Module 2 EDUC 8842: Principles of Distance Education

Module 2 Post: Elements of Distance Education Diffusion

Dr. Siemens in his video presentation stated that there is a growing acceptance of distance education in today’s corporate and educational spheres (Laureate Education, 2008). Dr. Siemens added that the reason for this growing acceptance of distance education might be related to people gaining experience in communicating online. I agree with this notion because in the past, people used to think that the only time communication is meaningful is when it occurs face-to-face, however, new efficient technologies is changing peoples’ perspectives on this issue.

The Evolution of Global Diversity

Historians and economists believe that the success of the US in a global economy is linked to 227 years of success in diversity (Belcher, 2003).  Essentially, any country that embraces diversity is using a proven plan for succeeding in a global economy. One hundred and forty years ago, President Lincoln pushed for the United States to reiterate its commitment to diversity of which government policies focused on immigrants receiving an education and thus, allowing them to move up from poverty to the middle class (Belcher, 2003). Global diversity evolved as new technologies arose, allowing corporations and schools to have an increase in a diverse body of employees and students. A decade ago no one could imagine having high quality video streaming between individuals at different locations while today streaming videos are almost seamless. The constant influx of new technologies brings endless opportunities to improve online communication, teaching and learning from a distance which includes a diverse student body. Corporations benefit from distance education, allowing interaction between different offices worldwide (Laureate Education, 2008). In other words, distance education promotes learning and how to interact in virtual distributed teams. There is also an increase in contribution from experts within numerous fields worldwide.

Todays Online Tools

Online tools are in abundance today, facilitating interactions between learners in schools and the corporate world. Instant message applications can take various forms, for example, a person’s email may include a “chat” area or Skype can be used for the same purpose. Virtual bookmarks can be shared among learners who are using digital books, for example, Delicious or Diigo. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Friendster, LinkedIn and MySpace allow peers to post photos, videos, and comments as a means of connecting and networking with others online. Ning, as a social networking site, might very well become the next generation of such sites in the sense that it goes beyond what FaceBook allows users to do, moreover, network security is higher. In terms of working in teams professionally, Google does offer useful free tools such as Google Docs and Google groups. As for Video and Podcasting, a learner may choose from either: youtube.com; video.yahoo.com; video.google.com; teacherspodcast.org. Such free Internet sites allow users to upload video and audio files for free and allow access to anyone worldwide, as long as they have a computer and Internet connection.

Other Bloggers Point of View

Julie Mastrine of Penn State University mentioned on her blog that a diverse workplace is important to both creativity and productivity and is often overlooked by employers and hiring managers.  Mastrine explained that diversity is important because it improves the bottom line of a company and help bring together ideas from cultures all over the world, along with new attitudes and perspectives that can help a company be truly competitive. For details see: http://comerecommended.com/2013/01/the-importance-of-diversity-in-your-workplace/ .

I agree with this notion regarding importance of diversity within the corporate world. I also believe this applies to education, since our aim is to improve learning by reaching out to a diverse student body.

             Contrary to this notion, blogger, Zealot144 of Yahoo answers believe that from a global scale, diversity can be seen as a serious challenge whereby wars have been fought.  Zealot144 Explained that Middle Eastern Muslim cultures embrace the Sharia law, which authorizes marriage to three year old girls, sexual contact at six, and intercourse at eight, while western cultures put emphasis on consent and perceives the aforementioned as child molestation. Zealot144 also mentioned that currently, the Western trend is towards acceptance and tolerance of diversity, in an effort to promote global peace while Middle Eastern current trend is toward domination and the spread of the Sharia law. Zealot144 ended by emphasizing that in order to succeed on a global scale, diversity must be understood, assimilated, and accepted. For details see: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091003200719AAQ4sWx .

Zealot144 seems to have a negative attitude toward global diversity. Yes, when communicating on a global scale, cultural diversity must be understood, however, judgment should not be placed on other cultures due to dissimilar viewpoints.  Disparagement or judgment should not be placed on students from various parts of the world who meet and interact with each other and their teachers to gain new knowledge and skills.  The same goes for the corporate environment. One of Walden University’s learning outcomes is that students will become supportive of diversity and multiculturalism within their professions, communities, and society. This makes perfect sense, especially since distance education (which entails much global interaction) will continue to grow in popularity and become more and more accepted worldwide than in the past.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Distance Education: The Future of Distance Education [Video]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Mastrine. J. (2013). The importance of diversity in your workplace. Retrieved from http://comerecommended.com/2013/01/the-importance-of-diversity-in-your-workplace/

Belcher, O. F. (2003). Why diversity matters in a global economy. Cost Engineering, 45(11), 3-4. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220451361?accountid=14872

Yahoo Answers. (2013). What is global diversity? Retrieved from. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091003200719AAQ4sWx

Message for Dr. Moller Regarding Module 1

The following are blogs that I have responded to for module 1:

1) Jeanna Wagner. URL: https://jwagnerwalden.wordpress.com/

2) Theresa Wiggins. URL: http://twiggins-family.blogspot.com/

 I have also responded to classmates who have posted to this blog.

Best Regards,

Ena.

Module 1 EDUC 8842: Principles of Distance Education

Module 1 Post: The Next Generation of Distance Education

Symbolically speaking, there is a giant balloon filled with distance learning opportunities on the verge of exploding, changing traditional ways of thinking and making way to the next generation of learning. I stand by this notion, but must clarify that the old pedagogical principles still apply.  Yes, there is a need for distance learning to evolve to the next generation, a level at which Semantic Web 2.0 is fully supported with its self-directed/community-based learning attributes. Moller, Foshay and Huett (2008) suggested that schools may exist in a vacuum, floating around in time, while the rest of the world advance and adapt to technological changes (p. v). These authors further asserted that on a systemic level, effort is minimal to access and participate in new and exclusive learning opportunities that technology brings to students (pp. v-vi).  Like Anderson (2008), I believed that online learning will become increasingly diverse in response to learning cultures, styles, and motivations (p.39).  In essence, though at a slow rate, the education system will evolve to a higher level than the current state in which we are hardly scratching the surface of learning opportunities that new technologies bring.  

Regarding the rate of adoption for distance learning,  Rogers (2003) theorized that all innovations that were diffused successfully followed an “S” shaped curve whereby little promotional effort would be required after a critical mass of adopters is reached (Rogers, 2003, Chapter 6, Section 2, para. 2). Anderson (2008) believed that critical mass has not yet been achieved in design or practice, to demonstrate the value of online learning (pp.250-251). Contrary to this belief, Dr. Michael Simonson in his video postulated that we are at the point of critical mass regarding online learning, whereby the innovation no longer requires promotion, it simply needs to be instilled into our pedagogical activities (Laureate Education, 2008).  I agree with this concept, but to a certain extent in that there are still many areas in online learning that require attention, for example, the issue of not attending to a diverse body of learners. Another weakness, of which Anderson (2008) pointed out, was poor educational application in web-based instruction.  Anderson (2008) believed that this problem might be linked to reality that critical mass has not been achieved. Whether or not online learning is at a point of critical mass, it would not hurt if educators launch programs that demonstrate the usefulness of this alternate learning mode. Although distance learning obviously has countless benefits, the rate of acceptance is sluggish which seems to be related to vested interests at the systems level in education.

References

Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed.). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.

Clark, R. E. (1983). Reconsidering research on learning from media. Review of Educational Research, 53(4), 445–459.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Distance Education: The Next Generation [Video]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York, NY: Free Press. [Kindle touch version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com. 

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C. (2008, September/October). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67.

EDUC 8840: Evolution of Educational Technology

Module 1 Project Assignment, Timeline Creation



Please Click the following Link to Play the Presentation below:

http://prezi.com/he6jlej5qvb8/educ-8840-time-line-project/

EDUC-7105-1/EDUC-8845-1 Module 6 Blog Post

Note for Dr. Moller: I have posted on the following two blogs for this module: Sarah Dillahunt’s blog http://sarahdwaldenu.blogspot.com/ and Toni Duke’s blog http://momtech-eeducatorblogger.blogspot.com/. 

Learning in a Digital World

The elements that I consider to be critical and non-negotiable in teaching and learning are based on multiple learning theories, although my focus is centered mostly on constructivism. In other words, learning is a complex matter in which it seems impossible to conceive of a single theory broad enough to encompass all important aspects of learning and yet still specific enough to be useful for instruction (Driscoll, 2005, p. 411). We have little choice but to work together, adding to the body of knowledge ways in which we can help to improve instruction. Hopefully, as educators in America, we can come up with new learning and/or instructional theories that will help to keep Americans creative in this fast-paced competitive digital age. As teachers, we should encourage our students to grow different intelligences that would help him or her to achieve the required learning goal. Behaviorism served the purpose of accessing students’ mastery of learning objectives. Cognitivism served the purpose of promoting students’ motivation. Constructivism served the purpose of students’ learning in a social environment, as they work together to make sense of their experiences (Driscoll, 2005, page 387).  On the otherhand, in this digital age, connectivism served the purpose of an instructional theory in that it identified methods that will best provide the conditions under which learning goals will most likely be attained (Reigeluth, 1983). Connectivism as an instructional theory, supports constructivism as in which Siemens urged educators and designers to move with the times in assisting learners in making use of information in today’s digital world (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). In essence, what I believe to be critical and non-negotiable in teaching and learning, is an ongoing patch work of present learning theories and instructional theories that are related to the required learning outcomes.

Like many doctoral students today, I have experienced learning in both online and face-to-face learning environments. Technology has not changed the way we learn as individuals, although it does have an impact on our learning environment.  In short, what it means to know has not changed; however, the means might have changed in this digital era. Result or outcome is part of Driscoll’s list of three basic components that are needed for building a learning theory:  results, means and inputs (Driscoll, 2005, p. 9). How students learn best in this technological era depends on the learning outcome and whether the means and input work well with that required learning outcome. Therefore, learners’ results (or learning outcomes) will be affected if the means and inputs are lacking.  From what I have seen, often learners who are well connected and resourceful online tend to stand a better chance of performing well in school these days.  Judging from my experience, face-to-face learning versus online learning is by far richer in respect to richness of media. In 2002, Qureshi, Morton, and Antosz expressed that students in distance learning were less motivated than their on-campus counterparts.  In contrast, during 2007, Huett, Moller, Harvey and Engstrom revealed that groups have a motivational impact on learners in an online environment, although the impact was not transferable to changes in students’ attitudes. Also, as sited in Huett et al. (2007),  Kruger (2000) explained that students in distant learning are capable of developing meaningful relationships with faculty and fellow students when they engage in learning communities “unbound by the barriers of time and place” (p. 59). Going by my experience, face-to-face is a richer form of learning than online learning, of which I have seen some disturbing differences between the two forms of learning.  For instance, I recall feeling isolated during my MBA online program to the point where I felt like dropping out entirely.  Despite the numerous means of communal support that were introduced, I felt lonely.  Fortunately, I came across an ex-class mate from one of my onsite undergrad classes who was enrolled in the same MBA program but onsite.  We would meet occasionally with the aim of making sense of everything. One thing remained with me was that the onsite equivalent MBA program was not as challenging as the online version. For example, once I had to submit a five sheet excel work book for one of my courses, while my friend onsite only had to submit a single sheet! It seems that teachers online tend to stick with the curriculum, while those onsite might tinker with it, making it less challenging for learners. My impression of online learning versus face-to-face learning  is that while online learning is convenient in that learners can work at their own pace asynchronously, learning online is strict and demanding for both the teacher and the learner.

References

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Huett, J.B., Moller, L.A, Harvey, D., & Engstrom, M.E. (2007). Examining the use of learning communities to increase motivation. Information age publishing

Qureshi, E., Morton, L. L., & Antosz, E. (2002). An interesting profile: University students who take distance education courses show weaker motivation than on-campus students. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 5(4).

Reigeluth, C. M. (1983). Instructional design: What is it and why is it? In C.M. Reighluth (Ed.), Instructional-design theories and models. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Siemens, G. (2006), Connectivism Learning Theory [Video file]. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer) Baltimore: Author.

Note for Dr. Moller on Module 5 Blog Assignment

The following blog post is for Module 5. I have posted on the following two blogs for this module: Joy Winterhalder http://jwinty.edublogs.org and Ron Smalley http://ron-s.blogspot.com/.

EDUC-7105-1/EDUC-8845-1 Module 5 Blog Post

New Technologies

Going by what I have seen over the years of being a tutor and teacher, people in general have positive attitudes toward experimenting with new technologies in the workplace. However, there are always a few individuals who might put up resistance to change. Some might out rightly oppose these new ideas, while others might engage in a more subtle resistance to the change. I believe that teachers who engage in passive resistance can have a major negative impact on students’ learning.  For one, there will be inconsistencies in terms of what students expect to use as tools as they move through their programs.  I find resistance to new technologies in the workplace to be disheartening, since there is so much new learning resources out there that educators could tinker with that might help to motivate learners.

An Educator may encourage students to learn by employing a motivational design. According to John M. Keller, motivational design refers to the process of arranging resources and actions to bring about changes in motivation (Keller, 2006). Keller explained that a motivational design can be useful in terms of increasing students’ motivation to learn, workers’ motivation, the design can be used to develop of specific motivational characteristics in individuals, and to improve an individual’s skill in self-motivation (Keller, 2006). Marcy P. Driscoll explained Keller’s model for understanding motivation in her text.  Driscoll explained that Keller assumed that learners’ motives (or values) along with their expectancies, will influence the degree of attention and effort they will supply to a learning task (Driscoll, 2005, p. 332). The idea is that multiple elements contribute to a learner’s performance, elements that go beyond a person’s current capabilities and skills. One troubling item is failure, where this may negatively influence the learner’s motivation in future learning experiences.

I currently teach at a college in my neighborhood for almost one year now and interestingly, last week I was asked to speak at the school’s faculty development meeting.  Having a technical background along with a good rapport with students, I was asked to train faculty members on collaborative tools that students can use for their course projects.  Most professors seemed interested and excited as I began with a brief overview of the various free tools that are available for students to use.  However, some faculty members appeared uneasy once I mentioned the possible roles that they as educators can play pertaining to the collaboration process for these course projects.  In other words, once professors realized that their input would require tinkering with the actual technologies; they became more or less daunted by the rest of what I had to say.  For example, instead of asking each student to complete a “team evaluation” form, professors could simply asked students to share for instance their Google Document account with him or her.  In this way, professors would readily have access to the revision history of course projects and will be able to see the actual input of all team members.  One problem that surfaced was that most professors were reluctant to setting up additional accounts outside of what they are familiar with of which most of these programs will require new user accounts. 

On the contrary, last week my students and I were online discussing creative ways of how to improve and monitor their own learning. I wish other professors at the school could have witnessed how much information some of these young students are tapping into on their own! My students and I spoke of technologies that might aid their personal learning styles for instance, text-to-speech software that can help students whose learning styles are more auditory.  Some students spoke about various ways in which they can use their iPads to increase their learning since their learning style might be more visual.  The whole point that I am making is how these young learners are more open to experimenting with new technologies in comparison to my fellow professors at the school which can become a problem since students might lose interest and become bored with traditional teaching methods.  My students constantly let me know how much they enjoy being in my class, and I believe it has to do with my openness to new technologies and my willingness to uncover new ways of achieving learning goals with them.

I was told that my overall presentation at the faculty developmental meeting was a success; however, it was disturbing to sense the subtle resistance that some professors displayed towards collaborative tools. As mentioned above, I am used to seeing students displaying sheer excitement in regards to new technologies, therefore, I feel the need to press towards winning the minds of those professors who displayed resistance.  With that said, the implementation of Keller’s ARCS motivational design process might increase the level of success the next time that I am asked to continue with the series of presentations on collaborative tools at my place of work.  Keller expressed that this motivational design is a systematic problem solving approach that requires knowledge of human motivation and progresses from learner analysis to solution design (Keller, 1987, pp. 1-8). This design process would include: 1) knowing and identifying the elements of human motivation; 2) analyzing audience characteristics to determine motivational requirements; 3) identifying characteristics of instructional materials and processes that stimulate motivation; 4) Selecting appropriate motivational tactics; and 5) applying and evaluating appropriate tactics (Keller, 2006).  Even though Keller’s ARCS model seems feasible, I am still finding the implementation to be challenging in regards to my audience of fellow professors. For me the job of teaching teachers is far more complex than teaching ordinary learners in schools! Maybe someone can shed some light on this matter! How do we motivate professors to learn and adapt to new technologies in the workplace?

References

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Keller, J. M. (1987). The systematic process of motivational design. Performance & Instruction, 26(9), 1-8.

Keller, J. M. (2006).  Retrieved on November 7, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.arcsmodel.com/Mot%20dsgn%20Mot%20dsgn.htm