E-Learning: Affective/Blended Learning and Teaching for Distance Learners

As early as the 1890s, educators recommended teachers to go beyond knowledge base and cognitive skill acquisition to moral and emotional development of learners. Due to the nature of distance education, stimulating the affective dimension of learning is vital for students who are learning via this method. In fact, most educators, instructional designers and curriculum developers in distance learning believe that the purpose of learning is to draw meaning out of life experiences. Therefore, the understanding and integration of affective domain in program development is vital. Affective characteristics can be best ‘taught’ in an instructional environment by integrating them into the formal and hidden curriculum. The intent of this study was to focus on the importance of teaching/learning in the affective domain and provide methods for including it in the professional curriculum.