Distance Education: Role and Position of Information Management

Distance education can best be understood in the broader context of using technology to meet society’s needs for education. Developments of information and communication technology, new tools are being used by educational institutions. Using modern technological tools changes teaching methodology. Formerly, teachers dominated a big part of their courses while now students play a much more active role, either through centralized learning or self-learning methods. Distance    education is a method commonly used because of the advantages of time and place independency. There are various ways to give a lecture from a distance. Satellites, fiber optics, modems, routers, radio, television, computers, etc. The tools that are used are very important but the usage efficiency of the tools is questionable. Distance education can be delivered by a sole teacher or as part of a campus-wide effort. Campus-Wide LCMS make it possible for technologists, content specialists, instructional specialists, and students to work seamlessly to create and refine distance education keywords: distance education, education theory, education objects, repositories, education content management system. Distance education is important for economic development, both of individuals and of society. The electronic medium could be the internet, intranets, extranets, satellite TV, video/audio tape, and/or cd rom. Technological improvements over time make this task a moving target as newer technology provides an ever-increasing number of possibilities and options. In other words, distance education takes into account four separate and related dimensions: education theories (specifically andragogy, as defined below), psychological dimensions, and demands of the learner, technology, including all form of information and communication technologies (ICTS), and content to be learned.

Keywords:

distance education , Interactive Learning Environments , Lifelong learning , Andragogy Pedagogical Issues , E-learning