Collaborative Training Environment

Example #1:

A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration.

After reviewing the challenge, an instructional designer must consider a learning management system that will keep students informed constantly; make the course outcomes and requirements are clear while integrating the power of the web into the course in order to train six regional offices at different times in different locations (Simonson, M., Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2012). In order to keep cost to a minimum, I would create a podcast series totaling a 30-minute class into three separate learning objects. The podcast series will be stored on the corporate’s website and will be a requirement to complete by a certain date. The final (4^th) scheduled podcast will be live and during the training, students will be asked questions to be answered and surveyed as they are watching.  In order to implement the q&a and survey I would implement Poll Everywhere:

 

 

Poll Everywhere is an online service that allows you to poll an audience through text-messaging or response from a computer.

“I've used Poll Everywhere with a Team-Based Learning class. Students use PE to submit their individual responses to questions before discussing with their teams. The questions are low-stakes (they just need to submit something because the point is to have them think a little on their own before discussing” (Sample, 2012).  In addition, Poll Everywhere can be used to relay announcements in order to get new information to students through text-messaging. The only drawbacks are Poll Everywhere will not allow the student to submit documents and screen captures.  If the students need to submit documents they will be provided an email at the beginning of the final presentation to submit any supporting documents and ensure ongoing collaboration. In some cases, there are students that do not have cell phones and computers and would not be able to participate in Poll Everywhere. If this is the case then the Instructional Designer must analyze the general abilities of the students before implement the course (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek, 2012). If many are without cell phones and computers then the Instructional Designer will have to make the course design basic and more relevant to the students’ immediate needs (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek, 2012).   

 

References:

Sample, Mark (December 13, 2012). Live Polling of Students with Poll Everywhere.

Retrieved from: The Chronicle of Higher Education, http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/live-polling-of-your-students-with-poll-everywhere/44961

 

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education. (

Distance Learning-Climbing to New Heights

Before I began this course, distance learning meant an opportunity to obtain more in higher education while working full-time and caring for two young children. Distance learning also meant learning online (24/7 access) with others, learning to develop strict time management skills, in order to create the best learning experience for everyone all over the world. Who would have ever thought I would be learning amongst people in other countries, but it is happening. Working in higher education also helps me to understand how popular distance learning is becoming based on the increasing numbers of registered students to online courses.

As we learned in our resources this week, “distance education is rapidly transforming post-secondary education and the driving force is economics and access” (Moller, Foshay, and Huett, J. 2008-pg. 66). I refer to myself as “today’s most popular, “new student called “the non-traditional” student. I am reaching for more education to advance professionally and add value to my resume and my current position. Each day my job duties change completely (based on new skills I am developing in my education) or increase based on technological advancements, environmental and personnel changes. 

“A principal motivator is the relatively unfamiliar force of competition” (Moller, Foshay, and Huett, 2008- pg. 66) within departments. In addition, it seems that “the lack of change” or “the desire to change” is crippling many departments at institutions in higher education. Employee resistance to change has been a problem at my current employment. Our software is upgrading quarterly, hardware is being replacing and procedures are improving. Many senior faculty and staff are being forced to retire or voluntarily retire because they did not want to accept the change or did not expect the competition that arose with change. 

“Educators in the distance medium are faced with new pedagogical issues surrounding student interactions, course content design and delivery, multiple levels of communication, defining new types of assignments and performance expectations, and different assessment and evaluation techniques”(Moller, Foshay, and Huett, 2008- pg. 67). This brings me to a revised definition of distance learning which states: distance learning is using electronic delivery that requires the student and educator to be able to operate an electronic devise in order to be a participant in the online environment. I would also require faculty and staff have a recurrent training with an Instructional designer that gives them ideas and/or instructions to a web 2.0 or any electronic tool used to build assignments, assessments and evaluations. The recurrent training could translate into continuing education credits which would make one more competitive when the next opportunity arises for a promotion.

 As distance learning continues on a path of evolution and change, it will need faculty teaching online courses that are technologically able to create their own material and organize the assignments. Employees must challenge themselves to change with time and technology. Institutions must make email and social media the official mode of communication such as Skype, YouTube and Facebook. It’s time for people to aim higher and climb that mountain along with the evolution of technology and distance learning.

 
Click here to visualize climbing to new heights with distance learning


Reference

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70.