Future of Distance Learning

As I began the distance learning class, I came into the class with little knowledge on the history of distance learning. I knew that distance learning grew from televise programs and some traditional classroom instruction to full online technology related capabilities. As I reflect on the past eight weeks, I have found that this course has not only enhance my outlook on distance learning education, it has also showed me the that as an instructional designer, it is necessary for me to be able to build courses based upon the needs of the instructional objectives. As an instructional designer, it is necessary to have all of these elements to develop and design the instructional materials for an organization or as a consultant. This course has shown me that distance education is here to stay and can only evolve from here.

Being new to the distance education realm, I knew that was going to be a great opportunity, however, I did not realize that the class would aid in my success for future courses. As, I reflect on my distance learning experiences, I have found that as an adult, with a busy life, distance learning courses provide the necessary attributes for studying while working. It is a great that distant learning courses have evolved from television to working via a virtual campus via the World Wide Web.

Prior to beginning this distance learning course, I had an opportunity participate in distance learning programs. The first distance education experience was during my undergraduate studies. The course that I took was college algebra and I thought it was the first time distance learning was being offer by the college. What I learned was it just happened to be the first time it was offered via internet through the college. The college had distance learning courses that students could via telephone with the courses being present via the television. When I first heard of this, I said to my advisor, “school via the television…not likely!”  This was the first and last time I heard of distance learning and its association with the television. As I began the college algebra course, which was an online course, I found it was an online course that requested students to attend the course online, but the participants had to go to the campus to complete quizzes and tests. This opportunity paved the way for me to complete two degree programs online.

What do you think the perceptions of distance learning will be in the future (in 5–10 years; 10–20 years)?

Distance learning has become popular because of the ease of learning due to priorities of the adult learners, flexibility needed to complete degrees or credentials, when time, location, and pace are issues (Tracey & Richey, 2006). As a distance learning student, who has been a part of the distance learning world for the past ten years and seen the evolution in these short years, I see the world of distance learning evolving into total computer generated learning. This is where the computer technology will be the only contact with institutions. The instructional designers will design the learning modules, based upon instructional objectives and the computer will do the rest. The technology will grade all work and record all grades. I also see the technology being able to generate logical answers for learner questions regarding the coursework.

How can you as an instructional designer be a proponent for improving societal perceptions of distance learning?

Because I have attended courses via distance learning, it would be pivotal for me to improve the perceptions of distance learning. When speaking to future students it will be imperative to focus heavily on the positives for distance learning. Allowing the learner to gain a clear perception of the benefits of distance learning will help them to understand the need to attend institutions via distance learning. Many students shy away from distance learning that it is only for adults, but the reality is that all students benefit from distance learning.  This is because online courses provide a student centered learning environment (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvack, 2012).

References

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education. Boston: Pearson.

Tracey, M.W. & Richey, R.C. (2006) History of Distance Education. In Michael Simonson’s (Ed.) Distance Learning Magazine 22(3)

Converting to a Distance Learning Module

In order to convert a learning module from face to face traditional settings to a distance learning module, there are several phases that must take place in order for the distance education learning module to work effectively. Here are the best practices to convert the module.

To move from a face to face environment to a distance learning module that will focus on student centered learning and increase student interactivity, one will need to follow the following framework:

Building the plan phase will involve the facilitator. The plan will consist of the following:

·         Review and plan

·         Review and/or analyze the learning styles of students

·         Determine technology capabilities and resolve software issues that may arise.

·         Assess student needs and distance learning experience, whether past or present

·         Convert content

·         Develop the content and sequence

·         Troubleshoot and resolve software issues

·         Establish a syllabus

·         Methodology

·         Identify strategies for instruction and create/acquire materials

·         Media selection

The second phase of this plan will consist of the facilitation process. It will include:

·         Environment

·         Activities that will promote engagement and involvement of the student and learning

·         Synchronous, asynchronous, and blend environments

·         An organized delivery system

·         Identify media, hardware, and software needs

·         Communication

·         Personalize communications with students for rapport and relationship building

·         Analyze cognitive abilities and modify activities

·         Support

·         Conduct training group sessions to cover instructional guides

·         Obtain feedback on the instructional design and the assessor’s impact on the learning module.

Enhancing the format for distance learning

To encourage high student interactivity in an online setting, the learning environment must be supportive, open, and respectful. One of the first things an instructor can do to help create such an environment is to provide a detailed syllabus that clearly defines expectations for the course in general and specific guidelines for each assignment (Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford, 2006). The following are options for enhancing the distance learning experiences:

·         Videos

·         Audio Recordings

·         Presentations

·         Interactive graphics

·         Simulations

·         Blogs and/or wikis

·         Podcasting

·         Virtual worlds

·         Emerging technology

References:

Durrington, V., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. Retrieved October 18, 2013, from College Teaching: http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/433631/strategies_for_enhancing_student_interactivity_in_an_online_environment/

The Impact of Open Courses

In the past, I have only used my organization’s open courses. The course offerings consisted of learning how to use the Microsoft Office Suite, how to use new product that was being offered to patients, and how to write professional emails. These offerings were free extended learning courses that aid in the professional growth of employees.

Open source also known as Open Education is a term to describe systems of learning, institutional practices and programmatic initiatives that broaden access to the learning and training traditionally offered through formal education institutions, by emphasizing the development and adoption of open education resources in all learning environments. The qualifier "open" of open education refers to the elimination of barriers that can preclude both opportunities and recognition for participation in institution-based learning (Bornstien, 2012). The reasoning behind open courses is to offer educational opportunities to the general public. These course could range anywhere from general informational to specific advanced courses. It is understood that these courses are informational only and the learner will not receive credit for their attendance.

As I looked over the open course the selections of open course websites, I decided to look at MIT’s selection of open courses. The courses was carefully designed and structured with the distant learner in mind. The course that I chose to look at was Technologies for Creative Learning. If I had to compare to the organization’s open courses, I would say that this course was laid for the distant learner. It provided a brief overview of the course. The course provided the learner with a syllabus, assignments, projects, course materials, readings, and offered related resources associated with different technologies that can be used with creative learning. MIT allows the distant learner to feel as though they are in an actual credit earning course, even though the course completely free and unaccredited.

According to Moore (1998), distant learning students in this open course will receive:

• Content that they feel is relevant to their needs,
• Clear directions for what they should do at every stage of the course,
• As much control of the pace of learning as possible,
• A means of drawing attention to individual concerns,
• A way of testing their progress and getting feedback from their instructor, and
• Materials that are useful, active and interesting."

This open course is designed to keep the learner engaged in learning. By providing assignments that will reviewed by facilitators, ensure that the learner’s progress in on track. I believe the courses will change the way learner approach decisions about returning to school. I believe that these offerings keep professionals, who do not desire to return to school, refreshed and abreast of the changes in a specific subject area.

References:

Bornstien, D. (2012, July 11). Open education for a global economy. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/open-education-for-a-global-economy/?_r=0

Moore, M.G. (1998). Introduction. In C.C. Gibson (Ed.). Distance learners in higher education: Institutional responses for quality outcomes (pp. 1-7). Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing. 

Distance Learning Technologies

Example 2: Interactive Tours

The scenario I chose is: 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.

There are several methods that can be implemented to facilitate the instructor’s need to connect the resources so that the learner can access them. Moreover, the issue that the instructor may be faced with is budget. The school may not have the funds to pay for the necessary technologies needed for to complete the distance learning objectives.

There are several technologies that could be incorporated to complete this tour of the New York City museums. Because teens are the learners, enhanced technology would be essential for this distance learning project. As the instructional designer, I would first suggest 3-D virtual tours. These tours would stream via the internet at the learner’s individual computers. This streaming can be provided by the museum that gives a tour of all of the exhibits. Streaming video can hold the attention of the student, fit various learning styles and can act as reinforcement to learning (Cofield, 2002). Virtual tours can expose the learner to the learning opportunity without being at the site. This type of technology would keep budget costs to a minimum.

Another learning technology that the instructor could use is PowerPoint presentations. The instructor could use the information from the museum’s art exhibits and transform them into PowerPoint slides. These slide show the art and offer detail description of the each piece. I do not believe this will capture the student’s attention as long as the virtual tours, simply because virtual tours are real time footage.

The last suggestion would to contact the museum curator to discuss setting up a WebEx for the students. This WebEx would consist of the curator giving the students a detail overview of the museum exhibits and the artists. Along with the WebEx, the curator could provide the instructor with assessment suggestions for the students.

All in all, I believe each one of these technologies could enhance student learning and engagement. These technologies promote student involvement, while learning about art exhibits.

References:

Cofield, J. L. (2002). As assessment of streaming video in web-based instruction. Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association.

Distance Learning

The first generation of distance education was print-based correspondence study, and print continued to be the predominant delivery medium for distance education until the beginning of the 1970s (Tracey & Richey). Distance education began over one hundred years ago with simple shorthand education coming through the mail. This practice has now evolved with the use of technology. Now, the same courses that were taught via commercial mail are now being taught via the internet without an instructor. Who would have thought that a simple shorthand course, which was taught via mail, could be taught using a computer and a typing keyboard! Even when I began the distance learning phase of my life, I never thought it would evolve to where it is today.

Prior to beginning this distance learning course, I had an opportunity participate in distance learning programs. The first distance education experience was during my undergraduate studies. The course that I took was college algebra and I thought it was the first time distance learning was being offer by the college. What I learned was it just happened to be the first time it was offered via internet through the college. The college had distance learning courses that students could via telephone with the courses being present via the television. When I first heard of this, I said to my advisor, “school via the television…not likely!”  This was the first and last time I heard of distance learning and its association with the television. As I began the college algebra course, which was an online course, I found it was an online course that requested students to attend the course online, but the participants had to go to the campus to complete quizzes and tests. This opportunity paved the way for me to complete two degree programs online.

Being new to the distance education realm, I knew that was going to be a great opportunity, however, I did not realize that the class would aid in my success for future courses. As, I reflect on my distance learning experiences, I have found that as an adult, with a busy life, distance learning courses provide the necessary attributes for studying while working. It is a great that distant learning courses have evolved from television to working via a virtual campus via the World Wide Web.

As a veteran of the distance learning courses, I see the overall future of this discipline moving toward more interactive courses, where the course will be completed by the computer. All grading will be completed by the computer. The only thing a person would have do is gather the assessment results complied by computer. These results will aid in the improvement of the program. The courses will be completely computer driven. The only thing a person would do is develop, design, and run the virtual classrooms. This is where I see the future of distance learning going.

References:

Tracey, M. W., & Richey, R. C. (n.d.). The evolution of distance education. Distance Learning, 17-21.

Here is my mindmap, which was created on Prezi.com. I am also attaching a link to view the entire presentation.

http://prezi.com/uaevde5l3ljs/present/?auth_key=rb50188&follow=yspd34rmifew

New and Exciting

This is a new blog that has been set aside for my distance learning course at Walden University. Interesting thoughts will be added soon.

Please check back!