Project Management in Education and Training

Distance Learning In the Years to Come

Introduction:

Distance education, over the years, has gained much popularity among many people. The old ways of getting up, going to school, coming home and repeating it day in and out has passed, well not quite, but it has, in some cases, lessened in popularity, especially among certain groups. Distance learning provides a flexible and excellent alternative for many people who have other obligations such as home, family and work to earn a degree and further their education and as technology grows so will distance learning.

Perceptions of Distance Learning in the future:

It’s hard to predict what the perceptions of distance learning will be in the future but I do believe perceptions will change. I believe people are beginning to understand that the implementation of distance learning is a process that uses available resources and will evolve to incorporate emerging technologies (Jianfeng &Solan,2010) and as our available technological resources improve and evolve so will distance education. Even with the technology we have today, distance learning is becoming top choice for many people especially those with careers, family and very busy lives. As technology such as video conferencing, course management systems, e-learning tools and software improve and other amazing technology emerge, people’s perceptions of distance learning will continue to change in a positive way and distance learning will probably become the main choice for most individuals.

Improving perceptions of distance learning:

Those who choose distance education want quality and not just quantity and want to learn, not just be given busy work. I believe instructional designers play a major role in how distance education is perceived. If we are to improve perceptions of distance learning there are a few things we must do.

• Remain current on the use of technology
• Remain current on new research in the field of instructional design
• Acquire new skills
• Create learning material that incorporates the use of the most current technology
• Create engaging material that will capture the attention of learners

By using the most current technology and applying the most current research in the field of instructional design to learning material I create, I can at least change the perceptions of those I’m able to reach.

Being a positive force for continuous improvement:

There are two things I can do to be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of distance education.

1. I can be a mentor to those who think negatively about distance education- I believe most negative views of distance education are from those who fear learning online or from those who have had a negative distance learning experience. Both of these views can be changed by providing these learners with the skills and technology tools to be successful in online courses and showing them that distance learning courses can not only provide a quality education but can be fun and engaging.
2. I can practice the art of continuous education in the field of instructional design and choose design models that will create the best learning material.-Being up to date in the field of instructional design is just as important as the kind of design model chosen to create and complete training or learning material.

Conclusion:

As instructional designers we have a responsibility to help improve the perceptions of distance learning, to be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field, to improve on our skills and be continually educated on research and technology as it evolves.As technology improves and evolves so will the perceptions of distance learning. I believe people will begin to understand that distance education can provide just as much of a quality education as a traditional education, if not better. 

Course Conversion Guide

Switching from a traditional face to face course to a hybrid or a blended course may seem like a lot of work but with a little pre-planning the process can be much easier. I've created a course conversion guide for a training manager that has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.

The course conversion guide I created contains tips and strategies for pre-planning and things that should be considered before putting his plans into action. The guide also contains information about his role. Since the course will no longer be a traditional face to face course but blended his role as an instructor will change as will the needs of his learners therefore I’ve included information about his role as a facilitator in an online environment and what he should expect. He also complained about Communication was also an issue within his course so I’ve given a few tips on how to encourage communication between himself and between students. The link to the conversion guide is below.


https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bys_D9l_Arb0bzN5NlRoYlJRMmFPd0dwWFdqcEpGUQ

Open Course

Before taking my Distance Learning course I had no idea that universities like Stanford and Yale offered open courses. Well, what are open courses? Open courses are non-credit courses offered by universities and organizations free of charge. You might think that these are small courses that will not hold your attention or courses that will not offer much, but you would be mistaken by thinking that. Full courses such as Introduction to Psychology, Chemistry, The Classics, History, English and Biology are offered, free of charge and at any time, as long as the course is still posted.

After looking at different open courses at different universities I chose to enroll in an Introduction to Psychology course at Yale University. I wanted to enroll in a course I’d taken before and see what the differences were. When clicking on the course the first thing I noticed was a picture of the professor along with the title of the course and his name. I also noticed there were two sections. One of the sections was titled “about the course” and the other “about the professor”. To the left of the page were the contents of the course with links leading to each portion. The links included links to the syllabus, class sessions, downloads, books needed and an end of course survey. I was most impressed with the links leading to class sessions. When arriving at this page there were links to different sessions or sections of studies. At the bottom of each session page were links to video, mp3 or transcripts of the information presented for that particular session.

One of the first things I look for when enrolling in an online course is organization. Clear organization even in the simplest manner gives the student and the facilitator a strong foundation to succeed (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek, 2012).The course appeared to be carefully pre-planned and designed. The requirements for the course were clearly mapped out and organized for students (Simpson et al, 2012) and the designer incorporated technology into the course such as mp3’s, videos, and transcripts. The course appeared to be designed just like a regular online fee based university course but because this is an open course and is free there was no way to interact with other learners enrolled in the course or a way to interact with the professor. It looks as if I’ll be completely on my own with learning the course material presented. Also, there were no activities planned or any links to any outside activities that would help with keeping me engaged or assist me in learning the material.

Overall, the design of the course was not excellent but ok. On the other hand, the course was excellently organized but lacking in engaging activities such as discussions and other learning activities. Would I recommend this course to anyone? Yes, I would, but only if you’re looking for a short course to gain a little information on a particular subject. If you’re looking for more I’d suggest you look a little further.

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

http://oyc.yale.edu/psychology/introduction-to-psychology/content/syllabus

Scenario

Today I received an awesome challenge from my professor in my Learning Distance course. I was asked to choose a scenario and identify learning technologies that will provide the best solution to the problem. So, after careful consideration I chose the one below. Take a moment to read it so later on; you’ll be able to understand my choice of technology.

In an effort to improve its poor safety record, a biodiesel manufacturing plant needs a series of safety training modules. These stand-alone modules must illustrate best practices on how to safely operate the many pieces of heavy machinery on the plant floor. The modules should involve step-by-step processes and the method of delivery needs to be available to all shifts at the plant. As well, the shift supervisors want to be sure the employees are engaged and can demonstrate their learning from the modules.

The first things that I’ve noticed are the requirements for the module. The modules have to be stand alone, have to illustrate safety practices, need to include step by step processes and availability, has to be made available to everyone on every shift. My first thought is; how much of this information can be learned and retained in a distance learning setting? My second thought is how can include engaging material and promote interactivity. According to (Beldarrain, 2006) distance education practitioners and researchers have always been concerned with how much interactivity a distance course could provide for students since interactivity is considered a necessary ingredient for a successful learning experience. My next thought was develop a PowerPoint presentation that contains all of the required information. I know what you’re thinking. Why PowerPoint? It’s so obvious and boring. I know, I know, but PowerPoint is a powerful tool if you’re adding other technology with it. For this scenario I’d choose PowerPoint, Articulate Presenter software and pod cast. Alone, PowerPoint will not be a successful tool in creating fun interactive modules that will catch the attention of anyone, but Articulate Presenter Pro contains other programs such as Quiz-Maker, Engage and Video Encoder and used with PowerPoint will create learning material that learners will remember and be able to use in the real world. Below I’ll explain what each program does.

1.     Quiz-Maker - Quizmaker, as its name indicates, is Articulate's tool for creating online quizzes. It “can integrate into an e-learning program or be used as a stand-alone product for creating long or short assessments that include true-false, multiple choice, drag and drop, and hotspot questions (Articulate, 2011, “The New Articulate Studio 09”).

2.     Engage- Is a quick and easy tool that will allow me to create lean-forward experiences that learners love. It allows the ability to produce dazzling interactions that turn passive viewers into active learners and makes them examine in greater detail each step of a process. The learner can explore the relationship between timeline events through text, images and sound and drill down into key elements of a diagram to better understand the main points Articulate, 2011, “The New Articulate Studio 09”)

3.     Video Encoder- Makes it easy to all full motion video to Articulate Presenter content. It also allows quick conversion of any video into FLV flash video format (Articulate, 2011, “The New Articulate Studio 09”).

Articulate Presenter has been named the best e-learning software for six years in a row and has been used in many settings and many organizations to create fun, engaging learning material. There are many rave reviews and testimonies on and off the Articulate website that show how wonderful the software is, how easy it is to use and how simple it was to use in the creation of learning material. I’ve included a testimony below.

Kara Eulgen, a Technology Specialist from Assurant Health wrote “We’ve selected Articulate and we’ve never looked back. From the beginning, we loved how easy it was to use while still providing a rage of powerful features. Using it, we’ve been able to reduce the time it takes us to deliver training from months to days ((Articulate, 2011, “The New Articulate Studio 09”)

Podcast are another way for employees to get some of the information needed and even though podcasting is not an asynchronous activity it provides students with information that will help them feel connected to the learning community (Beldarrain,2006). If employees are allowed to listen to their iPods and mp3 players while they work, they would also be able to listen to a podcast. There are many sites that offer podcasting opportunities and would be a great way for those employees to get at least some of the information they need to learn. I've linked some information and success stories on pod casting inside corporations below.


http://trafcom.typepad.com/blog/podcasting-inside-the-cor.html

I believe Articulate, PowerPoint , and podcasts will be the best choices in this scenario. All programs will provide the learner with engaging interaction, step by step process and will be able to assess whether the material has been learned. But I wouldn’t want to use Articulate alone. Even though it’s a wonderful piece of software that creates engaging interaction, I believe pod casts would also benefit the learners. They can listen while they work. Video would also work as well.

References:

Articulate Presenter (2011, January 1). The New Articulate Studio 09. Retrieved from http://www.articulate.com/products/studio.php

Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2),139–153.
Retrieve this article from the Academic Search Complete database in the Walden Library.

My Mind Map

Say What? Distance Education?

What is distance education? Well, there are many definitions of distance education but my definition of distance education is simply “learning in a non-traditional face to face situation”. Distance learning can include correspondence courses, online courses, or a combination of the two. When I think of distance education I think of technology. Technology and distance education are both intertwined and they coexist. Without technology, distance education could not exist.

It is believed that distance education began in the early 1800’s and was “born out of a need for educational opportunities to reach a geographically dispersed population”. According to,” the first distance learning was in the form of correspondence courses. Other, more advanced forms did not emerge until the onset of the industrialization age in the 1920s. Developments in new technology during that period—from the late 1920s to 1970—saw distance learning opportunities grow through the use of radio and television. By 1970, the world had begun to focus on the power of the computer and distance learning entered the virtual age”. As you can see, it is because of technology and the advancement of technology that distance education has grown.

My first experience with distance learning was during my undergraduate studies at Middle Tennessee State University. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about enrolling in online classes mainly because my views of distance learning were negative but I had to work full time and go to school, therefore my choices were limited. I didn’t believe I could get a quality education online. What I didn’t realize was that the same courses I was taking online were also being offered in a traditional setting and usually by the same professors that were teaching traditional classes.

 After careful consideration and an academic counseling session, I enrolled in 3 online courses and 3 traditional ones and by the end of the semester; I was convinced that online classes were the best choice for me. Online courses offered the flexibility I needed even though the course load/work load was more. I was ok with it and when it was time to register for course for the next semester, I enrolled in 6 online courses and couldn’t have been happier.

Resources:

Brightbub (2010, February 3). The History of Distance Learning. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from     http://www.brighthub.com/education/online-learning/articles/24126.aspx

Oh My! Another Blog!

Hello, my name is Willette but my friends call me Jeanine. I'm kind of new at blogging but will try my best to keep you interested. So, about me...right now I'm working on my Masters Degree in Instructional Design. I'm at the half way point and should be finished by the end of this year. One of the most interesting classes I'm taking this semester is Distance Education. Why? Mainly because I love distance learning. If distance learning did not exist I would have taken me ages to earn my bachelors degree and I would  not be able to work towards my Master's degree. I think distance learning rocks! Anyway, feel free to lurk around, look around, comment, and post.