Reflections of Learning EDUC - 6135 - 2

Reflections of Learning

 

 

 

What do I think the perceptions of distance learning will be in the future (in 5-10 years; 10-20 years)?

As my distance-learning course has finally come to an end, I reflect on all that I have learned in these past eight weeks.  I learned that as technologies evolve so too does distance education.  It has changed the way instructional designers, professors, and instructors analyze, design, develop, implement, evaluate, and deliver online education courses.  The practices involved in distance education are based on sound theories of best practice pedagogy and learning, multimedia creation and design, and theories of online teaching and learning.  They all work together to ensure the efficacy of end products and services related to online learning.  

Technologies have changed and will continue to change our perceptions, imaginations, and directions of learning at a distance.  Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) contend distance learning will not replace traditional face-to-face educational settings; however, I somewhat disagree with that  prediction.  It looks as if there may not be choice if we take into consideration the state of the global economy and political climate. 

I believe that most learners will take to learning at a distance in five to ten years because it saves money on structural repairs of crumbling brick and mortar institutions, but how much is yet to be realized.  Where it will go depends upon the state of the economy, politics, businesses, and educators.  Today's working adults will will attend online courses to reinvent themselves for career change or job promotions.  Perceptions of distance learning will be more favorable to adults trying to work and raise a family.  In fact, the stage has already been set for a transformation before our eyes today without most people ever realizing what's happening.  People have become very comfortable with the computer and the internet.  Over the past twenty years digital natives are having fun via video games.  It’s fun! And people are getting invaluable digital literacy skills needed for online learning. 

Facebook is taking on digital immigrants like me.  Across North Africa in the past couple years Facebook via mobile digital devices have transformed the political envirnoment, such as in Egypt, that demonstrates the power of computer and internet.  The very fact that people are not only able to connect, but are also able to interact, and then react in massive social/political unrest is frightening!  It doesn't matter if you live in America, Asia, Africa, or Europe the internet via the computer connects us twenty four hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.  I truly believe the future of distance learning will  favor acceptance of in K-12, higher education, and

militarily in the next 5 to ten years and beyond.  Technology can be a positive tool or a destructive one and distance education is a very positive way to use communication technology. 

As we face challenges in the mist of the poor economy; for example, outsourced jobs, reductions in  public K-12 education, and expensive face-to-face higher education, distance education provides a relief of those problems.  It is inexpensive, it does not require loads of money to build or repair places of learning.  Online distance education is not as expensive as face-to-face institutions of higher education.  I learned that Open Source Courses are available for the public good.  Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc. offer free courses and/or nominally priced courses at a distance already.   

 

The “triple helix”, as Siemens calls it, is government, schools, and businesses. Those institutions/organizations will continue investing and creating breakthrough technologies that equip learners with resources and the wherewithal to learn at a distance. According to Siemens (n.d.), once the comfort level of using technology tools increase, so will the acceptance of learning at a distance become more attractive to learners. The validity is happening right now; we know it is possible for effective learning to occur because it is measurable and tested via social media, thanks to visionary founders of Facebook, MySpace,Skype, Yahoo, and others.

How can I as an instructional designer be a proponent for improving societal perceptions of distance learning?

As an instructional designer I will improve society’s perception of distance learning by promoting and contributing to the field.  I will continue advocating its benefits:  autonomy, privacy, any time and any place there's a connected computer, and before I forget there is the cognitive aspect.   I have learned more at a distance than I ever had in a face-to-face format.  I believe I grew some more brain cells before I took a serious fall. 

Why do I say I learned more?  For example, I interact with my computer visually, tactilely, and aurally.  In other words, I am using my senses of sight, touch, and hearing that help me to really get into the learning mode.  Since I began my online learning degree, I have really increased my cognition.  I love online learning because it allows me to have time to reflect on my answers, debate civilly with my classmates in discussion boards in my courses.  I can keep clicking the rewind button until I hear and see everything in video and audio resources related to my program.  The efficacy of online learning is strong and real.  Siemens (n.d.) says "if people experience online learning, they take to it".  I find that statement to be very true.  Learning online can be addictive more so than traditional school.  I do not have to listen to chatter from fellow classmates; I do not have to sit close to the chalkboard; and I do not have to ask the teacher to “repeat that again, please”. I will continue to promote my experiences as an online learner to everyone I meet. 

How will I be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of distance education?

I will be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of distance education as an instructional designer.  I will join professional affiliations that'll help me to stay in tune about advances and breakthroughs of the science of in instructional design and technology.  I will continue exposing myself by reading professional journals, magazines, and going to seminars and workshops in the field.  Also, I will further my experience by giving back what I have learned.  I want to teach young individuals wanting to enter the field and I want to work with adult learners that want to transform their lives.

References

Siemens, G. (2010). The Future of Distance Education [Video]: Laureate Education, Inc.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvzcek, S.  (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance:  Foundations of education at a distance.  Boston, MA:  Allyn & Bacon.

Avoid Dumping Face-to-Face Courses Onto The Web!

 URL: http://www.ck12.org/flexbook/flexbook/1374/

In this blog post, I discuss the Open Culture Website course entitled, CK-12 Foundation's Algebra FlexBook. This is an introduction algebra concepts course for ninth graders. Topics include equations and functions, real numbers, equations of lines, solving systems of equations and quadratic equations.

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


This course was not carefully pre-planned or well designed for a distance-learning environment. The course looks as if dumped online from a traditional face-to-face classroom setting.  Experts recommend teachers avoid the practice just to say they are teaching online; it creates ill-designed distance-learning environments that gives learners negative learning experiences (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012).

In fact, as I scrolled down the lengthy busy page, my eyes could not endure the small fonts and crowded appearance of the printed page that lacked graphics and open spaces to allow my eyes a rest. I would have designed this course in smaller chunks, larger fonts with multimedia videos that complement content and the printed text to enhance student learning.  Albeit there is a You Tube video, however, it is poorly designed, ineffective and located over three fourths through the first course that makes for a boring affair.   Apparently, the educator does not have knowledge in instructional design and technology methods to fully understand how to create an online course that promotes and fosters student learning.  The entire course is uninteresting, lacks  interest because of the poor design, and aesthetics according to the principles posited by our textbook authors.

Designing courses requires plans of action from beginning to end to ensure multimedia principles are part and parcel of the course design. Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) says “planning is the system of decisions that determines an operation prior to it being carried out. In this case, and I stating it colloquially, "it ain't happening here"!  Otto Peter noted, (cited in Simonson, et al., 2012) that “Planning is important in the development phase of distance education, as the contents of correspondence (distance education) units, from the first to the last, must be determined in detail, adjusted in relation to each other and represented in a predetermined number of correspondence units” (p. 45).  Albeit the course lines up sequentially, it does not conform to multimedia design principles for online learning; moreover, students cannot navigate through the lengthy lessons that appear clustered having no intermittent broken up spaces that could help students distinguish one sequential step from the next in line.  In other words, the first lesson looks as if dumped without any regard to the emotional or physical well-being of the learner.
  

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

This course does not adhere to the  recommendations for online instruction as listed in Simonson et al. (2012).  For example, there are no hotlinks that guide learners to additional resources for better comprehension of algebraic concepts. I found it interesting that the instructor would used Wikipedia as a reference.  Another point is the text itself.  When students are unable to read text that's an automatic impediment to learning online or off line.  Simonson, et al. (2012, pp. 132-137) declares, while visualizations are a required component of online instruction and learning, designers should adhere to design principles that conform to best practices for including appropriate fonts in the development of online courses. The following are examples of best practice recommendations for using fonts in distance learning settings that are delivered via digitized electronic devices or the computer:

• "Use a large font (e.g., 24 or 36 point).
• Use a sans serif font (e.g., Helvetica).
• Use just a few words per line of text (e.g., six words per line maximum).
• Use only a few lines of text per visual (e.g., six lines per visual).
• Use a combination of both upper and lowercase letters; all uppercase is difficult to read.
• Use plenty of "white space" to enhance the readability" (p. 134).

Simonson, et al. (2012) also notes the importance of color in the scheme of designing online courses. By using colors in proper combinations, hues, and so forth "increases readability of text or graphics" (p. 134). In this Open Course example, the background color is dull which results in decreased or reduced readability.

Furthermore, I did not see a syllabus. The entire course appears teacher centered—rather than student centered, which should be one of the main trademarks of what online distance education is all about is not seen in this example.  During the analysis, design, and development phases of the ADDIE, which is the systemic process by which online courses are built, is nonexistent in this course model. Simonson, et al. (2012) reports, "attributes of quality instruction indicators are characterized within three groups"; however, I refer the learner's perspective:  

Learners                                                                                              

• "ease of access and usability
• accurate instructions
• intuitive navigation and well-integrated tools" (p. 184).

 This is not the case in this Flexbook Algebra course from Open Culture Online Website.






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

The course designer did implement course activities but for a face-to-face environment.   However, s/he did not integrate technology well within online course development guidelines. Math is science!  Needless to say, the course does not enable students learn the subject on their own accord in the privacy of their homes or wherever they may be.  The method in which this course is designed the teacher is needed to teach this course one-on-one which that would be an impossible task inside or outside the classroom.  On the other hand, an effective online course takes learning styles and unique individual needs of the learners into account better than a face-to-face experience. Online learning has the potential to reach thousands, if not millions of learners in the same course if well designed.  An interesting point about online learning is that it requires students to take more responsibility for their own learning, a task that some find challenging especially in a course of this complexity (Simonson et al., 2012). 


This course would require the teacher be in a gazillion places at the same time in order to improve the quality of the intricate nature of online education and learning.  Therefore, if the designer were well trained in the theories of online course development, the content could be improved upon to create an online learning environment that could be conducive to learning. In its current state, however, it is impossible. The end product could be designed to individualize and motivate student learning. As I stated earlier, fonts, color, and hotlinks are important tools in online courses; however, so is the use of suitable student handouts. I did not see links directing students to downloadable PDFs they can print.  In fact, Simonson, et al. (2012) tells us handouts are significant for online learning; therefore, “Instructors should realize handouts are an essential communication links between themselves and their students; they should strive to invest time and energy in creating quality handouts for students” (pp 140-141).

Simonson, et al. (2012) goes on to explain the “four approaches” of the instructional design of courses that are delivered asynchronously, not the same time and/or place.  The four models that the authors report "sprang from the individualized instruction movement of the 1950s and 1960s" and are as follows:

1. "Linear-designed instruction
2. Branched-designed instruction
3. Hypercontent -designed instruction
4. Learner-directed design" (Simonson, et al., 2012, pp. 141-142).

Although the four design approaches share several similarities, Simonson, et al. (2012) says "instruction is divided into units or blocks that refer to a subdivision of a course's content...not one approach is superior over the other, they note. Furthermore, (Simonson, et al., 2012) informs us that "some teachers mix and match the four approaches into combinations in their design procedures as a starting point for course design" (pp.142, 146).  I did not see any combination of the four approaches in the design of this algebra course.

Another aspect of standardized course design deals with integrating appropriate technology that enhances better understanding of course content which helps breakdown complex concepts. The guidelines for inclusion of technology as referenced by Simonson, et al. (2012) are a set of "golden rules" by Bates (cited in Simonson, et al., 2012).  They posit instructional designers and teachers should utilize standard methods in the planning, production,  mixing, integration, delivery, and evaluation of online distance education products and services that combines technology and academic content in online courses:

1. "Good teaching via quality design of learning activities is important for all delivery methods.
2. Each medium has its own aesthetic. Hence instructional design is important.
3. Education technologies are flexible. They have their own unique characteristics but successful teaching can be achieved with any technology.
4. There is no "super-technology." Each has its strengths and weaknesses; therefore they need to be combined (an integrated mix).
5. Make all four media available to teachers and learners. Print, audio, television, computers should all be available.
6. Balance variety with economy. Using many technologies makes design more complex and expensive; therefore, limit the range of technologies in a given circumstance.
7. Interaction is essential.
8. Student numbers are critical. The choice of a medium will depend greatly on the number of learners reached over the life of a course.
9. New technologies are not necessarily better than old ones.
10. Teachers need training to use technology effectively.
11. Teamwork is essential. No one person has all the skills to develop and deliver a distance learning course; therefore, subject-matter experts, instructional designers, and media specialist are essential on every team.
12. Technology is not the issue. How and what we want the learners to learn is the issue and technology is a tool" (p. 147).

In closing, I would like to raise one more concern and that is about copyright laws as they pertain to the use of intellectual and digitized electronic property. Before publishing others' intellectual or digitized electronic material, it is important to mention where you derived your source. As long as you cite, you are safe. Additionally, Simonson et al. (2012) declare, "Many periodical publications freely offer their contents in full-text online and can be linked to from within course Web sites without permission...some reports by government, non-profit agencies, and commercial organizations are freely available on the World Wide Web in HTML and /or PDF format" (p. 310).

 References

 FlexBook: CK-12 Algebra I. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ck12.org/flexbook/flexbook/1374/.

Open Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.openculture.com/.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.