Month: January 2014

Using the LMS as a Social Network in a Supersized Course | EDUCAUSE.edu

“Large class sizes make it infinitely more challenging for college instructors to connect and communicate with individual students. This might not be a big issue if professors have an army of teaching assistants running smaller tutorial groups, but that’s not always the case; in my courses, for example, hundreds of students meet in a single learning space for a weekly lecture or webinar. As in online classes of any size, having a massive group of students in a single location creates the real risk that students will feel anonymous and disengaged due to a lack of meaningful interaction with their professor and peers.”

“The key to effective socialized course design lies in understanding and configuring the LMS as not (just) a content delivery mechanism for distributing grades and PDFs but also as a potentially valuable niche online networking platform that can support a series of socialized assignments.”

via Using the LMS as a Social Network in a Supersized Course | EDUCAUSE.edu.

HTML5 instrumental for Mobile Learning?

“The world is moving with a fast pace resulting into life getting faster. The need to have robust technologies to keep us abreast with the latest utilities has grown tremendously over the past decade. The scope and demand for mobile learning has shown exceptional growth and it has become necessary to have mobile devices compatible with effective learning.

HTML5 offers immense possibilities in the field of Mobile Learning and tools for Instructional Designing. The development of the mobile content would need defined strategies irrespective of the technology used to have clear directions to be followed and implemented in regards to graphics, templates and font size as well. The aspects which are important while planning a mobile module would have the following considerations;

• The goals to be achieved.

• Compatibility of the projects with the mLearning.

• Whether mLearning is acceptable by the Learners.

• Learners readiness for mobile learning.

• How and for what purposes the target group uses the mobile devices.

• And finally what are their expectations in terms of mLearning.”

via HTML5 instrumental for Mobile Learning?Swift ELearning Services.

Ontario is creating a Centre of Excellence for Online Learning

Ontario is creating a Centre of Excellence for Online Learning to give students across the province one window of access to high-quality, transferable online courses, while reducing course duplication.

To launch in time for the 2015-16 school year, Ontario Online will improve collaboration between colleges and universities by minimizing duplication — allowing students to take the same, centralized online course. The online platform will also give students the flexibility to receive world-class instruction wherever and whenever works best for them. It will operate through three inter-related hubs:

  • The course hub will offer state-of-the-art online courses that are fully transferable between participating colleges and universities, giving students more options to earn credits and complete their education.
  • The instruction hub will allow institutions to develop and share best practices, research, and data on how best to teach online courses.
  • The support hub will provide academic and technical assistance to students, instructors, and institutions.

Supporting a world-class postsecondary education system that is a leader in innovation and online learning is part of the Ontario government’s economic plan to invest in people, build modern infrastructure, and support a dynamic and innovative business climate.

via Newsroom : Province Improving Online Learning.

A Conversation About Online Course Quality – OnlineColleges.net

Get Involved in Quality Discussions

No matter your role in online education, the need to create and ensure high levels of value is a critical part of what we do. From my perspective, it’s all about making the most of the opportunity that online education allows, creating a best possible environment for students in any given course or program. How can you get involved in conversations about quality?

Students

  • Research accreditation. Know what type of accreditation your institution and program may have, as well as which agencies grant the status. Be prepared to describe the quality level of your courses and program to employers in terms of accreditation as well as your learning experiences.
  • Ask about quality measures. Were your online courses and programs designed using specific rubrics or other guidelines? How is your institution taking quality into consideration?
  • Complete your course evaluations. This is just one way you can provide input on the course design process, informing your instructors and designers about suggested revisions. Help them to improve the quality of your courses for future students.
  • Look for ways to be part of design and development activities. It’s still rare for students to join design teams and curriculum committees, but it does happen. During the Sloan conference session, instructional designers expressed an interest in getting more students involved in what they do.

Instructors

  • Participate in course review and revision process. Use the opportunities provided by your institution to provide feedback on what is working and not working from your perspective. Whether it’s serving as a subject matter expert to help create a new course, providing periodic evaluation of an existing course, or preparing your face-to-face course for online delivery, keep quality in mind.
  • Review course evaluations. Take time to consider the comments and suggestions submitted by your online students, and identify specific improvements that may be possible to implement after each term.
  • Connect with your institution’s instructional support providers. Faculty development, technical support, and other resource teams are often available to assist in the design, review, and revision of your courses. Explore existing quality standards and how they might be used to further enhance the experience for students.

As the nature of online learning and online learners changes, so will the ways in which we measure what instructional strategies and components are most effective in our courses. We may never have one cohesive definition of quality, and I think that’s okay, but it is possible to develop an approach that conveys an institution or program’s priorities and promotes a valuable learning experience.

What does quality mean to you? Share your ideas and elements you might add to the existing frameworks.

http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2013/11/26/conversation-online-course-quality/

2020 Vision: Outlook for online learning in 2014 and way beyond

Last year I spent some time discussing the value of predictions. One point I didn’t mention is the limitation of predicting just one year ahead, because you can’t identify the long term directions, and so often you’re driven by what happened in the very recent past, i.e. last year, because that’s the latest and often only data you have. More importantly, though, looking one year ahead assumes that there is no choice in what technologies we will use and how we will use them, because they are already entering our society. Also, this is likely to be the last year in which I make predictions for the future. I will be 75 in April, and I plan to stop all paid professional activities at that point (although I will keep my blog, but more as a journalist than as a practitioner).

So this seems to be a good point to look not just at 2014, but where we might be going five to ten years from now, and in doing this, I want to include choice or human decision-making as well as technological determinism. In other words, what kind of online learning do I expect in the future, given what I know so far?

via 2020 Vision: Outlook for online learning in 2014 and way beyond.