Review of Open Source Course

I was tasked to select a course from a free Open Course site and review it. The course review should be based on the instructional design techniques and concepts that were discussed this week in our textbook. The course review should answer the following three questions:
– Does the course appear to be carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment? How so?
– Does the course follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in your course textbook?
– Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students?
The open course I selected for review was Electricity and Magnetism from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Open Course site (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-02-electricity-and-magnetism-spring-2002/index.htm). This is what I found based on the three questions.

Does the course appear to be carefully pre-planned and designed for distance learning environment? How so?
After reviewing this course what I can conclude is that this in not really a distance learning course at all but more like someone took some of the classroom course material and converted it electronically and saved it to the internet for people to view. The course has 36 lecture videos that are pretty much someone set up a camera in the classroom and recorded the instructor teaching his students. The course assignments and exams with solutions are all posted on a link in the course. Some fundamentals of teaching online that should be considered is avoid dumping face to face course onto the web, integrate the power of the web in the course and apply adult learning principles (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012). This course pretty much did the opposite and dumped a whole lot of material from the classroom online, did not use any interactivity or tools the web provides and definitely did not apply any adult learning principles since there is no particular set guidance or structure for the student on how to go through the course. Simonson, et al. 2012, stated that when planning for instruction at a distance that faculty should keep in mind that traditional classroom courses may need to be retooled, revised and interactivity implemented. None of this was planned in this course and the course is just a static bunch of classroom material that has been given some kind of organization on a website.

Does the course follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in your course textbook?
The course does not follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in the course textbook. In any instructional setting, students benefit when they have a clear view of such issues as class organization and student responsibilities (Simonson, et al. 2012) This is usually done through a syllabus but this course has a weak syllabus that does not provide the objectives, learning goals or outcomes that are expected from the student. Students need to have a sense of community within their class (Simonson, et al. 2012). There is no communication with other students or an instructor in this class to establish a sense of community. As I stated before there is no type of interactivity within the course other than watching 36 lecture videos. There are also not many activities such as an application to enforce what was learned in the videos other than the 11 assignment items on the link and some can’t be done unless you have the equipment mentioned in the assignment. Pretty much this course does not follow the majority of recommendations and concept for distance learning prescribed in our textbook.

Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students?
The course designer did not implement any course activities that maximized active learning. All that was done in this course was the classroom lectures were recorded and placed online with some additional material. The course is very static with no interactivity to engage the student through scenarios or simulations and through dialogue engagement with other students by using a threaded discussion or class blog.
Open source courses is best use to learn additional knowledge on a subject you have some familiarity with but I would not recommend it if you want to learn something new.

MIT Open Courseware (2013), Electricity and Magnetism, retrieved from http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-02-electricity-and-magnetism-spring-2002/index.htm
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance – Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

 

Selecting Distance Learning Technlogies

Asynchronous Training Scenario

In an effort to improve its poor safety record, a biodiesel manufacturing plant needs a series of safety training modules. These stand-alone modules must illustrate best practices on how to safely operate the many pieces of heavy machinery on the plant floor. The modules should involve step-by-step processes and the method of delivery needs to be available to all shifts at the plant. As well, the shift supervisors want to be sure the employees are engaged and can demonstrate their learning from the modules.

Before I propose a solution, I would want to find out if the actual cause for the poor safety record is related to employees not properly trained on how to safely operate the equipment. I would conduct a performance analysis and observe the employees at work using each of the machinery. I would also check out the work environment, each machine and conduct employee interviews to see what they can provide on what they believe is the cause of the poor safety record. Once the analysis is done and it shows that safety is a problem, then I can start designing a solution. Since the course would have to be available for employees on all shifts, I would recommend an asynchronous type e-learning course. I would set up a two phase training to ensure employees understand the safety procedures on each equipment. The first part would be the online training and the second part would involve an actual equipment hands on portion where the employees would demonstrate and be certified they can perform the safety procedures by an experienced shift supervisor.

The online portion would involve several modules of instructions on each piece of equipment. The modules would show each task needed to be performed to safely to operate each equipment. The best approach to show a task oriented process such as teaching proper safety procedures on equipment is to have a course that has a combination multimedia approach. People learn better from both words and pictures (Mayer, 2009). Employees should be able to get a visual of the safety procedures they must follow along with narration explaining each process. The best way to capture this is by making a video for each piece of equipment with a subject matter expert explaining all the safety procedures involved for the equipment. The video would be added to each equipment module in the e-learning course by converting them to a Flash video or a YouTube type. It’s also important to just provide the relevant information in the videos as well as throughout the course. People learn better when extraneous material is excluded rather than included (Mayer, 2009). In the video as well as the course in general you want to just give information explaining and related to safety procedures. You don’t want to start giving extra info not relevant to safety such as tips on how to use the equipment since the objective of the course are equipment safety procedures.

Next the course needs to be engaging. A reason for ineffective e-learning is that courses are rushed to be made and the learning is not reinforced by some type of application (Hamtinin, 2008). This will be accomplished in two ways. First, a simulation will be added to each of the equipment modules where the employees can practice what they saw in the videos by doing the safety procedures on each machinery in a simulated computer based environment. These simulations can be created using NGRAIN simulation software or if on a tight budget for this project, Adobe Captivate will work also. The difference between NGRAIN and Captivate is that NGRAIN can provide high quality interactive 3D images that can be rotated and taken apart. After they complete the online course they will start the second phase of their training and the second application. This is when they would be turned over to their shift supervisor and would demonstrate what they learned on the actual equipment. This will ensure that they can perform what they learned on the online course and the performance can be certified by the shift supervisor. This dual channel training should help the company improve their safety record.

Adobe Captivate 7. (2013). Retrieved July 19, 2013, from http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate.html

Hamtini, T.M. (2008). Evaluating E-learning Programs: An adaptation of Kirkpatrick’s Model to accommodate e-learning environments. Journal of Computer Science, 4(4), 693-698. Retrieved from Education Research Complete Database

Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia Learning (2nd ed.) New York/NY: Cambridge University Press

NGRAIN. (2013). Retrieved July 19, 2013, from http://www.ngrain.com/

 

Defining Distance Learning

What is distance education? What does the future hold for distance learning? In this blog I explore the meaning of distance education as well as what the future holds for it. The definition of distance learning has different meaning to different people and even articles on distance learning vary in their definition. The different delivery medium is probably the main reason for different definition and views of distance learning.

When I initially think of distance learning, I see it as e-learning or internet based training. Asynchronous and synchronous type internet training is what I picture when I hear the term distance learning. I probably thought that this was all that defined distance learning because that is the type of training I work developing and is probably the most popular type of distance learning that is currently used today. It wasn’t till I read the history of distance learning in our textbook that I realized that there was more to distance learning then just internet based training. I had forgotten that before computers were popular that there was a type of distance learning that was done through the mail known as correspondence courses. Correspondence type training can be delivered through mail by letters, by audio through tapes or CD’s, and by video through VHS tapes or DVD’s. This type of distance learning still exists today. In the Air Force they still used mail type correspondence training. Airmen in the Air Force need to take and pass what is called Career Development Courses (CDC’s) to advance from apprentice to journeyman. The CDC’s are paper based and are delivered through the mailing system. There are also still colleges and other institutes that offer courses by using and provide instructional material through the mail or video media. Other forms of distance learning that are rarely considered is a programmed television course on a public access channel or a university channel. One thing for sure is that there is more to distance learning then just the type that is found on the internet.

Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek (2012)  define distance learning as an institution based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors. Looking at this definition makes distance learning into something very complicated but I look at distance learning as something that’s simpler.  The definition of distance learning that I came up with is learning that takes place by instruction that is delivered at a distance through various medium. I like this definition because it covers a lot of delivery methods of distance learning. I also think the most important thing is that learning is taking place. A lot of people don’t consider YouTube being distance learning but I think it is because lots of people use it to learn how to do various things. YouTube is not different from having a video showing teaching you how to do something.

Distance learning has evolved through time and advancements in technology have helped to change it. We have seen distance learning go from letter type, video through VHS or DVD, audio such tapes, CD’s, all the way to what we have now which is computer internet based training. Today distance learning is expanding into our cell phones into what is called mobile learning or m-learning. The rise of smart phones has made it a great tool to deliver distance learning. Virtual worlds such as Second Life have also provided another great medium to deliver distance learning. Many colleges and universities have set up campuses in Second Life. It is as close to a traditional classroom as you can get using a computer. Holograms are an up and coming technology which I believe will have an effect on distance learning. Japanese Scientist has already created touchable holograms (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3seTlvQtIgc). Once this technology is fully developed I believe it will change distance learning and take it to a new level. Just imagine distance learning courses where you can manipulate the image you see in a 3D environment.

As you can see the delivery medium of distance learning is what complicates and gives it different meaning to different folks. With the upcoming advancements in technology the definition and the way distance learning is delivered will continue to change. Regardless of these changes the most important thing is that another avenue is available to educate and teach.

NTDTV (2009).Japanese Scientists Create Touchable Holograms. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3seTlvQtIgc

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

 

Reflection on Learning Theories Course

This course has given me a better understanding of the different learning theories and styles. It has helped me see how people learn and why they sometimes might have difficulties learning.  For example, a course might be a lecture type with little or no interaction and you might have some students having difficulty and not motivated because they like learning using a hands on approach or need lots of visuals to help them comprehend. One of the surprising things I learned was that people don’t just have and use only one particular learning style or theory to learn. People might have a dominant way to learn such as some people are visual learners but they will adapt and change their style for certain types of stimulus that are presented in the learning environment if they don’t see the visual learning style approach as the best way to grasp what is being taught to them.

This course deepened my understanding of my personal learning process by exposing me to the different learning theories and styles which led to me realizing that my learning process was more complex than I initially thought. When I first started the class I thought the learning theories that best align with how I view learning were the behaviorist and the empiricism view. I believed that we all learned by interacting with our environment through some stimuli to engage the learning (Ertmer & Newby, 1993). Then after learning about the various other learning theories I realized that the way I learned was a little more complicated and related to the connectivist and social learning theories. I learned that networking and the strength of the relationships within the network is a factor influencing learning (Davis, Edmunds & Kelly-Bateman, 2008). I realized that I did not just learn from a stimulus presented in my environment but also from interactions and with other people. A learned that a lot of my learning happened through my social network with interaction with friends, family, coworkers, trainers and instructors. When I developed my learning mind map I also realized that I used different networks to learn. I use everything from technology, professional organization, formal training, non-technology and social network to learn.

There is definitely a connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology and motivation. One way to motivate students and keep them interested in a course is to use technology. The technology used will be based on the learning theory and style that comforts to the majority of the students in the course.  Using technology such as a multimedia type computer based training course allows for stimulation of several senses which leads to better learning. For example, if you use computer based type training then you might want to keep the students interest in the course by providing an application. This application might be a behaviorist type simulation where the student just follow does and repeats what they just saw or a cognitive type simulation where the student is presented with a problem and they have to draw from experience to solve the problem. It can be said that all the learning theories are well complemented with the use of technology to help enhance its learning approach.

The knowledge gained in this course will definitely help me with my duties as an instructional designer. This course has provided a good foundation on the different learning theories and styles. It is an essential skill when developing courses and will become useful when conducting your analysis and information gathering prior to beginning any design or development (first phase of ADDIE Model). Part of analysis is to gather information on the intended audience for the training (audience analysis). During this analysis is where we get to know what type of students will be attending the course. We will get information such as the age group, education experience, work experience, interest, possible motivators and geography of your audience are just a few of the information that can be gathered. This information will be used to help design what type of tone to use in the course, what type of examples to use, and what type of role playing or other activities to set up (Piskurich, 2006). Once you finish your audience analysis, you will have some idea of what type of students you might be getting to the course and you can use this data to decide which learning theories might be useful and appropriate to meet the problem, task or objective the course is intended to meet. Depending on the learning theories chosen, this will depend what type of graphics, videos, audio, simulation, and other multimedia you will use in the development of the course. Learning theories definitely have its uses and will help in the design of courses and insuring that they are developed to help the student learn.

 

References

Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching and technology

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features from an Instructional Design Perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly , 50-72.

Ormrod, J. E., Schunk, D. H., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning Theories and Instruction. New York: Laureate Publishing, Inc.

Piskurich, G. M. (2006). Rapid Instructional Design: Learning ID Fast and Right. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons Inc

 

Fitting the Pieces Together

As I just finished learning about all the major different learning theories and learning styles, I can look back on the way I thought I learned and realized my learning style might be a little more complex and involve some of the other theories. I initially thought I just learned using the behavioral theory but I can see myself now more related to a connectivist/social learning theory. I realized that I don’t learn in a vacuum and by myself. I learn not only from a stimulus presented in my environment but by interaction with other people. Learning takes place for me by combining my experiences with that of other people that have can have an influence on me. (such as mentors, instructors, experienced coworkers/friends/family members).   I tend to learn using different networks. Through the use of my social network, I can learn at work through interaction with my co-workers on job related taskings and problems. For personal matters I can collaborate with family and friends to learn and come up with solutions to problems and taskings away from work. If I am in class I can coordinate with classmates to solve problems that are class related for the most part. I can also network with people by attending seminars, conferences and classroom type training that puts together people that work in the same field. I can also use a non technology approach to learn by engaging in self directed learning using books, magazines or newspapers to gather new information. I also use the capabilities that technology brings to learning. I have taken computer based training, used blogs, YouTube, search engines and been to different website to learn and gather information for both work and personal learning.  Technology plays a major role also because most of the work I do at my job is done using technology such as computers and smartboards (used for in-house training).

 

Connectivism

Learning is something that is not done on your own. Most learning occurs through different connections or networks. For example, most people learn their trade or profession by first going to school. While at school they learn through their classmate and instructors. After school and once in a job, they begin learning more about their trade through their coworkers. After being in the job for a while, they then begin to enhance their skills through by attending seminars and professional organizations. It is through all these different connections that a person becomes an expert in their profession.

I have created a mind map illustrating my learning network. This network has provided me a large resource of knowledge I can tap into whenever I need answers or assistance with solving problems that I can’t figure out on my own. This network also provides me the tools I need to assist me with my learning such as computers, smartphones, and even the television. These digital tools allow me to connect to an even wider amount of resources by allowing me to access information and people through the internet.

My mind map is proof of George Siemens theory of connectivism in that in today’s digital age there is such a vast amount of knowledge out there that the only way a person can use it for their personal gains is through the use of learning networks. Learning networks are key in assisting us with decisions and keeping up with changes that affect our environment (Chaos Theory). Learning networks also provides a mean for continuous learning since it gives you a large resource of information that is not static and is also changing and being updated.

 

Two Interesting Websites on Learning and the Brain

A useful site that I used in my last class called Mind Tools. This site provides lots of good tools to sharpen your problem solving skills and overall learning skills. It contains lots of self-evaluation quiz that are useful in analyzing how good you’re learning and problem solving skill are at this moment. It also provides tips and advice to improve those skills. The website also has a lot of good information and self-evaluation quizzes on other topics such as leadership, communication, project management, decision making, career skills, strategy tools, stress management, time management, and creativity.

Website: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TMC.htm

 

An interesting site I came across while researching different websites on the brain and learning is a site called Brain Metrix. It is a website that calls itself the gym for the brain. It has exercises that supposed to help your brain process information more quickly and efficiently. It also provides several self-evaluating quizzes and games that are meant to analyze and tune your brain. Lots of the exercises are timed and the goal is to repeat it to increase your brain skills by improving your time. This works kind of like going to the gym and working out your muscles. You first start slow and as you exercise more you increase your rate and weights to gain bigger stronger muscles.   Some of these exercises are not easy, now are they actually improving my brain, can’t say for sure but they are fun and can be addictive.

Website:  http://www.brainmetrix.com/

 

 

Two Interesting Websites on Learning and the Brain

A useful site that I used in my last class called Mind Tools. This site provides lots of good tools to sharpen your problem solving skills and overall learning skills. It contains lots of self-evaluation quiz that are useful in analyzing how good you’re learning and problem solving skill are at this moment. It also provides tips and advice to improve those skills. The website also has a lot of good information and self-evaluation quizzes on other topics such as leadership, communication, project management, decision making, career skills, strategy tools, stress management, time management, and creativity.

Website: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TMC.htm

 

An interesting site I came across while researching different websites on the brain and learning is a site called Brain Metrix. It is a website that calls itself the gym for the brain. It has exercises that supposed to help your brain process information more quickly and efficiently. It also provides several self-evaluating quizzes and games that are meant to analyze and tune your brain. Lots of the exercises are timed and the goal is to repeat it to increase your brain skills by improving your time. This works kind of like going to the gym and working out your muscles. You first start slow and as you exercise more you increase your rate and weights to gain bigger stronger muscles.   Some of these exercises are not easy, now are they actually improving my brain, can’t say for sure but they are fun and can be addictive.

Website:  http://www.brainmetrix.com/

 

 

Three Useful Blog Sites on Instructional Design

During my search through different blogs and resources in the field of instructional design, I came across three sites that interest me and would provide a future source of information in my continue studies. The first site is Big Dog & Little Dog blog. This site has articles on instructional design and performance. It also contains many links to many other blogs and useful sites on instructional design and e-learning. If you go to Big Dog & Little Dog’s main website you will have an abundant source of information on everything from instructional design, leadership, performance, e-learning, learning concepts and theory. It also contains section on learning and training that contains many theories and major contributors to the field of learning. This site is very useful when needing information on many topics in instructional design since it has many links to different concepts within instructional design. The site is owned by Mr. Donald Clark and it has been around for over 15 yrs. His blog has been around for 8 yrs.

Blog site:  http://bdld.blogspot.com/         main web page:  http://nwlink.com/~donclark/

The second site is The Rapid E-learning Blog. This site contains many articles on developing e-learning without any programming using PowerPoint or a rapid e-learning authoring software. You can also find tips on using audio, video and graphic designs. There are articles on everything from beginning e-learning, developing e-learning templates, using multimedia, and managing e-learning projects. This blog is a good source for anyone who builds e-learning since it contains lots of useful tips and templates. The blog is owned by Mr. Tom Kuhlmann and he explains everything to do with e-learning in simple terms without getting to technical.

Blog site:  http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/

This last site is the Games Based Learning Blog. This site contains many articles on using and developing computer based games for learning. It has interesting topics talking about why game based learning works in education, different tools you can use to create games for learning and contains links to other useful sites dealing with the use of computer games and simulation for learning. This blog is a good source to get an idea on how computer games and simulation can be used in learning. The site also contains a couple of demos showing how computer game based learning in action. The blog is owned by Paul Ladly and his daughter Sian Ladley.

Blog Site:  http://www.games-based-learning.com/

 

First Blog

Hello Everyone! This is my first blog using WordPress Blog. I am excited to see how useful blogs are and how they work since I am new to blogging.