Reflection: Distance Learning

What do you think the perceptions of distance learning will be in the future (in 5–10 years; 10–20 years)?

I believe that distance learning will continue to grow in the next twenty years. Studies prepared on distance learning show the growth of online education. These statistics are collected from the study Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States, are based on responses of more than 2,500 colleges and universities.        

• More than 3.9 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2007 term; a 12 percent increase over the number reported the previous year.
• The 12.9 percent growth rate for online enrollments surpasses the 1.2 percent growth of the overall higher education student population.    
• More than twenty percent of all U.S. higher education students were taking at least one online course in the fall of 2007 (College Network, 2010).

       

How can you as an instructional designer be a proponent for improving societal perceptions of distance learning?

How can you as an instructional designer be a proponent for improving societal perceptions of distance learning?

As an instructional designer, I would emphasize the importance of distance learning.  I would emphasize that instructional designers have the expertise to design courses that  facilitates learning and engage the learner. Mostly, I would emphasize that instructional designers use models of design such as ADDIE, SME’s and other crucial individuals to design and deliver instruction.

How will you be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of distance education?

         I would design instruction that supports collaboration, utilizes the latest technology and continue to develop clear goals and objectives in instruction.

References

College Network (2010). Why Schools are Going Online? Retrieved October 31,2011 from http://blog.collegenetwork.com/blog/the-future-of-distance-education.

Converting to a Distance Learning Format

 For this week’s blog we had to consider the following scenario: A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.

 I designed a brief instructional guide. The guided consisted of  describing the general abilities of the learners and characteristics. In addition, it emphasized teaching strategies and media selection.  Furthermore, the guide discussed what is needed in the learning environment from the trainer and learner.

The Impact of Open Source

          For this week’s discussion, I evaluated the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Open Course.  I chose to explore the course Survival Skills for Researchers: The Responsible Conduct of Research.

URL: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/media-arts-and-sciences/mas-714j-technologies-for-creative-learning-fall-2009/index.htm

This course is intended to provide graduate students and postdoctoral students with methods, which improve both validity and responsible conduct in scientific practice.  The instructors present practical steps for budding skills in scientific research and are intermix with discussion of cases.  The course explores study design, training of proposals and manuscripts, peer review, authorship, use of humans and non-human animals in research, accusation of misconduct, and intellectual property (Redneck & Brennan 2009).

This course is carefully preplanned and designed for the distance-learning environment because it uses a very straightforward approach of instruction.  Each course consists of the following sections:

Course Home

Syllabus

Calendar

Lecture Notes

Assignments

Readings

A well-designed course enhances the learning experiences and provides different learning tools to address different learning styles (Simonson, et al, 2009).  What I like about this course is that the course is in multiple languages, it contained supplemental readings and .pdf files of the lecture notes.  In addition, the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning by allowing downloads of the learning materials and viewing video presentations.

References:

Redneck, Mitchel, and Karen Brennan. MAS.714J Technologies for Creative Learning, Fall 2009. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare), http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed 09 Oct, 2011). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Simonson, M., Smaldino S., Albright, M.,  Zvacek, S. Teaching and Learning at a Distance. Foundations of Distance Education.  (2009)4^th Ed. Boston, MA. Pearson Education.