Reflections on Distance Learning

Reflections on Distance Learning

As distance learning becomes more popular, and more educational institutions offer online learning as a part of their curriculum, the perceptions of online learning should become more positive.  According to the Pew Research Group (2011) over the past decade, enrollment in online courses at colleges and universities around the country has grown at a greater rate than overall higher education enrollment (p.4).  This trend only seems to be gaining momentum.  Many colleges and universities offer some sort of online learning whether synchronous, asynchronous, or a blended/hybrid mix, and there are virtual high schools gaining accreditation all over the country.  With this current trend, distance learning should see significant growth in the next 5-10 years. 

As more students begin to explore online classes and degrees, the perceptions of distance learning should see a positive shift.  “Those who have personal experience with online learning have somewhat more positive view of its value” (Parker, Lenhart, & Moore, 2011).   Today’s students are growing up with Web-based technologies, such as podcasts, social networking, search engines, and online role playing games.  This has prepared them to engage in online learning activities that support interaction and collaboration.

As an instructional designer I need to be able to change the perceptions of what online learning is and how its value is equal to that of a traditional class. One of the main misconceptions is that the time commitment is not as great as a traditional class.  Being an online student studying how to design online instruction, makes advocating for distance learning a natural thing to do.  I am aware of what is good with distance learning and what its pit falls are.  I have had a mostly positive experience with online learning, but I have also had a few not so positive experiences.  I understand the attributes of a successful online learner, and I can recommend to potential students of distance learning what attributes they need to have to make their experience positive, and to be effective learners.

As an instructor I need to provide the learner with the best possible experience, I need to challenge them academically, engage them socially, and encourage them constantly.  It is up to me to keep deep level learning developing in discussions, and create a learning environment where everyone wants to contribute.  It is also up to me to understand learning styles, what motivates learning and to pull the most from my learners.

In order to promote positive images of distance learning I should focus on designing learning environments that support dialogs that engage learners to collaborate, reflect, evaluate and self-direct their learning.  As the characteristics and skills of the online learner continue to emerge, the perceptions of distance education will transform itself to help promote its validity.

Resources

Dabbagh, N. (2007). The online learner: Characteristics and pedagogical implications.

Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 7(3), 217- 226.

Parker, K., Lenhart, A. & Moore, K. (2011). The digital revolution and higher education: College presidents, public differ on value of online learning. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2011/08/online-learning.pdf.

Converting Face-to-Face Learning Into On-Line Learning

Converting Face-to-Face Learning to e-Learning
Tips to help ease the transition
Converting your face-to-face course into an e-learning course takes more than just
placing all of your content on-line and expecting it to be successful. There are
many factors to consider. The following are some tips and techniques to make a
successful transition.
Pre-planning Strategies
At the beginning of development ask “Why does this project need to exist? What
do they (the learners) need to do? What do they need to practice? What
information do we need to include?”
Research the Instructional Design Models
Pappas (2011) states “the use of an IDM you will ensure that learning is happen
more safely, certainly, thoroughly, and expeditiously than might otherwise
happen. At the same time, you will facilitate the learning process such that
learners require less time, incur less risk, and invest less energy than those who
learned from the raw world without assistance.”
Focus on your Couse Goals
What do you want students to learn? What steps do you take to get there? How
are these intermediate steps best facilitated? Or, how do you want them to learn
it?
Action Mapping
Action Mapping is a way to brainstorm activities. Then you can use whatever
delivery format works best for those activities – could be face to face or online.
What is Action Mapping?
1. The Strategic Goal. Start with a measurable goal for your project. Why does
this e-learning deserve to exist? How will the org benefit in a measurable way?
(the bulls eye)
2. Real world actions people need to do to reach this goal. (the green triangles)
3. Practice activities – to practice what people need to DO. (the orange hands)
4. Crucial information needed for that activity. (the blue dots)


Moore, C., (2011)
Choose the right educational technology
eLearning technology has a blog titled “Teaching Online Courses-60 Great
Resources.” They list everything from books, to online training, to social
networking, and online discussions on eLearning.
Get to know the technology you choose to use for your course. The more
comfortable the instructor is with the technology being used, the better prepared
they will be for technical glitches, and breakdowns when they happen (and they
will happen). In internet based learning the instructor needs to “be certain the
material is designed in a way that is intuitive for the various types of learners who
may be interacting with it” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2009).
Focus on Assessment
Assignments for students should be regularly scheduled, with specific due dates
and sanctions for not meeting the due dates. Students will do what is needed for
the grade and not much more. Active participation requires incentives. By tying
grades to expectations students will be more willing to have a deeper involvement
in their learning.
Choosing what content to use
Use existing resources
There is no need to reinvent the wheel. There is plenty of valuable content in
your face-to-face instruction that can be converted to an online format. “Many
textbooks come with test banks and discussion questions. Others come with
“plug-ins” for Blackboard and Web CT, if a campus is using those course
development platforms. These plug-ins have text specific content for use in online
classes. There are also repositories of learning objects from organizations like
MERLOT (www.merlot.org) which one can use to find
useful content” (Delaney, 2003). Remember though, that simply moving your
course content (PowerPoints, videos, audio, and documents) to a Learning
Management System (LMS), is not the best way to successfully implement an
online learning course.
Focus on what is NOT working in the face-to-face classroom and see if can be
improved online. Consider what students can do independently.
In-Class / Face to Face Activities                                         Online Activities
Course Introduction                                                               Course content
Collaborative small-group work                                           Announcements
Advanced discussions                                                           Course information (syllabus, schedule, etc)
Project Presentations                                                             Quizzing
Guest speakers                                                                      Course communications
Question & answer sessions                                                  Resource listing
Demonstrations & performances                                          Exam & lesson preparatory materials
Lab work                                                                               Multimedia content
Role-play & Debates (Delaney, 2003)                                  e-Portfolios
Make sure to integrate the online and in person portions of your class. They
should feel connected and feed into one another, not feel like separate courses. 

Consider Using Games as Assessment Tools
For millennia, teachers have used pop quizzes, recitals, competitions, verbal
examinations, and a variety of other testing methods to see how well their
students have learned the material. Teach and test, teach and test, the cycle repeats
itself over and over throughout the process of education. For the teacher, the
student, and any other interested parties, the purpose of this continual testing is to
demonstrate proof of learning. Examples of why such proof is necessary are:

• Student advancement from level of education to another.
• National and international comparison of students.
• Demonstration that the student has completed a particular training program.
As they move into classrooms around the world, on computers and even video
game consoles, serious games will continue this tradition of testing. (Michael &
Chan, 2005)
When using games as an assessment there are three main assessments to consider.
• Completion Assessment -Did the player complete the level in the game? How
long did it take? How many attempts? Was it the preferred path?

• In-Process Assessment – How did the player choose his or her actions? Did he
or she change their mind? If so, at what point? What was the motivation behind
the choice? Was it congruent with other decisions or did it appear to be a guess?

• Point Assessment -Did the player score enough points to be considered
successful? Did they score them in the right area?
From Instructor to Facilitator
The instructor role is more of a facilitator. It is up to the instructor to lead a
discussion and help facilitate deep approaches to learning. “Contextual factors
such as workload and time constraints, type of learning evaluation, the
opportunity for metacognition, the shift of learning management to the students
themselves, and instructor explanation, enthusiasm, and empathy have all been
indicated in the development of deep learning” (Garrison & Cleveland-Innes,
2005).
Know your audience
One of the most important aspects of planning for distance learners is to
understand who your learners are. “To be effective, it is necessary to understand
the learners in the target audience” (Simonson, et. Al., 2009). Not only is it
necessary to understand multiple intelligences, but also cultural background, time
constraints, geographical locations, age range and educational backgrounds.
“Knowledge of general leaner characteristics can inform the instructor of the
nature of the students at originating and distance sites” (Simonson, et. Al., 2009)
Encouraging Online Communication
In order for a facilitator to encourage a deep approach to learning it is important
to provide clear participation requirements (length, content information and time
lines). It is also up to the facilitator to “provide engaging questions, focus
discussion, challenge and test ideas, model appropriate contributions, and ensure
that the discourse is progressive. It is up to the teacher to monitor and shape the
direction of the discourse” (Garrison & Cleveland-Innes, 2005).
Keep In Constant Communication With Your Learners
Let your learners know that you are there for them and you are involved in their
learning processes. By being available to them, and in constant communication
with them you encourage them to contribute to discussions, and think at a deeper
level.
Participate in all Discussions
By participating in all of the discussions you are letting the learners know that you
are contributing you knowledge to the discussions and encouraging them to “step
up” and engage in their learning.
Keep it Flexible
One reason that students enjoy hybrid courses is that the flexibility “fits their
attention spans and their lifestyles” (Delaney, 2003). This includes plenty of time
to respond to discussion boards, and time for research around lifestyles.
Resources
Delaney, S., (2003). Converting a Face-to-Face Course to a Hybrid Course.
Research Paper. Retrieved from: id.highline.edu/online/converting.to.hybrid.pd
Garrison, R., & Cleveland-Innes, M. (2005). Facilitating Cognitive Presence in
Online Learning: Interaction Is Not Enough. The American Journal of Distance
Education, 19(3), 133-148.
Michael, D., Chen, S., (2005). Blog. Proof of Learning: Assessment in Serious
Games. Retrieved from: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2433/
proof_of_learning_assessment_in_.php
Moore, C., (2010). Saving the World From Boring eLearning. Blog. Retrieved
from: http://cammybean.kineo.com/2011/09/cathy-moore-on-saving-world-fromboring.
html
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and
learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA:
Pearson.

The Impact of Open Source

This week I visited the Open Yale Courses site at http://oyc.yale.edu.  This is an asynchronous class where the learner can access the class at any time.  Because my course focus is on an IB music course, I focused on the Listening to Music course offered by Dr. Craig Wright.  The course that is offered is a recording of the lectures that Dr. Wright gives in his classroom setting.

This class is not necessarily developed with the distance learner in mind.  Like I stated it is a recording of lectures given on campus.  The actual course is a general music class for non-music majors, so it is developed for people with an interest in music, but not an in depth knowledge of music.  Learners are expected to have a copy of the book, Listening to Music, by Craig Wright, and access to NAXOS Music Library, which is a subscription music service, and only available with a log-in and password.  According to Simonson, Smaldano, Albright & Zvacek (2009) in an internet environment, the instructor need to be concerned with the layout of the courseware and the types of resources available to the students at the distance site (p.135).  Many students will not have access to either the book, nor to the NAXOS Music Library.

The technological aspect of the class is set up so that the instructor can teach and not worry about and technological glitches.  In fact, the first video shows a tech hooking up the computer to the data projector and returning to the camera, so the technology aspect of recording the lecture was ensured to work smooth.  The camera was set up so that the viewer could see the professor, the data screen, the chalk board, and the instrumentalist who were in the room.   A nice and unexpected aspect was that the videos were closed captioned for the hearing impaired, I’m not sure how they would hear the music, but they can at least be a part of the lecture.

The visuals in this course were not adapted for distance learning, but were developed for a large lecture hall, so things were easy to see when your attention was directed towards them.  The font was large enough, the colors were appropriate, dark background light text and vice versa (Simonson, et. Al., 2009), there were few words per line of text, and the screen wasn’t too cluttered. 

This course offers no course activities outside of the required readings and listening assignments for the regular face-to-face course.  This is more suited as a podcast than an interactive online course.  What I did find out, is that it can not be offered on iTunes U, because of copyright issues, so even Yale acknowledges that this is more of a podcast than an online course.  This is admirable and conforms to copyright law.  “No matter what technologies are incorporated in the distance environment, the instructor needs to respect copyright restrictions that might apply” (Simonson, et. Al.,2009).

I enjoyed visiting this site, and will use some of the lectures for my class, but some of them are above their heads, as it is designed for college students.  It is designed for non—music majors, which makes it easier for everyone to understand, but it is still pretty intense and a lot to take in.  The site is not interactive at all and you really have to be willing to watch a video of that length with that much information to fully understand the lesson. 

Resources

Open Yale Courses. Retrieved from http://oyc.yale.edu

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