Summative evaluations seem a little bit easier to adapt to distance learning, often in the form of course surveys, feedback, and final exams.  Still, both (formative and summative) have important roles to play in effective teaching… helping teachers customize a learning experience to students on the fly and for future students.

The trick or real question to me then is what methods to employ when teaching from a distance.  How can you gauge what’s really going on in ways that are not always formal or static or slow?  The methods most employed now seem to be email, audio/video chat rooms (Wimba, etc.) and instant messaging (which I like much more than antiquated approaches such as postcards, mailed-in surveys, or phone calls).  It seems like there could or should be  additional and innovative approaches.  Any ideas?

I do appreciate teachers of mine (online) who make an effort to get midterm feedback in order to make changes dynamically for that specific classes’ needs (rather than just the final summative evaluation which may benefit future students, but doesn’t address the needs of those students whose comments are submitted).

I find it hard to argue with the introductory statement regarding the significance of the internet in that “no other single invention has been more revolutionary since Gutenberg’s printing press in the 1400s.”  With this as a context it raised my empathy for the frustration some must feel to have such a powerful tool available but inaccessible due (in large part) to the lack of awareness and effort on the part of those designing and producing web content.

There were 3 main reasons stated for designing with accessibility in mind:

1) It’s the right thing to do (moral / ethical)

2) It’s the smart thing to do (economic reasons / compatible w/ emerging technology)

3) It’s the law (American Disabilities Act, etc)

I feel I’m at least now heading in the right direction, starting with my own increased awareness of accessibility as in important web issue.

To be more specific, our team prides itself on creativity and innovation when producing any form of educational media.  We work directly with Instructional Designers and Course Developers who are known as Instructional Design Services or IDS.  Though we’ve been known primarily (and somewhat casually as the “Design Center”) our official name is now, Instructional Creative Services or ICS.  Basically, we needed to explain in a concise way, what exactly we do and the absolute and fundamental value of it.

Here’s a draft of the new mission statement:

Instructional Creative Services (ICS) is dedicated to serving faculty and Instructional Design Services (IDS) through the development and implementation of innovative online and other course learning experiences. Our goal is to enhance educational content through the creative and integrated use of audio, video, and graphic communications, while adhering to university branding guidelines.

What’s the relevance of all this?  Primarily that, in my opinion, the creative use of media is paramount to the future of quality online and blended courses.  I think a lot of people tend to gloss over this possibility (or need) saying that you can still teach the same things without what might be considered “bells and whistles.”  Yes, you can… but not as effectively and by providing the student a less enjoyable experience/opportunity.  Engaging learning experiences are the goal here and I feel it to be a disservice to the learners to dismiss aural and visual learning possibilities at the expense of a “good enough” mentality.

I understand that budgets and schedules also factor into the reality of production, but there is a wonderful balance which in most instances can and should be attained (as I’ve learned from recent experience).

The best current evidence is that media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in nutrition…only the content of the vehicle can influence achievement.

To add this analogy I would suggest that Distance Education can actually deliver your groceries to your doorstep rather than a supermarket, and at any time you please.  Of course I understand that it works both ways, by a course being under the umbrella of Distance Education it doesn’t inherently make it of high quality either, but the form itself should not be guilty for its deficiencies.

The article also went on to breakdown four major components of Distance Education (or what it should be).

1) It is institutionally based

2) It is formal

3) It utilizes technology (internet, etc)

4) It involves learners, resources, and instructors

I find these as accurate and helpful in substantiating the real areas where the quality and effectiveness of a learning experience can be evaluated (most of which are applicable to traditional as well as Distance Education learningl environments).

I had the tremendous opportunity to go to Costa Rica recently as part of an Instructional Design and Video Production crew putting together a Geology course for UVU Distance Education.  The series will eventually be aired on UEN and is an ambitious and exciting project to be a part of.

We are still pretty much at the onset of production for the series, gathering footage for approximately 2 episodes while in Costa Rica (only 20+ more to go).  The experience in Costa Rica was not only rich with visually stunning and directly correlated subject material, but also served as a great learning opportunity by which we can gauge and look to improve the rest of the production.

Jared Stein, Director of Instruction Design Services at UVU Distance Education posted his thoughts and observations (as well as some related images) in this regard on the Instructional Design Services blog at  ids.on.uvu.edu.

I have had the opportunity to work with a fine individual in Dr. Ron Hammond of the Sociology Department at UVU who has sought to contribute in the arena of open textbooks, recently releasing his first.  You can link to his open textbook on an Introduction to Sociology here.

His work has seemed in large part to be a labor of love.  This is a good thing on many levels, his intentions and motivations are pure… but I would also hope that institutions of education and higher learning will make this sort of opportunity more of a logistical reality for the members of their faculty who have the drive and skills (like Dr. Hammond) to do this in a consistent and sustainable way.

My own apprehensions and concerns at times with online learning and its many associated tools (which have so many great benefits) are the subsequent feelings of a cluttered computer desktop, browser, and mind.   It is of utmost importance to keep organized and to have clear objectives and expectations when engaging in a new learning situation.  Sometimes I feel as though the too varied or overuse of different tools in different learning situations can create a feeling of clutter because one tool leads you to another tool, and another tool remedies the issues of that tool and so on and so forth until it is utterly too easy to get distracted in the endless process of multi-tasking.

How can we de-clutter and de-fragment, standardizing certain aspects of systems and tools used while still allowing the freedom and creativity for each teacher’s unique approach?  …I feel like some information gets buried, and the time spent to track down that information or to familiarize ones’ self with the protocol of the technology required for an individual course could be minimized in a positive way.

Last year we opted to use Ustream as the mechanism to stream all of the conference presentations live and this year we did the same.  One of the great features of Ustream is the ability to record your stream and subsequently and almost effortlessly archive it online.  For the keynote presentations we also chose to do a 3-camera shoot incorporating lower 3rds, scrolling text, and other motion graphics all live using another great piece of software in BoinxTV.  To get the live feed from Boinx to Ustream we used other free software – Camtwist and Soundflower.

The productions are still far from perfect with plenty of little glitches and kinks to work out, but all in all it has been an amazing progression.  To stream a sophisticated multi-camera shoot on-location live to recipients anywhere in the world, who then have the ability to interact using other integrated social networking tools (the majority of which are all free) is an amazing and exciting thing… a major step forward in instructional technology.

There’s a new episode each month.  You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or watch them online here:

artistseries.on.uvu.edu

How can learning best be effectuated by a teacher/trainer? -At the moment I’m most excited about Situated Cognition.  Something about Cognitive Apprenticeship really resonated with me.  As I stated in previous posts, some of my most valuable learning experiences occurred when I had the opporunity to be involved in real-world applications of what I was trying to learn.  Most of these experiences occurred during or after my undergrad and were tied to my current profession involving film, audio, music, and various forms of creativity and media production.  It’s for this reason that I was so excited about the ideas of John Abbott and others who promote Cognitive Apprenticeship from such a young age, in a real and practical way.  Much of what I remember from my Secondary Education and even younger were the experiences I had with History classes where we would learn and then go and experience or apply the ideas to issues in our own community with people actively involved in those histories and the application of the applicable principles.  My experiences in music were similar as well… when I had a chance to practice, perform, travel, make mistakes, have successes, collaborate and work with professionals… the learning became much more rich and consequently more effective and long-lasting.