Final Project

Week 5 concept map

Week 4

When designing online courses, it’s important to include various tools that will encompass different learning styles of students that may enroll in the class. In order to explain difficult concepts, one must refer back to Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and account for diverse learning style.
Content should be presented in mediums that encompass text, audio and visual. One should strive to include different ways to parlay the information. While a student may not want to read a written lecture, they will readily listen to it via Ipod or download.
Collaborative groups should \be allowed to communicate via different mediums. While some may like live communication such as skype, other would prefer text-based communication such as discussion forums. Regardless of delivery, communication is a vital part of the online learning experience, so learners may bounce ideas of each other as well as collaborated to accomplish a task.

Responded to:
http://waymyers-distanceedu.blogspot.com
http://farawaylearning.blogspot.com

Week 3 Blogs posted to

This week I posted to:
http://lkortecc.blogspot.com/2010/04/assessing-collaborative-efforts.html
http://waymyers-distanceedu.blogspot.com/2010/04/module-3-motivating-adult-learners.html

Week 3 Assessing Collaborative Efforts

Assessment in a collaborative community can be difficult due to the varying skill levels of students and the nature of communication issues in an online learning environment. Collaborative learning communities focus on higher level thinking skills, not the standard “read and repeat” of yesteryear. As Siemens (n.d) states, collaboration is not the issue, it is how we rework the former models of assessment to accommodate this new type of learning. Peers can assess each other in a collaborative manner to assist the educator and the educator needs to realize that not all assessment translates into a ‘mark’. As with younger students, peers can sometimes explain things to each other in a more simplistic form that an educator may not. Collaborative community assessment needs to be incorporated in the course design. Outcomes of the project need to be stated clearly. The educator then can manage the collaboration by using technology in the LMS to assess the students via hourly participation, logins, posts, etc along with peer assessment. Education is shifting to participation in a larger environment, much like in the workplace. The concept of assessment needs to broadened.

Sometimes students are unwilling to participate in the online collaborative group. Students have been conditioned to work by themselves and find a loss of self when asked to work within a learning community. Within a collaborative community students need to be made aware that they will be assessed on participation as well as be recognized as an individual and rewarded as such. Design of the collaborative task is important. The learning community task should be practical and engaging. It’s also important to introduce these students, who for so long have worked by themselves, to the experience within the online community first before jumping into full-blown collaboration.

Global Diversity in Distance Education

Siemens discusses global diversity in education as a cohesion between the current corporate arrangement of being able to communicate and collaborate online with members of the same team or workplace no matter where they are in the world and distance learning in higher education, thus ultimately creating something akin to a world university. This type of global communication can lend itself well to workplace training, because the training models are workplace specific and reflect the mindset and goal of the company. However in education, global diversity is much different. Geographically diverse content that reflects global perspectives is possible but the immediate future of a world university does not seem to be on the horizon. Some educational institutions, like Grand Canyon University in Phoenix Arizona, open their programs up to international students, but the curriculum may not be geared toward these learners. The online curriculum has been written for the majority of the learners being based in the United States. I believe there is another level of curriculum design that would have to take place if universities wanted to open up their online doors to the world. International structure and educational procedures would need to be examined and considered before fully aligning a distance educational program to be globally and culturally diverse.

Siemens, G. (n.d.)The future of distance education. Vodcast. Retrieved from Walden University, EDUC7102

Posted to: http://waymyers-distanceedu.blogspot.com/
http://lkortecc.blogspot.com/

Global Diversity in Distance Education

Siemens discusses global diversity in education as a cohesion between the current corporate arrangement of being able to communicate and collaborate online with members of the same team or workplace no matter where they are in the world and distance learning in higher education, thus ultimately creating something akin to a world university. This type of global communication can lend itself well to workplace training, because the training models are workplace specific and reflect the mindset and goal of the company. However in education, global diversity is much different. Geographically diverse content that reflects global perspectives is possible but the immediate future of a world university does not seem to be on the horizon. Some educational institutions, like Grand Canyon University in Phoenix Arizona, open their programs up to international students, but the curriculum may not be geared toward these learners. The online curriculum has been written for the majority of the learners being based in the United States. I believe there is another level of curriculum design that would have to take place if universities wanted to open up their online doors to the world. International structure and educational procedures would need to be examined and considered before fully aligning a distance educational program to be globally and culturally diverse.

Siemens, G. (n.d.)The future of distance education. Vodcast. Retrieved from Walden University, EDUC7102

The Next Generation of Distance Learning

Simonson(2000) describes distance education as formal education, that is institutionally based, where learning groups are separated and technologies are used to link the learning groups with their resources. The millennial generation has grown up with technology being linked to society and it’s resources, however their educational experiences have fallen behind where technology is concerned. Brick and mortar schools have always suffered and lacked resources where technology is concerned- when making budget cuts, the choice between keeping a teacher and keeping a computer is obvious. However, distance learning changes that. Through distance learning, students are connected to people and places they may not have the connection to in face-to-face instruction.
According to Moller et al. (2008) distance education is become widely adopted and respected. Traditional learning institutions are beginning to use the technology to their advantage, transferring what was once taught on the ground to a virtual format and expanding the resources available to students. Schools at all levels are now putting thought into what constitutes good instruction and forming their online classes based on the best practices of face to face and virtual learning. Rather than taking a one size fits all approach, institutions are now customizing learning to suit different learning styles, needs and want of both students and instructors alike.
In my experience as an online course developer, I have seen the negative and positive aspects of distance learning. Some institutions are so quick to jump on the virtual education bandwagon they neglect to account for the student experience, the customization of programs and fail to incorporate the best resources into their courses that would make for an engaging learning experience. The millennials are not satisfied with lecture based courses delivered via computer- they want interaction, engagement and resources at their fingertips. Institutions that have strong leadership, collaborative efforts between faculty and distance learning course developers and who plan their learning according to pedagogically sound practices find that student retention and satisfaction is abound, and that the learners and instructors experience a solid education that is delivered over space and time.



Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, July/August). 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. (2000). Making decisions: The use of electronic technology in online classes. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 84, 29–34.