Module Two Blog

Three elements that create a more effective learning environment in distance education are global diversity, communication, and collaborative interaction.  Together, these elements work together to enhance the learning environment.  Global diversity is the one element that I would choose to be the most important of the three.

Global diversity in education can be viewed in relationship to globalization in business and government.  As more business expect students to enter the business world with global skills, more schools and programs are faced with designing programs to meet the needs to global learners and learning.  According to Gibson, Rimmington & Landwehr-Brown (2006). Global learning must center on “global-learning activities in order to maximize improvement of critical thinking, inter-cultural communication competence, collaboration, teamwork, reflective practice, and dispositions and values” (p. 12).  What is being taught, learned and practiced must reflect the real world skills students will be expected to have.  More importantly, students must step out of the roles of analogue or face-to-face learners and embrace the definition of a global learner.  The global learner is “able to read, write, speak, calculate, and analyze effectively,” while also being “flexible, aware, curious, trustworthy, and self-directed” (Frost, 2009, p. 39-41).  Note that language skills are not mentioned.  While knowing a foreign language and having computer skills is important, the global learner must embody critical thinking to help him or her to navigate the ever-changing landscape of the new global world.

For the past year, I have thought about global learning, literacies, and the concept of the global student.  In August 2010, I co presented a paper at KU Village (an online conference sponsored by Kaplan University).  The paper, Global Communication: Using Flat World Communication Strategies to Connect, Communicate and Collaborate, focused on using connections, communication and collaboration in classrooms (online and face to face).  What I learned as a result of the research used in the paper, the presentation itself, the commentary from participants and my own reflections has reinforced my belief that to truly prepare students for a global world, we must offer them not only skills to survive in that global world but also an education that allows them to practice and hone those skills.  While communication and collaboration are certainly elements that not only enhance distance education but also set distance education apart from face to face education, it is the global diversity element that truly makes distance education different and unique from face to face education.

I feel that global diversity is more evident and more expected in distance education.  I teach six courses a term online.  I expect that at least one student in each course will be in a foreign country.  I expect to have to meet the needs of learners in at least six time zones.  I expect that have students who speak more than one language.  When I teach on ground, I teach to a homogeneous group, generally from the same neighborhood or area of town.  The global diversity that I experience not only as a teacher in distance education but also as a student has enriched my education more than my time as a student on a ground campus. Ten or even five years ago, this global diversity was emerging, like online education.  Today, I believe that global diversity is one of the benefits students seek when choosing distance programs.

There are a number of tools to enhance global diversity in distance education.  One is the Flat Classroom Project (http://flatclassroomproject.wikispaces.com/).  This project connects K-12 classrooms.  The project has a blog and a wiki; both of which simulate real world applications.  Another is the vast variety of Web 2.0 tools.  Skype, Facebook, LinkedIn, wikis and blogs all offer students a chance to share the learning experiences with other students, anywhere, anytime.  Skype allows students to communicate (for free) with anyone with a Skype account.  Google, ooVoo, and Microsoft also offer similar services.  Wikis and blogs are becoming tools that are used more often in distance and face-to-face education.  My Google Reader gives me ten new blog possibilities every day that reflect education, writing, and technology.  One of my favorite blogs is the Innovations Lab ().  This blog is sponsored by Kaplan University and offers tips on technology, pedagogy, and other interests to both distance and face to face educators.

My blog is very long this week!  Global diversity in distance education is a great interest of mine.  I honestly believe I could go on for weeks about global diversity and the tools that can be used to create that diversity in the classroom.  For now, I will close and see what my peers have to say!

Erica

References

Frost, M.  (2009).  The New Global Student: Skip the SAT, Save Thousands on Tuition, and Get a Truly International Education. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Gibson, K., Rimmington, G., & Landwehr-Brown, M. (2008). Developing global awareness and responsible world citizenship with global learning. Roeper Review, 30(1), 11-23. doi:10.1080/02783190701836270