Technology in Distance Education & E-Learning
"OMDE 603 provides a review of the history and terminology of technology used in distance education."
"OMDE 603 provides a review of the history and terminology of technology used in distance education."
Final paper for Tech in DE - 100%.
Future Paper Rubric feedback: Stephanie, excellent job with your analysis and application of what it means to be emerging and immersive within the educational environment! Introduction: Great alignment between the literature to your emerging technologies! Analysis: Great information about each technology and I loved the examples you provided to solidify your understanding of the emergence!
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OMDE603 - Grade 97%
Feedback: Stephanie, this is a great proposal. I think you have a solid plan here, but want to make sure you know what you need to happen and not just what Learning List is saying they will do. Make sure you present to them your expectations and the timeline that is needed from your end. Have this strategy helps with the conversations with the vendor. They may push back, which is okay, as long as you are good with their counteroffer! Introduction: Great job with the alignment between Fuel Education and Learning List. I like the implementation of a review process for your company! I think it is great that this is being implemented as we speak! Analysis: Good job with trying to determine the implementation plan. I wished you would have gone a little deeper within the paper, so you know what you are thinking when Learning List comes back with their expectations. It is always a good idea to have a strategy in place for a vendor, so you can see how reasonable their plan is compared to what you are expecting or needing. Overall writing quality, style, APA: Nice flow and comprehensive! Contemplating “what is the future of DE” was nostalgic as I reviewed not only the articles presented, but also my prior definition, which fell into some of the categories outlined as weaknesses in the Five Generation Model proposed by Heydenrych and Prinsloo. Therefore, where before, I primarily focused on the shifts and innovations in technologies as drivers of change for DE – I now need to think more broadly to add the changes that we may see beyond technology in other areas including communication, shifts in learning theories, curriculum and innovation, student support, risk” and more. (Heydenrych & Prinsloo, 2010). I sent a note to Professor Prinsloo through the website "Academia.edu" where the article was posted to thank him for making me think and reexamine my original understanding.
The authors illustration of rock art paintings of nomadic ancestors changed my original view on the origins of the birth of DE. My original understanding of the origin seems minuscule when looking through the lens of Distance Education originating through the transmission of instruction with rock art paintings to nomadic people. The curriculum of the period was based on the skills and knowledge needed to survive and was viewed by visitors over generations (Heydenrych & Prinsloo, 2010). This is a stark contrast to my original impression of the printed press, and Anna Eliot Tickner as the Mother of DE. We can draw a parallel to the description of the skills and knowledge of the curriculum during the nomadic period being based on “survival” – and curriculum of today, also consists of the skills and knowledge students need to succeed beyond college to thrive in the digital age. We could argue that this is also “survival”. The challenge is, that we are educating students for technologies and jobs that do not exist yet, so in essence we are teaching them how to learn – how to become lifelong learners and masters of change. In order to make a more solid judgement on where distance education is going, I am considering a myriad of factors including education laws. I approached this from the view of an educator in the U.S. to apply it to my career. Changes to state and federal laws can impact online education, for example Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaced the No Child Left Behind Act in 2015. This legislation puts the authority of oversight of our nations system of public education back to state and local control. You can find a summary of ESSA here: https://www.iste.org/docs/advocacy-resources/handbook-essa.pdf https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/every-student-succeeds-act/index.html). This legislation impacts the use of technology in DE (among other things) – it is actually embraced as a tool to help provide access to all students. The future of Education will likely include more collaborative environments on both sides (i.e. online and classroom). We are seeing a shift to more modular instruction so that curriculum is more useful and easily dispersed so that students can find their interest, while also factoring what they already know. I also wonder if we will see the term "Distance Education" change to simply Education to fully capture all that education entails. For example, in Moore & Kearsley – the term Education describes "learning and teaching" mindful of both teacher and learner where distance education is better suited to describe the learner experience when engaging with the teacher at a distance. (Moore & Kearsley, 2012). I struggled with the third point, “what I would I call the environment and why terms make a difference”. The term “classroom” is antiquated, and to factor in the new flexible blended environment, I’m fond of the existing terms such as “flex” and the well-known “blended online” classrooms. The term “flex” comes from the flex model of instruction as described by Christensen Institute. I’ve included a link to a handy presentation from Khan Academy that describes the various models (Kahn Academy, 2014). Online classrooms are still classrooms, they are simply meeting differently. Accordingly, “Boundless class” or “Agape class” to try to capture the ever-changing learning environment and the need for learning environments to be adaptive to change. Boundless and Agape are used because they are synonymous with “open” and symbolic of moving away from the proprietary learning systems to more accessible formats that make it easier for educators to deliver instruction that is relevant and applicable to the time. Notice that I removed “room” entirely. We don’t need to contain ourselves to a room to learn. As far as what technology or applications that are no longer being used in education – television came to mind, and gone but not forgotten media including tapes, dvd’s and CD’s are being replaced with online access and virtual asynchronous and synchronous instruction in the form of online classrooms, and YouTube videos, etc. Adobe Flash is also going away. I look forward to reading how the rest of the class discussed the history and old technologies. References Heydenrych, J., & Prinsloo, P. (2010). Revisiting the five generations of distance education. . Quo vadis? Progressio, 32(1).pp 5-26. Kahn Academy. (2014). High-Quality Blended Learning. Four different blended learning models. {Video} Silicon Schools and Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation. Moore, M.G., & Kearsley, G. (2012). Distance Education: A Systems View of Online Learning 3rd Edition. Wadworth Cengage Learning: United States (pp. 1-22). |
AuthorStephanie Bjork is a graduate student at UMUC Archives
August 2018
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