Higher education lacks good instructional design for effective learning in distance education, according to Moller, Huett, Foshay and Coleman (2008). This is primarily due to faculty lacking appropriate training in instructional design or distance education. In the articles written by Moller (2008) and Huett, Moller, Foshay, and Coleman (2008), K-12 has the least research and affects a variety of learners. As a second grade teacher, I agree with these authors on their opinion of faculty lacking appropriate training in design and distance education. Teachers are very often left to design and facilitate technology with which they do not even know where to begin. A teacher cannot address best practices for how a student learns or which technology is appropriate for the learner when he/she doesn't have proper training.
Simonson (2000) states that there has continued to be a rapid growth in on line learners. There are currently an estimated 6 million learners and this number continues to climb. He notes that distance learning will not take the place of traditional education. He states that it will stretch across and affect all learning environments. Each industry of learners has different needs. Instructional design will continue to evolve and meet the needs of all distance education learners.
It is imperative that professors and teachers are taught design and reflect upon learning theory. By taking these steps, maximum learning opportunities are provided for the student.
References
Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). 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. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s title.
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. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s title.
Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67.Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s title.
Simonson, M. (2000). Making decisions: The use of electronic technology in online classes. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 84, 29–34.
Nice blog! You look like you have been blogging your whole life!
ReplyDeleteI am in definite agreement with you that there needs to be better instructional design for distance learning courses. The Internet has brought distance learning to a higher level thus, demanding levels of instructional design that can adapt to the virtual environment of distance learning. In many ways we are not ready (and we may never be) to apply distance learning to all levels of education. We seem to do a good job of applying to college level classs and graduate classes but, it is still a challenge when trying to apply it to K-12.
ReplyDeleteAs a Campus Technology Integration Specialist, I totally agree with your statements. Teachers need support for integration and that support needs to take into consideration the incredible workload that teachers already endure. It is my belief that the key is in ensuring whatever integration is implemented must result in improved academic performance. If it does, than the teacher will consider their time well spent and it is more likely to become a component of the teacher's daily routine. Often, in training, this perspective is overlooked and teachers are given "jobs" which have no apparent reasoning behind them. I am very passionate about the use of websites as instructional tools and believe that these theories for distance learning apply to that medium,as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insights!
Carol
I agree with the points you made about learning theory. Learning theories should be the basis for any and all curriculum based learning courses, including distance education. Excelllent summaries.
ReplyDeleteJenny Jarvis
Hi Debbie:
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I began to wonder how this kind of training would be implemented for all educators. Universities must begin to mandate distance education course into their programs for prospective teachers. While this will prepare the future generation of educators, we still have the issue of current staff. This is the intent of Professional Development. In order to keep current staff up to date on new trends in education, districts will need to mandate learning in this field.
The stumbling block is the classroom teacher who still is not able to use district e-mail and basic computing tasks. This is a major situation that needs to be addressed.
As the evolution of distance learning continues to grow and evolves, I feel two things will happen. First, interactive technologies will continue to advance and online learning will become more seamless and it will become easier to communicate with fellow students and instructors. Video communications and video conferencing technologies will continue to be more streamlined. Secondly, as you stated in your original post, teachers will continued to need training on these latest interactive technologies in order to effectively teach, instruct, and implement online classes.
ReplyDeleteTeachers are often given technology and have no clue as to what to do with the technology. I absolutely agree that teachers must be trained how to use the technology effectively and design instruction that is going to be the most beneficial for students. Good post.
ReplyDelete