Keenan suggested that electronically linking students and instructor at various locations creates a virtual classroom. Keenan suggested three questions had to be answered before one could develop a theory. Those three questions are 1 Is distance education an educational activity? 2. ) Is distance education a form of conventional education? 3. ) Is distance education possible, or is it a contradiction in terms?
These 3 questions lend to the statement Dry. Saba made stating, “A theory is a guide or a map to help us practice”. (Saba, 2012). If the theory does not have knowledge of the profession It Is asserting an Interest In It cannot be valid. It must have a useful set of principles and concepts for use by the Instructor or Learner and be effective in the learning process. Keenan concluded that six major elements define a distance education program.
The separation of teacher and learner, which distinguishes It from face-to-face learning; ;The influence of an educational organization, which distinguishes It from private study; ;The use of technical media, usually print, to unite teacher and learner and carry the educational content; The provision of two-way communication so that the student may benefit from or even Inhalant dialogue; ;The possibility of occasional meetings for both didactic and colonization purposes: and ;The participation in an industrialized form of education which, if accepted, contains the genus of radical separation of distance education from other forms. Keenan believes that In distance education the instructor Is linked to the learner by two way communication to further foster dialogue and enrich learning. This Is what Dry. Page spoke of when class first began. We were given as rubric of what instituted great, good and minimal discussion in our course. He also comments on each of our post in three to four of the rubric’s category to, recreate In the words of Keenan, communication by online computer communication and comments on assignments, This is a great demonstration of AEGON’s concepts and principles in action.
The interactions between colleagues and Professor are very effective in increasing learning across the board. I personally have learned/gotten some great pointers, websites and tips from my colleagues and how to write and be more successful in the profession form my professors. AEGON’s belief, that the integration of teaching creates successful distance learning because it generates autonomy and independence in the learner.