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Technology, Teaching, and the Many Distances of Distance Learning

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Title: Technology, Teaching, and the Many Distances of Distance Learning
Language: English
Authors: Dron, Jon
Source: Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning. 2022 26(2):7-17.
Availability: FLANZ: Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand. PO Box 391, Blenheim 7240, New Zealand. Web site: https://www.jofdl.nz/index.php/JOFDL/index
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 11
Publication Date: 2022
Document Type: Journal Articles
Opinion Papers
Reports - Descriptive
Descriptors: Electronic Learning, Distance Education, Students, Teachers, Teaching Methods, Intentional Learning, Interpersonal Relationship, Technology Uses in Education
ISSN: 1179-7665
1179-7673
Abstract: The "distance" in "distance learning", however it is defined, normally refers to a gap between a learner and their teacher(s), typically in a formal context. In this paper I take a slightly different view. The paper begins with an argument that teaching is fundamentally a technological process. It is, though, a vastly complex, massively distributed technology in which the most important parts are enacted idiosyncratically by vast numbers of people, both present and distant in time and space, who not only use technologies but also participate creatively in their enactment. Through the techniques we use we are co-participants in not just technologies but the learning of ourselves and others, and hence in the collective intelligence of those around us and, ultimately, that of our species. We are all teachers. There is therefore not one distance between learner and teacher in any act of deliberate learning--but many. I go on to speculate on alternative ways of understanding distance in terms of the physical, temporal, structural, agency, social, emotional, cognitive, cultural, pedagogical, and technological gaps that may exist between learners and their many teachers. And I conclude with some broad suggestions about ways to reduce these many distances.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2023
Accession Number: EJ1383715
Database: ERIC
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Opinion Papers<br />Reports - Descriptive
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Electronic+Learning%22">Electronic Learning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Distance+Education%22">Distance Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Students%22">Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teachers%22">Teachers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Methods%22">Teaching Methods</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intentional+Learning%22">Intentional Learning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Interpersonal+Relationship%22">Interpersonal Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Technology+Uses+in+Education%22">Technology Uses in Education</searchLink>
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  Data: The "distance" in "distance learning", however it is defined, normally refers to a gap between a learner and their teacher(s), typically in a formal context. In this paper I take a slightly different view. The paper begins with an argument that teaching is fundamentally a technological process. It is, though, a vastly complex, massively distributed technology in which the most important parts are enacted idiosyncratically by vast numbers of people, both present and distant in time and space, who not only use technologies but also participate creatively in their enactment. Through the techniques we use we are co-participants in not just technologies but the learning of ourselves and others, and hence in the collective intelligence of those around us and, ultimately, that of our species. We are all teachers. There is therefore not one distance between learner and teacher in any act of deliberate learning--but many. I go on to speculate on alternative ways of understanding distance in terms of the physical, temporal, structural, agency, social, emotional, cognitive, cultural, pedagogical, and technological gaps that may exist between learners and their many teachers. And I conclude with some broad suggestions about ways to reduce these many distances.
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      – SubjectFull: Students
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      – SubjectFull: Teachers
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      – SubjectFull: Intentional Learning
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      – SubjectFull: Technology Uses in Education
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