Psychology

Posted: August 7th, 2013

Assignment

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Assignment

Discussion 1

Distance education refers to the learning process that takes place as the educator and the learner are split by space and time. Distance between them is bridged by technology such as videoconferencing for instance. In the case if a large classroom, both the learner and the instructor expect diversity. Different people have different opinions concerning different matters. Diversity describes the difference in opinion or ideology that exists between people. Initially it extended only on major matters such as gender and religion but now it encompasses attitudes and beliefs of the people. Broad spectrums that constitute diversity may pose a problem, for example, in a classroom situation. These issues include race, gender and socio-economic class.

From the article, these issues are said to cause many challenges especially since the learning is enabled by technology (Breton et al, 2005). Race has been a problem for several years but is now subsiding. This is because the people are beginning to view the world as one and racism has decreased. However, initially, when racism was prominent, the minority groups were not accepted in the learning environments. The minority groups included the blacks, Indians and Hispanics. Another issue is the socio-economic positions of the learners. Disparities may result in the formation of distinct groupings according to this fact. The students from the poorer families would be segregated and this would affect their studies. However, it has been stated in the article that this notion is quickly fading away and equality is taking over (Radford, 2003). Traditionally, the issue of gender in education was prominent but nit any more. Females were not allowed to access higher education, they were provided with only the basic skills. In this time and age however, this has changed and both genders are accorded with the same educational opportunities (Rubaii-Barrett, 2006).

Discussion 2

Welcome to this learning program, I look forward to the semester and learning with you as well as getting to know you better. However, just because it is a distance-learning program does not mean that there will be no observation of rules. It is a common notion in most classrooms. This will not be the case here because the instructor will require complete cooperation from all of us. From this, he will be able to ensure that the learning environment is appropriate. Every one of us is required to conduct themselves as required and to accord their neighbors with the respect they expect. This will include politeness during communication. The use of inappropriate language such as curse words will not be tolerated during class sessions. There should observe civility in the classroom, that is, everyone should behave in a respectable and reasonable behavior to each other. This will ensure that we maintain a good and cordial relationship amongst ourselves.

We should also provide constructive feedback to each other in order to aid in our improvement both academically and socially (Schmeeckle, 2003). Another important aspect that should be considered is that of diversity. This is because not every learner’s opinion can be identical; there is always a difference between them. We should therefore strive to accept these differences and respect them in order to achieve a peaceful classroom. Disagreements that may arise concerning diversity should be solves reasonable as opposed to a violent resort. By embracing and respecting diversity, the classroom will avoid disagreements and will provide a suitable learning environment (Tallent-Runnels, 2006) If these rules are kept into consideration and followed by each of us, this program will undoubtedly be an enjoyable experience for both the instructor and us, the learners.