Hello out there in TV... er Internet Land! My name is Michelle Romanek-Beyronneau and this is my 10th year of teaching math at the high school level. I taught my first seven years in San Bernardino at Arroyo Valley High School and have been teaching at Desert Hot Springs High School in Desert Hot Springs (we're part of Palm Springs Unified School District), CA for the past three. Over those school years, I have had the opportunity to teach math courses from the Algebra 1 as a 2 year course level to Algebra 2 Honors and AP Statistics.
This is my second quarter in the program at CSUSB as a student and I have to say it has more than surpassed my expectations thus far. The structure and material of the courses, the interaction with other students and the teacher have been fabulous; my experiences have already helped me grow as a teacher. I experimented with my own bit of online learning for my students midway through this first semester and I, and my students, quite enjoyed the process. I look forward to garnering the knowledge that will allow me to utilize online learning in my practice as an educator more often and more fully.
Response to Prompts
1) Explain the relationship between distance learning and online learning:
I like to think of online learning as the offspring of distance learning and the new technologies that have become more readily available over the course of the past 15-20 years. After completing the readings for this week, I wondered how someone could possibly have taught handwriting via the postal system and in doing a little additional reading, I found the following:
An Englishman, Isaac Pitman, is credited as an early pioneer. He began teaching shorthand by correspondence in Bath, England in 1840. Students were instructed to copy short passages of the Bible and return them for grading via the new penny post system.
-http://www.cdlponline.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=whatis&pg=3
2) Describe the main difference between distance learning and online learning:
The main difference between distance learning and online learning is that students can transmit information to the instructor as easily as the instructor can transmit it to students. In addition to the ease of the instructor to student interaction, the student to student interaction is also vastly simplified. One of the biggest critiques that I have heard about online learning is that it is impersonal. While this may have been true of distance learning, I have found that I have had MORE personal interaction with both the instructor and the each of the other students in my class than I was accustomed to having in the classes that I completed for my first masters. It seems as though I am not the only one who has experienced this particular phenomenon. To read more, follow this link and scroll down to Misconceptions of Elearning to read more.
3) List the three types of interaction proposed by Moore (1989) and explain each type of interaction in your own words.
1) Student to content interaction: this is the interaction where the student gains new knowledge by engaging with the new information and then synthesizing it with the knowledge that they already possess. This is the foundation for the learner's changes in understanding and perspective.
2) Student to teacher interaction: this is the interaction where the student refines the new knowledge and changes in understanding and perspective through teacher response and quest for clarification in communication of the new understanding and perspective.
3) Student to student interaction: this is the interaction where the student communicates their new understanding or perspective first, has a chance to seek clarification or support from others struggling to synthesize the new information into different pre-existing sets of knowledge and come out from the interaction both richer in understanding and perspective but also in a sense of group and togetherness.
To read more here is an interesting article from 2006 published in the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: click here
4) Discuss some of the differences between the early days of online learning and today. Then make some predictions about the future of elearning. Please include at least one good article/citation for this item.
While those of us in the current masters program are accustomed to navigating blackboard and utilizing the resources available there for the completion of tasks, for communicating with the instructor and for dialoguing with classmates, these resources were unavailable in the early days of online learning. On the contrary, the pioneers of online learning had to create their own methods of interacting with their students and for creating positive and binding interactions amongst the group of students participating.
Another important difference between the early days of online education and what we enjoy today is the acceptance that early online educators found for their courses. Disregarding the difficulties that they faced in creating their own access for themselves and their students to the content, early online educators were forced to contend with gaining acceptance from administration and those in the position of control in regards to course offerings to even get their courses up and running online in the first place.
Thirdly, the pioneers of online education were forced to be extra considerate of the success of their students in the new medium; every student failure would be a feather in the cap of those against the new medium as they fought for acceptance of this new delivery method.
Finally, one key difference between early online education and that which we see today is the fact that enrollment in higher education and online learning were both on the rise and now, we see that enrollment in higher education as a whole is decreasing, while enrollment in online education continues to rise as seen in the following graphic:
Excellent use of additional sources of information. I especially like the graphic!
ReplyDeleteMichele,
ReplyDeleteYour comments are interesting in reference to online learning. I looked into the study you referenced, and noticed that online learning has increased from 10 to 30 percent of total enrollment in the period, while as you pointed out overall enrollment has decreased. I also noted that included in the study is commentary concerning MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). The opinions bring up a common theme I’ve noticed that the pedagogy and sustainability of MOOCs are still unproven. I believe that they also represent a substantial risk to traditional (if we can now call it that) online education offered by both for-profit and non-profit educational institutions. Another point I noticed on this study is that chief academic leaders agree that online learning is critical to their long-term strategy, an opinion that has moved from 50 to 75 percent in just 10 years. Interesting that they are proponents of online learning, but supporting it to a high degree (with MOOCs) could lead to a negative impact. Nice job on your reply.
Bruce
Thank you for the resources! I enjoyed your writing style, too. I looked at the Misconceptions of E-Learning link and agree wholeheartedly that I came into this experience with some of those misconceptions. (This is my first term as an online learner). Your link to the 2006 article "Interaction in Distance-Learning Courses" was particularly insightful, as I believe this 4th interaction - the interaction between the learner and the system - is really apparent to me in this first week of classes. In my opinion, it is a vital component about which all of our classmates should be informed. My disorientation and anxiety regarding having to "keep track" of all of the different requirements of three online classes I am taking is an extra dimension to my learning that I did not have in my face-to-face classes in college. Thanks for including these links - they have added to my knowledge, and have also reassured me that my current difficulties are commonplace.
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteDr. Newberry recommend that we need to read your post so I am visit your BLOG and read your initial post.
You point out that the Blackboard resource is good advantage place which we can navigate the studying material. Aim to the high demand (enrollment) of online learning courses the instructors are forced to be conducting the new tech knowledge to suit to the new learning trend (online learning, also provide the useful link web about how the online learning trend (i.e. how fast growing during past 10 years ) .
I link the web which you provided (http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/changing_course_2012), and there is one survey question is quite interesting that more than 45% think the "MOOC instruction will not be accepted in the workplace". As a owner of trading company (myself) probably will be one of this 45% , because I prefer the employee have "interaction experience by physically when they took the HIGH education,
I understand that ONLINE or E-Learning is kind of trend in the 21st education system but how to prove that the "working ability, interpersonal communicating ability" are as good as who are completed the HIGH education at "campus". I would like to see any report if it is available. Anyhow , it will be good challenge subject for the owner or human resource department when they are hiring the staffs.
Tks/from Mikko
As a student and an educator in the k-12 setting I am juggling a few issues that you mentioned here. The "offspring" of distance learning has resulted in the development of many useful and fun tools. They not only give way to the exchange of knowledge and ideas, they are fun to use. The fear of the loss of interaction between peers and professors I think is still something to be watchful for. The staff at CSUSB has somehow been able to balance this interaction effectively. The model they use is worth studying as the upcoming digital learner can be at risk of losing those interpersonal skills needed to effectively interact in the work place and any other platform for that matter.
ReplyDelete