Reflection

This is my final post for the semester. I have learned a lot and hope that I was able to pass on some of my knowledge to those of you that followed my blog. This week I will be discussing the current and future perceptions of distance learning in our society. I had the chance to interview a few volunteers about distance learning and will also incorporate some of what I discovered then in this post.

There are currently a lot of different perceptions of distance learning. Some are positive and others are negative. Some of the positives are that it is very convenient and any can take them no matter what their schedule is because you get to work around your schedule. The negatives are that you don't have as much face to face time with your instructors. Also some people still believe that it isn't as prestigious as a traditional degree.

I feel that in the future distance learning will be used even more than it already is. One of it's uses I think will be more specialized for use in business. Business revolves around money and the use of distance learning, when done correctly, can save a company a lot of money in he long run.

As I discussed this week during my interviews and when talking with others I came up with ways that I, as an Instructional Designer, can promote positive perceptions of distance learning. I feel that one of those ways is to create material that will inform people of little known facts about distance learning. It could be in the form of commercials or brochures. Also when I talk with others as an instructor I can always make sure to speak well of distance learning and be positive.

A way that I can ensure to be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of distance education is to continuously be involved in the world of distance learning and continue to learn and study. I should always try to keep up to date with the latest tools and technologies of the trade. Also If I ever create good material and ideas I could think about publishing what I've found in a book or somewhere online for others to find it.

Converting to a Distance Learning Format

The posting this week is for an application that I created for use by anyone that visits my blog. All you need to do is click on the link at the end to access the pdf document.

What the application consists of is tips and recommendations for people that are creating an online course or program. It can be used to either turn a face to face traditional course into one that is being moved online or to create a new course from scratch, it was intended however for the first suggestion. This course being created can be intended for total online use or as a hybrid/blended choice.

What is in the document is a list of questions and contains information about things you need to know and think about if you are creating an online course. Some topics that is touches on are what kind of information should be placed online, what kind of discussion technology should be used, and what kind of things should you consider before even starting to create the course.

I hope you find this document helpful and are able to use it in your quest to create the perfect online course.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/53208493/A7DiFlorioS#

The Impact of Open Source

This week's blog entry is about something called Open Courses. What these are are basically distance learning courses that are offered at universities that is free for people to take who want to learn from an actual instructor. You don't get college credit for it but the classes are real and they are there for people that want to learn something new. I will be discuessing how well the course was prepared and planned for and point out some positives and negatives about the course in particular.

The website/college whos Open Course program I used was http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html and the Open Course I chose was a Gradutae course called Soli-State Circuits.

This is an interesting course as far as the preparation and planning of it is concerned. The professor did put a lot of information on the website to explain to anyone visiting the course what it is about and what is expected from them if they decide to take the course. Preparation can be seen, by reading the course description and course syllabus, for the setup of the course as something taken in a lab including time in class. The problem I see is that the course was designed with an online learning environment in mind, just not the kind that I think of when I think of a distance learning course. What I mean by this is that the online material is meant as a supplement to a course taught in the classroom and not fully online. I am unsure if students are required to get there coursework from online or if the online part is just used as more of a location for students to get work if they missed a class or lost something. I am actually disappointed with the lack of technologies used in the online course. It is evident after reading through the online information that no planning was done for the use of any distance learning tools.

This course does not follow the recommendations for online instruction that we learned about this week in our class. I wouldn't classify this course as a distance learning program at all because it is missing almost all of the components necessary for an online program. I wouldn't even classify it as a hybrid class because the online part of the program isn't used for learning. It is used for the distribution of course materials and assignments only. Something else that it is missing is communication from the professor in the form of discussions or lecture material found anywhere in the course. The learning that is done in this course is all done in the classroom. There are no course materials or guidance given on the courses website. I did find a list of recommended books to read but nothing saying what chapters to read when or any required readings for the course. There also is no sign of using any forms of distance learning tools and technology in the website, or even in the classroom for that matter. I therefor for can not define this as a distance learning course. I can not say for sure but I am hoping that the face-to-face part of the course is thought out and planned much better.

If I take consideration into what assignments and lab work are done in the classroom then I can definitely say that the designer implemented course activities that maximized active learning for students. The designer planned for a healthy combination of hands on activities, lectures, and written assignments. The students have math problems that they work out and solve on paper. Then they take those solutions and create an actual working circuit so they are able to see for themselves if they worked out the problem correctly. What makes this such an active way of learning is the fact that the students can get instant feedback on their work. They don't have to wait and see if how the instructor graded their work, they can tell on their own based on whether their circuit worked properly or not.

I personally would enjoy this class because I have always been a hands on learner and love electronics. From the standpoint of a designer of distance learning courses I am very disappointed with the use of the online sources available for this course.

 

Week 3: Application

In this weeks blog post we will be discussing a technology that can be used in distance learning and a situation that would be good to use it with. I will also discuss a few websites that you can look at of people and schools that have successfully implemented the said technology.The situation is as follows;

Example 3: Asynchronous Training
 
In an   effort to improve its poor safety record, a biodiesel manufacturing   plant needs a series of safety training modules. These stand-alone   modules must illustrate best practices on how to safely operate the many   pieces of heavy machinery on the plant floor. The modules should   involve step-by-step processes and the method of delivery needs to be   available to all shifts at the plant. As well, the shift supervisors   want to be sure the employees are engaged and can demonstrate their   learning from the modules.

There are many different distance learning technologies you will probably find that can work with this situation, but I feel that a podcast would be a good tool to use. One of the big draws for podcasts is the ability to be able to download the content to a device and make it portable tyo watch anywhere anytime. In this situation I think that the employees should be required to view the podcasts which will be video and written instructions. It will have someone acting out proper step by step protocals and then words to explain it.

As we read in our resources this week, one of the advantages that is important in this situation is the opportunity to let people be responsible for their own learning. The fact that the content is downloadable and available whenever helps with the problem of all shifts needing access to the content.

One thing that I feel has to be taken into consideration that I found at the Lorain College site is an exclusiveness of the content. The company in question would have to put time and money into the creation or collection of the podcasts and would not want to allow just anyone from any company to be able to access them. Somehow I think it needs to be set up so that only the people at the company can access the podcasts.

To solve the problem of the supervisors being able to ensure that the employees can demonstrate what they learn the employees can  take an online test about the proper operation of each piece of equipment. In addition I would have the employees demonstrate in front of a supervisor after successfully passing the exam how to properly use the machine.

As we can see in this blog from a high school math teacher (webiste listed at bottom) a lot of time can be saved by using podcasts. It also serves as a great supplement to anything learned in a face to face environment.

Lorain County Community College. (2011). 
Podcasts of Lectures [Information Page]. Retrieved March 
19, 2011, from
http://www.lorainccc.edu/Distance+Learning/iTunesU.htm

scodella56. (2009, November 4). 
Using Podcasts In The Math Classroom [Web log post]. Retrieved from 
     Confessions of a High School Math Teacher:
http://scodella56.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/ 
     using-podcasts-in-the-math-classroom/ 

Distance Learning Definition

This post is going to include a discussion of the different ways that people define distance learning. Feel free to comment or post as well.

I feel bad about admitting this because I used to be a teacher in a previous life but my definition of distance learning was always extremely basic. I felt as if distance learning was learning that was done either online with a computer or through watching a video or digital conference. Different software and methods could be used but my definition was very limited. Not that I didn't do other things that would be considered distance learning, it's just that because of the definition I personally had I never considered them distance learning.

How the things that I learned this week affected my previous definition was mostly to broaden my understanding. I know what distance learning is but never really considered all that was involved in it. I liked some of the things I learned and feel that it is time to improve on my personal definition of distance learning. What I learned is that there are four components to distance learning. It must be institutionally based, have separation of teacher and student, use interactive telecommunications, and sharing of voice, data, and video.

I don't completely agree with everything I learned about distance learning this week but I am going to change my definition. The most important part of distance learning I feel is the separation of teacher and student. Without this distance learning is not going on. To accomplish this we need a form of interactive telecommunication which could include, but is not limited to, the sharing of voice, data, and video.So my definition of distance learning is learning that takes place through the use of interactive telecommunication where things like voice, data, and video is shared when students are separated from there teachers.

The future of distance learning has a lot to get excited about. There are many technologies that have been around for a long time that have yet to become mainstream in education. We see both new inventions that get used to further education and to keep students interested and old inventions that people have found new use for in technology

One of the old technologies that always come to mind for me when I think of education is video teleconferencing. This could have many positive effects on students learning and for distance learning. Students could connect with teachers from all over the country and also see some of the cuture in other countries. Also the fact that the students have a good chance of using the technology in the business world is another good reason to introduce them to it. A new technology that has been upcoming for years is Web 2.0. This is actually a very broad term and Web 2.0 tools refer to different software that can be used on the computer for a wide range of things. Like software to help with organization or to help you create citations. The best thing to compare it to would be apps that you find on smart phones these days. There seems to be one for everything. With Web 2.0 it's the same way, all you have to do is look.

Welcome Everyone

I look forward to taking on the new challenges and knowledge that a new course brings.

The topic of Distance Learning is sure to be a fun one.

Hopefully you all will enjoy what I have to say during my posts to this blog and learn something at the same time.