Selecting Distance Learning Technologies

Scenario 1:

            “A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an Instructional Designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration.”

            Technology has changed the way people view the world. Technology especially has helped to change learning. Learning can be done in a face-to-face classroom, a hybrid/blended classroom, and even a web-facilitated classroom. The face-to-face classroom learning is still going strong for my students, but the blended/hybrid and web-facilitated numbers have been rising due to more students wanting to participate in distance learning environments. “Distance education is institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012, p. 7). Distance learning (education) gives the students endless possibilities for learning if they cannot participate in the face-to-face environments. Even recent corporations have started using distance learning to provide the employees proper training in certain areas.

Wikis

            Within this scenario, the staff is not centrally located in one section, which means they are located throughout many different offices, which may make it hard to meet. So for these people, they would have an asynchronous distance learning environment. This type of environment is where “learners choose when and where to learn and when and where to access instructional materials” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012, p. 10). For this situation, I would choose the staff to use a Wiki to communicate and share thoughts among one another. According to Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek (2012), “a wiki is usually thought to be a space designed to be created and edited by groups of persons” and “a wiki can be an excellent tool for collaborative online writing assignments and group activities compiling information in a single online resource (p. 129).

            “A natural tool for distance education, wikis enable instructors to create interactive activities for their students, and to present course information such as resources, external links, project information, and frequently asked questions” (Schwartz, Clark, Cossarin & Rudolph, 2004). The wikis will be used so the staff members can collaborate with one another about the information they found. According to Schwartz, Clark, Cossarin and Rudolph (2004), wikis are a growing trend, and they provide efficient, flexible, user friendly and cost-effective interface for collaboration, knowledge creation and archiving, and student interaction. This resource shows after viewing 24 universities that were using wikis for distance education, it was a positive environment. “It appears that the full Distance Education potential of wikis remains to be realized” because Wikis have only just started becoming a bigger deal (Schwartz, Clark, Cossarin & Rudolph, 2004).
According to Piotr Konieczny (2007), wikis represent far more than just new shiny gadgets for students to play with, they are new tools with potential to help teaching and learning, a continuation of the Internet revolution which happened barely over a decade ago that gave us new tools. This gives us new opportunities for educating, face-to-face or in distance learning. In the article, Wikis and Wikipedia as a Teaching Tool, they used Wikis to help students collaborate on ideas and how Wikis can be used for learning. “Studies on collaborative and cooperative learning suggest that interaction is the most important part of the virtual classroom; the interaction with others tudents” (Konieczny, 2007). If the staff is located in different office buildings, then a Wiki would be a perfect example of how they can communicate about the information. Konieczy (2007) stated although much technology needs yet to be developed before the concept of virtual universities becomes truly functional, Wikis offer an intriguing way for students to collaborate on real assignments in cyberspace. As you can see, there are many reasons that Wikis work for distance learning.Resources

Konieczny, P. (2007, January). Wikis and wikipedia as a teaching tool. Retrieved from http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_07/article02.htm

Schwartz, L., Clark, S., Cossarin, M., & Rudolph, J. (2004). Technical evaluation report 27.educational wikis: features and selection criteria. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 5(1), Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/163/244

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Distance Learning

               

              My personal definition of distance learning before storing classes at Walden University, was receiving an education by going into a classroom or library to do school work (classroom) and not having a teacher in the room. Doing all your work online and submitting work via the internet. In my high school, we had a distance learning lab and it was the newest thing to the school. No other schools around us had anything like this, and students from other schools would come to our school just to use it. Everyone wanted to be a part of this classroom, but only a select group of students were able to do this. Later on, I realized it was a college level class where high school students were able to receive college level classes. In the room, it had a huge projector and once a week their professor would Skype with them on it and they were able to converse with their instructor. Also, at the school I teach at now, we have a virtual learning lab. In this lab, students are able to use school computers to attend their distance learning classes. Students in high school have the option to opt out of traditional classes and they can participate in the distance learning one. I have had many experiences with distance learning, but I did not realize how big it was until I started working at my school and starting classes at Walden University.

                After one week of reading resources about distance learning, I realized my definition has changed a bit from my earlier thoughts. My new definition of distance learning is a program that allows students to get an education without having to learn in a traditional classroom. With distance learning, students have a little bit more control on their own learning than in a traditional classroom. Traditional classrooms is teacher lead and oriented, but in a distance learning class students have more control of when they have time to get things done. My earlier definition of distance learning and my current definition seem to match up a bit, but I did leave out a few important details.

                I also came to my conclusion on distance learning after starting classes at Walden University. Never before, did I realize how nice it could be by learning and gaining an education online vs. traditional classrooms. According to Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, (2012), distance education is defined as institution based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors (pg. 32). I feel through my online classes, I am learning through distance learning. I am receiving a formal education, and every person connects to the online class through telecommunications systems and they help to connect us to other students; all resources needed for classes, students, and instructors. It is nice having people who live all over the world as classmates because you learn many things from each individual classmates and it is nice to hear difference experiences.

                The future of distance learning is something that will constantly be changing. The future could be 5 years, 10 years, or even 20 years down the road and I cannot even begin to imagine in 20 years what distance learning will be like. In the future, I see distance learning becoming more and more popular. People always say you can do everything online, and now you can get a high school education, a college degree, and eve a masters degree without ever having to step in a classroom. Distance learning's definition will keep changing and I believe it will start getting more detailed. According to Moller, Foshay and Huett (2008), the growth of online distance learning is explosive in almost all sectors and in many developed and developing countries (pg. 66). I feel in the future, almost every country will have the capabilities for distance learning. Within the higher education section, I see all majors becoming a possibility through distance learning (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008). Also, I see many more students participating in distance learning because it lets the students do the work on their own time and many higher education students have jobs or families that makes it nearly impossible to go to college classes all day. "Learning through virtual schooling is one of the fastest growing areas for K-12 schools" (Huett, Moller, Foshay & Coleman, 2008, pg. 63). In the future, I see many students opting out of traditional classroom settings and they will be participating in distance learning. With each new generation of kids, they will each be more advanced with technology and want to use it in the best way they can.

                The definition of distance learning is always changing because of the growth of technology. With technology growing more and more each year, the definition of distance learning will keep getting more specific. I feel distance learning will always be affected by how much technical knowledge a person has on a program or software. An example of how technology keeps growing is with the computer. A few years ago (5 or 10 years), no one could have predicted how the definition of a computer would have changed so much because of the new technologies we have today. When the computer first started out, we could play games and used very little. Today, almost every person has a computer/laptop and it is daily. Within the category of distance learning, it could be the same as the computer, it started off very little with only so many people participating in it, but in the future, it may be the only way to get an education. 

                                       

References

          Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63-67.

           Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52 (4), 66-70.

           Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Distance Learning

I am currently starting my 7th online class through Walden University in a field of Instructional Design and Technology. I am excited to start the Distance Learning class.

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