Essential Question: How can we manage the change that is inherent in our distance learning efforts?I feel like this week's question was timed perfectly to our change in president. We don't know what the future holds, but we have to be ready for it. I don't think it is very different from our practice in a face-to-face classroom. "But the question we want you to think about—as educators—when you read about technological breakthroughs like this is“so what?” What value if any, can this technology, and the others suggested in this chapter, add to distance education" (Moore & Kearsley 2011)? I was challenged to think about this in relation to science labs. I have used these in class but I have always been present to assist. This would not be the same for a distance class, but I still would need these tools to educate students. "Emerging technologies, online tactile feedback, audio/video and robotic technologies, and even digital scent technologies may provide students with new opportunities for developing hands-on skills that were once mastered in the face-to-face online science course" (Vandermolen 2016). Vandermolen suggests that these online laboratory tools are quickly gaining acceptance as valid alternatives to a face-to-face lab. Especially because you can mess up without fear. You don't have to worry about spilling or breaking something. Now eventually students interested in science need real practice this would be great for introductory courses. I believe online labs will continue to grow in popularity and will become even more realistic. Some examples to check out include:
An area of concern for distance education is the standards they are meeting. There are so many standards and these vary from place to place. If there were common standards, "every institution would save the cost of manufacturing their own, and—just as important—would have raw materials that were of a common standard" (Moore & Kearsley 2011). However with this does come globalization. Globalization can be good but also comes with its downfalls. "Globalization raises many issues. On the one hand it offers the possibility of more choice and so greater freedom and better resources for distance learners. When driven by commercialism there is danger of degradation of both curriculum and instructional programs" (Moore & Kearsley 2011). This is something to be cognizant of as education continues to change with new technology. With all of this in mind teachers also need to be trained on how to apply standards to online courses according to Quiroz, Ritter, Li, Newton, & Palkar (2016). They found that if educators aren't given professional assistance "the outcome is a course that still lacks alignment among assessments and learning objectives." They also found that educators need "support in understanding how to demonstrate the relationship between course activities and learning objectives as well as sharing the purpose of the learning materials and expected response time as it pertains to course." Quiroz, Ritter, Li, Newton, & Palkar use a program called quality matters and assess courses with a common rubric. I could not find the updated version but here is the 4th edition. I think this may be beneficial in guiding my own design of a course for this class. With so much change requires an educator to constantly look for good PD. "Current research and national guidelines recommend that professional development should be authentic, project-based, and standards-based" (Quiroz, Ritter, Li, Newton, & Palkar, 2016). We need to go in willing to try and make mistakes and learn from them. We have to realize that a major goal of distance education needs to involve digital literacy. "Digital literacy goes beyond basic reading and writing skills to encompass being able to input (i.e., type) information into a computer, phone, or other electronic device, and to be able to understand the output of such devices. This includes being able to navigate through screens, operate controls, troubleshoot problems (a big part of technology use), create and process information in multimedia formats, and search for and locate information" (Moore & Kearsley 2011). In an online course you are teaching so much more than just the content and this can be quite the challenge. Sources
Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (2011). Distance education: A systems view of online learning [Kindle Edition]. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Quiroz, R. E., Ritter, N. L., Li, Y., Newton, R. C., & Palkar, T. (2016). Standards Based Design: Teaching K-12 Educators To Build Quality Online Courses. Journal of Online Learning Research. 2 (1), pp. 123-144. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved November 9, 2016, from http://www.learntechlib.org/c/JOLR Vandermolen, J. (2016, August 29). The Science Lab Makeover: 6 Resources to Consider for Your Online Science Lab - OLC. Retrieved November 10, 2016, from http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/science-lab-makeover-6-resources-consider-online-science-lab/
8 Comments
Theresa
11/12/2016 12:02:32 am
Sara- That is very cool these labs and they can mess up without fear. They don't have to worry about spilling or breaking something. I think that is something that needs to be worked on is the standards. There is so many standards. I think this is true as well what you say here, In an online course you are teaching so much more than just the content and this can be quite the challenge. We need to keep up on so much to stay ahead of the game.
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Sara Lucas
11/13/2016 09:12:48 pm
It is a great alternative!! Always better to do the real thing but if you can't do the live lab at least there is a way you can still practice. I know I like using virtual labs in my face-to-face classes. Sometimes I use them so that we can practice before we try the real version and other times I like the online labs because we just don't have an adequate place to do certain labs.
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Josie Leach
11/13/2016 05:21:07 am
Sara,
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Sara Lucas
11/13/2016 09:15:51 pm
I know!! There is a fear of the unknown that is hard to get over. Fortunately for me when it comes to tech stuff I don't have this fear. The hard part is finding good stuff to try. There is so much out there to sift through.
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Dan Marshall
11/13/2016 02:34:20 pm
Sara, I agree with that idea that digital literacy is important to the successful adoption of universal online teaching and learning. Frankly, I may be a great instructor, but if I don't have the digital skills to create, convey and facilitate, then the course falls flat.
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Sara Lucas
11/13/2016 09:18:34 pm
Yes!! and the bad news is we are constantly inundated with new things. That means we have to figure out new things all of the time. And then just when you find something good that resource falls through the online cracks and they decide to close the site.
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BridgetQiao
11/13/2016 09:06:20 pm
Sara,
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Sara Lucas
11/13/2016 09:21:03 pm
Maybe someday they will be able to smell the items or even have holograms to interact with. Who knows? For now though it provides a great resources for those who don't have adequate facilities or supplies.
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