Course Reflection
Throughout this course, we have worked on our Online Orientation program. For some reason, I have had problems grasping the full idea and understanding of this assignment. It wasn’t until the final week of this that I started to really understand how to use the CMS that I was using. During my resubmissions, I began understanding more of what I was doing and was able to become more successful. Although I struggled, and did not get the grade I would have expected, I do think I learned a lot about distance learning and have been able to bring many of these resources into my current classroom.
In the last several years, distance learning has evolved so rapidly that I find myself learning new things everyday. I would expect it to continue just as rapidly over the next five to ten years. As a high school teacher, I foresee many of the current classroom courses being converted to online distance learning courses. Although the traditional classroom is still the norm for high school students, more and more students have begun taking their courses online. In the next 10-20 years, as much as I hate to say it, I don’t see much of a need for the classroom anymore. Most resources are available online, not in the classroom, and as we are becoming dependent on technology, the classroom will be the last place learning takes place.
As an instructional designer, I am a strong proponent of distance education. I believe that is as effective, if not more effective, than traditional classrooms. Any chance I get to talk to people about the success I have with online education, I take it. I want my peers, students, and others to understand that distance learning has been extremely beneficial to me and that there are many advantages to it. I am fascinated by the advancements in technology and online education, and I want others to grasp the full potential too.
In closing, I would like to be a positive force for continuous improvement of distance education. I believe that if I keep doing what I am doing, which is learning about the latest distance education technology tools and familiarizing myself with what is effective and what may need some attention. As an instructional designer, it is my responsibility to stay up-to-date on different learning resources and help to bring them into the classrooms of my peers. I want to assist my school in becoming one of the most innovative and technology savvy schools around, and I have already begun relaying what I have learned in this program to my school officials. This is something I strongly believe in and will do what I can to assist in further development.
February 26, 2012
A Best Practices Guide to Converting to a Blended Program
The blog assignment for this week was to address the following scenario and follow-up questions:
A training manager 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.
1. What are some of the pre-planning strategies the trainer needs to consider before converting his program?
2. What aspects of his original training program could be enhanced in the distance learning format?
3. How will his role, as trainer, change in a distance learning environment?
4. What steps should the trainer take to encourage the trainees to communicate online?
In the attached file, I have developed my own Best Practices Guide to successfully converting the course from a traditional program to a blended course program. I have used supplemental resources that I located on the internet and also obtained from our class weekly resources.
Click HERE to view the PDF file.
A training manager 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.
1. What are some of the pre-planning strategies the trainer needs to consider before converting his program?
2. What aspects of his original training program could be enhanced in the distance learning format?
3. How will his role, as trainer, change in a distance learning environment?
4. What steps should the trainer take to encourage the trainees to communicate online?
In the attached file, I have developed my own Best Practices Guide to successfully converting the course from a traditional program to a blended course program. I have used supplemental resources that I located on the internet and also obtained from our class weekly resources.
Click HERE to view the PDF file.
February 5, 2012
The Impact of Open Source
URL: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/athletics-physical-education-and-recreation/pe-550-designing-your-life-spring-2009/
Massachusetts' Institute of Technology (MIT) offers open courses that anyone can take. They provide over 100 different open courses, in which they offer different supplements and teaching resources for each. MIT has a good reputation, and this is supported with the amount of courses and information that they make available to anyone. From lecture notes, to assignments, to assessments, MIT does not really miss a beat when it comes to designing an open online course. Being that I am a Health & PE teacher by day, I examined a PE course called Designing Your Life. Although the last time this course was updated was 2009, it appears as though a lot of planning went into the design and implementation of this course. The lessons were very thorough, and the assignments seemed relevant to the material, and designed for a distance learner.
A distance learning education program must have several attributes for the learner to be successful. This course follows many of these recommendations. For instance, in the textbook, Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) stated that the online course must be well organized, containing a syllabus and well mapped out and detailed assignments. This course captured did each of these things in an attempt to make the learners successful. They also must facilitate active learning, because getting students involved and engaged are more likely to learn the content (Simonson et al, 2012). Throughout the assignments, and lectures, the online must get actively involved in order to truly gain anything from the assignments. Also, the use of instructional materials to supplement teaching and learning is another essential element that should be present for students to be successful. The instructional materials that were provided here are the lecture notes, assignments, and the assessments. Finally, the textbook suggests using assessments to measure student learning and understanding is an excellent way to help students be successful in a distance learning program. There are several assessments available in this course to measure student learning and understanding. There are a variety of different types of assignments that all promote and measure learning.
The course designer did an excellent job of choosing assignments that maximized learning for the online student. Some assignments were ongoing, while some were just one time. However, all assignments were thought-provoking and provided students an opportunity to truly delve into and think about aspects of their lives and how to better "design their lives." With all that said though, as a IDT major, I do feel that there could have been more technology tools implemented into this course. It seems as though the assignments were all simply written assignments, and they could have been jazzed up a little bit by implementing more technology.
Overall, this course was very well designed. It possessed many attributes of a successful distance learning course, as well as it was easy for the online learner to navigate through. In closing, if I had more time on my hands, I would most likely take part in this course. At the very least, I will suggest it to my colleagues.
References:
Massachusetts' Institute of technology (2002-2012). http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm, Retrieved February 5, 2012.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Massachusetts' Institute of Technology (MIT) offers open courses that anyone can take. They provide over 100 different open courses, in which they offer different supplements and teaching resources for each. MIT has a good reputation, and this is supported with the amount of courses and information that they make available to anyone. From lecture notes, to assignments, to assessments, MIT does not really miss a beat when it comes to designing an open online course. Being that I am a Health & PE teacher by day, I examined a PE course called Designing Your Life. Although the last time this course was updated was 2009, it appears as though a lot of planning went into the design and implementation of this course. The lessons were very thorough, and the assignments seemed relevant to the material, and designed for a distance learner.
A distance learning education program must have several attributes for the learner to be successful. This course follows many of these recommendations. For instance, in the textbook, Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) stated that the online course must be well organized, containing a syllabus and well mapped out and detailed assignments. This course captured did each of these things in an attempt to make the learners successful. They also must facilitate active learning, because getting students involved and engaged are more likely to learn the content (Simonson et al, 2012). Throughout the assignments, and lectures, the online must get actively involved in order to truly gain anything from the assignments. Also, the use of instructional materials to supplement teaching and learning is another essential element that should be present for students to be successful. The instructional materials that were provided here are the lecture notes, assignments, and the assessments. Finally, the textbook suggests using assessments to measure student learning and understanding is an excellent way to help students be successful in a distance learning program. There are several assessments available in this course to measure student learning and understanding. There are a variety of different types of assignments that all promote and measure learning.
The course designer did an excellent job of choosing assignments that maximized learning for the online student. Some assignments were ongoing, while some were just one time. However, all assignments were thought-provoking and provided students an opportunity to truly delve into and think about aspects of their lives and how to better "design their lives." With all that said though, as a IDT major, I do feel that there could have been more technology tools implemented into this course. It seems as though the assignments were all simply written assignments, and they could have been jazzed up a little bit by implementing more technology.
Overall, this course was very well designed. It possessed many attributes of a successful distance learning course, as well as it was easy for the online learner to navigate through. In closing, if I had more time on my hands, I would most likely take part in this course. At the very least, I will suggest it to my colleagues.
References:
Massachusetts' Institute of technology (2002-2012). http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm, Retrieved February 5, 2012.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
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