Project Management in Ed and Training

I am happy to start my 7th class through Walden University. I am excited to see what this class is all about. Enjoy my blog!

Reflection

           "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, 2010, p. 7). Distance education has become a bigger name because of new advances in technology. Technology is what distance education work, by allowing users to learn by using the internet. "In 1979, computer and internet technology introduced for distance learning course delivery" (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). Even when distance education first started, I am sure it is not the same today as it was back then. Even in recent years, (2007-2009), "new and emerging Web 2.0 technologies including, wikis, blogs, podcasts and multi-user virtual environments greatly expanded distance learning options" (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). Web 2.0 tools have really helped distance learners to have the best online learning experiences. Today, there are three types of distance education courses. The three options that distance learners can choose are online, blended or hybrid, or web-facilitated courses. Online is where all the content is delivered online and students communicate via discussions with peers and instructors, over 80% is caught online. Blended or hybrid courses "combine online and face-to-face delivery, thus 30% - 79% of the course's content is delivered online" (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2010, p. 5). The last type of course offered is web-facilitated courses, and these are "web-based technology, but less than 29% of the content is delivered online" (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2010, p. 5). The three different types of distance education gives the learners a chance to obtain degrees in any type of classes they enjoy: different-time, same place; same-time, different-place; or different-time, different-place.

            With how much technology keeps changing, I expect distance education to be different from what it is now. In the future, 5-10 years away, I see distance education becoming more popular than what it is today. Today, "distance education is not identical to face-to-face education, but equivalent" (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). In 5-10 years, I think distance education will be closer to identical (if not better). Distance education incorporates all types of technologies, which traditional face-to-face courses do not. I would rather take a course that offers more about the growing technologies than the older ones, wouldn't you? In 10-20 years, I see distance education maybe being a higher number than traditional face-to-face courses. Many people are aware of distance education today, but are leery to sign up. In 10-20 years, many more people will know about distance education and many more will realize the benefits associated with distance education. Benefits being: ability to do class work on your own schedule, "technology, develop course management skills, support services, and communication with peers/instructor" (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2010, p. 70).

             Instructional Designers have a difficult job with designing instruction for distance education. First, instructional designers should "involve facilitators in the course development process" (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). It is important for all facilitators to know the course before the course is given over completely. In addition, instructional designers must "train the facilitators on software that they and their students will be using" (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). If the facilitators do not know the software, how will they be able to answer questions if they are not aware of the software? Being an instructional designer, I will constantly be looking for new ways to help improve or promote distance learning. Maybe, by using my Instructional Design degree to do side work that might promote distance learning, or working for a campus to create distance-learning courses. The possibilities are endless, but overall, I know how I feel about distance education, and I want others to try it for themselves and see how they feel afterwards.

            Before even starting this distance education class, I knew a little bit about it. I originally began to understand the idea of "distance education" because while in high school we had a distance-learning lab. It was a great idea, and many students used the lab. Today, my workplace has a virtual academy where students take courses online instead of attending the traditional face-to-face classes. I think distance education is important and everyone should be aware of the benefits of distance education. Ever since I started my degree through Walden, I have told many people about my experiences with distance learning. Actually, since starting I have convinced two co-works to sign up for distance learning classes. This class, just heightened my ideas about distance education, things I was not aware of before. To be a positive force for continuous improvement, I plan to still participate in online distance education courses after I have obtained my degree. I also, will still tell my co-workers about my experiences, and hopefully more people will begin to sign up for distance education.

             "Growing acceptance of distance education is fueled by: the increase in online communication, practical experience with new tools, growing comfort with online courses and ability to communicate with diverse and global groups" (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). I think Dr. George Siemens had it right about the future of distance education. "Distance education will be impacted by: new communication technologies, contribution by experts around the world, and increase use of multimedia, games and simulations" (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). Distance education is a great tool that everyone should know about and maybe try at least once in their life. Distance education is not done growing, and maybe in a few years, it will not be anything like it is today. Whatever the case, the purpose of distance learning is "providing the student with the best possible scenario where learning outcomes will be maximized" (Schmidt & Gallegos, 2001, p. 2).

References

                Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Introduction to scholarly writing: Purpose, audience, and evidence [DVD].Distance Learning Timeline Continuum. Baltimore, MD: Author

            Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Introduction to scholarly writing: Purpose, audience, and evidence [DVD].Facilitating Online Learning. Baltimore, MD: Author

            Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Introduction to scholarly writing: Purpose, audience, and evidence [DVD].The Future of Distance Education. Baltimore, MD: Author

            Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Introduction to scholarly writing: Purpose, audience, and evidence [DVD].Theory and Distance Learning. Baltimore, MD: Author

            Schmidt, E., & Gallegos, A. (2001). Distance learning: Issues and concerns of distance learners. Journal of Industrial Technology, 17(3). Retrieved from http://atmae.org/jit/Articles/schmidt041801.pdf

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

Converting to a Distance Learning Format

           Converting from a face-to-face traditional classroom to a distance learning (blended) environment

 can be hard but it is possible. "Distance education and face-to-face education should have the same 

learning outcomes and provide equivalent learning experiences to meet those outcomes" (Laureate 

Education, Inc., n.d.). Regardless of the environment, all learning experiences should be met and every 

person should be able to flourish in the distance learning (blended) environment. "A blended or hybrid 

course combines online and face-to-face delivery; thus, 30% to 79% of the course's content is delivered 

online" (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012, p. 5). When using a distance learning (blended) 

environment to teach, it gives way of using new technologies. Technologies that students are not able to

 use unless in a distance learning environment. Within this, the training manager will better understand 

what are some pre-planning strategies before converting his program, how to use original ideas and 

convert them to distance learning format, ideas for what the facilitator's new role will be and what he 

should do to help the students to better communicate.



Click here to view my Application: Converting to a Distance Learning Format





References

         Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Introduction to scholarly writing: Purpose, audience, and 

evidence [DVD].Theory and Distance learning. Baltimore, MD: Author

        Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a 

distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson

Open Yale

Open Source http://oyc.yale.edu/

            What is open source (or Open Course)? “Open source software is intended to be freely shared and can be improved upon and redistributed to others” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012, p. 141). Before my researching today, I had never heard of this idea. “Open Course websites is class materials such as syllabi, reading lists, lecture notes, and other documents that were once used in an actual classroom and are now available to the public for free” (Littlefield, 2013). I never knew schools offered these types of programs. While researching all the different types of open source software listed in our resources, I realized how important this could be for students. “In our resources for the week, I noticed many different kinds of open sources, and all of them looked very interesting. The open source that I decided to pick and share is Open Yale because that was the most one that caught my attention the most.

            “Open Yale Courses (OYC) provides lectures and other materials from selected Yale College courses to the public free of charge via the Internet” (Open Yale Courses, 2013). I think this is a great idea, and more people should be aware that these courses are available. Like I stated before, I never knew these classes existed and I am glad that I know about these now. I could use these classes when I need to know more information about a certain topic. While looking through Open Yale courses, I realized everything is arranged so anything can be easily accessible. Open Yale makes it very easy to identify where to go and what to choose because everything is laid out so neatly.

            The layout on Open Yale makes it easy to find everything you need. While looking through all the different classes, I realized they offer many programs. When you choose a certain program, it gives you a “about the course” and “course structure” and then, it also gives you course materials that you can download. Lastly, at the bottom of is the “view class sessions” and it takes you to all the different chapters/lessons. When you pick a section, you want to learn about, it gives you the video of the professor teaching about that chapter/lesson. This site was carefully planned because every class is set up like this. Open Yale is designed for a distance learning environment, because it gives the students a chance to learn about a certain topic or idea without being constrained with a certain time or place, like distance learning. In addition, Open Yale would be a good distance-learning environment because this could be “applied to a tremendous variety of programs serving numerous audiences via a wide variety of media” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012, p. 9). Open Yale course are for more independence, and allowing learners to teach themselves the ideas they want to learn more about.

            Open Yale does not follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in the textbook “Teaching and Learning at a Distance”. Open Yale does select technologies for online instruction (videos) to explain about the notes/class. However, Open Yale does not “Determine the Learning Outcomes” because there are not learning outcomes. These Open Yale courses are to be used if you want to learn more about a certain idea. Also, it does not fit into “Identify Learning Experiences and Match Each to the Most Appropriate Available Technology”. Once again, there are not any ways to identify learning experiences because Open Yale courses are only for independent use. Students, who want to take these courses, are not connected to other students or professors.

            Within the Open Yale courses, there not activities, but some classes have problem sets that they have to answer after reading the notes or watching/listening to the lecture. These would be good for needing to see how much was obtained from the reading or watching/listen of the certain topic. However, when it comes to course activities that maximize active learning, Open Yale does not offer this. I think it might be very difficult to do this, especially not having instructor or classmates to discuss with. Maybe, in other classes and/or sections, they offer activities, but in the few different classes I selected and researched through, they only offer videos, lecture notes, and problem sets to complete.

            Overall, I feel Open Yale is a great program for someone who wants to know a little bit more about a certain idea or topic. It could be used as a distance-learning environment; the only difference is there is no instructor or students to communicate with.  The next time I find myself wondering about a certain topic or idea, I might have to travel to Open Yale and watch a few sessions or read a few notes, and I might be able to find my answers from these classes.

References

          Littlefield, J. (2013). Open courses. Retrieved from http://distancelearn.about.com/od/isitforyou/a/opencourseware.htm

            Open Yale (2013). Open Yale courses. Retrieved from http://oyc.yale.edu/

            Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a    

    distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

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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