Graphic Organizer

Graphic organizer located on wiki page below:

http://sites.google.com/site/renjohnedu/graphic-organizer

Many technological tools are used daily by learners. Many of these tools can be incorporated into the field of technology especially in distance course because they have access to Internet.

Technological Tools:

Cell phones:

Cell phones go beyond making phone calls and texting those are uses of the past. They can be used to download information, access emails, discussions, wiki pages, blogs, and podcasts. Especially phones such as the iPhone, G1 with Google, Blackberry and the Droid, have capabilities to access the web with ease and download applications that can be used in the educational field.

MP3 Players:

MP3 players can be used to gather, listen, and view materials that pertain to classes. Learners use these technologies to download music, music videos, and movies for recreational purposes. This same technology can be used to download videos, presentations, and podcasts related to learning.

Computers:

Computers are an obvious technological tools that students use for personal communication: social sites, emails and the like. However computers are a main source of distance learning today. This can be used to access media such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, discussion boards, online classes, and much more. Computers have become easier to access because of wire web and the creation of portable computers such as laptops and netbooks.

Online Collaboration Assessment

George Siemens points out that assessing learners is difficult, especially in an online collaborative learning community. This type of assessment is difficult because traditionally assessment was individualized solely based on facts or skills individuals retained over a given period of time. However, collaboration calls for a different type of assessment. Students collaborate online in many ways, discussion boards, wikis, and blogs to name a few. Siemens mentions that these online forums are a good way for peers to assess each other using methods such as rating scales. However, peer assessment is only a small portion of the overall assessment. Educators must evaluate learners as well. This evaluation could be done by monitoring students' participation in online forums. Did the student participate? Did the student actively comment on others' posts? How much time was spent in the online forum? Did the student respond in a timely manner? All of these questions can help the educator assess the student's collaborative effort. These questions can be answered by looking at the forum, which keep accurate logs of student activity.

Siemens also discusses making the assessment process fair and equitable. He points out that the different ability levels of the students can make assessment difficult. Students who had limited ability in the beginning of a course could make great gains throughout the course, while students who have always been strong in the area make little gains throughout the course showing little change in ability. My answer to that is grade accordingly. Students who had weak post in the beginning should get lower marks for those posts and marks should improve as the quality of the posts improve. On the other hand students that have been strong throughout the course should continue to get high marks. Therefore the grading has been based on ability throughout the course.

Students that do not want to collaborate in a course first should not be in the course to begin with. Students should be aware that most online course call for some sort of group interaction. It's not much that can be done about students who are not willing to participate. However, other group members could encourage participation of that group member by asking questions to get them involved in discussion. This could make the unwilling member feel as though his or her opinion matters and make them more comfortable in a learning community providing a sense of trust that Siemens states in important. The instructor should directly ask the student why he or she is not participating and give tips for collaborating. Siemens points out that students are more likely to participate if they know that contributions are being assessed. If a student fails to collaborate assessment marks should be low. One can not be assessed for work that is not done.

Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Principles of distance education: Assessment of collaborative online learning featuring George Siemens. [DVD]. United States: Walden University.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Principles of distance education: Learning communities featuring George Siemens. [DVD]. United States: Walden University.

Collaboration Storyboard

I placed the my storyboard, in powerpoint and an outline in word, to my wiki. Please follow the link to:
http://sites.google.com/site/renjohnedu/collaboration-storyboard

Collaborative Interaction

In the vodcast, "The Future of Distance Education", Siemens pointed out that there is a growing acceptance in the field of distance education, I must agree with Siemens. This growing acceptance comes as more people experience communication online. The fear that online communication does not facilitate meaningful relationships is subsiding as people learn that these relationships exist in an online community. As technology develops new tools are created that help ease the transition in to online learning communities. Siemens also points out that these communication tools make it easier to collaborate on a global scale diversifying learning outcomes. In addition to distance education corporations are taking advantage of these communication tools, communicating with different offices around the globe. Siemens is just in saying that the use of online communication is growing rapidly. First hand I can say that ten years ago as I attended an undergraduate program in a traditional university I never thought I would participate in distance education. I always thought that I needed an in class professor for motivation. Like Siemens says, I was able to bridge the gap of comfort. When I first took my online class for my master's program, I found it much easier than trying to get back and forth to class and found that distance education was more preferable to me than traditional classroom settings.
Distance Education promotes collaborative interaction. New technology makes this collaboration easier. In a blog by KCDavis "Collaborative Interaction" located at http://educationaljourney1908.blogspots.com/2009/12/collaborative-interaction.html,, the author points out that collaboration has proved to be more effective than working alone. The different talents and abilities of the learning community are able to solve problems more easily. The author also makes mention that this collaboration was made easier with evolution of the Internet and online tools. I agree that online tools such as Blogs, Wikis, Email, and Discussion boards make interaction among groups more efficient and effective. Collaborative interaction also improves the quality of education for some. Blogger Phil Cruver in his post "Collaborative Learning 2.0 for Pakistan" located at http://edutechdebate.org/elearning-promise/collaborative-learning-2-0-for-pakistan/ argues that Web 2.0 has the ability to increase the quality of education in Pakistan. The benefits are endless, but he points out that students just having the ability to access video lectures that are being produced by top teachers in the country could expose them to a better education. Tools such as the webcam which is now inexpensive makes this type of collaboration possible. Distance education promotes collaborative interaction and as distance education continues to grow more and more learners will take advantage of the many tools that enhance collaborative interaction.
References:
George Siemens "The future of Distance Education"
http://educationaljourney1908.blogspot.com/2009/12/collaborative-interaction.html
http://edutechdebate.org/elearning-promise/collaborative-learning-2-0-for-pakistan/

Evolution of Distance Education

After reading the articles by Moller, Foshay , Huett , and Coleman and listening to the video by Simonson I agree that distance education should be evolved to the next generation. In the three articles, The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web, the authors point out very important issues that need to be addressed with the evolution of distance education.

The first of the three articles points out issues corporate e-learners are faced with as well as the growth and benefits of distance education for training purposes. The article mentions that the overall benefit of distance education is economic. However some of the challenges that are being met in this type of training are the quality of the programs, and the speed at which this programed can be developed. As with any distance education program the way in which materials are developed must be taken in to careful consideration because they need to be effective for learners.

In the second article the same issues arose when referring to post secondary distance learning. The field is constantly growing and with this growth the quality of the programs are being questioned. Standards are beginning to be set by these distance education programs that could possibly effect the post secondary education across the board. The concerns with distance education in the post-secondary level come in when considering the faculty who produces the course content. Since the concept is relatively new professors are not as trained on creating e-learning environments and the craft approach, taking traditional classroom practices and placing them in an online environment, are not conducive to the online learning environment. Classes have to be adapted to the online learner and put more emphasis on the learner rather than on the teacher, which typically occurs in face-to-face classrooms. The development of these courses have to focus on a new method of learning which is technology centered. Although this process deems to be more work on the online educator it is being promoted because of the flexibility of distance learning, as well as more student participation and the forum that allows students and professors alike time to think on topics and formulated better opinions.

The third article focuses on the distance education in the K-12 environment. The benefits of this learning have not fully been studied, however as with the corporate training and post-secondary distance education, the K-12 environment also faces challenges of not having qualified professional to create relevant distance education programs. The push for these programs in the K-12 arena is hard to sell because it conflicts with child development based on interaction. While the programs do push for individual pacing, which allow children to progress at their own speed, the social development of children may fall short of what is needed to effectively maintain in society. The programs in the K-12 environment do help with students being able to fulfill educational requirements in a less stressful situation. Distance education all around helps learners require knowledge at their own pace and is more cost effective in most cases. Once the concept is embraced and more faculty is trained on producing quality programs for distance learners the programs will continue to evolve rapidly.

Simonson clearly pointed out that distance education uses technology to link the teacher to the learner. He also made a point that at its best is self study at a distance. The difference between the regular classroom and distance learning is that the teacher, learner and resources are separated. Over time distance education will be widely adapted and teachers and learners will be linked by technology.