Innovation in Learning 4th post

My last post is about the use of podcasting in distance education (from West Georgia-imagine that!). I have already done some research into podcasting and am an advocate of the use of podcasting since almost everyone has an MP3. I think anything that allows the students to access the instructors lectures over and over again can only help them to understand the material better an do better in the course. It also helps students to work around their schedules (which is a plus or minus depending on who you ask) but does give students greater access to learning, and learning at their own pace.

http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall93/donnelly93.htm

Innovation in Learning 3rd post

Here is an example of a serious distance education classroom. This website is from the University of Wisconsin and they are describing the amount of technology they put in their distance classrooms and how the technology allows students to access the course. The technology allows instructors to broadcast lectures directly to distance students and allows the distance students to interact with the instructor and class in real time. This set-up is technological more advanced than many other distance programs however, a distance course like this requires the students to be available for the class at the time the class is being held. While this does allow the student to access the class without being physically located in the class, many distance-learning students (myself included) don't just have the constraint of being physically distant from the course location but have to be able to fit the classwork in on their time schedule due to work and family commitments. Outfitting a classroom like this is also very expensive, requires people who can maintain and trouble-shoot A/V equipment, and faculty to be trained in its use along with how to integrate distance and on-site students into a cohesive unit without interrupting the flow of the class. It's definitely impressive though.

http://k-12distancelearning.blogspot.com

Innovations in Learning 2nd post

I found another innovation I find interesting and it can be found at http://usgshare.org, the University of Georgia Learning Object Repository. USG Share allows instructors at all Georgia universities to create video, animations, audio, or other types of lessons and save them in the repository for other instructors to use. It allows instructors to re-use previously made lessons and to add their own lessons as well for future use. This not only saves time for instructors in developing lesson plans but allows them to share their talents as well. An instructor that might not be able to create an animation to demonstrate a principle or concept can access the talents of another instructor that does. This will lead to a richer academic experience for students since they are not limited by the technological capabilities (or lack thereof) of their instructors.

Innovations in Learning 1st post

Hi all- an innovation that I find extremely helpful can be found at the website for the Holt mathematics textbook used in the Cobb County middle school curriculum (Georgia). The reason I feel so strongly about this particular innovation is that it has been so helpful to me- I have a son in 6th grade and trying to remember 6th grade math is a challenge! The link below allows you to access a video tutorial for every section in the math curriculum where a teacher appears in a pop-up box and goes over the lesson. There are also interactive questions that allow you to practice the same skill or type of problem over and over until it is mastered. I wish we had this when I was in grade school since once class was over you had to wait until the next day to ask questions about something you didn't understand. I think this is a great argument for podcasting or videotaping lectures in the high school and university setting to allow students to re-visit material over and over again to gain mastery of it.

http://go.hrw.com/gopages/ma/msm1_07.html

Websites on e-high school programs

There are many websites dealing with e-high school programs but one that was particularly helpful was for the Cobb County Virtual Academy found at :

http://www.cobbk12.org/eHigh/eHighSchool/eHighclass.htm

Another website with a lot of information on the use of technology in distance learning programs is the U.S. Dept. of Education Office of Adult and Vocational Education found at:

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/tdlearn.html

Distance Learning in High School

This is my first blog and I am going to use it to look into the use of distance learning for high school students. I am primarily interested in the technology used in distance learning to make the educational experience more interactive, and how that impacts the experience of the students and their relative success or failure in high school courses. A quick search on the Internet shows how many distance learning high school programs are available. These are not GED programs but rather accredited high school programs that can be used by students that for one reason or another cannot attend a traditional high school. Some of these programs are using a combination of hard copy written work (much like the correspondence courses of years ago) along with email and other computer applications. However, some are making use of all the capabilities of the computer including the use of microphones so students can interact with their instructor in a more traditional way, allowing student and teacher to speak with one another. In the E-high school program used by the Cobb County school system in Georgia students are required to have a microphone along with their computer to allow them this greater level of interaction. In future blogs I will be researching and discussing whether this vocal interaction makes a difference in how the students view the class and whether it helps them to be more successful in their courses. I will also be looking into the logical progression of distance learning tools such as virtual meeting technology and if this is being pursued as another step in making distance learning more interactive for students. As the technology available increases in capability and decreases in cost it will be interesting to see if the traditional programs of high schools and colleges begin to use distance learning to enhance or replace courses currently only available on-campus and in-person. The current generation of high school students are so comfortable with technology and view it as a seamless part of life rather than a tool to be used for work as most of the older generations do. Will their adoption of technology as a "normal" way to communicate drive the educational system to increase their investment in technology as an adjunct or replacement to the traditional classroom setting?