Wk1

When I first started in a distance learning course I said to myself "this is going to be the hardest thing that I ever do in my life." That was about 6 years ago. To me the thought of distance learning made me cringe because I didn't think it was possible to learn without a teacher in front of me. Every time I logged in for class I had the hardest time staying motivated and getting myself together in order to finish assignments. My personal observation for this course is that it will teach me how to appreciate the luxury of learning from a distance. I hope to gain a lot of knowledge on how to teach a course from a distance to a group of learners from all age groups. Upon reading the information for this class I learned many things. One of those things is that distance education is becoming more world-wide. Because of the availability or access to internet that the world has been experiencing, everyone now has the chance to learn from a distance. Anywhere in the world now, you can be given a quality education from a great teacher. This has given many an opportunity to receive diplomas or degrees. Distance education has a major and varied impact worldwide (Simson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek). In the United States in particular the ability to receive an education from a distance is always advertised. This has changed my feelings of distance learning. I have begun to feel that distance learning is the new way of giving those who are unable to go into a school building to learn a chance to learn. This is also done at the students pace or when the student is able to complete the assignments. This has taken off some of the load and self-esteem issues that people have suffered with which makes me happy to be a part of such a wonderful concept of learning that will bring in a brighter future. There are many hopes that I have for distance learning. One being that I hope it is able to help children in other countries to be educated by teachers in the states. In many countries students are unable to receive the quality education that students who are born in the states receive "free education." This would allow these students more options for higher education and even allow them to attend school here as well. To conclude, my experience with distance learning then and now has changed dramatically. From being terrified of it, to wanting it to help others it has become the way to get an education nowadays. Resources Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Designing for Distance

T.H. White once said in The Once and Future King “The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.” This is true when thinking about educating yourself through an online course. The course that I chose to analyze on its effectiveness as an online distance course is the Exposing Digital Photography Computer Science E-7 course through the Open Culture website. This course is designed to teach students about the terms and use of digital cameras. The instructor states that students are “not required to own a digital camera, but if you do, one with a manual mode and an option for RAW is recommended” (Exploring Digital Photography). According to what I have learned over the past few weeks I understand that a good distance education course should be able to do certain things for the students who are participating in the course. One of the things that I will focus on is that a good distance course should have a website that can be easily navigated through. This Computer Science E-7 course has just that. Once you enter the website on the left hand side you have an introduction from the instructor along with his email address if you need to contact him. He also gives students a brief look into what the course is about along with some other information you will need to know for the course. The instructor then puts on the right side of his website, links to his lectures. Students also have resources linked to the lectures. Some of these resources include links, slides, and videos. In these the instructor goes into great detail about the materials needed or used for digital cameras. This is a great way of having students connect to the course. Morrison, Ross, and Kemp state that “When the learners have an understanding of the reasons why they are participating in a particular type of instructional activity, they are better able to use that experience to expedite their own learning (Teaching and Learning at a Distance Foundations of Distance Education). A lot of times instructors focus so much on how to make their website so “pretty” that they forget that there must be a certain flow in order to keep students from playing a guessing game or getting frustrated when looking for what they need.

Distance Learning then and distance learning now

  When I first started in a distance learning course I said to myself "this is going to be the hardest thing that I ever do in my life." That was about 6 years ago. To me the thought of distance learning made me cringe because I didn't think it was possible to learn without a teacher in front of me. Every time I logged in for class I had the hardest time staying motivated and getting myself together in order to finish assignments. My personal observation for this course is that it will teach me how to appreciate the luxury of learning from a distance. I  hope to gain a lot of knowledge on how to teach a course from a distance.
  Upon reading the information for this class I learned many things. One of those things is that distance education is becoming more world-wide. Because of the availability or access to internet that the world has been experiencing, everyone now has the chance to learn from a distance. Anywhere in the world now, you can be given a quality education from a great teacher. This has given many an opportunity to receive diplomas or degrees. Distance education has a major and varied impact worldwide (Simson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek).
  In the United States in particular the ability to receive an education from a distance is always advertised. This has changed my feelings of distance learning. I have begun to feel that distance learning is the new way of giving those who are unable to go into a school building to learn a chance to learn. This is also done at the students pace or when the student is able to complete the assignments. This has taken off some of the load and self esteem issues that people have suffered with which makes me happy to be a part of such a wonderful concept of learning that will bring in a brighter future.
  There are many hopes that I have for distance learning. One being that I hope it is able to help children in other countries to be educated by teachers in the states. In many countries students are unable to receive the quality education that students who are born  in the states receive "free education." This would allow these students more options for higher education and even allow them to attend school here as well.
  To conclude, my experience with distance learning then and now has changed dramatically. From being terrified of it, to wanting it to help others it has become the way to get an education nowadays.

Week 8

“In the world that we live in today technology has taken over, even in education. "Adults want to go back to school, but because of the burdens of life it has become hard for an adult to further their educations.

This course learning theories education has opened my eyes into a different side of education that I never could understand.  My distance learning experience has been a real eye opener from learning about how the brain functions; reflect on how I learn, to constructivist learning theories. I was able to understand that tin order for the brain to retain information there are certain steps that the brain needs to go through. This was very important to me, as a special education teacher, because it helps me to plan differently when designing a lesson plan for my students.

Next, I can finally say that I understand how I learn. I was forced to seek this out, but I am grateful that I had to. If one is not aware of how he or she learns, then studying will be in vain. I was able to analyze why it was always so hard for me as a child to retain information and why I did not like school; now I know that I just never learned the way the teacher expected me to learn material. That is why engagement is so key in an online course. No matter what the material is that a teacher is going to go over, the information should “blow students minds.” This course gave me reasons to think and want to ask others questions. The connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation level all follow one another. In order to teach others you must get to know the learning theories then the styles of learning  to make sure you are teaching to all learning styles. Next, you must use technology to add on to the educational experience since technology is taking over . Last, you have to be motivated to learn the material eager to accomplish the goals you set for yourself retaining information gone over in a class or during a course all has to deal with that persons motivation to want to learn that information. This course has left me with better understanding of education and how we take in the information that we store in our minds to create an interactive learning environment.

week 7

When you get older you also get a little wiser.  An unknown author states that “We all understand learning styles to be an individual's natural or habitual pattern of acquiring and processing information in learning situations. A core concept is that individuals differ in how they learn. The idea of individualized learning styles originated in the 1970s, and has greatly influenced education. “

The process of trying to figure out how it is that I learn kept me puzzled for a little while. Now my view on it has definitely changed. I no longer think that I learn by looking at notes that I wrote and going home to review the information. I have learned that I miss key examples while trying to keep up with lectures. The ways that I have noticed that I learn is through: repetition, notes, technology and doing something hands on to help me understand fully what is being taught. I had to continuously work at different ways to help me retain information/material without studying the information. Well in the long run I learned that I am not only one learning style, but also all three.  Everyone has their own way of learning new material and I happen to be one of those people that require all three learning styles being addressed during a lesson.

The role of technology in my learning is the promotion of applying my skills or what I’ve learned interactively. Having technology as a component in my learning gives me an opportunity to show mastery on the new skills that I have acquired, and It also helps to see the material visually. Visual stimulation works for me because it helps me to see how things come together. Some people don’t need to see what is being lectured or explained, but sometimes bringing in some form of technology adds a special component, interactive learning.

References:

http://www.learningforward.org/docs/default-source/commoncore/the-role-of-technology-for-teacher-and-student-learning.pdf

    
Now that you have had the chance to view my think map let's talk about how the social networks that I am involved with help me to learn. I have three specific social learning networks that I subscribe to just because I want to expand my knowledge on specific things.

I will begin with teachertube. I love this sight because it helps with activating or even some review lessons. Every time I begin to plan a new lesson I log on to this site and begin browsing so that my students can feel a little less intimidated when the material is being taught. The nest social network would be Pinterest. I know you are thinking to yourself, but that is not a social network. For me though, it is different. I seek out the people who posted certain things that I want to know about for my classroom. I log on to check out hands on activities for my student’s to get them showing me mastery on a specific topic. There are times when teachers have even posted the way that they assess their students when you click on their link. They talk to you about their lesson from beginning to end. Teachers even tell you sometimes what they found the most difficult to do with the lesson.

Lastly, I love edmodo. This social network is a great learning tool for me. I get to see how other curriculums are getting lessons together and talking about ways to engage your students in order to aide in the process of students understanding the material. This social network helps me because not only am I able to view lesson teachers have used, but they also post video’s and handouts that were used during the lesson. Using the internet to learn shows how connectivism is definitely working for those of us who learn by research.

Connectivism

 

Connectivism- Thinking Map

https://bubbl.us/?h=1a82ed/34e59b/17M6nIEs/9Dow

Please click on the link above to see my think map of the social networks. This think map shows how the theory works for me.