Sunday, May 26, 2013

Week 3 Application Assignment


Week Three Application - Interactive Tours

A high school history teacher, located on the west coast of the United States, wants to showcase to her students new exhibits being held at two prominent New York City museums. The teacher wants her students to take a "tour" of the museums and be able to interact with the museum curators, as well as see the art work on display. Afterward, the teacher would like to choose two pieces of artwork from each exhibit and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art. As a novice of distance learning and distance learning technologies, the teacher turned to the school district’s instructional designer for assistance. In the role of the instructional designer, what distance learning technologies would you suggest the teacher use to provide the best learning experience for her students?

The availability to access learning materials are now available worldwide.  Although, for the lesson to work the teacher would have to work with the museum curator closely so that the curator will be able to share the art pieces the teacher wants to focus on.  Museums have websites that depict many pieces of art and additional activities and information.  One New York City museum called The Whitney Museum of American Art provided Gallery Talks which were recorded events on specific artists and their work.  They also had a Talk Back page that allowed students to type in their views and comments to different art questions posed.  Now to focus on ways for the museum curator and the classroom to interact her are a couple of tools to enable that moment.  One solution for this type of interaction is videoconferencing (Videoconference - H.323 - Polycom, Cisco/Tandberg, LifeSize, etc...).  The school will need to have the videoconferencing equipment to see and speak with the host.  However, another option is available that does not demand the high cost of the videoconferencing tools and that is web conferencing which can be done with a computer and telephone connection.  One free online conferencing tool available is mikogo (www.mikogo.com).  Another web conferencing technology is BlackBoard Collaborate which allows an image to be presented while also seeing the presenter.  It allows for questions and dialogue to happen throughout the conference.  I was impressed with all that BlackBoard Collaborate had to offer and believe that this is a great way for people to connect internationally to share and learn from one another.  

The following links will take you to sites that detail the above ideas:

http://www.mikogo.com/ - Mikogo Web Conferencing

One drawback noted in our reading to web-conferencing is that the telephone component can be costly (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  I am sure we will see ways to provide this technology without the burden of the telephone cost.  One way already is through the usage of Skype.  We used this technology to conference as a group with people from all over the U.S. and even from Kenya.  Just make sure to get the time right so that it works with everyone no matter where they are located.

References:

Blackboard Inc. (2013). Blackboard collaborate in action. Retrieved from http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Collaborate/Resources/Recorded-Demos.aspx

Fenimore Art Museum. (2013). For teachers/distance learning. Retrieved from http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/fenimore/for_teachers/distance_learning

Mikogo. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.mikogo.com/

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education fifth edition. (5th ed., p. 184). Boston: Pearson.





Sunday, May 12, 2013

Distance Learning Definition and Vision


Education today is changing based on the technological advances. I have been involved in the public educational profession as either an instructor or administrator for 14 years. In that time there have been changes in the way educators teach and how that material is given to students. Educators that have been around a long time sometimes don't always jump on the new fad in the belief that this will too change. However, technology is here to stay and if the public educational system does not embrace it, it too will be left behind. Which brings me to the need for distance learning in public education today, public schools need to take the steps required to bring distance education to their schools and available to their students.

I took my masters five years ago through Duquesne University in a blended format. I took classes online and collaborated with my classmates and spent several weeks on campus in the summer completing coursework face-to-face with my colleagues and instructors. I enjoyed working with students from various areas to collaborate and share ideas. In my job as a teacher I knew we had students taking language courses by “beaming” in the teacher to our high schools across the county at a specific time. So distance education has meant what it still currently means to me today. It is providing education through the means of technology. On the other hand, I now have a better respect for what it can do.

Today I have a new respect and acceptance for distance learning. This year I have taken a new position as the Principal in charge of all online education for our school district. This encompasses all of our cyber students. I know see the true importance of the quality of an online education. It can provide remediation for all of our credit recovery students and yet provide enrichment for our gifted. I have worked hard with students who are not motivated to be independent online learners, eventually requiring that they return to the regular classroom so as not to get further behind in their credits and studies. The online learner has to consistently be monitored and evaluated on their progress and attendance since the public school system still abides by state truancy laws. It is hard to find the perfect balance because each student is different and has different needs and circumstances around why they have chosen a virtual environment for learning. But distance learning provides the benefits of being available at anytime and anywhere. I have worked with teachers to show them the value of some resources online and the ability to access courses for their students to enhance their classroom experience. There is a great value in distance education but there needs to be acceptance of this value for public teachers of today to embrace it and not be threatened by it.

The future of distance learning weighs heavily on my mind since I have been trying to find a better way for our district to run it. In the past, we outsourced all of our distance learning for our cyber students. Also, we have lost many students to outside cyber charter schools. It is hard to compete with the marketing budget these entities have. The way to compete for us is to provide a better, quality education to all students. So next year our district will be looking to use our own teachers to back courses that have been aligned to our district and state standards. I believe this will allow us to keep a better connection with students and keep them involved in all elements of the school environment including field trips, sports, and daily interaction with a teacher. Also, as stated in The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web Part 3 K-12, “Teachers benefit by having potentially greater contact with students who are not normally communicative in a face-to-face classroom.” (Huett, Moller, Foshay, & Coleman, 2008). There are many benefits in distance education and this is just the first step to reach our students who are not in the brick and mortar school environment.

Distance learning provides opportunities for educational growth in many formats. I have explored the ideas within K-12 education already as well of the university setting within my own personal experience. Distance learning is also a benefit to many work environments. It can provide job and skill training to make sure employees have the knowledge required to remain safe and productive in their jobs. Also, distance learning provides the ability for conferences and for people to collaborate and network. Another benefit is that it is cost effective, since the other type of training is more expensive and involved to get to employees (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008). Regardless distance learning will continue to evolve for the world and those in it, either be part of it or be left behind.

References:
Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. R., & Coleman, C. (2008). The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web. Part 3: K-12. Techtrends: Linking Research And Practice To Improve Learning, 52(5), 63-67.
Huett, J., Moller, L., & Foshay, W. R. (2008). The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web. Part 1: Training and Development. Techtrends: Linking Research And Practice To Improve Learning, 52(5), 71.
Distance Learning Web

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Hi!  My name is Misty and this is my first experience blogging.  I am from northwestern Pennsylvania and work in the education field.  I look forward to learning with some great new people.