Weaving the Tapestry...
I attended a meeting last week, where a number of instructors from our division compared the state of online learning in our respective departments. Now, I have to admit that I live my day-to-day life in my own little world...and on most days, it's a happy place, so I really don't complain all that much. As a result, I'm not really on top of the developments in other areas of our college. I usually hear little snippets of work being done, and then I go back and focus on the work on my desk that is crying for a little attentions. So I have developed a very fractured picture of what is being done in other programs.
When we sat down to share, I can honestly say that I was impressed with the depth and breadth of what was presented. A number of instructors have invested significant amounts of time finding software and then learning how to use it to develop interesting learning activities. This is an important development. When we look at the traditional classroom, there are so many different tools available to both instructors and learners to enhance the learning process. And there's a reason for that...the classroom has been around for centuries, allowing for significant experimentation and refinement of the teaching/learning tools being used. Good instructors have a variety of techniques they can use to weave together the threads of concepts and create vibrant, meaningful learning experiences for their learners.
E-learning is a far younger area. When you actually consider it's age, there is an amazing variety of tools and techniques available for use in online courses; however, the crunch seems to come in the application of these resources. There's a technical aspect that has to be considered - it takes time to learn how to use these tools. More importantly, it takes a lot of time and thought to figure out how to best apply the resulting resources in order to ensure that learners get a valuable educational experience in the virtual classroom. Despite the constraints in our schedules, it is important to continue to explore the options that are available for creating memorable learning experiences in the virtual classroom. I've focussed this week's links on a number of articles that look at how we can attempt to bring together the threads of learning to create vibrant virtual tapestries. I have said the word 'tapestry" far too often, so I will cease and desist before you start throwing virtual tomatoes! :-)
Till next week.
Steve
How to Make E-Learning Interesting
Quote: "Most people cannot be reprogrammed by a few hours' e-learning. When it comes to software, humans learn best from experience - especially by making mistakes. Computer simulations are an excellent way to provide vital mistake-making experience, yet most e-learning courses are little more than page-turning applications."
Comments: A good, quick read that identifies some of the short-fallings of many e-learning courses and provides some ideas for improving this situation. The author focusses on Authorware, which is a development tool that I like to use. Readers should know, however, that this software has a steep learning curve and is quite expensive. There are a number of other options, depending on what type of interactivity you want to incorporate into your course. Software Simuation Shootout Results is a good place to start looking for leads.
Quote: "Some organizations have done a good job, but in most cases what passes for e-learning has been a crude attempt to turn existing instructor-led training (ILT) materials into Web pages and spice it up with a few cool graphics and so-called interactivity. We are still thinking, often unconsciously, in terms of the classic classroom-style training model and trying to get e-learning to mimic it. We are still keeping the camera stationary."
Comments: This article compares the current state of the e-learning industry with the beginnings of the motion picture industry. The point? When the movie camera was first invented, people produced films that mimicked the way one watched a theatre production because that was what people were used to seeing. The camera's inherent strengths were not discovered till people began to use the camera based on its particular strengths instead of wedging it into the limited preconceptions of the day. The author argues that e-learning is suffering from the same problems - people are trying to recreate that which they are used to - classroom training - in an online environment.
Quote: "A scenario is not a full-fledged simulation in the sense of an aircraft cockpit simulator, but it represents a realistic work situation and requires the learner to work through it. It differs from page-turner e-learning in that it requires the selection of behavioural responses to move through the lessons, instead of answers to content questions. As a result, it focuses on performance improvement rather than correct answers, supplies information only as needed, and boosts engagement by using images and sounds."
Comment: An interesting article that provides an alternative to creating expensive, time-consuming simulations. Among the other advice provided, the author recommends turning the process of writing learning objectives into something done after the project has been completed. First go out and discover what is needed and how it is going to be used - and don't get that information from the subject matter experts, but from the individuals that are actually going to be using the training and then doing the job.
Quote: "There's a lot of talk in e-learning circles these days about the arrival of the "second wave." Granted, just trying to catch a ride on the first wave proved a challenge for some would-be e-surfers. But in nearly every facet of the e-learning movement, signs are that the next wave is coming. And in spite of gloomy reports and the shaky economy, the second wave may be rolling in faster than you think."
Comment: An interesting look at the maturing e-learning market. The author identifies a number of trends that may signal an upswing, including evolving standards, learning objects, more user-friendly technology, and revised visions about return on investment (ROI). It's a good read, though I think the area of learning objects is a little over-simplified. If you take the author at his word in this area, you may see the same multi-coloured lego look in your courses. While this may look great when you consider toy fortresses, when applied to e-learning this could result in garish products that can confuse learners with its variety of styles and looks.
Posted by gsiemens at October 28, 2002 07:25 PM