E-Learning: Paradigm Shift in Education

Overview & Synopsis

Internet is a new media for distance education that provides students with a low-cost, flexible option to expand into global markets (Casey, 1998). By 2004 at least two million higher-education students in the U.S. were engaged in distance education utilizing various technologies that allow learners to take courses independent of time and location constraints (Allen & Seaman, 2004). It is important to convey the principles and skills of distance education instructional design so that distance learning instructors will be adequately prepared to perform and interact well with distance learners. As a result, little is known about the ways in which educators enhance their own instructional design performance over time. This study will look at distance education versus traditional learning.