The Technology in Distance Education and E-learning course is where I continued to learn what DE is and means, the possibilities that it enables and has enabled in the past, the ways in which technology inform and have informed DE and its evolution, and why some technologies may be most suitable for particular settings. Each era’s technologies have enabled different possibilities and applications of DE, and this has developed in an iterative fashion alongside the growing theories and methods of the field. We may now be in a golden age of DE and E-learning because Internet and other digital technologies provide for additional practical needs to be met, and for the field to significantly grow. Previous technologies can also now be reinterpreted and used in more efficient and cost-effective ways.

Artifact 1

This assignment allowed me to learn about the uses, advantages and disadvantages of synchronous and asynchronous technologies by comparing a platform of each type, as used for distance education. For instance synchronous technology requires all students and the teacher to be present at the same time for a predetermined period of time, and this may reduce the flexibility that DE affords learners. Asynchronous technology enables learning independent of both time and space and also may enable more thoughtful communication and responses, but could be less suited to group work and the iterative discussion and planning associated with that. I learned the differences between these two modes and the possibilities afforded by each

Artifact 2

For this assignment, I chose a suitable technology (video) for a training program at a specific organization. I justified my choice by using the literature and analyzing the needs of the organization’s training program, to demonstrate what video offers. An informed and complete justification required understanding the organization and its training needs by using the SECTIONS model to analyze trainees, ease of use and reliability, costs, teaching and learning, interactivity, organizational issues, novelty, and speed. I learned to practice a multi-dimensional analysis of a training need and justify and recommend the technology for it in an informed manner, while also anticipating opportunities and challenges.