review and examination from these leaders in the field have to be conducted to address this pressing scenario as indicated in vast literature resources that are just available.
According to a Babson Survey Research Group and a College Board study, “the number of students enrolled in at least one fully online college course has expanded to more than 6 million in 2010, an increase of 560,000 students over the previous year. Also, the Sloan Consortium reports that “about one-third of the country's 4,500 universities offer online degrees, as do 10 percent of the 105 historically Black colleges”, according to the White House Initiative on historically Black institutions. These data clearly showed that in recent years, distance learning using web-based platform has grown tremendously and that the number of students has gone enormously high.
From the nursing point of view, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in 2008 said that, “for each of the past three years, more than 40,000 qualified applicants to baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs have been turned away from nursing schools”. This again shows that there is an undeniable deluge of students flocking to fall in the enrollment line in colleges and universities to take up nurse education. This further implies that a part of these qualified applicants would have to take up the cudgels through online learning option just to be able to get enrolled in nursing degree programs.
In the same token, the rise of the number of students in online education also connotes that there is correspondingly a growing need for online faculty members to answer for the demand. Penn et. al., (2008) opined that “the national dialogue about expanding nurse faculty shortage has piqued the interest of many nurses in practice and motivated them to pursue a teaching role”. This has positioned a number of nurses to consider “transitioning from the practice setting to the academic environment, even on a part-time basis”, Penn et. al., (2008).
Chosen Issue in Distance Education
Given all hype of the rise of number of students opting to avail online education and faculty members to shift from the face-to-face learning setup to cyber classroom provide ample avenues from stakeholders to raise the issue of questioning as to whether one, which is online education, is easier to deliver than the other, which is the traditional classroom teaching. Some skeptics believe that teaching in web-based education is more relaxed because teachers do not have to be physically present in the classroom and do all the rigors of face-to-face interactions with the students. Others, in the contrary, believe that it is more work (Billings & Halstead, 2009).
Whatever would the answer be, there is no definitive conclusion as to saying that teaching online is easy. With so many factors to consider in the online teaching job, which are not only limited to technological skills and competencies, one cannot say with finality that it is and it is not. But, definitely teaching online requires a lot of considerations that it would even tantamount to saying that it is as difficult or even more demanding compared the traditional classroom teaching. Keeping students always motivated that an online teacher has not seen face-to-face is in itself a no mean feat. Much more facilitating each one of them so that he/she can synchronize in the learning process side by side with the rest of the class, considering their different learning styles, situation and the like is a truly a no joke adventure (Sieber, 2005) .
Significance of the Issue and its Effect on Distance Education
As earlier discussed in this paper, there is an enormous increase in the number of students that have sought online degree courses and nursing education is not an exception (Penn et. al., 2008). The cause of this phenomenal surge is varied and that in order to give this challenge a fix, universities and leaders of all academic institutions across countries should even take heed of this call more by opening and expanding aggressively opportunities for a much more efficient and cost effective online education programs.
On the other hand, the United States is facing the problem of losing the competitive edge because it is not producing enough graduates and minority students are reportedly falling further behind in academic achievement (Sturgis, 2012). In President Barack Obama's most recent State of the Union address, technology figured significantly as part of his plan to increase the number of college graduates and reduce the cost of education. He proposes to do it partly by encouraging schools to modernize and adopt improved technology to teach measure and administer coursework. One part of that plan includes distance learning, or online education, an area where growth is outstripping brick-and-mortar enrollments. Online learning, where 80 percent of a course is delivered online, is especially attractive because it offers options not available at many public colleges (Sturgis, 2012).
In the same token as the healthcare industry, the thousands of aspiring students, who were not admitted to enroll in the nurse education in the ground in many colleges and universities as reported by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in 2008, could have alternate options to take medical web-based degrees to fulfill their dreams.
Above being said shows the significance of the issue, though how simple such this issue may seem to appear. But, in deeper analysis, it truly has a huge impact in the way how distance education is accepted and perceived from all countries around the world. For saying that teaching online is easy offers negative undertones as if it is implied that it is inferior to the quality of education that can be gained from the traditional classroom teaching.
In the research conducted by Schimming (2008), the study showed that “students who took the online tutorial were equally or more satisfied with the learning experience than students who attended classroom sessions”. This goes without saying that online education cannot just be relegated at the sideline when it comes to its effectiveness and efficiency and this largely depends on the faculty members behind these online learning programs.
Conclusion
Online teaching can be a solution to the many nagging problems besetting modern education today. It is not so much about whether the teaching task is easy or not. The most important consideration to note is whether effective education has been achieved that guarantees quality learning and better future for students after graduation when they are faced with the challenges of the real world. Above all, it is more of how online education through the initiatives of online teachers in the frontline contributes to human development and nation-building.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2008a). 2007-2008 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing. Washington, DC: Author.
Billings, D., & Halstead, J. (2009). Teaching in Nursing: A guide for faculty (3rd ed.). St. Louis, MO. Elsevier-Saunders. ISBN: 9781416040842.
Penn, B., Wilson, L., & Rosseter, R. (2008). Transitioning from nursing practice to a teaching role. Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 13(3).
Schimming, L. (2008). Measuring medical student preference: a comparison of classroom versus online instruction for teaching PubMed. Journal Of The Medical Library Association, 96(3), 217-222
Sieber, J. E. (2005). Misconceptions and realities about teaching online. Science and Engineering Ethics, 11(3), 329-340. doi:10.1007/s11948-005-0002-7
Sturgis, I. (2012). THE ONLINE FRONTIER. Diverse Issues In Higher Education, 29(3), 16-19.