Distance Learning Technologies

Selecting Distance Learning Technologies
The first steps for an instructional designer is to identify the task, target audience, expected outcomes, and then develop a plan. I have been given the following scenario to work with interactive tours:

“A high school history teacher, located on the west coast of the United States, wants to showcase to her students the 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 technologies, the teacher turned to the school district’s instructional designer for assistance.”

Points to keep in mind when developing a plan for this scenario is the comfort level of the teacher in working with technology, resources that are available, as well as the audience, high school students.  These factors determine how to provide an effective and meaningful educational experience for the students.  From the scenario it is clear that the teacher has a goal to enhance the students learning and willingness to learn about technologies that will help her, however she is a novice. 

The students have several components that they will be completing.  First, the teacher wants the students to take a “tour.”  She wants them to feel as if they are walking through the museum, not just looking at pictures. When Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) spoke of Edgar Dale’s Cone of Experience, it stated “the critical job of the educator, especially the designer of distance education materials, is to be only as realistic as needed in order for learning to effectively occur” (pg. 92).  As the designer you want to meet the needs of the teacher and not allow too much exposure to distract from the objective.  Given the students are in high school, they should have the experience and ability to handle what Dale’s Cone of Experience categorizes as the top three levels of abstraction, the act of doing.  The three levels are:  dramatized – involving, contrived – representations of reality, and direct purposeful – multisensory (pg. 93).  For these high school students the teacher would like them to experience a representation of reality since they are unable to visit the museums in New York. 

Museum Virtual Tour
The teacher’s would like for the students to interact with the curator, “tour” two museum’s exhibits and follow up with critiques of artwork.  For this project I would suggest that the teacher utilize a virtual tour that a prominent museum, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, has established to bring the art from their museum to those around the world.  Depending on how the museum’s tour is set up, there may be a way to interact with a curator through a chat or comments and if not, then students may need to utilize email.  The potential pitfalls of interaction will emerge when the technology established of the museum is known.  A well established museum will likely be prepared for such communication when it comes to education.  Given the teacher’s experience, it is best to use resources that are available rather than creating new or “reinventing the wheel.”  A virtual tour can be established using PowerPoint or other tools, however it is time consuming to learn or find templates in addition to the work that a teacher does every day.  As an educator, I find it likely that she will be limited on resources, such as time, to complete this project, so I would suggest she find a museum that has an establish virtual tour. 

Wiki Ways
The technology that would best meet the needs of the teacher’s project would be a wiki.  “A wiki can be an excellent tool for collaborative online writing assignments and group activities compiling information in a single online resource” (Simonson, et al., 2012).  In this scenario, a wiki will allow for students to participate in discussions and comments on the two pictures that she chooses from the exhibit.  The biggest benefit to using a wiki is that the teacher has control over the content.  If she is not familiar with technology, then a wiki is a great place to start.  It is one of the easiest Web 2.0 technologies to begin, manage, and it is free, the best part for a teacher.  In contrast, if the teacher was to start a blog, then all students would need to have an email account and other factors that would require more work to complete beforehand.

Success in the Classroom
Wiki-Centric Learning (McCrea, 2010) describes basic and advance ways that wikis can be used with students in grades 8 through 12.  This would be a resource that I would share with the teacher that provides background information as well as ideas that may encourage her to use them beyond this project.  In a Classroom 2.0 website forum, I found a comment from Catherine Cabiness (2011) in which she describes the benefits that wikis brought to her 7th grade Medieval World History students.  She utilizes the wiki for all her students, not just each individual class.   This allows all students to interact with other students, especially those that they may not have another opportunity to do so.  Such a success story would be great to share with the teacher as she ventures into the world of wikis. Since this is her first time, I would not suggest that this novice teacher collaborate all her students with this project, however it is an option to explore. 

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Resources

Cabiness, C.  (January 25, 2011).  Classroom 2.0:  Wikis in the Classroom Forum.  Retrieved from http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/wikis-in-the-classroom-2?xg_source=activity

McCrea, B.  (2010).  Wiki-Centric Learning. The Journal.  Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/09/15/Wiki-Centric-Learning.aspx?Page=1 

Metropolitan Museum of Art.  (2012).  Collections.  New York.  Retrieved from http://www.metmuseum.org/collections . 

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

Distance Learning Mind Map Graphic

What is Distance Learning?

Distance learning is online learning involving computers, a list of assignments that you would do, submit, get a grade, and then continue until you complete a course.  This is what I thought prior to beginning my coursework at Walden University.  It is so much more than I ever thought, including correspondence, electronic communications, and distance teaching universities (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  I agree with Simonson, et. al, when they cited Garrison and Shale, 1987, defining distance education with the following three criteria: 

1.    Distance education implies that the majority of educational communication between (among) teacher and student(s) occurs noncontiguously.

2.    Distance education must involve two- way communication between teacher and student(s) for the purpose of facilitating and supporting the educational process.

3.    Distance education uses technology to mediate the necessary two-way communication.

Each component of their definition is critical to understanding distance learning and what the future holds for the topic.

Distance learning has proven to evolve as new inventions and technology emerges.  According to the Distance Learning Timeline Continuum (Laureate Education) mail correspondence dates back to 1833 and the first computer and internet technology was introduced for distance learning course delivery in 1979.  When I put this in perspective, it was just three years after I was born when internet technology was introduced.  I am no spring chicken, but I did not think it had been around that long.  My husband’s father is a computer geek, so I have heard numerous times about how it used to take over 45 minutes to load a game to play on his first computer.  In those days it was on a cassette tape, not even a floppy disk.  Even with this knowledge, a light bulb went off when I read the timeline.  I am late to the party regarding how long distance learning has been around and how far it has come.  I always thought of distance learning involving computers and online coursework, but it makes sense that it dates back to mail correspondence.  Mail correspondence is now gone to the sidelines because of technology, but its historical significance on the evolution of distance learning. 

When I think of mail correspondence courses, I am reminded of the draw a picture ad in the back of magazines.  I am sure everyone has seen the picture of a profile view of a bear with a hat.  I still see commercials for these applications today.  I did not think of that as being part of the history of distance learning.  Distance education is “institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunication systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors” (Simonson, et.al, 2012).  Looking at this definition, mail correspondence fits along with all the others that are featured in the Laureate Education’s multimedia presentation that highlights the history of distance learning.  This presentation has had a significant impact on my knowledge as well as outlook on just how far back in history ideas can be traced.  

As a new member of the Instructional Design community, this was an astounding revelation and what I thought was a new and up and coming area of education.  But then I was reminded when I watched the video, “Distance Education:  The Next Generation” (Laureate Education) about Everett Rogers Theory of Innovation and Ideas.  As an educator, I know firsthand how his theory is applied to education.  If anything makes sense or should be done, then it will face scrutiny and take what seems like forever to be accepted.  I had not thought about it outside of that area.  But, seeing it in the history and evolution of distance learning opens my eyes even further to how the theory can be applied to so many aspects of our world.  It was stated best in the video by “today, distance education is widely adopted and approaching critical mass in society” (Laureate Education).  I would not have thought that my traditional old fashion, old school, face to face learning style would be enjoying completing my graduate studies online at Walden.

I chose online distance learning because it fits my schedule, life, and gets me closer to my goal of obtaining my master’s degree.  This is mainly due to the convenience and flexibility to fit into my life as a wife, mom, and professional.  Another important factor is technology.  When I started my first year at Frostburg State University, I had no computer of my own.   I brought my Brother electric typewriter and thought I was so cool.  Soon I discovered the computer lab and spent countless hours learning by trial and error on any computer I could find.  That freshman could not have seen that I am doing my assignment on my own laptop that will be placed on my online blog which is available thanks to this thing called the internet.  It is crazy to think back on how time changes and so fast. Technology and accessibility have had a significant impact in my experience with distance learning.  So, I know looking at the history and what it has done for me, these and more have changed landscape of distance learning.

The future of distance learning is rapidly progressing and evolving with new technologies.  This includes mobile devices such as tablets and Smart phones.  Such convenience will continue to impact distance education because the more accessible and convenient it is for learners, the easier it will become.  I think that the biggest hurdle of distance learning is in the K-12 communities that may feel threatened that face to face interaction will no longer exist.  I did think this and was hesitant prior to becoming informed.  It will take educating educators on the distance learning and how it can enrich their teaching rather than take over classroom learning.          

 

Resources

Distance Learning Timeline Continuum. Laureate Education, Inc. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6290464&Survey=1&47=7437497&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

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), 63–6 7.

Simonson, M.  (Presenter).  Distance Education:  The Next Generation.  Vodcast retrieved from Walden University, EDUC 6135:  https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_550908_1%26url%3D

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

The Adventure Begins

New Semester = New Blog

The adventure begins for Distance Learning.  I hope to post under the tab for Distance Learning, however I am not exactly sure how to do this.  So, if I am unsuccessful try not to hold it against me :O) and feel free to leave a comment on how to do so.