WK5AssignRocourtI

Application: Blog—The Impact of Open Source

http://izziandidt.blogspot.com/

Blog Post:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Open Course: Romantic Poetry

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/literature/21l-476-romantic-poetry-spring-2005/

            Open Course sites provide the opportunity of learning and interaction with others regarding a particular subject matter by allowing people to come together and participate in a course provided by various institutions and organizations. The course site I choose to analyze is under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This site provides access to MIT courses that have been provided to students during prior semesters but through allowing the public to access the course, it provides the professor with the opportunity to improve and make any revisions necessary on the course based on the feedback provided by the participant. One course that I viewed through the MIT course is Romantic Poetry, under the subject of Literature. The course provides the date of Spring 2005, which is the format of what it is following.

            The courses design for Romantic Poetry is very simplistic and easy to maneuver. Students are able to purchase the five textbooks required for the course, access the assignments for the course and download material which includes an electronic copy of the syllabus, reading assignments and assessment assignments. The course is separated into fourteen weeks and each week contains two sets of readings for review per week which in total provide twenty four different topics to follow for the subject of Romantic Poetry. There is an essay assignment in the middle of the session during week six and another during week fourteen.

Many of the links found throughout the course are downloadable via pdf format. Video and audio presentations are accessible for audio and visual presentation and learners. Many of the assignments are expected to be returned via an electronic format, which falls into the format of distance learning. The courses provide a link to the same material provided in the course and they provide the date of when the course was implemented. These forms of activities do promote learning within each course. Though courses are free, they do follow along the rule of “balance variety with economy” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvachk, 2012) extremely well. For a free course, it seems as though these sites are very under utilized but at the same time, it is understandable because in taking courses one can gain a lot of knowledge. Many of the students that may participate in the courses will not receive credit for it and this may hinder the idea of participation.

Due to the large amount of courses with the various subjects provided, I feel that they provide more than enough information and tools for success with the courses at hand. A recommendation in online instruction found is through the instructor feedback through the course projects and assignments. “Instructors need to provide two types of feedback: information feedback and acknowledgement feedback.” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvachk, 2012) The students are provided with assignments and most of the courses state that there will be an agreed upon date of submission and completion for the final project but the assignments throughout the middle of the course would be submitted on various days. My course chosen provide the requirement of submitting two essays; the first one at the midpoint of the course of 5 – 7 pages in length and one at the end of the course at 8 – 10 pages in length. This promotes the idea of active learning between the professor and the student but with course sites it takes away from the interaction of other students. Depending on the subject the course falls under, one course may provide a sense of independent learning while another would have a more interactive online learning format participating in discussions or forums. The course I choose with Romantic Comedy did not provide the opportunity for discussion forums.

Course sites are very beneficial in providing the opportunity for education to people all around the world. Without the time and contributions provided by these various organizations, many students and peers may never have the opportunity to experience what it is like to participate in a distance learning course. In using course sites, other students or peers that have had the opportunity to participate may use these sites to find more information on the different subjects that they may be researching on or they may have the opportunity to participate and learn about a subject from a different perspective.

Reference:

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

EDUC 6135 Week 3 Application

The first best option for the implementation of this workshop would be through the use of Wiki’s. Because so many members are interacting with different parts of information system, it is important that everyone has access to various documents that different people may have. “A wiki can be an excellent tool for collaborative online writing assignments and group activities compiling information in a single online resource.” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Albright, 2009) A wiki will allow the access to these parts of the project at hand. It will provide access to images, documents and other parts of the collaborations requested without having to sacrifice time management in coming together or having to come together to the same location.

Another option for the implementation would be through the use of SlideShare, which is a presentation sharing website that allows users to present their information to others on the website while being able to stay in their own area if they are unable to present it in many locations within a live setting. “Users can in turn comment on the presentations and share their own ideas thereby providing feedback that may assist presenters in enhancing their content.” (Laureate, 2009)

In using wikis and slideshare, the staff will have the ability to learn how to contribute their parts to the information system and how its use will allow them to make changes efficiently and effectively. “Not only do these tools (project management tools) keep track of individual efforts and drafts, but they also serve as a "home base" for housing important group documents eliminating the need to transfer files back and forth via e-mail or some other tool.” (Natalie. 2011) Wikis provide the ability of creativity and input without the problem of limitation or fear of presenting information, ideas or thoughts because of its open system. “Most importantly wikis do not restrict the workflow of ideas, leading to an increase in the creation of new ideas and greater creative input from the learners.” (Laughton. 2011)

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

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). The Technology of Distance Education [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Natalie, B. M. (2011). Communication, collaboration, and project management tools for producing and managing group projects at a distance. Distance Learning, 8(4), 85-87. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1014264490?accountid=14872

Laughton, P. (2011). The use of wikis as alternatives to learning content management systems. The Electronic Library, 29(2), 225-235. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02640471111125186

WK1Assignment Blog Post (hopefully)

I always felt that distance learning was a combination of attending classrooms or activities that influenced the educational experience that one may be learning about within an online setting. Or vice versa where one attends school in a physical setting but has to participate within an online community. In my past experience before attending Walden University, I always found the term “distance learning” to be awkward. For someone like me, I don’t have a car so no matter where I went to school, I always felt like I had to travel some bit of distance to receive my education.
Once I began graduate school at Cal State Northridge, I learned that some courses required us to use educational modules such as Moodle. I then gained a better understanding of how these types of programs and sites could impact those that may not have the opportunity to go to school within a physical setting because of various reasons. “Resources should be subjected to instructional design procedures that organize them into learning experiences that promote learning including resources that can be observed, felt, heard, or completed.” (Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. 2012)
My new definition of distance learning would incorporate the use of educational material or coursework placed in an online medium which allows participants to access and gain insight from the material at hand. It allows instructors and trainers to include personal experiences and insights to the learning experience. Distance learning’s new definition would also include face-to-face interaction where students are required to interact with or create projects within an online setting which would enhance their understanding of particular subjects. “Integrate knowledge management, community, and tutorial techniques within the context of the entire curriculum to support a certification or degree program.” (Moller, Foshay, & Huett 2008, p.70)
      My future for distance learning is one that will be much more embraced by people in the future than they are right now. I believe that students within “traditional” classrooms will have a requirement of working within an online community or structure along with their traditional course work. This will still allow them to have that face to face interaction that many people will still feel that they need. Distance learning will grow to allow better use of the multimedia that is out there currently. With the fast changes that have occurred with media mediums, I am sure that in the future students will be further advanced with these formats and have an easier ability to incorporate into the educational process. Media formats such as Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. will allow students to retrieve resources from around the world and include these mediums within their projects or coursework which can create a better, interactive and intriguing type of projects that would allow for a stronger learning environment.
With distance learning, I believe that students around the world that may want to have educational experiences with other students from other nations will have access to schools that are strictly online and have that opportunity to join that community. Even if they are not within the same facility or country, the use of discussion forums, video and audio conferencing and other means of live interaction can help students develop the interaction needed to gain some insight on the culture of where their peers come from. I also believe that if we allow the students to express their ideas of how the layouts of the modules should look, we would see many different formats of how the navigation of the instructional websites could change and affect the learning experience of some of the students. Some students may find that the modules are too simplistic while others may feel that it is too overwhelming to work through. In gaining their feedback of how they would change the format, we could possibly see an increase of students in the world of distance learning. By creating more “App’s” that are mobile and accessible via their mobile mediums, I believe that people would see that even if they are not able to manage their own schedules to work around a school course load, they can indeed maneuver their school course load around their work schedule.

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

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70.

EDUC 6135

Application Part 1:

Welcome to my blog. This is a blog I have used for a previous Walden Course last year, so you might find some other posts from other projects and applications I have worked on for those courses. I hope you al are having a great weekend and are excited for the new year.

Fitting the Pieces Together

My view on learning has expanded through the various theories that I have learned about. I have been able to gain a new understanding of how media effects learning and how ones perspective through their environment can alter their understanding of material being taught to them. I've realized that adult learning effects everyone regardless of their age, computer or media experience or life experience. I used to think that because I grew up having the opportunity of experiencing the major changes in technology first hand that I would have the upper hand in being able to apply most of these techniques to my form of learning but in actuality, with all my experience, there are many means of media and technology that I have yet to have direct experience with. I have learned that one will never have the experience or knowledge with all the forms of media. For example, with social media theory and elaboration being my learning style, I found that this learning style would not be as effective without the different type of media provided for someone like me that learns through experiences and or examples. I am a person that learns through visual examples and with media forms like YouTube, I am able to share my perspective and yet learn of others through forms like these. In blogging I have been able to view the thoughts of others in a different viewpoint. Though they may not be considered as credible as a primary resource like a research article, it is important to take the ideas of others that have first hand accounts on different subjects and acknowledge their different experiences with it. To understand and provide education on subjects, one must be willing to be open to learning about all experiences regarding them. Even though before I felt that I was very open minded about people and their forms of learning, I feel more accepting in regards to how others may disregard my perspective or others and based on their reasoning for it. Even if I am not in agreement with them, I am able to take their perspective and reform it to something that I can learn from and teach other about while being respectful on the bias of it. 

Reflection of my Connections

I feel as though I am living through a time where there is the most drastic changes in gaining knowledge and expressing opinions. One part of my network that has changed the way I learn is the media through the form of the internet and its access through cell phones. There are times where I am outside and talking with friends and when they bring up something that I may not have a great understanding of I can just look it up on my phone or if I am working on a course project, it is easy to find examples on how to do the projects at hand. I feel as though this takes away from the creativity that one can provide in trying to make the project on their own. But it also helps provide a better example of how it should be done so I see pros and cons in how media can and does effect my learning. The best mediums that facilitate learning for me are through visual media such as clips, journal articles and discussion forums or boards. When I need to ask questions I try to ask through emailing or posting questions on discussion boards since i'm so shy, its hard for me to express what I want to ask sometimes in fear that I will not express or say ti correctly. I believe my form of learning completely supports the tenets of connectivism. Because I believe that knowledge is everywhere and depends on the experience of the individual and their ability to combine the two I feel that this is the essence of connectivism. Blogs provide personal and in some cases professional validation and information on certain subjects. Online education facilities use media and help push its uses to its extreme while allowing the students to learn its efficiency while learning from them as well. And Interacting with friends and family provides examples that can make the material more relative and personal which can help change or support the understanding of the material at hand. 

Connectivism

Izzi's (Isadora) Learning Connection Mindmap