When the educational process takes place in an environment other than a live classroom, it is known as distance education. The idea of distance education can be traced by to the advent of the printing press. From the very earliest days of printing, it became possible to develop a learning method whereby the student learned at his own pace and without the aid of an instructor. The self help manual is one of the earliest examples of distance learning.
As each new technological advance was made, the possibilities of its adaptation for distance learning were explored. When radios came into common use, the possibilities of giving instruction via this medium were investigated. Television was a major advance that was used in distance training. The development of closed circuit television networks made it possible for classrooms to be spread out over great distances with the instructor in one location, and the students in another. The drawback to this method was that it still required the student to be actually present at the time the class was being held. It did not free him of that restraint.
It was the introduction of computers, and the wide spread growth of the internet that brought us to the current golden age of distance learning. Online education actually began with the introduction of the “Computer Assisted Learning Center” (CALC) in 1982 in Rindge, New Hampshire. This was the first actual online school in the United States although a similar program was being tested in Norway at around the same time. In was not until 1994-1995 when the internet became more widespread and available to the public from small and local internet service providers that online education really began to explode.
The first stage was the introduction of individual classes online. They were intended to supplement on campus classes and not replace them. There was a bit of reluctance in the educational establishment to change the traditional methods, and this reluctance still exists to some extend. It is fast fading, however, as the advantages of online education became apparent. Before long, you could find a complete degree program online. This was followed by online degree colleges. At the present time, online education opportunities increase with each passing day, and the status of online degrees and how they are received by employers is improving constantly as the internet becomes more integrated into daily life.
By: Natalie Aranda
Online Education: A Brief History
March 11th, 2010 by admin No comments »Special Education Acronyms – What Do All Those Letters Mean?
March 10th, 2010 by admin No comments »
Do you sometimes wonder what some of the Acronyms in special education mean? Do the acronyms make your head spin? This article will discuss common special education acronyms and what they mean. This will make it easier for you to actively participate in your child with disabilities education.
1. FAPE: stands for Free Appropriate Public Education. Each child has the right under IDEA to receive a free appropriate public education.
2. IDEA: stands for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; which is the federal law that applies to special education.
3. IDEA 2004: This is the federal law that was reauthorized in 2004. If you see this in an article, it usually means that something was changed in IDEA, by the reauthorization in 2004.
4. LEA: stands for the local educational agency, which is your local school district.
5. SEA: stands for the state educational agency, which is your states board of education.
6. IEP: stands for the Individual Educational Plan, which must be developed for every child that receives special education services.
7. LRE: stands for Least Restrictive Environment. LRE means that children with disabilities need to be educated in the least restrictive environment, in which they can learn. LRE starts at the regular classroom, and becomes more restrictive.
8. NCLB: stands for the No Child Left Behind Act.
9. IEE’s: stands for an Independent Educational Evaluation. These are initiated and paid for by parents, to help determine their child’s disability or educational needs.
10. IEE’s at Public Expense: stands for an IEE where the school district pays for it. There are rules that apply to this, that you must learn before requesting an IEE at public expense. Many special education personnel try and do things that are not allowed under IDEA, so you need to educate yourself.
11. ASD: stands for Autism Spectrum Disorder, which some school districts use in their paperwork.
12. ADD: stands for Attention Deficit Disorder.
13. ADHD: stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
14. PWN: stands for Prior Written Notice. Parents must be given PWN when the school district wants to change things in the child’s IEP. (such as eligibility, change services, refuse to change services etc.).
15. ABA: stands for Applied Behavioral Analysis that is an educational treatment for Autism.
16. SID: stands for Sensory Integration Disorder. A lot of children with Autism have difficulty with sensory integration.
17. SPD: stands for Sensory Processing Disorder which is the same as above, but some people in the special education field, call it different names.
By understanding the acronyms used by special education personnel, you can be a better advocate for an appropriate education for your child.
By: JoAnn Collins
