According to Siemens (n.d., vodcast) collaborative interaction is vital to online learning. Just as vodcasts have evolved from postage stamp size presentations with poor quality just a few years ago to the amazing quality of today’s vodcasts so has online collaboration. This helps establish a distinct educational advantage over the previous decades. In many cases distance education is superior to face-to-face (F2F) educational setting. Siemens stated several reasons. These included: a. the growing acceptance of the online environment that gives comfort established by feeling part of the group through collaboration, b. the online technology now can communicate better using conversation, c. the experience with the online medium, and d. the global dimension allowing for collaboration of groups from different areas of the world. Simonson (n.d., vodcast) says distance learning is easier, better, and more effective than F2F instruction in a lot of instances. It gives instructors and students advantages that include collaboration from almost anywhere in the world and access at almost any time. Mobile computing should reach critical mass in just a year or less according to the Horizon Report (2010). These devices, such as iPhones, can be used to advance collaboration.
Many interactive online tools are available to facilitate interactions using collaboration between students, instructors, or other students. These include Google.docs, Ning, and Skype, which are excellent tools for collaboration. According to the Horizon Report, these tools are among the up-and-coming tools reaching critical mass in society.
Instructors can take advantage of this by a. increasing the use of online format containing collaboration, b. allowing for greater collaboration from around the world, and c. increasing the use of multi-media in k-12 classrooms.
Websites for the collaborative tools include:
Google.docs can be found at http://docs.google.com/
Ning can be found at http://www.ning.com/
Skype can be found at http://www.skype.com/
Reference
Horizon Report (2010). Retrieved March 30, 2010 from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/
Siemen, G. (n.d.). The future of distance education [Vodcast], Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com
Simonson, M. (n.d.). Distance education: Higher education, K12, and the corporate world [Vodcast], Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com
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On April 3, 2010, I responded to Module 2 posts:
ReplyDeleteKellie Scott at http://kscott317.blogspot.com
and
Steven Raymond at http://sraymond-pofde.blogspot.com
Deb :)
Nice posting Debra, I agree with your finding, online education seem to be the new era of learning. Would you agree that universities like online because they increase their enrollment and their staff? Do you think online learning is becoming more accepted because the employee takes classes on their time, and companies are benefiting from a smarter workforce?
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