Monday, October 25, 2010
Reflection
In the next decade I think that distance education will easily outdistance traditional classroom learning due to the many advantages that it offers. It will allow students from across the socio-economic gamut to explore learning that would have been out of the question for them merely five years ago. Thanks to the many technological advances that we see happening around us everyday this new way to teach and learn will clearly dominate the educational landscape over the next decade.
Distance education is definitely the way of the future and it is only going to grow as more students get better with the technology that it requires. Also as education has morphed, as it always does, lawmakers will push more and more funding into this area, thus strengthening this already quickly advancing area of learning and teaching. Over the next 20 years it could very easily replace the traditional classroom in most schools and at many colleges as well. While this day may well be a bit further off than the next 20 years I can easily envision the day when this will occur and so all learning could reasonably be done through distance education. In this way the metamorphosis of the classroom will occur even more fully.
As an ID I can strive to create educational experiences which are beneficial both for the student and the facilitator and that can promote this type of learning at a high level. By planning and planning well I can show that distance education does work and that it can be a beneficial part of any curriculum. As more students are exposed to this type of learning and they become more comfortable with it then one can reasonably infer that most schools will employ this type of program and that possibly this type of learning could eventually supplant that which takes place in the regular traditional classroom.
To be a continuous positive force in the world of education in favor of distance education one must always argue for its inclusion when one is creating any new program as well ensuring that your institution of higher learning has the newest and best technology so as to support both your programs and the students who take part in them to the fullest. Even programs that are a bit older, but that work well for their intended uses, can support a program when it is designed with their best uses in mind.
Overall distance education is the way of the future and thus as ID's we must plan accordingly, so as to keep up with the pace of technological change and ensure that we and our programs and students are not left behind. I feel that it is our responsibilty as ID's to do all this and much more to make sure that we do not get left behind!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Open Course Essay
Open courses are a great idea for several reasons. First of all, this is a great way for students to experience new material without the constraints of grades. Secondly, this allows one to look into whet6her they are actually interested in pursuing learning in a given area.
In the new technological age, I feel that open courses are a great idea for the student who is seeking knowledge simply to expand their knowledge base. My choice to review open courses was http://oyc.yale.edu/. At this site I was able to review information for a possible future study into classical literature. The course I looked at was Introduction to Ancient Greek History, which was taught by Prof. Donald Kagtan in the fall of 2007. The specific site for the course was http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/content/syllabus.html
This open course seemed to be the perfect place to gather more knowledge to either learn for one’s own sake or to see if one was interested enough in the subject so as to take more courses in the given area.
Yes, the course seemed well planned for both in the classroom lecture and as an open course online. The entire semester was set up in link forms in chronological order which would allow the student to view the entire semester at their own pace, which is one of the most important tenets of distance education, to me.
As far as adhering to the things needed for online education this site holds true to many of the options that are listed in Design for Distance Education such as use a large font, Use few words per line, and use white space to enhance readability (Teaching and Learning at a Distance p134). I found that this made it similar to older distance education formats, but for me these are better.
This site lacked many of the “bells and whistles” that are found on more recently created sites, but sometimes all this can detract from the purpose of the site. The basics are clearly covered here and this makes this a bona fide educational experience, which could certainly parallel those that students get on campus at Yale.
This open course does not meet all of the requirements for online education that are listed in the textbook, but I feel that this site is a good one, even without all of those.
As for whether this site designer used course activities to maximize active learning for the students, I think that the answer is clearly no. This is basically a campus-style lecture course, which has been put online in its barest form. Certainly, it does have the basic requirements for that type of course-ie- lectures, syllabus, grading, etc. But it does not maximize student learning not in the same way that new courses do that not only have lecture videos but also require students to regularly attend a discussion board or maintain a blog or that use any of the other parts of new media to supplement the student learning experience.
Overall, this site uses an antiquated teaching method, which may still appeal to older students but on the other hand it is one that I think that younger students might find boring and hard to hold their attention. It certainly has its merits, but those are few and far between. There is much that I would do differently if I had been given the chance to design this learning experience as an ID. I think that a new generation of learners deserves a new generation of educator, who is willing to find new ways to pass on knowledge to all learners and not just to those of a certain type.
Open courses are a great way to help students expand their knowledge of material in different areas, but I still think that we as ID’s should be certain that these experiences provide a good learning experience for students of different learning styles.
In the new technological age, I feel that open courses are a great idea for the student who is seeking knowledge simply to expand their knowledge base. My choice to review open courses was http://oyc.yale.edu/. At this site I was able to review information for a possible future study into classical literature. The course I looked at was Introduction to Ancient Greek History, which was taught by Prof. Donald Kagtan in the fall of 2007. The specific site for the course was http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/content/syllabus.html
This open course seemed to be the perfect place to gather more knowledge to either learn for one’s own sake or to see if one was interested enough in the subject so as to take more courses in the given area.
Yes, the course seemed well planned for both in the classroom lecture and as an open course online. The entire semester was set up in link forms in chronological order which would allow the student to view the entire semester at their own pace, which is one of the most important tenets of distance education, to me.
As far as adhering to the things needed for online education this site holds true to many of the options that are listed in Design for Distance Education such as use a large font, Use few words per line, and use white space to enhance readability (Teaching and Learning at a Distance p134). I found that this made it similar to older distance education formats, but for me these are better.
This site lacked many of the “bells and whistles” that are found on more recently created sites, but sometimes all this can detract from the purpose of the site. The basics are clearly covered here and this makes this a bona fide educational experience, which could certainly parallel those that students get on campus at Yale.
This open course does not meet all of the requirements for online education that are listed in the textbook, but I feel that this site is a good one, even without all of those.
As for whether this site designer used course activities to maximize active learning for the students, I think that the answer is clearly no. This is basically a campus-style lecture course, which has been put online in its barest form. Certainly, it does have the basic requirements for that type of course-ie- lectures, syllabus, grading, etc. But it does not maximize student learning not in the same way that new courses do that not only have lecture videos but also require students to regularly attend a discussion board or maintain a blog or that use any of the other parts of new media to supplement the student learning experience.
Overall, this site uses an antiquated teaching method, which may still appeal to older students but on the other hand it is one that I think that younger students might find boring and hard to hold their attention. It certainly has its merits, but those are few and far between. There is much that I would do differently if I had been given the chance to design this learning experience as an ID. I think that a new generation of learners deserves a new generation of educator, who is willing to find new ways to pass on knowledge to all learners and not just to those of a certain type.
Open courses are a great way to help students expand their knowledge of material in different areas, but I still think that we as ID’s should be certain that these experiences provide a good learning experience for students of different learning styles.
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