Distance Education Evaluation

With so many methods and tools that could be used for distance education it is important to know what will work and what won't work. Seeking feedback from students is vital in this situation, but also challenging. After a year of taking distance education classes online, I must say that I am impressed at the willingness of the instructors to seek feedback from students. The instructors here at USU, seem to be very interested in what students have to say about classes, and are willing to make changes and adjustments as student needs direct them to. I have felt that the online evaluations have been an effective tool for gathering feedback. Since these are anonymous, students should feel comfortable to speak their minds about courses. USU's methods of obtaining feedback should serve as a model for the rest of us as we design or offer distance education courses. Up to this point, it has been very beneficial to see some of the concepts that we have learn, in live situations.

Developing an effective distance education course takes time, testing, experimentation, and above all feedback from those who use the course content and features.

Google Sites

I am amazed at the many tools that Google has created in the past few years. Many of these tools are useful, easy to use, and very innovative. One of these tools would be Google Sites. Google Sites is a simple and easy way for an individual to create a website without having to know HTML.

I think there are a number of uses for Google Sites in any industry. My wife and I are part of a group of citizens in our county who are trying to promote the idea of having an aquatic center to replace our existing run-down pool. To do our part, we decided that we would create a Blog about the proposed center. Since I am busy this summer going to school, my wife took the lead on this project and ended up creating a decent blog. However, in the process of doing so, she become frustrated with the lack of control that she had while using Blogger. She was limited to where she could place text and graphics. After all was said and done, she was able to create a nice blog, but I realized that Google Sites may have been the tool to use for this situation. Google site may have given her more flexibility in creating the layout that she wanted.

I think this is the beauty of these Google tools. There seems to be a tool that will work in most situations. I see these tools as being very useful to students and teachers in and out of the classroom. I would just how many of our students are aware of what these tools provide and what they can create using them.

Wikis

I enjoyed learning about wikis this week, and I see some great opportunities with wikis in education. Some of the wiki sites that schools have set up are pretty impressive. I would really enjoy doing something like this in my classes. However, I have a tendency to think that a wiki site would be enticing to younger students and opposed to high school students. When I think about the students I have, I see them thinking that creating a wiki would just be more work. This is something that I would like to implement in my class, but I just wonder how I could go about it in way that would get my students excited.

If anything, a wiki site would have some great applications in distance education. What a great way for students and teachers to work together when there is distance between them.

Finding the Proper Mix

During this semester, we have learned about so many great tools that we can use in our instruction and I am excited about the possibilities for the upcoming year. Along with that excitement is a little anxiety as I consider what tools I could use and how I can use them together. It is one thing to know about these tools and something completely different to know how to use them effectively as to enhance instruction rather than distract from it. In order to figure this out, I think a lot of it will have to be trial and error. I will just have to try different tools in different learning situations and see what works. As I do so, I think I can gain some invaluable insights through the eyes of my students. By asking for feedback from my students, I can hopefully get an idea as to what works and what doesn't.

Video Instruction

Last school year, I decided to try a different approach to how I deliver instruction. Instead of presenting material live, I decided to prerecord class instruction and have the students watch it on their computers. I thought this might allow me to spend more time working with students individually. I found this approach to be favorable among many of the students. Students liked this because they could work at their own pace, and review content as necessary.

The downside of this was that the videos took up precious screen space on student computers and I noticed that there began to be a lack of interaction and collaboration among my students. Because of this, I felt like my classroom was lacking personality and excitement, and I began feeling bored. I know that this shouldn't be about me, but if I was feeling this way, I wonder if my students were sensing a lack of excitement for learning.

I wonder if there are others who have tried this method of instruction and would be curious to hear about what their experience is and what challenges they faced in implementing a technology such as this. I think it can be promising, especially for my situation, but I think I need to develop a more effective way of using this technology so as to not take away from the personality of the classroom.

Blogs

So as I realize that I have yet to write an entry for my blog this week, I have thought about the purpose for writing in this blog each week and how it relates to what we are learning in class. I see this blog as a journal where I can write about my thoughts and insights as I continue my education in this program. I believe that this blog also gives me the opportunity to organize and process the information I am learning. If blogging about learning seems to be useful to me, what could it do for my students. Would they also see keeping a blog as an opportunity to record their thoughts and ideas as they learn. Would this be a learning technology that would enhance learning in my classroom?

YouTube

To me, YouTube is an enigma of sorts or what we might call a two edged sword. There are so many excellent video resources on YouTube that could be used to support instruction and students love accessing YouTube. In fact, many of my students will spend hours on YouTube if you let them. This would be the other edge of the sword.

Normally YouTube is blocked at our school, but sometime last school year there was a period of time where our internet filters went down and our students had access to YouTube. My classroom is a computer lab and I teach computer classes, so naturally when word got out that the filter went down all YouTube hell broke loose. I had the darndest time keeping my students out of YouTube and on task! I even had the problem of some students accessing inappropriate videos promoting such things as gang violence,ultimate fighting, and all things bloody-gory-mess.

So I ask, "How do we harness this YouTube power for the educational good of mankind?" I have yet to come up with an answer.