U. 3: Activity 3.2

Problems-Solutions

When a person is taking distance classes there is the possibility of finding a series of "problems" at any time. In this brief essay I will try to postulate three possible solutions to three common problems. But before that, we have to explain that these advices do not apply for every student but for those who are taking distance classes, so I would like to explain who is a distance student. In the words of Talbot “Distance learning or distance education, as the word ‘distance’ implies, takes place when you, the student, are geographically remote from the educational institute in which you are registered. You also be remote from your tutor and other students for most or all the time.” (2007; p. 6) In other words, Talbot tells us that there is no contact between the student and the teacher or among the students themselves. However, although this definition is not old, with the excessive advance of technology, it has become obsolete. Nowadays a distance course can be taught to a whole class through electronic platforms, and not necessary from a different city or country but from the institution in which the class studies. With this in mind, let's move to the main topic: possible solutions to common problems.

The first major problem faced by distance education is the next one: “For many years one of the weaknesses of distance education was thought to be its quality –that it was inferior in every respect to conventional higher education.” (Ormond, 2012; p. 5) And although this thought is slowly disappearing, the truth is that there are still a lot of people who do not trust in distance education because thy see it somehow less important than a face-to-face class. How can we respond to this problem? The answer lies not only in one person, but in all those persons who surround distance classes: the one who designs distance classes should make them easy to understand (though not necessarily easy to do); the teacher who taught distance classes must know how to teach in order to make these type of classes less boring, and finally the student must do his/her best when taking this type of classes. Thus the quality of a distance course will increase and those who ask “how is a distance course?” will find better answers.

Following with the problems faced by distance education, we find the lack of computer equipment at home. Unfortunately not all students in a distance course have the resources to take the class from home which is a very big problem. This happens more in developing and third world countries. To solve this problem, the schools where such classes are taught should have a computer room, with the necessary equipment so that these students can actually do their assignments. So, if a student has no computer at home, s/he is free use of this equipment.

Last but not least, we have that distance education deals with the misuse of the technology itself. “Besides the cost of the technology, there is the possibility of not utilizing all its potential.” (Valentine, 2002) And it is true. When studying, many people is not focus only in his/her class, but they get distracted at every moment by anything, or they waste time doing other things on the same computer. The solution to this problem lies in the student again. It is assumed that a student who takes a distance class knows what is s/he going to face and that is autonomous and responsible enough to carry it out the class without problems. That is why, at least in this point, students are the solution.

These are just some of the problems distance education faces every day. Certainly there are many more, but every problem has a solution. In addition, the benefits of taking a distance classes are also many. The most important thing to remark is, as I mentioned before, that there will always be problems. Fortunately, most of their solutions lie on the teacher or the student, so that the solution tends to be simple.

References

Talbot, Christine (2007). Studying at a Distance: A guide for students. New York: McGraw.

Simpson, Ormond (2012). Supporting Students in Online, Open & Distance Learning: Third Edition. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Valentine, Dough (2002). Distance Learning: Promises, Problems, and Possibilities. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. Retrieved March 21st, 2014. http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall53/valentine53.html