George Veletsianos, author of Emerging Technologies in Distance Education and assistant professor of instructional technology at the University of Texas at Austin, recently took some time out from the 26th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning to talk about his opinions on the present state of online education and his hopes for the future.
Veletsianos’, whose research often focuses on the connection between education and technology, pinpoints “unfamiliarity” with technology as one of the most prominent roadblocks both educators and students face. “Instructors don’t know what’s available and how they can use it. Then unfamiliarity with online learning and what it can truly afford. Usually, the average instructor has heard horror stories about online learning being the poor cousin of face-to-face learning- which is unfortunate, because new technologies allow opportunities for enhanced interaction and enhanced pedagogies.”
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Familiarizing students and teachers with cutting-edge technology will be imperative, especially as the online education sector continues to expand. Veletsianos anticipates the rapid expansion of the online sector as well as a more interactive, participatory and social learning experience. In the next ten to twenty years, says Veletsianos,
“I think we’ll see more collaborative endeavors in online-learning offerings. For example, students taking courses from multiple universities and bundling them together to create a degree. It will be more social than what it has been. New technologies are moving that way. The rise of social networking, Web 2.0, and the participatory Web: At the center is the social interaction between individuals. It will get appropriated in the higher-education system… I think the future is where the center is the student, and the people comprising this online learning community. The student and the community are collaborating on the content. Right now, you might take a class and you might never meet the other students.”
Veletsianos is confident about the future and potential of online education and hopes that the continuing expansion also helps online programs become even more social and participatory for students.