Analyzing Scope Creep

I do not have much experience with projects and scope creep, but from a personal perspective I can relate to projects I have taken on in my home.  I have written a lot about house projects throughout the course, but when I think of projects, all I can think of are house projects.  About two and a half years ago my wife and I moved into our house.  Since then I have spent my free time remodeling sections of the house.  I try to go room by room, so we do not have multiple projects going on at the same time.  When one project is finished we will take a break, then start a new one.  Recently my wife and I decided it was time to start working on the kitchen.  My wife understands my busy schedule, and was just asking me to get paint on the walls.  I estimated for the paint to be on the walls in two weeks.  Just working in the evening and on the weekends.  The wallpaper had to come off, holes needed patched, and then the walls needed paint. 

As the project progressed, we thought to ourselves, and remembered how we would like to blow out the wall entering the family room from the kitchen and creating a breakfast bar.  At this point, the kitchen is all prepped and ready for paint.  We got advice from our SME (my friend Matt) about how difficult and expensive it would be to remove the wall and create a breakfast bar.  After getting advice from Matt, my wife and I decided to blow the wall out now before we paint the kitchen.  If we are going to start remodeling the kitchen, we mine as well do what we want now.  After about a week of plastering and sanding scope creep issues became apparent.  As the project progressed, we decided to change our plan for the whole project (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2008).  It was no longer going to take one more week to paint.  It was going to take a week to tear the old wall down, a week reroute wires, and a week to build a breakfast bar.  All together the two-week project would now take a month to a month and a half to finish.  My wife went back to her notepad that had the steps to completion and rewrote it to include the steps of removing a wall and creating a breakfast bar. 

The biggest issue we encountered with the new addition to the project was controlling dust, and the extended time the project would now need.  Living under construction is not easy, especially when it is your kitchen under construction.  It is hard to control dust in the kitchen, so we had to cover up all the furniture in the living room to keep the dust off of it.  To deal with the new time constraints we really focused on keeping track of the progress and documenting it.  Our daily and weekly status reports were prepared and documented in the form of pictures.  We did not refer to these updates as status reports, but they were in a way informal status reports.  According to Stolovitch (n.d.) scheduling daily project reviews, and discussing the progress of the project will help keep the team focused and on track.  My project only involved my wife and I, but we did sit down together and discuss the difficulties and successes of the project.  I gave my wife the extended deadline (1 month ), and we agreed to have it completed by then. 

References

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Stolovitch, H. (n.d.). Monitoring Projects (Video Program).  Laureate Education Inc.

 

Communicating Effectively

Interpretation of each Modality

My interpretation of the message from the email to the face-to-face modality changed quite a bit.  The email was the hardest modality to get a feel for.  There were only words to interpret.  When I read the email, I felt Jane was angry with Mark, and that she was not asking Mark for the report, but telling him.  She seemed pushy in the email.  When Jane says, “ I might miss my own deadline if I don’t get you report soon”, I took that as rushing Mark to finish the report and get it sent to her immediately (The Art of Effective Communication, n.d.).

The voicemail was a bit easier for me to interpret because it had audio, and you could her the tone Jane uses.  According to Stolovitch (n.d.), effective communication is influenced by the tone of the conversation (or voicemail).  Jane still seemed concerned about the report, but she seemed more understanding in the fact that Mark has been in an all day meeting, and did not have a chance to send the report.  You could tell from Jane’s tone that she is more worried about meeting her own deadline, and then she is about meeting the actual deadline.  She knows she will get the report; she just wanted to remind Mark.

The face-to-face modality was much easy to interpret because you could read Jane’s body language as well as her tone.  Effective communication is also influenced by body language, and Jane’s body language was relaxed (Stolovitch, n.d.).  I felt as though Jane’s body language was relaxed because she was leaning on the divider with her arms comfortably resting on top of the divider (The Art of Effective Communication, n.d.).   She is not shouting or talking fast, and she is not pacing around the office.  Those would both tell me that she is frustrated, upset, and possibly worried about the deadline.  She seems more understanding of Marks busy schedule.

The True Meaning

The true meaning and the intent of the message were conveyed best through the face-to-face modality.  Being able to look Jane in the eyes, hear her tone, and read her body language gave the message its true meaning.  The intent of the message was not to be demanding, and it was not meant to rush Mark.  It was simply intended to remind Mark, once he finished his meeting.  When Jane and Mark’s project roles were assigned, they agreed to share the responsibility of the report, something Portny et al (2008) lists as a guideline to follow when assigning project roles.  With this responsibility comes the need to be held accountable.  Jane and Mark have made a promise to each other and the success of the project may depend on their shared responsibilities (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2008).

Implications

It is important to consider the words, tone, and body language used when trying to communicate effectively with other members of your team.  When it comes to email, you need to make sure you select words that do not unintentionally give team members the wrong message.  Keep the tone “business friendly and respectful” (Stolovitch, n.d.).  I would use email to communicate minor details, and information that will not get misinterpreted.  Use email to ask questions and check up with the team.  Voicemail would be a more appropriate avenue for communicating needs, problems, or failures.  I would still prefer to meet face-to-face, but that is not always possible.  You can still get a good sense of the messages tone through a voicemail though.  It would be ideal to meet face-to-face every time a problem or concern arises.  According to Stolovitch (n.d.), it is best to communicate important information to the team when they are all present.  When working with a team, it is important to remember how the message was delivered.  Communicate with your team to clear up the intent of the message.

References

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Stolovitch, H. (n.d.). Communicating with stakeholders (multimedia program).  Laureate Education Inc.

The art of effective communication (multimedia program).  Laureate Education Inc.

 

Learning from a Project “Post-mortem”

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As an educator, I do not have much experience with projects.  Most of my projects involve creating effective lessons and teach students content.  I decided to look at my course project from my last Walden course.  The course project for the Distance Learning course required me to use a Course Management System (CMS) to develop a hybrid course.  A hybrid, or blended course teaches the majority of the content online, but there still are traditional classroom meetings (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  I chose to use Course Sites by Blackboard as the CMS for my Orientation for the Philosophy of Education course.  I was required to develop three modules for the potential students to work on each week.  The first module introduced the students to the technology tools they needed to understand how to use for the course.  The second module explained how students could be successful in the Orientation course.  The third and final module provided an annotated list of resources that will help the students throughout the course.  The project scored a 3 out 5.  Not the best score, but it did have areas of success.

 

When thinking about the most gratifying or satisfying part of the project, I feel that the video mashups had the biggest area of success (Greer, 2010).  The video mashups gave me the option to differentiate the instruction and add more interest and variation to the course.  Students often get bored with text, and could use alternate ways to learn the content.  It would be hard to keep learners motivated by just using text.  I also believe the project was successful in the fact that it was created to develop the students skills and knowledge that they must have to be successful (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2008).  The project was created with the assumption that the learners are new to online education, and it helps them become familiar with the technology tools, successful attributes, and important resources.

 

There were also processes and artifacts that were not included that could have made the project more successful.  The biggest part of the project that was not included was content knowledge.  I briefly touched upon different content areas, but the instructor expected more.  To make the project more successful I should have paid a closer look to the grading rubric, and reviewed it multiple times to ensure I have all the areas covered.  The instructor could have also made the project easier to understand by providing a few project examples that show what he was looking for.  That way I can compare performance, and with plans, and fix problems that came up when the instructor reviewed the project modules (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2008).

 

Resources

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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

 

 

 

 

Reflecting on Distance Education

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This week marks the end of the distance-learning course.  In this last distance learning blog it is important to reflect upon the knowledge gained throughout the course, and the knowledge that needs to be continued.  This course started with the simple definition of distance education, “as institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 7 & 32).  Throughout the course this definition was broke down and defined in greater detail.  From the foundations and theories of distance education, to the designing and facilitating of distance education.  The following questions will be answered in this reflection.  What is the future of distance education?  How can I as an instructional designer be a proponent for improving societal perceptions of distance learning?  How will I be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of distance education?

The Future of Distance Education

            According to Siemens (2010), the biggest challenge for the future of distance education is to make the learners more comfortable.  As distance education continues to evolve and the instructional designers become more comfortable with distance education, then the learners will continue to become more comfortable.  In five to ten years distance education will be even more accepted than it is today.  There will be more research on the success of distance education, and learners will be increasingly interested in an education that is conveniently located online, and available from your own home.  In the last five years, we started to see online communication technologies that have the capability to bring people together in live video formats from all over the world.  Siemens (2010) believes that new communication tools will impact the future of distance education. Tools that will bring people together in even better ways than today.  To close the comfort gap instructional designers will have to continue to use multimedia and games to increase student motivation and engagement.

Improving Societal Perceptions of Distance Education

            To improve societal perceptions it is important to make the people aware of the challenges and how they are being fixed.  If we can overcome the challenges, then society can become more comfortable (Siemens, 2010).  Schmidt & Gallegos (2001), identify the biggest concern people have with distance education is the interaction between the instructor and the students.  Schmidt & Gallegos’s (2001) survey that was given to college students highlighted this as one of the main concerns.  Respondents suggested the interaction could be increased through chat rooms, phone calls, and once a week meetings (Schmidt & Gallegos, 2001).  I personally believe that meeting once a week would be the best solution, but I would have the meeting online in a synchronous one-on-one video.  Traditional courses require a lot of time, and learners with full-time jobs and family responsibilities may not have the option of driving to a university and spending time in a classroom.  Society needs to understand that distance education caters to the needs of the full-time workers and full-time family members.  They “no longer need to revolve their life around school hours” (Schmidt & Gallegos, 2001, p.5).  It gives them the opportunity to advance their knowledge, while still fulfilling their other obligations.

Positive Force for Continuous Improvement in Distance Education

            In my current position as a sixth grade math teacher in a traditional classroom, I need to provide the students with technology experiences.  The students I teach need to have technology experiences because their future in education will most likely involve technology.  As distance education becomes more accepted, I believe it will start to become more popular in the k-12 classrooms.  The benefits to distance education will continue to grow, and to help students feel more comfortable I must give them experiences with technology tools.  It is my responsibility as an instructional designer to stay updated and comfortable with new technology tools.  Communication is the another area of concern in distance education, so it is important for me to communicate with my students in multiple ways (email, podcasts, online discussions).  If the opportunity comes available I would enjoy teaching at a distance, and I will need to remember what makes students successful and comfortable in an online setting.

The future of distance education is unknown.  We can only assume distance education will evolve and become more accepted.  The technology tools we see today are amazing when you look back at what we had five or ten years ago.  I would expect the same thing in the next five to ten years.  It is hard to imagine what education will look like in ten years, but I would assume distance education would be in it.  There will always be the process of learning new technology tools, and people will need to accept the new tools as they have accepted the tools in the past.  I am seeing a shift with students from a traditional lecture/ drill and practice setting, to a more interactive/independent setting.  The acceptance of distance education will continue to improve.

References

Schmidt, D., & Gallegos, A. (2001).  Distance learning: Issues and concerns of distance learners. Journal of Industrial Technology, 17(3). Retrieved from: http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring121/gambescia121.html

Siemens, G. (2010). The future of distance education (Video Program). Laureate Education Inc.

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

 

Best Practice Guide

This week I was responsible for creating a best practice guide for converting a course to a distance learning format.

The Scenario:

A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.

Best Practice Guide

The best practice guide identifies the major areas the training manager will need to consider when converting his course to a blended format.  First, we will need to consider some pre-planning strategies.  He needs to consider  the changes to the learning environment.  Synchronous vs. Asynchronous.  Then he will need to consider the design of the blended course.  When designing the course he will need to rewrite the learning objectives, and make sure all activities and assignments are directly related to those objectives.

Two of the enhancements identified in the Best Practices Guide are the online access to the training materials and resources, and the overall quality of the communication.  Offering online access to materials and resources makes it more convenient for the learners, and it gives them the opportunity to locate the materials and resources any time and any where.  I believe the overall quality of the communication will be enhanced because online discussions give the learners time to think and respond to discussion questions and thoughts.

The role of the trainer will become increasingly important when it comes to the student-led online discussions.  It will be the trainers responsibility to participate in the discussions, and provide thought-provoking question.  It is also the trainers role to unsure the students are receiving quick feedback from discussions and assignments.  The trainers role in communicating with learners will be extremely important in an online environment.  The trainers need to remain in constant contact with the learners.  The trainer needs to keep a close eye on his trainees.

It is equally important for the trainer to encourage learners to communicate online.  This should be a simple step as long as the trainer as successfully pre-planned the course and is communicating online daily with the learners.  Before the course began, the trainer should have set up the syllabus and Course Management system with his email, and he should have written down the best way to contact him.  If the trainer is communicating as frequently as he should, than the students will notice the communication has been all online, and they will follow the instructors lead.

To read the entire Best Practice Guide, click on the link below:

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Open Source

“Open-source course management systems [CMS] are free educational software that are maintained by users who implement, even modify, and ultimately support their system to meet local, specific needs” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p.162).  Open source courses offer a free online education with the intent to gain knowledge, and become engaged in a new learning experience.

Open Yale Courses

Yale University offers free open source introductory courses taught by distinguished Yale professors (Yale University, 2011).  The aim of Yale Open Courses is to expand access to education resources for all learners.  The approach is intended to go beyond the acquisition of facts, and increase the learners’ ability to think independently.  The learner will expand their ability to analyze, ask questions, and to begin the search for an answer.  All the open source lectures are recordings of college classrooms and are available in audio, video and text (Yale University, 2011).

The American Revolution

In the Spring of 2010, professor Joanne Freeman taught The American Revolution course that is know offered as an open source course.  The course was originally structured to be taught for 50 minutes, 2 days a week.  The course provides a brief introduction to the course, along with a syllabus, lessons, downloads, a course survey, and a link for the courses text resources.  The majority of the courses text resources can be retrieved through an e-reader.

Pre-planning and Design

A course that was previously taught in the traditional setting may not be a successful online course.  The focus needs to shift to visuals, engaging learners, and timing of presentations (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, Zvacek, 2012).  The courses offered by Yale University spent a great amount of time planning the courses, but they did not plan them to be successful for online learning.  The first issue I noticed about The American Revolution course was the omitted course learning objectives.  Dr. Piskurich (n.d.) emphasizes the importance of finding out exactly what the learners need to learn, and writing good objectives to meet these needs.  He noted that the objectives must be identified before learning activities can be created (Piskurich, n.d.).  After examining the course, and all of the resources, I have not been able to find any learning objectives.

The second issue I noticed was the lack of differentiation in the class sessions.  Each session had a list of the required readings and lectures.  The lectures could be viewed as an audio, video, or text, but it was simple listening to the professor lecture.  It did not have any differentiation.  The design phase should include activities that provide opportunities for the learners’ to explore and gain knowledge on their own.  There should be more than just lectures (Piskurich, n.d.).  Time is valuable when taking online courses, and simply showing recoded lectures does not take time into consideration.  It is important for online instructors to identify and remove any extraneous information that will take up more time (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, Zvacek, 2012).

The third issue I noticed was the courses text resources.  All of the resources were text. There were no online articles or video presentations.  The site should offer effective course assets like graphics, photos, videos, links, and sound clips (Laureate Education, n.d.).  The course texts were not provided directly in the CMS, but they were linked through Yale University, and were available through an e-reader provided by Google.  It was difficult to navigate to the e-reader, and it was difficult to figure out how to get the text open.  There were no support places to go and learn more about the process.  For students to feel comfortable with the course, they need to be able to get their questions answered.  There is no course support or professor email provided.

Course Activities

The American Revolution course offered by Yale Open Courses did not offer any course activities to maximize active learning by the students.  The course syllabus identifies 2 papers and 2 exams as the only assignments due for the course.  The students are never offered any activities to engage active learning.  They are simply expected to watch class session lectures and read course texts.  Simonson et al (2012), believes distance learning faculty need to “plan activities that encourage interactivity” (p.153), and “allow for student group work” (p.153).  Group work will help the students feel they are part of the learning community, and not alone.  The site needs to create an area for collaboration between students and teachers.  The instructor should be actively involved in the course (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).

Resources

Developing online courses. (n.d.)(Video program). Laureate Education Inc.

Piskurich, G. Chauser, J. (n.d). Planning and designing online courses. (Video program). Laureate Education Inc.

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

Yale University. (2011). Open Yale Courses. Retrieved from http://oyc.yale.edu/

Yale University. (2011). The American Revolution. Retrieved from Yale Open Courses website: http://oyc.yale.edu/history/the-american-revolution

Distance Learning Technologies

Example 2: Interactive Tour

The scenario:

A high school history teacher, located on the west coast of the United States, wants to showcase to her students new exhibits being held at two prominent New York City museums. The teacher wants her students to take a “tour” of the museums and be able to interact with the museum curators, as well as see the artwork on display. Afterward, the teacher would like to choose two pieces of artwork from each exhibit and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art. As a novice of distance learning and distance learning technologies, the teacher turned to the school district’s instructional designer for assistance. In the role of the instructional designer, what distance learning technologies would you suggest the teacher use to provide the best learning experience for her students?

Technology Presentation Solutions

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To provide these west coast students the opportunity to visit new exhibits at two prominent New York City museums, I would suggest that the teacher uses a video podcast or a virtual tour of the museums.  “Podcasting is the process of recording and storing audio and/or video content on the Internet for downloading and play back using iPods, MP3 players, [and] computers” (p.130) (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  A video podcast can be used to show a tour of the museums with audio from a tour guide.  The students will have the ability to play, stop, and rewind the tour to meet the speed of their learning, and to go back and review important exhibits.  Several studies indicate that students who participate in podcasts exhibit higher levels of understanding, higher satisfaction, and greater motivation (The Technology of Distance Education, n.d.).  I would suggest that the teacher reserves a lab classroom for the students to access the podcast.

If possible, instead of a podcast, the teacher could use a virtual tour of the museums.  The museums would need to provide a link to the tour, and the students would need the same capabilities as a podcast to access the virtual tour.  According to Simonson et al (2012), “virtual worlds will represent the standard learning environments at some point in our future” (p.132).  A virtual tour would put the students into the museums and make them feel they are there.  It gives them the capability of looking at new exhibits in a New York City museum, even though they are sitting in their classrooms thousands of miles away.  According to Wetterlund (2008), art museums are providing educational programs to bring the museum to the classroom.  These online tours will strengthen students’ visual literacy and critical thinking skills and providing a deeper understanding of art and the history that goes with it.

 

Technology Communication Solutions

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To interact with the museum tour curators I would suggest a live text chat for the students.  A live chat would give the students immediate feedback for questions that may arise during the tour.  This two-way communication tool would be an effective learning tool in a synchronous environment, where the students are logging on and watching the tour at the same time as the curator(s) (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  The students would just have to type their question into the instant message box, and the curator(s) would answer them in the order they were received.  According to Matteson, Salamon, and Brewster (2011), users are generally satisfied with live-chat because their questions are answered quickly and efficiently.  The answers are rich in information, and the user gains insightful knowledge from the curator on the other side of the chat.

Afterward the teacher wants to choose two pieces of artwork from each museum, and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art.  I would suggest for the teacher to research two artwork pieces from the museum, and create a wiki for the students to discuss the artwork with one another.  Wiki’s are designed to be created and edited by groups of people (Siminson, Smaldino, Albright, Zvacek, 2012).  They are created for the students to collaborate with the teacher and other students about a given topic or title.  I would suggest for the teacher to create the wiki with a picture of the artwork and a simple discussion prompt.  Then the students can discuss the artwork with each other, and the teacher can respond and provide feedback as well.

   References:

Matteson, M., Salamon, J., Brewster, L. (2011).  A systematic review of research on live chat service. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 51(2), 172-190. Retrieved from Education Research Complete.

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

The technology of distance education (multimedia program) Laureate Education Inc.

Wetterlund, K. (2008). Flipping the field trip: Bringing the art museum to the classroom. Theory into Practice, 47(2), 110-117. Retrieved form Education Research Complete.

Distance Education

Distance Education-Previous Assumptions

Prior to the start of the Distance Education course and prior to reading the courses week 1 resources, I saw distance education as an online educational option that was generally used for adult learners.  I saw distance education as an opportunity for adults to get degrees, while still meeting work and family obligations.  An alternative option from the traditional classroom setting.  Not only did I feel it needed to be online but I also felt that it was for connecting students and teachers from across the country.  I did not look at distance education as an alternative for students and educators form the same geographical region.  The word “distance” made me feel that the traditional classroom setting was not possible because the location of the students and educators were spread throughout the country.

Distance Education Defined

There are many definitions for distance education, but I feel the definition by Schlosser and Simonson (2009) hits all the major components:

Distance education is “institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors” (Simonson et al, 2012, p.7). 

In examining this definition and comparing it to my previous assumptions, there are several components that I did not think about or discuss.  The definition identifies institutional affiliation as the first component.  Not just anybody can start distance education courses.  Institution examples include schools, universities, businesses, and corporations.  I did identify the second component of separation.  The teacher and students are located in different locations, but it does not have to be across the country.  Distance education courses can be offered with a school district.  There can also be asynchronous distance learning courses, which implies learning at different times that are convenient for the teacher and student.

The last two components of the distance education definition are connecting learners, resources, and instructors by using interactive telecommunication systems.  Internet, telephone, and possible television provide current examples of electronic media uses.  These media option can be used to communicate with the teacher and other students.  They well also give the teacher and student the ability to post and view assignments without physically turning any paper work in.  Everything can be viewed electronically.

There are many other definitions of distance education.  Although I agree with this definition, I also believe there are other forms of distance education.  Looking back at the four previously mentioned components to distance education it seems as though the first component is broad, and does not need to be included.  Examples include universities, schools, businesses, and corporations.  Who else is there to use distance education?  That list seems to sum up all the possible uses for distance education.  The only other possibility would be online classes setup by another person who does not belong to any institution.  But why should these class not be included?  My definition would only include the last three components and I would exclude the first one.  Anybody that meets the other three components should be included.  It is up to the learner to decide the appropriate distance education opportunities

Vision of the Future

I see the field of distance education as an important learning opportunity that is still in the infant stages.  Currently distance education is taking tools previously developed and using them to create opportunities for students to learn in places and times that are most convenient.  The future of distance education will be developed using Web 2.0 tools and other technologies that may be created primarily for distance education.    Every generation of students will come into this world with a more developed technology skill set, and they will be demanding to learn by the best and most recent technology tools.  I have already seen this happen with my self and the generations before and after me.  The generation before me did not use computers until they were adults and out of high school, but my generation came through school knowing how to use them.  My generation did not use cell phones until we were in our last years of high school, but the generations after me are coming to school (4^th grade or earlier) with their own smartphones.  The future possibilities are endless, and only time will tell how far distance education will advance.

Resource

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

 

Learning Theories Reflection

Constructivism

            As I furthered my knowledge on the way people learn, I found the Constructivist theory to be surprisingly different then what I originally remember it to be.  In college I can remember studying Constructivism, but I do not recall going into this much depth.  I knew it involved independent learning and development through experiences.  I did not realize that the fact that “learners create their own learning” (Gredler, Ormrod, & Schunk, 2008).  I thought the teacher was still an important part of their learning.  I believed the teacher taught learners and then the learners developed a better understand of the context they learned through their experiences.  In the reading I learned that the teachers are to facilitate learning and use instructional scaffolding to provide support and challenge learners Gredler, Ormrod, & Schunk, 2008).  The teacher needs to give the learners a task that they can accomplish with only a little support.  If no support is needed, then the task was too easy.  If support is given and learners still cannot accomplish the task, then it is too difficult.  The teacher needs to find the place where the task is challenging and can be solved with some support.  The involvement of the teacher is lower than I remember learning.  My view of Constructivist theory has much more depth and understanding.

A Deeper Understanding of My Learning Process

            Taking the time to think about they way we learn and discussing that with the classmates’ varying learning processes was beneficial to see and think about.  We all know how to learn, and we know what works best, but do we ever sit down and think about how we learn?  In the week one discussion we had to write about our learning process, and it was difficult to get started.  When I first thought about the way I learned, I assumed most people learned this way, and that is was the most effective way to learn.  Once I got to read other classmates responses and see how they learned similarly or differently, it really opened my mind to the different capabilities learning has.  I was able to look at how other people learned effectively and try to incorporate parts of their response I felt would help me learn.

I also have a deeper understanding in for the reasons why I struggle with motivation.  I am usually extrinsically motivated to do well in classes.  As I grew up I was always motivated to do well so I could show my mother my grades, and get some kind of reward.  When I was little in might have been a toy, and baseball cards, but even in High School I used to get money for good grades.  Once I got to college I began taking some classes that were interesting to me, and I found it much easier to learn and do well in those classes.  The majority of the time though, I did well to see the reward of a good grade at the end of the semester.  Extrinsic motivation can promote learning, but I would learn more effectively and be more engaged when I am intrinsically motivated (Gredler, Ormrod, & Schunk, 2008).

Learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation

Looking back at the different learning theories and strategies, it is important to notice that each learning style is works efficiently with a different learning style.  Auditory learners would perform better with a Behaviorist perspective.  Auditory learners do well listening to instruction and relating the experience to a prior learning experience.  Visual learners would perform well in a Cognitivist perspective.  Visual learners are more selective and they pay attention to the important things (Ormrod, 2006).  Kinesthetic learners would relate best with more of a Constructivist perspective.  They are more hands-on learners, and they learn best by doing and learning from experiences on their own.  All of these styles would also work with the other learning theories, but these are the most effective connections.  In order for any of these to work effectively, the learners need to be motivated.  It would not matter what learning style or learning theory would work best together if students were unmotivated.  Technology brings all of the different learning styles together and develops the learner’s weaker styles.   “There’s an easy way to address that in any computer-based learning environment—actually, in any in-class learning environment—is that you have both the verbal and the visual simultaneously, and everybody’s happy” (Ormrod, n.d.).

My Career in the Instructional Design Field

In this course I learned about the importance of the different learning theories, styles, and strategies.  Not everyone thinks the same, and the way you learn may not be the most effective way.  It is important to remember to not favor your own learning theory, style, or strategy.  As a teacher, I need to keep all of the different perspectives that a student could possible have, and try to teach in as many different perspectives as possible.  Some of the learning strategies I use should be taught to the students, but some may not be beneficial at all.  As I further my career as a teacher I would like to meet the learning needs of all of my students and give them the best learning experience I can give.

References

Ormrod, J. (2006). Educational Psychology: Developing Learners. Supper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education INC.

Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson.

Ormrod, J. (n.d.). Learning Styles and Strategies. (Video Program). Laureate Education, Inc.

Fitting The Pieces Together

Now that I have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and styles my view on the way I learn has increased.  In the week one discussion I identified my learning style with behaviorism because I am motivated by reinforcement.  I still feel that behaviorism best describes the way I learn, but now I would also relate with connectivism.  “Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources” (Davis, Edmunds, & Kelly-Bateman, 2008).  My network connections are important in the way I learn.  My social connections include email, Skype, and my mobile phone.  Through these connections I learn a lot of information about events, problems, and successes.  My education connections and work connections are equally important in gaining knowledge and skill.

Over the past seven weeks I learned that the environment plays a huge role in my learning style.  During this course at times I had to alter my learning environment because of the demands of my job, and my personal life.  When I do school work I like to be on my computer at my desk.  When I am reading I have to be at my desk or somewhere quiet in my house (except my bed).  I will immediately fall asleep if I read in bed.  I found myself reading and submitting assignments at work, in a hotel, and in a car.  I found it extremely difficult to learn in these new environments.  I found it difficult to even get started, and sometimes I could not do it.  At work I am used to grading assignments, and creating lessons, not reading books, and typing discussions.  It was nearly impossible for me to be motivated outside my usual learning environment.

Technology has always played an important role in my learning, and now with online schooling technology has became even more important.  All of my education is done on the computer, along with most of my work assignments.  In the next week or so I will be getting an interactive whiteboard in my classroom, and technology will play an even bigger role.  Just about everything I do today is done with some form of technology, from calculators to computers, and email to mobile phones.  There are still times while I am teaching that I will use chalk and an overhead, but that is happening less and less often.

Davis, C, Edmunds, E, & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved April, 17^th 2011, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/