Video Presentation for a Professional Distance Education Conference

http://youtu.be/o86NOBQaFRY


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Key Media and Technology Used in Distance Education

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Strategies for Involving Learners

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Assessing Collaborative Efforts

Assessing Collaborative Efforts

How should participation in a collaborative learning community be assessed?

Instructors must provide clear expectations by using rubrics or some other form of measurement for assessing student work. Students will be more satisfied and instructor’s assessment will be made easier when the assessment is in alignment with the learning objectives and the collaborative activities (Pallloff and Pratt, 2005). An important way to assess and encourage collaborative learning is to have an outcome or product for discussions which is graded. Individuals in the group should be graded on individual contributions as well as group contribution using rubrics (Swan, K., Shen, J., and Hiltz, R., n.d.).

How do the varying levels of skill and knowledge students bring to a course affect the instructor's "fair and equitable assessment" of learning?

The instructor must have an understanding of collaborative learning and basic principles of student assessment that is aligned to the design of the course. The students must come to the learning-centered course with at least minimal skills and knowledge and be rooted in good practice (Palloff, R. and Pratt, K., 2005). The fair and equitable assessment is based on more than learning outcome. Instructors’ grading criteria should also include behaviors and activities that are not measures of learning outcomes, such as attendance, participation, improvement, or effort. These may be a part of the learning outcomes but are not usually measures of learning outcomes. The instructor will need to use different methods of assessment to analyze and assess the knowledge and skills of the students (http://www.cmu.edu/teaching).  The interpretation of the assessment is in the hands of the instructors or faculty members because they are familiar with  the knowledge of the course learning goals as well as the assessment methods and materials.  They decide on the appropriate standards and can determine if the learning outcome is good or  not (http://www.cmu.edu/teaching).

If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community for an online course, what should the other members of the learning community do? What role should the instructor play? What impact would this have on his or her assessment plan?

There may be circumstances such as computer problems and family demands that might present some participation challenges for the student.  Hopefully, the instructor has laid the ground work for such a time as this by getting a signed buy-in contract from the student, for example.   This would ensure that the student is aware of the importance of the collaborative activity.  The instructor should reach out to the student via of a phone call or a simple email message to find the cause for not wanting to participate.  The other members of the learning community should also try reaching out to the student and “just communicate” with him/her to get specific reasons for not wanting to participate.  The student should have already received and reviewed the rubrics and course information and thus be aware of the course requirements including the collaboration portion (Palloff & Pratt, 2005).  Instructional strategies may be as important as the assessment in encouraging participation in small group activities in the online classroom. Instructional strategies will also improve the group learning experience and add other benefits such as helping students to achieve deeper learning and to build their confidence and skills (http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/675/1271).

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References:

Brindley, J.,  Walti, C., and Blaschke, L. (June, 2009). Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning: A refereed e-journal to advance research, theory, and practice in open and distance learning worldwide. Retrieved on April 1, 2013 from  http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/675/1271

Enhancing education: Whys & hows of assessment. Assessment of learning outcomes. Retrieved on April 1, 2013 from http://www.cmu.edu/teaching

Palloff, R. and Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating Online: Learning together in community.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Swan, K., Shen, J., and Hiltz, R. (n.d.). Assessment and collaboration in online learning. Kent State University. Retrieved on April 1, 2013 from  http://www.kent.edu/ehhs/dl/upload/assessment-and-collaboration.pdf

Storyboard for Introduction Video

 

 

 

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Module 2 - Elements of Distance Education Diffusion

Module 2: Strengths, Limitations, and Issues of Distance Education

Blog - Elements of Distance Education Diffusion
         

Communication and collaborative interaction are creating more effective learning experiences and giving distance education an identity of its own distinct from F2F (George Siemens, 2002).   reminds us that there are new tools, and increased use of multimedia, and a growing comfort with online communication. There are online tools available today that are used to facilitate interactions among learners (Laureate Education, Inc.). Online learning uses technology like threaded and unthreaded bulletin boards as well as streaming videos to influences the interactions between students and teacher as well as student to student. Other technologies such as the SIS systems and WebCT are being used to create more time for communicating with students. Improvements are also being made in student-content interaction. Students of distant education are now being provided with discussion forums that are designed to meet their needs. They are provided with the regular content type discussion form as well as a student to student only forum (Siemens, 2002).

Another way to improve the student-content interaction is by providing students with asynchronous and virtually material and assignments that could be completed online. Student-to-student communication can be improved by using the Blackboard to set up discussion forums and virtual classroom. When the class is developed and presented correctly, the student and teacher can work toward an ideal degree of interaction through students and teacher talking, sharing ideas and working together while working toward a common goal (Siemens, 2002).

I agree with Lynne Butkiewicz when she states in her blog that “the potential of distance education is growing rapidly. People are starting to realize that f2f communication isn’t the only way to communicate.” Charlotte Vaughn reminds us on her BlogSpot that “the instructor of distant education courses must create an open and supportive environment so that students can enhance their interactivity and be more willing to discuss freely within the group.”

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References:

Butkiewicz, L. (June 30, 2010). Educational technology. Retrieved on March 26, 2013 from waldentechnology.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). The Future of Distance Education [Video webcast]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Siemens, G. (October 8, 2002). Interaction - eLearnspace. Retrieved on March 24, 2013 from www.elearnspace.org/Articles/Interaction.htm

Vaughn, C. (Nov 16, 2009). Distance education. Retrieved on March 26, 2013 from

http://charvaughn.blogspot.com/Cached

K-12 Distant Education

K-12 Distant Education

            There are efforts being made to improve the K-12 environment regarding distance education.  These efforts are a result of the increased enrollment of distance learners.  Virtual schools are referred to as distance education and are one of the fast growing areas for K-12.   The courses offered by virtual schools are part of a traditional school setting or part of a virtual high school.  There are policy issues regarding funding as well as an overall resistance to distance learning to be resolved.   Most virtual K-12 schools are established and funded by state governments which then require traditional schools to create online programs.  The success of online programs is determined using the same measurements as those used for traditional k-12 schools.  These measurements include the level of academic performance and achievement and retention and satisfaction.  I agree with the opinions expressed in this article that the success of distance education is more about who is teaching, who is learning and how that learning is being accomplished (Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C. (2008, September/October).

            The online curriculum includes courses in elective and credit-recovery as well as advance and remedial courses.  There are benefits for administration, students and teachers offered by K-12 education.  Administrators can make sure that the course content is aligned to state standards and that there are resources for the high-risk students.  Teachers have more contact with students who would not normally communicate in f2f classroom.  The students have every tool needed for success at hand and they can practice and move forward at their own pace.  The parents can see the assignment and the resources available for their child (Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C. (2008, September/October).

            There are the virtual cyber-charter and home-school which are charter schools that offer distance education to public school students.  These schools operate independently and are not a part of the local school district.  This writer agrees with the authors in that K-12 distant education could become a place for students who cannot or will not try to function in the traditional classroom setting.  K-12 distant education includes students from all walks of life—students who are hospitalized, homebound, incarcerated and those who are being home schooled as well as those who want to better their education (Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C., 2008, September/October).

            This writer agrees with the authors that psychological and personal characteristics of the K-12 learners may make it difficult for them to be successful online learners.  To be successful, the K-12 distant learners will need more supervision, easier instructions and an extensive reinforcement system. The instructional design professionals for K-12 distant education will need to work with academic researchers to make sure that the students needs are met. The instructional designers for K-12 distance education must instill learning practices based on research and theory to be successful in teaching and learning (Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C., 2008, September/October).

                This writer agrees with the authors that we need better models for instruction that can be used by learners.  Many learners today cannot interact with each other.  They can only interact with the instructor and/or content.  Today, learners need more individualized and customized learning that will cater to their interaction need (Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J., 2008, May/June). The explosive growth of distance education is changing post-secondary education as well.  Distance education is concerned with new pedagogical issues regarding student interactions, course design and  delivery, communication, assignments  and performance expectations.  In addition to the pedagogical difference, technology is used which may requires new skills for the teacher and the learner Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J., 2008, May/June).

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References:

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C. (2008, September/October). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67. Retrieved on March 10, 2013 http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 1: Training and Development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75. Retrieved on March 10, 2013 from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org