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.