Stepping into the future while considering the past (Wk8AssgnGeursG)

            When peer-to-peer file sharing program Napster debuted in 1999, technology experts all over the United States saw Napster for what it really was: a revolutionary innovation in music.  Since then, such file sharing programs such as BearShare, Limewire, and Kazaa (which I may or may not have used), as well as companies with pay-for-music services such as iTunes and Amazon have all provided services which can be traced back directly to the work of the Fanning brothers and Napster.

            Fifteen years ago, people would not have been able to guess how digital music would change, but they could make some pretty strong guesses.  In the same way, since distance education’s early days in 1833 with correspondence courses(Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012), the face of distance education has continued to progress alongside the technology it utilizes.

            The major technological force which propels distance education is the Internet and its communication tools.  Distance education heavily relies on communication between instructors and learners, especially as they are divided by time and geography.  As Dr. George Siemens points out, “More and more of us are communicating online” (Laureate Education, “The Future of Distance Education”).  This is a positive thing which will have a strong impact on public perception of distance learning five, ten, or even twenty years down the road.  As people become more comfortable communicating with each other over long distance, become familiar with the tools which they use in order to communicate, and become used to how the two can be used in order to exchange ideas and knowledge, distance learning’s perception will pick up speed and be viewed more and more positively as time goes on.

            Instructional designers have a challenge in the years upcoming related to improve social perception and continue to improve the quality of instruction in the field of distance education.  Through the use of the social channels to which instructional designers have access, they have the ability to engage community stakeholders by demonstrating the quality of distance learning programs by giving clear examples of work and how it matches up to brick-and-mortar institutions’ learning objectives for courses.  Instructional designers can also be agents for change by providing clear communication and example of how distance learning principles already are a part of individuals’ daily lives.  They can help in the improvement of distance education by listening to the voices of concerned stakeholders and looking for ways to alleviate their fears and concerns.  For example, if a stakeholder is concerned about having access to an instructor, the instructional designer should look for different avenues to provide the concerned person with solutions to the problem.

            The future of distance learning is as pregnant with possibility now as Napster was fifteen years ago.  Only the passing of time can demonstrate what changes and improvements will be birthed.  People engaged in the process such as instructional designers can have a large influence on the direction and quality of changes that are possible and they should make the most of every opportunity to make distance learning as effective as possible.

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). The future of distance education [Video file]. Retrieved from              https://class.waldenu.edu.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance:             Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Who wants to learn about Fourier?

Stanford University on iTunesU:

http://itunes.stanford.edu/

            A dream of mine would be to one day complete post-graduate study at Stanford University.  Unfortunately, there are two things preventing me from accomplishing this dream: geography and money.  Stanford is located in California; I live in northeast Indiana.  Another thing preventing my ability to study at Stanford is the more than $14,000 dollars grade term’s tuition which I could not afford.  Thank you to the magic of the 21^st century technology, I can still study some of the same content from some of the same Stanford University courses for free.  And while it may not be as rigorous or as high quality education as taking a real Stanford course, it does provide for an opportunity to gain additional knowledge.  As an amateur quantum physics enthusiast, a concept I encountered in the book Quantum Physics for Poets by Dr. Leon Lederman is the Fourier transform.  The course I am currently taking through Walden University, “Distance Learning,” assigned me to provide an analysis of a free open course, so it was fortunate that Stanford’s iTunesU page had a course on Fourier transform that I could use to complete the application task.

            Stanford University’s “The Fourier Transform and its Applications” is laid out as an authentic college course.  Prof. Brad Osgood from Stanford is the feature lecturer in this series of 30 video lectures.  Along with each pair of corresponding lectures, the course provides a problem set of practice problems for the learner to complete and also provides the solutions and steps for how to solve the problems.  The Fourier course seems intentionally designed for distance learners, as the material is sequential in nature with later lectures and problems sets building on previous ones.  There is even a copy of both the midterm and final exams along with answer keys for the learner to be able assess him or herself on how well they are comprehending the material.

            As described by Saltzberg and Plyson in Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012), this could be considered an example of distributed learning since the open course is “an instructional model that allows instructor, students, and content to be located in different, noncentralized locations so that instruction and learning occur independent of place and time” (pp. 123-124).  As an effective online course, this would not pass the textbook writers’ test, as it seems that the creators of this course do little more than put lectures and handout materials online for people to access (p. 134).  The course does not provide a detailed syllabus; the learner can get an idea of what will be covered by looking at the brief outline of topics. 

            The individual who compiled the video and problem sets for this open course seems to have implemented course activities to promote and foster learning, but I am not sure whether one could say that learning is maximized.  In the course description area, there is an outline of headings for the major topics covered.  The video lectures of Prof. Osgood feature him writing material on a chalkboard and giving clear explanation as he goes.  The problems sets contain solutions with explanations.  A student in the distance learning setting could benefit from having an area to ask questions or find additional support from the instructor.  The learner could also benefit from there being a resource that provides the individual topics for each lecture so that he or she may be prepared to take notes or read up on the topics ahead of time.

            My math skills do not extend much beyond simple trigonometry, yet I feel I understand Fourier transform a little better after watching the first few lectures.  Stanford University’s iTunesU course, while not the most easy to understand source on the topic of quantum mechanics, is a good place to go for quality distance learning on a wide range of academic subjects.  Not all courses contain the same level of quality materials as “The Fourier Transform and its Applications,” but all courses like it that I saw are laid out in a sequential fashion that will help the average learner take something away from the experience.

References

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a

                distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

A unique distance learning scenario.

            When I was in high school, one of the best parts of the school year was when I had the opportunity to go on field trips.  There was something special about being able to go somewhere out of the norm; part of it was special for it being a unique learning opportunity, and the other part of it was special because it wasn't the four walls of the school building.  Living in a rural setting, I think to how I would be able to enable my students to experience learning environments like a history teacher trying to giver her students a learning experience by visiting art exhibits across the country without physically going to them.  And the way I would accomplish this daunting feat would be to enable my students to participate in a virtual art gallery experience.
            The first way I would attempt to provide a way to explore the pieces of art would be to assemble a board on Pinterest devoted specifically to the pieces of art.  Looking at an example for this board I began creating with education resources, I would find images for each art piece and assemble them in one location.  Each image could then contain links to additional information about the piece, much like one would find if he or she visited the real gallery.
            Another way I would attempt to give students the experience of visiting the art exhibits would be to see if a virtual gallery such as the one for the National Gallery of Art already exists, and if not, develop one.  Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) explain that using a virtual world such as this enables the "exciting potential for placing students in real-life applications of course content" (p. 132).  A virtual art gallery would provide the benefits of a Pinterest board art gallery along with a pseudo-spatial experience of walking around the gallery.
            Each unique learning environment comes with its own unique challenges.  Thanks to technological developments in distance learning, visiting an art gallery all the way across the country is not impossible, it simply takes some ingenuity and creativity.

References

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.