Distance Learning
    Distance Learning is a way of learning that allows the student to be somewhere other than school and still be able to hear their teacher or professor. It is also known as electronic learning because it uses a network such as an Internet, a school's local area network (LAN) or a corporation's wide area network (WAN). It is mainly for college students and above, but there are also websites that are being made for elementary students, too.

History

Learning has traditionally taken place in the classroom with a teacher or instructor present. As television became more sophisticated and a larger part of our lives, many instructional programs were developed. Students viewed material related to their curriculum on educational networks and sometimes on recorded tapes. As computers began to play a more important role in our lives, new ways to instruct students were developed. Dr. A. W. Bates, the Director of Distance Education and Technology in Vancouver, says that there are four reasons for distance learning.  They are: to improve access to education, to improve the quality of learning, to reduce the costs of education, and to improve the cost effectiveness of education.  Even though not everyone agrees with these reasons, they are important because they help explain why distance learning can be helpful.

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    Distance learning lets qualified teachers teach to people who may not have the money or ability to attend their schools.  If a school does not have the ability to teach a certain subject, such as a foreign language, then the student can use distance learning to access a different school and get the information that they need.  It also lets students who have a difficult time attending a regular school “go to school”.  An example is a student or adult who has many pressures or responsibilities and needs his or her own time to learn without a traditional classroom.  Another example would be a student with special needs.  Having a teacher who uses audio, video and computers to communicate would help this student.The learning could even take place under the guidance of the computer itself, without having an instructor lead the lesson. Or you may be able to join a class in session with a teacher.

A problem with distance learning is that the student must have a computer.  If there is not computer, then you either have to go to regular school, visit a person with a computer, or just go buy a computer.  But buying a computer is hard because it may cost as much as the class.  You must also have Internet access to be able to reach that school.Technologies that can be used for electronic learning can be either synchronous and asynchronous. For asynchronous learning some of the tools use would be e-mail for discussion groups, list servs which sends mail to all students in class at once, web forums and computer bulletin boards. For synchronous learning tools such, chat rooms, application sharing, teleconferencing and video conferencing. Technologies such as streaming audio and video, web pages, computer files and on line tests are all advanced tools.

Later

I think distance learning is a better way for people to get educated if they sleep late.  It also helps people who shouldn’t be around other people to learn what they need to learn. In a few years distance learning may not even use the computer. As the capacity of the Internet increases, synchronous conferencing will become more effective, less costly and less complex.