Reflection the Future of Distanced Learning

As I reflect on the course and the presentation by Dr Siemens, I believe that in the next 5 to 10 years online learning will continue to grow and that it will reach an amazing potential. As technology advances so will online learning. Having the capabilities of using the best and newest technology in an online classroom opens the door for so many more learning opportunities. 

According to Siemens (2009) the more experiences people have online, the more they recognize that geographical distance in distance learning is not as a big factor as people use to think. Siemens explains that growing acceptance is common in the corporate world. As people have the opportunity to experience online learning the more probability is that they will believe that online learning will be a preferred method of learning (Siemens, nd). In the next 10 to 20 years I think that most universities will offer online programs and that the amount of enrollments and completions rates in an online program will be about the same as a traditional face to face program. The negative perception of an online education will be gone and an online degree will be perceived as valuable as a degree from a traditional university.

As an Instructional designer it is my duty to advocate for distance learning.  Even though there are many people that may have a negative perception of distance learning either due to the lack of exposure or due to a negative experience. The first thing I have to do is ensure that as an instructional designer I need to always keep in mind solid instructional design principals when creating and developing my courses.  I have to ensure that I include course evaluations in all my classes so that I can improve my courses based on the student’s feedback.  Following instructional design and distance learning practices will help students have a positive experience in the online classroom and therefore they will spread the word on their positive experience to others. Ensuring that we are using inclusive practices when designing is also an important way to support distance learning (Dyjur, 2004).  Ensuring that the quality of the education meets the standards of the crediting bodies for the school and program will also make me an advocate for distance learning.

In order for me to be a positive force of continuous improvement in the field of distance learning, I must keep learning about distance learning. This course is the first of many more that I will be taking in order to ensure that I will help improve the field of distance education. I will keep up to date on research that is being conducted within distance education. I will try new strategies when designing online classes. I will ensure that my work is consistent with distance learning best practices. As well I will pass on my learning’s to colleagues and employers.

The most I have taken away from this course is to always think about the learners needs. Analyze who you learners are, base your instruction on solid learning theories. Planning ahead is essential to the success of distance education (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009). It is important to include activities that will engage students and keep them motivated. Having the opportunity to create an online orientation is opening the path for me to continue to explore distance learning and continue to grow in the field of distance learning.

References

Dyjur, P.(2004), Inclusive Practices in Instructional Design. University of Saskatchewan

Educational Communications and Technology. Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan.

Laureate Education, Inc. (n. d.). The future of distance education [video]. Retrieved from

http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6052001&Survey=1&47=784003

9&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teacher and learning at a

distance (4 ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

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Converting to a Distance Learning Format

This week we were asked to create a trainers guide for a trainer that wants to change his face to face training to a blended training course. The guide that I created includes pre-planning strategies  for the trainer, tips on how to enhance the distance learning format, and pointing out how the instructor’s role changes in an online environment.
Ensuring that we always think about the learners when developing an online class is always something very important to consider. Having the right technology and software is also critical when converting a program to an online format.  See the attached file with the trainer guide.




http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=108948442

The Impact of Open Source

The Impact of Open Source


Living in a world where there is the opportunity for people to take courses for free in open source software is amazing. Open sources provides the opportunity for students that may not be interested in earning credits but are interested in learning a specific subject.  Even though the licensing software for open sources is free there are still costs involved in offering an open course website (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009). This week I decided to explore the open source website for Yale University. Yale is a very prestigious university and I was curious to explore what their open source courses looked like. The course I selected to review is SPAN 300: Cervantes' Don Quixote. This is the link to the website: http://oyc.yale.edu/spanish-and-portuguese/cervantes-don-quixote/content/syllabus.

The website clearly explains that the classes are non credit and are for educational purposes online. The first thing we can see when we access the course is the name of the class, a description about the course and  information about the professor teaching the course with a picture of him. On the left side of the page there are six different tabs, one with the about the course information, professor information, syllabus, class session, downloads, survey and books.

Pre-planning and design for a distance learning environment

In trying to determine if this course was effective in the pre planning and design for an online learning environment, I took into consideration if the course was based on an instructor centered model or learner centered model. The course text explains that an online course should promote a student learning mode and there should be active learning and collaboration involved (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009).The content of the class is delivered via video lectures of the live class.

The course text explains that we should avoid dumping a face to face course onto the web, and that is what this course is. The course would be perfect for a face- to -face course where the instructor provides this website as a technology tool, for students to refer back to. There is no instructor to lead the course and there are no options for collaboration or discussions. This course clearly was not planned thinking about the distance learner's needs. As I viewed the session videos with the content of the class, I realized that the videos were extremely long and boring. The professor stayed in the same position during the entire class and continued the lecture without pausing or asking questions. When planning an online class it is important to consider the length of the video. Students may lose interest quickly and it is very important to solely teach the most essential parts of the content.

Recommendations for online instruction:

On a positive note, this course offered excellent options for learners that have different type of internet access and different tools to access videos streaming. The course provides the lectures in Flash and QuickTime, someone that has DSL, cable, high or low bandwidth would still have the opportunity to view the lecture. The course also follows online ADA compliance in the sense that they provided a transcript and CC captions to the videos.

There is audio streaming available for the learners that cannot access video or prefer to hear the lecture instead of viewing it. The course text recommends providing reliable technology for distance learners. Offering different options to ensure that the technology the course is using is compatible with the students technology is key to ensuring that even students from other countries that may have slower bandwidth can access the course material (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009)

The syllabus contained the instructor information, class description, texts, requirements and the grading system. All of these aspects are recommended for an online course. However in the syllabus there is no mention of a schedule or a topic list with the organization concept map, as our course text outlines that it would be important to incorporate them into the syllabus (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009).

An important aspect that was left out from the syllabus were the course objectives and goals. The course provides all the required readings and offers plenty of additional resources . Another recommendation for online classes are class evaluations, this course provides a survey requesting information regarding the student's learning experience with the course.

Course activities that maximize active learning for the students:

The course did not incorporate any type of activities into this classroom. If there would have been an area for a discussion topic for each session, the course would have probably maximized learning. The only requirements in this course are the regarding reading the required text. The syllabus mentions a test but there is no area where the student can go and take an assessment or quiz. Tests or some type of assignment must be incorporated into the classroom in order to measure if the student has learned the material (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009).

The course could have provided a group project to encourage collaboration. The course provides some of the basics of an online area but the course itself was not designed for an online student in today's world.


Reference:

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

Selecting Distance Learning Technologies

Example 1: Collaborative Training Environment

This week we are selecting a real life example of a scenario where technology is needed.For this week’s blog I am considering the example listed below:

A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration.

Considering there are six regional offices that need training and that geography and time are training problems in this business.  I decided that using the Cisco WebEx meeting application would be a good technology to meet business needs for this scenario. WebEx let people meet online share information and collaborate (Cisco, 2011). Even though this technology is costly for a business that requires training and they have offices in different locations, it is worth the investment.

WebEx offers many features for communicating that benefit everyone. One of them is that everyone can meet via the web application at any time. Web conferencing offers three main features; a web meeting area, web training and support services.  The Cisco serve allows you to train up to 1000 people at a time. The training center has tool to evaluate the training and it runs reports. The training center offers high quality video integrated audio and multimedia sharing (Cisco, 2011). The training center offers assessments which are always an important tool for an instructional designer, in order to measure the effectiveness of training.

One of the interesting things that I found that the training center offers is break out session in where the trainer can divide people in to groups for brain storming.  Instructors can share power points, videos or any type of documents. Students can join the conferences via a phone bridge or VOIP.

One of the companies that use WebEx successfully is TalktoCanada.com. The company’s core business is offering English language training to individual clients or businesses. They use to train their instructors and also to interact with their clients. Since they decided to use WebEx they have been able to establish relationship ships all over the world. Instructors and students find that WebEx is an easy and highly functional tool to use.

Glen Raven manufactures fabrics globally. They realized that they need to offer new hire training for the new employees and that it was not cost effective to travel every time training was needed.  Cisco was a good match for them because they supported the Glen Raven’s current router and all existing networks (Cisco, 2011). The company saved a lot of money and gained more customers after using WebEx.

Please click on the link below to view an example of an instructor using WebEx.
http://youtu.be/N8ZiT3hL5kw

Another choice that maybe a small company would prefer because the cost is less than WebEx could be Skytap. In the Skytap environment the trainings would occur in a cloud. With Skytap you can set up virtual classrooms and you can also create a library with all the training material the student will need for the training. One of the great benefits is that remote access is through the internet and the students or employees can log in from anywhere as long as they have internet connectivity. 

Skytap also offers labs in the classroom area where students can complete activities that relate to the training. With Skytap it is easy for the trainer to help out the student. If the student needs help the instructor and the student can view class room at the same time and see exactly what the student is seeing without having to share. Instructors can always reuse a classroom and easily change the content of the class area without having to go through tech  support. A company that used Skytap successfully is VDIworks. VDI works core business is to create and manage virtual desktops  (Skytap.com, 2011). Since they acquired the training tool, they lowered their travel cost, the time it took them to set up a classroom reduced.  They were also able to collaborate with clients across the world.

Click on the link below to see an example of the Skytap technology
http://www.skytap.com/solutions/virtual-training/

Both distance learning technologies that I selected provide the core benefits a distance learning program should provide; 24 access, the student can participate from anywhere and they both can save money and time (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009).


References:
Cisco. (2011, November 16). Web conferencing. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from Cisco:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/hmpgs/index.html

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance:

Foundations of distance education (4 ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.


Skytap.com. (2011, August 1). Customers. Retrieved November 18, 2011, from Skytap.com:

http://www.skytap.com/customers

Distance Learning

Distance Learning and the Future

     The main reason I feel that distance learning is evolving is because of all the advances of technology. As we saw in the distance learning timeline resources, we can see how distance learning has evolved through the years. We can see that distance learning started through mail and now we are using computers. New technologies, lead to new ways of communicating and learning. As technology advances , people's perspective on learning online also grow. People and society are embracing online learning. The benefits that online learning provides to adult learners and or any non- traditional learners are huge. The flexibility to log into a class whenever you can, the advantage of avoiding a commute are some of the obvious benefits of online learning. The course text explains that all the changes in society and technology impact distance learning ( Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009).

    Before I started online school I thought that online learning was an easy way to obtain a degree that I did not have to travel to school. I also had pre conceived idea that I would be watching a recording of teacher in a live classroom teach a class. I thought that the course would be exactly as a traditional classroom environment but online. I also did not realize how much interaction would be involved between other classmates and I. Surprising to me , was the amount of writing involved , the quality discussions and participation involved in online learning. As a traditional student, I barley participated in any of the discussions during the four years of my undergraduate education. As I ponder on the definition of online learning as per the course text.

    The main components of distance learning are the following: institutionally based, separation of teacher and student, interactive telecommunicate ions and sharing of data, voice and video (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009). The two components that I did not think about before the class as much are the last two , interactive telecommunications and sharing of data, voice and video. The course text explains that interaction should be important but that is should not be the primary characteristic of interactions (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009).

   Before this class, I really felt that interaction was the primary source of learning and that content was important but not as much as interaction. I thought this because I believed mainly that we were learning more from each other , rather than with the resources provided. I now know that we are learning from each other but rather more a combination of connections, classmates, learning resources and the instructors. All the factors are equally important. Reading and understanding the definition of distance learning clarifies things for me things in the sense that that distance learning is not defined as one thing but it is a combination of elements in order to be considered real distance learning.

    Finally, as I think about the future of distance learning I envision great things. I am hoping for more opportunities within the K-12 environment within the public school system. In the state of Maryland, they do not offer students in public schools online classes. As technology advances, online learning also will advance. Technology will provide students more tools to assist with learning , greater ways to communicate and share information. Another thing that I envision is that traditional higher education universities will be providing programs of better quality and there will be choices. Hopefully more instructional design training will be provided to faculty and course development will be even more student centered as result. Jeong, concludes in his research that in the future he would like to see more criteria in designing, implementing and evaluating online discussions. I agree and hope that rubrics for discussions are designed in a way that truly measures what the student learned.

I included the following mind map. Please take a look.

http://www.webspirationpro.com/view/1026279a1d1c4


References:
Jeong, S. (2010). Towards rigor of online interaction research:
Implication for future distance learning research. Turkish Online Journal
Of Educational Technology, 9(2), 256-263.

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

Welcome

Welcome

Greetings fellow bloggers! Welcome to my  blog for my EDUC - 6135 - Distance Learning class. My name is Sheila and I am from the island of Puerto Rico.   I am currently working for an online university as a product delivery specialist during the day and at night I work as linguist. I have three boys and a Boxer puppy.