CECS6100 - Week 16

Until this course, I have never really had much of an interest in online education. I dont have any experience teaching online, but I do have somewhat extensive experience as a student. It was eye-opening to reflect and express my beliefs of online education. Also, reviewing the literature provided me with many new perspectives to which I can apply to both my academic studies and profession as an educator.

Online, and distance, education is the future of education. The many benefits afforded by this method outweigh the negatives. And with current research, technologists are quickly creating solutions to the few issues that do exist. The current educational paradigm of students inhabiting classrooms for the majority of their childhood, will shift as costs of maintaining facilities rises and technology improves to the point where distance education is a suitable substitute. I believe a hybrid learning environment will prove to be the most effective. Instruction and discussion will take place online, where appropriate, while students will also meet within small learning communities to ensure the social aspect of learning. Learning analytic software will determine the progression of student and will individualize instruction to them.

I really liked the direction I explored in my task 2 & 3 papers: transitioning design education online. I am passionate about design education and have always been intrigued as to the very analog instructional methods, particularly the tools used for craft and instruction. It was interesting to review the literature regarding the subject and to postulate a method to efficiently transition design education into an online format. 

CECS6100 - Week 14

What do you think the future of MOOCs is? What about mobile learning?Are these things you feel are going to be beneficial or will there be a backlash?

I think MOOCs have received an over abundance of attention. I believe the majority of the hype was because of the publicity given to ivy league universities offering their courses for free as MOOCs. The idea of taking a course from Harvard, Yale, or Stanford for free garnered a lot of attention. These courses did not grant university credit. However, most offered a certificate of completion. A large number of people that registered for the courses, never participated at all, and only a very few finish the entire course. However, with initial enrollment numbers living up to the 'massive' moniker (1000's in some cases) having that number dwindle proves more manageable for instructors.

I believe MOOCs are really only useful as a tool for learners outside of formal education, as a means of expanding their knowledge in specific areas. Like learning-on-demand. This works well with content that is appropriate to instruction in a regulated classroom environment. MOOCs typically keep schedules similar to regular courses.

CECS6100 - Week 13

What did you learn from your experience using social media and other open source tools? Should they be used for teaching and learning? Tell the story of what you learned (1000 words minimum). 50 points. Post a direct link here.

CECS6100 - Week 12

How useful do you find the open source tools and social media for learning? Is it your personal preference that drives this or the affordances? Would they be useful for others if you find it lacking? What would make them more useful? Post a direct link to the entry here.

CECS6100 - Week 11

Are you as far along with your article as you would like? What is next? What has been difficult? Easy? What kinds of feedback did you receive and how will you act upon it? Post a direct link to the entry here.

CECS6100 - Week 8

What is your personal perspective on the best manner of designing instruction for online teaching and learning? What is your process? Does it match any existing methods? If so, which? How did you learn to design instruction? Does your process for designing instruction match your larger theoretical perspective? Where is it the same? Where does it diverge? Post a direct entry here.

CECS 6100 - Week 7

Based on your experience putting your lesson into the Canvas LMS, what do you feel are the benefits of using such a structured space for teaching and learning? How well does the structure of an LMS fit with your theory of online learning? post a direct link to the entry here.