Reflections on Distance Education

Let me begin by asking a question, what or who influences my perception of online / distance / e-learning?  Was, or is it, influenced by personal experience (positive or negative), negative experiences by my friends, personal choice to avoid online training/education, or just afraid of technology?  It is simple, my perception derived from my own experience with correspondence study--lessons, assignments, readings sent to me, and snail mailed the completed assignments back to the instructor for grading, evolving to online learning; and it worked (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  I felt comfortable in the online format as I enjoyed being on the computer; participating in social media sites and I use the computer as an advantage, versus a disadvantage.

As technology, web tools, and those feeding off of social media mature, I see the drive toward increase opportunities for online learning, especially within corporate training. Will a full online degree program work for all education, maybe not; instead, universities look to selected courses to develop (or flip) into online, requiring less classroom space, instructors located near the campus and flexibility for students. Gallup poll in October 2013 via telephone interviews hinted to towards the need for knowledge and skills to perform a specific job versus a degree (Saad, Busteed & Ogisi, 2013). Experience in government agencies instructing adult learning students, some of which have BlackBoard on the UNCLASSIFIED (the Internet for the non-government workers) or CLASSIFIED system. I would like to see more of student online interactivity on the UNCLASSIFIED system, but wonder how far organizations would venture out fear of security of information.

I can see an increase in effectiveness of e-Learning training with corporate companies as job listings for instructional designers point more towards online development, and with the up and coming millennial generation, arriving with extensive experience with social media, smart phones, and e-devices; they will adapt to online learning, as that is what they know (Dede, 2005).  Job descriptions I read I feel I currently qualify, focus on training online, to use the various tools available. However, I lack experience in the development of the WBT, unless the Advanced Instructional Design and Distance Learning courses count. 

We become advocates for something we hold dear to our heart, as an instructional designer; there are several avenues to travel to advocate e-learning/distance learning.   Follow and participate in e-learning blogs or communication boards. As a member of LinkedIn’s eLearning related discussion groups (Instructional Design & E-Learning Professional's Group, E-Learning Global Network, and Instructional Designers) ask questions, listen and read the articles or videos; and participate in the discussion.  As I reflected, I realized I needed to expand my participation to other educational related groups.

The Positive Influencer I hope to become an influencer in government positions as a contractor or government employee. As I obtain instructional design positions, I hope to introduce different ideas, utilize available resources, and encourage student interaction outside the classroom environment.

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References

Dede, C. (2005). Planning for neomillennial learning styles. Educause Quarterly, 28(1), 7–12.

Saad, L., Busteed, B., & Ogisi, M. (2013). In U.S., online education rated best for value and options. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/165425/online-education-rated-best-value-options.aspx

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

Web Page

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/ 

Converting Face to Face to Blended Learning

Greetings,

I just spend valuable time developing a user guide for those thinking about converting their instructor-led training to a blended learning format.   

The development of the guide took into consideration an organization's training office directive to convert all of the current training modules into a blended learning format. Additionally, management desire to increased student and instructor interact, to store and provide access to training material 24/7. 

As a Distance Learning, this guide focuses on definition of blended learning, strategies for converting material, suggested learning management systems, what best transfers to an online venue, file sharing and collaboration web tools, and instructor's role. 

Click the link below to view my rendition of the user guide.

Converting Your Face to Face to Blended Learning


I appreciate comments, questions, and suggestions. 

Marnie

The Impact of Open Source

I began my search on Open Culture, I found Bass Lesson offered by Berklee Music (I am a bass play with a worship team. The excerpt of Berkleemusic’s 12 week course Base Performance 101 “Free Bass Lesson” assumes you read music and play a bass.  Instruction is limited text and short videos (less than 10 minutes total). The lack information, minimum videos, and little practice resulted in loose of focus. In addition, the commercials that took up two of the eight pages did not help. OK, strike that one off my list.

Then I went to DaveConservatoire (Music Theory Lessons) - David Rees, Royal College of Music, London, and began viewing “Music: A Beginner’sGuide”; wow, what a difference. Animated videos using a whiteboard (has a black background and colored pens), instructor writes on the board as he talks, making one feel they are in the classroom. Instructor’s compassion for the topic of music is evident as he speaks, and my worship leader will be overjoyed if I continue with the entire program.

General Review

1^st Dave Conservatoire began in 2011 after viewing non-profit sites like Khan Academy  and to because of a strong desire to reach more people with music.

2^nd There is no fancy Learning or course Management System to navigate

3^rd Your choice to establish a login or not; although, doing so enables you to track your progress

4^th Once you start, the Next Lesson navigational buttons help you progress through the entire course.

5^th You can describe Dave Conservatoire as a just-in-time learning, where the information presented is done so in modules available all the time, so the learner can easily go directly to an individual module of their choice (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012). Since I sing and play the bass, I may need a refresher in knowing the notes on a tablature, whether the treble clef or bass clef.  

Critique         

Dave Rees presents information with engaging videos, using a whiteboard or smart board, which students view and listen. Based on the flow of the content in each video, Dave uses a lesson plan, probably sprung from the courses he teaches at Royal College of Music in London, United Kingdom.  Dave chunked his videos into small, less than 10-minute, bite size morsels allowing the online student to digest the information or do a quick review.  As I indicated earlier, Dave’s videos are presented in a manner that I feel keeps the learner’s attention, because he writes on the whiteboard as he speaks and his England accent is very easy to understand. Watching someone writing as they speak is better than animated PowerPoint slides any day.

Dave utilizes interactive quizzes allowing the student to practice and obtain feedback in the form of a shaking “check answer” button for wrong answer or a smile 8-) face and “next question” for correct answers. Honestly, I thought the shaking “check answer” button meant something was wrong with the website, or my web browser. Dave facilitates student participation, but only to a point, as these courses were tailored for individual use, as a supplement, and not as a group, thus limiting the active learning to the quizzes.  Simonson,Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) indicate a good online training has active learning with virtual small group discussions or experience with the material via handouts, in addition to quizzes.

Dave organized the two courses two ways. First on the main page he has “Music” A Beginner’s Guide” and “Reading Music” listed with the various modules underneath for easy reference, but lacks the organization of how each module falls or sequence—no numbering or tree. Herring and Smaldino (2001) tells us to organize the information so that it helps the student determine the flow of the course and not look like a puzzle (Simonson, Smaldino,Albright, & Zvacek, 2012). Dave does have the “getting stated” button, but the remaining modules are displayed like a matching puzzle, uncertain on what would come next without going into each one. Secondly, once in each course, no matter which button you selected, you will see the progression Dave intended for the course to flow on the left side of the page. So, if I select Modes (http://www.daveconservatoire.org/topic/modes) for the “Music: Beginner’s Guide”, I would realize I needed to start with pitch instead, thus not becoming lost.

How could I make it better?

• What immediately catches, or does not catch my eye is the lack of handouts or links to stuff I might to print and available free on the Internet that I could use to practice on or write notes.
• Provide explanation to how the courses should run and how the quizzes function—right and wrong answer feedback
• Provide a course map, whether by numbering the modules, displaying the modules in order on the main page and not once inside the course
• Consider placing the two courses in a free online learning management system (LMS) like Haiku Class, which is intuitive for the instructor and student. Roberts, Newman, and Schwartzstein(2012) offered twelve tips for facilitating millennial students; tip number seven reminds us as instructional designers to “recognize that millennials value (and expect) aesthetically appealing education presentation.” If it looks unappealing with first impressions, the perspective student may not come back for a second consideration.  

As one who needs to beef up her knowledge of reading music, I will consider returning to these courses. Dave does an excellent job of presenting the information in an effective manner; using whiteboard to communicate is if I were sitting in the classroom. 

                                                               

                                                                             

References 

Rees, D. (2013). Dave conservatoire. Retrieved http://www.daveconservatoire.org/.

Northern Illinois University, Faculty Development and Instruction (n.d.). Millennials: Our newest generation in higher education. Retrieved from http://www.niu.edu/facdev/resources/guide/students/millennials_our_newest_generation_in_higher_education.pdf

Roberts, D. H., Newman, L. R., & Schwartzstein, R. M. (2012). Twelve tips for facilitating Millennials' learning. Medical Teacher, 34, 4, 274-8.

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

Identifying E-learning Tools

Scenario:

A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration.

Tools:

In addition to providing recording of the training workshop, I explored various Web 2.0 e-learning tools, I selected two tools that I feel can be effective in presenting the information, enable collaboration with all participants long after the training, and cost nothing.

q I wanted a software/web-ware that enabled me to capture screen shots and facilitated easy sharing. Snagit came to mind, its one-time cost of $49.95 slowed me down, and then I remembered I had Jing loaded on my computer.

Jing is free and enables the user to take a snapshot of the entire window or a specific area—real helpful when trying to have a discussion about a particular section of the program. Jing also allows users to capture five-minute videos; once again this is helpful in asking for clarification and/or receiving an explanation. 

Jing provides excellent tutorials to help the user get the most out of the program.  Screencast.com, which facilitates sharing of images or videos by providing a shareable URL, supplements Jing and is simple to use. What is nice about Jing is that the user—the one creating the videos or taking screenshots, can keep their files online or choose to download, thus not losing the videos if the company shut down for any reason.

q Next I am considering using Google Drive to story and update documents as needed and be readily accessible to all participants. Google Drive allows users to store any kind of file, create documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings, while keeping them on the web in a secure environment. The snapshots obtained via Jing can be uploaded here for easy access. Each file can be given access rights based on the user—make comments, or just view, resulting in everyone collaborating on the same file.

Personally, Google Drive helps me access files fro anywhere I can reach the Internet, even from my Smart Phone—yes there is an app for that. Files do not get lost, or accidently deleted from my email. In a previous class, our team utilized Google Drive to share our files and provide input.

Why they work:

So, why did I select Jing and Google Drive? Lets consider what a video provides, even five minutes worth. Video provides audio and pictures, allowing the recipient to see the non-verbal and hear the verbal messages that emphasize specific item(s). Video illustrates how something is to be done—a great benefit when your students are miles away, and short video clips help with the downloading time. Seeing and/or hearing your instructor personalizes the training, and taking the extra effort brings a more direct experience (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  

Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) highlights student-centered learning as it supports active learning, collaboration, as well as, “mastery of the course material and student control over the learning process” (p. 123). Visualization is another consideration instructional designers need to consider, Heinich (2004) emphasized that “good visual media” enhances the learning experience for the student, and using Jing minimizes copyright infringements (cited in Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 159).

Real-World Usage:

In 2013, Matt Ives share at the TeachMeetNZ, virtual meeting with educators in New Zealand, his experience with Google Docs and how he pushed his students to utilized Google Docs to collaborate between students, and how he used comments to provide feedback as the students work on their assignments.

In 2011, an “effective practice” was done at Webster University to determine the impact of using “Jing” to provide feedback to students (Smith, 2013). Students and faculty expressed satisfaction as it provided an alternative for giving feedback to the student, and in turn the student approved as it brought a connection to the instructor.  

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References

Google docs – Share and share alike [Video podcast] (2013). [with Matt Ives] Retrieved from http://youtu.be/yTT6FXCQ3L4.

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

Smith, M (2013). Five minute feedback: Teaching with jing. The Sloan Consortium.  Retrieved from http://sloanconsortium.org/effective_practices/five-minute-feedback-teaching-jing.

Distance Learning—Definitions of Then, The Here and Now, and What I Think The Future Will Be

 

Then

Distance learning/correspondence courses involved books, workbooks/assignments, and minimal interaction with the designated instructor; and depending on the course, a video may be part of the package. Students worked on their own, using the books/workbooks, and the local library to complete assignments. When ready, assignments are mailed in, graded, and returned to the student, as the instructor is able to grade them, which impacts the learning curve of the student, while extending the time it took to complete the course. Self-discipline played a major role in completing each course, and the delay feedback.

 

Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) highlighted the evolution of correspondence courses, especially how the change opened the door for religious organizations, government, and adult education as each utilized the correspondence courses. This is what I encountered in the late 80s and early 90s via two different educational institutes. This experience seemed like a good idea at the time, but my self-discipline lacked and my education needed the structure that occurs in the Online programs that have set dates/assignments/discussions.

 

The Here and Now

Over time are access and speed of the Internet becoming more the normal than a luxury. Distance learning involved with it as it went virtual/online course, utilizing digital and multimedia formats—video and audio podcasts, and communication applications—skype, Google Hangout, or Gotomeetings, to educate student of various age groups/educational levels.  Courses provided in a blended—classroom and online, or complete online. Students accessing course content at times that best fits their schedule. Discussion boards and assignment feedback provide interaction between student and instructor that enhance the feedback and help the student stay on track. In some cases, an online synchronous is provided with interaction between the instructor and students, bringing the classroom benefits into the online course. 

 

This is where I thrive, flexibility with structure, and accessibility to digital libraries to enhance the study. Discussions causing you to think critically, assignments that stretch your knowledge while still reaching out to the community to apply what you have learned. Admittedly, not everyone succeeds in the online environment, and instructional designers need to be mindful of that when designing/developing courses as they work with the subject matter experts (SME).

 

The Future

What does the future hold with the evolution of mobile devices becoming affordable for larger population? Students of all ages could be using them, I see elementary school age using the Apple iPad or Microsoft Surface—and some are already doing it; middle and high school students might progress to smart phone devices, or use both. Adults, with their smart phones will use applications tailored to accessing university libraries, ability to read/annotate/save pdf documents, while commenting on a course discussion board. Universities will move away from hardcopy books, instead, provide e-books, which student can read while riding on mass transit or during their lunch break.

 

 

Revised Definition

Matei and Vrabie (2012) classified E-Learning as a student loading course content onto their computer from a CD or accessing course material via the Internet, but my definition goes a little deeper. I define distance learning as a training event/course that a student/learner participates in via other than classroom/brick-n-mortar. This can be conducted thru completely online using learning/course management system allowing accessibility to documents/articles, discussion boards and digital databases; or blended learning using video teleconferencing or online net meetings in addition to the online content.