“A current trend in distance learning is the
use of Open Course websites. As identified in Chapter 5 in your course
textbook, Open Course offerings allow anyone to take quality courses entirely
for free. The incentive for taking these courses is not college credit, but
rather to simply acquire knowledge or engage in a unique learning experience.
For your Application this week, select a course from a free Open Course site. (Note: Several examples are provided in this week's Optional Resources.) As you review the course, reflect on what you have learned this week about designing distance learning instruction and Internet-based distance learning. Consider how the concepts and ideas presented this week are reflected in the course.”
For your Application this week, select a course from a free Open Course site. (Note: Several examples are provided in this week's Optional Resources.) As you review the course, reflect on what you have learned this week about designing distance learning instruction and Internet-based distance learning. Consider how the concepts and ideas presented this week are reflected in the course.”
These are the instructions we
are given this week for our blog, to investigate an Open Course online, and
analyze it. Prior to this assignment I was not aware there was such a thing as
an open online course. This seems to be a wonderful tool for those who are
self-motivated in their learning. With that being said, the online course I
have chosen is from Mitopencourseware and is their Introduction to Biology
course. There are certain elements I am looking for in this course to see if it
meets certain criteria we have learned is needful for online learning to be
successful. For an online course to meet the criteria of being successful it
needs to be carefully planned for distance learning, follow the recommendations
for online instruction and implement course activities that will maximize
active learning for the students.
As one opens the page to this course
one can see that the setup is similar to that of the Blackboard coursework. To
the left are the tabs for the various aspects of the course: syllabus,
calendar, readings, assignments, ect.., however when one clicks on the tabs
that is where the similarities end. In this course I can see that careful
planning went into the setting up of the course for one learning in a
self-study method. The coursework is
complete and fully at ease for one working on their own. There are 35 videos to
view, various labs that can and should be performed, as well as quizzes and a 3
hour cumulative final exam. There is
however no interaction of any kind planned for students. Therefore it is
missing one of the key components of the recommended aspects of online
education according to our textbook, interaction between students. So, while
this curse is indeed a very complete course, it is not going to be fitting for
very many learners. In order for a
learner to be successful in this course, they are going to need to be intrinsically
motivated in their learning.
I can now see from this week’s
resources and the studying of this course the importance of having the student
interaction with other students as well as with the instructor. For an online
course to meet the criteria of being successful it needs to be carefully
planned for distance learning, follow the recommendations for online
instruction and implement course activities that will maximize active learning
for the students.
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
URL: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-012-introduction-to-biology-fall-2004/index.htm
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