REFLECTION

When I think back over my lifetime, and reflect on all the inventions that have come to be in a little under 50 years, I see a society that has transformed not just our way of life, but also our thinking.   I wondered, over all of recorded history, what were the top ten inventions?  Of course, the wheel and paper come to mind, maybe even the compass or the light bulb, but when I searched for a list of the ten most influential inventions, I was amazed to see that eight out of ten were developed from the year 1800 to present day.  That means that 80% of the most influential inventions ever developed occurred in the last 200 years, a blink of an eye in history (Smith, 2014).  The two inventions that I feel have transformed the world most of all, are the computer and the World Wide Web. These two inventions have not only changed the way we perform most daily tasks, they have combined to transform the delivery system of information, how we do business and to a large degree how we learn.

Distance education, while not a new concept, has also changed drastically in the last 200 years.  From mail correspondence schools to radio broadcasts to education television and now to online delivered upper level academic courses and entire graduate degrees. Evidence is clear that students of any age can learn from instruction using technology, and that distance education works (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 8).  In the next 5-10 years, I think that distance education and online learning will become so commonplace, that it might be difficult to remember learning without it.  Parents and classrooms are now exposing children to technology at an early age.  Children by the age of 2 are playing and learning on electronic devices, and it has become so integrated into how the child learns, that it is now the norm for them.  Once these kids get into high school and college, they would not be able to function without the technological aspect of learning because it is almost ingrained into their DNA.  With the advent of newer, faster, more capable technology, I believe that classrooms will become more of a technology center than a location for lecture and face to face demonstration. It may be that instead of talking about how to integrate distance learning, the discussion may focus on the actual need for classrooms (Bates, 2014).  I think with the growth of distance learning and the success that accompanies it, societal views will continue to shift to a favorable position.  In ten to twenty years, technology will forge ahead and distance learning as we know it now, may also transform and morph into something unthinkable just 10 years ago.

As an instructional designer it is incumbent upon me to develop and design sound curriculum that not only engages the learner, but transforms the learners thinking.  By accomplishing this, students can realize the success of distance learning and be a party to their own learning.  This type of success can generate conversation, provoke ideas, and inspire others to engage in distance learning activities which in turn promotes the overall success of distance learning.  While marketing distance learning can enlighten the uninformed, the strength of achievement lies in the design and outcomes of the learning. 

Just as technology continues to evolve, so must the skills of the instructional designer.  It is not enough to earn a degree, understand the theories and mechanics of designing effective coursework, an ID must continue to practice and acquire the knowledge necessary to develop and deliver top quality education utilizing the newest technological tools available.  This means that the ID has to keep abreast of learning trends, theories and technology.  As an ID, I will continue to develop my skills and market distance education to others.  Future courses that I design will have clear goals, appropriate use of media and technology, along with assessments that truly measure the learner’s level of understanding.  It is also important to gain valuable feedback and to be open to changes, and updating coursework is critical for our ever changing environment.  If a course is designed successfully, the learners themselves will be an advocate for distance learning, and the many benefits that distance education brings with it.

The field of distance education has seen exponential growth in the last 5-10 years and the trend is only expected to increase.  The future may be a world without traditional classrooms and lecture halls, completely overtaken by technology and distance education.  While technology plays a key role in the advancement of distance education, it is the sound design principles and practices that will propel the success of distance learning into the future.  True success is not measured by how many different technologies were used, or by how well the student enjoyed the class.  True success is measured when the learner grasps, understands and integrates the knowledge to achieve the courses stated objectives.  This is the foundation of instructional design.

References

Bates, T. (2014). 2020 vision: Outlook for online learning in 2014 and way beyond. Retrieved from http://www.tonybates.ca/2014/01/12/2020-vision-outlook-for-online-learning-in-2014-and-way-beyond/

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Smith, L. (2014). Inventors day 2014:  Top ten greatest inventions that changed the world. Retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/inventors-day-top-ten-greatest-inventions-that-changed-world-1467416

Transitioning F2F Training to a Blended Program

Transferring content from a face to face (F2F) learning environment to a blended or all on line course is not as easy as it sounds.  One cannot simply copy and paste lecture notes into PowerPoint slides and then claim to have retrofitted their course to an online or blended format.  Much more planning and thought process needs to go into these courses to ensure that students are learning what you want them to learn and are engaged in the educational process. 

But first, let’s address the different types of learning environments. Face to Face herein will be identified as (F2F) is easily described.  100% of the learning is done in an environment where the teacher (facilitator) and the student are in the same location at the same time.  This is your typical higher education, brick and mortar school.  This could also mean a trainer and employee situation in an office.  Online programs are just the opposite.  Most of the content is delivered using some type of technology, either the computer, web, video etc.  Most of the content, 80% or more is delivered in this way (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 5).  So a blended class is just as it sounds.  It is a combination of both face to face and online course work.  (Simonson et. al) indicated that 30-79% of the courses content will be delivered on line.  That equates to 21-70% of the content being delivered in a F2F format.

This best practices guide will cover the following topics to assist the facilitator in transitioning from purely F2F deliver to a hybrid or blended online approach.  It is assumed that the research has been conducted and it has been determined that the blended/hybrid approach to training is

the best suited for the situation.

• Pre-Planning Strategies to think about
• Program Enhancements in the Distance Learning Environment
• The Trainer’s Changing Role
• How to Increase Online Communication

Pre-Planning Strategies

There are several pre-planning strategies that you need to think about when moving a course from a F2F format to a blended format.  I have attached a mind map, https://www.lucidchart.com/documents/view/d4711edf-9a26-40b4-8e67-b93c209497d9  and broken the pre-planning into several categories, learners, technology, course content, and time and cost.  I will discuss each category.

Things to consider when thinking about the learners:

• Does the learner have the technology available to them?
• Technical skills – Do they know how to use the technology?
• What are their personal characteristics?
• What are their learner characteristics?
• What role do they play in the organization-what prior knowledge do they bring to the table?

Assessing the learner is a very critical step when planning coursework, whether F2F or at a distance.  Time, effort and money can be wasted on developing a course in which students don’t have the necessary skills complete the course and conversely if they have already mastered the course objectives (Simonson et al., 2012, p. 264).

Things to consider when thinking about the technology:

• What tools will deliver content?
• Where will the learning take place-in a lab or at their desk?
• Is the current network capable of handling the learning software?
• What software licenses are needed?
• Who will develop the content?
• What course management tool will be used and how will learner progress be tracked?

Success in an online class is not which technologies are used, but how they are used and what information is communicated using the technologies (Simonson et al., 2012, p. 115).  While it is important that the learner know how to use the technology, more importantly is that the technologies selected help the learner to achieve the desired learning objectives.

When addressing course content it is not enough to just thing about the information going into the course, but careful consideration must be made on how particular content will be delivered. 

o   Who will provide content?

o   What CMS will be selected?

o   Can the course be reused?

o   How will assessment results be tracked?

o   What delivery method will be used and is it the best designed method for the learning objective?

o   Can the current server maintain the course content?

It is important to remember that while the information is the focus of the class, what you want the learner to walk away with, is the job of the designer.   The designer should examine the context of the instruction to determine what the best path the learning should take (Morrison, Ross, Kalman, & Kemp, 2013, p. 61). 

The final preplanning topic that I will address is time and cost.  The cost to develop distance education and ensuring that there is a return on investment (ROI) is a primary concern to many administrators (Simonson et al., 2012, p. 336). 

The items that I identified with cost and time were:

o   Research

o   Development

o   Server Storage

o   Office Supplies

o   Salaries

o   Hardware

o   Software

o   Licenses

o   Employee time commitment

While time commitment can be a barrier to distance education, if the course is planned out well, and there is a true effort to minimize extraneous cognitive processing then the time spent in distance learning can be extremely worthwhile (Laureate, 2010).

Program Enhancements

Once all the pre-planning has been completed, the training manager can now begin to identify which content he would like to deliver using technology.  He must first determine what the goals and objectives of the curriculum are, and how a specific component can be delivered using the various technology tools.  One example may be using a video, or listening to a podcast prior to the learner coming to class to gain useful information.  Part of the training could be built into a presentation platform that is delivered via email, and all employees need to go through the presentation.  Discussion boards could be added into the course management system to allow coworkers to communicate with one another.  A webinar could be held as the instruction to the course with learners using a built in whiteboard or taking some polling questions.  The possibilities for upgrading a complete F2F course are endless. The designer does need to be mindful though that it is not just about the bells and whistles and packaging the class so it looks like a professional product.  Each deliverable must have a specific learning goal and outcome moving the learner to achieving the learning objectives. 

The Trainers Changing Role

Whether the facilitator teaches in a F2F class or in an online, the ultimate goal is to deliver content in such a way that learners understand and transfer the provided information into knowledge.  There are role of the online facilitator has some changes with it’s F2F counterpart.  The online facilitator needs to know the software that the course will be taught with as well as any extra components that the learners will be asked to use.  The facilitator must review the lesson plans carefully.  Facilitators must keep in contact with their students in the online environment.  Even though this is a blended learning class, it is important that the instructor stay in contact with the students for any online portion.  The facilitator must also participate in any synchronous and asynchronous discussions, and, the facilitator must show learners that they care about their success (Laureate, n.d.).

How to increase online communication?

Communication in an online environment is much different than the F2F.  Communications are asynchronous and responses are not immediate.  Learners can post questions to the facilitator and it may be 24 hours or so before an answer is received.  Because of this, it is paramount that the facilitator set clear contact expectations, the means for contact and a clear syllabus.  This important document is the primary communication with students at a distance (Simonson et al., 2012, p. 199).  The syllabus will help students to understand the structure of the course, expectations, assignments and the assessment process, thereby, reducing many of the initial questions from the learner (Simonson et al., 2012, p. 199).  Clear contact information for the facilitator should be provided to each of the students as well. 

Discussion boards or discussion threads are another great way to communicate with each other in the class.  Discussions should be thought provoking, original ideas delivered in well written language.  The instructor should post questions that encourage high order thinking (Simonson et al., 2012, p. 274).  For synchronous online communication, video conferencing, audio conferencing, chat features and instant messaging provide dynamic real time communication.  Online communication can be either synchronous or asynchronous, but getting the learners to participate is key. 

Conclusion

As I read the scenario that was presented, I marveled at the almost nonchalant way the training manager described his goals.  He wanted to incorporate some online components to make the classes a blended learning environment.  He wanted to make sure that all of the materials were stored on a server to make them easily accessible.  This is a huge undertaking, and one that needs to be carefully planned.  The ideas presented here are only a sampling of options available to the training manager.  A full detailed project should be outlined and managed properly to make sure that all pertinent areas are addressed.  (I think I see the content blossoming for our next course!)

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Facilitating online learning [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Laureate Education (Producer). (2010). Triarchic model of cognitive load: Parts 1 and 2 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., Kalman, H. K., & Kemp, J. E. (2013). Designing effective instruction (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.