Distance Learning: Mind Mapping

Defining Distance Learning

"Numerous definitions of distance education have been proposed.  Most include the separation of teacher and learner, the opportunity for two-way communication, and the practice of individualized instruction.  The traditional definitions describe distance education as taking place at a different time in a different place, whereas recent definitions enabled by new interactive technologies, stress education that takes place at the same time but in different place" (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012).

"Changes in society, politics, economics and technology are impacting the status of distance education around the world.  Students in rural or isolated parts of the world look to distance education for opportunities to "keep up" with the outside world.  Technology advances are a major influence for change in distance education worldwide.  The globalization of the world enabled by these new technologies will challenge distance educators to rethink the practice of distance education to take advantage of these new opportunities" (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012).

"An environment in which technology, society, economies, politics and theories of learning are all in transition suggests that definition, theories and the practice of distance education will continue to be contested. This theme of change will both challenge and motive distance educators and researchers as they strive to understand and develop effective ways to meet the needs of learners around the world" (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012).

The distance learning perspective that I take is that this process is unique in helping students meet their goals for obtaining diplomas as well as college degrees.  The virtual classroom has and is offering students an opportunity of two worlds.  One is to be taught by a teacher face to face within a classroom.  Another is to be taught within their home through virtual school on the internet.

The vision that I foresee regarding distance learning is the impact that it will have on working parents and students of all ages.  Working parents will have the opportunity to take courses online at home and earn a diploma or college degree.  In today's society, a diploma is a must whereas a college degree is also becoming a must for certain pay scales.  Distance learning will continuously grow as technology advances.

Reference:

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

Distance Learning!

Distance learning is a description of being able to learn in various ways through the internet or video type courses. High school students have a great advantage of taking courses online at home for part of a school day and then also learning within a classroom setting the rest of a school day.  This experience has taught some students to be responsible about learning in order to meet the challenges of obtaining an diploma and thus furthering their education to a higher level.  The choices given to individuals in learning in this 21st Century is fantastic!  I look forward to learning more about distance learning and what all it has to offer.

Fitting The Pieces Together

One of the thing that is important for any instructional designer to know is the nature of not only the learner in general but also the nature of specific learners and the fact that different people approach learning tasks in different ways.  It is important in any instructional designed learning environment that you account for those differences and take them into consideration (Ormrod, n.d.).

There are several things that people should be aware of about learning styles. There are some learning styles that have been recognized as being legitimate differences in approaches to learning that people take. For example, some people do tend to be more visual learners. They remember a lot by seeing it. Other people tend to be more verbally oriented. They tend to remember more of what they hear. In a class learning environment, you should have both the verbal and the visual simultaneously, and everybody's happy (Ormrod, n.d.).

I am a visual learner and it has not changed after reading about the other styles of learners. Once I am introduced to a lesson visually, I am able to retain a large percentage of what I saw in order to give back to the teacher that taught the lesson. Most of my students learn the same way.  Sometimes a lesson has to be presented more than once, but when they are able to visually catch the vision, the lesson taught stays with them.  I can test them on the lesson a week later, and they still will be able to recall it because of what they have learned visually.

Technology plays a vital role into my learning ability.  I know that if I am able to learn more strategical ways of using technology within my classroom, that I will be able to inspire my students to want to learn.  Most students are very familiar with various games of technology, so it will be easy to help them to learn various skills through using technology that will prepare them for life.

Today, most teachers have not only been exposed to the internet but also have access at home or at school.  Research is the number one reason to use internet in education. Students have a wealth of information open to them.  Often when they are researching obscure topics, school libraries do not have the needed books and magazines.  The internet helps to solve this problem (Kelly, 2011).

Reflection

Connectivisim is that nature of abundant information of primary use of technology.  Technology has been a great help within the classroom for students to be able to learn various lessons.  Most students enjoy playing PSP, XBox, and Wee are all different types of games. These tools are very popular amongst children of all ages today and even some adults.  When developing the mind map through webspiration  it become very difficult at times.

Connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired.  Principles of Connectivism: 

Learning and Knowledge rests in diversity of opinion
Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources
Learning may reside in non-human appliances
Capacity to know more is critical than what is currently known
Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning
Ability to see connections between field, ideas and concepts is a core skill

Those who struggle to create an adequate theory of learning must admit that the process is much like stumbling in the dark.


Reference:

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning as Network Creation retrieved 12/3/2011 from www.astd.org.

Connectivism: Person Mind Map

The Brain and Learning

This week we talked about the brain and learning.  Here are some resources about the brain and learning, and the processing of visual information.  As an Instructional Designer, it is imperative that I understand what resources are helpful in understanding and helping one to learn and process information.