Distributed Learning vs. Distance Learning/Education ?

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Q. I am troubled by your surrender sir. While I am no fan of fads or jargon for jargon's sake, I do happen to believe that what this discussion is reaching for is a term which better defines what we are doing than "distance" learning/educating/etc. This is not to say that jargon can't be abused, as in your example, but neither do I think that the participants in this discussion are of that ilk. I know that I do not use distance education because I feel that technology and reality have moved past that term. Distance education is a direct descendant of correspondence courses. Distributed learning is a cousin - related yes, but with different parents. The "distributed" branch of the family has its roots in email and teleconferencing as much as "distance" education looks to the United States Postal Service and community-television for its ancestors. The goal of both is similar - to educate. The methods however are so different as to call out for a reconsideration of terminology. The the horse, the auto and the plane all accomplish the same goal - to move from point a to point b. The methods employed by each however, a re disparate enough to argue that to encourage accurate comprehension, one should say that "I arrived by horseback" or "I flew Delta".

A. I find Marc's response troubling for two reasons. The first should be obvious enough: Marc's vigorous support for a categorical definition which he does not, by his own admission, have "at hand". The second (and more troubling) is the assertion "technology and reality" have moved past the term "distance education" (and "distance learning" as well). One definition of Distance Education [Garrison and Shale's (1987)] reads as follows a. Distance education implies that the majority of educational communication between teacher and student occurs non-contiguously. b. Distance education involves two-way communication between teacher and student for the purpose of facilitating and supporting the educational process. c. Distance education uses technology to mediate the necessary two-way communication. This seems to cover a wide variety of methodologies that I have seen associated with the term "distributed learning" on this listserve. While I will not quarrel with those who are seeking to develop meaningful subcategories of distance education for purposes of analyses, organization and planning, I must agree that all too often there seems to be a rush to toss aside familiar and useful terminology for the latest and greatest movement to spring from the journals/press. This phenomenon is not unique to education and (based on my humble judgement) seems to occur in environments where an overemphasis is placed upon change and progress (for better or worse- consider the marketing of technology for example). A healthy dose of skepticism regarding new terminologies is always useful. The variety of opinions regarding just what "distributed learning" represents suggest that the usefulness of the term is quite limited at this stage, and I imagine to only some of those who use it. Whereas, Garrison and Shale's definition indicates that the term "distance education/learning" still has a great deal of relevance, especially considering that they have boiled down the term into 3 unifying characteristics. Thus, while we can't dismiss "distributed learning" outright, "distance education/learning" seems to be alive and well, hardly destined for the ashheap of history.

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