Info Hwy Learning

Behind the scenes

2011-02-28T07:25:00.001-05:00

I wonder what other Instructional Designers in Higher Ed do and how many different roles they play . . .

eYA Tech - Boys & Girls Club, Douglasville

2009-05-02T13:44:00.003-04:00

I am volunteering 3-5 hrs per month to facilitate workshops/sessions on digital literacy. Anyone that wants to join me or contribute time, software, equipment is welcomed. I already have two people that will come in on days that I cover specific topics. On May 15 we will cover mixing audio with Acid pro for young adults, college students and their parents.

I will conduct the workshops 2 Fridays per month at 7:30pm.

For more information visit http://www.eyatech.com

GIVE to your community and help us all move forward!

LivePerson.com = Online Cheaters for Campus and Virtual Learners

2009-04-08T09:44:00.006-04:00

I was prompted today by a morning show to checkout a website called LivePerson.com where you can be an online professional accessible to those needing your services. I thought, how cool, you could make a little money on the side, another way for me to market my services instead of just waiting for someone to happen upon my website.

It turns out, that most of the reviews I checked out indicated that these "professionals" are writing research papers and completing projects for students; literally writing programs for the computer programming students.

One alerting note is that a "professional" was accused by a reviewer of copying script from ANOTHER site and charging for it as if he had created it; keeping the reviewer in a loop of plagiary. . . that's what he/she gets right?

As indicated in a previous post, this generation of learners seem very "clicky", "wiki" and "copy/paste" oriented. (See post 2/17/09 "Technically Speaking . . .")

Shame on us. Shame on LivePerson.com for not filtering such actions. You can't control everything and everyone, but for goodness sakes, control the controllables. Have policy and procedures in place so that users know that you don't promote such actions.

Educators need to be aware of the world and resources available to learners and become filters themselves.

TIP:
Have students begin papers, scripting, programming, etc IN CLASS or SYNCHRONOUSLY as you observe and get a feel of their writing style and understanding of applications. Eventually you will develop a sense of the learners abilities and short-comings that will aid you in judging the authenticity of projects and assignments as they are completed.

Development of the Educator: Allergic to the new . . .

2009-03-23T11:08:00.003-04:00

"I just CAN'T keep up!", "They're not paying me for the time it takes to GET this stuff!", "By the time I figure this out, I could have done it MY WAY!"

I've heard this from colleagues in P12 as well as higher ed regarding the demands to use the latest and greatest software, hardware or procedures made available to the schools. This past week I overheard someone grieving the loss of their mind and time over failed efforts to use an online course management tool. I've heard this kind of talk before and all too often tech-grievers progress to the next step . . . AVOIDANCE.

Suddenly the educator becomes almost "allergic" to attempting the new; be it procedural changes in course delivery or technical updates and upgrades. We start to have physical and emotional symptoms that eventually warp our productivity, sense of control and overall satisfaction with the workplace.

Will design instructors REALLY break out in hives if the school updates to CS4 before they get a chance to learn it themselves?

Will the 4th grade teacher REALLY hyperventilate at the sight of yet another type of projector; only this time it is mounted in the ceiling and she has to depend on use of the remote?(Oh no! what if the batteries run out!?).

Will I suffer from a brain aneurism the next time that DARN NEW PRINTER beeps at me to signal that I need to press yet another button that I CANNOT find?

What should leaders do?

One thing that stands at the top of my mind would be that leaders should ALWAYS consider the intensity and reasonability of their demands.

Leaders should experience the new for themselves or observe their faculty interacting with the new, then set reachable goals. For example, they could allow faculty to play around with the online course management system one or two terms before it is implemented as if it were real, only not posted for students to see or access. All kinks and misunderstandings can be smoothed out without the DEMAND of having grades and attendance in by noon when they haven't figured out how it works or haven't had proper training on what to do if they've taken correct steps but it still doesn't work).

There are many options available to prevent outbreaks among educators experiencing the new. Most leaders would see a great return on their technical and procedural investments if they themselves invest a bit of TLC and NOT just a bunch of cheap band-aids (like "read the manual").

Institutional Competion in Distance Education

2009-03-18T08:33:00.005-04:00

I had a discussion with a friend the other day who mentioned that traditional schools will soon HAVE to transition to offering more online courses to compete with not only each other but with these full-online schools, such as Capella University.

I began to think about competition. Honestly, HOW can traditional schools compete? Traditional schools that offer online programs carry with them the requirements to enroll. These requirements are often more demanding than the online for-profit schools that DON'T REQUIRE SAT AND GRE SCORES (I know from experience, Capella did not require GRE scores when I applied over a year ago).

If I were a BA graduate, already working but seeking an advanced degree to increase my pay, I would naturally look for a program that offers flexibility for my busy life; an online program would be great for me to pursue a masters.

If I'm busy, the last thing I want to do is jump through hoops to sign up for the program.

Opting for a traditional school would mean that I need to take time to study for the GRE or GMAT, prep samples of work to submit, transcripts, references, etc -Then if I'm awful at taking tests, I'd fail the mathematics portion!.

Opting for one of the for-profit online schools, all I have to do is write a few paragraphs about my intentions, send references, a transcript and a check. It may cost me more, but at least I'm in and I get the degree.

Questions: What can leaders in Distance Education do to remedy this situation? What can be done differently? Does the difference in application process affect quality of the program?

Technically Speaking . . .

2009-02-17T13:20:00.003-05:00

It seems that the new generation of teens and early-twenty somethings are so very fixated to their screens-that is, their computer screens, cell phone screens, mp3 player screens, PSP screens . . .

Technically speaking, they should have no problem navigating and adjusting to the many GUI's available through different Learner Managements Systems, CMS's, VLE's, etc.

I would suspect that they would need less time to adapt to their eLearning environments. I am however curious as to how this generation of -"immediate gratification", "wikipedia resource searching", "copy and paste paper-making", "visually stimulated"- young learners will be able to manage a TRUE college educaion, and REAL, professional, up-to-Higher Ed-standards, course delivery online. Any research findings out there?
Tanacha Brown, MS

eLearning

2009-01-30T23:37:00.002-05:00

I have spent the past year delving into the concept of Higher Education and online learning. What will become of us instructional and visual designers in the age of a technology that constantly reshapes itself in what seems like every 3-12 months?

Well, to infinity and beyond . . . right?

What teachers know . . . NOT!

2008-09-20T21:38:00.004-04:00

So here's the deal,

I was just at an HOA meeting for my community and a candidate for the Educatoin Board spoke to us and educated us about changes that need to take place in the school system.

The speaker provided a scenario in which she visited a school and noticed that the teachers were provided with new technological equipment and resources to assist in their instruction or the learning of students but had made limited attempts to use all of the resources. When she questioned an administrator, he/she replied that their "older" teachers are a bit resistant and uncomfortable using the new resources so the school just "waits" for them to try it or eventually leave and they get new teachers with more skills.

The speaker made the point that in the regular job force, you either catch up with the work force or get fired and replaced. The point being that the teachers need to be proactive and start using the equipment and follow new standards as they arise.

My issue with that is, like our "roll out" of Edline, NO LEVEL OF TRAINING WAS PROVIDED (either formal or informal). And I'm finding this is usually the case.

Administrators with the forethought to move along with current advances and add new systems and technology to schools need to work out a deal with the sellers or vendors of these resources so that they can train the users.

This is not new, its common protocol for responsible leaders.

Edline Continued

2008-06-22T18:04:00.003-04:00

Well,

So far, it as been quicker to simply instruct the few individuals in my department hands-on via a demo and I sit with them as they set up their grade books. I have offered to work with the contact for Edline and want to possibly set up a workshop and demo.

I have an interest in diffusion and adoption of this program and will analyze it further. I have seen no real change management occur thus far.

Edline - Who Knows?

2008-06-05T19:10:00.004-04:00

I am currently working in Edline and am finding it hard to get support for small glitches or access issues. Is this common? Does anyone really know Edline? I was able to get help (visual instruction) from a co-worker who toyed with it as I did but "got it".

FORESEABLE BREAKDOWN IN COMMUNICATION
We are fortunate to have an assigned "contact" amongst our faculty for Edline assistance. Unfortunately, this person has just about the same schedule as the rest of us; causing me to assume any assistance will be on her spare time- responses will not be timely and physical/ hands-on attention will not be available (its just not possible).

INITIATIVE FOR THE GREATER GOOD
I have resigned to assign myself as the liason for my particular departement. We currently have 7 faculty in my department. I plan to read the manual front to back, develop the Edline gradebook for my class and demonstrate it as a model for my co-workers individually. In turn, we will meet our requirements of actually USING Edline and be better versed should our students need help navigating the software or faculty from other departments need assistance. The spread of knowledge is sure to follow. If anything I will volunteer to aid the assigned "contact" for Edline and provide technical demonstrations and larger meetings with all faculty.

Social Software

2007-11-22T07:53:00.001-05:00

The social software that I have reviewed and used is Myspace.com. It allows users to Send messages via blog comments, email or instant message withing the software (i.e. you can see whether your friends are currently online while you are logged in and can begin a chat session). MySpace also has a music and video element that allows users to share personal or favorite videos and songs. The registration is free and it is widely used and highly popular.

A small setback is that there are no applications within the site available to allow for recording or some type of video or sound editing. You basically post what you've done. The advantage, as it relates to learning is that is is easy to use, it can be customized and it is free. Instructors/Teachers can create a blog using myspace and post an audio or video lecture and prompt students to comment within the blog by posting their own audio response. Chat meetings can be set up or teachers can post their times of availablity and have students check the class blog to see if the teacher is logged on should they need feedback or have questions. Or students can be directed to POST their questions in a specific blog initated with a subject.

Review the presentation about MySpace
Review the my podcast comments about MySpace

Raptivity Use

2007-11-11T11:32:00.000-05:00

I used raptivity to create a quiz on perspective. It was surprisingly easy to use and I would definitely purchase it if I had a pressing need for it and the resources to afford it. I viewed the other interactivity examples and I see how useful it could be, not just for the online college instructor but for middle and high school teachers who have their individual class links on line for parents and students to access. A teacher could offer review of math terms or fun games to help students remember concepts, etc.

Raptivity appears to be quite useful.

Google Talk

2007-10-24T21:24:00.000-04:00

My gmail account is

tanachabrown@gmail.com

Send me a note somebody!

Marriage Survey via Survey Monkey

2007-10-18T11:19:00.000-04:00

Click to try the Marriage Survey that I created

Least surprising so far: 100% say children spend most time with mom

Most surprising so far: 60% say they desire ZERO children

Snag of DaFont.com

2007-10-16T12:27:00.001-04:00

http://www.dafont.com/
Great site to download different kinds of fonts. Double check copyright if intended for commercial use, etc.

Tutorial Video via Camtasia

2007-10-16T12:24:00.000-04:00

Tutorial on alternatives for retrieving an image.
Click here to view.

Instruction Via Camtasia

2007-10-16T10:43:00.001-04:00

Presentation for my Design class as an example of a powerpoint presentation. Click Here to view.

Instruction Via Impatica

2007-10-16T09:50:00.000-04:00

Presentation I created for my design class. Based on a book by Robin Landa, "Thinking Creatively: new ways to unlock your visual imagination". Click Here to view.

My How-To Video

2007-09-10T21:27:00.000-04:00

Click here to view video

My Podcasting Experience

2007-09-03T16:09:00.000-04:00

My podcasts were prompted by a class that I am taking in "Advanced Technologies in Distance Learning" with West Georgia State University. This was a bit new to me so here is a description of my experience:

Was it easy or challenging? YES!Podcasting via Odeo proved to be a challenge for me but this may not be due to the site itself but my computer. So my alternate PODCASTING SITE is MYPODCAST.COM (with the catch of having to plug their ad at the beginning or end of my recordings). I also struggled with "patience" as I recorded and DID NOT want to re-record. Looking back I probably should do my podcasts with bits of other audio and try to adjust the sound. What I could have done was playback the bit of sound from another place first until the audio level was good, THEN record. But again, my patience was a bit thin. Maybe I'll drink some Celestial Tea next time before I begin recording.

Did you try anything beyond the scope of the assignment?YES but NO. The fact that I was recording live then had to ease in to play media from my chosen RSS feeds or media player and not edit, was a good effort. But I really wanted to have a conversation with someone on the topic of learning language online. That takes scheduling and is not a good idea over the Labor Day weekend.

What did you learn? The question should be what didn't I learn. I honestly recorded the first part of the series based off of little knowledge of whether people used online tools for language. Then I set out to find the answers to my questions. On my journey I found a wealth of knowledge and resources for teaching and learning language online. I also learned other podcasting alternatives online and via MP3 players.

I am eager to listen in on podcasts from my current classmates on any topic related to learning online.

My Podcast Series

2007-09-02T13:58:00.001-04:00

Discussion on Learning Language Online W/ Audio

Looking forward to audio

2007-08-16T15:45:00.000-04:00

I would like to see how instructors manage classes online using such forward tools as audio and video. I'm curious on how much time this may take. Does it take longer to edit and revise audio than it takes to edit and revise, let's say, text on instructions you set out for a particular assignment?

I would pose to use audio for online courses as verification and identification for the students. What if all who signed up for an online course had to 1st provide an audio recording of a scripted sentence that would then be fed into a voice recognition tool. When students "sign-on" or "submit" work, they would have to tag it with audio and it would be time stamped. Whew!

Is that happening already? We can extend that to video I'm sure. But we go back to how long it takes. Time is always a factor.

"Students" on the Highway

2007-08-05T12:35:00.001-04:00

I am still grappled by the notion that we can earn degrees and certificates online. I love that I get the opportunity but as I plan to become an online instructor at some point, I am weary about this "honor system" we seem to have online. Is your student "your student"? Can he/she not just have a friend join a conference or submit an online journal?

Yes on-ground students can have a friend do a paper and send in BUT the on-ground instructor has a reference in-class that is not afforded to the online instructor. I have my students write in-class, or work on design projects in-class so that I can monitor their skill and progress. This way, if they turn in any out-of-class work I have a reference to validate consistency of there aptitude to write or design. Is it written differently? Are there sentence structures and language not used by this student before? Is the particular design his/her style? Could the student demonstrate the technical aptitude in-class that I see performed on this out-of-class assignment? Well, I can check that on the spot and have them talk through their design to me.

At some point, as an on-ground instructor, I will be able to say, ahhh, THIS is MY student's work because I was able to see, touch and "smell" it. You can't do that online. So what can you do?

I am thinking of forming ideas for my dissertation (before I even get into my PhD program) around this subject and possibly one on cultural and social considerations for learning online. Any suggestions or resources would be helpful.

RSS feeds

2007-08-05T12:18:00.000-04:00

I just read three fabulous articles on RSS feeds. I truly did not know what it was. Very helpful was
this article by Quentin D'Souza.

School Sites
I thought it a great idea, as he mentioned examples of RSS use, for schools to have websites as blogs instead so that each department could provide up-to-date information and it would automatically feed, plus notify any subscribers of changes. The downside, as I view it from an Information Design perspective, is consistency. The sites that I viewed seemed to become lost in navigation once you click on a staff weblog (example). Each staff should have a link pointing you BACK to the main school site if weblogs are used for schools. Traditionally, the faculty would have a site using the schools url.

Credibility on the Highway

2007-07-26T20:47:00.000-04:00

I remember searching for a PhD program and fell upon Capella University. I was excited to find EXACTLY what I was interested in: Instructional Design for Online Learning. I got as far as paying an application fee and reviewing courses I would take with a rep when I fell upon a site dedicated to trashing the school; with lists of instructors that don't have credible degrees or training, or have fake degrees.

Later that week I heard a discussion on the radio, I believe it was NPR but not sure, where an employer stated that she overlooks any candidate that comes from online schools. I recall that the discussion was about technical fields, etc.

I changed my mind that week and searched for traditional schools "just to be safe", especially with a PhD. I sent my application to GSU for Instructional Technology and sent an inquiry for West GA's Specialist program for Media and Instructional Technology. I've now pushed my start time back to 2008 so that I have time to research more.

BIG QUESTION? If someone told you they received their PhD online would you feel they were equally matched with someone that went through a traditional program (brick and mortar)? Does the subject matter? What about “certificates” for skills such as the one I have for Advanced Macromedia Flash?

Learning on the Hwy

2007-07-22T19:02:00.001-04:00

My blog is about the "Information Superhighway" and how we use it to learn. Join me from time to time and share your views.