This is the type of learning for those students who cannot be physically present in school. This mode of study is advantageous as it provides students with a lot of flexibility. It becomes possible for a student to study and also to work. Moreover, this mode of study is not costly compared to normal class. The cost of courses offered online is generally lower than the full-time courses. Additionally, this mode of study is advantageous since there is no commuting to and fro school. This will enable a student to save money spend on a daily basis going to school for other purposes (Moore, 2013).
On the other hand, this mode of study has some demerits associated with it. Students undertaking distance education lack social interaction. Most likely students may not be able to have discussion boards and chat rooms which are very important in learning. Consequently, not everyone can be the right candidate for distance learning. There are some students who require a lot of individual attention from the tutors and this mode would restrict such students. Additionally, not all courses can be offered online. Courses such as engineering and to some extend medicine and nursing requires direct interaction with the instructors and patients as well (Moore, 2013).
Technology plays a major role in the success of distance education learning. In distance education, technology has been a substitute for the lecturer. The integration of the digital technology to the traditional methods of learning is a good idea as it has enabled students to have all the necessary tools to succeed in a rapidly and complex changing society in terms of technology (Bates, 2014). Technology has made it possible for students undertaking distance education to be able to access learning materials, exam timetables, fees statements, send and receive assignments from their lecturers through the student’s portal in their university website.
Technologies such as video tutorials, simulations, self-paced learning modules, communication tools, and multimedia case studies have greatly enabled distance learning to thrive in schools (Bates, 2014). Take for example the use of WWW on- campus which has made work easier for students and lecturers in terms of interaction and sharing of knowledge. It is now possible for students in Africa to study in the universities in the western countries and vice versa.
Technology can pose great challenges to the nursing education. Use of technology has immense impacts on the well-being of the patients, can raise ethical concerns, and increase the cost of operations and high turnover in term of technology used in nursing education (Doswell et al., 2013). To overcome these challenges, I propose that the organization create an education environment that supports and able to meet the demands of the latest art of technology. To create this environment, evidence-based practice for quality care must be advocated. Consequently, clinical decision support, especially at the point care, should also be addressed (Button et al., 2014). Additionally, patients and health practitioners or students ought to be trained on how they can use the distance learning program to access information.
It is also important that nursing education incorporate training of nurses on how to integrate the use of technologies like EHRs into their work (Button et al., 2014). The beliefs, attitudes and values of nurses towards technology should also be addressed. Not everyone likes changes and this is the reason why technology brings conflicts and resistance in the workplace. This move would end up building a culture that is friendly to technology.
Conclusively, distance education is a good mode of study but it has some challenges that need to be addressed such as inability offer interaction between parties involved. Technology has played a vital role in making distance education success. It has emerged as a substitute for the lecturer. The nursing education is posed by technological challenges and, therefore, the system should come with ways of addressing these problems.
References
Bates, T. (2014). The Role of Technology in Distance Education (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Button, D., Harrington, A., & Belan, I. (2014). E-learning & information communication technology (ICT) in nursing education: A review of the literature. Nurse education today, 34(10), 1311-1323.
Doswell, W. M., Braxter, B., Dabbs, A. D., Nilsen, W., & Klem, M. L. (2013). mHealth: Technology for nursing practice, education, and research. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 3(10), p99.
Moore, M. G. (Ed.). (2013). Handbook of distance education. Routledge.
