It's a Wrap

My name is Angela Johnson and I am a student at Walden University pursuing my master’s degree in instructional design and technology.  The course that I am finishing up is Distance Education and as part of the course we are required to complete a reflection paper.  The instructor has asked three questions of us concerning distance education (DE).  The first question asked me to explain my perceptions of distance education in the next 5-10 years; 10-20 years.  The second question asked is how as an instructional designer will I be a proponent for improving societal perceptions of distance learning? And the last question that will be answered is how I can be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of DE.

Distance education is growing immensely, all one has to do is to turn on their television at the beginning of a school year and you will see advertisements for online virtual schools for K-12 students as well as commercials for online universities.  While I was on vacation last summer on my down time I would watch reruns of my favorite shows and I saw commercials for Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) advertising online graduate programs.  As I looked further into this university I have found that they are a brick and mortar school that has added an online component for undergraduates, graduates and students seeking certification.  Because I am a Walden student the computer tracks this information and then includes advertisements on my web pages for Walden University and Capella University.  The reason that online education is becoming an accepted way to learn is that technology is improving.  Seimens of Laureate education states that one of the unique aspects of online education is its acceptance in society as a whole.  He makes the following statement, “I think that it is more and more of us are having more and more experiences communicating online.” Other points that he makes is that education was once made up of homogenous groups of people that were liked minded but online education has made us all have to embrace diversity because students are more diversified. The key term that has come up is that education is now global.  Also as technologies like Skype improve communications between the student and the instructor more students will embrace DE.  One last point about DE being the wave of the future is that Durrington et al. states almost half-48 percent of public four year institutions reported they offer degree programs delivered exclusively through distance education.  The growth in courses offered using synchronous Internet-based courses is especially amazing; 88 percent of institutions reported plans to begin offering or increase the number of such courses over the next three years. So it looks to me that online education has a rosy future as far as growth is concerned.

I have taught second grade through sixth grade for 8 years before I came out of the classroom to rear my three sons and for the past year I have been taking courses at Walden University for instructional design.  I think my background in education and my belief that online education is a great value to all students I will most definitely be doing so positive public relations for DE when I am out and about. When I finished with this degree I would like to pursue some type of teaching position in an online environment and even some type of design job.  I think being a positive proponent for DE can be achieved by developing sound orientation courses that help students who are new to online learning become more comfortable.

In order to be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of DE I am learning that I must stay current with learning theory.  When I started this class eight weeks ago I did not really think about how theory is important to education but recently I had dinner with a teacher friend who teaches in a traditional bricks and mortar school who stated that if she want to teach something new first she had to do some research.  The research she did was based which theory would best fit the learning situation.  I thought okay being able to support what we do by theory is not just for completing my master’s degree but is vital to the very idea of teaching.  Simonson et al. 2012 states theory is important to the study of distance education because it directly impacts the practice field.  People are looking for evidence that distance education works and if as an ID I can make a case for why DE is a valuable experience for all people considering pursuing a degree or an advanced certificate online then they are more likely to have a positive outlook and give DE a chance.

In summary distance education is here to stay it will never completely replace brick and mortar institutions it will become a very good aid to those pursuing education in face-to-face institutions; and for busy adults who cannot go to a campus to receive an education.   As for being a positive proponent for DE I will always do my best as an ID to produce quality deliverables to my clients in the field of education which will help others to see the value in taking courses online.  In terms of being a positive force in DE I believe the biggest thing I can do is stay current with theory which will provide support for any course I develop.
References

Durrington, V., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190-193. Retrieved on 12/13/13 http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/433631/strategies_for_enhancing_student_interactivity_in_an_online_environment/
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). The future of distance education [DVD]. Baltimore, MD.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S. (2012).  Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education. 5th Edition. Boston, MA. Pearson.
   

 

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Converting a Face-to-Face Course to a Hybrid Course: Best Practices for the Trainer

So we have a manager who has done face-to-face meetings with trainees but he is not too happy with the communications with the trainees so he wants to do something new.  With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to change all current training module’s 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.

Before the manager can start the process he has to do some pre-planning.  He needs to look at what aspects of his original face-to-face program could be enhanced in the distance learning format.  He also needs to contemplate how his role as a trainer will change in a distance learning environment.  Finally he needs to find ways to encourage his trainees to communicate online.

In the pre-planning stage facilitators and instructional designers (IDs) need to be familiar with the technology they are going to use. Piskurich (Laureate Education, n.d.) states that the facilitator needs a good lesson plan.  A good lesson plan will have a variety of activities for the students to do; it will have tools that the students will be using and it will have poles that the teacher has to do and monitor; there is going to be small group activities they are going to participate in and there are questions that are going to be asked.  The facilitator needs to know the software he or she is going to work with, what can the facilitator do with it and what can the students do with the software.  The facilitator should keep in constant communication with the students to know whether the student is going to be late on turning in an assignment; they may have some problems at home.   The facilitator has to be involved, has to be engaged, you have to care, you has to have a presence in this learning environment.  The facilitator has to use the activities that the ID put in the program and if there are no activities provided by the ID then the facilitator has to create activities that keep the student engaged in their learning.  The facilitator needs to make sure that the students know how to use the technology; they need to make the technology transparent to the learner (Piskurich, n.d., Simonson et al. 2012) because once it becomes transparent then the instructor can reflect on the lesson quality, the outcomes, and the plans for subsequent lessons.

The manager who is preparing to do a blended approach to train his coworkers can use some do a live course using Elluminate Live! McMenomy (2010) writes about a professor who teaches a live course with Elluminate using a headset and he can talk and use PowerPoint slides to teach his course.  Florida Virtual School encourages instructors to integrate synchronous experiences through voice conferences, chats, IM, and whiteboards (Beldarrain 2006, p. 142).  Face-to-face education is probably best for the facilitator and the learner to connect but the other ways suggested above can help decrease the distance felt between the instructor and the learner by doing some video conferencing or even using Skype to connect with the audience.

The manager who will be implementing the blended approach to his training of future coworkers will have to think about his role going from a teacher centered environment to a facilitator.  As the managers role changes he will no longer be the center of learning but he will become more like a coach.  Simonson et al. (2012) discussed the difference from the teacher centered class to the student center class where the instructor’s role also changes:

1. From lecturing to coaching (the manager will now provide tips and feedback to the learners to challenge them to learn).
2. From taking attendance to logging on (the manager will see who is present by the responses in a threaded post).
3. From distribution requirements to connected learning
4. From credit hours to performance standards (competency based education)
5. From competing to collaborating (group projects)
6. From passive learning to active learning (the student becomes more self-directed, Artino 2008 explains that self-regulated learning (SRL) refers to “learning that occurs largely from the influence of students’ self-generated thoughts, feelings, strategies, and behaviors, which are oriented toward the attainment of goals). 

As the students takes on more of their own education and makes it person the manager will have to find ways to encourage the learner to communicate with him.  He can start off by doing icebreakers, or sessions in which students get to know each other, serve as positive experience in developing the community of learners especially in the distance learning environment (Simonson 2012, p. 200).  The instructor can also have clear expectations of how many times a learner has to post to a discussion post and constitutes a strong post and what constitutes a weak post. 
Now that you have some idea of what the facilitator is to do when implementing a hybrid or blended learning environment and how to get the students actively involved I will now provide a list of best practices for the manager to help him begin to transition from face-to-face education to a mix of online learning and in class learning.

There is a PDF file at the end of this article please click on the google docs link and when the drop down box appears click go to google docs for the tips for the instructor. This PDF can be viewed in Google Chrome or cut and paste the URL into the address bar in Internet Explorer

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zSfOW5Jfm6K3TvqJ8W-nmz4wafs7WCncIu1xoviUtwg/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

OpenCourseWare MIT

Whoever said education is not free told an egregious lie to you and to me!! Did you know that you can indeed study college courses for free and on your own time in the comfort of your home or anywhere as long as you have internet access?  So let’s look at MITs OpenCourseWare (OCW) http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm.
There are open courses at MIT offer that are free of charge and are for students who have backgrounds in science and math.  According to Abelson the purpose for OpenCourseWare (OCW), “Lifelong Learning,”

MIT will be a valued source of education for members of its community throughout their lives.  This includes knowledge update course designed for MIT alumni and others with a solid technical education, as well as more extended offerings, such as mid-career admission to postgraduate degree programs.  Programs will involve both on-campus and on-line, but there could be on-campus elements as well p.167.

The OCW site is nicely done in terms of navigation.  On the right side of the menu there is a link called getting started where the policies and what a visitor to this site would need to know about taking courses for free.  For the courses that are offered on the left side of the screen there are links for the syllabus, calendar readings, Labs.  This site did offer a very nice syllabus that did layout what had to be done for each open course.
The site was not designed for the distance learner because what MIT did was to take a course that the professor taught and then just recorded it in their video archives.  Simonson et al. 2012 wrote the following processes for online education versus traditional face-to-face education:

1. Keep in mind that courses previously taught in traditional classrooms may need to be retooled.  The focus of the instruction shifts to visual presentations, engaged learners, and careful timing of presentations. Please take a look at this video to get an idea of how MIT just uploaded a video from a regular course and then made it OCW http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/chemistry/5-111-principles-of-chemical-science-fall-2008/video-lectures/lecture-1/.
2. Be prepared in the event that technical problems occur.  This is a free course site so it is basically just uploaded materials.  I tried to access a test in the chemistry course but I think because of copyright laws and possible reuse of test at universities there was no test offered. 

Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students?  In looking at the chemistry 5.111 lecture there were no activities for the distance learner.  I clicked on the resources link but only another explanation of the course was offered and why students should embrace chemistry.  I personally liked the videos of the course but if I were looking for activities to perform alongside the lecture then this section fail short. The syllabus does provide class notes that can be downloaded by the distance learner.  There are problems with the media selection in that there was no media outside of the lecture videos in chemistry. 
The theory I think best fits MITs OCW is the theory of andragogy is defined as “the art and science of helping adults learn. Merriam (2001) list 5 assumptions underlying andragogy to describe the adult learner p 5:

1. Has an independent self-concept and who can direct his or her own learning
2. Has accumulated a reservoir of life experiences that is a rich resource for learning
3. Has learning needs closely related to changing social roles
4. Is problem-centered and interested in immediate application of knowledge,
5. Is motivated to learn by internal rather than external factors

The other theory that would apply is the self-regulated learning refers to “learning that occurs largely from the influence of students ‘self-generated thoughts feelings strategies and behaviors which are oriented toward the attainment of goals (Artino 2008 p. 38).
OpenCourseWare offered by MIT offers courses for the adult learner who has a strong math and science background.  OCW was developed by MIT for its alumni and for technological people.  It does have archived video lessons, a well laid out syllabus, notes that can be downloaded and if you love is math or science and you just want to review what you have learned then MIT OCW is a great distance learning site for you to visit and learn from.

References
Abelson, H. (2008). The creation of opencourseware at MIT. Journal of Science
            Education and Technology 17(2).
Artino, A. R. (2008). Promoting academic motivation and self-regulation: Practical
Guidelines for online instructors. TechTrends 52(3).
Merriam, S. B. (2001). Andragogy and self-directed learning: Pillars of adult learning
theory. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education 89, p 3-13.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and Learning at
            a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education. Boston, MA, Pearson.

 

Interactive Tours 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 city 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? I would connect the west coast teacher with the museums in New York with SKYPE video conferencing. As I was pondering how to even start this project I began by looking on the internet for ways to do a 2 way audio and visual connection. I went to http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/virtual-field-trips and found that video conferencing is a viable option for students to get real world experiences while staying in their classrooms. SKYPE conferencing would allow for the curator to use a computer with a laptop equipped with a camera and a speaker. The school would have computers setup for the class to view the tour and talk to the curator. As the ID I would talk to the learning department at the selected museums to find out how to best arrange for a virtual tour. In the Scholastic article a teacher reported that she did virtual field trips with the Challenger Learning Center which worked with her to create a virtual trip. She also reported other virtual field trip providers, such as the Cleveland Museum of Art, also work directly with teachers to customize trips. The museum invites teachers to request a tour specific to their needs. So I would assume that a call to the selected museums in New York would net me a wealth of information on how to best arrange for a tour and which technology they have. Another idea for schools to utilize video conferencing would be if to use google Chrome notebooks. My son is in 11th grade in Ohio and their school system purchased chrome notebooks for their students and he has informed me that his class has had video conferences with a school in Cuba. I looked up the price for chrome notebooks and they are not that expensive at 249.00 dollars per-student and once a class has access to this type of tablet. Students can benefit from a wider range of cognitive, linguistic, cultural, and affective styles they would not encounter in a self-contained classroom (Simonson et al. 2012, p 155). Taking students on a virtual tour will help students to travel anywhere in the world for free and learn from other cultures. References Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek (2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education Virtual Field Trips http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/virtual-field-trips

Distance Learning: What's New and What's Old

Distance Learning is Evolving

Distance education is always changing because technology is always changing.  New media includes websites, wikis, interactive forums, e-learning systems software, hardware, mobile devices, and the list goes on. . . When successfully integrated into the classroom instruction, new media can facilitate learning (DePietro 2013 p. 1).  The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to offer alternative schooling options to students attending schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress (Huett, Moller, Foshay, & Coleman 2008 p. 63).  Because online schools and universities are becoming a more the norm in a global economy distance learning will continue to grow and change.  Distance education is a boon to corporations and businesses of all kinds because now people do not have to travel to remote places for training. The most direct rational for this change is based on reductions in training delivery costs (Moller, Foshay, & Huett 2008 p. 70). 

My Personal Definition of Distance Education

Distance Education can take place anywhere and everywhere as long as the student has access to the internet.  It takes place usually with an instructor who is in a remote location who will grade comments made in the threaded discussions and grade assignments that are in addition to the threaded discussion.  If a student has problems with the subject matter then they can usually contact the professor by email, phone calls (during office hours) or through a threaded discussion under contact the instructor.  There are peers or classmates but the learner is mostly isolated in that there is no face-to-face interaction. 

Simonson’s definition of distance learning is formal education that institutionally based where the learning group, the teacher, the students and possibly the resources are separated not only by  geography and sometimes time; sometimes by intellect and where technologies, instructional media and communication technologies are used to link the resources the teacher and the learner (Laureate Education n. d.). 

The readings this week have taught me that distance education is not a new concept but one that is at least 160 years old.  I have also found it interesting that distance learning also occurred at universities like Illinois Wesleyan in 1877, University of Chicago in 1892, and at the University of Wisconsin in 1885 (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek  2012 p. 38).  .  . In the 1923 Benton Harbor secondary school students were also offered vocational courses.  Distance learning is not a new concept that just started with the advent of the computer but it has been around for a couple of centuries.  It will not replace colleges or traditional brick and mortar schools but distance education will enhance learning experiences for millions of students.

My Personal Observations of Distance Education

My personal observation of distance education comes from my own first experience at another well-known online university.  What I learned is that if you can teach yourself the information then attending an online university is a great way to earn a degree or to learn a new skill.  If the information is above a student’s understanding then attending an online institution or learning the new skill will frustrate the student.  Eventually the student will drop out of the course or not even complete the degree. 

My Summary

Distance education is a great way to earn a degree from a university that one could not attend because of distance or time restrictions.  As for students who attend traditional brick and mortar K-12 schools the government has mandated that parents have options when they feel that the school that their child attends is not meeting yearly academic progress.  Distance education not only encompasses universities and K-12 virtual schools but also the business world.  Even though distance learning is everywhere and students can access it 24 hours a day it will not totally replace traditional education.

My Revised Definition of Distance Learning:

Distance learning takes place between students and an instructor, professor or teacher, where the two groups are separated through time and distance.  The learning takes place over the internet or through DVDs with associated resources like books, articles etc.

References:

DePietro, P. (2013). Transforming education with new media: Participatory

          Pedagogy, interactive learning and web 2.0. The International Journal of

          Technology 8, 1-11.

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008).  The evolution of

          distance education: Implications for instructional design on the

          potential of the web. TechTrends 52(5) 63-67.

Laureate Education, Inc. (n. d.). Distance education the next generation [DVD].

https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4067400_1%26url%3D

Moller, L. Foshay, W. R. & Huett J. (2008). The evolution of distance education:

          Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web. TechTrends

          52(3) 70-75.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teachng and

          Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education 5^th ed. Pearson.

Welcome to Education without Walls

Welcome Group 2,

This is our Distance Learning class and so I thought it would be appropriate to think about education outside of the traditional brick and mortar classroom settings that many of us have experienced in the past.  Education is everywhere. . . You name the place and as long as there is internet access you can continue your education.

Education is going through a transformation and we are on the cutting edge and we are all on this journey together.

I look forward to writing about distance education and to reading your responses!

Happy posting. . .

Ange J