Week 8

This week we read articles on the topic of the cost of distance learning. I read Costs and Effectiveness of Online Courses in Distance Education by Kwok-Chi Ngi (2000) and Counting the Costs of Distance Education by Mary Lou Santovec (2005).

I found it very interesting to see the contrasting views concerning the cost-effectiveness of online learning in the Santovec and Ng articles. The Ng article pointed to the uncertainty of cost-effectivenss in distance learning stating that it is a complex issue. Although this may be true, the Santovec article discusses the fact that there are obvious financial advantages from that of a traditional brick and mortar school. What I really liked about the Santovec article was that it also mentioned some practical ways that can be employed to reduce the costs of distance education such as negotiating with vendors and acquiring sponsorships.

Also, this week I learned something about the program Audacity that I hadn't ever thought of before. I had never thought of using it for recording lessons or using the edit features to make recordings more school appropriate. I have used Audacity on projects before, but never for educational use. This workshop was a great experience for me.