After so many difficulties, here is my final video presentation

http://youtu.be/6ZMio5QFQ38

Module 5: Great links to find great static and dynamic technologies concept maps

This static and dynamic technologies concept map is a great graphic organizer. It contains lots of

 information and the graphics are unique. I like the fact that Penny used a different type of template to

 create this fantastic concept map.

Another great concept map! This one has been color coded in order to make it easier to read. Very resourceful. There are so many tools listed for each of the categories. This Walden student put a lot of effort and time to create this detailed concept map. Well done!

Links:

http://pennyfree.blogspot.com/2010/05/static-dynamic-technologies-concept-map.html

http://durffsblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/concept-map-static-versus-dynamic.html

module 5 static and dynamic technologies

Please review my concept map. Thanks. Diana

http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/13881940

Static and Dynamic technologies concept map

Please review my concept map. Thanks

http://www.slideshare.net/dabsatz/static-and-dynamic-technologies-concept-map

Moving Toward Dynamic Technologies (Module 5)

There is no doubt that effective static and dynamic technologies can be used in any classroom at all

 levels to engage learners. These technologies are helping instructors to develop content ideas across

 a variety of curricular areas. “On the static end we see technologies such as podcasts or video casts,

 Web pages, and text. These technologies, while efficient at broadcasting information, do little to help

 learners build their own knowledge. At best, static technologies allow learners to capture

 information”(Moller, 2008). As an educator, I believe that I am in the middle of the static-dynamic

continuum because I use constantly static technologies to broadcast information in a way that will

 engage the attention of my Kindergarteners. I also feel that I am right on the middle of the dynamic

 continuum because my young students are always encouraged to use the virtual learning tools

 available at the school’s district website. My students navigate and interact with several instructional

games, virtual manipulatives, websites and software in all subject areas. In order to move to the end

 of the static continuum I often provide my students with assessment tools like online quizzes and

 surveys in order to promote their critical thinking skills and assess the acquisition of new knowledge.

 “The dynamic end of the interactivity continuum includes tools that involve learners on a much

deeper cognitive level” (Moller, 2008). Unfortunately, my students are too young to be able to

 participate independently in simulations, collaborative activities on the web and video conferencing.

I strongly believe that only virtual primary educators are the ones who can actually find themselves at

 the end of the static-dynamic end of the continuum. Online educators are able to provide their

 students with easy access to static and dynamic visual representations of the content of their courses.

 Some of these technologies include digital study guides, video streaming, computer-based

multimedia, simulations, cognitive support software (e.g. statistical software), internet based libraries

 and databases, video conferencing, and web 2. collaborative tools. Those are very dynamic

technology tools don’t you agree?

References:

Anderson, T. (2008). The theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton: AU Press.

Moller, L. (2008). Static and dynamic technological tools. [Unpublished Paper]. Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning. (2nd ed.). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.

Module 4: CCC Graphic Organizer

Group 1,
Please review my 3 C's graphic organizer. Thanks
Diana

http://www.slideshare.net/dabsatz/ccc-graphic-organizer

Module 4: Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools:

It is a fact that students in a traditional face to face learning setting have numerous opportunities to interact with their instructor and classmates. Being able to create similar if not the same opportunities for collaboration in an online course is one of the biggest challenges of teaching in a virtual classroom. There are plenty asynchronous and synchronous learning tools such as threaded discussions boards, web conferencing and educational blogs that play an important role in humanizing online courses by simulating the face to face classroom experience where students  exchange information and build learning communities between themselves and instructors. Blogs and discussion boards provide great opportunities for interaction in online courses. Blog posts are usually longer than discussion board prompts and can include multimedia. Discussion boards differ from blog entries because they focus on the feedback to an initial prompt. Discussion boards have typically short introductions and the prompts tend to be more specific. In addition, discussion boards can have a broader range of questions more than just comments. Effective communication between students and instructors is one of the most successful instructional strategies in the online learning setting “A strategy that encourages more in depth participation is to ask students questions directly related to their postings. Instructors can phrase questions in such a way that all students are encouraged to respond, not just the student who posted the original comment. For example, focus on one point that a student makes and build on it, or offer a contrasting viewpoint. Then challenge students to do further research and share what they find. When instructors respond to students’ postings in these ways, it demonstrates that student comments are valued and encourages them to participate” (Durrington, Berryhill & Swafford, 2006).  Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) is a groupware that supports collaborative activities and their coordination. Software products such as email, calendaring, text chat, wiki, slide-share and bookmarking belong to this category. A Wiki standing alone or as Media Wiki might include the following groupware: workflow management, blogs, image and file galleries, chat, calendaring and surveys. Wikis facilitate collaboration among community members of a learning community who are small groups of students focused on the educational site content. Visitors are encouraged to edit content posted by other users' contributions and to create new pages to improve the educational content of the site. Effective online course design and delivery of content is extremely necessary to achieve good student learning outcomes and satisfaction. In an online learning environment different strategies need to be used while designing content. Students’ motivation, learning styles, structured instruction, instructional strategies, online lectures and presentations need to be carefully addressed. The introduction of using discussion as a means of promoting classroom dialog is an important part of the online course design. In an online environment, students need plenty of guidance. Explicit instructions must guide the studying and learning process.  Formative feedback can be used to assess teaching, student learning and course design. Moodle is a free and very popular course management system that allows instructors to design a course for thousands or only a few students and gives access to creating forums, wikis, databases, etc. Blackboard Learn is used by many institutes of higher learning institutions as a source of online classroom management. Successful online instruction merely depends on learning experiences appropriately designed and facilitated by knowledgeable educators.

References:

Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning. (2nd ed.). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.

Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190−193

Siemens, G. (2008, January). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. ITForum.

Module 3: Collaborative Assessment Efforts

Module 3: Collaborative Assessment Efforts:

     “Virtual collaborative learning environments aim to produce technology-based learning processes where participants can work together as a group to construct and share knowledge. Such environments provide a rich opportunity for collaborative knowledge building, particularly through peer-to-peer dialogue” (Ghaoui 2003).

     In the video resource of this week, George Siemens discusses several strategies for assessing collaborative learning in the online environment. George Siemens states that assessment is a teaching based activity that provides an opportunity to give feedback and evaluate ourselves as educators. That is the best definition of the meaning of the word assessment I have ever heard in my life as an educator. Furthermore, Siemens suggests that one strategy that can be used to evaluate collaborative learning is by utilizing “Peer Assessment.” “Peer assessment” consists of students exchanging constructive feedback about work effort and participation of their learning team members. I believe that the online learning format at Walden University often provides that type of assessment. Last semester, I was teamed up with two other students in order to evaluate the weekly progress of our own individual presentations. I must emphasize that we had to create a presentation by ourselves which I enjoyed very much because the thought of creating a single presentation as a group would have been a nightmare and would have defeated the purpose of the online learning format (anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace). Each week, I received constructive feedback from my team members. Their feedback was always constructive and enabled me to successfully finish my video presentation assignment.

     Luke posted on his e-learning blog one of the major problems that educators encounter while assessing collaborative groups, “One of the problems is that the same methods of assessing individual work are being applied to group work. Teachers do this because they are accustomed to it. We cannot assess this way because if everyone in a group does the same exact thing, it is nothing more than independent work done in the company of others” (Luke, 2012).  As an online learner who mainly seeks flexibility in the pursues of a post graduate degree, I view participation in group/collaborative learning as an impediment to continue my education. If an online educational program requires students to schedule online meetings in order to delegate or check work for an assignment, that online program is defeating the purpose of the promised online learning format. I would like to highlight that collaborative assessment requires several methods of assessment that can be used within a single course to provide a summative evaluation of a student's knowledge, ability and participation.  In an online course, participation can be assessed by providing students with a well written rubric. That rubric can provide useful feedback regarding the effectiveness of a student’s participation in threaded discussions and offer benchmarks against which to measure and record progress.

     In response to the question, “How do the varying levels of skill and knowledge students bring to a course affect the instructor's "fair and equitable assessment" of learning?”, my answer is that assessing students using the same rubrics for all assignments is the fairest way to assess all types of students. Most students at all levels of education come to classes with a variety of skills and background knowledge. I personally view differences within students’ levels of skill and knowledge as an opportunity to spark rich learning opportunities.  When students bring to college their various perspectives, knowledge and skills to classroom discussions, they can actually enhance the learning process of other students in the same virtual classroom. 

      If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community for an online course, the instructor should ask for the reasons of such a request. If they are valid, student should not be isolated. I personally would not collaborate in a learning community that requires team members to meet online at specific times because the only free time I have after meeting my obligations with my family is about eleven o’clock at night. I once enrolled in an online college that required sixty percent of the assignments to be done in groups. Almost everyone could meet online except for me. I was extremely frustrated because I thought that the online learning format was designed for students who could only work on their own time and at their own pace. The majority of online learners enrolled into online colleges because flexibility is a great issue in their lives. At that time, I didn’t receive any support either from my instructor or administration, so I dropped out from that school. Years later, I spoke to an advisor from Walden University, and she explained to me that collaborative learning is part of their online format, but that I would never have to take time off from work in order to meet with a learning team. Instructors or facilitators should be aware that students are all different; therefore, they should always be willing to design alternate education plans for diverse students. As an educator and a student, I understand that people ‘s culture, religion, and  learning habits may differ from most people, but I also know that there is not a problem that can’t be solved by using  good communication skills.

References:

Ghaoui, C; (2003). Usability Evaluation of Online Learning Programs. Idea Group Inc. p. 43.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of distance education: Distance Education: Assessment of 

Collaborative Learning.

Lukes’ e-learning Blog, (2012).   Assessing Collaborative Efforts.   A blog about teaching and learning with

technology. Retrieved from: http://lukebilger.blogspot.com/2012/01/assessing- oncollaborative-efforts.html

July 11, 2012.

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for

the virtual classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Module 3: Video storyboard

Hi team,
This is the link to my video storyboard. Let me know what you think : )

http://www.slideshare.net/dabsatz/video-presentation-outline

Module 2: Reflection

Elements of Distance Education: Global Diversity:

     Dr. Siemens states that there are three possible elements of distance education: global diversity, communication, and collaborative interaction. I totally agree with his view and I have chosen the element of global diversity to reflect upon.

     The world has become a growing global community, and diversity is often at the forefront of many academic discussions that take place in traditional and virtual classrooms. Now more than ever before, students are able to join each other in virtual classrooms from all over the world and celebrate their differences. This new and expanding language of the on-line community serves as an effective tool to create an environment of familiarity among diverse users. For on-line universities this dynamic is especially important. The on-line learning format allows all students to learn diversity from each other. Online learners are able to learn from each of their colleagues about their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives and education are in their native countries, and what kinds of changes they will experience during their lifetime after graduation. It is about students connecting with the world and creating active learning.

     Steve Foerster posted on his e-learner blog an article titled, “Through eLearning, You Can Predict The Future.” Steve acknowledges the rapid global growing of online learning programs within the field of business analysis. He also states, “There's one particular myth about eLearning that has largely gone by the wayside but is still worth countering at every opportunity, and that's that it's only offered by lower tier schools. On the contrary, however, many prestigious schools now offer some programs as on-line education” (Fooerster, 2012).  Foerster’s article highlights how prestigious universities like Harvard and MIT is starting to offer free courses on-line based. That is just the beginning. It is the launching platform. Universities are embracing and inviting diverse populations into their virtual classrooms. Students from other continents are completing college programs without ever setting foot in the city where the university is physically located.

     In another on-line education blog, I found an article written by Lambeth Hochwald; a freelance journalist, where the author posts a question to young entrepreneurs, “Is online education for young entrepreneurs worth their time?” “Instead of a localized set of students to bond with and bounce ideas off of, online students suggest their networks aren’t limited to any one geographic region. Indeed, some argue they receive a more comprehensive networking experience, as they can connect with students and professors overseas and down the street” (Hochwald, 2012).

Online learning finally brings democracy to education. It gives the student in East L.A., Miami,  Martha's Vineyard, Argentina, or Pakistan an equal opportunity to content curriculum and to people with many perspectives.

References:

Foerster, S; (2012). Through eLearning, You Can Predict The Future. The eLearners News Blog.

Retrieved from:  http://community.elearners.com/all_blogs/the_elearners_news_blog/

Hochwald, L; (2012).  Online Education for Young Entrepreneurs: Worth Your Time? Young Entrepreneurs Blog.   Retrieved from : http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog/online-education-for-young-entrepreneurs-worth-your-time/ on June 29^th, 2012.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). (n.d.).  The future of distance education.  [Video Production]. Available from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/

Module 2 (video outline)

Group 1,
Finally I found a way to post my video outline : )

http://www.slideshare.net/dabsatz/video-presentation-outline

Module 1 response to distance education articles

 

Module 1 response to distance

education articles

Posted on June 15, 2012 by dabsatz

The article written by  Jason Huett, Leslie Moller, Wellesley R Foshay, and Craig Coleman  was divided into three sections: corporate training, higher education, and implication of instructional design on the web. The first part of the article was filled with technical language that all what I could conclude was that there is a need to assess accurately the effectiveness of distance education training programs. The second part, I really enjoyed because it calls for a change the way most traditional colleges view distance learning based programs. Distance learning educators and distance learning education degrees are still not getting the respect that traditional higher education institutions’ degrees received from faculty, administration and employers. The third part covers virtual classroom instruction (k-12). I am just going to express my deep feelings about virtual classroom. They should be only offered to students who are home schooled, in hospitals, in jail or at work trying to support their families. The authors seem to agree with my beliefs. There is no excuse for elementary and middle age school children not to go to a regular neighborhood school. They need that. I must state that I view high school as I view higher education. They are equal to me. A student must be mature, well organized, and self motivate it to pursue a high school degree in a virtual classroom just like adults are. I am convinced that virtual schools are not for everyone, but they are perfect for me. As long as instructors keep online communication with their students, there is no difference between a face to face classroom setting. There is a time for change. Online based degrees deserve to get respect and equality (equal credits) from  traditional higher education institutions.  What is your view? I would love to hear from you.

References:

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. R., & Coleman, C. (2008). The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 52(5), 63-67. doi:10.1007/s11528-008-0199-9

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). (n.d.).  Distance education: The next barrier.  [Video Production]. Available from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_968211_1%26url%3D

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). (n.d.).  Equivalency theory.  [Video Production]. Available from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_968211_1%26url%3D

Moller, L., Forshay, W. R., & Huett, J. (2008). The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 52(3), 70-75. doi:10.1007/s11528-008-0158-5

Moller, L., Foshay, W. R., & Huett, J. (2008). The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 52(4), 66-70. doi:10.1007/s11528-008-0179-0

Simonson, M. (2000). Making decisions: The use of electronic technology in online classrooms. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 84, 29–34.