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31 Mar 09

Unisa Online - demedia

`Technological developments in recent years have provided greater scope in the selection and combination of media for presenting courses in distance education. This article explores the uses and limitations of a number of `old' and `new' media in distance education from the perspective of their educational and communication advantages. The main emphasis is not on technological developments, but on the potential of various media to create a greater degree of interaction between tutor and student than has previously been possible through traditional media such as print and audio-visual media.'

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audio Technology distance_learning Open_University ASEL

29 Mar 09

NCAT: Innovations in Online Learning

During the early 1990s, many of those interested in the impact of information technology liked to talk about "paradigm shifts." Despite its attainment of cliché status, the concept of a paradigm shift is a powerful one. Most who were once skeptical of the impact of the Internet on the ways we do business in all facets of society now recognize that our paradigms are, in fact, shifting.

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online learning distance_learning ncat

he more-effective online learning environments are learner-centered,
All too frequently, even innovative institutions fall back on a one-size-fits-all approach
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- Rather than comparing online learning with traditional higher education, how can we identify new models and talk about what is better rather than what is "as good as"?
- How can each of us learn from others’ approaches and borrow aspects that can be integrated into our own learning environments?
- "It’s not how fast you run; it’s how you run fast."
- it’s not providing student services online; it’s how you provide student services online.
- innovative, learner-centered programs that rely on a combination of high-quality, interactive learningware, asynchronous and synchronous conversations, and individualized mentoring on the other end.
- The latter are modularized and self-paced, may include group experiences as appropriate and desirable, are delivered anywhere (sites, homes, and workplaces), diagnose students’ skill and knowledge level as they begin their programs of study, award credit for learning acquired outside formal educational structures to enable students to move more quickly through their programs, and are developed by teams of faculty, instructional designers, learning theorists, and IT staff, sometimes in partnership with commercial providers.
- Do they take full advantage of the inherent strengths of the Internet, which enables greater flexibility, convenience, and personalization?
- A fundamental premise of this paper is that as long as we continue to replicate traditional approaches online—and continue to treat all students as if they were the same—we will once again find the "no significant difference" phenomenon vis-à-vis quality, and we will make only a negligible dent in the access problem rather than taking full advantage of the networked environment.
- because these approaches bolt on technology to traditional teaching approaches, they will fail to reduce costs and, indeed, will frequently increase overall cost.
- we need to be flexible and create environments that enable greater choice for students.
- only social preference exists as a significant predictor of course satisfaction.
- nclude structures and activities that work well with diverse types of students.
- offer many more learning options within each course
- As a whole, they are characterized by such things as flexible enrollment options for students; personalized, on-demand, 24/7 student services; innovative curricular design that includes a focus on applied or problem-based learning taught by practicing professionals; and learner assessment that is integrated throughout the curriculum by diagnosing students’ knowledge and skill levels as they begin their programs of study and by responding accordingly.
- online learning is certainly as good as classroom learning
- What kinds of approaches to online learning will improve the quality of student learning?
- "high-quality" learning experience.
- A fundamental premise of the symposium is that greater quality means greater individualization of learning experiences for students.
- This means moving away from teaching and learning ideas that begin with the thought that "all students need …"
- Information technology enables us to meet the needs of diverse students when, where, and how they want to learn.
- When we think about how to utilize technology to improve learning, the key is to focus on what we can do with IT that we cannot do without it. Technology can create environments that provide individualized learning approaches that serve each person in ways that he or she can most benefit.
- we are moving toward an online environment that radically increases the array of possibilities presented to each individual student.
- The ability to customize the learning environment so that each student can achieve in a variety of ways increases the likelihood that learning success online will be higher than learning success in the traditional classroom, dominated by a one-size-fits-all approach. Thus, the "right way" to design a high-quality online course depends entirely on the type of students involved.
- we use the faculty member’s expertise to define the learning outcomes, the applications of that learning, the content, and potential difficulties that students may encounter." Rather than trying to replicate a teaching model online, the idea is to create what has been called a "resource" model, an environment in which students interact and wrestle with learning materials directly (or in teams), under the tutorial guidance of a mentor.
- students (either directly or in teams) need to interact with learning materials that allow them greater choices of assignments and resources.
- he key goal is for the students to become engaged in active "doing" in the learning process—that is, to move beyond merely reading text.
- create a far richer learning environment in which students may make a variety of choices that meet their particular learning needs.
- Ohio State uses a buffet analogy to capture this new approach to online learning.
- Courses offered by the new pacesetters have five key features that can improve the quality of student learning:
  
  An initial assessment of each student’s knowledge/skill level and preferred learning style
  An array of high-quality, interactive learning materials and activities
  Individualized study plans
  Built-in, continuous assessment to provide instantaneous feedback
  Appropriate, varied kinds of human interaction when needed
- Since students have different learning preferences, the availability of recorded lectures and interactive, Web-based materials enables some students to complete the course primarily on their own, interacting with faculty and other students only to the extent required by the course. Others prefer to take advantage of the variety of support activities and facilities as well as opportunities to interact with course faculty, teaching assistants, and peer mentors. By working collaboratively to design the course, faculty members are able to create, change, adapt, and add to an ongoing body of materials.
- Unlike traditional course structures that engage students in the same series of activities regardless of students’ disparate abilities and interests, individualized learning environments permit students to move quickly through content they already know and spend more time on areas they find more challenging. Students engage in study at their preferred time rather than at prescheduled times. Students do not all have to do the same thing but rather learn at their own pace.
- Drexel uses the term "self-scheduled" rather than "self-paced" in describing its new learning environment. Students can plan their work on a particular module to fit their schedule as long as they complete each module by the end of the week. Thus, at the end of each week, all students working on a particular module will have taken the final assessment for that module and will be at the same point: ready to move on to the next module. The goal is to maximize students’ flexibility in learning the course material as best fits their learning preference and schedule while providing enough structure for them to make the same kind of forward progress as in a traditional course. Linking students to a definite learning plan with specific mastery components and milestones of achievement and creating some form of early-alert intervention system are critical components of course design.
- When faculty members shift the traditional periodic assessment model (midterm and final examinations) toward continuous assessment, students view assessment as a learning experience rather than as an all-or-nothing performance measure. Few people would be surprised to learn that students, if allowed to do so, will often put off study until shortly before exams and that such cramming does not lead to long-term retention of information. Spacing quizzes (either graded or non-graded) throughout the semester improves overall understanding and retention of terminology and concepts.
- Helping students feel that they are a part of a learning community is critical to persistence, learning, and satisfaction.
- Such active mentorship can come from a variety of sources, such as traditional instructors (faculty and graduate teaching assistants) and more advanced undergraduate students. Access to a large support system of fellow students and tutors who are available virtually around the clock is a key component to these new designs.
- Students also learn from each other. Research has shown that students in distance education take on the role of "teacher" more often than do students in traditional classrooms. This not only has obvious implications for the content and mode of instruction but also sets up a model of learning communities that is invaluable when our students enter the work world. Knowledge-management software can structure a situation in which students can be actively encouraged to get in touch online with others who recently encountered and overcame similar problems.
- we need to do just the opposite: individualize student learning and standardize faculty practice.
- It is curious that most academics react with horror at the thought of standardizing faculty practice but do not think twice about standardizing the student learning experience.
- The Internet offers unprecedented opportunities to collect, organize, and analyze large, real-time research.

21 Nov 08

AFT - Hot Topics - Technology in Higher Education

The AFT has long been engaged with issues related to technology and distance education in higher education, encouraging our locals to take an active role in shaping the way that educational technologies are implemented at their institutions. Our concern h

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technology teaching research Education HigherEducation distance_learning