DEPM 622
The Business of Distance Education and E-Learning
In the Business of Distance Education and E-Learning, I am creating my business plan related to Distance Education. I chose funding as my focus area because student equity and school funding are passions of mine. I plan to pursue funding in the second phase of my career or when I retire.
My business idea centers around the establishment of a women-owned small business focused on funding and support to schools. This vital support area will provide more opportunities for our schools for innovative learning opportunities that prepare our nation's students for college and career. The mission of Integral Writing Services (IWS) is to connect schools with funding to ensure equitable school programs and innovative learning opportunities that prepare our nation's students for college and careers of the future. We are passionate about funding and student success! |
DEPM 604
Management and Leadership in Distance Education and E-learning
A1 - Evaluation of Theorist John P. Kotter
I quickly became a fan of John P. Kotter in the Management and Leadership in Distance Education and E-Learning course. Professor Olcott exemplified an example of good leadership and the class discussions were lively and engaging. In our first paper were were tasked to "write an essay on a theorist for management and leadership explained through the theorist's ideas and contributions."
A2 - Leadership Characteristics & Outcomes
In assignment 2, we were asked to use critical thinking to apply management and leadership theories to an observed leaders behavior. As an INJF it was no surprise I was drawn to inspirational leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, better known as simply "Gandhi." Professor Olcott gave insightful feedback, including that I "gave Gandhi too much credit for historical events such as the "creation of independent India, which was in many ways the natural evolution of the decline of the British Empire and rise of geopolitics in India"; however, he was certainly someone who pushed the needle. Professor Olcott raised an important point, that WWI played a big part in influencing these changes, and "changed the entire structure of world power."
A3 - Leadership in Distance Education
Assignment 3 featured a vision for our future in leadership in Distance Education. While I could have argued that there is a grey area on just what qualifies an individual to be Secretary of Education in the United States, and therefore, I might be eligible, I brought myself down to earth and discussed how I seek "to improve and develop management and leadership skills that are essential to successful leadership in changing environments", to grow as a Senior Manager and future education leader.
DETT 611
Library and Intellectual Property Issues in Distance Education and E-Learning
A1 - Information Literacy and Fair Use was an exploration of fair use where I featured an analysis of a law review journal discussion of fair use in the education context. I argue that teachers must be able to use content including distributing and creating derivative works from existing copyrighted materials for use in instruction.
A2 - Course Ownership
"The purpose of this essay is to analyze the strength of the Stanford University Intellectual Property policy as a pillar of support to scholarly research, and recognition of faculties contributions towards the “development of new ways to reach students more effectively” (Stanford University, 2013)."
A3 - Copyright Case Analysis
"Only one thing is impossible for God: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet (Twain, 1902)."
A4 - The importance of Libraries and Librarians to Promote Information Literacy
A4 was an exploration and analysis of the importance of libraries and our librarians in a time of misinformation. "Librarians have the responsibility of educating the community on methods to address the issue of misinformation and to employ tools to combat extreme skepticism while promoting critical thinking as a means of remedying this crucial issue (Bjork, 2018)."
A5 - The CRAP Test.
You can find a recorded, animated presentation that accompanies A5 in the link to DETT 611 below. "This media-rich tutorial includes an overview of the C.R.A.A.P. test as a method to fully prepare students to be responsible digital citizens by being responsible consumers of information on Social Media (Bjork, 2018)."
OMDE 606
Cost and Economics of Distance Education and E-Learning
A2 - Online Course Costing Model
A3 - Online Component Cost Analysis
I struggled with the cost piece of distance education in A2, and received the only poor score in the entire MDE program. Sometimes we have to fail to realize how much we can accomplish and I was proud to make significant improvements and scored an A on my final assignment. This put me first hand in the perspective of a struggling student, who through material feedback from the instructor, grit, and perseverance I was able to turn my failure into success. Growth mindset!
DETC 620
Training and Learning with Multimedia
A1 - Multimedia to Enhance Learning Environments for Learner Preference, Style and Need
A2 - Multimedia Toolkit accompanied by multimedia enhanced version with tech tool VoiceThread.
DETT 607
Instructional Design & Course Development
A1 project proposal was based on a fictional scenario to provide training to teachers at my current organization. The organization referenced is a real organization; however, the scenarios used in this proposal are entirely fictional and for educational purposes only.
A2 continues building on the project proposal with the design concept for the training. I chose to focus on change management because it has become an interest of mine and a skill I believe will be highly transferable to my future career.
A3 was the culmination of the project and design plan in a presentation for the course and instructional designers. I was so proud when the instructor asked to use my presentation as an example in subsequent courses.
I learned much about instructional design including Gagne's nine elements of instruction, andragogy (adult learning theory), constructivist theory, and how to put what I have learned about design and theory into practice. Developing this course helped me immerse myself into many of the subjects I write about in my career, but do not engage in like a teacher, or instructional designer. It has helped me develop new knowledge of segmenting, how constructivist learning theories applies to the curriculum my organization creates as "learners construct knowledge through authentic and relevant project-based activities (Bates, 2015)."
OMDE 603
Technology in Distance Education and E-learning
Implementation was an assignment whereby I put forth a hypothetical proposal and implementation plan for the organization to use compliance reviews by leading quality assurance organizations such as Learning List and Quality Matters for quality compliance.
Note - the organization is a real organization, but the scenarios put forth in this assignment are fictional and for educational purposes only.
The Future of Distance Education was a look at what distance education technologies might look like in 5 to 10 years.
OMDE 608
Learner Support in Distance Education
A1 - Learner Profile and Context
OMDE 610
Teaching and Learning in Distance Education
Teaching & Learning in Online and Distance Education - OMDE 610 featured "an exploration of the online teaching and learning dynamic, including its theoretical foundation and best practices." This course was immediately applicable in my career as I begun to understand how theory applies in the distance education field, and what it takes to create effective learning environments.
A link to additional reflections for OMDE 610 can be found at the link below - "OMDE 610 Reflections."
A link to additional reflections for OMDE 610 can be found at the link below - "OMDE 610 Reflections."
OMDE 601
Foundations
A1 - Defining Distance Education
Essay 2 - A comparison of distance education institutions in developed and developing countries.
Bibliography - Skill Builder No. 6
A3 - CoI and application to Distance Education
As I learned about the Community of Inquiry (CoI) theory, the business of distance education began to make sense in a different way. The "CoI is important to distance education "because it is an essential guide to research and practice in online education (Akyol, et.al, 2009)."