Technology Enhancements in Distance Education:.
The Digital Revolution and Communication.
Academia in Western culture is seemingly somewhat resistant to change (Jukes and McCain, 2000). An example given by Jukes and McCain pertaining to the rate of change in the United States due to advancements in technology versus the rate of change in the educational system can give people a better understanding of how different schools are from the business world. For example, Western culture is like a freight train. Decade after decade this train becomes faster, more fuel-efficient, and may even acquire a new body design. The rest of the world eventually transitions from a train on the tracks to an automobile and then to a jet plane. Throughout all of these changes, education has remained the reliable-yet-slow train on the tracks. If secretaries ten years ago were transported to this day and age and asked to perform their same job duties in this computer-infiltrated workplace after some brief training, would they succeed? Fortunately, the persistent need for a communication "upgrade" in the classroom has finally arrived in the form of the Virtual Classroom and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC). Teachers and students alike are slowly picking up new ways to enhance their learning experience through CMC inside as well as outside the classroom. Instructors are now able to assign homework, hold virtual class discussions, post grades, explore external source material, employ virtual reality to enhance CMC, give exams and have a student's scores automatically graded instantly, as well as innumerable other doldrum automations (Witmer 1995). With the introduction of Web Cams into the VC (Virtual Classroom) and the ability to see as well as hear other participants during discussion, students and educators alike are only beginning to realize all the advantages of jet plane transport opposed to the "tried-and-true" train on the tracks way of communicating with each other.