The Impact of Open Course

Origins

OpenCourseWare, or OCW, is a term applied to course materials created by universities and shared freely with the world via the Internet. (Wikipedia, 2012).  Massachusetts Institute of Technology was a pioneer in distributing private education course offerings online for free without credits earned.  The OCW movement only took off, however, with the launch of MIT OpenCourseWare at MIT in October 2002. (Wikipedia, 2012).

OpenCourseWare emerged from a cluster of strategic activities overseen by the MIT Council on Educational Technology, a group whose charter is “to provide strategic guidance and oversight of MIT efforts to develop an infrastructure and initiatives for the application of technology to education.” (Abelson, 2007, p. 2). 

MIT's reasoning behind OCW was to "enhance human learning worldwide by the availability of a web of knowledge." (Wikipedia, 2012).  MIT believed that OCW would allow students to become better prepared for classes so that they may be more engaged during a class.  They further believed that OCW would provide a means for students to review previous course material, enhance the capabilities for faculty to use materials from courses they are not currently participating in, and it could work with faculty in using this to promote coherence across the curriculum. (Abelson, 2007). 

 MIT Open Course Ware

I selected to review the Entrepreneurship Courses at MIT Open Course.  The syllabus is found when you click on the first core course.  The first core course introduces the instructor via video, where he elaborates on what will be covered in his course.  The online syllabus provides the course meeting times and description, and information about the instructor.  The syllabus for this course was appropriate for this environment.  Information such as grading, assignment due dates, etc. have no relevance since this course does not render grades.  As an extension to the syllabus, the instructor of the first core course provided a separate page outlining the course pedagogy.  According to Simonson, the syllabus is the overall structure for content, delivery, and evaluation of the course. (Simonson, et. al., 2012). 

Pre-planning

This course appears to have been well-planned as it clearly was organized using the ADDIE Model.  The lectures, resources, videos, and calendar items all address the amount of time and effort that the designer utilized when building each course.  Site maps were possibly used to simulate navigation through the online environment. The course offerings are easy to locate, the navigation is consistent and resources are available to download. According to Developing Online Courses (multimedia program), when a designer has a clear map of how both the class and the course website will break down, its time to collect or create any of the assets that is needed for the course.

Course Activities

A calendar is available for each course which is used in various ways by the instructors.  Some calendars list all of the course lectures sequentially, others list specific activities and timeframes by day, and still others list the topic and a session overview of the topic.   All course readings are found on a separate webpage, which range from allowing you to download the entire book or individual chapters, to purchasing books online at Amazon.   Lecture notes are downloadable and assignments include assigned readings, class discussion topics, written assignments, and extra credit. Study questions are also available for some courses.  Each course provides its features, descriptions, and often the highlights of the course on the course homepage. Hosted videos are listed separately. 

Conclusion

The advantage of offering courses previously taught F2F include prior knowledge of the learner and the educational outcome or experience of the learner. The courses offered initially were four or five years old which allowed the instructor to tweak assignments based on objectives met and learner engagement.  OCW appears to be a great supplement to distance education.  Distance education classes in the future can include as additional resources, specific course lectures, sessions, and resources found in OCW environments.

References:

Abelson, H., (2007). The Creation of OpenCourseWare at MIT. Retrieved July 27, 2012 from http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/37585/ocw-creation-preprint.pdf

Developing Online Courses (n.d). [Multimedia Program]. Walden University. Laureate Education, Inc. Retrieved July 25, 2012 from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1341293_1%26url%3D

MITOPENCOURSEWARE. http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/entrepreneurship/

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

Wikipedia. Retrieved July 27, 2012 from  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCourseWare

Collaborative Training Environment Solution

  

Scenario:

A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration.

As an instructional designer I would use CISCO WebEX Meetings in order to host the training workshop for the new automated staff information system.  WebEX is a web conferencing tool which combines file and presentation sharing with voice, HD video and Meeting Spaces. Initially I would send an email with a range of dates to attend the WebEX meeting.  I can either schedule several meetings based on the response of the staff and send out invites to each meeting or I can schedule one meeting and record the session for future viewing.  WebEX gives me the option to record the training session and provide a link on my Meeting Space or on my WebEX site.  As the host, WebEX allows me to share my desktop with the participants at the meeting and conduct the training with the staff at each of the six regional offices.  Documents and other files can be shared by the staff members as well.  Collaboration can be implemented using the chat feature to ensure ongoing collaboration.  Collaboration can take place before, during, and after the WebEX training.  "Although many distance students are cited as being independent learners, they derive value from collaborative experiences... working together creates a richer learning experience for the individual participant" (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, p. 165)

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.

 

Defining Distance Learning  

I remember the concept of Distance Learning being introduced to me in the late 1990s.  As I recall, traditional colleges and universities under-graduate programs were the preferred route and distance learning programs were an alternative for graduate school.  I defined Distance learning as online courses which provided the learner with course materials and access to an instructor virtually.  The instructor and learner could be located anywhere in the nation, and the internet provided the medium for them to communicate.  I visualized isolated assignments and timelines with little to no interaction with classmates.

                The resources provided this week, has totally changed my personal definition before enrolling at Walden.  The video and vodcast provided by Dr. Simonson had me revisit my definition.  Simonson defined Distance learning as “as formal education in which the learning group (teachers, students, resources) are separated by geography, and sometimes, by time.”(Simonson, 2012)  As I read the vodcast I found out that Distance learning dates back to the early 1800s.  It might seem strange, but I never associated correspondence courses as distance learning.  As I read the information on the timeline, it occurred to me that decades ago, I use to see advertisements in magazines and on the back of match-books for correspondence courses.  Unconsciously, I had framed Distance learning into the specific period of computers, modems, and internet access. 

                In the vodcast I learned that Anna Eliot Ticknor and her organization,The Society to Encourage Studies at Home started in Boston, MA.encouraged women to pursue their educational passions through mail correspondence courses, many of whom having limited traditional education opportunities. I also learned that a number of telecommunication technologies emerged such as Marconi’s Black Box, courses offered through radio and standard television, satellite and cable television broadcasts, courses via video tapes, and lastly through the internet, Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 technology.

                In the three-part article, The Evolution of Distance Education: Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web, the authors point out that very little, if any potential of e-learning is recognized or valued.  Corporate motivating factors are economic and in many cases effectiveness is not valued or measured.  According to the article, “Evaluation of any kind beyond the “smile sheet” is not planned, and often, there is no provision for the measurement of learning outcomes or utilization.” (Moller et al., 2008, p.70) Following ID approved methodologies is recommended to make sure that our field is not diminished by disappointing results.  Although the business climate insists on speedy solutions, ID professionals must fully define the training need before design and implement quality solutions.

“The challenge for ID professionals is not only to evolve the field, but also to assure that the products of sound professional design practice lead the e-learning enterprise.” (Moller et. al, 2008, p.66)

 In the higher education environment, adoption of a “craft approach” is not an effective way to approach distance learning.  Taking the materials, strategies, and approaches from a traditional classroom environment and putting it on the web may offer limited positive results. ID faculty members should outline the standards, policies, and accreditation for distance learning.  In K-12 environment, research is ongoing to determine the effectiveness of distance learning for younger students.  Many age dependent characteristics have not developed in younger learners which are necessary for online learner’s success.

                Finally, after reading the material provided this week, I now define Distance learning as formal education, which achieves learning outcomes by utilizing research- based, clear, measurable modules in spite of learners and instructors being separated by time and location.  I envision that distance learning will continue to grow exponentially as new technologies continue to emerge, as businesses, colleges and universities become more competitive, and as additional research is conducted for the effectiveness of distance learning and younger students.

References:

Moller, L., Forshay, W.R., & Huett, J. (2008). Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning. TechTrends, 52(3), p.70-75

Moller, L., Forshay, W.R., & Huett, J. (2008). Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning. TechTrends, 52(4), p. 66-70.

Moller, L., Forshay, W.R., & Huett, J. (2008). Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning. TechTrends, 52(5), p. 63-67.

 Simonson, M. (n.d.) Distance Education: The Next Generation [study video]. Retrieved June 27, 2012, from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1341293_1%26url%3D