The Future of Distance Learning - Reflection

As a student of the 80’s my experience during that time has always been experiencing the delivery of education in the traditional form of lecturing face to face. Fast forward to the present. Distance Learning is a growing force in this field of education. Many factors according to Dr. Siemens will assist in not only pushing distance learning to the forefront, but change the perception of distance learning forever.

The points that Dr. Siemens sees as changing factors in the perception of distance learning include:
• The increase of online communication
• Practical experience with new tools
• Growing sense of comfort with online discussions
• Ability to communicate with diverse and global group ( Laureate Education,2010)
As perceptions are improved, the future of distance learning will continue to advance as communication technologies develop which will incorporate the use of multimedia games and stimulations into the world of learning. This will lead to greater contributions of experts around the world extending the reach around the world.

As an instructional designer, I will be in a unique position to help improve the public’s perception of distance learning. The World Wide Web gives all learners the opportunity to see, feel, and interact with the world like never before. As an instructional designer and educator, I can bring the two worlds together to improve learning in the classroom and at home through engagement of increased online communication. This engagement not only touches students who will be future parents, but the parents themselves who may or may not have a sense of comfort for dealing with any of the tools presently being used. As students interact there will be a level of comfort that will surely take root (such as with tools such as the home computer and mobile phone) that will have an effect on distance learning for generations to come.

I hope to be a positive force in the continuous improvement in the field of distance education by continuing to research how distance learning can be accessible to all people with disabilities, especially for people who have cognitive disabilities. Although there has been great advances in improving accessibility to distance learning, there is room for greater accommodations to include all learners (WebAim, 2010).



References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010) The Future of Distance Education. Professor George Siemens.

WebAim (October 30, 2010) Retrieved from http://webaim.org/

Converting to a Distance Learning Format

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.

The attached checklist below ( Application for Blog) is a Best Practice Checklist which can serve as a guide to follow when converting a traditional training program into a distance learning format.


Application for Blog

The Impact of Open Source

Open course refers to the sharing of educational materials with minimal restrictions, usually in the context of new digital technologies available through the World-Wide Web. Its purpose is the broadest possible dissemination of knowledge, in keeping with academic tradition and counter to the current trend toward the commercialization of education http://www.opencourse.info/ 2010.

The course I chose to review was the Music and Technology (Contemporary History and Aesthetics) http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/music-and-theater-arts/21m-380-music-and-technology-contemporary-history-and-aesthetics-fall-2009/index.htm course which is a free and open educational resource for educators, students, and self-learners around the world. This website is awesome. As a free service to the public, one cannot help but get excited at the mountain of information on a variety of topics that are available to anyone with internet access.

After carefully analyzing several courses on the website I decided to focus on one course to evaluate to see if the course was carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment; does it follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in the course textbook and does the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students.

This course was not originally planned for a distance-learning environment; however, it contains some of the components necessary for optimal distance learning. According to Dr. George Piskunck and Instructional Technologist Jacqueline Chaser, the planning process is critical to distance learning. Using the ADDIE system as a guide the website contained many crucial elements for online learning.
The syllabus provided the course logistics, which included course, title, textbook and course materials. Instructional activities included course goals and objectives, reading assignments linked to topics and interactive study guide. Even as a free course, the syllabus served as a guide for the student. Even without the help of the instructor, a student would be able to follow the requirements of the course with little difficulty.

The design aspect of the program was lacking the activities for the online learner. Although there were assignments given to students in the traditional class were listed, these assignments were not adjusted for an online environment. The course designer did not take into consideration that this course would be online for further studies by others in an online environment.

Technology considerations were given to students by providing them the technical requirements for using the website, as well as the links for any additional tools that might be needed. This site had an enormous amount of course assets, which included lecture notes, videos, reading and listening links. Additionally, students’ works were provided on the site to share, which provided a music technology case study completed by several students.

The course follows most of the recommendations for online instruction, however if following Zemsky and Massy’s thoughts on e-learning adoption cycles the most notable missing component would be cycle 2, the course manangement system. Open course is a valuable tool on the internet which will impact educational online materials for years to come.

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

Piskurich, George. "Planning and Designing Online Courses" Video Program

Retrieved from http: http://www.opencourse.info/ 2010.