Thursday, March 13, 2014

Post Mortem of a Project

About a year ago I was part of a project to plan our school's K-5 Science curriculum, in preparation for the annual QR (quality review). Each grade was represented on the project. The curriculum specialist was the project manager. Everything began well with the project manager "identifying the roles and responsibilities of each team member" (Murphy 1994). However, the project was not very successful. If the PM had known then what she knows now things would have been different. The following deficiencies contributed to project failure: team members did not truly represent the target audience. (This caused much push back from faculty members), the team did not have an ID. In addition the team focused on "what would be  nice to know" (Murphy 1994) and the PM was constantly absent,

Sunday, March 2, 2014

WK8AssignGibbonsHdoc---Reflection

WK8AssignGibbonsHdoc---Reflection Perceptions of online learning/distance education are changing and becoming more positive. According to the Pew foundation Study, by 2011 “…16% of Americans had taken online courses for credit…”(Belcher, Neely & Tucker 2013). This is because distance is no longer as significant as it was years ago. The increase of online communication has led to “meaningful relationships” being formed(Siemens 2014). In addition, individuals are having practical experience with new technological tools, thus building “a growing sense of comfort”(Siemens 2014). Nevertheless, despite this increased shift in preference for online learning, there remains concerns about the quality of education provided by institutions of higher learning. This writing will look at how as an instructional designer, I can be a proponent for improving societal perceptions of distance learning, and how I can be a positive force for its continuous improvement. Gambescia and Paolucci (2009) conducted a study about the quality of educational output by universities. They called it the“…academic fidelity…” of the institution. According to them “academic fidelity measures the nature and extent of integrity or equivalency between on campus programs and online degree programs” (Gambescia & Paolucci 2009). These two writers agree with the “equivalency theory” which states that “equivalent learning experiences should be provided to each learner whether local or distant” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright &Zvacek 2011). In order for the distance learners to have access to similar quality learning experiences, I as an ID, must follow the process of “systematic planning for instruction” when designing a learning module. (Simonson et al 2011). In applying this process I have to think about the learners—those individuals who have to acquire skills in a subject area. I would need to identify their characteristics because, “knowledge of general learner characteristics…” will determine “…selection of instructional strategies and delivery methods” (Morrison, Ross, Kalman & Kemp 2011), which in turn will help students “get comfortable” with the online environment. In addition, I would “increase the use of multimedia, simulations and online gaming” (Siemens 2014) since these distance learning technology tools can be used to deliver learning experiences. For example, multimedia “can support multiple representations of the same piece of information in a variety of formats…” (Neo &Neo 2010) thus providing learners with different perspectives of the same topic. Simulations and online gaming can be developed by drawing on the theories of learning such as constructivism. Moreover, these technology tools must be chosen with consideration for content representation and distance education principles when designing a learning module. The impact of incorporating distance learning principles into the learning module would “provide an authentic learning environment..” ( Morrison et al 2011). As a result learners would share their experiences with those persons contemplating the online format of obtaining qualifications, thus presenting a positive image of its use, and leading to a change of societal perspective. To be a positive force for the continuous improvement of distance learning I would have to take on many different roles-from assisting instructors as they work on their own classes to completely designing a course from scratch based on instructor content. In addition, I must be able to: • Identify measurable learning outcomes that learners need, to master complex content. • Align assessment with measurable learning outcomes • Demonstrate the cognitive value of various types of media that the instructor may want to use in the online course. • Identify and distinguish the difference between lower order and higher order thinking skills that are specific to the instructor’s subject area and course content. (Morrison et al 2011) In conclusion, when I take these specific actions, they should help the public feel that the “…quality of online learning is equivalent to campus based learning” (Belcher et al 2013) In addition, I would be supporting the continuous use of distance education. References Belcher, T., Neely, P., Tucker, J. (2013). Public perceptions of online education in the United States. In proceedings of the 19th Annual Sloan Consortium: International Conference on Online Learning. Retrieved from http://sloanconsortium.org/conference Gambescia, S., Paolucci, R.(2009). Academic fidelity and integrity as attributes of university online degree program offerings. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration 12 (1) Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla Morrison, G., Ross, S., Kalman, H., Kemp, J. (2011).Designing effective instruction (6th ed.) John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Neo, M., Neo, T. (2010). Curriculum, technology and transformation for an unknown future Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/sydney Siemens, G. (2014). Laureate Education Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S. (2011). Teaching and learning at a distance Foundations of Distance Education (6th ed.) Pearson