The Future Of Distance Learning

Distance Learning Course Reflection

Distance Learning is the course that I had been looking forward to taking since seeing it listed in this degree major. I feel that the course met or exceeded my expectations of what I would learn in this area, since I had never given the history of distance learning, or the theories behind it much consideration before this course.  The text was difficult to read at first, but the more I progressed in the course, used other reference material, and reread the chapters in the book, the more valuable the information became (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  

Predicting the future of distance learning is easier knowing the history of it, and that it did not start with universities adding online courses to their curriculum just to see if they would have success with them (Simonson, et al., 2012). Distance learning has been taking a slow route to acceptance and changing with the changes in technology (Simonson et al., 2012).   In the following paragraphs, I will discuss my prediction of the future of distance learning, and how I envision contributing to the growth of it by participating as a course designer.

As I already mentioned, history has shown, that as technology changes over time, so do methods used in distance learning programs (Simonson et al., 2012).  Instructional designers also look at whether or not learners change over time (Simonson, et al., 2012).  A question I have is whether the access to unlimited sources of information by anyone with an internet connection will change the way people learn in the future, and how will people with access to unlimited sources of information be challenged in a distance learning program while attending a college or university?  I also wonder if people in the future will find it necessary to pursue knowledge in university courses that they have to pay for to earn a degree, or if there will be other ways to demonstrate their qualifications for higher paying jobs?  

There are open courses now, that people can take on their own schedules and without being formally admitted to some of the best universities in the world. Exploring MIT’s open courseware (OCW) acceptance in the first ten years shows that an estimated 100 million individuals worldwide have viewed the courses (MIT, 2014).  The following video shows what MIT is sharing with the world. If you can not view the video, here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ_uVfn63ps

  

OCW does not come with a free degree or certificate of completion from MIT, but since 2001, MIT keeps expanding the courses, and they way they are administered (MIT, 2014).  They are finding ways for schools in other countries to use their courses, by sending them on compatible technology to what is available in that country (MIT, 2014).  The world is definitely shrinking with the generosity of MIT, and other institutions that are duplicating them by adding to the  availability of OCW (MIT, 2014).

George Siemens gives his vision of the acceptance and growth of distance education based on people of all ages using technology for communication on a daily basis (Laureate Education, n.d.).  For example grandchildren can communicate with grandparents who live in another city, state, or country using video cameras and headsets, or they can text back and forth having a real time conversation when they are miles away (Laureate Education, n.d.). 

Those of us who grew up watching Star Trek either live or on reruns, we saw some of the sci-fi technology becoming reality when the flip phone became an easy way to always have a phone with us, and then came the camera phone, quickly followed by the iPhone®, with selfies and facetime conversations that are now taken for granted as a way of communication in the 21st Century.

Siemens mentions distance learning that incorporates multimedia, games, and simulations, and the rapid changes in the quality of the technology that is taking place to enable the use of multimedia to be very easy for the learner to use (Laureate Education, n.d.).

As a classroom teacher I notice that students today find it difficult to sit through the same type of class or series of classes day after day.  I have observed how distance learning is broken up into segments, and that gives the learners choice of what they will do based on how they feel.  When I want to watch the multimedia presentations, I can do that, or if I have quiet time to read or do research I can do that, and when the ideas come I can jot them down, send them in an email, or add to a document to go, and then find time to complete the writing assignment.  Of course I need less structure as an adult learner, and I have to provide it for my 7th grade students.

However, I found that when I mix up the in-class activities, and have them practice outside of class, the students are responding better, They are working better as a group, than they were when I did not incorporate as much variety into the class.  In my opinion students are not going to settle for learning the old way where behaviorism was the number one model in the future.  They enjoy communicating by using mobile devices and that is a natural lead into the distance learning environment (Laureate Education, n.d). 

Observing changes in the way students learn over the last 14 years has shown me that they do better in smaller class sizes where they do not have to sit in one place for a 55 minute class. This is a challenge for large school districts with limited budgets controlled by the political arena. Most of our classes have 36 students, and some have more.

In contrast to my advocacy for smaller class sizes, Steven Cohen wrote an article in Huffington Post in 2012, about the pros and cons of distance learning, and called distance learning “the latest fashion in education” (para 1). Cohen mentions how technology has changed his teaching of a class with 150 students at Columbia University, but he appears to believe in more of a blended style or class management by what he described (Cohen, 2012).  The article is basically a summary of what I have been learning over the past 8 weeks at Walden U. The author has roots in the birth of computer use in education until present times (Cohen, 2012). How many people reading this blog know what IBM® punch cards were? 

Retrieved from http://punchcardreader.com/

Cohen actually used them while going for his Doctorate Degree (Cohen, 2012).  They were ways of adding data to the computer and telling the computer what to do with the data (IBM100, n.d.).
Cohen shares many of the same feelings that I have, and when I was first reading the article I thought he would not be embracing a future for distance learning (2012).  However, he has posted what I am also believe, and since he has ways of following him on social sites, I will give the article a FaceBook® thumbs up and continue writing (Cohen, 2012).

As a teacher studying Instructional Design, I am experimenting with a blended teaching style this year that started slowly, and hopefully I will be incorporating more distance learning techniques in a classroom setting by the end of the year. Eventually I would like to design or improve the design of courses for independent study students in high school where they only come to campus for labs and workshops, and to present their work.  They might even be assigned to a small learning community that is moderated by a teacher at a weekly meeting.  Currently this is all in the brainstorming stage. I know there are more teachers or professors like Steven Cohen already having success with this technique, so I will continue to research how they are making blended learning work.

References

Cohen, S. (2012).  Distance learning and the future of education. The Blog. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/distance-learning-and-the_b_1928535.html

IBM100.  (n.d.).  The IBM punched card.  Retrieved from http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/punchcard/

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). The future of distance education [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Punchcardreader.com.  (2014).  [Image source]  Retrieved from http://punchcardreader.com/

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

MIT OpenCourseWare. (2014).  A decade of open sharing.  [Website] Retrieved from http://ocw.mit.edu/about/next-decade/

WISE Channel. (2011, February 10).  Free virtual library to empower millions-MIT OpenCourseWare-Cecilia d’Oliveria.  [Video file].  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yZ_uVfn63ps

Pre-Planning for Converting From Seat Time to Blended Learning

For this week at Walden University, our application assignment was to prepare a .pdf on the best practices for a trainer or designer to consider when converting a face-to-face, seat time training to one that is blended.  More of the known information included that the training manager was frustrated with the quality of communication among the trainees.

I have noticed that some work environments establish small community type of atmospheres, while it would be impossible to do that in other environments I guess it all depends on the tasks that the employees have to perform while on the job.  One of the noted positive features about distance learning is that it can foster a feeling of belonging to a learning community among those attending courses (Simonson, Albright, Smaldino & Zvacek, 2012).

However this sense of belonging and the motivation for learning that can result from it is not something that happens effortlessly.  It takes a lot of thought processing in the analysis of the learners who the course is designed for, and the trainer, facilitator, or instructor, has to assume responsibility for being present to help the learners as needed (Simonson et al., 2012).

The learners have to attend the course or training with the mindset that they will learn something that is relevant to their situation and that will have benefits to them (Simonson et al., 2012).

The .pdf that is embedded next into this posting has a lot of resources in it and links to videos that are well worth watching for anyone who is considering incorporating a blended learning environment that incorporates discussion board use to their training program. I hope that it may help you in some way if you view it. Please leave me a comment with any suggestions you might have regarding the .pdf.





References

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

Safety Awareness Wordle

The following is a Wordle that I created at www.wordle.com for the Orientation I am creating for a Safety Awareness training.




The purpose of the Wordle is to call attention to the long term effects of accidents.  We can have a life changing accident at any time, but the key is to think safety, and do our best to avoid unsafe situations.