Distance Education. “Distance Education is ‘planned learning that normally occurs in a different place from teaching, requiring special techniques of course design, special instructional techniques, special methods of communication by electronic and other technology, as well as special organizational and administrative arrangements’” (Moore & Kearsley, 2012, p.306).
Having worked in DE for several years, I have learned that Universal Design (UD) is important to DE for a number of reasons. Defined, UD is, according to the Center for Universal Design (2010), “the concept of designing all products and the built environment to be aesthetic and useable to the greatest extent possible by everyone, regardless of their age, ability, or status in life.”
However, in relationship to the theory and practice of UD, there are other concerns in need of attention that are driven by the theory and practice of Instructional Design (ID), which is my area. They are, but, I suspect, not limited to, economic, engineering, culture, gender, and environmental concerns (Center for Universal Design, 2011). Of these concerns, I am mostly interested in the matter of culture, relating to ID, UD, and DE. Nevertheless, I assume I will be looking at language in addition to culture in my pursuit to develop and complete a final project.
This week Fong Hermes gave me some names to look at that are related to my research interests. They are:
Megan Bang: http://education.washington.edu/news/fac_spotlight/megan-bang.html
Kris Gutierrez: http://www.colorado.edu/education/faculty/krisgutierrez/
Carol Lee: http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/profile/?p=72
Last, I stumbled upon a book titled Exploring Spirituality and Culture in Adult Higher Education by Elizabeth Tisdell. I plan to look at Tisdell in the coming week in addition to Bang, Gutierrez, and Lee.
Center for Universal Design. (2010). Ronald l. mace. Retrieved from http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/ron-mace/
Center for Universal Design. (2011). The principles of universal design. Retrieved from http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/the-principles-of-universal-design/
Moore, M. G., Kearsley, G. (2012). Distance education: a systems view on online learning. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
