Video presentations that I have commented on

Bob Streff   http://bobstreff.blogspot.com/2010/11/video-presentation-for-educ-8842.html


 Marlon Wade's  Marlon Wade's Video


April Hayman April Hayman


 Dave Harms  Dave Harms video


Tom Jacobs  Tom Jacob's presentation


Kathi Middleton  Kathi's Video presentation


Aimee Cochran  Aimee's Presentation


Maria Rodriguez  Maria's presentation

Introduction to Dr. Michael Simonson

Introduction to Dr. Michael Simonson

Annotated Bibliography

Frick, T., Chadha, R. & Watson, C. (2009)  College student perceptions of teaching and learning quality. Educational Technology Research and Development, 57(5) p705-720.

This study investigated how learners perceived the quality of instruction.  The study utilized an electronic survey instrument containing nine a priori scales. Students responded from

89 different undergraduate and graduate courses at multiple institutions.  Upon analysis of the data, there was a strong correlation between student self-reports on academic learning

time, how much they learned, their satisfaction with the course, perceptions of their mastery of course objectives, and global course ratings. This study was useful in my research because it indicated  principles with which instructional developers and teachers can evaluate their products and courses, regardless of design processes or method of delivery of instruction. 

Gaytan, J. (2009).  Analyzing online education through the lens of institutional theory and practice: the need for research based and validated frameworks for planning, designing, delivering,

and assessing online instruction.  Delta Pi Epsilon Journal.  51(2).  p62-75.

This study’s purpose was to take a closer examination of the perceptions held by deans, vice presidents of academic affairs, and distance administrators, in regards to online instruction.  This study also looked at the impact colleges’ institutional contexts had on their approaches to online education and the extent to which research-validated frameworks are being used by colleges

to guide in the planning and delivery of online instruction. The study used qualitative research methodology.  The researcher interviewed, through face-to-face and phone, one academic administrator and one administrator of online instruction from eight institutions of higher education to obtain their perceptions regarding online instruction. Study participants were randomly selected from a complete list containing all state-funded institutions of higher education.  Participants were asked several open-ended questions. Initial results indicated that academic administrators placed a relative high value on distance education,  however all administrators preferred face-to-face over the online learning environment and reported that the

quality of online instruction is not as good as the one found in traditional, face-to-face instruction.  This study was useful in my research because it showed the conflicting perceptions with administrators and how the organizational structures in online education can greatly impact the effectiveness of the courses. 

Sweat-Guy, R., Wishart, C. (2008). A longitudinal analysis of the effects of instructional strategies on student performance in traditional and e-learning formats. Issues in Informing Science

Information Technology.  Vol. 5, p149-163.

This study explores student-centered and learner-centered as an instructional strategy. This study utilizes a causal-comparative design to examine the effects of instructional strategies on student performance in two upper-level core business courses developed in both traditional and e-learning formats. The study spanned 3 years, beginning in the fall 2004 concluding in the spring of 2007 Participants included 293 declared business majors. The analysis of the data revealed non-significant differences in student performance based on delivery method and course. However the study showed a greater impact on student performance based on instructional strategies.  This study was beneficial in my research on quality of instruction, because it also concluded that the format did not have a significant impact on student achievement, rather student achievement is affected by the instructional strategies utilized in the course. 

Topper, A.  (2007).   Are they the same?  Comparing the instructional quality of online and face-to-face graduate education courses. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education.

32(6), p681-691.

This study examines how students’ evaluations of learning reflect the overall quality of instruction. It notes how traditional course evaluations are used

for faculty retention, tenure and promotion decisions, while also providing instructors valuable information on the quality of their instruction. This study looks at response rates and compares instructional quality, using student course evaluations along with additional data from online and face-to-face graduate education courses, to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. It also presents a statistical analysis of students’ course evaluations and this analysis showed no significant difference in instructional quality based on the format used. It also compares student work in the online environment and the face-to-face environment to support the findings that there is no significant difference between formats in the area of instructional quality.  The study used quantitative data to measure the difference between traditional face-to-face instruction and fully online courses. The data was comprised of student course evaluations, student work products and survey responses from selected online courses.  The study looked at over two years’ worth of data from traditional and online graduate courses to explore the question of how these might be used to compare instructional effectiveness.  This study was very useful during my project, because it showed how students perceived the quality of instruction they received from the face-to-face courses as well as fully online courses. 

Wickersham, L. and McElhany, J. (2010).   Bridging the divide reconciling administrator and faculty concerns regarding online education.

Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 11 (1). p1-12.

This study was conducted at a regional institution in Northeast Texas.  The purpose of this study was to investigate the concerns of university administrators toward online education and their attitudes concerning the establishment of institutional quality standards in relation to online education. This study used a case study design, where one-on-one interviews were conducted among administrators at the university and questionnaires were distributed to faculty and administrators.  The authors of this study concluded that both faculty and administrators shared similar concerns in regards to online education.  The authors conclude that effective communication is necessary to bridge the divide between administrators and faculty and to reconcile the concerns about online education.  This case study was not essential to my research, however it was quite informative. 

Yang, Y. & Cornelious, L. (2005). Preparing Instructors for Quality Online Instruction. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration , 8(1).

            This article examines the controversies as to the quality of online education.  It looks at suspicions that many have in regards to online education, and the concerns that many have about the quality of online programs.  This article offers suggestions as to way to ensure the quality of online instruction and the prepare instructors for the online format.  I found this article to be informative, however I felt that the content was somewhat lacking.  I would have preferred more information on ways to improve instructional delivery. 

Reference

Dede, C. (1989) The Evolution of Distance Learning: Technology-Mediated Interactive Learning.  A report for the study: “Technologies for Learning at a Distance” (Science,

Education and Transportation Program for the Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States).

Meyen, E. L., Aust, R. J., Bui, Y. N., Issacson, R. (2002). Assessing and monitoring student progress in an e-learning personnel preparation.  Teacher Education and Special Education:

The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 25 (2), 187-198.

Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2000). Making the transition: Helping teachers to teach online. Paper  presented at EDUCAUSE: Thinking it through. Nashville,Tennessee. (ERIC Document

Reproduction Service No. ED 452 806).

Schrum, L. (2002). Oh, what wonders you will see: distance education past, present, and future. Learning and Leading with Technology, 30(3), 6-9.

Module Five Responses

I responded to Aisha  at   Aisha Chadwicks Concept Map

I also responded to Dave Harms at  Dave Harms Blog

Module Five: Concept Map

Static vs. Dynamic Concept Map

Responses to Module 4 Blogs

I responded to Lamont Newsome's blog at:
Lamont Newsome's graphic organizer

I also responded to Kathi Middleton's blog as well at:
 Kathi Middleton's graphic organizer

Module 3 Storyboard

Quality of Instruction in Distance Education Storyboard

Learner Engagement Graphic Organizer

I hope this works, I have been avoiding redoing my graphic organizer, so I had to find a file hosting site where I could upload my file.  I had no idea Blogger did not allow you upload files.  Clearly I am still learning about blogging.  :-)   Here is a link to my graphic organizer and justification paper. 

http://www.mediafire.com/?y9os2qaa29941n8

Technology that is used inside and outside the classroom by students is beneficial in engaging learners in online instruction.  Within the content domain online instructors can use wikis, blogs, and podcasts by the instructor or experts in the content to effectively engage learners with the content and concepts being taught.  To check for understanding, instructors can use discussions and reflections by students.  These technologies allow students to still remain flexible with their schedules while still being effectively engaged with the content.  Another key component in effectively engaging learners is communication.  It is important for online instructors to provide multiple ways for students to communicate with them, their peers and learning communities. Inistructors must also work very hard to build trust in the online community so that communication is open and students and instructors can provide honest and constructive feedback to others.  Collaboration is another area that helps with learner engagement.  Forming learning communities allows students to interact with one another and the instructor in a small group setting, allowing them to build relationships and trust among group members. Another key point to remember is that it is imperative that there are student to student exchanges as well as student to instructor exchanges. 

Blog Responses

Blogs I responded to were



Bob Streff @ http://bobstreff.blogspot.com/



His blog offered a link to a very insightful blog that offered up ideas on how to create collaborative groups and activities using wikis.  He also presented an interesting case as a way to safeguard and deter students from not participating in collaborative excercises.



Dave Harm @ http://daveharms.wordpress.com/



The most thought provoking line from his blog was : The expectation is that every student will participate in the collaboration. Working alone should not be an option.

Module 3: There's no I in team...or is there?

In distance education or online learning it is essential that instructors foster collaboration among students. They must help build a sense of community and help encourage trust among students (Palloff and Pratt, 2007). It is vital that fair and clear expectations are set for students at the beginning of a course. When students are aware of the expectations and requirements of the course from the beginning there will be no excuses later.



Siemens states that collaborative learning can be assessed through participative pedagogy, where students are working in collaborative teams on assignments from the curriculum (2008). In this assessment model students have the opportunity to assess their peers, have the opportunity to receive feedback from the online community, and are assessed by instructors based on contribution to the online community (Laureate Education, 2008). Instructors must set clear guidelines as to what is considered active participation and contribution to the online community. Rubrics are a great way to assess learning and participation, because they are fair and equitable assessments they have clearly defined expectations for each grade so students can self assess themselves and have a pretty good idea of what their grade on each assignment will be based on the rubric. In the post by Mark Sample he discusses the benefits of using student blogs as a starting point for discussions, but the main idea of the blog post is establishing a rubric for evaluating the students blogs. He provided examples of the rubric he set forth and the expectations and how they were outlined for the students in the beginning so that there was no confusion about what was expected of them in their blog postings.



I am quite guilty of being one of those students who abhors group work and collaborative efforts. It is not that I do not participate but I always feel as though it's my grade why should someone else have to help me with it, or why should someone get credit for some of the work that I have done. However I may have felt about collaborative efforts, I have always participated and tried to help my team in whatever assignments we were required to complete. When there are members of the collaborative community who do not participate I think it is important for members of the community to try to reach out to them first through email, chat, or a phone call to determine what has happened. It is important not to jump to conclusions or assume that someone is just not participating when in reality there may be a valid reason as to why they have not been participating. On the other hand, if this is a recurring problem or the community member does not have a reason or response to the efforts of the team, then it is important to notify the instructor so that other members are not penalized. However the team should have pre-established the protocol for what to do when group members are not participating so everyone will be aware of the action steps that will be taken before the instructor is called to intervene.





References:
Mark Sample's Blog http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/a-rubric-for-evaluating-student-blogs/27196


Hurst, D & Thomas, J. (2004). Developing Team Skills and Accomplishing Team Projects Online. In T. Anderson and F. Alloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning (pp. 195-225). Alberta, Canada: Athabasca University.



Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008a). Principles of distance education: Assessment of Collaborative Learning featuring George Siemens [DVD]. United States: Walden University.



Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008b). Principles of distance education: Learning communities featuring George Siemens [DVD]. United States: Walden University.

Module 2 Blog Responses

I responded to Kathi Middleton's blog, she brought up interesting points about the convienence of distance education. 

http://middletonprinciplesdistanceeducation.blogspot.com/2010/09/module-2-we-have-learned-from-past-that.html

I also responded to Janelle Horton, who presented an interesting stance on reaching non-native English speakers in distance education. 

http://mshorton.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/elements-of-distance-education-diffusion-module/#comment-7

Where are we going? Are we there yet?: Module 2 Blog Post

As distance education has evolved so have many elements of distance education.  Distance education is comparable to face to face education, but the two are worlds apart.  In terms of content distance education and face to face education are the same, but the delivery models are very different, but one of the areas where there is an extraordinary difference is in communication.  In face to face education there is real time interaction and communication with peers during the fifty minutes of the course three times per week, but there is very little communication between peers outside of those hours (Siemens, 2008).  However in distance education the key to a students success is the communication between them and their peers and the instructor.  The advent of social networking sites, wikis, blogs, and instant message applications with web cam capabilities like Skype have made communication in distance education much easier.  I even have the Walden University application on my iPhone, so I am able to access my courses on the go anytime of day or night, no matter where I am at. 

In the post by Education Connection the author refers to a program that has been designed to help aid communications and alleviate the feeling of alienation in distance education through the use of web cams at Santa Barbara City College (Education Connection, 2010).  Through this program students are able to view professors lectures and participate in discussions via web cam.  Roy Bartels outlines several other methods of communication that can be used in distance education and their benefits in his blog also. 


Roy Bartels blog can be found here:

http://www.rbartels.com/EDIT%205370/synch_asynch.html

Education Connection blog can be found here:

http://blog.educationconnection.com/2010/04/communication-distance-learning/

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). The Future of Distance Education. On Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Author.

Blog Responses Module One

Here are the wonderful blogs I responded to this week, hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did!

http://middletonprinciplesdistanceeducation.blogspot.com/2010/09/module-1-next-generation-of-distance.html



http://incitefultechnology.blogspot.com/2010/09/elearning-instructional-design-for-next.html?showComment=1284871232815_AIe9_BH4eOM-mE28Eqn2Neu8se2GPcKWTszozOqJEyUgxF4v_6LIMAts5rmH5zs4WC7Kiqmi2lwMAC7ek1hx0SF_OJlVYJy8NFiJwozovvJDruUBX9U9Q0czQyvvZHXc3Xl-S1MhpcrJ60QW1M4zt792gRkYiukvWnX07-pX-t_DJlXLtAGXvHYMnmiOuac0Xk03E3gZVC8RBTWBvmMZPuoe3BHQtug7vR1yc4eE9bGw664UZdQh_UE7WCQ_D-TgFw8NsOhwQRPyAzFwUmScfjQBU_WWbWp7E4Znq26De2V_6gDjbwEKMJFR2tLGQHvjPCDXjmZ8VX7FdTJsuJI_vUK8xvcouKljFDu_OQZ2rHKDADMTc05G_LrIEQ6fNdBAS8R_Tu4lwioLOphKEVnip9FVxzgKL3FfR8OFVzijOfYuKQCN-46CyjxhIMn_uh4QFxQrqoaeflB_rlbRW2gKE6Poav1j6GURkmECdVaoVLFtStx0h6ismeCYzXc44199MQXb2YrV4eHl1kJ2EaAZhrn-P_lnqsIuXjEmqf4AdiFOCZ6DDU7SNbP7iD6wQNaQUYTySCv0yReAXW8_xU0kvdXLpwzgAtMR5uXZavUvuvtmmT-ZcnonMkLwQYdL4UjLcRA93X8mAAcVPHAlP7eTtSZ_3x6n4tpYxoghiu2kNxr6-qOIGUE5xCSiRilYVS4zaY14cdW3d404dpilwicO5g7bg0N2dLJ1yBOt8y0WexqKKFrHqA5lQtVtfT4AbsQUbMk1xQT0GWzo3Tv5f6KJIutcz9c6q_mqXXD3HfZT0S9N3fG1jPiu1nKwlwOOMHlLScPtws9rMNpgMw3Iq2KHuqyBYQ4o0nCnrPJOPVOPvv4cy6qspbzbDOgU6WyRL9O5_85l4g5Hu3mdi9Ae8mglrPUsLpqwkGQu6Cxt2t0AQCswBmH_YoVLnPk#c7571315689018964581

Distance Education: The Next Generation

 As I read and reflected on these articles I was reminded of an experience that I had when I first enrolled in my Master's program online, a colleague of mine causally remarked "Oh, so you are taking the easy route, I wish I had done that."  That type of attitude towards distance education is pervasive.  I think that it is vital that instructors work to provide meaningful and quality instruction and learning experiences in distance education courses in order to help change public perception of this type of educational experience.  I agree with Moller, Huett, Foshay and Coleman (2008) and their theory that distance education must evolve through development and training.  Instructors must be trained in sound instructional practices that incorporate collaborative learning, peer interaction, and dialogue between peers and instructor and student.

I agree with Simonson's (2008) Equivalency Theory, distance education will never be able to be the exact same as face to face instruction, but the instruction should be equivalent.  I think back on my undergraduate experience and how I was able to sit in class and never participate in the lectures or discussions because I am a naturally shy person, but that sort of behavior would not be acceptable in a distance education course, one has to particpate in the discussions.   

As distance education evolves, I foresee distance education becoming more prevelant in secondary education for various reasons. 


Links to articles

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=8&sid=935f652d-cc0c-48ea-8178-219191432dc1%40sessionmgr13

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=8&sid=cfc6ef78-4407-452c-9bca-4809f8cffbce%40sessionmgr14

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=8&sid=49a6f541-b2d8-4a1f-8ec4-84d1570de4e9%40sessionmgr14

Reference:

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008a, 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. (2008b, 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.

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.