EIDT 6510 - Week 5 Application - Impact of Technology and Media

For this week's blog assignment, we were asked to consider the impact of technology and media on setting up online learning experiences.  To that end, we were asked to answer four questions related to the topic given what we have read this week in our learning resources and our experience in designing an online learning experience in EDUC 6153.  My answers are below.

What impact does technology and multimedia have on learning environments?

The short answer is, a great impact.  Technology-based instruction offers many benefits over traditional teaching methods (Morrison, Ross, Kalman, & Kemp, 2013) and these benefits greatly change how education can be delivered in the online environment.  For example, the video in this week's video (Laureate Education, 2010) talks about how in a training course on presenting a sales pitch, Web 2.0 multimedia tools such as YouTube can allow students at a distance to present their pitch via video without having to travel long distances.  Clearly this is a far cry from the early days of having to give a class presentation while standing in front of the course at a lectern.  In addition, much of the technology included in the course management system we used to build our course allowed students to interact in ways that would not be possible otherwise.  For example, the use of blogs, wikis and discussion forums allowed students to interact with each other and with the instructor and have a great impact on the individual learner's feelings of connectedness and overall satisfaction with the course.

What are the most important considerations an online instructor should make before implementing technology?

When planning to design a distance education course, an instructor must first consider what makes up essential content that needs to be delivered to the learner (Simonson, Smaldino, Zvacek, 2015).  What are the important pieces of information that need to be delivered to the learner?  What activities will be created to deliver that information in a way that assists learners in meeting the learning outcomes for the course?  These are the first consideration that must be taken into account.  Once that is determined, an instructor needs to examine and evaluate the available technology tools and decide which those are best suited for the learning goals of the course (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010).  There are a vast number of tools available for use but not all of them will be effective for specific courses and activities.  It is the responsibility of the instructor or designer to make the appropriate choices that will best serve his/her students.  Additionally, the potential for learner interactivity must be considered (Simonson, et al., 2015).  In an online environment, interaction with peers and the instructor is imperative so what tools encourage said interaction?  These tools should be a priority in the planning process.

What implications do usability and accessibility of technology have for online teaching?

The implications for usability and accessibility are great for online teaching.  As an instructor or designer of a course, it is critical that you understand that the technological tools being used are intuitive for learners to use (Simonson, et al., 2015) or at least are easy to use with the help of a tutorial.  Additionally, the interface with the online course should also be intuitive (Morrison, et al., 2013).  If the students can't figure out how to use and access the course or the tools contained in the course, the experience will be a negative one and students may be less inclined to seek out further online learning experiences.  When planning for online teaching, instructors and designers should always try to put themselves in the place of the student and see if it makes sense and is easy to access and use from their perspective.

What technology tools are most appealing to you for online teaching as you move forward in your career in instructional design?

For me personally, I try to take advantage of the Web 2.0 tools that already exist as well as attempting to find new and better ways to deliver content and experience through gamification or simulations.  I believe with the prevalence of synchronous meeting tools listed in the course text (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010), creating group projects in which students can meet together synchronously can be effective.  Obviously there is the challenge of learners living in different time zones and/or countries that may not have the infrastructure to support such tools, but wherever possible, I believe synchronous meetings, if done properly can really add an excellent opportunity for interaction.  As for games and simulations, I believe that these will become more and more important as the gaming generation enters the education marketplace and competition for these students intensifies.  While there is no empirical evidence that shows adding games or simulations influences student achievement (Morrison, et al., 2013) there is no question that technologies such as these can present students with engaging experiences that may be closer to real world situations they may face in their workplace.

References

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. M. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2010). Enhancing the online experience [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://class.waldenu.edu.

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., Kalman, H. K., & Kemp, J. E. (2013). Designing effective instruction (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (6th ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.