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