U 1: Activity 1.3

Well guys, this is my essay based on what I have read and comprehend.

Open Education and Distance Education

Everything changes, and since education is part of everything, it also changes. The XX century is known as the century of the technological “Boom”, bringing many changes in the life of human beings, including changes in education. Fortunately, I would say that 90% of these changes are positive. Let´s think in the biggest change that emerged in the XX century: the internet. Internet brought with it many opportunities for countless fields, and among them, education suffered one of the biggest ones. Within this changes in education, I would like to emphasize what is know as distance education, and along with distance education, we got open education . But… what does these terms mean.

     Let's start by defining Open Education because in my opinion, it is the most difficult term to define. And is not the fact that I lack of information about this term, is the fact that, even when I have this information, it results somewhat difficult to make a decision on how to define Open Education. What I can say is that it can not be defined with a single statement, but we need a mix of statements with a complex meaning each one to get an idea of ​​what it means. We have 4 main statements that help us to define Open Education. Let´s try to detail each one:

1. Students are free to choose what educational activity they want to do: This means that the teacher should give students freedom to do anything they want as long as the activities that students choose have educational purposes.
2. The environment must have many educational opportunities: This means that all students should have the same opportunities than their classmates.
3. The instructions must be clear to every student: Although the students decide which activity they want to do, the teacher is who guides them in such activities. Therefore, s/he must pay attention to each student equally, and s/he has to know how to guide his/her students to do any activity they want in the correct way.
4. Respect: Above all things, there must be respect. Respect from the teacher to his/her students as well as from students to the teacher.

     Now, let's talk a little about Distance Education, and even when it is much easier to define, it goes hand by hand with Open Education. Many people think that Distance Education can only happen if the teacher is at a great distance from his or her students, however, this is not always true. Distance Education can happen even when both, teacher and student, are in the same school where the course is being taught. What characterizes and identifies more Distance Education is that the teacher has no control over the student (or perhaps there is some control, but it is very low). It is true that both, teacher and student need to follow a lesson plan, just like in a face-to-face class; however, what the students do to follow this lesson plan is up to the student, not so much up to the teacher.

     Open Education and Distance Education, as I mentioned before, go hand in hand because Distance Education leads to Open Education. However, although these education methods work together, there are small differences that stand between these methods. For example, the first statement that defines Open Education cannot be 100% applied in Distance Education, as students do not choose what activities they want to do, instead, the activities are chosen or decided by the teacher. However, students can choose how to do such activities. These are the types of details that emphasize the differences between Open Education and Distance Education.

     Of course there are advantages when applying these methods in education. The best known and most often said is that the autonomy and responsibility of students grow and/or are improved. And it is true, since the activities done will depend 90 % on students and their decisions on how to do them.  On the other hand, the most known disadvantage is the lack of technology. To use Distance Education effectively, it is necessary that both teacher and student can access to technology. Without it, it is practically impossible to carry out this method. Unfortunately, nowadays there are many places in the world where it is impossible to apply this method.

     Currently there are many schools and universities in which these teaching methods are used. Some of them have a higher status; however, these methods work in both, high and low status institutes. Personally, I can say that these methods work quite good in the college where I´m studying my degree, the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (a.k.a. UABC).

     Finally, we must remember that Open Education and Distance Education are teaching methods that work separately, but if we join them, they can work even better. However, although they good teaching method , it is up to the institution or the teacher to use such methods.