Week Three Blog

Asynchronous Learning

I chose example 3.


In defining a solution for this organization a few assumptions would have to be made. First assumption is that they will not need a robust tool for ongoing learning and development. Second assumption is that they the biodiesel manufacturing plant will not host the CMS tool not the technologies. Third assumption is all employees are English literate.


The CMS tool that I would recommend would be a self-registering tool that the employee can join any time anywhere. It should have the ability to allow employee’s supervisor see the results of employee’s learning and coach them further should they require it. A tool like Blackboard which is a LMS (which drives the online learning for Walden University) would be too large. Also dismissed because of the nature of overkill in abilities and expense would be Coursemill and Cornerstone LMS (both of which my employer uses).  A tool like a Wiki board alone would be out of the question as it has no facility for grading and delivering a robust tool like EDU20.org or any other CMS tool that allowed for self-directed or asynchronous learning.


I would recommend using is EDU2.0. It is free and not limiting for students and supervisors to see marks (Supervisors could be setup to be a parent type).   This tool is advanced enough to able to load files, link to websites, html files created with Dreamweaver and flash tools created in captivate. This opens the course to infinite possibilities with real scenarios captured on video and then showing results when safety is not followed.  A WHMIS certificate can be issued (it is a work place safety certification that all employee in business must obtain). This is to ensure work place safety in Canada.
References:

EDU2.0  retrieved from www.edu20.org


Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.


WHIMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information Systems)  retrieved from http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/lp/lo/opd-ipg/opd/985-1.shtml

Blog Assignment : Defining Distance Education

Distance education has been practiced for more than one hundred years.  The first form of distance education was through the mail system in a correspondence course.

The progression of distance learning over the years was spawned on the part of creativity and necessity to meet the objective of two diverse goals.  An example was in the audio recording made by Dr. Rosemary Dawson, referring to travelling to another country to lecture and teach while still delivering materials to the “home university” giving the illusion of being two places at once.

My first impression of the newer technology and distance education was what was first practiced by Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax Nova Scotia. 

Since the early 80’s MSU has offered a number of undergraduate and graduate courses via distance.  They would broadcast the classroom on a local channel (8am Sunday morning) and then the students met via telephone for weekly discussion. 

For students who did not have cable tv and could not receive the broadcast classroom, video tapes were sent out to the students with again assigned meeting time to meet for discussion and dialoguing about the subject matter.  All exams were done by proxy with an adjudicator managing the exam. 

The first form of online delivery I taught was similar to what we are using here at Walden University.  I used the tool called The Learning Manager and my course materials was submitted to the systems analyst for input.  There wasn’t the use of videos or audio files as most computers and students had dial-up modems. We had a discussion board where students responded to questions posed and is very much a self-study course. 

Now I am using mixtures of teaching.   

The increase of technology tools for classroom whether it be an educational institute or a business, has enormous potential.  The growth of distance learning in a corporate environment will expand exponentially in the current economy as corporation cannot justify expenses for classroom training that is not local. The business has to stay on top and deliver quality pieces of eLearning and blended classrooms to meet this growing demand.

As Dr. Simmonds surmised in the video this week, we are just at the tip of the ice berg in terms of the expansion of distance teaching and distance learning.

References:

Dawson, Dr Rosemary, n.d. Auditory Introduction from Roasemary retieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6052001

Simmonds, Dr. n.d., Distance Education: The Next Generation  retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6052001 

Dringus, Laurie P., Terrell, Steve, The Framework for Directed Online Learning Environments, Higher Education, Volume 2, Issue 1, October 1999, Pages 55-67

Pam's interpretation of DIRECTED Model from Laurie P. Dringus and Steve Terrell