This
week in my course I have studied the process of designing an effective
distance-learning course. Many designers
follow the ADDIE design process and with each stage critical, no stage of the
design should have more weight than the other.
We
have been asked to explore an Open Course this week and I have chosen to look
at a course offered by Stanford through iTunes.
This course is completely free of charge and is available through the
iTunes U app. With this app there are
many courses on a variety of topics, free of charge. I began looking at one called ‘Developing
Apps for iOS (Fall 2010). This was
previously a course offered by Stanford University to its students and is now offered
by the university to the public for knowledge acquisition- not for any
credit.
By
no means am I a technology genius as I’ve always assumed you would need to be
to do such a thing as App design, and so I thought it might be interesting to
see the course content and its layout. After
choosing the course from iTunes U, you are taken to one page that holds all of
the information for the course. There is
a description of the course followed by a course outline and then a list of
podcasts, which hold the lessons. We are
given many details about the course in the first podcast. There is an explanation of the schedule for
the course, the course content is briefly discussed, technology requirements
are shared, and the prerequisites for the course are given, all within the
first 10 minutes. As there is no
classroom as such to explore with different sections for this information, it
was useful to have this concise introduction.
It was especially useful for me as the prerequisites required a
background in programming, which I do not possess, signaling to me that this
was not an appropriate course for myself.
As
a distance-learning course, many of the required resources were there. There
was a video of the presenter with a PowerPoint slide alongside him. Simonson et al (2012) list 12 “golden rules”
for use of technology in education. #5
tells us to ‘make all four media available to teachers and learners. Print, audio, television, and computers
should all be available’ (p. 172). Students
are also very involved in the learning as after every two presentations, you
are expected to complete a practical activity and replicate what you have been
taught and shown.
Simonson
et al (2012) describe the expectations of a distance learner as having relevant
content, clear directions throughout the course, control of the pace of
learning, and materials that are useful and interactive. This course meets these needs. However, as this
is a free distance-learning course, there is not the support available that is
needed. One of the main components of
distance learning is ‘connecting learners, resources and instructors (Simonson
et al, 2012, p. 34) and this is not possible without the support from the
university. During the first podcast you
are given a link to the Stanford course website and can receive transcripts of
the slides and homework assignments.
However, the FAQ area on this site tells you that help is only available
to enrolled Stanford students. Simonson et al (2012) list two more needs of the
learner as requiring ‘a means of drawing attention to individual concerns’ and
‘a way of testing their progress and getting feedback from their instructors’
(p. 176). With no contact with the
university, there is no way to meet these critical needs. This course also lacks support of peers.
Overall
this course, when enrolled as a student and using the iTunes U app to obtain
your lessons and assignments, is an effective course and students can receive
support as needed. If taking this as a
free course you will need a lot of self-discipline, as there are no deadlines
for assignments. It is very likely that
if you are a learner doing such a course without receiving certification or
credit, you already have that motivation that is needed.
I
realized quickly that this is not my learning style. I did not have the attention span to listen to
my lectures in a hall while pursuing my bachelors degree and I believe I would
struggle with these lengthy lessons on podcasts. For those who cannot afford a
course or those who choose not to pay as they feel they do not need the
support, this is a great option.
References:
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S.,
Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance
education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson
Stanford
University. (October 5, 2013). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from:
Interesting, Layla. It seems like there should be more diverse interactivity so that all kinds of learners could benefit. Nevertheless, I bet I would like this because I'm a fan of podcasts. Different strokes for different folks, right? ;-)
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Lesley
I enjoyed reading through your analysis of the open source course that you reviewed. As I was viewing different options for this week's assignment I noted that the vast majority of the open source courses had very little interactive components. It is nice that the one that you reviewed at least shared information on the course activities, but I definitely agree that if an open source course is going to be used other than just for casual advancement of one's knowledge on a topic then there certainly needs to be more supports in place.
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