Introduction: Web 2.0 and Distance Education

Introduction

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to practice medicine. When choosing a specialty in medical school, I decided upon pediatrics for its ability to make a difference in the lives of America's youth.

During my pediatric residency training and hospitalist fellowship at Emory, I found my passion: academic medicine. I was truly amazed at the power a good teacher has and the number of opportunities there are to shape future physicians – teaching medical students and residents at the bedside, in formal lectures and morning reports, and during small group mentoring sessions.

During my time at Emory, I started reading articles on medical education and attending educational workshops and conferences in an effort to better understand ways to teach medicine. I was honored to serve as chief resident, to be chosen as pediatric resident of the year, and to win our annual fellows’ teaching competition. All of these honors reinforced my desire to be a better teacher.

I joined the Baylor College of Medicine as assistant professor and pediatric hospitalist in July 2009 and soon learned of the Master’s of Education in Teaching with an Emphasis in the Health Sciences Program at the University of Houston. In reviewing my 5-year plan with my mentor, who is a recent MS Ed graduate, I recognized the program was perfectly in line with my goals:

Goal 1: Utilize adult learning theory to effectively teach medicine to the millennial generation of learners

Goal 2: Improve the current Baylor pediatric hospitalist fellowship curriculum and create a Baylor pediatric hospitalist curriculum for faculty

Goal 3: Analyze different learning and teaching styles to continue developing my teaching skills

There is great sense of fulfillment in pediatrics, but I am truly excited by shaping the minds of future physicians. I often think back to a quote, “To teach is to touch lives forever." I believe this to be true and hope to join the Masters of Education in Teaching program to continue the process of growing as a teacher.

Web 2.0 - The journey begins
So much to see, listen, and learn yet so little time... I am looking forward to making sense of all the tools out there to find a set that work for me in my teaching. There is so much information and so much new technology every day. I am excited about learning how to use some of these tools practically in my teaching.


DISTANCE EDUCATION - Definitions
I knew very little about distance education until I starting taking this class.. After reviewing the definitions and the pictures below (can you tell I'm a visual learner?), it's starting to make sense...

1. distance education
- formal process of distance learning
- student and instructor are physically separated and IT is used to bridge the gap

2. distance learning
- separation of teachers and learners
- emphasis on the learner
- students take on a greater responsibility for their learning
- desired outcome of distance education

3. online learning: e-learning delivered over the internet

4. web-based learning: teaching and learning supported by the internet

5. hybrid learning: mixed composition learning

6. e-learning
- any learning using a network for delivery, interaction, or facilitation
- includes distributed learning, distance learning, CBT, and WBT
- synchronous, asynchronous, instructor-led, computer-based, or combo

7. blended learning: face to face classroom meetings + distance learning

8. distributed learning
- model that allows teacher, learner, and content to be in different locations so teaching and learning can occur anytime/anyplace
- can be used in combo with traditional education models

9. flexible learning
- learner-based
- aka: personalized learning

10. open learning (open courses, open coursework): education that emphasizes current needs by identifying local requirements and differences

11. synchronous learning, asynchronous learning
- asynchronous learning:
1) learning in which interaction is delayed over time
2) learners participate at their own time/place
3) examples: correspondence course, e-learning

- synchronous learning:
1) learning in real-time
2) learners attend at scheduled time/place
3) examples: traditional classroom, e-learning classroom

12. Can you suggest other words?
Several! The following two links were especially helpful.

http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/eo/dist1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distance_education#cite_note-0

13. Why do you think there are so many different words and definitions for distance education?
As technology advances, distance education itself is constantly changing. The concept can also be challenging for previous generations of teachers and learners. As a result of this flux, there are several words and definitions.