Group items tagged

I will ask each group several common questions and specific question on your group treatise paper. These questions can be responded by any of your group members as an individual opinion or as group response. It is your group decision. Please list five most critical elements of distributed learning system in distance learning.

1. The creation lesson plans in which students can collaborate in online group activities to have the ability to share knowledge and learn from each other's ideas. 2. Integrating a variety of Web 2.0 tools that facilitate learning and allow students to complete and submit assignments in a timely manner. 3. Self and peer evaluations to improve educational growth. 4. Educators should have means to evaluate student work and provide necessary feedback and serve as facilitators. 5. Having effective Professional Development for staff and administrators that support and encourage the awareness of new technologies in today's changing society.

Most of people probably would agree that all instructions should have integrated online technology. Do you agree or disagree? Why? Please at least provide three reasons with good literatures to support your arguments.

Technology has become an increasingly vital tool in our growing society. The use of PowerPoint presentations upon lecturing promotes student interaction and improves student engagement with whatever the subject may be. The option to download pictures/graphics upon organizing my PowerPoint presentations has been a great instructional tool for my students. Teaching dental hygiene students the importance of patient education and providing the tools to enhance and perfect their skills is critical as an educator. Dental education has improved dramatically over the past 20 years. Technology has played a huge role in facilitating communication and collaboration among students. We now have web-based and software-based programs that are available to facilitate learning in 3D animation and HD footage for dental treatment educational purposes. MediaMed is a web-based tool that I make great use of in the classroom to educate my students on the various dental procedures. MediaMed also serves as an instructional component that not only provides patient education on the necessary treatment needed, but also increases patient treatment acceptance, which then improves the overall oral health of the individual. Eaton, Reynolds and Cox (2008), believe that the use of CD-ROM's have made a major contribution to the development of teaching practice and the greater availability of educational material for students. Teaching dental anatomy in the dental hygiene program utilizing ADAM interactive CD-ROM, has validated the necessary interaction between student and teacher upon lecturing. Today's computer has replaced all means of traditional communication significantly. Many distant learning tools claim to be interactive, but few can offer two-way communication. Email is the most popular means of communication medium now-a-days. Therefore, it may be used as an educational tool for learning (Rahman, Anwar, & Numan, 2008, p. 180). To imagine how one can function and be productive as educat

Continued Discussion: To imagine how one can function and be productive as educators without the use of electronic mail is extremely difficult. Eaton, K. A., Reynolds, P. A., & Cox, M. J. (2008). Top of the pops-CD-ROM and DVD's in dental Education [Electronic Version]. British Dental Journal, 204(4), 203-207. Rahman, K. M., Anwar, S., & Numan, S. (2008). Enhancing distance learning through email communication: A case of BOU [Electronic Version]. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 9(2), 180-185.

Assessment: In distributed learning assessment (collaborative learning), it is very difficult to know who is doing the course work. How do we know the actual students are doing the course work and how can we assess?

Having Elluminate chat sessions with participating instructors reduces the chances of students having other do the course work. Chat session personalizes each session. Besides, most online students are mature, working, adults. I presume they want to learn and participate since their own money is invested in their education. Having students communicate with instructors via chat or phone at least once during the semester can be one way to assess proper participation.

I will ask each group several common questions and specific question on your group treatise paper. These questions can be responded by any of your group members as an individual opinion or as group response. It is your group decision. Please list five most critical elements of distributed learning system in distance learning.

Distributed learning is a broad term "associated with face-to-face(f2f) instruction that incorporated some form of technology-based learning experience, either inside or outside the classroom." (Simonson, et al, 2009) 1. Unless access is deliberately restricted, courses are available to any qualified individual anywhere in the world with properly equipped computer and internet connection. Students can participate from school, home, office, or community locations 2. Asynchronous course components are available 24/7- time zone independent 3. Students can work at own pace. 4. Online materials are easy to update and change on the fly 5. Materials and methods are designed to take advantage of the interactivity and resources that the internet provides; The internet can provide a student centered learning environment

Most of people probably would agree that all instructions should have integrated online technology. Do you agree or disagree? Why? Please at least provide three reasons with good literatures to support your arguments.

(all answers consist of collaborative work by all members of team 2) I have recently talked to many who tell me that online learning is not for them. When I ask why they tell me that they need the physical presence of other learners….no mention of an instructor. Some have told me that they are not disciplined enough for online learning. While I know that there are all types of learners and learning styles, I am still amazed to hear people say these things. I originally would have said yes to this question, but now I know that some learners are turned off by online learning. There are many different teaching styles as well. Some teachers may not feel comfortable or want to teach online. Also in different cultures, the use and acceptance of technology is different (say in the Middle East where some teachers do not want their students to go online for fear they may be exposed morally deficient material). In this case, it is best to integrate technology to meet the socio-cultural needs of both the students and the teachers, making sure everyone is comfortable with the technology. Sloan-C. (2003) Sizing the Opportunity: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States. Retrieved November 13, 2009, http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/survey03.asp It would seem a great idea given the fact that many 21st century learners are technology literate. However, we need to examine barriers that must be overcome: Some teachers do not want or are uncomfortable with technology in the classroom. Students in a lower socio-economic strata may not have access to equipment. Some classrooms are not equipped and some teachers are not trained to incorporate technology into the lessons. The digital divide is real. Internet courses are labor intensive. Support infrastructure (technology, technicians, training) may be minimal or nonexistent. (Simonson, et al, 2009) Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S. (2009) Teaching and learning at a

In distributed learning assessment (collaborative learning), it is very difficult to know who is doing the course work. How do we know the actual students are doing the course work and how can we assess?

(all answers consist of collaborative work by all members of team 2) In the real work world, it is an accepted fact that often the work is distributed unevenly. This can happen in the academic world as well. Often a teacher or the group will assign different roles to each member for full responsibility. In other words, the members of the team provide the peer pressure when the "jobs" are given to each member for assessment. In the distance learning world, a synchronous element with recording and video could make members more responsible. In order to help structure group work, often assigning the group specific roles (such as leader, task manager, editor, etc..) can help ensure that everyone is responsible for specific parts of an assignment and therefor will spend time working. Another way to help ensure equal group is to implement a group and self peer-review form, in which group members review both the quality and quantity of work their peers have done as well as having to be responsible to for detailing the work they put into a project. Using programs like wiki's and Google Docs leaves a trail of timestamps and changes allowing teachers to determine how much an individual student has added to an assignment. However, this should only be used as a final step in determining group work as it can be quite tedious. Finally, when forming groups, allowing the students choose who they work with can often (though not always) help ensure group work is done with more equal distribution.