Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Technology should be used to enhance instruction and not be so cumbersome that it distracts
from it and a backup plan should be in place when and if the technology selected fails (Simonson
et al., 2012).
Models for Instructional Design. There are four basic models for asynchronous
distance learning courses and they are: linear-designed instruction, branched-designed
instruction, hypercontent-designed instruction, and learner-directed design (Simonson et al.,
2012).
Linear-designed instruction and branched-design instruction are similar in that they both
utilize the Unit-Module-Topic (UMT) approach (Simonson et al., 2012). This approach breaks
down the number of credits offered by a particular course for a given semester into an equal
number of units (Simonson et al., 2012). Each unit corresponds to three to five modules and
each module corresponds to three to five topics with each topic representing an specific outcome
(Simonson et al., 2012). One main differences in the two models is that the branched-design
model has more sophisticated assessments which are better at diagnosing progress and
comprehension of the learner (Simonson et al., 2012). The second main difference is that the
students have the ability to jump ahead or back up based on their level of understanding when
they are working in the branched-design model whereas in the linear-design model all students
must work sequentially along the same path (Simonson et al., 2012).
In the hypercontent-design model, the UMT approach is also utilized; however, instead of
the instructor determining the order or sequence the student should learn the content, the course
is designed in such a way that allows the student to choose what order of topics they would like
to study (Simonson et al., 2012).
The learner-directed model is similar to the hypercontent design but the learner has even
more freedom to choose the order and the learner actually constructs their own strategy for
learning (Simonson et al., 2012).
Reflection
This particular chapter gave me some wonderful ideas prior to beginning a distance
education course. I have noticed that as a student, the modules are available ahead of time so the
instructor must be ahead of the students and have the course designed well in advance of the
course beginning. I will definitely provide a pretest to the students prior to the start of the course
to get to know the students. I have noticed that in my own distance education courses the
instructor always has a beginning activity that is a way for them to get to know the students
better. I always thought it was for the students to get to know each other, so I have to admit that
I was getting bored with the introductory activity since I already knew everyone in the cohort.
The model that I would choose to use is the linear-designed instruction model simply
because this better fits my personality. I like the organization of the model. I feel if I had the
hypercontent or learner-directed model as a student, it would be a very frustrating class. With
that said, it does depend on the learner as to which of the four methods would be the best to use.
For me, it seems like the linear-design model would be the easiest to develop, especially for a
first time distance educator.
Module 7 Student Perspective
Module seven discusses the student and distance education, specifically the traits and
responsibilities necessary to be a successful student in a distance education course.
Summary
not only with a course calendar, but the information I need in order to be successful and contact
information for my instructor.
The aesthetics of the design is also a factor that helps me with organization of content
within a module located in a course management system. Some course management systems are
better at aesthetics than others. As a student, I have become familiar with the layout of
Blackboard, but as a teacher I have to use Moodle. Moodle, in my opinion, does not allow the
content to be displayed in a way that is as easy to sort through as Blackboard.
Module 9 Management of Distance Education
Module nine explains how to implement a distance education program within your school
from the ground up. This includes information such as the people who would need to be
involved in the development of the program as well as policy that should be written, changed or
modified to include distance education. Teacher preparation is also a valid concern and
receiving adequate training to develop and implement a distance education course is discussed in
this module as well.
Summary
A teacher or a school may want to start up a distance education program, but there is
more to getting a successful program off the groups than just offering the courses. A plan should
be in place that identifies what population, if there is one, is served by the program as well as
recruitment methods, financial support, and means for delivery (Martin, Moskal, & Foshee,
1997; Simonson, 2005; Simonson et al., 2012). Not only does there need to be a market for a
distance education program, there must be adequate technology available to support it (Martin et
al., 1997; Simonson et al., 2012).
There must be enough staff to support the different type of learner that would be enrolled
in online courses such as technical support personnel (Simonson et al., 2012). With more
computer use required by this type of student, they will need people to help them with their
technical issues when the arise (Simonson et al., 2012).
Faculty as well as students should be prepared through prior training opportunities so that
all parties directly involved in the instruction are able to help make the program a success
(Simonson et al., 2012). In addition, a distance education policy should be developed by the
administration in conjunction with the faculty involved that addresses issues such as: academic,
fiscal, geographic, governance, labor-management, legal and student support services (Martin et
al., 1997; Simonson et al., 2012).
Reflection
As a teacher who would like to expand the current skills I have, I would like to one day,
in the near future, teach a distance education course. I feel that it is important that any distance
education instructor be properly trained in designing and implementing a course online and I
would hope that my administration would see the amount of time put into developing the course
is time well spent. I think that while the students may not realize the difference between a
properly trained instructors versus one who has no training in online instruction, the institution
should certainly advertise the fact that their staff is trained to offer students the best online
experience available. The more the students are aware that professional development should be
a requirement for teaching an online course, it will become part of the norm to have qualified
instructors.
Module 10 Ethics and Copyright
Fair use and copyright essentials is discussed in depth in this section.
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Summary
What is copyright? Copyright is a right granted by a statue to the author, composer or
originator or a literary, musical, or artistic production (Thomas, 1992). Two conditions must be
met before a work is eligible for copyright protection: applies to works of authorship
representing the tangible expression of ideas, requiring originality and some degree of creativity
and the work must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression (Simonson et al., 2012).
Fair Use is for educators and is the most important limitation on copyrights and it allows
others the use of copyrighted materials in a reasonable manner without requiring consent
(Thomas, 1992). There are four factors to consider when determining fair use and they are:
the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is on a commercial nature or is
for nonprofit educational purposes, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and
substantially of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and the effect of
the use upon the potential market for or vale of the copyrighted work (Simonson et al., 2012;
Thomas, 1992).
Reflection
This section was quite eye-opening for me as an instructor. I have never been formally
trained on the use of copyrighted material nor did I know what was considered copyrighted
material. I feel that this is a potential problem that schools who are training students to be
teachers should include in their curriculum.
I was misinformed and misled on quite a few of the rules and regulations involving
copyrighted material and I am sure that the people who were giving me the information were not
misinforming on purpose, but just did not know the law. This is definitely a course that should
be provided and required for all pre-service teachers.
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References
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Martin, B. L., Moskal, P., & Foshee, N. (1997). So you want to develop a distance education
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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,
Inc.
Thomas, G. J. (1992). Copyrights: The law, the teacher, and the principal. Brigham Young
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Ying, W., Huamao, P., Ronghuai, H., Yanhua, H., & Jingjing, W. (2008). Characteristics of
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