The Next Generation of Distance Education

"Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater." (Saying, Anonymous).
Granted, not everything is perfect with traditional forms of education, but, let's not throw away our textbooks, whiteboards (blackboards that are white), or our words or tradtional methods quite yet. I don't see that it's justifiable to replace Euclid (the person credited with the development of geometric theory) or Webster (the lexicographer) with ACT - R and John Robert Anderson or Marshall, S. and the belief that traditional education might actually inhibit learning (Moller et al. 2008 May/June) just at this moment. Forgive any sarcasm, but as a long term dedicated science teacher and engineer, I don't feel it's fitting to take a broadside against what I do laying down. My first career was as an engineer. I worked for the Apollo program at RCA, Hightstown, N.J. We designed and built one of the cameras that transmitted live telecasts of the the moon landings and helped develop microtechnologies and telecommunications which we are using right now in devices like the computer and internet. My part was very small. Still, I think the generalizations about traditional education do more damage that good.
I tend to agree with Simonson (Simonson, M. 2010) in his discussion about Equivalency Theory where he makes the point that e-learning is a different forum altogether and that instructional design should simply take this into account.
I'm not a pedestrian here. I have done curriuculm design for a distance education school. I do function as an instructor for a distance education school. I have worked in public education for a number of years as well. There's a thing called "don't unmock a working installation". In short it means "if it works, don't fix it". There's a practicality here - when I worked in engineering we called it common sense. I have no idea what it's called in ACT - R. It's probably thought of as quaintly archaic - like survival of the human race or something similarly silly.
What I'm getting at is that many of these problems have alreadey been solved, eg, incorporating highly complex theory into a learnable module, by professionals who publish textbooks.
What great stretch of the imagination is required to extend this application to e-learning? Take a look at a modern textbook. They are incredibly fine pieces of learning technology as well as beautifully presented. They have to be to extract a reasonable ROI - excuse the acronym (return on investment). Here's something that's working and has a proven track record. It holds up well against current state and national educational standards. Why not simply use it?

Now, I agree that educators should be formulating these programs and working closer in on any technology involving learning. I'm a science teacher but I've studied business management as well and I certainly understand the need and value of training in any organization. Yes, I can definitely see business training e-learning threatened by the lack of trained educators in the development of their training curriculum. These are all good points and tend to emphasize the need for professional educators to lend a hand in helping to develop useful study programs in other areas than K-12 or higher learning. As educators, we all feel the needs of our society for adequate training. Let's not lose our focus though. Let's not drop the vital areas of education that we are already handling to tend to this new emergency. Let's not change horses midstream . Let's be reasonable and effective.

In summary, I'd reinforce the rationale of Simonson and take heed to Moller et al and the warnings about the need for professional educators to become more involved. I'd totally ignore and occasionally point out the absurdity of unmocking (taking apart) what currently works in education, run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 1: Training and Development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, July/August). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 2: Higher Education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66–70.

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C. (2008, September/October). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67.

Simonson, M. (2010) Vodcast: Equivalency Theory. Retrieved from EDUC 7102, Walden University Webpage.