Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 1

ETEC 6253 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course ETEC 6253- Distance Learning Beashua D. Spearman University of Arkansas

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 2

The two accomplishments identified in this paper are the German Fern Universitt and the Open University of the United Kingdom. The first accomplishment is the German Fern Universitt was established in 1975 with an intention to provide distance learning opportunities for employed students (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 41). The German Fern Universitt is the only state maintained university in Germany. It offers bachelor and master degrees that support focus in addition to a profile-oriented research. It has over fifty centers throughout Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Central and Eastern Europe. Established over thirty years ago it continues to serve over 74,000 students as a wellrecognized educational organization within the scientific communities of Germany (Fern Universitt, 2012). 80% of their student body is currently employed full-time with jobs, family, and social commitments, in addition, that age focus is 29-35 years of age (Fern Universitt, 2012). The delivery method of the Fern Universitt includes the asynchronous delivery. The instruction includes the use of the Moodle learning management system, Portable Document Formats (PDF) from the required course E-Book (Fern Universitt, 2012). The second accomplishment is the Open University of the United Kingdom it was established in 1971 as a an educational institution that conferred degrees based upon the completed work of their distance university students. The students are usually employed at least part-time, non-traditional college students, and they may enroll without meeting formal entrance qualifications (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 41). It offers challenging,

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 3 innovative, and thought-provoking undergraduate and professional degrees. This distance learning university has over 250,000 students enrolled and it offers asynchronous delivery in in the addition to synchronous delivery. It influenced similar educational institutions in West Germany, Japan, and Canada. The Open University includes national and regional centers in the United Kingdom and Ireland organized to provide support for their distance-learning students. The similarities and differences of the two selected accomplishments delivery methods are as follows: The Fern Universitt online courses are asynchronous, students may view their coursework in a different time and a different place, they can view and complete course work in their time. It spans across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Central and Eastern Europe. It has a strict course program that includes the use of the Moodle course management system. This program has a high dropout rate because it is very strict and has strict formal requirements. The Open University online course are asynchronous and synchronous, their courses offered online thorough their distance learning programs or at their national and regional centers. These centers offer students the opportunity to meet with their advisers, career counselors, mentors, tutors, and instructors. The Open University national and regional centers offer on campus study in addition, course materials in addition to the online course and study materials. The centers offer day school, social events, and networking for classes (The Open University, 2012). Nontraditional students who juggle work, family, and social commitments may benefit from the online courses offered by the Open University because they are not as rigorous as the Fern Universitt to complete their studies. If they need a classroom environment the Open University offers that option too (The Open University, 2012). Spearman Distance Education Theory Distance education is an educational activity that instructs the learner to become selfdisciplined, self-directed, and motivated. Educational activities should challenge, inspire, and

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 4 motivate the learner. The instructor should connect with his or her learners through communication, collaboration, and instruction to promote adequate and efficient learning. For example, an instructor should use mediums such as email, course announcements, the discussion board, phone, and online office visits to keep communication open with his or her students. It is imperative for the instructor to allow students to access course materials at their convenience because more students have a various work schedules and it promotes asynchronous delivery
within distance education. Students whom prefer an in-class delivery method may benefit from

web conferencing, discussion boards, email, and chat. For example, Elluminate and Echocenter are great methods to promote synchronous delivery within distance education (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 53). 21st century learners need an organized, motivating, positive, and encouraging online class environment. They want conventional and unconventional methods used in their distance education courses. Distance education is a form of conventional education but it expands outside of a four-walled classroom. 21st century learners need educational opportunities that include traditional forms such as the use of textbooks, instructor-student communication, student-student communication and instructor-class communication. These students need varied methods that will increase their knowledge and benefit their learning, in addition to maximizing their potential. 21st century learners need non-traditional forms such as web-based materials, CDRom, videos, and multimedia programs (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 53). The topic of instruction for this course design project is introduction to digital literacy. The course is designed to introduce adult learners to basic computers, learning how they work, how to purchase a computer, how to operate a computer, using software, internet, multimedia and computer maintenance. The learners of Introduction to Digital Literacy include fourteen adult education students aged 25-65 years of age. They are from various cultural backgrounds and languages. For illustration, there are students from Nigeria,

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 5 Laos, Vietnam, Russia, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and the United States. According to Simonson, it is very important for the distance-learning instructor to take the extra time to learn about his or her students. It is important to know the number of students in each class to plan effectively for interactive learning. The purpose of learning about ones students is to create a productive, positive, and comfortable learning (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 154). The students educational level vary from Adult Basic Education (ABE), General Education Development (GED), and English as a Second Language (ESL). The students have limited exposure to using a computer at home, work, or school. The students that enroll in this class want to learn how to operate a computer to improve their online communication skills and job skills. 75% of the students were laid off from their full time jobs and are currently retraining under the U.S. Governments Trade Adjustment Act. The students are learning new job skills gain new employment in a different career field. The essential content of this course includes print, audio, video, and visual learning aids based upon teaching students how to advance in learning how to operate a computer. (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 157). The essential content of this course is organizing course content using a hierarchy, to illustrate; the goal of module 1 is to teach learners how to discover their computer, the benefits of using a computer, what they can do with a computer, the types of computers, and learning the parts of a computer. The goal of module 2 is learning how a computer works, learning various operating systems and their purpose, defining memory and storage. The goal of module 3 is learning how to operate a computer, for example, students will learn how to effectively use a mouse, how to turn the computer on, how to shut it down or restart it. In addition, students will learn basic Windows 7 operations, for example, learning how to create and delete a folder, learning how to create an icon on their desktop and the basic programs of Windows.

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 6 The learning objectives for Introduction to Digital Literacy was created using Blooms Taxonomy. According to Simonson, good objectives should create the foundation for the course instruction regardless of what medium used to instruct the course (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 158). For example, the following three objectives of this course are: Module 1: Students will differentiate the five different types of computers. Module 2: Students will summarize three different types of operating systems and how they differ. Module 3: Students will use Windows 7 to create two folders, rename them, and delete them. The model used for this course is the Hypercontent-designed instruction model (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 170-171). According to Simonson, the Hypercontent-designed instruction has units, modules, and topics. The modules are created and organized into a similar content, in addition, the topics related to the module to enhance learning (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p.171). The reason why I chose this particular model is because it allows the instructor to create a module and organize it into units that are comprised of similar content. For example, module 1 is computer basics and learning how to use them; Unit 1: The Parts of a Computer; Topic 1: Types of Computers: how to use them- Introduction to the BBC Computer Tutor website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/computertutor/more_info.shtml

Course Management Tools One of the communication or collaboration tools in the CMS that is important to include is the discussion board. The discussion board is a communication tool that promotes interactive communication and active learning. The introduction to digital literacy course would use the discussion board to create a communication process that provides feedback. For example, a question prompt is placed into a discussion board thread. To illustrate, I will read a discussion board assignment for the introduction to digital literacy students; the student instructions:

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 7 Introductory Discussion: Please view the discussion board tutorial on learning how to use the discussion board. Before we begin, please read and answer the following questions, once completed, please remember to post one response to your fellow classmate. Questions: 1. Is your computer brand new, used, or refurbished? 2. What are your goals for this class? Why do you want to learn how to use a computer? (e.g. social networking: FaceBook, email, watch videos on You Tube) 3. What do you expect to learn in this class and how will it benefit your learning? (e.g. selfimprovement or job promotion). The students will answer the previous questions and post their answers on the discussion board. The purpose of this exercise is to provide a fun icebreaker to allow the class to learn about each other and find similar interests or common bonds in learning. This tool was selected to introduce the discussion board to the students to teach them communication and collaboration skills, in addition to learning how to communicate online using a different form of communication. The reason why I selected this tool is that it promotes unity into the classroom, in addition, it provides a communication medium to allow the students to connect and bond similar to a face-to-face class. The two tools outside of the CMS that can be used for activities in the Introduction to Digital Literacy course that will engage students and encourage higher-level thinking are the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Computer Tutor http://www.bbc.co.uk/computertutor/more_info.shtml that is a simulation instructional software. In addition, a second tool outside of the CMS that can be used for activities is the GCF Learn Free Computer Basics interactive lessons that include videos, interactive lessons, and games, http://www.gcflearnfree.org/ComputerBasics. For example, for Module 1: Computer Basics / Unit 1: The Parts of a Computer: Topic 4: How to use a computer, I would introduce the students to the Introduction to the BBC Computer Tutor website.

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 8 http://www.bbc.co.uk/computertutor/more_info.shtml First, I would use a lecture/presentation recorder such as Echo 360 to create a resource that will instruct the students in learning how to use the BBC Computer Tutor website. Second, I would create a second presentation using the Echo 360 software to create another resource that will teach students in learning how to use the GCF Learn Free Computer Basics website and activities. Third, I would assign the students to use each website to learn how to use a computer. Fourth, I would create a scavenger hunt and place it into the assignment section that will allow them to learn how to use the computer based upon the websites they learned within lesson four. The reason why I selected these tools is to reduce textbook costs and give the students a free simulated resource they can interact with and assist them continually throughout the course. Difficult Activities & Barriers Yes, one activity would be difficult to conduct online for the introduction to digital literacy course. These activities consist of teaching a student how to turn a computer on or off. For illustration, a face-to face basic computer class has the same computers and it is not difficult to show the students how to turn it on or off. In addition, the students may have a personal computer or a Mac computer and these computers are different. Since this is an online course, the students may have laptops, tablets, desktops, or mobile devices. There is not a way to see the students and assist them in real time; I worry that a student may fall behind in this class if they cannot complete the task of learning how to turn their computer on. The first potential barrier for the instructor is not seeing the students body language or facial expressions to learn if he or she understands the material. For example, if a student sighs or rolls his or her eyes because he or she does not understand the material, the instructor cannot view this within an online course. The second barrier is the lack of technical support; if the CMS breaks when the CMS administrators are not available, it may cause problems for the students. For example, if the class was using Blackboard and its discussion board link broke on the

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 9 weekend when the campus blackboard administration was closed, the students would feel stressed and helpless. A third barrier is communication with the students, if the instructor does not remain in contact with his or her students, the communication within the course will decline. For example, if an instructor posted materials but did not provide feedback, announcements, or emails, the students would feel like the course does not have a purpose and their communication will decline too. These potential barriers can be addressed ahead of time in creating open communication with the students. For example, if the students are frustrated or need assistance in a course, the instructor should create a policy that will allow the students to set an appointment within a web conferencing tool, phone, or email. In addition, the instructor should utilize the announcement, email; and provide feedback on the rubric or grades. The instructor should receive training in learning how to troubleshoot within the CMS, in addition to collaborating with the CMS administration team, and last, create a second plan if the CMS links or components break. For example, instruct the students to email their assignment to you if the assignment link in the CMS is broken. Visual Support Resources

I chose to create a visual analogy to satisfy the visual application product for the visual

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 10 support resource assignment. This visual analogy visualizes the endless possibilities the internet provides for communication, searching for or providing information, and collaboration. It was imperative that I created a visual analogy that would assist the students in understanding the internets three main assets, communication, information, and collaboration. The Introduction to Digital Literacy students will learn how to the use the internet for communication such as email, social networking and submitting class assignments. In addition, they will use it to learn how to conduct a search using a search engine such as Google, and collaborate using online resources such as the discussion board, group web conferencing, wikis, and blogs.

I created this visual application using Microsoft Clipart and I searched for a highway image and it gave me numerous photographs but the following image was perfect for the visualization I wanted to project to my students. First, I used Pixlr to edit the photo, I cropped the image, resized it from 325 x 325 to 315x 475. Second, I resized it to place text on image because the initial image was too small for text. Third, I chose a sans serif to provide an ease of reading for the web viewer, according to Simonson, Sans serif is best to promote an ease of reading, an addition, I used a font size of 18 and upper and lowercase lettering (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 247-249).

To create the visual analogy, I followed the five steps provided by Simonson on page 259, I drew a sketch by hand, and created a written analogy of how I visualized the internet. First, I identified the subject that was the internet; next, I visualized what I thought the internet was like. Second, I identified the appropriate connector such as is like, for example, the internet is like a superhighway, and the third through the fifth steps, and I identified the known analog in creating a written analogy and searched for images that complimented the analogy using Microsoft Clipart photography (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 257-

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 11 259). Additional Information about the Course The essential content of this course includes print, audio, video, and visual learning aids based upon teaching students how to advance in learning how to operate a computer. The essential content of this course is organizing course content using a hierarchy, to illustrate; the goal of module 1 is to teach learners how to discover their computer, the benefits of using a computer, what they can do with a computer, the types of computers, and learning the parts of a computer. The goal of module 2 is learning how a computer works, learning various operating systems and their purpose, defining memory and storage. The goal of module 3 is learning how to operate a computer, for example, students will learn how to effectively use a mouse, how to turn the computer on, how to shut it down or restart it. In addition, students will learn basic Windows 7 operations, for example, learning how to create and delete a folder, learning how to create an icon on their desktop and the basic programs of Windows. The learning objectives for introduction to digital literacy was created using Blooms Taxonomy, For illustration, the following three objectives of this course are: Module 1: Students will differentiate the five different types of computers. Module 2: Students will summarize three different types of operating systems and how they differ. Module 3: Students will use Windows 7 to create two folders, rename them, and delete them. The model used for this course is the Hypercontent-designed instruction model; the modules are created and organized into a similar content, in addition, the topics related to the module to enhance learning (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p.171). The reason why I chose this particular model is that it allows the instructor to create a module and organize it into units that is comprised of similar content. For example, module 1 is computer basics and learning how to use them; Unit 1: The Parts of a Computer; Topic 1: Types of Computers: how to use them- Introduction to the BBC Computer Tutor website.

Running head: ETEC 6753 Essay: The Introduction to Digital Literacy Course 12 References Fern Universitt (2012). Facts and Data. Fern Universitt . Retrieved June 8, 2012, Fern Universitt (2012). Profile of the University. Fern Universitt. Retrieved June 8, 2012, from http://www.fernuni-hagen.de/english/profile/ Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvcek, S. (2012). (5th ed.). (pp. 40-41, 171, 257). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.