Lesson 13
Lupe Briseno

"Carefully read and review the content outlined in Lesson 13 to provide you with an overview of the subject."

Best practices and strategies for taking learning beyond the classroom and into the "on-line" instructional environment of the internet and the WWW.

It was amazing to find out that other countries are way ahead of us when it comes to distance education. Partly, because of the fact that when we "surf" the internet, we find one university after another offering courses on-line all over the United States. It seems like an endless array of course offerings and degree programs, even certificates are offered for certain skills. But can this "distance education" ever take the place of the traditional classroom. Some say it will and others do their best to keep that from happening; I call this "job security."

To bring distance education to the forefront, we must ensure others can step outside of their "paradigm." Opening up the virtual classroom to all abroad will help bring new groups of people together that would have otherwise, never been apart of the same classroom. It also attracts new students that may not be able to attend traditional classrooms nor afford it. Even employees of major corporations throughout the United States can receive "on-the-job training."

In the situation in which I currently work, we are training F2F but are moving towards IVT in the very near future. Very shortly, our courses are going to become "virtual classrooms." But, since our customers are primarily military personnel stationed around the world, not all personnel have the same access as others. So, the military sees this as a disadvantage that it cannot overlook. Instead of letting those that can access the courses complete them and send the others that cannot, "in-residence," the military has decided to hold-off certain training programs until all personnel can have equal access. This is particularly important since this training comes into play for military promotions. Our training programs are being developed in order to be accessed from anywhere and at anytime. These programs include those job skills related to their everyday specialty and the student must show a certain amount of competency in order to receive credit for the schooling, whether it be face-to-face or in a traditional classroom.

These courses being created on-line must be short and to the point. They must also be very easy to navigate through and never stray the learner from his/her objective. We are incorporating two type of communication into these courses because not all students are available at the same time due to work or family commitments.

Effective learning comes from experienced trainers and our websites are being created by our best trained personnel. As in this course, we are setting aside times for chats, whether synchronous or asynchronous, so that communication can take place from around the world. What we need to keep in mind is the fact that not all students learn well in this "virtual classroom." Our students must be well-organized and ready to take on the challenge.

These new courses are being created under the idea of flexibility and using the three (3) "any's" (anytime, anywhere, and anyone.) Our courses, currently in development, are not intended to replace our classrooms but rather help intensify the job skills needed to remain competent at their job throughout the world. We cannot look past distance learning because with the military forces of the United States having been dwindled down, we must do more with less, which requires that those in critical jobs be even more effectively trained than before and able to operate even under the most strenuous of circumstances. Quality of education versus quantity is something that must be weighed and in our line of duty, we cannot take our training lightly. The same goes for distance education, we must differentiate between those courses or programs that are of help to us and those that are simply put on the web to take your money. The time has come for our military to become a "virtual classroom" so that we can stay ahead of our adversaries in the years to come.