Week 8 - A Reflection of Distance Learning

It is hard to believe that another course is coming to a close, just a few more to go, and my master’s program will be complete. As this course draws to a conclusion, I have been asked to reflect on the future of distance learning. As with any advances in society, there are skeptics, people who may not believe change is necessary or that change can bring about improvements. They plead their case, and often they have valid arguments, yet change is inevitable if we humans want to continue to grow. I believe distance learning is an important advancement for our society and that it will not only survive the voice of the skeptics, but it will thrive.

Dr. George Siemens pointed out in the video The Future of Distance Learning, there is a growing acceptance of distance learning. People are seeing that with all of the advances in online communication, for example the ability to talk “live” via video conferencing on the web, distance becomes a relative term. These technologies will continue to advance. More and more people will become comfortable with these tools, and will continue to find ways to take advantage of these advanced technologies. Distance learning is just one way to use these communication technologies to benefit the advancement of self.

I think that as people begin to explore the advantages of distance learning, for example the sheer convenience of learning in one’s own home, and for the most part on their own schedule, more people will gravitate to this form of learning. The skeptics will voice their concerns; the education is not as good, not everyone can learn effectively this way, how do we know that it is the registered learner who is doing the work, etc. Albeit these concerns are valid, they will not stop the growth of distance learning. Much research has been done to explore the effectiveness of distance learning, and the research literature shows that distance education works (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2009). As Simonson, et al., (2009) states “the keys to successful distance education are in the design, development, and delivery of instruction” (pg. 9).

Educational professionals and instructional designers are instrumental to the growth of distance education. The technological advances will continue, people will continue to become more comfortable using the advanced technologies, and the benefits of distance learning will become more appealing. It will be paramount that the educational experiences of the distance learner are equivalent to the experiences of the traditional learner. Instructional designers and educational professionals must continue to design and facilitate extraordinary learning experiences. These experiences must be designed with all of the best practices for design and delivery utilized. There must be a foundation of integrity and professionalism at the foundation of each educational program.

References
 

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Week 7 - Facilitating Distance Learning

Assignment

Consider the following scenario: A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.


Based on what you have learned thus far in this course, formulate a best practices guide for this trainer to follow when converting his program to a distance learning format. Include ideas and tips that could assist the trainer in facilitating communication and learning among his students.

Here is the guide I created - Guide.pdf

Week 5 - The Impact of Open Source

ASSIGNMENT
Select a course from a free Open Course site and write a 1- to 2-page analysis that includes the following:

• Does the course appear to be carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment? How so?
• Does the course follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in your course textbook?
• Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students?

The course I selected was one from Open Yale Courses, entitled “The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845 – 1877”, located at the following web address: http://oyc.yale.edu/history/civil-war-and-reconstruction.

To begin with, I am thrilled with the idea of open courses. I had no idea such a thing was available and I am excited with the possibility that over time I could “take” some of these courses and expand my knowledge on subjects like civil war history, which back in my undergrad days, I had no interest in learning. Open courses like the one I reviewed definitely have a place in a vast array of learning opportunities, specifically self-directed learning, however when it comes to good instructional design for distance learning, the course I reviewed is definitely lacking . Having said that however, one must keep in mind the intention behind making these courses available. Open Yale Courses provides free and open access to a selection of courses taught by Yale professors. As stated on their website, Open Yale Courses created a project to “expand access to educational materials for all who wish to learn”. It is their intention that the “lectures and other course materials on this site will be a resource for critical thinking, creative imagination, and intellectual exploration”. Given these are courses taught at Yale, being made available to the public for free as self-directed learning, many of the distinctions of a well designed distance learning course are missing.

First let me clarify a working definition for distance education directly from our course text, Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek (2009), “distance education is an institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors” (p. 7). The course I reviewed does not fall into this definition of distance education because there is no interaction with an instructor or other learners. Education, learning is definitely possible, but the course itself does not appear to be designed inside the parameters of this definition. The course is a face-to-face course that was placed onto the web to give others access to learning about the civil war. For its purpose, a self-directed course on the Civil War, I think it is fabulous. A course syllabus is included so one has direction regarding what will be covered. The course is divided into 27 class sections with videos and transcripts of the lectures, required texts and assigned readings are listed, and films about the war can be viewed. Again, a great self-directed course.

Considering some of the best practices in course design for distance education as outlined in our text, many of these practices are missing in this course. Some of the factors that Simonson, et al. (2009), believe to be important include: student-instructor interaction and student-student interaction perhaps through discussion groups, a variety of teaching and learning strategies and methods that are activity based, opportunities to assess progress through papers, quizzes or exams, and the use of multimedia (print, audio and video). Given this course was designed as a face-to-face course which was then placed on the web, no interaction amongst other learners or instructors is available. Consequently a great way to learn, collaboration with others, is not possible. I do not believe multiple learning strategies were considered. For the most part the course is straight lecture, with incorporated reading assignments. Completing the reading assignments for this course could be quite daunting and expensive given 13 texts and two anthologies of documents are utilized. Although in its origination, papers and a final exam were used to assess progress, this course is self-directed, the learner would have to come up with his/her own way of assessing progress. And finally, multimedia was incorporated into this course, however its primary function was video of the instructor delivering his lectures.

As I stated above, I enjoyed reviewing this course and will likely in the future take the time to go through the different lessons, but it is not a well designed distance learning course. If this course were to be taught inside the definition of a distance education course, it would have to be redesigned, or learners would likely drop out of the course. I do believe it would be quite possible to deliver this course as either a hybrid (face-to-face and online) course or a strictly asynchronous online course, but to be effective an instructional designer would have to redesign it using sound instruction design methodology.

References
Open Yale Courses(2010) retrieved October 6, 2020 from http://oyc.yale.edu/

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Week 3 - Selecting Distance Learning Technologies

The Scenario

A high school history teacher, located on the west coast of the United States, wants to showcase to her students new exhibits being held at two prominent New York City museums. The teacher wants her students to take a "tour" of the museums and be able to interact with the museum curators, as well as see the art work on display. Afterward, the teacher would like to choose two pieces of artwork from each exhibit and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art. As a novice of distance learning and distance learning technologies, the teacher turned to the school district’s instructional designer for assistance. In the role of the instructional designer, what distance learning technologies would you suggest the teacher use to provide the best learning experience for her students?

Possible Learning Technologies to Use

With computer and internet-based technologies, new opportunities to provide a variety of learning activities has arisen for teachers. These new technologies promote “active learning, collaboration, mastery of course material, and student control over the learning process” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2009, pg. 232). Today’s children and teens are acquiring on their own, new approaches to accessing knowledge (Wiki’s, blogs, podcasts, google, facebook, etc), so it is important that from an instructional design perspective, the technology used be engaging and effective. Simonson, et al (2009) stated “the critical job of the educator is to be only as realistic as needed in order for learning to effectively occur (pg. 93). Effective use of different media allows the educator to bring sights and sound of the real world into the learning environment (Simonson, et al, 2009). As the instructional designer consulted in the above scenario, I would suggest the use of two different technologies. The first technology I would suggest the teacher use would be video conferencing with the curator at the museum. A program I recommend for this is Elluminate. Elluminate is a web-conferencing tool which allows users to view a presentation, listen to a speaker and participate in live chat. This tool would allow for real-time interaction with the curator while having an experience of visually seeing the museum through a virtual experience. Many schools and universities are utilizing technologies such as Elluminate to offer extended learning opportunities. Penn State University is one such institution. Rick Sherer, Assistant Director for Instructional Design and Delivery states "After reviewing several collaboration software tools, we felt that Elluminate Live! was the most appropriate solution for the support of synchronous events in online distance education environments (Retrieved from http://www.elluminate.com/Company/Testimonials/?id=101/ on September 25, 2010)

The second technology I would suggest the teacher use is a Wiki. A wiki “is a Web site that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wikis end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site visitors” (techterms.com) A wiki would allow the teacher to post pictures of the artwork chosen to include in the class discussion. The teacher could create a page for each piece of artwork and include discussion questions. The students could then create their own pages to record their thoughts about the artwork as well as answers to the discussion questions and perhaps some of their own questions. Following this, the teacher could engage the classroom in a verbal discussion to complete the learning experience. The use of a wiki in this lesson allows learners the opportunity to publish their thoughts in a collaborative environment where others can respond and engage each other in new thinking. Osgood, J. (2009), has used wiki’s in her classroom and states “The optimal benefit of using a wiki for classroom education is the ability to facilitate and document collaboration among class members".

References

Elluminate : http://www.elluminate.com/

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Techterms.com (2005) retrieved from: http://www.techterms.com/definition/wiki

Osgood, J. (2009). Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work website: retrieved from http://blog.vcu.edu/socialworknewsletter/2009/03/using_wiki_spaces_as_a_teachin.html

Week 1 - A New Course – A New Learning Experience -- Defining Distance Education

This week we investigated the history and definition of distance education. Prior to this week, had someone asked me my definition of distance education, I would have said something like “learning that occurs away from the instructor using the internet as the learning modality”. It is interesting to me that although I am very aware of correspondence courses, and instruction utilizing satellite television, or even radio, my definition would not have included these types of instruction, quite simply because today these methods seem outdated to me. As our resources state this week distance learning has evolved and therefore how one defines it will likely evolve as well. Someone who has little or no access to advanced technology or the internet would likely define distance education differently than me. My primary experience with distance education is through my courses with Walden University in pursuit of my master’s degree.

This week my definition of distance education has grown a bit. Our text, Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education, by Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, defines distance learning as “an institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunication systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors" (pg. 32). Important to this definition, are two distinctions I would add to my definition; institution-based and instructors. The addition of these two distinctions differentiates distance education from self-study. My earlier definition left room for self-study to be included in the definition of distance education. Although self-study is important and valid, self-study is neither formal, nor measurable and leaves room for misinformation, whereas formal education is more purposeful and allows for a depth of study with acknowledged and accepted certifications and degrees. So my definition after this week would be something much like the definition provided by Simonson, et al. Perhaps something more like “Institution-based, formal education where the instructor and student are separated, and the internet or other communications technology is used as a learning modality to connect the student, instructor and resources”.

I think it is important to mention, that within my "new" definition of Distance Education, both synchronous and asynchronous learning are included. I think synchronous learning, same-time, different-place instruction creates new avenues for people to participate in an educational format, yet not have to be at a specific place to obtain that education. This offers many people a level of flexibility to take courses that geographically would otherwise not be available to them. This is definitely an important advance in education beyond the traditional same time same place brick and mortar education. For me however, the real opportunity of further education lives in asynchronous learning through schools like Walden University. Asynchronous Learning has opened doors for me that otherwise would have been closed or at least would have presented as substantial barriers. The fact that I can log into a classroom, read the work of my classmates, provide my own insights and receive feedback that potentially challenges me to think further, all at a time that works in my schedule, is incredibly exciting. For me, my motivation to learn and contribute my learning to others has elevated considerably since my brick and mortar classroom days.

The future of distance education lives in both the advances in technology that occur and the advancement of the instructional design field. Huett, Moller, Foshay & Coleman (2008) state “what we are witnessing with the current evolution of distance education and the technologies that support it is nothing less than the single most important reorganization of how we will engage learners since we started to gather students together in school buildings” (p. 65). They further state that “if schools are going to make a commitment to deliver education in this format (distance education), it will require a restructuring of how they do business necessitating the hiring of distance educational instructional designers” (pg. 66). The opportunity for instructional designers is to bring a needed awareness of sound instructional design principles to the design of distance education.


Reference:

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

DISTANCE EDUCATION MIND MAP

Week 8 - Learner Motivation Reflection

Many years ago when I obtained my undergraduate degree, I took a course on learning theories. Although it has been a number of years (over 20) since I studied learning theory, what I found most surprising in this course is the wide variety of available learning theories and learning styles. I do not remember studying constructivism or connectivism, however both theories offer explanations for what I perceive as gaps in behaviorism and cognitivism. I was especially interested in the development of connectivism a learning theory that was created to address the limitations of behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism to explain the effect technology has had on how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn (Siemens, 2005).

The required readings each week challenged me to think and rethink about my own learning style and the implications my own learning style may have on how I design coursework. As we progressed through the course, I was able to map the different theories on to my own learning and really look at how I utilize different aspects of each theory in my own learning process. My overall conclusion is that more often than not, constructivism best describes my learning process, however knowing that at times I will pull from behaviorism, provides a deeper understanding of how learning styles can fluctuate depending on the material one is learning and one’s current knowledge of the subject matter (Gilbert & Swainer, 2008). As we have progressed through the course it has become very clear that an understanding of my own learning process is important as an Instructional Designer. I believe that an individual is automatically predisposed to design courseware based on how that person learns. Without the understanding of my own learning process, as well as knowledge of learning theory, it is quite probable that my design efforts may not reach individuals with a different learning style or process than my own. Having this awareness allows me to incorporate various learning styles and theories into my instructional design.

As I reflect on what I have learned in this course, a question I have been asked to consider is: what have I learned regarding the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation? I think one can look at how these four topics are connected from a number of vantage points, however given the educational program I am in is Instructional Design and Technology, I would have to say a connecting force is the instructional designer. As an instructional designer begins the process of design, all of these topics must be considered. The ID (instructional designer) must have a comprehensive knowledge of learning theory and the different ways that people learn to create effective design. Further, the ID must be willing to incorporate a number of different tools in the delivery of the material to facilitate learning and improve performance, which is where educational technology comes into play. Finally motivation is important in instructional design. Although, it is true that to learn something effectively, one also has to want to learn it (Ormrod, 2009), it is imperative that an ID creates a well developed learning environment which will address the motivational requirements of learners (Keller, 1999).

This course has provided me with a heighted awareness of learning theory and the importance of a keen understanding of learning theory to the instructional designer. Armed with this awareness, I will be better equipped to design an effective learning environment that is conducive to all kinds of learning styles. In conclusion, I found this course to be very intriguing, rewarding, and relevant to my ongoing growth and development as a professional in the instructional design industry.

References

Gilbert, J., & Swanier, C. (2008). Learning styles: How do they fluctuate? Institute for Learning Styles Journal [Vol. l]. Retrieved from http://www.auburn.edu/~witteje/ilsrj/Journal%20Volumes/Fall%202008%20Volume%201%20PDFs/Learning%20Styles%20How%20do%20They%20Fluctuate.pdf

Keller, J. M. (1999). Using the ARCS motivational process in computer-based instruction and distance education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning (78).

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009), Motivation in Learning [Motion Picture].

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning. Retrieved from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm