Summative Reflections
These are summative reflections based on my experience in UMUC's MDE program. They were written as I was finishing the program, and represent my thoughts on the "big picture" of what I learned in the program and how I think it has impacted my career.
Impact of the Program: Patience and Hard Work Pay Off
I think that the greatest impact that the MDE program has had on me would be that it has shown me that I can accomplish big things as long as I take my time and put my mind to it. When I graduated with my bachelors degree, I really did not plan on pursuing a masters. My primary motivation for pursuing the program was that I wanted to take advantage of my company’s professional development benefits. The program was appropriate given my position at the time, and I felt that it would be a good resume builder. However, once I got into the program, I realized how much work it would be.
In my first semester, I took three courses (two three-credit courses, and one administrative one-credit course), and I was completely overwhelmed. It was a real struggle to complete all of my readings, coursework, discussions, and still keep up with my day-to-day tasks at work. From that point on, I only took one class at a time (save for one semester where I took two), and accepted the fact that the program was going to take a while for me to complete.
About halfway through the program, I was forced to take two semesters off because I got a new job with an employer that would not reimburse education expenses until you had been with the company for a year. Once I was eligible to re-enroll in school, I got back into the swing of things, chipping away at my credits, one class at a time. Now here I am, five years later, and I am in my final course. It has been a long journey, but it seems that the adage “slow and steady wins the race” seems to be true in this case. I was able to successfully manage my work/life balance, learn a lot, and help move my career forward all by taking my time and working diligently.
In my first semester, I took three courses (two three-credit courses, and one administrative one-credit course), and I was completely overwhelmed. It was a real struggle to complete all of my readings, coursework, discussions, and still keep up with my day-to-day tasks at work. From that point on, I only took one class at a time (save for one semester where I took two), and accepted the fact that the program was going to take a while for me to complete.
About halfway through the program, I was forced to take two semesters off because I got a new job with an employer that would not reimburse education expenses until you had been with the company for a year. Once I was eligible to re-enroll in school, I got back into the swing of things, chipping away at my credits, one class at a time. Now here I am, five years later, and I am in my final course. It has been a long journey, but it seems that the adage “slow and steady wins the race” seems to be true in this case. I was able to successfully manage my work/life balance, learn a lot, and help move my career forward all by taking my time and working diligently.
What the MDE Program Has Taught Me: What I Didn’t Know About DE
When I originally signed up for the MDE program, I thought that I would be learning primarily about e-learning technologies: applications, learning management systems, programming, vendor relations, etc. But I ended up learning a lot more and had no idea how expansive and pervasive distance education is or how many different forms it can take.
In one of my first classes, I learned about the history of distance education, going all the way back to correspondence classes in the late 1800s. It never occurred to me that there was a need for education taught from a distance, especially in rural areas, even going as far back as the post-civil war era.
Other classes taught me about how common open universities are in other parts of the world like the United Kingdom, Africa, India, and China. Many of these open universities rely on distance education for many of their programs, and there is not the same stigma associated with online universities in other parts of the world like there is in the US.
Another aspect of distance education that I wasn’t aware of before I joined the MDE program is how it can really help countries with little or no infrastructure or centralized educational systems. It simply isn’t feasible to build roads and brick and mortar schools to teach people that are in remote parts of third world countries – distance education provides a viable means in which to educate people in those areas. I think that perhaps once my children are older and I am looking towards the end of my career, I may want to help participate in a venture that uses DE for this kind of purpose.
In one of my first classes, I learned about the history of distance education, going all the way back to correspondence classes in the late 1800s. It never occurred to me that there was a need for education taught from a distance, especially in rural areas, even going as far back as the post-civil war era.
Other classes taught me about how common open universities are in other parts of the world like the United Kingdom, Africa, India, and China. Many of these open universities rely on distance education for many of their programs, and there is not the same stigma associated with online universities in other parts of the world like there is in the US.
Another aspect of distance education that I wasn’t aware of before I joined the MDE program is how it can really help countries with little or no infrastructure or centralized educational systems. It simply isn’t feasible to build roads and brick and mortar schools to teach people that are in remote parts of third world countries – distance education provides a viable means in which to educate people in those areas. I think that perhaps once my children are older and I am looking towards the end of my career, I may want to help participate in a venture that uses DE for this kind of purpose.
My Most Valuable Class: DEPM 625 - Distance Education Globalization Development
One of my favorite classes in the MDE program was a study of the development and current landscape of global, open, and distance education across developed and developing countries. In the class, we learned about cross-border partnerships, emerging business models, academic quality, cultural and linguistic opportunities and challenges, and different ways of packaging of content. There was a lot of discussing surrounding MOOCs and open educational resources, which I found particularly enlightening. The most interesting part of the class was learning about the different ways that global distance education organizations promote internationalism, global trade, and quality assurance and management of global educational services. The primary deliverable for the class was a case study of an open university, where I focused on the University of South Africa.
What to Expect: My Predictions for the Future of DE as a Post-Graduate
The field of distance education has come a long way even in just the past decade, especially in the United States. Distance education used to be an offshoot of major universities, something that was somewhat on the fringe – perhaps even something that was seen as an experimental investment. Given its success over the past ten years, there has been a visible shift of distance education to the mainstream for many educational institutions. There has also been a significant shift to distance education being delivered almost exclusively online, with other modalities taking a back seat.
With all of these recent changes, I think one thing we can expect for the future of DE is increased regulations. With more and more financial aid being given out to support those seeking degrees through DE, there is more opportunity for fraud, so regulations will increase for institutions providing DE options to their students. Identity verification for students is likely to become far more sophisticated, and accreditation standards for universities will become more stringent.
Another area of development and change that I see coming is a shift in the wat learning systems are operated. Learning management systems have evolved quite a bit in the past ten years, and if you have attended any learning conferences, you can see how dissatisfied many people are with their learning management system. They seem to do a good job of replicating the old classroom and help manage students, but not really the learning. I can’t say what learning management systems will become, or if they will go away, but I think that online innovations will certainly bring about a big shift in the way online learning is managed and how it operates.
With all of these recent changes, I think one thing we can expect for the future of DE is increased regulations. With more and more financial aid being given out to support those seeking degrees through DE, there is more opportunity for fraud, so regulations will increase for institutions providing DE options to their students. Identity verification for students is likely to become far more sophisticated, and accreditation standards for universities will become more stringent.
Another area of development and change that I see coming is a shift in the wat learning systems are operated. Learning management systems have evolved quite a bit in the past ten years, and if you have attended any learning conferences, you can see how dissatisfied many people are with their learning management system. They seem to do a good job of replicating the old classroom and help manage students, but not really the learning. I can’t say what learning management systems will become, or if they will go away, but I think that online innovations will certainly bring about a big shift in the way online learning is managed and how it operates.