Distance Learning: What Does the Future Hold?
During the last 50 years, we’ve seen amazing advances in computer technology. From mainframe computers that filled an entire room to portable laptops and notebooks that are the staple of many university classrooms. Portable information storage has gone from punch cards to large floppy disks to tiny flash drivers, but now it appears that technology professionals are taking another quantum leap in computer networking.
Students enrolled in both traditional college degree programs and online degree universities are facing another learning curve as well. A relatively new concept, called cloud computing, has been making its way toward the forefront of university degree programs. Technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, and a few others have been developing new strategies for cooperative learning and online storage information.
“Cloud” is jargon often used by computer network specialists to refer to the Internet, or cyberspace. The phrase ‘cloud computing’ was coined to describe online storage databanks that can hold files or documents. People can log in from their own personal computers and access data without worrying about hard drive crashes, viruses, or lost storage devices.
Through this new technology, students at university degree programs across the country could log in to school at home or at work and edit homework assignments. Virtual conference rooms allow professors could simultaneously log in and view a student’s progress or make suggestions in real time. The potential applications for distance degree students are almost limitless.
How much do you understand about cloud computing? What effect do you think this technology will have on distance learning degree programs and traditional campus-based classrooms? Share your thoughts about the latest advances in informational and educational technology.
Tags: college degree programs, distance degree, distance learning, distance learning degree programs, online degree universities, university, university degree programs
