Essay#3 - Jason Preston - Distant Education in a Global Society

        

            Here in the United States when the topic of globalization is brought up in a conversation, the subject matter is usually quickly shifted to the idea of a global economy.  The increase in economic interactions due to swift technological advancements, between the United States and other foreign nations is a ?hot topic?.  The United States has always been considered a capitalistic society, one that thrives on economic strength, some would even choose to label the United States imperialistic. ?Many locate the ultimate authority that rules over the processes of globalization and the new world order in the United States.  Proponents praise the United States as the world leader and sole superpower, and the detractors denounce it as an imperialist oppressor,? (Hardt, Negri pg 2). How ever, before people of the 21rst century get caught up in debates about money and imperialism, we should make a conscious effort to stop and redirect our attention to education.  We have all come to a basic understanding that the phenomenon of globalization is swiftly changing the way that we do business here in the United States, however, we must also address the issue that globalization will effect the way in which we handle education.  Distant education should play a major role in our global society.
        A global village is swiftly developing before our eyes. In order to function productively in the global village, an individual needs to be educated about globalization. An individual has the opportunity to be an even more productive member of our global society if they receive their education on a global level.  Basically, the point that the previous sentence is trying to make is that distant education on a worldwide level we become a necessity.  Driven by the Internet, distant learning on a national level has proven to be an effective and powerful tool here in the United States alone.   The Internet seemingly became a household communication technology overnight, and schools quickly adopted it as a tool for teaching and learning.  ? The Internet is the eight wonder of the world, it brings unlimited information, entire libraries, courses, and instructions to anywhere you have a modem and a server,? (Murray, pg1). 
        A perfect example of how distance education on a national level is being successfully deployed is Manning High School in Iowa.  Educators at Manning High have tapped the power of the Iowa Communication Network  (ICN), a statewide computer infrastructure designed specifically for use by public agencies, to deliver foreign language and upper-level mathematics courses via videoconferencing to students across the state.  Not only does distant education offer students a greater variety of courses to choose from, but also it is also economical.  ? Good teachers are hard to find.  Delivering courses via Internet provides a highly attractive, economically feasible alternative to hiring full time teachers, especially in rural areas.
        Distant education should play a major role in our global society.  At the rate at which globalization, fueled by advancements in communication technology, is seemingly creating a sort of homogenous global village, the spread of distance education on an international level appears inevitable.  ? Nation-States are not seen to interact but to constitute a world, a global context in which the world becomes a singular place with its own processes and forms of integration,? (Featherstone, pg. 5).  Distant learning has been successfully deployed on a national level to educate students.  Just as business and economics have expanded to better function in our global village, education appears to be the next to follow.
   


Electronic-school (2001, pg 2) www.electronic-school.com The World We Live In: Rural and urban board members alike recognize technologies importance today.

Featherstone, M. (1990).  ?Global Culture; Nationalism, globalization, and modernity?  Sage Publications.

Hardt, M. , Negri, A. (2000 preface).  ?Empire? Harvard University Press

Murray, C.  ESchools News (2005, pg1).  www.eschoolsnews.com Shared technology fortifies ed.


 

Posted at 11:45PM Jun 07, 2007 by PRESTON, JASON in General  |  Comments[2]