Designing online courses with course updates in mind — from Faculty Focus by Patti Shank, PhD, CPT in Online Education

Online courses are rarely “done.” Over time, things change, including the curriculum and content (because of changes in the field and changes to available content) and the technologies (ways that the content can be delivered and tools for interacting with it and with others in the courses, including you).

Bottom line:
Just like initial course development, updating courses can be quite a lot of work. You can reduce the hassles and work (but not eliminate them) by designing your online courses with updating them in mind. That is, design so that updating is built into the process, not tacked on as an afterthought.

http://www.brightstorm.com/

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The connected life at home -- from Cisco

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From DSC:

How will these types of technologies affect what we can do with K-12 education/higher education/workplace training and development? I’d say they will open up a world of new applications and opportunities for those who are ready to innovate; and these types of technologies will move the “Forthcoming Walmart of Education” along.

Above item from:

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(CA) A Season for Turnaround — from Conditions of Education in California by Alan Daly
…the federal government offers four ‘turnaround’ models:

  • Turnaround:
    The Local Education Agency (LEA) replaces the principal and rehires no more than 50% of the staff; gives the principal greater autonomy; and implements other prescribed and recommended strategies.
  • Restart:
    The LEA converts or closes and reopens a school under a charter school operator, charter management organization, or education management organization.
  • School closure:
    The LEA closes the school and enrolls the students in other schools in the LEA that are higher achieving.
  • Transformation:
    The LEA replaces the principal; implements rigorous staff evaluation and development; institutes comprehensive instructional reform; increases learning time; and provides greater operational flexibility and support of the school.

In California the ‘transformation’ model is the one most frequently chosen.

(NY) Layoffs would hit some schools much harder — from WSJ

(MI) Michigan orders DPS to make huge cuts – Detroit News
Bobb told to consolidate services, close half of schools to end deficit

 

 

Evidence of learning online: Assessment beyond the paper — from CampusTechnology.com by Judith Boettcher
…learning designer Judith Boettcher examines online assessment strategies beyond the traditional end-of-term paper.

Excerpts:

Professional Work Products

  • Written and audio communications of all types, such as press announcements, white papers, briefs, summaries, memos, project management documentation
  • Creating and planning news events, such as announcements, interviews, or regular updates of interests, such as podcasts
  • Setting up personal or group blogs within different contexts of leadership, business, etc.
  • Setting up wikis for team projects, areas for monitoring developments
  • Many more listed…

Interviews
The interview medium is a very flexible communication tool and can be used by both faculty and students for demonstrating understanding and eliciting the state of concept development. Here are some possible strategies that can require research, critical thinking, and writing.

  • Learners identify an expert or a person of interest to them in a particular field germane to the course and then prepare the interview questions, do the interview, and then post the results
  • Learners identify and interview the author of a textbook or article closely related to the course, possibly updating information critical to the course
  • Many more listed…

Audio, Video, and Visual Projects
What about other media such as audio and video projects? Today’s learners live surrounded by audio and video and the tools that make it possible for everyone to create and produce audio and video products. Here are some of the possibilities with audio and video spaces.

  • Podcasting resources now are very common so learners are familiar enough with the format to embrace creating audio and video podcasts of their own
  • Video shorts and ad hoc documentaries engage learners and draw in their friends and families
  • Creating and posting short reports via VoiceThread is another “writing space” to consider as are Flickr, YouTube, and Slideshare

Blogs
Blogs are a very underutilized writing space. Blogs share many characteristics with journals and thus can capture snapshots of what learners are thinking, and when; plus they often can also capture the sources of some of their thinking. Blogs help learners understand the growth cycle of learning new concepts and how and why they think the way they do. Here are some ideas on how blogs, both personal and class, might be used.

  • Personal commentary and self-reflection
  • Capturing thought processes and generating new ideas
  • Assist learners in finding their “voice”
  • Many more…

Wikis

  • Collaborating on group and team projects of all kinds
  • Capturing and developing ideas for solving critical problems and case studies and simulations
  • Developing “featured” Bronze star Wikipedia articles on specific topics in particular disciplines

From DSC:
The disruption continues. A sampling of the current online-based marketplaces / exchanges (pictured below) most likely represent  a piece of the future teaching & learning landscape.  Find a course, teach a course.

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Online learning marketplace

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Live Mind -- an online learning marketplace

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Sophia -- a new online-based learning exchange

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Forte Mall -- an online learning marketplace

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cognn.com -- an online learning markeplace

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OpenSesame -- another online-based marketplace for learning appears on the scene

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Nixty.com -- education for everyone

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Bloomfire.com

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OnlineCoursesPlus.com

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Udemy launches Udemy Academic with 600 courses – 12,000 video lectures

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The Power of Online Exchanges

Middlebury College takes language program online for younger students — from The Journal by Dian Schaffhauser

In a Web 2.0 world the drill and practice that makes up much of the standard fodder for many online language courses seems quaint. But a start-up promises to immerse high school students online in the same way that certain successful programs do face to face through video, audio, and avatars plunked down into foreign settings. Middlebury Interactive Languages is a joint venture announced in April 2010 between renowned language institute Middlebury College and K12, a company that operates online learning programs for K-12 worldwide. In January 2011 the venture launched its first offerings for Spanish and French, which will be available for fall 2011.

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E-Learning & Instructional Design 101 — from The Rapid E-Learning Blog

Excerpt:

Good instructional design can make learning happen faster and more efficiently than what might happen more organically.  Instructional design is the process of assessing the learning needs and then applying the appropriate learning strategy to meet them.

I’ve always seen instructional design as an intrusive process.  It’s a manufactured attempt to make learning more efficient and effective as it intrudes on our natural learning process.  Ideally, this intrusion is beneficial and helps us learn better.

In a simple sense, there are three core components to instructional design:

  • Understand how people learn
  • Construct learning activities based on how people learn
  • Measure the effectiveness of the learning activities

Online Education in the Ivy League — from US News by Brian Burnsed
Dartmouth’s new healthcare delivery program is the first of its kind, but it may not be the last.

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Disrupting College: How disruptive innovation can deliver quality and affordability to postsecondary education— from americanprogress.org by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael B. Horn, Louis Soares, Louis Caldera

This emerging disruptive innovation—online education—also presents an opportunity to rethink many of the age-old assumptions about higher education.

Excerpt:

The theory of disruptive innovation has significant explanatory power in thinking through the challenges and changes confronting higher education. Disruptive innovation is the process by which a sector that has previously served only a limited few because its products and services were complicated, expensive, and inaccessible, is transformed into one whose products and services are simple, affordable, and convenient and serves many no matter their wealth or expertise. The new innovation does so by redefining quality in a simple and often disparaged application at first and then gradually improves such that it takes more and more market share over time as it becomes able to tackle more complicated problems.

Also see:

Disruption, Delivery and Degrees — from InsideHigherEd.com

WASHINGTON — Many college professors and administrators shudder at comparisons between what they do and what, say, computer or automobile makers do. (And just watch how they bristle if you dare call higher education an “industry.”) But in a new report, the man who examined how technology has “disrupted” and reshaped those and other manufacturing industries has turned his gaze to higher education, arguing that it faces peril if it does not change to meet the challenge. The report, “Disrupting College,” was also the subject of a panel discussion Tuesday at the Center for American Progress, which released the report along with the Innosight Institute. (A video recording of the event is available here.)

IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies TLT is a scholarly archival journal published quarterly using a delayed open access publication model.

IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies (TLT) is an archival journal published quarterly. TLT covers research on such topics as Innovative online learning systems, Intelligent tutors, Educational software applications and games, and Simulation systems for education and training.

The Web revolution, the popularity of on-line learning, and the broad availability of computers in schools, colleges, universities, workplaces and in other social settings has caused a qualitative change in the field of learning technologies. Both the variety and the complexity of e-learning tools have increased dramatically over the last 10 years. A number of new conferences emerged to provide a forum for researchers and practitioners in the field of learning technologies to discuss their work. Yet, there are very few journals, which embrace the field as a whole and provide a space to publish archival quality papers. The goal of IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies (TLT) is to bridge this gap.TLT covers all advances in learning technologies, including but not limited to the following topics:

  • Innovative online learning systems
  • Intelligent tutors
  • Educational software applications and games
  • Simulation systems for education and training
  • Collaborative learning tools
  • Devices and interfaces for learning
  • Interactive techniques for learning
  • Personalized and adaptive learning systems
  • Tools for formative and summative assessment
  • Ontologies for learning systems
  • Standards and web services that support learning
  • Authoring tools for learning materials
  • Computer support for peer tutoring
  • Learning via discovery, field, and lab work
  • Learning with mobile devices
  • Social learning techniques
  • Social networks and infrastructures for learning and knowledge sharing
  • Creation and management of learning objects

IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies
The IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies will publish archival research papers and critical survey papers. Topics within the scope include technology advances in online learning systems; intelligent tutors; educational software applications and games; simulation systems for education and training; collaborative learning tools, devices and interfaces for learning; interactive techniques for learning; tools for formative and summative assessment; ontologies for learning systems; standards and web services that support learning; authoring tools for learning materials; computer support for peer tutoring and learning via discovery or project work or field or lab work; and creation and management of learning objects. A paper must either describe original research or offer a critical review of the state of the art in a particular area. Papers concerned with evaluation of technology are only appropriate if the technology itself is novel or if significant technical insights are provided. In order to best serve the community, the TLT will be published online, using a delayed open-access policy under which paying subscribers and per-article purchasers have access to newly published content, and then 12 months after the publication of each issue, all readers will have access to the content, free of charge.

Top Education Trends for 2011 — from foxbusiness.com by Emily Driscoll

As the student population increases and technology continues to change how we live our lives, the country’s higher education system must adapt quickly to keep up with the times.

According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, a record 19.1 million students entered two and four-year colleges and universities in fall 2010, an increase of about 3.8 million since fall of 2000.

From how professors lecture to specialized programs, here’s a look at the top education trends experts are forecasting for 2011.

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10 ways technology supports 21st century learners in being self directed — from the Innovative Educator

  1. Personal Learning Networks
  2. Tweet to Connect with Experts
  3. Skype an Expert
  4. Free Online Educational Resources
  5. Online Learning
  6. Authentic Publishing
  7. Use YouTube and iTunes to Learn Anything
  8. Passion (or talent) Profiles
  9. Develop Authentic Learning Portfolios
  10. Empower Students to Assess and Learn Themselves

Egyptians gathering for protests in Cairo, via @mccarthyryanj on Twitter

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From DSC:
As I was briefly reviewing the following links…

…I began reflecting on the predicament that online-based learners would have if suddenly their government pulled the plug on the Net.  As we become more connected, what are the costs/dangers of being disconnected? Of being connected? If there was some serious cyberwarfare going on, would a government be forced to pull the plug?

NOTE:
I don’t mean to make any judgments concerning these events — rather, I mean to ask the above questions from a teaching and learning standpoint only.

Addendum on 2/4/11:

© 2025 | Daniel Christian