Distance Education
Summary
I believe that distance education is the essence of the American Dream. Isn't the United States the land of opportunity? Didn't many of our European ancestors come here looking for a better life? I believe the definition of the "American Dream" is: "the idea of having the opportunity to create the life you want." That right there is distance education. Distance education gives people the chance to improve their lot in life by providing them with opportunities that otherwise wouldn't be available. A single mother of three, working two jobs can not carve out more time in her day to get to campus and take courses. However, being able to take the courses online gives her the chance to get more education and a better life. Distance education gives her the flexibility to mold her studies around her life, not the other way around. For a second example, look no further than me. I wanted to get a Master's degree and the first program I enrolled in was half campus, half online. Well, I quickly found out that the on campus part didn't work for me with my schedule, family, etc. So, I moved to DSU and was able to complete it online. For me, the difference between getting a Master's and not getting a Master's was distance education.
As a Master's student, I have experienced lots of distance education, which I believe has provided a lot of good insight and experience to when I get involved with teaching distance education courses. I will have that lens as a student as I design and execute distance education course as an instructor. Knowing the benefits of distance education isn't good enough, however, and at DSU, I learned strategies and methods to make the distance education courses the most effective possible. Things such as fostering communication to make connections and relationships despite the increased difficulty of only being online. Making sure technical issues don't get in the way of learning by creating video tutorials and instructional documents. By making sure objectives, assignments and communication methods are clear and concise. Fostering collaboration through various technologies. In all, DSU's MSET program has given me the confidence to effectively teach and administer online education.
As a Master's student, I have experienced lots of distance education, which I believe has provided a lot of good insight and experience to when I get involved with teaching distance education courses. I will have that lens as a student as I design and execute distance education course as an instructor. Knowing the benefits of distance education isn't good enough, however, and at DSU, I learned strategies and methods to make the distance education courses the most effective possible. Things such as fostering communication to make connections and relationships despite the increased difficulty of only being online. Making sure technical issues don't get in the way of learning by creating video tutorials and instructional documents. By making sure objectives, assignments and communication methods are clear and concise. Fostering collaboration through various technologies. In all, DSU's MSET program has given me the confidence to effectively teach and administer online education.
CET 747 - Web and ITV-based Application of Distance Education
Coming into the MSET, I had little experience with distance education. I gained a lot of good experience, however, with distance education through this program and was able to see many different styles and strategies of how distance education is taught. I felt the assignments in this course had a clear "real world application" feel to them. My taxonomy of instructional strategies in distance education will be a document I will refer back to when I begin teaching in the distance ed world as it outlines key strategies for discussion, communication, connecting, and assessment.
My second artifact is an analysis of two websites through the lens of learning and instruction. Taking a close look at websites for their value and effectiveness in learning and instruction is a key skill I developed through this task. In distance education, when a large amount of content might come from websites, it is important that they are chosen carefully.
Taxonomy-Instructional Strategies of Distance Education
Website Learning and Instruction Analysis
LT 741 - Introduction to Distance Education
This class set the foundation of my knowledge base with distance education. We examine asychronous vs. synchrous aspects and the differences (good and bad) of each. My position paper on interaction in distance education shows the importance of interaction in having a positive learning experience. I believe creating positive interaction (learner and learner, learner and instructor, learner and content) needs to be a focus of the instructor because it is through that interaction that meaningful learning takes place. Discussion boards, chat rooms, blogs, emails, video conferenceing, etc. all have a strong part to play in the interaction in distance education.
Position Paper: Interaction in Distance Education
Copyright Presentation
Bonus Item
Teach Like a Pirate
This past year, I was able to put some of my learning to the test as I taught a class called, "Teach Like a Pirate" based on the book with the same name, written by Dave Burgess. I offered this class to any teacher in the district looking to increase engagement and creativity in their classroom. I had 18 teachers enroll in the class. Because many of the "students" were coaches, I designed the class with a blend of online and face to face time. This allowed coaches to be a part of it. We would have online tasks and then meet once a month for 4 months to discuss, share and collaborate in a deeper way. The online portion was a good experience for me as a prospective distance education teacher. It was a good place to practice. I created a website called "Set Sail at BV" for the online portion of the class, which was done in an asynchronously way. I would post discussion prompts and the learners would have to respond. I had a mix of direct prompts and ones that were more open ended that allowed the learners to take the discussion anyway they want. I noticed, though, that many learners posted their responses and then never came back to discussion and reply to others. I tried to remedy this by asking for shorter discussion prompts because I think the shear length of some of the responses discouraged the learners from taking so much time to read and respond. I definitely saw an increase in "back and forth" discussion with the shorter blog posts. I also saw how something can fail in distance education if there isn't the support needed for the learners to be successful. I wanted the learners to participate in a twitter chat to allow us a more real time discussion on various aspects of the book. The twitter chat was designed to get us more of a "face to face" feel to our discussions. However, the twitter chats failed because a low percentage of my learners knew how to use twitter and I was not able to demonstrate and teach them how to use it because it is blocked at my school. I thought about creating a video tutorial on how to do it, but judging from the vibe I was getting from the class, it needed to be an in person demonstration/practice session. I enjoyed putting my MSET to work and having a good learning experience with online learning.
Coming into the MSET, I had little experience with distance education. I gained a lot of good experience, however, with distance education through this program and was able to see many different styles and strategies of how distance education is taught. I felt the assignments in this course had a clear "real world application" feel to them. My taxonomy of instructional strategies in distance education will be a document I will refer back to when I begin teaching in the distance ed world as it outlines key strategies for discussion, communication, connecting, and assessment.
My second artifact is an analysis of two websites through the lens of learning and instruction. Taking a close look at websites for their value and effectiveness in learning and instruction is a key skill I developed through this task. In distance education, when a large amount of content might come from websites, it is important that they are chosen carefully.
Taxonomy-Instructional Strategies of Distance Education
Website Learning and Instruction Analysis
LT 741 - Introduction to Distance Education
This class set the foundation of my knowledge base with distance education. We examine asychronous vs. synchrous aspects and the differences (good and bad) of each. My position paper on interaction in distance education shows the importance of interaction in having a positive learning experience. I believe creating positive interaction (learner and learner, learner and instructor, learner and content) needs to be a focus of the instructor because it is through that interaction that meaningful learning takes place. Discussion boards, chat rooms, blogs, emails, video conferenceing, etc. all have a strong part to play in the interaction in distance education.
Position Paper: Interaction in Distance Education
Copyright Presentation
Bonus Item
Teach Like a Pirate
This past year, I was able to put some of my learning to the test as I taught a class called, "Teach Like a Pirate" based on the book with the same name, written by Dave Burgess. I offered this class to any teacher in the district looking to increase engagement and creativity in their classroom. I had 18 teachers enroll in the class. Because many of the "students" were coaches, I designed the class with a blend of online and face to face time. This allowed coaches to be a part of it. We would have online tasks and then meet once a month for 4 months to discuss, share and collaborate in a deeper way. The online portion was a good experience for me as a prospective distance education teacher. It was a good place to practice. I created a website called "Set Sail at BV" for the online portion of the class, which was done in an asynchronously way. I would post discussion prompts and the learners would have to respond. I had a mix of direct prompts and ones that were more open ended that allowed the learners to take the discussion anyway they want. I noticed, though, that many learners posted their responses and then never came back to discussion and reply to others. I tried to remedy this by asking for shorter discussion prompts because I think the shear length of some of the responses discouraged the learners from taking so much time to read and respond. I definitely saw an increase in "back and forth" discussion with the shorter blog posts. I also saw how something can fail in distance education if there isn't the support needed for the learners to be successful. I wanted the learners to participate in a twitter chat to allow us a more real time discussion on various aspects of the book. The twitter chat was designed to get us more of a "face to face" feel to our discussions. However, the twitter chats failed because a low percentage of my learners knew how to use twitter and I was not able to demonstrate and teach them how to use it because it is blocked at my school. I thought about creating a video tutorial on how to do it, but judging from the vibe I was getting from the class, it needed to be an in person demonstration/practice session. I enjoyed putting my MSET to work and having a good learning experience with online learning.
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