Selecting Distance Learning Technologies

For this week’s application assignment, I chose the Example 3: Asynchronous Training scenario with the safety training modules for the biodiesel manufacturing plant.  As an entire ID project, content can be delivered through video presentations and flash simulations, as well as in print with diagrams and text for hands-on references.  Assessments and interactive components could be included with discussion boards or blogs, online quizzes (since the content is mostly procedurally based), and interactive flash simulations that the employees can manipulate instead of practicing on real machinery with real consequences while learning.  Employee progress can be tracked by supervisors through the use of a course management system.

As the training is about safety, the learning environment, including learner practice and assessment must also be safe.  In order to provide that type of environment to the employees at the biodiesel manufacturing plant, I believe the best solution is to use online simulations for the employees to interact with, practice their skills, and be tested.  The Training Pro 3D company provides industries, such as the manufacturing industry, with three dimensional simulations for training purposes (http://www.trainingpro3d.com).  As stated on their services website, simulation training provides “a more hands-on experience without putting any of them in danger” (http://trainingpro3d.com).   Medical fields also use virtual simulations for training purposes.  Although more community based, the Play2train websites provide simulations for educators and medical personnel to test their responses in emergency situations situations (http://play2train.us/wordpress/).  Using simulations or other problem-based activities challenges the learner with authentic real-life scenarios (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2012).

To efficiently track and monitor employee progress, I suggest that a comprehensive course management system (CMS) be employed.  A CMS can host all of the elements of the training modules online, which would provide access around the clock to all of the shifts of workers at the plant.  A CMS can also track employee’s progress on module activities, such as quizzes on procedural material or results from the virtual simulations.  Course management systems help corporations by aiding in the administrative duties of training, from tracking progress, and making assignments to hosting learner activities and increasing the accessibility by being online (Simonson et al, 2012).  There are many institutions and companies that utilize CMS software for their employees and clients.  One popular CMS is Blackboard (www.blackboard.com).  Blackboard has been used by educational institutions, corporations, associations, government agencies and the military (www.blackboard.com).  Another popular CMS is one we have studied this week; Moodle (www.moodle.org).  Although the software comes without its own hosting capabilities, Moodle is a very versatile CMS.  I have used both Blackboard and Moodle in recent years.  I used Blackboard as a student and used Moodle as a teacher of a web-facilitated course.

References

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Distance Learning Theory

So educational theories are not my cup of tea, so to speak.  I often am confused by the shear number of them, and how closely some are related.  That, and I am never good at linking up a work with the original author.  Just think of it as an epic fail of remembering musical artists with their song titles.  That's how I am with ED Theories.

Anyway, this past week, we were given a great many learning theories to explore and discuss, as well as identifying and comparing key attributes of online courses, blended/ hybrid courses, and web-facilitated courses.  I'm starting to realize that I use and am more familiar with Distance Education that I first realized when posting in the student lounge.  Reading through information on blended and web-facilitated courses, I had several moments of "I do that with my students!!!" and so things are starting to make sense.

Without further delay, on to the Theories! *Note: These are paraphrased from the course textbook cited below!

Equivalency Theory of Distance Education: Simonson
DE and F2F courses need to provide the learner with equivalent learning experiences to reach the objectives, but the learning experiences need not to be identical.  Example from the video: the area of a square and circle may be the same, but the shapes are different (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).

Theory of Interaction and Communication: Holmberg
"Guided didactic conversation" - Communication theory relating teaching effectiveness to the impact to feelings of belonging and cooperation.

Theory of Independent Study: Wedemeyer
All about learner independence and the use of technology to facilitate learner independence.  Set 10 characteristics of independent study learners using technology.

1. Be capable of operation anyplace where there are students
2. Greater responsibility on student for learning
3. Faculty members should be allowed more time for educational tasks
4. More choices in courses, formats and methodologies
5. Use effective, proven teaching media and methods
6. Mix media and methods to produce best instructional practice for units
7. Redesign and development of courses to fit "articulated media program"
8. Preserve and enhance individualization
9. Assess students simply
10. Permit students to learn at their own pace

Andragogy: Knowles
Adult education theory.  Characterizes and provides the framework for courses aimed at adult learners.

Transactional Distance Theory: Moore
Three types of distance between learners and instructors; space, time, intellectual distance.  3Dimensional sliding scale between the three characteristics.  Related to structure, dialogue, and learner autonomy.

Theory of Industrialization of Teaching: Peters
Very production-line take on educational theory.  A lot of pre-planning, division of labor (between learner and facilitator), and organization.  Produces assembly-line like product, which may work as an initial framework of ID, but does not leave a lot of room of creativity or individualization.

Reference
Laureate Education, Inc. (n.d.). Theory and distance learning. [Video webcast]. Retrieved from sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6290464&Survey=1&47=7309287&ClientNodeID-984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1.


Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Next Time: CMSs!

Defining Distance Learning

The definition of distance learning is always changing because the way people learn and what they are learning constantly changes. As new technologies, discoveries, procedures, and adaptations in business evolve, learners must also evolve with those changes. The demand for an adaptable learning model comes with the changes to the learner-audience and the changes to the content being presented. Technology, in best case scenarios, can facilitate the evolution of learning when applied appropriately and effectively. For some professions or industries, the changes in distance learning are more prevalent and evolve quickly. Fields that rely or use technology and/or are communications-based have changed more rapidly as they must mirror the changes in their industry and how their customers communicate. For others, the changes happen more slowly. Fields that rely on more hands-on skills, situation-specific training, or labor-intensive activities have been slower to embrace distance learning as the practicality of distance learning has not kept pace with the need for direct instruction.

My personal definition and observations of distance learning before beginning this course has simply been to learn from afar. The phrase ‘distance learning’ implied to me that there was a physical separation between the learner and instructor. When I was in high school, several classmates enrolled in a distance learning course to learn a foreign language. I don’t remember what language it was now, but it was the Spanish or French offered at the school. The instructor was at another high school a few counties away and the content was delivered either through VHS-taped lessons of the instructor presenting the material or it was delivered through a live-video feed to a conference room. During college, I enrolled in a print-based correspondence class.  The instructor was in Louisiana and I resided in Pennsylvania.

Up until this week and reading the resources for class, I had never really considered the time separation as an element of distance learning. I’m not sure why; it just didn’t occur to me as part of the definition of distance learning. It may have something to do with my teaching physics and the ‘time is relative’ concept. After exploring this week’s resources, the physical separation is a definite part of distance learning, but there are other factors that help to define distance learning. On page 33 of the course text, distance education is described as having four main parts; “institutionally based”, “separation of teacher and student”, “interactive telecommunications”, and sharing of learning experiences through data, voice, and video (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek, 2012, p. 33). Each component of this definition clarifies my thoughts on what distance education and distance learning should be based on. Institutionally based education adds a degree of acceptance and accreditation to the learning process. I have many hobbies and study material online and through books, but my learning for those interests are self-guided, self-directed, and not provided through any kind of educational institution. Although the learning may occur at a distance, it simply self-directed study and would not qualify, by this definition, as distance education. 

I was also surprised to learn the definition or explanation of what qualifies as interactive communications. Students and instructors must be able to interact and communicate during a course so that the instructor can provide feedback and both the student and instructor can assess the student’s progress. In terms of distance learning and in today’s society, I erroneously assumed that the interaction had to be communicated through digital means (computers, email, cloud-based materials, etc.). The method of the communication does not strictly matter, as long as there is some form of interactive communication available to students and instructors.

In the weeks ahead, I am quite certain that my definition of distance learning will continue to evolve. At this moment, I will say that my definition of distance learning closely mimics those presented in our resources this week. There is a need for the content to be supported by a reputable educational entity; geography and possible time will separate learners from instructors; content, comments, and feedback are provided through an interactive communications method; and there must be a component of students sharing new knowledge and learning experiences through a form of data exchange (including multimedia and digital forms). Each component identifies a structural component of distance learning.

The future of distance learning is bright, with a chance of cloudiness. By that I mean that there are endless possibilities where distance learning and instructional designers can go, but a few things need to improve along the way. Instructional designers and distance learning are considered new and somewhat untested, mostly because of the incredible leaps in technology and the tools available for educational purposes. There has been a rush to embrace these technologies, and in that rush, correct instructional methodology and practice has sometimes suffered, resulting in less than adequate examples of what is possible with instructional designers and distance learning. My hope for the future is that there will be a codification in education of what distance learning actually is and how it is best used and implemented. Distance education is growing exponentially, as noted by Dr. Simonson (Simonson, n.d.). This growth can only be sustained by industry, business, and education if it is more widely understood, improved upon, and supported. Distance education cannot be used (in K12) solely as a type of safety net for non-traditional school students (Simonson, Moller, Foshay, & Coleman, 2008). It should be used as a best-choice means of education, dependent on the learner needs, the content constraints, and the instructional design methods used to develop the curriculum. The future of distance education is bright, but it is tempered with the need to proceed with high quality standards and methods.

References

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5). 63–67.

Simonson, M. (n.d.). Distance education: The next generation. [Study video]. Retrieved from sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/defult.learn?CourseID=6290464&Survey=1&47=7309287&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education. (5^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

The mind map is available at this URL: http://www.webspirationpro.com/view/1061643a1c138  I'm trying to figure out how to insert it into the blog.





I FINALLY figured out how to put the Webspiration maps into Blogger!!!!!

New Year, New Class, New Possibilities

Hello to EDUC 6135 - Distance Learning!

It's been quite a while since I have been on this site (over a year by looking at the dates) so please accept my apologies if you expected to see entries from the other courses in the MIDT-OL program.

I am really looking forward to this course and the better understanding of distance learning that I hope to gain from fellow students, our instructor, and the course materials themselves. I look forward to reading your blogs, commenting and reading your comments here.

Best wishes for a great course!

Shelley

Fitting the pieces together

I don’t feel really that my view on learning theories and styles has changed too much during the time spent in this course. By that I mean to say that the information presented in this course has had significant correlation to my previous studies in education. What was new and different, and has provided for a good deal of self-reflection, is the addition of the role of technology usage in not only my learning, but how it is used and how it can or should be used when developing courses, specifically for adult learners. When paired with specific learning styles, such as musical learning style, curriculum can be tailored to play into a learner’s cognitive strengths, or may challenge the learner to develop new ways of comprehending and synthesizing information.

For my own personal learning preferences, I adapt quickly to new information that contains patterns. As I posted in an early discussion, this learning tendency most likely stemmed from the musical training I received as a child. This habit has expanded to include patterns in science and mathematics, which are subjects that I enjoy and excel at. The expansion came from the recognition of similar patterns into different curriculums with the ZPD and scaffolding. Linguistics is still more difficult for me as it is harder to develop rhythm or patterns in language, without breaking into poetry or song.

Technology is an interesting tool for learning. It can bridge multiple learning styles simultaneously, such as a video clip (visual) with audio (auditory) and closed-captioning (verbal). Different applications such as manipulatives (massive multiplayer online gaming) or discussions can further contribute to a student’s learning by addressing kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal learning styles. Technology can also be a hindrance or obstacle for a learner to overcome in the pursuit of knowledge if the technology is unfamiliar or cumbersome to work with. The learner may become frustrated and lose motivation if training, time and reinforcement are not also included in the assignments. As was lately pointed out in the investigations on the Horizon Project, various applications of technology may now or in the near future make learning much less traditional and more immediate and personally significant through the use of smart technology, mobile devices, and semantic-aware applications. Personally, I use technology as an organizational device, to gather and bring order to my communications, applications, research, and work products.

Johnson, L., Levine, A., & Smith, R. (2009). The Horizon Report (2009 ed.). Austin, TX: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/

Lowe, J., & Holton III, E. (2005). A theory of effective computer-based instruction for adults. Human Resource Development Review, 4(2), 159-188. Retrieved October 6, 2010, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 842876681).

Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson.

My mind map is split up into three main areas, although there could be many more; Information Resources, Interactions, and Applications. This activity was challenging from a strictly organizational point of view, as many aspects of the learning network can be and often are connected in more than one way.

I first gain information from program resources, texts, journals, etc. After processing the information and relating it to my own experiences, I then interact with others about the information to gain their perspectives to add to my own. Taking this large mass of information, I apply it to my different applications either for personal use or for professional use as a classroom teacher. As my student interact with the new information of technology, I learn from their experiences, and return back to my peers to share the information and experiences with them.

Networking and especially digital networking has allowed me to be more efficient in searing for particular kinds of information. Search engines and databases filled with indexed research topics can quickly narrow my investigation to a few key points. It also allows me to more readily seed opinions of others associated with my field of study (either peers, instructors, professors, or industry experts) to meld with my own levels of experience. I tend to learn best through interactive environments, especially with visual representations and quick feedback on replies from peers. Digital tools, such as FlashMedia, discussions, and live chats all help to facillitate thist ype of learning. Whenever my questions are not initally answered, I will either post my questions on my blog, where one of my 'readers' may respond, or I will directly communitcate with one or more individuals whom I know to be knowledgeable in the field.

In looking at the characteristics of connectivism, I would say that my learnign network supports the ideals of connectivism, rather than refuting it. For example, connectivism theory appreciates and encourages the explorations of a diversity of opinions to facilitate learning. (Davis, Edmunds & Kelly-Bateman, 2008). I seek out others' opinions and add them to my own as I learn and comprehend new ideals or concepts. Because of the nature of connectivism and digital mediums, there is also and urge to remain up-t0-date with current events, research, political and popular opinions, and relevant feedback to your own applications of materials. Learning networks rely on new and prompt information to stay current and most effective.

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

My Mind Map on Connectivism

I am having technical difficulties imbedding the image to the blog. Here is the link to the map through Webspiration.