Peer Reviews

Bradley Gogan

Katherine Crawford

Andree Simmons

Aretha Coley

LaTonya Simmons

Christine Rand

Peer Review Presentations

Updated Video (Posted Beta Version Prior)

Module 5 - Posts

Bradley Gogan

Christine Rand

Katherine Crawford

Module 5 - Moving Toward Dynamic Technologies

Utilizing the continuum, I believe I am solidly in the middle.  I have utilized static technologies previously, but over the past couple of years, I have integrated Wikispaces into more of my activities.  I think Wikispaces is a great tool and is the future of online education, but the tools that are easily accessible and easier to integrate are more in the middle of the continuum.  Although there are many useful and amazing tools now that fall in the dynamic end of the continuum, they are not widely available like Wikispaces, and require more instruction to use and create lessons.

References:

Moller, L. (2008). Static and dynamic technological tools. [Unpublished Paper].

Module 4 - Posts

Blogs I have posted to for Module 4:

Katherine Crawford

Bradley Gogan

LaTonya Simmons

Module 4 - Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

This weeks topic has us determine which technological tools and strategies are best for involving learners in building content knowledge, engaging in communication with peers and instructors, and working on authentic, collaborative, problem-based tasks in the online environment.


All learning cannot exist without there being topics and CONTENT. And that content cannot be transferred if COMMUNICATION does not occur.


During the learning process, it is also helpful to work COLLABORATIVELY. However, it is impossible to have collaboration without some type of COMMUNICATION.

Finally, to connect the cycle, the CONTENT that needs to be COMMUNICATED, can be COMMUNICATED through multiple avenues that include COLLABORATION with others.


With the versatility of technology and the integration of the internet, the number tools to use to teach have grown and will continue to grow. A resource that can utilze all of the three facets, CONTENT, COMMUNICATION, and COLLABORATION, is a FREE resource called WIKISPACES.

WIKISPACES allows for students to collect and build content, communicate, and collaborate in multiple fashions. Students can participate in "Discussions," create "Webpages," "Email" each other to communicate, and build other collections of work together.

I personally have been trying to integrate this tool into my personal classroom. I have been making small strides with this integration. Although there have been speed bumps, more of my students are engaged and are enjoying the work. This is the best benefit because many of my students are in my course because of their dislike or difficulty with science. Finding a way to teach them, and have them enjoy what and how they are learning, is worth the effort it takes to create quality online assignments.


(I might use these graphic organizers in the future, and with the use of Google Docs, I can update them now and for the future. Please offer any comments.) 

Module 3 Responses

Posted to:

Katherine Crawford


Bradley Gogan

Christine Rand

Module 3 - Assessing Collaborative Efforts

Assessing collaborative work is tremendously difficult. The problem is that not everyone will do as much work as everyone else, but that does not mean that he or she did not learn as much as everyone or deserves a different grade. The problem is truly evaluating students for what they are capable of compared to what they are submitting. The only true way to do this is to start off a class by starting with independent work, then introduce collaborative work and community building, and then let them work collaboratively together. We can't just assume that everyone will want to work together and/or work together well. Dr. Siemens makes a great introductory comment where "We are no longer a society of individual geniuses." However, "In a society where individual contributions are highly acknowledged, collaborative learning environments can be a challenge for many students." The idea is to show students the benefits of collaboration before assigning it.


If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community for an online course, the members of the group should try to communicate with the person to try to understand why. If the members are unsuccessful, the members should notify the superior about what is occurring. However, if the superior (or teacher) has built a good community prior to the project than things should run smooth, but we always need to be open to this happening. And f the student still refuses to do the work in a group, the teacher can always hold a majority of the grade to this aspect, thus making it mandatory to collaborate. Without this participation, this person will not pass, or be able to receive a top grade.

This participation will also be the means for evaluation which makes it ever important. Having the peers rate the peers, and receive feedback from others could be very powerful both for the giver and receiver. Dr. Siemens states that the students can do this by assessing their peers, writing and recieiving feedback from the entire community, and even evaluate student contributions as Wikispaces does with the history option.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Assessment of collaborative learning featuring Dr. George Siemens. United States: Walden University. Podcast retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4199707&Survey=1&47=4862829&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Learning communities featuring Dr. George Siemens. United States: Walden University. Podcast retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4199707&Survey=1&47=4862829&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Responses to Storyboard Post

Bradley Gogan http://gogans.blogspot.com/2010/07/storyboard.html

Aretha Coley http://arcoley.blogspot.com/2010/07/storyboard-best-practices-of-discussion.html

Katherine Crawford http://kat-edutech.blogspot.com/2010/07/copy-of-aea-267-storyboard-template.html

Nicole Harris http://nyharris.blogspot.com/2010/07/video-presentation-storyboard.html

Video Presentation Storyboard

Module 2

Elements of Distance Education Diffusion

One of the aspects mentioned by Dr. Siemens was the collaborative interaction of Distance Education. Collaboration is one of the most interesting factors of educational technology. When I was at Seton Hall for my MBA my professor mentioned the concept of synergy. "Synergy is where two or more things applied together have a greater or significantly different effect than the sum of effects of the things applied separate" (Synergy, 2010). The ability to get more when people work together than if they worked separately is an intriguing concept. The human genome project effectively used this concept as well to map the human DNA in a short period of time. This demonstrated that although competition is good, collaboration might have a more beneficial effect.

Collaboration is becoming bigger and bigger today. Some people might not even know that this is what is occurring but with more people connected digitally to each other, and resources being available to do so, it is inevitable that collaboration will take place. However, it is the job of educators to ensure that these people know how to do this effectively and know what tools are the best for what tasks. Social Networking and Web 2.0 are the resources that will help these individuals collaborate effectively. Some of the social networking sites like "facebook" allow people to collaborate as simple as sending emails to each other, to creating groups where people with similar likes and/or dislikes can communicate. The connection of these individuals all on the same network could keep a conversation going, even if the individuals are doing this asynchronously. Another resource that takes this a littler further is a Wiki. A Wiki makes users not only able to communicate, but build a product on a website. As Dr. Siemens explained, Web 2.0 or Wikis, multiple people could utilize these resources create a common product together without ever having to physically be together. Web 1.0 only allows for an author to create a resource, publish it, and edit it his or her self. The synergistic effect of social networking and Web 2.0 applications are creating a whole new environment for eLearning.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). The future of distance education featuring Dr. George Siemens. United States: Walden University. Podcast retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4199707&Survey=1&47=4862829&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Synergy. (2010, June 22). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 28, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Synergy&oldid=369478876

Module 1

Is there a need to evolve distance education to the next generation?

From my personal view, I have thought of distance education as a resource that is available to those who want to take a class but are limited by geographical, financial, or time barriers. I viewed it as an alternative to standard education and that standard education was the best. However, as I have participated in these classes, I have seen the added value that come from the online make up.

Dr. Simonson, Professor of Instructional Technology and Distance Education at Nova Southeastern University, defines distance education at “formal education which the learning group (teachers, students, resources) are separated by geography and sometimes time.” In Dr. Simonson’s article, Making Decisions: The use of Electronic Technology in Online Classrooms, he states that “Online students and those in face-to-face classes learn in fundamentally different environments.” Because of this, what is done in the classroom cannot be accomplished exactly the same way online, and vice versa. “A more appropriate strategy is to provide different but equivalent learning experience to each learner.” (Simonson, 2000). This “equivalent” strategy is known as “Equivalency Theory” and demonstrates that although we cannot do exactly the same things in these different environments, we can still successfully accomplish goals.

Equivalency theory has a tendency to focus on what was formally done in the classroom and making it electronic. With the fast pace evolution of the electronic world, we are becoming more able to do things electronically, making the physical classroom less and less mandatory. In the three part article, The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web, Dr. Moller, Mr. Foshay, and Dr. Huett, break down the evolution into Part 1 – Training and Development, Part 2 – Higher Education, and Part 3 – K-12. The general idea from these articles is that we are just at the beginning of the evolution. We are only now obtaining access to technology that could truly make online learning. Resources such as Skype, for video conferencing, Wikis, for collaborative work, and many other resources are now available (mostly for free) for the average person, closing the gap between educational theory and practice to educational resources.

References:

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & 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). Distance education: The next generation featuring Dr. Michael Simonson. United States: Walden University. Podcast retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4199707&Survey=1&47=4862829&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Equivalency theory featuring Dr. Michael Simonson. United States: Walden University. Podcast retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4199707&Survey=1&47=4862829&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Moller, L., Forshay, W., & 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., & 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.

Posted to:

http://chrisbdragon.blogspot.com/
http://walden-crand.blogspot.com/
http://kat-edutech.blogspot.com/

Wikispace test

Wikispace Test

http://rbwasser.wikispaces.com/

Module 1 - Discussion...

This week we have been focusing on the various ways to create online instruction. The various theories of "Behaviorist," "Cognitivist," "Constructivist," and "Connectivist."

The main concept that I see with the various theories and types of instruction are out there and no one is the answer. The answer is for the educator to know all about all of them and provide an opportunity for all educators to learn regardless of the delivery, assessment, etc.

Hello!

To all my fellow Walden Classmates,

Hello!. I am very interested and excited to see what this class has to offer. I think I will enjoy the use of a blog to communicate on top of the discussion posts. I think it will be a great resource in the future as we won't lose access to this information as we would through Walden.

Look forward to future communication.

Rich