Open and distance education- sharing knowledge

Open and distance education are two associated terms that aim to educate every person with the purpose of studying. This, of course, involves kids, teenagers, young adults and adults; and certainly, among them there will be students, mothers, fathers, working persons, and more; persons, that due their activities and lack of time, financial situation, age, disabilities, or place of residence, are not able to go and spend a few hours in a classroom. So, it is appropriate to say that open and distance education represent a great alternative for every person who want or need to earn a degree and do not have all the needed resources for a traditional in-class education.

Nyberg (2010) asserts that open education is that form of educational practice which is characteristically regulated by the following rules:

1. - Students are to pursue educational activities of their own choosing;

2. - Teachers are to create an environment rich in educational possibilities;

3. - Teachers are to give a student individualized instruction based on what he/she is interested in, but they are also to guide the student along educationally worthwhile lines;

4. - Teachers are to respect students. The following count as exhibiting respect for the student:

a) the student is granted considerable freedom; he/she is, for the most part, autonomous,

b) the student’s interests and ideas are considered to be important and he/she receives individual instruction and guidance based on his/her interests,

c) there is considerable interaction between teacher and student; they are considered to be equal in some sense,

d) students are rarely commanded; uses of authority are minimized,

e) students’ feelings are to be taken seriously. (p. 12).

In other words, open education is a learning system where teachers provide to the students all the necessary tools they might need in the most favorable or advantageous conditions during the academic process. Along with this, teachers have to show to students how they can use these instruments to achieve their personal goals. But here, the students play the most important role since it them who have to organize their activities according to their conditions and necessities.

It is also important to mention that open education is aimed to avoid any inconvenience or difficulty that learners might face, such as time, space, age, or money. Under this scheme, students are responsible for their studies and the way they take place.

One of the open education features is distance education. According to Simmonson and Schlosser (1995), “Distance education implies formal institutionally-based educational activities where the teacher and student are normally separated in time, and where two-way interactive telecommunication systems are used for sharing video, data, and voice instruction (p.13).

According to this definition, the author explains that the educational procedure does not necessary takes place with both, teacher and student, interacting together at the same time or at the same place; teachers and students could have a different geographical situation, and even perform their educational activities at a different time. The communication exchange will have to rely on the long distance means of communication such as TV, mail, or internet; through these means, teacher and students will trade instructions, information, test and other related data.

Frequently, open education and distance education are two terminologies that have been used indistinctively; but as it has been seen, while open education is the complete process that allows students to decide the why, where, how, and when to study, distance education is basically the denomination we give to the fact that teacher and students can interact despite the difference of time and place that each one of them assign to the process.

Is important to realize that in distance education, due the difference in times and places for teacher and students, but especially the own duties of the student, the learning schedule might have some ups and downs. According to this, Howard (1995) assures that “The interruptions to learning which that delay introduces can be frustrating and demotivating” (p.18). on the other side, Howard (1995) affirms that “those who take on this burden of self-evaluation in a distance-learning become deeper, as well as more purposeful, learners.”(p.16). It is understood that when it comes to open education, the students must be focused in their goals; they have to have a strong will and a complete disposition to persevere with their educational program; and the more they advance in their own agenda, the more motivation they get to reach their objective.

So far, it is not possible to assure that any education system, in-class, open or distance, can guarantee the successful achievement of an education; each process has its own characteristics that apply to different kind of persons. Nowadays, most of people have too many duties, responsibilities or obligations; this is the reason why making effective use of time is a critical for them. Open and distance education allows to advance in the educational process at the own speed according to their own free time. Given these points, it is feasible to assure that open education is an excellent option for those people who have the will to get an education, but also some issues, especially time inconveniences.