So George Siemens says what?

George Siemens, Associate Director at the University of Manitoba, says that there is a growing acceptance of distance communication (Laureate Education, 2008 ).  Geographical location is no longer a factor in terms of how we communicate and educate (Laureate Education, 2008 ).  Technology has afforded us the opportunity to learn without geographical boundaries and we are finding that our learning experiences can be rich (Laureate Education, 2008 ).  One of the biggest advantages being that we can have virtual teams working on a project at one time with the ability to have world wide collaboration and as our technology improves, the ability and acceptance of distance education will increase (Laureate Education, 2008 ).

I agree with everything that George Siemens says, however, there is research that suggests K-12 learners may not benefit from distance learning or integrated technology.  In some ways technology has afforded us the opportunity to learn in a different environment, but for young learners many times test scores have not increased.  In fact the integration of technology, depending on the type and use of technology, may not increase the overall achievement of  K-12 learners any more than face to face instruction.  There is an article that you can look up called The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement: What the Most Current Research Has to Say, this article is excellent because it gives an overview of several studies performed and the results in many cases are mixed.  Take a look at it for yourself and let me know what you think.  I posted a link below:

http://www.mff.org/pubs/ME161.pdf


References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). (n.d.). The Future of Distance Education.