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Educational Report ETEC 6253 Distance Learning Beashua D. Spearman University of Arkansas

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Abstract The final project for the ETEC 6253 Distance Learning course was to create a distancelearning course utilizing the Blackboard Course Management System (CMS). To complete this task, I was required to learn how to build an online course in the Blackboard Course Management System. To complete this task, we had to learn how to create a course in an empty Blackboard Course Management System. In addition, we were required to create a course visual image, a visual support resource, learn how to teach a distance-learning course, and learn how to utilize communication tools in the Blackboard Course Management System. I chose to create an online course for an adult education or higher education institution titled Introduction to Digital Literacy. As part of this project, I created a visual syllabus and instructional materials for the digital course. The purpose for creating the Introduction to Digital Literacy course was to introduce adult learners to the basic components of a computer, learning how they work, how to purchase a computer, how to operate a computer, using software, internet, and multimedia and computer maintenance. The Introduction to Digital Literacy course was created for the adult educational functioning levels of Adult Basic education (ABE), English as a Second Language (ESL), and General Adult Education (GED/ASE).

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Project Description

As stated in the abstract, the purpose for creating the Introduction to Digital Literacy course is to introduce adult learners to the basic components of a computer, learning how they work, how to purchase a computer, how to operate a computer, using software, internet, and multimedia and computer maintenance. The target learner was analyzed and it was determined that students taking this course would have limited exposure to using a computer at home, work, or school. The students who enroll in this class want to learn how to operate a computer to improve their online communication and job skills. 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 ones students is to create a productive and positive learning environment to allow students a comfortable learning environment (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 154). The specific student audience for this course was identified and analyzed. It was determined the initial class of Introduction to Digital Literacy learners will be fourteen adult education students aged 25-65 years of age. They are from various cultural backgrounds and languages, including students from Nigeria, Laos, Vietnam, Russia, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and the United States. In addition, 75% of the students have been 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 in hope to gain new employment in a different career field. The essential content of this course includes print, audio, video, and visual

Running head: EDUCATIONAL REPORT ETEC 6253 4 learning aids aimed at teaching students how to operate a computer. According to Simonson, the content in a course should reflect as it relates to the reminder of the curriculum (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 157). The essential content of this course was organized 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. It is similar to teaching them step one in learning how to operate a computer. This step is the building block or the foundation in learning how to operate a computer. The students need to learn why they are using the computer and how it works. The content arranged in module one was designed to educate the learner about the computer basics. If I have students in my course that do not know how to use a computer, it may not make sense for me to instruct the student to push buttons on the keyboard, or tell them to create a folder or a file unless I have taught that student how to become familiar with the basics of a computer. The learner needs to understand why they are learning how to use a computer, in addition, he or she needs to understand the computer and learn how to discover it without feeling overwhelmed by the technical terms. The goal of module 2 is learning how a computer works, learning various operating systems and their purpose, defining memory and storage. This step builds upon the first step to provide the supporting walls to enclose the information to allow the students to begin the building process of learning why the computers works in a particular manner, in addition they will learn how to trouble shoot of they have a problem. In this module (similar to step two) the students will learn how a computer operates instead of learning how to use a computer without any knowledge about it. In addition, the students will gain hands-on experience and learn how to

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purchase memory and storage, for example, they will learn how to purchase a flash drive or an external drive. 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 the third module which is similar to step three, the students are learning how to operate the computer. This is the third building block that will instruct the learners to become proficient in using a computer. It is imperative to allow the students to learn how to operate their computers in a systematic process. 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 third module builds upon the first two modules and instructs the learners to build upon the previous knowledge they have acquired thus far.

According to Simonson, good objectives should create the foundation for the course regardless of what medium used to instruct the course (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p. 158). The learning objectives for Introduction to Digital Literacy were created using Blooms Taxonomy. As examples, the following three objectives were created for the course: 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. A form of design 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

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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 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. The Introduction to Digital Literacy course meets four AECT standards that provides a strong design method, a demonstrated knowledge of development, the ability to utilize media, and effective provide a formative and summative evaluation. Program Identification Standard 1: DESIGN Candidates demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to design conditions for learning by applying principles of instructional systems design, message design, instructional strategies, and learner characteristics. 1.2 Demonstrate ability to integrate into practice multiple instructional strategies. As previously mentioned, I created a distance education course titled Introduction to Digital Literacy. This course was designed to instruct the adult learner how to use a computer. In addition, I used the Blackboard Course Management System to deliver the course. During this course design, I integrated various instructional strategies such as instructional cues, chunking information, examples and matched non-examples, and summarization into the Introduction to Digital Literacy course. First, I used the instructional cues to teach students how to communicate in an online course. Most of these students have not enrolled in an online course and I used the instructional cues to encourage them to use the discussion board. For example, I created a question prompt in the discussion board that is related to the current readings and the students are required to answer the question. In addition, he or she is required to respond to at least one

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student to encourage a discussion within the course. I used the instructional cues within the course wiki and the groups link to create dialog among the students. For example, I assigned each student a netiquette topic and he or she was required to discuss the topic the or she researched. Upon completing this task, they must respond to at least one classmate to receive full credit for the assignment. The second instructional strategy I used is titled chunking information, for example, each module is chunked into smaller units of information to teach the student how to use the computer in a systematic process that allows him or her to learn in an effective manner. The third instructional strategy I used is examples and matched non-examples, during the assignment postings, I created examples to teach the students what I expect them to complete. For example, during the discussion board assignment, I created an example post of how to create and post a discussion board post. The final instructional strategy is summarization and I utilized this instructional method in summarizing the course overview information in lesson one to introduce the students to their lesson. 1.3 Demonstrate ability to identify and create instruction for various learning styles. 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 purpose of selecting these instructional materials is to address the students various learning styles. To illustrate I included visual and auditory applications such as You Tube videos, an overview video that explains lesson one, published videos such as the Alison Online Courses Free Course: Computer Basics - Parts of a Computer. To encourage visual learners, I assigned readings in the textbook. To address various learning styles, I incorporated two tools outside of the CMS that

Running head: EDUCATIONAL REPORT ETEC 6253 8 would engage students with various learning styles and encourage higher-level thinking. These included a simulation instructional software from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Computer Tutor http://www.bbc.co.uk/computertutor/more_info.shtml and the GCF Learn Free Computer Basics interactive lessons that include videos, interactive lessons, and games, http://www.gcflearnfree.org/ComputerBasics. The BBC Computer Tutor tutorial website and the GCF Learn Free websites were wonderful instructional materials that include visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning methods. The BBC Tutor engages the visual learner in providing a visual approach to learning the material. For example, the visual learner will watch as the BBC online tutor illustrates the basic parts of a computer. The auditory learner also has the ability to listen to the BBC online tutor website. The narrator announces which part of the computer is on the screen during any prescribed moment. They may also interact with the software as the BBC online tutor instructs the auditory learner to repeat audible commands. The kinesthetic learner has the opportunity to participate in a hands on approach using the BBC Online tutor. For example, the BBC online tutor will instruct the kinesthetic learner to touch the A key on the keyboard, the Enter key on the keyboard, and the Spacebar to learn where the keys are placed on the keyboard. These are but a few of the specific examples of how lessons within the Introduction to Digital Literacy course addresses various learning styles. 1.4 Demonstrate the ability to use appropriate delivery methods for instruction. The Introduction to Digital Literacy course was designed to instruct the adult learner how to use a computer. I used the Blackboard Course Management System to deliver the course. The course was designed to allow students to learn in a positive asynchronous learning environment. The reason asynchronous learning is appropriate for this topic and these

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learners are because it allows the learners to choose when and where they want to study. For example, if a student at the adult education center is traveling for business, the student will not miss an assignment. The student can access the course using a desktop computer at home or utilize a mobile device such as a laptop, tablet, or a smartphone. In addition, there is no time zone constraints that hinder the student from attending class from any state. For example, a student in California may elect to take the course for self-fulfillment and not spend relocation fees. The Blackboard Course Management System was utilized because many Universities, healthcare, and corporations utilize this software and it is necessary to comprehend and learn how to utilize a course management system. The course management system is good for the learners in this course because it provides a vast amount of resources to assist students in learning how to navigate the course system in addition to learning how to navigate individual components of the course. Most corporate training and professional development courses and continuing education courses are utilizing course management systems and learners may need to be trained using a similar system in the future. Thus, the use of this delivery method is appropriate because it is preparing students for future learning events. In addition, I utilized the lecture/presentation recorder titled Echo 360 to create a resource that instructed the students in learning how to navigate the lesson one materials. The reason why the echo 360 was utilized is that it creates a visual and an audio that allows the students to hear and see what I am doing at that moment. It allows the students to see and hear which links to click to obtain their lesson, in addition to the discussion board. Utilizing the Echo 360 software allowed me to create a screen cast video that depicts me in teaching the students how to navigate the lesson one materials. The reason why I selected these tools is to reduce textbook costs and give the students a free simulated resource they could interact with and assist them continually

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throughout the course. The reason why I selected these tools is because most of the student population at the Adult Education Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas were laid off from their jobs at Whirlpool Corporation. These learners cannot afford to purchase expensive textbooks and additional learning materials but they will have computer access. In addition, if a learner does not have access to a computer or the internet, he or she can complete the course at the technology lab because they are a currently enrolled student. Standard 2: DEVELOPMENT Candidates demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to develop instructional materials and experiences using print, audiovisual, computer-based, and integrated technologies. 2.1 Demonstrate the appropriate use of print materials in order to enhance the learning process. In the distance education course, I assigned the students to rent or purchase the Introduction to Digital Literacy textbook. In addition, I assigned weekly readings from the students prescribed textbook titled Computers Simplified, the 7th edition. I included the use of PDF files to enhance learning and create a sense of a traditional classroom usage of printed media. I chose these materials because they have a low to no cost to the student and in addition, the print materials allow the students to print the resources and read at their leisure. It does not require additional equipment for educational institution and it is cost effective. 2.3 Demonstrate ability to create visual materials that enhance the learning process. During this course, I designed a visual support resource and a visual analogy. First, I designed and implemented a visual syllabus that allowed the students to connect to the course and have a visual guide that they could find as a course resource. The visual syllabus included course information, textbook, and the course activities, in addition to instructor information, text, images, and hyperlinks that pertained to the Introduction to Digital Literacy Course. The visual

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support resource allows the students to view it as many times as they wish to do so. It gives the students full and quick access to their questions that the syllabus may answer for them. Second, I created a visual analogy to assist students in learning how to visualize using the internet. The visual analogy will help the students create a visual image in their mind to assist them in creating a visual picture of how they can use the internet. 2.5 Demonstrate ability to engage students using a variety of instructional materials. During the distance education course, I created a distance education course titled Introduction to Digital Literacy. This course was designed to instruct the adult learner to learn how to use a computer. In addition, I used the Blackboard Course Management System to deliver the course. During this course design, I integrated various instructional materials into the Introduction to Digital Literacy course and I included print media such as the Computers Simplified 7th edition textbook, PDF documents that were related to Digital literacy. In addition, I included digital media such as the GCF Learn Free website, Tech Tips Salon, and the Mac for beginners websites. In addition, I created assignments that consisted of using the discussion board, the course wiki, and the groups tool. Using these instructional materials will give the students a vast resource to learn from and the GCF Learn Free resources include audio, print, and visual instructional materials to allow the students to learn at their pace. Standard 3: UTILIZATION Candidates demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to use processes and resources for learning by applying principles and theories of media utilization, diffusion, implementation, and policy-making. 3.2 Demonstrate ability to develop a web-based project for the dissemination of media-based learning. I designed a web-based course using the Blackboard Course Management system at the

Running head: EDUCATIONAL REPORT ETEC 6253 12 University of Arkansas for a media-based course. This media-based course was titled Introduction to Digital Literacy to assist adult learners in developing basic technology skills in learning how to use a computer. During the course, I created three multimedia presentations that consisted of Microsoft 2007 PowerPoint, print materials, GCF Learn Free media-based lessons, You Tube videos, website based readings, in addition to tying it into the first lesson. I created a video overview that introduced the students to the first lesson, gave them a brief overview of the course; in addition, it taught the students how to navigate the first lesson using the Blackboard system.

Educational Reflection Throughout the ETEC 6253 course, I learned the difference between teaching an online course and a traditional course. Prior to this course, I had taught a bible study course online through a ministry that I am involved with and I thought the course was designed according to my previous instructional design courses. I did learn that distance learning is not about placing traditional methods on a course management system and deeming it an online course. In fact, according to Simonson, an online course is a course that has 80% or more of the course content online (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvcek, 2012, p.5). Throughout this course, I learned the foundations of distance education. First, I learned the history of correspondence courses, digital education. Second, I learned distance education is not about the quantity of instructional materials. Rather, the importance is in the quality of instruction. Third, I as the instructor learned how to deliver high quality instruction. During the distance learning course I learned that ensuring the instructional materials varied and

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incorporating various technologies can be important. I learned how to utilize many tools in the Blackboard Course Management system and although the learning the tools seemed to tax me at times, I quickly overcame these frustrations as I came to the understanding, that learning is a growth process that does not come overnight. I had to continually practice learning how to use the Blackboard Course Management system. As I continued to practice, the more informed I became as a student and a future instructor. I enjoyed learning how to shift my focus on becoming a coach and less of a lecturer. In addition, I learned how to customize the materials instead of relying on a textbook to teach the course. During this course, I became ecstatic when learning how to create a course that was focused upon the learning potential of a student. For example, one of the communication or a collaboration tool 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 used the discussion board to create a communication process that provides feedback. 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, and provides a communication medium to allow the students to connect and bond similar to a face-to-face class. I also learned how to create visual support resources that would help students connect a picture to a learning concept. I created this visual application using Microsoft Clipart . Once

Running head: EDUCATIONAL REPORT ETEC 6253 14 found, I used Pixlr to edit the photo to an appropriate format and size. As I progressed in this course, I encountered some obstacles. The activities that were difficult to conduct online for the Introduction to Digital Literacy course were activities that consisted of teaching a student how to turn a computer on or off. 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; my concern was that a student might fall behind in this class if they could not complete the task of learning how to turn their computer on. During this course, I also discovered potential barriers for the distance learning instructor. The first potential barrier for the instructor is not viewing the students body language or facial expressions to learn if he or she understands the material. For example, if a student sighs or rolled, his or her eyes because he or she does not understand the material, the instructor cannot view this within an online course. I learned the best instructional method to overcome this barrier is to ensure that I as the course instructor continue to communicate with my students using the CMS tools such as the announcements, email, the discussion board, and positive yet consistent feedback. 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 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 as if the course does not have, a purpose and their communication will decline too.

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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 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. The ETEC 6253 Distance Learning course has prepared me to teach online courses and to consider the needs of my potential students. Throughout this course, I have gained knowledge, wisdom, comprehension, and growth in learning how to teach online courses. In addition, I feel that the University of Arkansas Educational Technology faculty has continued to prepare me to overcome any obstacle I may encounter throughout my instructional technology endeavors. I express my complete gratitude and humbleness to the University of Arkansas Educational Technology faculty.

References

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Brady, M., & Lampert, A. (2007). Chapter 1: Why Teach?. The New Teacher of Adults. (2nd ed.). (pp. 1-4). J. Weston Walch Publisher. Knowles, M. S. (2005). Chapter 4: A Theory of Adult Learning: Andragogy. The Adult Learner. (6th ed.). (p. 39). Burlington, MA: Elsevier. Roblyer, M. D. (2006). Chapter 8: Integrating the Technology into the Curriculum. Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. (4th ed.). (p. 252). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall. Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvcek, S. (2012). Chapter 2: Definitions, History, and Theories of Distance Education. In Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education. (5th ed.). (pp. 154-171). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

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