Running head: EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY ISSUE

Educational Technology Issue

Thomas Fisher

EDU 352 Foundations of Educational Technology

Susan Cannon

December 10, 2017

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Educational Technology Issue

I chose to explore the issue of Online Learning from the article Online learning: trends,

Potential and Challenges (Liang, 2012). I found this issue interesting because online learning is

what I have been doing through Ashford on and off for almost the past six years. This form of

learning and educational pursuit is very common in the military where constant moves and

deployments make it hard to physically attend a school and earn a degree through traditional

means. Ashford has traveled with me all over the world over this time and has been great option

for me to have. Online learning is also very prevalent in how I train in the Air Force. Almost all

training that is common across the Air Force is done virtually with CBTs. They arent

necessarily everyones favorite thing to do but there is no denying that they fundamentally

changed the way training is conducted.

The purpose of this article is to explore both the issues and challenges the online learning

construct presents for educators as they try to create the right learning experience. Among the

trends presented are how emerging technologies, such as handheld devices, are incorporated into

online learning. Another is how despite not being physically co-located to other students or

teachers, many people now find the interaction of a class forum to be more engaging than being

present for a lecture.

Some challenges that are brought up include ensuring the quality of online content. At

this time, the ability to audit the effectiveness of online learning content is not as developed as it

is for a traditional classroom setting. Another is that the pace at which technology emerges is so

fast that it makes it hard for larger institutions to make strong commitments to certain types of

technology that may come at a steep cost and present a considerable lead time to implement.
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According to the author the potential of online learning is affected by four things (Liang,

2012). Accessibility is changing the way formal education and training is conducted. Flexibility

refers to way the that learning can now be suited to individual schedules and timeframes rather

than creating a coordinated situation for the learning to occur in. Interactivity involves how the

learning environment is virtually constructed to be engaging for the learners with the learning

objective or with other learners. Collaboration refers to the ability of learners to virtually interact

with other learners in a social way.

Here are some additional sources that focus on online learning:

Waldrop, M. M. (2013). Online learning: Campus 2.0. Nature, 495(7440), 160-163.

doi:10.1038/495160a

Authentic online learning: Aligning learner needs, pedagogy and technology. (2013). Issues in

Educational Research, (2), 227.

Knightley, W. M. (2007). Adult learners online: Students' experiences of learning online.

Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 47(2), 264-288. Retrieved from

https://search.proquest.com/docview/89071717?accountid=32521
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References

Liang, R. (2012). Online learning: Trends, Potential and Challenges. Creative Education, 3(8),

1332-1335. Retrieved from https://file.scirp.org/pdf/CE20120800008_14691038.pdf