Module 2 - Distance Education - Collaborative Interaction

After having watched both of George Siemens videos, I have to say that I agree with his view on the acceptance of distance education in the corporate and educational world.

I've chosen to reflect on collaborative interaction in distance education because I find the idea of collaborating and interacting online, rather than in person, fascinating.  

Acceptance of distance education by corporate America and educational institutions, in my opinion, is not a guarantee that all aspects of it will work.  Collaborative interaction with someone you don’t know who lives half way around the world, may not turn out to be what you expect.  Because these types of experiences are common in distance education, Jane Hart talks in her blog about how many corporations and educational institutions are looking for ways to bring ‘social’ interaction back into the mix to help rectify this problem (Hart, 2012, Aug 25).

Collaborative interaction has certainly evolved from students and teachers sitting in a classroom, to learning 100% online, with the help of electronic blackboards, blogs, wikis, and other tools that are suppose to connect students and help them learn to work together in the electronic, or cyber world, in which we live.  We also need to keep in mind that collaborative interaction is not a new concept, it's just the new buzz term.  According to Mark Guzdial's blog, he's been doing it for 10 -20 years in the area of computer-supported collaborative learning (Guzdial, 2012, Oct 16).  

The tools available to facilitate this type of learning grow in numbers daily.  Today, we can ‘connect’ from almost anywhere using our smartphones, tablets or laptops. As long as you can find a ‘hot spot’ you can log in and Skype a classmate, watch a lecture in real time, log into Blackboard and have discussions with classmates, create posts for your blog, or post work to your wiki for group review and feedback before going ‘public’.

Collaborative interaction and learning is here to stay. What corporations and educational institutions need to do is find better ways to make it work, and if it doesn't work in some areas, do away with it there.  The focus should be on using collaborative interaction where it has a higher rate of being successful.  

References

Guzdial, M. (2012, Oct 16). What I have learned about on-line

collaborative learning.  Retrieved from http://computinged.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/what-i-have-learned-about-on-line-collaborative-learning/

Hart, J. (2012, Aug 25). Facilitating collaborative learning: a

recipe for success. Retrieved from http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/blog/2012/08/25/facilitating-collaborative-learning-a-recipe-for-success/

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008) Distance education: higher

education, k12, and the corporate world. (video). Baltimore, MD; Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). The future of distance education.

(video). Baltimore, MD; Author.

Module 1 - ECUC 7102

The three part article by Moller, Foshay, Huett and Coleman (2008), talks about distance education, or e-learning, in three settings; corporate training and development, higher education, and K-12 education.  What all three have in common are the cost saving benefits.  No travel or accommodations are required, it is convenient, and the learner can partake of a class or training session from any computer with Internet access no matter where they are, or the time of day.  The common concerns that are raised have to do with the quality of instruction, proper training of teachers, course development, and the need for successful evaluation and measurement methods for determining success.  In all three articles, the importance of instructional design is emphasized as a critical component necessary to ensure the integrity of the curriculum, content, its design, training, and instruction.

Simonson (2000) shares the belief that distance education and online learning is here to stay, and will continue to grow at a fairly brisk pace.  He stresses the importance of designing courses that will allow the online learner the opportunity to have equivalent educational experiences and outcomes as those students in face-to-face classrooms.

I too believe that distance education, online, and e-learning is positioned for further development and growth.  The corporate world recognized, long before educational institutions, the need to provide its employees with a cost effective, and convenient way to deliver training and support.  What they were not concerned with was the need to take it to the next level, which involves determining the effectiveness, and success, of their efforts.  Educational institutions, on the other hand, have been so concerned with how they would measure the success of online education that they have lagged behind and delayed the widespread implementation of these programs.  As more and more administrators and educational institutions realize the importance and growing popularity of distance education, they are becoming more interested in bringing instructional designers on board to work with them, and their teachers, in an effort to design effective courses and programs for the diverse learners that they serve.

References

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C. (2008, September/October). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008, May/June). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 1: Training and Development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75. 

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

Simonson, M. (2000). Making decisions: The use of electronic technology in online classrooms. New Directions for Technology and Learning, 2000(84), 29-34. doi:10.1002/tl.844

Blogs to visit...

http://www.tuaw.com - this is an unofficial blog that talks about everything Apple

http://gigaom.com - this blog addresses various technologies and trends with contributions by many different authors