Best Practices Guide to Distance Education-Maureen Gorman (Review )
December 19, 2010

Teaching and Learning at a Distance 4th Ed.-Foundations of Distance Education Application 7

Distance Education -6135 Dr. Mark Clauburg
(Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2009)



Practice & Policy Issue

ADDIE

Academic-Faculty Issues Compensation & Support

ANALYZE

Know who and where the learner are located.
Know each learner ( general abilities of the class)
Analyze the potential for learner interactivity
Understand Learner Charateristics
Analyze the content and context

Qualifications-teacher and student
Intellectual
Course Integrity, Accreditation, Curriculum and Standards, Course Rigor, Calendar, Schedules

DEVELOP

Create an overview and prepare goals and objectives
Find Resources

Remember “12 Golden Rules” ( Bates, Foley 2003)
1.Good teaching matters
2.Each medium has its own aesthetic
3.Educational technologies are flexible
4.There is no “super-technology”
5.Make all four media available to teachers and learners.
6.Balance variety with economy
7.Interaction is essential
8.Student numbers are critical
9.New technologies are not necessarily better than old ones
10.Teachers need training
11.Teamwork is essential
12.Technology is not the issue.

How and what we want the learners to learn is the issue and technology is a tool (p. 833)

Student Support
Access to Resource, Special Services, Fiscal Governance, Geographic Service Area

DESIGN

Determine the media processes
Select appropriate media
Visualize and consider legibility, font, size, color
Define Learning Environment
Choose a Course Management System
Proprietary or Open Source

Legal Issues
Copyright

IMPLEMENT


Plan for the learner and the environment
Use threaded discussions
Provide research along with citations
Use synchronous, asynchronous, or blended environment.
Inventory the context and technology tools
Create a location for assignments, questions and answers, informal discussion, webliography, data sharing by use of a dropbox.

Technical Policies

Reliability of Resources, Technology Requirements

Evidence of Quality in Distance Education Programs Drawn from Interviews with the Accredition Community


•Mission Statement
•Faculty oversight in curriculum
•Regular faculty involvement in course design
•Strong active faculty development process
•Instructional Design support
•24/7 technology support
•Academic advisors
•Systematic Approach with growth/management
•Clear plans for distance future education
•Evaluations of distance education courses and programs
•Input from faculty and student use for program improvement

RED FLAGS

•Separate approaches
•Two target populations
•Two course approval processes
•“Cookie Cutter Approaches”
•Direct conversion to traditional approaches
•Two course evaluation systems
•Some student services for distance education accessed face to face
•Student confusion over contact people
•History of starting and stopping
•Few know about distance education
•Large student drop-out rate
•To many complaints

EVALUATE

Align assessment with objectives, goal and expectations.

Consider formative and summative evaluations

Coordinate standards through a portfolio system

Define grading systems

Describe rubric grading system

Set up a gradebook to record assignments

Provide feedback on assignments

Acquire input about the course and the programs through interviews, questionnaires, or survey.




Theories of Distance Learning
Preplanning and Preparation
Strategies, Applications, and Methods
Aspects of Instruction

THEORIES OF DISTANCE LEARNING

Theory of Independent Study-Charles Wedenmyer

Organize the Course

Prepare a Syllabis
Wide range of multimedia and instructional methods
Student Centered

Theory of Independent Study and Transactional Distance-Michael Moore
Create the Learning Community

Synchronous
Asynchronous
Threaded Discussions
Theory of Industrialization of Teaching Otto Peters
Facilitate Active Learning Practices
Engaged learners
Wikis
Blogs
Social Networking
Threaded Discussions Learners
Ease of access/usability
Accurate instructions
Intuitive navigation
Well integrated tools

Theory of Interaction and Communication-Borje Homeburg Plan Assessment
Prerecorded Media

Podcasting
Faculty
Ease of instruction
Consistent standards

Intuitive/customize management system
Androgony-Malcolm Knowles KISS-“Keep it Short and Simple” Divide information into short units Models

Linear-designed instruction

Branch-designed instruction

Hyper-content
Designed instruction

Learner directed design Administration

Compare rigor to non-distance classes

Increased enrollment

Good reputation

Synthesis of Existing Theories-Hilary Peraton Look at Academic Issues-Faculty support, compensation, needed qualification Two way audio

Two way audio and graphics

Equivalency Theory Michael Moore Academic Ownership
Accreditation
Curriculum and Standards
Course Rigor
Calendar/Schedule
Student Support
Access to Resources
Special Services
Technical Support One way video

Two way audio, One way video

Two way audio/Two way video

Two way video/audio classrooms

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S., (2009) Teaching and Learning at a Distance 4th Ed. Pearson Publishing New York, NY