Converting to a Distance Learning Format

Consider the following 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.

Converting a traditional course to a blended model requires some consideration.  Identifying the need and the available resources facilitates tools for the instructor to integrate new tools into the learning experience.  There is a need for a pre-planning phase, a plan that should be developed and followed by the instructor, activities that will make the content alive and the need for evaluation of the learning process and the design of the course.  With this in mind, the following best practices guide has been develop.  This guide includes tips and aspects to consider.   There is also a checklist of aspects that should be considered before, during and after the implementation process.

Click on the image below to access the best practices guide.  

The Impact of Open Source

Open Yale Courses

MUSI 112 - Listening to Music

(http://oyc.yale.edu/music/listening-to-music/)

            Yale University shares an educational experience with the users through this website. There is a variety of courses that were presented in a face-to-face setting and are now presented for all visitors in the website. There is no cost involved and the user can learn at his pace.  The website offers orientation about the purpose of the website, the terms of use and additional help.  It also provides space for user to fill a feedback survey that helps them improve the learning experience.

Does the course appear to be carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment? How so?

While exploring the Yale University website, I felt attracted to participate of the Listening to Music course (MUSI 112).  It is interesting to observe how a traditional course becomes an online learning experience.  After selecting the link to the class the user finds information about the instructor, about the course and information on how the course was delivered in the traditional setting.  The side bar guides the user to interact with the content and access the materials provided.  A syllabus is provided which includes information about the text materials and the grading policy that was used in the face-to-face instruction.  Lessons are divided and presented in a sequence.  Each lesson includes a video, audio and transcript of the conference.  The video covers the lesson being taught and keeps the learner engaged since the instructor interacts with the audience in the video and presents examples of the lesson being taught.    

Does the course follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in your course textbook?

            Our textbook Teaching and Learning at a Distance, shares some advices for instructors that teach online.  The first one is to “Avoid dumping a face-to-face course into the web” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Albright, 2009, p. 248) this is exactly what Yale is doing.  They are recording a class and sharing it on the web.  Zemsky and Massy, 2004 share four cycles that may be operating in the campus.  I see cycle 1 which presents enhancements to traditional courses and cycle 3, which integrates course objects, in this example videos, flash files, audio and text. 

Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students?

            The Listening to Music course, presented by Yale University was delivered in a traditional/conference delivery method.  “Adults are more self-directed and have specific reasons for taking the course.  They expect the instructor to help them achieve their goals” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Albright, 2009, p. 251).  There are no tools to assess if students have prior knowledge prior to the course.  There is no space for interaction with the instructor or other learners.  “The presence of other learners can benefit the learning experiences” (Dabbagh & Bannan-Ritland, 2005).  Therefore, the use interactive tools such as discussion boards or blogs could enhance active learning.  No assessments are provided or follow up activities such as assignments and projects. 

            This online learning experience was just a copy of a traditional lesson in a digital format.  I consider this course a one-way communication, where the instructor has the information and the learners just listen and receive it.  There are no tools to measure learning.  Integrating interactive tools that will provide interaction with the content, the instructor and other learners could maximize valuable information presented.

References:

              Simonson, M., Smaldiono, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and Learning at a Distance.

Interactive Tours

Scenario 2:
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. 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?

           Students of all ages enjoy and learn from field trips.  The purpose of field trips is to provide experiences with other environments.   The teacher from our scenario wants enhances the learning experience with real-life connections.  With this purpose on mind I would recommend the integration and use of virtual field trips.  The principal art museums in New York, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) provides virtual field trips as part of their website.  These virtual field trips vary depending on the museum.  Virtual field trips include: digital images of artwork, videos and videoconferencing.  The Museum of Modern Art offers an integrated site named “Red Studio” designed for High School students facilitating opportunities of learning from the curators and sharing their ideas.  “Since online environments should be media rich and strive for authenticity, it is critical that many technologies be used” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009, p. 116).  

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) are part of Google Art project.  The Google Art Project integrates street view technology to allow the user to virtually visit and walk inside of the museums.  The student can explore different artwork and learn from the artist.  The student navigates different floors and rooms.  The user can create his artwork collection and add comments each piece added.  These collections can be shared with others by email, Facebook or Twitter.  The teacher could benefit from this feature to select and share the two pieces of artwork the students will critique.  One interesting feature of Google Art Project is the capability of zooming the artwork to observe minimal details such as cracks or brushstrokes.  Each piece of artwork provides detailed information about the artist and other work from the artist.

“The versatility of social software and other collaboration tools available today support constructivist environments that seek to motivate, cultivate, and meet the needs of the 21st-century learner (Beldarrain, 2006).  I recommend the use of a blog to provide space for the group critique.  The teacher could create a blog with multiple pages to provide space for different groups.  The link can provide samples of artworks and links to Google Art Project.  The use of a blog provides the teacher opportunities to see the entire student work in one site and evaluate individual and group interaction.

Some high school teachers are using Weebly. This tool offers website creation integrated with blog.  Some examples includes Chagrin Falls High School, they keep a website to showcase work and critique and Shayne Train who is a high school teacher that is looking for alternatives to facilitate students art critique.  She is allowing her students to use Voice Thread to record their thoughts and add the audio file to their blog posts. “Instructional design frameworks must be adapted to purposely integrate student interaction using technology tools” (Beldarrain, 2006).  The diary “USA Today” shares how school in many different states and countries are benefiting from the use of virtual field trips to enhance instruction. "Because we're taking them everywhere, (students) are becoming little global citizens," says Jody Kennedy, a teacher in White Plains. "They're becoming leaders. These are all happy surprises we've never expected."

There are many challenges that could be added to the integration and use of new technologies.  “Visionary educators seeking to improve current practices face the conflict between the new freedoms afforded by emerging technologies and the administrative control enforced for legal reasons” (Beldarrain, 2006).  Many schools might ban the use of public blogs or websites due to privacy issues and security.  The use of blogs can be set to private controlling the information being posted.  Our students are 21^st century learners and integrating online activities to instruction provides experiences to become digital citizens.

References:

Fuson, K. (2007). No permission slip needed. USA Today.  Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-01-29-virtual-field-trip_x.htm.

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

Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance Education Trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education. 27(2). 139-153.

Distance Learning

      Distance education is defined as “institution-based, formal education where the learning groups are separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors” (Simonson, 2003).  This definition has changed through the years.  My initial definition of distance learning was to learn away from the walls of a classroom.  Self-learning was part of that concept of distance learning.  After exploring the resources recommended this week my perception or vision of distance learning has changed.  The benefits of distance learning are many and they will continue to grow as more technological tools are developed and more educators experience this educational opportunity.   

     My first experience with distance learning was at the age of 10.  My mother felt attracted to a correspondence course to study the Bible.  I remember receiving the books, completing them at my pace and sending them back.  I used to check the mail every day expecting to hear back from my teacher.  She would check my answers and send me a friendly note and stickers.  At the end of each course I would receive a certificate of completion.  At that time, I considered that teacher my special friend.  Most likely everyone was receiving the same letter; for me it was special. Wedemeyer (1981), notes for elements that are present in a teaching/learning experience.  These are: “a teacher, a learner, a communication system and something to be learned”.  In my experience I can identify all four elements.  This experience could be classified as Independent Study.

            Many individuals list as a challenge for distance learning; social interaction.  Interaction is important in the learning process. Sharing ideas, learning from others experiences and receiving feedback from your instructor or peers helps the learner continue in the right path.  Holmberg (1985) presents his theory of guided direct conversation.  In his theory he identifies communication as the basis for distance learning.  From his assumptions we learn that “distance learning will support student motivation, promote learning pleasure, and make the study relevant to the learner and his needs creating a feeling of rapport between the learners and the institution”.   In my experience, social interaction is valuable and strong in an online setting.  There is no space for gestures and everything needs to be expressed.  There is constant interaction between learners and space for research. 

 

            Distance learning is not a trend of the past, the present or the future.  It is a learning opportunity that satisfies the student’s needs.  Many schools are providing online learning opportunities for students that are “at risk”.  These students weren’t able to pass the class in a regular traditional setting.  These online classes "have a primary focus of helping students stay in school and graduate in time" (Watson & Gemin, 2008).  Others are benefiting from a blended approach that combines classroom setting and distance learning.  The learning process is the same; the tools have changed.  Old textbooks are being substituted for e-books, journals for blogs and oral presentation for videos.  I visualize the future of distance learning as students using their tablets everywhere they go to access their virtual classroom. Some technological instructional tools will enhance the teaching learning process: the use of video-conferencing as an interactive communication tool, the use of wikis to develop collaborative projects, podcast as oral reports, learning social networks such as ning (http://www.ning.com/), blogs to express their ideas and the use of digital portfolios to evaluate and assess their learning process.

            We are living in a flat world.  Distance is not longer a barrier to find a better job.  To apply for a job, in most cases is required to fill an online application, submit a portfolio or a link to a website as a reference.  Our students will compete with students from the entire world to find a job.  Many companies are dividing their offices around the world to benefit from time difference and have 24/7 production time.  The opportunities are larger than ever before.  The competition is bigger also.  As educators we need to provide learning opportunities to equip our students for the demands of our “flat world”.  Many students will study in online universities and others might be hired as staff of distance learning.  Are we providing our students with experiences to effectively perform in a flat world?

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

Watson, J. & Gemin, B. (2008). Using online learning for at-risk students and credit recovery. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/research/promisingpractices/NACOL_CreditRecovery_PromisingPractices.pdf.

Distance Learning on Prezi

Please click on more (bottom right corner) and Autoplay for a better view or follow the link under the box.  Please let me know if you have any problem with the mind map.

Thanks for visiting!

It is time to blog!

     Hi!  I am back again.  I am part of a new learning experience, it is time for Distance Learning.

Welcome to my blog, feel free to leave your comments! 

Fitting the pieces together: How do learning theories describe me as a learner?

There are theories that define the way we learn.  We have been exposed to different teaching styles that my address different learning theories.  Six weeks ago, I considered that I learned in a constructivism way.  As a child, I was instructed using the behaviorism model.  My parents used positive and negative reinforcement to teach me behavior actions.  From brushing my teeth every morning to getting all A’s was part of the plan.  I was able to earn prizes or get punished if things went wrong.   As I grew, I became curious about the way things work and things I could learn.  I started to learn things by myself and to experiment new things, such as: playing instruments, typing, knitting, driving and building and repairing computers. 

After learning about different learning theories, I have seen that I do learn in other ways that I never thought before.  I am learning through social learning.  Every discussion board, guides my learning based on others ideas and understanding of a concept.  I can share my understanding and see other points of view that are elaborating on my initial thoughts.  Many times when I read other posts, I go back to the text and follow their references to learn more about the topic.  In the past, I did not like the idea of working as a team, because of bad experiences.  These days, I understand the value of this learning approach and the benefits of the use of technology to facilitate these experiences.  I can also add, that as an adult learner I am able to select what I want to learn, the pace of the learning process and connect new information to my prior knowledge as part of my professional development. I don’t want to ignore, the experience of developing my learning network.  As part of Connectivism we learn making connections that are related and develop concepts.  These connections could be at your social, work or personal level.

The use of technology enriches of my learning experiences.  I have access to information, professional development courses, sharing with my friends and family members by the use of social networks such as Facebook, MSN, Skype or OOVOO, communication through emails, use of personal webs, search engines and collaborative work with peers with the use of Google documents. 

As an Instructional Designer, I have the responsibility of providing my students a variety of experiences that will address their learning styles.  Through the years, I have learned in different ways and I have been exposed by different teaching styles.  I agree that the brain is unique, learning will always occur and teaching will always be a challenge that with the use of technology can be enriched and driven to its maximum capabilities.

Connectivism

Hi,


Thanks for visiting my blog again. This mind map presents my learning network, please feel free to leave your comments and questions. 


Thanks,
Evylyn

Please click on the image to enlarge

Reflection

• How has your network changed the way you learn?

My family, my community and my technology tools have influenced my learning experience.  In my years of elementary school, I was exposed to old books, encyclopedias and many trips to places of interest such as museums, libraries and theaters.  My parents used to take us to different types of social activities such as concerts, plays, conferences and sports.  My parents were building my background knowledge, fact that help me make connections with the classroom material and the books I was using during my school years.

My college life was enriched with the use of technology.  It was the beginning of the access of the Internet in the 90’s.  The use of digital format encyclopedias and some multimedia resources were at that time, an excellent resource.  The use of software such as Office Word and Power Point added an extra tool to share and store information with my peers. 

• Which digital tools best facilitate learning for you?

Today, my learning network changes and grows everyday.  The use of technology provides me with tools that help me learn in different areas of my life.  In my mind map, I present areas in which I am learning every day, personal life, my family, my career, professional development and my gadgets or hobbies.

In my personal life, I learn with the use of my computer and my IPhone.  The use of social networks such as Facebook, Skype and Oovoo provides my tools to exchange ideas with teachers in other places and cooperate in different learning and teaching efforts.  I stay updated in all the technological changes through news websites and IPhone apps.  The use of Netflix provides movies from were I also learn from.

As a teacher, I need to be at the pace of the latest technologies.  Web 2.0 tools give me tools to guide and enrich my learning process.  The use of search engines and video collection not only provides me tools to enrich my lessons, also answers many questions. 

My professional development is totally connected to technology.  Studying online, sharing blogs,  and the use of Google Educator tools, moves me into a level of sharing online with other professionals and teachers and share my ideas. 

My newest learning tool is my IPad, everyday I learn something new and it facilitates my learning process to another level.  First and the reason I bought it was to have access to my Walden Class everywhere and anytime.  I can read my peers comments and participation in the discussion blog and have access to the articles for every week.  I use and app, named Good Reader to keep all my articles in PDF format, and be able to read it and study “on the go”.  I have access to dictionaries, and any website needed in my studies.  I have my favorites magazines to read, ICreate brings technology tutorials that I read every month and teaches me all the tips and tricks for apple computers.  Also, I have access to videos and podcast that I use to learn.  Using the Google app, I can easily share ideas from the computer to my IPad.  My IPad has Keynote and Pages apps, that are the equivalent to Word and Power Poing.  I can connect my IPad to my projector and share my ideas and learning sites with my students.

• How do you gain new knowledge when you have questions?

These days finding answers to my questions are easier.  Making an online search could bring almost an answer for every question I have.  The use of effective technology helps my answers my question and answer some for my students.

• In what ways does your personal learning network support or refute the central tenets of connectivism?

     My learning network supports the central principles of connectivism.  Some of these principals are: 

·      Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions

·      Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.

·      Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.

·      Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.

·      Decision-making is itself a learning process.

In conclusion, Connectivism gives us the opportunity to share, search and use different technologies to add more information to a concept that we are learning about.  These days, we can decide what to learn about and with the easy use of technology we can almost about any topic.  The information is been updated every minute and the use and benefit of the Internet bring us the world wide news and information actual and at a click distance.  As an adult we need to have goals, commitment and motivation, after those factors you are ready to turn on your computer and start learning to help others learn in the future.

References:

elearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. (n.d.). elearnspace. everything elearning.. Retrieved June 6, 2010, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Conlan, J., Grabowski, S., & Smith, K. (2003). Adult learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Adult_Learning on May 31, 2010.

Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Connectivism