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Course Management Systems and other technology tools related
to online teaching and learning provide additional opportunities to facilitate
more engaging online learning experiences.
Part of the instructor’s responsibility is to take action to ensure that
all learners are engaged, present, and participating (Boettcher & Conrad,
2010) in online instruction.
Impact
Technology and multimedia impacts online learning
environments in many different ways.
These technologies allow for user generated content for collaboration
and viewing (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).
Some major advantages of incorporating technology and multimedia are:
- Discussions throughout courses
- Learners can build project deliverables
- Collaborative sites such as blogs and wikis can be made private by limiting access to the intended community of users
- A point of access for staff to hear from an organization's leader
- Video blogs decrease a sense of isolation in remote/high pressure environments (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).
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Important Considerations
As online instructors the most important considerations that
should be made before implementing technology is to focus on the essential
tools for a particular course (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010). Although there are several different tools
available and other faculty may be using them, it is not necessary to use tools
just for the sake of using them; keep it simple. Online instructors should make sure
technology tools are used only when they support the learning objectives
(Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). In
addition, online instructors must be mindful of students in rural areas where
internet connections may not be the best (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). Giving students options/choices for collaboration
can be helpful as well (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).
Usability and Accessibility
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Issues of usability and accessibility need to be addressed
throughout a project’s lifecycle to ensure its developments are later adopted in educational delivery. Usability in
the online learning community is defined as effectiveness, efficiency and
satisfaction with which users can achieve specified learning (or learning
related) goals in a particular environment or with a particular environment or
with a particular tool or learning resource (Cooper, Colwell, & Jelfs,
2007). Accessibility is determined by
the flexibility of the online learning system or resource to meet the needs and
preferences of all users (Cooper, Colwell, & Jelfs, 2007). Technology tools that are not accessible to
students cannot be used by them. Whether
we are dealing with disabled students are non-disabled students, when
technologies are implemented they should not put barriers on accessing
curriculum for learning (Cooper, Colwell, & Jelfs, 2007). Direct impact on the pedagogical
effectiveness of online learning systems or resources for all students is
accessibility and usability (Cooper, Colwell, & Jelfs, 2007). Responding to the diversity of how different
users interact with a computer environment and keeping in mind that people
interact with computers differently is a main challenge of accessibility
(Cooper, Colwell, & Jelfs, 2007).
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Appealing Technology Tools
There are many technology tools that have been introduced to
me throughout my studies at Walden University.
The one tool that is completely new to me and appealing that I will
utilize is aggregators. Aggregators
allow facilitators to track postings and updates to multiple student blogs and
wikis efficiently (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). I will also utilize course management systems,
blogs, wikis and audio tools such as Audacity, as I move forward in my career in
instructional design. I am very excited
about teaching online and helping adult learners like myself achieve their
goals through online courses. These are
just a few of the tools that appeal to me that I would like to perfect using
and implementing in my future experiences as an instructional designer.
References
Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online
teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Cooper, M., Colwell, C., & Jelfs, A. (2007). Embedding
accessibility and usability: Considerations for e-learning research and
development projects. ALT-J: Research in Learning Technology, 15(3),
231-245. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete
database.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Enhancing the online experience.
I love your animated pictures. How do you accomplish that?
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your post, I appreciate your analysis of the benefits we achieve from working with each other in learning communities online. We talk about student created content as if it is the best way to currate information. While I agree that currating information is very helpful, I wonder if student created content actually contributes to the overall body of knowledge as suggested by our texts. Could it be that we are simply currating knowledge and analyzing it together to synthesize meaning for ourselves?
Marla
Patricia,
ReplyDeleteI also love the animations! I'm techie jealous!! HaHa. I also wanted to comment on a theme that I have seen throughout our sources, discussion, and blogs this week, and that is the advice that we have received about keeping our use of technology as simple as we need to, especially in the beginning of teaching an online course, While all of these wonderful Web 2.0 tools are fun and styli, if they are overwhelming to the students or instructor instead of being supportive of the learning objectives, the usage of them defeats their point as a supportive tool. Like you, I am excited about using many of the tech tools that I have learned here at Walden, but they are just that...tools.
Patricia,
ReplyDeleteI too love the animations! I have not had time to play around with my blog to upload fun things. It is something I hope to learn eventually.
I embrace of the idea of incorporating Web 2.0 technologies into all classroom settings. Although we are primarily discussing online instructional strategies, so many of these ideas could be incorporated into best practices in brick and mortar settings. As stated by Boettcher & Conrad (2010), it is important to "keep it simple" when using new technologies. Not doing so will create frustration amongst learners and instructors.
Great job!
Karen
Boettcher, J.V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and
practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass.