OMDE 601: FOUNDATIONS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
Prior to this course, I had taken several online courses in a variety of educational topics. I also developed courses using Moodle LMS for my high school students to learn how to interact virtually in addition to traditional face-to-face learning scenarios.
This course opened my eyes to many facets of e-learning that I hadn't considered yet as I was a student and even course developer. Because of this course, I gained an understanding about the history of distance education dating way back to correspondence courses. Distance education is continually evolving. As an educator who has studied and integrated learning theories into curriculum for many years, I was able to connect prior knowledge with new learning and relate face-to-face learning environments with distance learning opportunities.
Something that really got me into the course curriculum is the need for effective socialization and communication between peers and instructors in a distance learning environment. Being a teacher, it's almost second nature to communicate, collaborate, and create a community of learning within my classroom. This is not as instinctive within an e-learning environment. I like to analyze scenarios and solve problems. I see this as a considerable need as distance education continues to develop.
I enjoy creating my own definition of topics and concepts. This was certainly true with distance education! I gathered several resources from scholarly articles from educators and professionals that gave their own interpretations. Of course, how I defined distance education has advanced over the past few years as I learned more and more.
OMDE 603: TECHNOLOGY IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
I liked the combination of hardware and software studied in OMDE 603 and appropriateness of their integration into distance learning scenarios. Various computer systems, handheld devices, and the emergence of tablets were all investigated as potential learning tools in this course. On the software side, I critiqued how web 2.0 applications can really enhance learning activities when chosen and integrated appropriately. Open Educational Resources are emerging as learning objects that can certainly enhance distance education.
The group project was a highlight because we used some components of WebTycho, the Learning Management System, that we hadn't previously used. I really like this sort of exploration of software. We also tried a few different synchronous communication tools for video conferencing and virtual classroom environments. It was really exciting to use them for project advancement purposes, but it was a lot of un evaluating the tools themselves. I learned that even though some resources might be real flashy and exciting, they may or may not be the best choice to include in an ODL environment.
The project that I remember most from this class is the comparative analysis of several learning management systems. Prior to this course, I have taken courses in Blackboard and Moodle, so I had a base-line to work from. I also used Moodle in my classroom to structure my curriculum and give my students some background in online learning. I chose three other learning management systems to cross-examine. It was interesting to see how some elements are very similar across several platforms, and each system offers their own components or have a slight differences in their tools and/or functionality. Each system has elements of structured learning, communication, collaboration, feedback, sharing, and internal and external resources.
DEPM 604: LEADERSHIP IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
This class wasn't a course that I was very excited to take because of my high interest in many of the other topics in the program, mostly in curriculum, development of instructional objects, and technologies themselves. However, I was so surprised how engaged I was in this class right from the start. My preconceived ideas about this course was way off! The content itself was very interesting, relevant, and the mode of delivery was effective. Most importantly, it was the effectiveness of the instructor that reeled me in right from the start. It was truly an example of how an online course can have flexibility in participation, yet structured in ways that make sense. The best thing was the level of socialization between students, instructors, and professionals in the field of online and distance learning. The instructor didn't only deliver content about leadership and management, but most importantly, he led by example! Without a doubt one of best online teachers I've ever had, but also throughout my 35 years of formal education. This really showed me the importance of leadership and management within any learning scenario. Surprisingly, this was one of my favorite courses I have ever taken at the graduate level.
Of course, there were the quintessential leadership traits that were analyzed on how they directly relate with successful online and distance learning environments. Vision, management styles, charisma, strategic planning, self-driven, honesty, good communication skills, commitment, among others were leadership traits that were studied throughout the semester. However, there were some other leadership traits that really stuck with me because of the leadership of the teacher, himself. Here are some of the elements that I gained from the professor that directly relate to the contents of the course:
OMDE 606: COSTS & ECONOMICS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
The main piece about this course that was most impactful in my learning was definitely the group project. We had to create a distance learning environment for a specific purpose. We chose to develop a graduate course. Of course, OMDE 606 is a class about the costs and economics of distance learning scenarios, but we had to develop the course before we could analyze the costs associated with running it. We looked at materials, technologies, development and administration, in addition to issues like student support and assessments that all need necessary funding. The cost analysis was a great learning experience. I had to break the course elements down in to categories and units, then get current figures that are representative of each of the costs. Fixed amounts were easier for me to predict and variable costs were more difficult because they were based on projections.
The highlight of the course was when I was focussing on the costs associated with course development because I enjoyed breaking down instructional design components. We looked at project management because time and work hours play such an instrumental role in calculating labor costs. Of course, there had to be some funds allocated for quality assurance so the learning objects could be tested and then improved based on results.
Two other topics from this course that really stand out to me are cost analysis as related to:
DETT 607: INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN & COURSE DEVELOPMENT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
This was a very relevant course for me because I teach high school robotics courses and I have been developing my own curriculum for several years now. This class gave me the opportunity to synthesize what I have done in the past and apply it to online and distance learning. At first, I thought this would be a fairly simple task. I learned that there are many complexities because of the hands-on nature of the class, in addition to working out a system of communication and collaboration. I found the context analysis to be similar and the instructional design to be very different. I was able to test some of my project on eighth grade students taking an Introduction to Robotics course during that semester. Some of my ideas went well, others had to be fine-tuned after working through some kinks in the design. Like anything, it's best to run test phases for analytical observation to rework the glitches before putting into production!
Some highlights of this course were:
This class is a great example of hands-on learning. I studied instructional design from a conceptual perspective and we critiqued elements of existing developed courses, but what made this class so special was that I learned by doing! Working through phases and components of the instructional design process enabled me to understand the development cycle at a practical level. This is an important lesson to remember when designing and developing courses so this approach can be embedded in the procedures and tasks within the course itself.
OMDE 608: LEARNER SUPPORT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & TRAINING
This was another course of high interest and relevance in my professional life as an educator. Support is often secondary to curriculum and assessment in education, however, it's vital for the success of the learners and program goals. When I think about learner support, I automatically inquire on students' level of understanding, need for redirection, accommodations, or modifications to improve chances of learning at a high level. This class was more than that. We studied other elements of support, such as services like counseling, tutoring, and advising. Library resources were an interesting component. Prior to this course, I wouldn't have categorized library integration as a support, but I can see that it is much more than simply a resource. It was great to explore various components of these support systems. For example, there needs to be brainstorming of needs, careful planning, program design, structure-building, and appropriate staffing for any of these support systems to work.
I really enjoyed investigating Arizona Virtual Academy (AVA). I went through their website and administrative web pages to find a plethora of information about the organization. Since it is a public school, there is so much available materials. After a little research, I found that AVA is administered by k12, which is a non-profit organization that develops distance education opportunities for educational government agencies to provide an alternative to traditional face-to-face school. I was impressed with some of the support systems that are already in place at AVA. There is a lot of very good feedback from students and families about the education and individualized support that they have experienced through Arizona Virtual Academy.
OMDE 610: TEACHING & LEARNING IN ONLINE DISTANCE EDUCATION
There was a myriad of useful information in this course. Right from the start, there was a blend of learning theory and practical teaching strategies. From studying lesson plans for online learning experiences to designing rubrics for multi-face, OMDE 610 was full of important information from the perspective of the teacher and the student.
Throughout this semester, I worked on my research paper with the following question: What Online Technologies are most Effective in Distance Education? In this study, I found so many different perspectives on what works and which works best. What I learned is that it's so vital to match up the right tool with each specific learning scenario. There are so many great e-learning tools and resources, but they may not be the best fit. Each scenario has to be looked at individually.
A highlight in this course was definitely learning about Connectivism. I had come across this learning theory in previous courses, but only at a surface level. It was interesting to explore social software and web 2.0 tools from the viewpoint of Connectivism as they relate with teaching and learning in online and distance education.
DETC 620: TRAINING & LEARNING WITH MULTIMEDIA
I studied various uses of media in a variety of educational environments. There was a focus on analysis of tools and deciding the most appropriate scenarios for different applications. Learning benefits along with brain processing theories were highlights of this course. I investigated the infusion of multimedia into instructional design. My project proposal was for a Robotics course that was developed with funding from grant monies from Honda Corporation's American Honda Foundation, whose goal is to prioritize "Youth education, specifically in the areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, the environment, job training and literacy". (American Honda Motor Co., Inc.. 2012) The project included the following attributes:
I learned some assessment scales for evaluating multimedia learning objects. The one that I found most useful was the Learning Object Review Instrument (LORI). This tool evaluates the quality of multimedia learning objects by a rating scale. It is very straight forward and easy to use so feedback is reliable and quick.
Reference
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.. (2012). American Honda Foundation - Grants for Youth Education and Science Education. Retrieved from
http://corporate.honda.com/america/philanthropy.aspx?id=ahf
DEPM 625: DISTANCE EDUCATION, GLOBALIZATION, & DEVELOPMENT
This course was one of my favorites in the MDE program! I really liked the content and the professor was a leader with an extensive background and experience working in globalization of online and distance learning in developing countries. It was an eye-opening experience to study current conditions of developing nations. The question of prioritizing resources in these areas lead to sympathy. It was interesting to research and discuss different options for appropriate and available hardware and software for governments with little or not budget for online and distance education. The education levels for many of the citizens of these nations are so low that it's difficult to fathom. The guiding document for change is the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, which set objectives for all the countries in the world to work together in support of a world-wide community of learners. Globalization mapping is an interesting concept. Princeton University has information on a Globalization Mapping perspective that was instrumental in my understanding. It makes sense to support those nations in need with existing infrastructure and resources.
A highlight of DEPM 625 was definitely the conference I led on accessibility issues and the global need for assistive technologies.
There are many issues that must be examined in order to best understand how assistive technologies can improve access in developing countries for students with disabilities. I developed a list of topics in order to guide the research and discussions. My topics were as follows:
Project Paper: I received great feedbacl on my discussion. Here's an example of a news post that from my instructor to the class:
"First and foremost, I want to commend the excellent discussions that have occurred the past three weeks in the Project Conferences. Moreover, I am particularly pleased to see the quality of discussions 'connect' many facets of the course content and your experiences from just descriptive comments to a deeper analysis and synthesis reflecting the complexity of the developing world, the critical issues, and their relevance to ODL. Miriam, Trena, Vanita and Kris have all brought forward unique perspectives, topics and questions that have been the driving force for these dialogues. A virtual round of applause to them for their efforts and particular thanks to Kris for leading us in to a very good week of discussions on assistive technologies and meeting the needs of students with special needs." (Donald Olcott, November 2014)
Throughout this course, all classwork was directly related to the final Project Paper. The assignments were scaffolded and structured in a logical method. I really liked how each phase in the project provided me with both instructor and peer feedback. Of any paper I have ever authored, I am most proud of the document I created for this course!
DETC 630: EMERGING TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND ISSUES IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
This course was interesting because I examined current technologies, trends in online and distance education, and looking
at future projections due to the ongoing advancements of technologies. The first assignment was the visionary paper. I enjoyed this project! I spent time exploring various synchronous and asynchronous technologies and investigated how different organizations are utilizing them successfully. I learned that there was a logical connection between conceptual models and practical usage of technologies used for e-learning.
DETC 630 helped me better understand Open Educational Resources (OERs). OERs are free and accessible online resources that are continually become more and more available. McAndrew, Scanlon, and Clow (2010) stated, “Open approaches are rather different, as content can come from many sources; the main opportunity may lie not in being a producer of content but rather in being an effective user and supporter of learners using such content. Once a significant amount of material is available, then skills in bringing together good patterns or designs for learning and connecting them with assessment and accreditation will be extremely valuable.”
This is the course that I was introduced to Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). This concept is something that really makes sense to me as the educational trend is to individual learning. Based on my research of PLEs, I believe that these are going to address accessibility issues by customizing learning experiences based on abilities, among other differences.
Another topic that was a highlight from this course is educational video games. Games are fun, so motivation for learning increases because people like to play games. This is evident with the world-wide trend of the growing gaming industry. Video games are exciting. They can be fast-pace, with the exploration of virtual worlds. In addition, there is also a challenge to beat high scores, levels and the game itself, in which players gain feelings of accomplishment.
Reference
McAndrew, Scanlon, and Clow (2010). An open Future for Higher Education. Educause Review Online. Retrieved from
http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/open-future-higher-education
IMAT 639: INTERNET MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS
IMAT 639 was a hands-on class. I learned about HTML and CSS and used that knowledge to design and build a website using Dreamweaver web authoring software. I uploaded my web files to a University of Maryland University College web server. I developed some multimedia files that I embedded into the content of my webpages. I chose to make custom buttons for navigation, but had to take accessibility issues into consideration throughout the interface. I found that graphic design is a skill that requires continual reshaping to get a prototype that is aesthetically pleasing and also highly functional.
In IMAT 639, I studied business plans and created my own for an educational multimedia website that I created over the course of that semester. My project was an website devoted to high school age students to learn about robotics. Usability was a topic that was important to me. As an educator, I'm always concerned with accessibility issues. Usability within multimedia tools and resources goes hand-in-hand with enabling access for all learners to content and resources. The most time-consuming element of this course was, by far, developing an animated splash screen in Flash.
This course was a perfect complement to DETC 620 because that course was all about teaching and learning with multimedia, whereas this class was about developing the multimedia objects using the appropriate applications.
OMDE 670: PORTFOLIO & PROJECT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
This course is the capstone study of the program. It's something that I've been looking forward to since I started taking MDE classes through UMUC. I didn't realize how difficult writing the research paper would be. Over the past several years, I've read many case studies, scholarly articles, and other educational literature that all focusses on different elements of online and distance learning. However, I have never had the responsibilities of creating my own at the intensity and expectations that this program requires. I know that if I continue to work hard and persevere through my MDE journey, I will find what I'm looking for. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but there's still much more work to be done.
I've been explaining this course to people as something that is sucking the life out of me. I think my ePortfolio is much better than it was. I will definitely spend more time working on this over the next two years as I'm job searching, but for now, I'm just trying to focus on "my nemesis" the research paper. I will certainly edit this reflection after I get the portfolio and project completed. The best thing about this capstone course is the guidance from the instructors. Thanks! Like I mentioned early in the semester, I like honest feedback and constructive criticism motivates me to be successful. I will get this done!
Prior to this course, I had taken several online courses in a variety of educational topics. I also developed courses using Moodle LMS for my high school students to learn how to interact virtually in addition to traditional face-to-face learning scenarios.
This course opened my eyes to many facets of e-learning that I hadn't considered yet as I was a student and even course developer. Because of this course, I gained an understanding about the history of distance education dating way back to correspondence courses. Distance education is continually evolving. As an educator who has studied and integrated learning theories into curriculum for many years, I was able to connect prior knowledge with new learning and relate face-to-face learning environments with distance learning opportunities.
Something that really got me into the course curriculum is the need for effective socialization and communication between peers and instructors in a distance learning environment. Being a teacher, it's almost second nature to communicate, collaborate, and create a community of learning within my classroom. This is not as instinctive within an e-learning environment. I like to analyze scenarios and solve problems. I see this as a considerable need as distance education continues to develop.
I enjoy creating my own definition of topics and concepts. This was certainly true with distance education! I gathered several resources from scholarly articles from educators and professionals that gave their own interpretations. Of course, how I defined distance education has advanced over the past few years as I learned more and more.
OMDE 603: TECHNOLOGY IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
I liked the combination of hardware and software studied in OMDE 603 and appropriateness of their integration into distance learning scenarios. Various computer systems, handheld devices, and the emergence of tablets were all investigated as potential learning tools in this course. On the software side, I critiqued how web 2.0 applications can really enhance learning activities when chosen and integrated appropriately. Open Educational Resources are emerging as learning objects that can certainly enhance distance education.
The group project was a highlight because we used some components of WebTycho, the Learning Management System, that we hadn't previously used. I really like this sort of exploration of software. We also tried a few different synchronous communication tools for video conferencing and virtual classroom environments. It was really exciting to use them for project advancement purposes, but it was a lot of un evaluating the tools themselves. I learned that even though some resources might be real flashy and exciting, they may or may not be the best choice to include in an ODL environment.
The project that I remember most from this class is the comparative analysis of several learning management systems. Prior to this course, I have taken courses in Blackboard and Moodle, so I had a base-line to work from. I also used Moodle in my classroom to structure my curriculum and give my students some background in online learning. I chose three other learning management systems to cross-examine. It was interesting to see how some elements are very similar across several platforms, and each system offers their own components or have a slight differences in their tools and/or functionality. Each system has elements of structured learning, communication, collaboration, feedback, sharing, and internal and external resources.
DEPM 604: LEADERSHIP IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
This class wasn't a course that I was very excited to take because of my high interest in many of the other topics in the program, mostly in curriculum, development of instructional objects, and technologies themselves. However, I was so surprised how engaged I was in this class right from the start. My preconceived ideas about this course was way off! The content itself was very interesting, relevant, and the mode of delivery was effective. Most importantly, it was the effectiveness of the instructor that reeled me in right from the start. It was truly an example of how an online course can have flexibility in participation, yet structured in ways that make sense. The best thing was the level of socialization between students, instructors, and professionals in the field of online and distance learning. The instructor didn't only deliver content about leadership and management, but most importantly, he led by example! Without a doubt one of best online teachers I've ever had, but also throughout my 35 years of formal education. This really showed me the importance of leadership and management within any learning scenario. Surprisingly, this was one of my favorite courses I have ever taken at the graduate level.
Of course, there were the quintessential leadership traits that were analyzed on how they directly relate with successful online and distance learning environments. Vision, management styles, charisma, strategic planning, self-driven, honesty, good communication skills, commitment, among others were leadership traits that were studied throughout the semester. However, there were some other leadership traits that really stuck with me because of the leadership of the teacher, himself. Here are some of the elements that I gained from the professor that directly relate to the contents of the course:
- Integrity: It was clear that there was a high level of honesty, both in the information that was provided and in the feedback. The instructor also had an impressive resume that justified his ability to base his perspectives on proven results
- Motivation: See above! I was not excited about this course. I thought it was going to be a lot of examinations about attributes of management and leadership that was similar to what I have studied in the past. Because of the specificity to online and distance learning, all of the information was intriguing and applicable.
- Passion: There was a clear understanding that the professor had strong feelings about the content. There was evidence that he also displayed this same desire in his professional roles in organizations beyond teaching.
- Empowerment – As a student, I felt that I had some say in making choices with regards to some of the classwork and assignments. The professor encouraged information sharing and egalitarian collaboration amongst peers throughout the course and in group projects.
- By design, members feel empowered to contribute
- Self awareness – The professor exhibited and promoted mindfulness. He kept students in the present. This approach kept me on track and keeping everything in perspective.
- Supportive – The instructor was always supportive. I could tell the quality of my work because of his feedback. When my classwork was done with a high level of understanding, I would get some applause and guidance on extending my thinking. When I needed some redirection, it was very clear and he encouraged continuing to meet the goals in a positive manor.
OMDE 606: COSTS & ECONOMICS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
The main piece about this course that was most impactful in my learning was definitely the group project. We had to create a distance learning environment for a specific purpose. We chose to develop a graduate course. Of course, OMDE 606 is a class about the costs and economics of distance learning scenarios, but we had to develop the course before we could analyze the costs associated with running it. We looked at materials, technologies, development and administration, in addition to issues like student support and assessments that all need necessary funding. The cost analysis was a great learning experience. I had to break the course elements down in to categories and units, then get current figures that are representative of each of the costs. Fixed amounts were easier for me to predict and variable costs were more difficult because they were based on projections.
The highlight of the course was when I was focussing on the costs associated with course development because I enjoyed breaking down instructional design components. We looked at project management because time and work hours play such an instrumental role in calculating labor costs. Of course, there had to be some funds allocated for quality assurance so the learning objects could be tested and then improved based on results.
Two other topics from this course that really stand out to me are cost analysis as related to:
- The integration of online and distance learning into elementary and secondary educational institutions
- The development of open educational resources for the promotion of lifelong learning.
DETT 607: INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN & COURSE DEVELOPMENT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
This was a very relevant course for me because I teach high school robotics courses and I have been developing my own curriculum for several years now. This class gave me the opportunity to synthesize what I have done in the past and apply it to online and distance learning. At first, I thought this would be a fairly simple task. I learned that there are many complexities because of the hands-on nature of the class, in addition to working out a system of communication and collaboration. I found the context analysis to be similar and the instructional design to be very different. I was able to test some of my project on eighth grade students taking an Introduction to Robotics course during that semester. Some of my ideas went well, others had to be fine-tuned after working through some kinks in the design. Like anything, it's best to run test phases for analytical observation to rework the glitches before putting into production!
Some highlights of this course were:
- Developing storyboards for course development. I am a visual learner. This approach really makes sense to me. I can go from a flow chart to an outline much more efficiently than going from planning to execution.
- Developing my course. I looked at my class from different angles than I have in the past. Not only because of the e-learning aspect, but also because of the components of the project plan assignment. Project milestones and recommendations are things that were helpful for the class, but also in my everyday development of curriculum.
- Working through learning theories and applying to the learning of course objectives. I found that many perspectives overlap a bit and I believe that it's important to utilize components from a variety of approaches rather than getting narrow focus into following one step-by-step. That helps make it possible to try to reach every student because they are each diverse learners.
This class is a great example of hands-on learning. I studied instructional design from a conceptual perspective and we critiqued elements of existing developed courses, but what made this class so special was that I learned by doing! Working through phases and components of the instructional design process enabled me to understand the development cycle at a practical level. This is an important lesson to remember when designing and developing courses so this approach can be embedded in the procedures and tasks within the course itself.
OMDE 608: LEARNER SUPPORT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & TRAINING
This was another course of high interest and relevance in my professional life as an educator. Support is often secondary to curriculum and assessment in education, however, it's vital for the success of the learners and program goals. When I think about learner support, I automatically inquire on students' level of understanding, need for redirection, accommodations, or modifications to improve chances of learning at a high level. This class was more than that. We studied other elements of support, such as services like counseling, tutoring, and advising. Library resources were an interesting component. Prior to this course, I wouldn't have categorized library integration as a support, but I can see that it is much more than simply a resource. It was great to explore various components of these support systems. For example, there needs to be brainstorming of needs, careful planning, program design, structure-building, and appropriate staffing for any of these support systems to work.
I really enjoyed investigating Arizona Virtual Academy (AVA). I went through their website and administrative web pages to find a plethora of information about the organization. Since it is a public school, there is so much available materials. After a little research, I found that AVA is administered by k12, which is a non-profit organization that develops distance education opportunities for educational government agencies to provide an alternative to traditional face-to-face school. I was impressed with some of the support systems that are already in place at AVA. There is a lot of very good feedback from students and families about the education and individualized support that they have experienced through Arizona Virtual Academy.
OMDE 610: TEACHING & LEARNING IN ONLINE DISTANCE EDUCATION
There was a myriad of useful information in this course. Right from the start, there was a blend of learning theory and practical teaching strategies. From studying lesson plans for online learning experiences to designing rubrics for multi-face, OMDE 610 was full of important information from the perspective of the teacher and the student.
Throughout this semester, I worked on my research paper with the following question: What Online Technologies are most Effective in Distance Education? In this study, I found so many different perspectives on what works and which works best. What I learned is that it's so vital to match up the right tool with each specific learning scenario. There are so many great e-learning tools and resources, but they may not be the best fit. Each scenario has to be looked at individually.
A highlight in this course was definitely learning about Connectivism. I had come across this learning theory in previous courses, but only at a surface level. It was interesting to explore social software and web 2.0 tools from the viewpoint of Connectivism as they relate with teaching and learning in online and distance education.
DETC 620: TRAINING & LEARNING WITH MULTIMEDIA
I studied various uses of media in a variety of educational environments. There was a focus on analysis of tools and deciding the most appropriate scenarios for different applications. Learning benefits along with brain processing theories were highlights of this course. I investigated the infusion of multimedia into instructional design. My project proposal was for a Robotics course that was developed with funding from grant monies from Honda Corporation's American Honda Foundation, whose goal is to prioritize "Youth education, specifically in the areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, the environment, job training and literacy". (American Honda Motor Co., Inc.. 2012) The project included the following attributes:
- Cross-Disciplinary Learning Experience
- Self-Paced Course
- Multimedia-Centered Learning Objects
- Open Educational Resource (OER)
I learned some assessment scales for evaluating multimedia learning objects. The one that I found most useful was the Learning Object Review Instrument (LORI). This tool evaluates the quality of multimedia learning objects by a rating scale. It is very straight forward and easy to use so feedback is reliable and quick.
Reference
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.. (2012). American Honda Foundation - Grants for Youth Education and Science Education. Retrieved from
http://corporate.honda.com/america/philanthropy.aspx?id=ahf
DEPM 625: DISTANCE EDUCATION, GLOBALIZATION, & DEVELOPMENT
This course was one of my favorites in the MDE program! I really liked the content and the professor was a leader with an extensive background and experience working in globalization of online and distance learning in developing countries. It was an eye-opening experience to study current conditions of developing nations. The question of prioritizing resources in these areas lead to sympathy. It was interesting to research and discuss different options for appropriate and available hardware and software for governments with little or not budget for online and distance education. The education levels for many of the citizens of these nations are so low that it's difficult to fathom. The guiding document for change is the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, which set objectives for all the countries in the world to work together in support of a world-wide community of learners. Globalization mapping is an interesting concept. Princeton University has information on a Globalization Mapping perspective that was instrumental in my understanding. It makes sense to support those nations in need with existing infrastructure and resources.
A highlight of DEPM 625 was definitely the conference I led on accessibility issues and the global need for assistive technologies.
There are many issues that must be examined in order to best understand how assistive technologies can improve access in developing countries for students with disabilities. I developed a list of topics in order to guide the research and discussions. My topics were as follows:
- Need for Access
- Exploration of Assistive Technologies
- Challenges
- Opportunities
- Resources
- Infrastructure
- Moving Forward
Project Paper: I received great feedbacl on my discussion. Here's an example of a news post that from my instructor to the class:
"First and foremost, I want to commend the excellent discussions that have occurred the past three weeks in the Project Conferences. Moreover, I am particularly pleased to see the quality of discussions 'connect' many facets of the course content and your experiences from just descriptive comments to a deeper analysis and synthesis reflecting the complexity of the developing world, the critical issues, and their relevance to ODL. Miriam, Trena, Vanita and Kris have all brought forward unique perspectives, topics and questions that have been the driving force for these dialogues. A virtual round of applause to them for their efforts and particular thanks to Kris for leading us in to a very good week of discussions on assistive technologies and meeting the needs of students with special needs." (Donald Olcott, November 2014)
Throughout this course, all classwork was directly related to the final Project Paper. The assignments were scaffolded and structured in a logical method. I really liked how each phase in the project provided me with both instructor and peer feedback. Of any paper I have ever authored, I am most proud of the document I created for this course!
DETC 630: EMERGING TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND ISSUES IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
This course was interesting because I examined current technologies, trends in online and distance education, and looking
at future projections due to the ongoing advancements of technologies. The first assignment was the visionary paper. I enjoyed this project! I spent time exploring various synchronous and asynchronous technologies and investigated how different organizations are utilizing them successfully. I learned that there was a logical connection between conceptual models and practical usage of technologies used for e-learning.
DETC 630 helped me better understand Open Educational Resources (OERs). OERs are free and accessible online resources that are continually become more and more available. McAndrew, Scanlon, and Clow (2010) stated, “Open approaches are rather different, as content can come from many sources; the main opportunity may lie not in being a producer of content but rather in being an effective user and supporter of learners using such content. Once a significant amount of material is available, then skills in bringing together good patterns or designs for learning and connecting them with assessment and accreditation will be extremely valuable.”
This is the course that I was introduced to Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). This concept is something that really makes sense to me as the educational trend is to individual learning. Based on my research of PLEs, I believe that these are going to address accessibility issues by customizing learning experiences based on abilities, among other differences.
Another topic that was a highlight from this course is educational video games. Games are fun, so motivation for learning increases because people like to play games. This is evident with the world-wide trend of the growing gaming industry. Video games are exciting. They can be fast-pace, with the exploration of virtual worlds. In addition, there is also a challenge to beat high scores, levels and the game itself, in which players gain feelings of accomplishment.
Reference
McAndrew, Scanlon, and Clow (2010). An open Future for Higher Education. Educause Review Online. Retrieved from
http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/open-future-higher-education
IMAT 639: INTERNET MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS
IMAT 639 was a hands-on class. I learned about HTML and CSS and used that knowledge to design and build a website using Dreamweaver web authoring software. I uploaded my web files to a University of Maryland University College web server. I developed some multimedia files that I embedded into the content of my webpages. I chose to make custom buttons for navigation, but had to take accessibility issues into consideration throughout the interface. I found that graphic design is a skill that requires continual reshaping to get a prototype that is aesthetically pleasing and also highly functional.
In IMAT 639, I studied business plans and created my own for an educational multimedia website that I created over the course of that semester. My project was an website devoted to high school age students to learn about robotics. Usability was a topic that was important to me. As an educator, I'm always concerned with accessibility issues. Usability within multimedia tools and resources goes hand-in-hand with enabling access for all learners to content and resources. The most time-consuming element of this course was, by far, developing an animated splash screen in Flash.
This course was a perfect complement to DETC 620 because that course was all about teaching and learning with multimedia, whereas this class was about developing the multimedia objects using the appropriate applications.
OMDE 670: PORTFOLIO & PROJECT IN DISTANCE EDUCATION & E-LEARNING
This course is the capstone study of the program. It's something that I've been looking forward to since I started taking MDE classes through UMUC. I didn't realize how difficult writing the research paper would be. Over the past several years, I've read many case studies, scholarly articles, and other educational literature that all focusses on different elements of online and distance learning. However, I have never had the responsibilities of creating my own at the intensity and expectations that this program requires. I know that if I continue to work hard and persevere through my MDE journey, I will find what I'm looking for. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but there's still much more work to be done.
I've been explaining this course to people as something that is sucking the life out of me. I think my ePortfolio is much better than it was. I will definitely spend more time working on this over the next two years as I'm job searching, but for now, I'm just trying to focus on "my nemesis" the research paper. I will certainly edit this reflection after I get the portfolio and project completed. The best thing about this capstone course is the guidance from the instructors. Thanks! Like I mentioned early in the semester, I like honest feedback and constructive criticism motivates me to be successful. I will get this done!