Friday, November 16, 2012

Selecting Distance Learning Technologies

 
Two thoughts should be kept in mind as we talk about the use of technology in instructional design: “Technology is not the issue.  How and what we want the learners to learn is the issue and technology is the tool” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012 pp. 172).  Also, “Distance learning courses will be carefully planned to meet the needs of the students within unique learning contexts and environments (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012 pp. 174).    

These two facts help us realize that we need to match the learners and their environment to the objectives of the course.  Then we must identify the best strategy for illustrating the information we want them to learn.  It is at this point when a decision is made on the best medium and technology to help in accomplishing the learning objectives.   In this week’s multimedia program, The Technology of Distance Education, we saw different examples of technologies that may be used as tools in distance education.  These included podcats, discussion technologies, blogs, concept maps and media sharing sites. These technologies should develop reciprocity and cooperation among students, use active learning techniques, give prompt feedback, and respect diverse talents and ways of learning among others (Beldarrain, 2006). 
 
We are now asked to review an environment and suggest technologies that could provide the best solution to the stated situation.  Based on the scenario presented in Example 3, there is a requirement to produce an asynchronous learning solution to address safety concerns at a manufacturing plant.  The solution should be modular and illustrate best practices on how to operate many pieces of heavy machinery on the plant floor.  Technology can greatly help with this objective, here is how:
 
Let’s choose a CMS, say Moodle.  This technology will allow us to load the course, keep track of attendance, keep track of scores obtained and even create a community to continue sharing best practices among employees once the course is completed.  Individual modules should be created containing safety best practices for each of the machines on the floor.  The best way to accomplish this would be with a scripted video indicating the appropriate ways to utilize each of the machines.  This could be followed by a flash based simulation where the student is a character and needs to make choices on which action to take given different scenarios.  Another character would also be created with flash technology to act as a coach.  The coach would congratulate the learner when he/she makes the right choice or provide a full explanation of why the learner has chosen the wrong option.  Utilizing the testing function in Moodle, the learner would take a final exam and a final grade would be recorded.   Anyone achieving a grade below an established goal, would have to repeat the course.   Finally, with the integration of web 2.0 technology, a community would be created where workers can continue to communicate and share safety best best practices. 

Please listen to the podcast below entitled “Instructional Design, Learning Meets Technology” for a great explanation of how instructional designers are utilizing technology to create better solutions.

 
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.

Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2),139–153.

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