Posts Tagged ‘distance learning’
Discussion Board Guidelines
Posted by Nick Roy in MBA Advice Tuesday, 13 January 2009 13:30 No Comments
Here are some discussion board guidelines for a distance learning course at Liberty University.
Throughout the course, students will be required to make a minimum of weekly posts to the discussion board. In large part, the quality of interaction on the discussion board is how a student’s class participation grade will be derived. All of these posts will be in the full class discussion forum. Each week on the Discussion Board, starting with Week 2, you will see 3 to 4 questions that you are required to discuss with everyone. There will be FIVE graded full-class discussions during the course. These discussions will be more general and theoretical in nature, much like a general class discussion in a residential setting.
Each student is required to make at least ONE substantive original post (thread) for each of the questions and at least TWO short interaction/reply posts to two other student’s original posts. However, each student may also make more than the required posts. You are encouraged to talk with one another as much as possible.
Each Discussion Board requires a minimum of an original post (at least 200–250 words answering the questions given) and the two smaller interaction/reply posts (50–100 words). While students are encouraged to participate more actively in the learning activities, only the original and interaction/reply posts will count toward the grade.
All original Discussion Board posts are due on Wednesdays by 11:59 p.m (ET). All interaction/replies to discussion board posts are due on Saturdays by 11:59 p.m (ET).
If you do not respond by these time deadlines, your interaction will not “count” (Blackboard records the date and time!) and, therefore, you will not receive points toward the grade for that assignment. But this will be a much more valuable experience if students post soon after the questions are announced. Imagine a classroom where the professor asked a question, but no one ever responded or waited for 3 days to respond! Contrast that with a vibrant classroom discussion where students are engaging each other and the professor in dialogue on a particular topic.
Enthusiastic agreement and respectful disagreement with others in the class is expected. Disrespect (e.g., name-calling, “Bible thumping,” sermonizing, hostility, etc.) will not be acceptable communication on the discussion boards and severe final course grade reduction will be the consequence if it occurs. Learning to accurately communicate beliefs, attitudes, and emotions about important issues is a crucial part of personal and professional development, particularly when others don’t see them as you do.
Is Your Distance Learning School Accredited?
Posted by Bill Johnson in Distance Learning News, Featured Articles Saturday, 3 January 2009 20:47 2 Comments
Distance Learing Requires Doing a Thorough Research
For whatever reason, when deciding to continue education through distance learning or online colleges, the most important requirement to check out first is if the establishment is “accredited” by accrediting institutions that are recognized by the federal government through the Department of Education. Otherwise, students could end up paying their money for a qualification paper that will not get recognition by almost all traditional establishments.
The downside of distance learning or an online degree is, even if the learning establishment that is giving the qualification has the required accrediting, it is not yet widely accepted by employers. It could also be difficult when trying to transfer the credits obtained to other programs run by those that do not recognize the particular learning establishment. This attests to the fact that it is a mutual recognition among the educators and their partners, so that the quality of the education given will be at a higher level, and there are no sets of rules to follow.
The accreditation is a process where other learning institutions, through a peer group setup, ascertain that a given learning establishment has what it take in terms of the education quality it is availing. The essential issues they would be looking at could be the school’s mission, goals, objectives, available resources and how they are utilized, enrollment requirements, and the overall quality of the education.
It is important to pay attention to the accrediting of a learning establishment because the acceptance level is very much dependant on the assessment done and the kind of recognition given by these groups. Not finding the name of the establishment a student is planning to attend in the listing of National and Regional Accredited Agencies could mean whatever qualification a learning establishment is availing to the public will not be recognized by a wide margin, which will include those who are in charge of hiring or admitting student to the many higher learning institutions, because the peer group that is doing the accreditation is made up of this group. It has nothing to do with the government and what the government does is to assesses the recommendations to see if there are irregularities and whether the process meets certain criteria.
There is also an agency known as Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) that carries its own list of those that had been validated as accredited establishments, and not finding the establishment a student wants to join in these two lists could mean a red flag. However, still there could be establishments that cannot make it into the list, yet they could avail quality education or they are not necessarily illegal, but the downside is there will always be a recognition problem.
There are certain establishments that are offering professional training that might not need the accreditation, because the profession itself might be a hands-on training where there is a high demand for it in the job market, or the establishments are recognized by a given sector as professional organizations. For example, most short-term computer training courses fall into this category.
As a result, the two essential concerns students should pay heed to are employers and other higher learning establishments where the students might be planning to further their studies. Because their not recognizing the certificate might reduce the value of the education that is attained by incurring a lot of expense and time investment. If students are doing it just to satisfy their learning drive, there will not be a problem.
It is also possible that there is a better chance that the certification would get recognition by a current employer for advancement, raise, or the like. But the bottom line of the accreditation is a certification obtained from any learning establishments will be as good as the traditional learning establishments if it is from an accredited school, and that definitely will go a long way and would be worth the investment. In addition, more and more employers have started recognizing the distance learning education.
The expense more or less would be the same with students who attend regular classes, because there is always room and board, whoever is covering it. The cost involving learning material will also be the same except that students can opt to buy used ones. One expense that is possible to eliminate could be the cost of commuting to a school, but again most distance learners are working people who have to commute to work. Cosnsequently, the only advantage it avails for the most part is doing it at one’s own convenience and pace.
If there is one thing lacking in the process, it is live interaction that usually takes place in a classroom environment. However, there are teleconferences, videos, email, message board, and chat rooms that will help the students to interact with other students and the faculty members, including the instructors. That might be the only area that will be different. Other than that it is possible to listen to a recorded lecture that could take the normal class room hours at the comfort of one’s home or if the workplace environment allows it.
There are what are known as diploma mills, establishments that are not striving to avail a high standard of education that students have to watch out for no matter what kind of incentives they are offering. Some of them could also be unnecessarily expensive and comparing price and doing a thorough research about the stand of the learning establishments is very important.
As it is, distance learning is not yet fully accepted even if the acceptance rate is on the rise and incurring a huge expense will not make things any better. Going for those schools that have the accreditation and offer an affordable tuition fee is a wise decision for the long haul. Because it is always possible to borrow money for the distance learning, which means paying back the money could be difficult, and might take a long time if some kind of planning is not in place in advance.
Hence, especially adults who were procrastinating going back to school because of work, family, lack of time, and drive will find the latest development of distance education very attractive and accommodating, as not only the quality of the education has been augmented, but the number of the establishments is on the rise. The fee and the amount of time it takes to complete a diploma or a degree is also shrinking making it the best time ever to look toward the direction of furthering one’s education level, not to miss out from the advantages that could be had, as the demand for higher education in the workplace is not letting up.
About The Author
Bill Johnson is a freelance writer and Internet entreprenuer where he promotes and sells ebooks and e-serials.
New Strategy For A New Year, Semester
Posted by Nick Roy in MBA Advice Friday, 2 January 2009 11:29 No Comments
I am trying a new strategy this semester.
I haven’t really been looking at the grades I have been receiving.
It allows me to be more focused on the classes and not to worry a lot about the grades. If I get an email from one of my professors, I will read it and then check my grade but that has not happened so far. I have taken classes in the past where I received an A, but did not learn anything. So I do not place too much of an emphases on grades. Although, it is still in the back of my mind.
Some people may shy away from the intense 8 week lessons but all in all they work out pretty good. After these 8 weeks, I will have another 3 hours to my name. I now have 18 credit hours to my name.
The Fall 2008 semester has ended on December 16. I am registered to take PSYC 371 Theories in Counseling & Psychotherapy and COUN 501 – Counselor Prof Identity/Function/Ethics.
Some people may shy away from religious colleges, but going over the course plan, after the first two years, you really do not have to take religious courses unless you choose them as an elective. These past 8 weeks have been pretty good. I have gone to religious institutions my whole life. It has been proven that religious educational institutions provide a better education than the other schools.
I do have two papers I need to write. Both have to be 10 pages and written in APA style. I try to be diligent in my studies and assignments but sometime with a family and working full-time it is hard.
But I have to say this, with some of my classes at Liberty University, even though the paper may have a deadline, the professors have been understanding.
And when I get tired and question why I am doing what I am doing, I get great comments of encouragement back from my professors and so I keep going.
Definition of Distance Learning
Posted by Nick Roy in Distance Learning News Sunday, 28 December 2008 12:21 No Comments
This post is for those of you that are new to distance learning. Distance learning is a form of learning where the instructor and the students are in physically separate locations. Can be either synchronous or asynchronous in nature. Can include correspondence, video or satellite broadcasts, or e-Learning. Usually implies the higher education level.
Asynchronous learning is based on constructivist theory where it places an emphasis on peer-to-peer interaction. Learners log into the learning platform at different times from different places all with the same goal in mind. Courses such as those a Liberty University use asynchronous form of learning. My group presentations last semester were an example of asynchronous learning. All members of the group logged into the discussion board of Blackboard to post their comments and their part of the project. This type of learning has been most prevelent at the graduate level, but now can be found at the undergraduate level and even in high schools with the emergence of homeschooling.
Synchronous learning is where there learners log in and are interacting with one another at the same time, although from different locations. Typical applications for synchronous learning includes problem-based learning, or learning through case studies. I could take that group presentation and make it synchronous in nature by asking my group members to login to a chat program that I ask them to download. We are now using the chat room as an online place to meet. You can liken this to meeting at Starbucks with your group members in the residential program. This type of learning has been prevelent at the undergraduate level, but the undergraduate level is becoming increasingly asynchronous.
Learning Through Computer Interaction
Posted by Nick Roy in Distance Learning News Wednesday, 24 December 2008 11:33 2 Comments
We are one the brink of a major revolution in means of learning. Very few people understand what is about to happen. Even most professional educators are still unaware of the implications that human-computer interaction has on learning. The revolution will occur within the next 10 years and will affect out educational system at all levels.
This revolution in the way people learn will be based on the technology of the digital computer. Learning media from other aspects of modern technology will also figure significantly.
A brief review of the history of learning will help explain the situation. The earliest humans learned primarily through experience and interaction with other humans. Until recently in human history, and even now in early childhood, this has been the principal learning mode.
In classical Greece, several new learning modes became prominent. One of these was based on the technology of writing, which was already well developed in Greece. The Greeks realized that written documents could serve as the basis for learning.
The lecture, or group discussion, also seems to have originated in ancient Greece. Perhaps the mode for which Greece is best known is the dialog, exemplified in the works of Plato. Teacher and student worked on a one-to-one basis. The teacher avoided directly lecturing the student, but by a careful set of questions led the student to discoveries.
The lecture was a solution to a problem that continues to be of great concern in education which is how to accommodate very large numbers of people who need to learn. The development of print provided another such mass mode which the advent the textbook. Almost 200 years elapsed from the invention of the printing press until the widespread use of textbooks in school environments.
Why will the computer lead to another major change in education There are a variety of reasons, some concerning the advantages of the computer as a learning and teaching device, and some concerning today s very rapidly decreasing cost of computer technology, a decrease that will continue for many years.
A major advance of computer is that they make learning an active process, where students play a constant thinking role. This contrasts with large lecture classes where many students struggle to take notes. In a lecture, few students participate actively in the learning process. Most psychologists agree that active learning is far superior to passive learning.
A closely related issue is individualization. Each student at a computer display has a unique interactive experience based on the student s past performance or other information. Students can control the pace of learning, which is impossible in the lecture situation. They can review material at their discretion and can be given remedial or more advanced material as appropriate. Students can choose both content and learning sequences.
The fact that the cost of computers is diminishing rapidly is well known. Yet the speed of this decline is startling. The figure often seen in the computer industry is that for equivalent power, computers decrease in cost by about 30 each year.
Not all parts of the computer are equally affected by this decrease, however. In recent years, the most dramatic decreases occurred in computer memory and hard drive capacity, the section of the computer that stores information and instructions. The reasons for this decrease are twofold. First, we are just beginning to explore a new and exciting technology. We are rapidly becoming more skillful in using the technology. New techniques are appearing frequently and many of these are successful. The second factor that reduces costs is mass production of components.
We can already begin to see the results of lower costs in the appearance of computers for the home market, computers that cost about the same as color television sets. While these machines lack some capabilities desirable for educational purposes, they are close to providing what we need. Given the rapid pace of development, we can expect their descendants tin a few tears to offer good environments for learning.
Computers help people learn in other ways, too. For example, there are a few methods of teaching that are just now emerging because of computers. One of these methods is distance learning. The students can view the lectures at their own pace, during a time that is good for them, at home on their computer systems. This has been proven to be highly effective for learning disabled, blind deaf, and mobility impaired students. In addition to viewing lectures on the computer, the students can discuss what they learned with other students in the same course, and even the teacher, through live video conferencing using a program called CU-SeeMe.
Not only are the computers becoming less costly, but the telecommunications media used in distance learning are falling in price and rising in quality every day. Ten years ago, the only way to make a video conference call was to make a long distance phone call from one person s costly black-and-white video phone to another s. Now, all one need is a connection to the Internet approximately 20 per month for unlimited use and he or she can talk to and see multiple users at the same time on a large color monitor .
One place you can see this new technology in action is England s Open University. When it was established in 1969, it was radical innovation in many ways. Specifically, the teaching system was based on a combination of broadcasting computer, television, and radio and specially written printed texts. This concept of a “University of the Air” was a major factor in bringing the Open University to the forefront of public attention, ensuring widespread publicity and the heavy enrollment essential for political survival in the early years.
Thus, the combinations of increasing educational effectiveness plus decreasing cost of computers will be the primary generator of the educational revolution based on computer and other technologies. It appears likely that computers will soon be more important in our educational process than books, and may entirely replace the book medium for many purposes. These changes will have profound effects on our institutions, our teachers, and even our way of life.