Distance Learning 

Nowadays education and learning are more and more replaced by indirect instruction.

What does it mean indirect instruction? Indirect instruction is generally equated with distance learning.

You will ask: “Can that distance learning be associated with MOOC?”

I will definitely say: “Yes”. MOOC is a recent development in distance online learning.

So what is Distance learning?

Distance learning or distance education is a way of learning remotely without being in regular face-to-face communication with a teacher in the classroom. The privilege of distance learning system is an opportunity to fit your learning around your work and home life which is mostly difficult, expensive and time-consuming to realize in a real life. When learning through distance learning you can set your own pace of study or goal, for instance, period of time you will be able to learn language. You can also set when and where you study. Despite the fact where you live you can gain a degree from anywhere in the world. Upon completion the course students get a certificate.

Having distance learning implies distance teaching. In distance teaching the educator should put more effects to convey all of the materials properly taking into account the fact that learning is not carried out in a real classroom but via social network.  In distance learning, it is difficult to observe the learners and identify their needs and preferences. It is also challenging to provide immediate feedback to the learners. According to C. White (1994) in education teachers should follow several maxims which are quite necessary in face-to-face learning, but are critically viewed in distance learning. First of all, the educator should make the learner more motivated, encouraged and what‘s important confident about his/ her abilities. Secondly, educators should always provide appropriate explanation of any linguistic point, be it grammar, vocabulary and so forth, as far as in distance learning they should be very careful and attentive so that learners won’t miss a point. Though it is surprising, but the criteria of honesty is also important in distance learning, due to the fact that educator should always tell the learners the truth about their language competence and performance progression. Finally, the educator should be open, i.e. the learners should always feel free to approach their educator and send emails whenever they have questions concerning lessons.  Being open also implies  being patient, sympathetic and providing encouragement.

    When learning via distance education students have to be more autonomous, self-controlled, self-directed and independent and develop these skills respectively. They have to control their self-management at first and be more careful while planning their work carefully.

      Distance learning is a very good means for the learners who live, for example, in remote areas and don't have good teachers in that area. This is also a convenient way for students who are not physically present in a traditional setting such as a classroom and learners who are separated by time and distance.

      Taking into account all of the mentioned advantages, distance learning also possesses some advantages. Foremost it lacks face-to-face communication. I know you will say, all of the social websites are non-face-to-face communication. However, we forget that we talk about teaching and learning, where teacher-student communication and interaction should be carried out in a real authentic environment, where both “participants” can see and feel everything that happens during the learning process. Besides, it will be more useful and fun and effective to learn in a real classroom where you can share your thoughts, opinions, experiences, in other words communicate and collaborate than to focus only on individual working style and therefore get isolated, which this or that way will lead to this. 

P. S.

To be honest, I have always been willing to learn Spanish. Yes. Being at school and at the university I studied French and German. The latter is more proficient. Anyway, where I live there are no good teachers of Spanish. As we know the best way to learn language is to go to the target language country. BUT, this is difficult and time-consuming because I am getting master’s degree and working. Besides, I am not intended to live my family and move to another country now. Of course, that would be great if I could at least know “middle” Spanish so that when I go to Spain I could communicate enough with people and understand them.

    I did not give up, because this is my personality and I started to look for online courses that would help me to reach my goal. The first website that I found was http://www.babbel.com/- an interactive online course for all of the levels, which can bring fats progress and fun with it.

Progressing my searches, I found   http://www.livemocha.com and http://www.busuu.com. These websites are really great. During the learning progress I had lots of fun. I think I am making success. I do not want to compare, but most of all I liked Busuu.com and especially the idea of creating my own garden Both of these websites provide you with an opportunity to interact with the community members, native speakers as well as with of the learnt language via chat, commenting under posts and so forth. This helps to improve English language skills and learn ant other language at the same time. You receive immediate feedback. The more you learn the more berries and badges you earn to keep you motivated.

Finally while learning I can follow my progress, I go back and recall what I have learned as many times as I need. I have to admit that distance learning matches my needs and provides an opportunity y to learn effectively. After spending an hour and learning Spanish I was no tired at all .It’s like time’s stopped for a while; stopped to help me to fulfill my language needs now.

    Do not ever give up on pursuing your dream. We live in the 21^st century where everything can become possible. It is possible. Start with learning your desired language. This might be difficult, but making use of these websites learning adventure will become more effective, full of fun and give you the opportunity to practice your skills with native speakers.