Distance education
The society, as a whole,
needs to take advantage equally and evenly of the technological advancements. Being
part of the government strategy on the medium and long term, upgrading access to
information, the extension of large-scale use of Internet communication and distance
communication are the pillars of the advancement in education. The application of
information technology and communication in the field of education has led to a
shift of perspective and a change of the tools used in this field. This is a new
educational concept, known as e-Learning. e-Learning is the association of multimedia
components (sound, image, text) and the Internet, joining together all the modern
interaction modes by the use of computers: the spread of information online, interactive
learning, connecting large audiences to a great amount of structured knowledge,
available real-time.
Advantages
By connecting to a distance
learning platform, the students, having different social backgrounds are allowed
to a number of benefits, such as: individual and community space (for courses, resources,
exercises, specific projects); different services addressed both to students and
teachers – forums, chat, course agenda; gaining autonomy and flexibility for
choosing the location and the learning process. Individual students and companies
that enlist themselves in an e-Learning program greatly reduce their education and
training costs, are able to finish their instruction phases much sooner compared
to traditional and can easily learn the newest web technologies. Internet mediated
learning is based on the creation of communities of students, selected by well established
criteria and on the enhancement of human interaction, with the purpose of sharing
knowledge. All these methods allow the simultaneous build and education of a great
number of people, but also respecting their different education backgrounds.
Distance learning program management
Activities in distance
learning are focused on two levels: continuity level, concerned with specific functions
that maintain a program or an organization, and the discontinuity level, concerned
with the planning needed to address challenges and change.
A great part of the distance learning literature is focused on the first level,
but lately, the strategic management is getting a lot of attention as a way to address
the complex and dynamic environment in which distance learning programs and systems
operate. For further details on this topic, please read
Distance learning program management
(in Romanian).
A sociological approach to distance learning
Starting the second half of the past
century, in the literature focused on topics such as pedagogy, educational psychology,
but mostly educational sociology authors showed increasing interest on new educational
models, alternative to the traditional education. The seeds of these initiatives
can be traced back to the antique schools, only recently they have become mainstream
and will be a new field of research in the next century. Among these models, open
learning is perhaps the one which has the fastest development, because it is the
only learning method designed to use technologies with high social impact such as
computers, the Internet and all other devices in between. So, the use of the computers
in teaching is gaining more attention in this field. For further details on this
topic, please read
Details about the sociological approach.
Roadblocks in distance learning
Distance learning offers a great deal
of benefits to organizations that want to offer training and educational programs.
Still, implementing programs is often blocked by psychological barriers, resistance
to change, technological restrictions, inflexible organizational procedures and
restrictive local or national politics. The persons responsible of the educational
politics and the teachers/trainers need to be aware of the barriers that appear
in the way of distance learning. For further details on this topic, please read
Roadblocks for distance learning.
Distance Education
Babeş-Bolyai Univeristy, Cluj-Napoca
Distance learning in the Babes-Bolyai University is organized in accordance with Education Law
nr.84/1995, republished in 1999, as amended, of the Government Decision Nr.1.011/2001
on organization and operation of distance education
and education with reduced frequency in higher education institutions,
regulations of the Ministry of Education and Research, the Charter of Babes-Bolyai
(2003), the judgments of the Senate U.B.B. and this Regulation. Distance Education
is a process characterized by the training programs
whose components are: the use of educational resources such as specific computerized
remote communication systems, tutorial systems and self evaluation.
Center for Continuous Training and Distance Education
Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest
http://www.ase.ro/platforma/index.asp
http://campus-virtual.ase.ro/id/verif_cnp.asp
Education through the British Council
Many programs offered by UK institutions can now be followed by
distance learning. Using modern and various distance learning methods,
allows you to have access to British education, with all the prestige and
reputation it enjoys, but with much lower costs than if
frequenting a college or university.
British Council