Ideas+Shine+Through

= = A mind map is just one of the many development tools which I encountered during my three years of study with SDSU. It enables you to take a main concept and to identify all of the components which are related to it. Using the mind mapping software, I was able to come up with a summary of what I have done professionally in the last 3 years as a direct result of my SDSU tenure. This summary helped me to reflect on my three years with SDSU, beginning as an educational technology newbie, gradually metamorphosing into a solid educational technologist with a clear plan for the future. To begin the mind map, I had to define a concept. The concept is called, "College of Emeriti". This concept embodies all that is possible within a distance education program within our Continuing Education department of San Diego Community College District. Included in the mind map were the ideas which are central to the concept, the tools and skills which were necessary to build the idea, and the products which resulted from this educational experience. Also included are the future ideas which will shape the direction of the program in years to come. The result is a vision of a distance learning program which will create quality and relevant learning opportunities for lifelong learners in the community. It is my hope that this vision will become a reality for future learners at San Diego Continuing Education. Ideas: Design: ADDIE The process of creating a product is daunting without a plan. ADDIE is an instructional systems design which includes five components: analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. The value of an approach such as this as it provides a system of development, and (as stated in our initial courses at SDSU) it always works. ADDIE is extremely useful in understanding the curriculum development process. It requires the developer to view the project from each of the components. In doing so, it allows a greater understanding of what will be taught and why. The steps of the process are linear, but the true value is in the somewhat circular nature of the process. Inherent in ADDIE is the evaluation which occurs frequently in the development. Using the different stakeholders, developers can evaluate how each step contributes to the final product. Since my experience in instructional design was limited, this process helped to identify what must be done at each point of development. It also became a process for developing other products. Not only is ADDIE effective in the design of a course of study, it is also effective in understanding the design of a concept, such as the College of Emeriti. As I developed this concept, I followed the same process of analysis (what needs to be considered, who will be impacted), design (what are the tools which I am familiar with, what needs other tools are available), development (how can I use these tools to put together my idea), implementation (how these ideas were delivered) and evaluation (an ongoing process with students and fellow faculty).

Analysis: Optimal, actual and gap Another very simple but powerful concept is the idea of performance analysis. The main lesson from Mager's __Analyzing Performance Problems__ (Mager, 1997) is that there is a reason why people aren't doing what they should, and if we can find that reason, we can help them to do what they need to be doing. We are all adept at recognizing that something is wrong, but less able to identify what we truly want. Mager suggests that we identify the ideal situation (the optimal), compare it to the actual and then realize the gap as what needs to be done. It includes a system to compile these facts and to determine how to close the gap between optimal and actuals. It also includes the necessity of pinpointing barriers or drivers which can improve performance. These barriers can be organizational, environmental, skill based or motivational. The solution will identify not only what needs to be done to close the gap, but how the institution can eliminate some of the barriers faced by learners. This provides a clear picture to administrators on how their performance problem can be approached. Like ADDIE, the performance analysis helps to determine a clear way of proceeding. Each step is instrumental, from the identification of optimal and actual, to the understanding of the barriers which face the learners. Some of the barriers may be out of the control of the developer, but the performance analysis can recommend changes which may help to remove the barriers. Development: Team Approach to Course Development done Having designed my first online course alone, it was apparent that course design should not be an individual approach. In fact, an optimal situation would include a team of developers. This concept was first presented to me in Moore's __Distance Education__ (Moore, 2005). In this chapter, the author refers to a development team which may be small (as few as two) to large (twenty or more). The size of the team reflects the institution, and the resources available for course creation. During my three years, I revisited this concept of the team on numerous occasions, developing materials to communicate the idea to fellow faculty. Unfortunately, the barriers to this approach (organizational and motivational) continue to remain, although the idea remains strong. Culminating idea: Distance Education Not online education, as I had thought when I entered the program in 2007. It didn't take long before I realized that online education was no better than lecture if it did not encompass a superior way of content delivery, and the true value is in the variety of delivery methods possible. Putting everything into print form and placing it on a web page is even less interactive than a lecture, and far less effective to most learners. I discovered that the ultimate educational package includes not only live, and not only online, but also some other combination of methods designed to reach the greatest number of students. This concept of distance education would be the optimal picture, the best of all worlds. (Saba, A Model for Designing Virtual Dynamic Instructional and Learning Systems, 2008) (Saba, An Introduction to Distance Education and eLearning, 2008). Central to the distance education package are a number of concepts. These concepts helped to create a vision of distance education which is a true picture of what education can be. · teacher as facilitator · dynamic content · collaborative learning · learning communities Loves: The concept behind College of Emeriti My love is the culmination of these ideas. As my understanding of the educational technology grew, these ideas began to join together in my head. The ideas included curriculum designed with a purpose, using a set formula which would result in an interactive and effective lesson. The ideas envisioned a system which encompassed all that is right about an educational experience, one which embraces the different ways that people learn, which creates many ways to deliver a lesson so that all can get the message. It is honest about what is already in place, and is enthusiastic about comparing that to what it could be. The ideas are created from the inside out, using members of the learning community to grow. The culmination of the ideas is called "College of Emeriti" and it represents what can become a direction for our future. The mission statement behind College of Emeriti is simple: Quality and relevant learning opportunities available in multiple methods of delivery for anytime, anywhere education. College of Emeriti have been designed with a plan. Using Addie, the structure of the courses have been laid out, defining the categories of study as well as the individual course plans. This has involved a process of analyzing who would want to take these courses, what they would like to take and what information they would want included in the course. The courses have been designed using sound principles which help reinforce learning. They have been developed into formats which are ideal for the older learner, using a variety of delivery modes. They have begun to be implemented, to be followed by user evaluations and revisions to the courses. In this way, ADDIE has helped to create the concept of College of Emeriti. College of Emeriti has used the process of performance analysis to help the learners. There is often resistance to change, and an online format for instruction can be daunting to the lifelong learner. While analyzing this resistance, I have identified a number of barriers which are obstacles to the learner. These include skill based barriers (lack of understanding of technology, lack of background knowledge) and motivation barriers (why is this mode of education important to the learner). These barriers have been addressed as components of College of Emeriti have been introduced to learners, which has helped learners to see the value of this program. College of Emeriti has been designed with a team in mind. It relies on the community for all aspects of course development and delivery. Drawing from the strengths of individuals, the members of the learning community contribute towards identification of new classes, design and development, implementation and evaluation. Although the learning community is still quite small, with time, growth will insure the success of the program, understanding that each new member offers a unique set of strengths and interests. Most importantly, College of Emeriti is a distance education program. It relies on a variety of delivery modes, including forums, wikis, chat rooms, collaborative learning and more. The role of the teacher becomes less the expert and more of a facilitator of learning. Content is updated constantly, as students use the information and content to build new ideas and directions. Often, courses have begun with a skeleton of content, growing throughout the semester as more ideas and lessons are added. Much of the content has been provided by the students themselves, working together to create ways of improving their understanding. This is not without challenges. The target audience for this concept is the older adult. Creating a relevant and valid lesson is a major challenge, as our learners face barriers which are not always there for there for the younger learner. Technology provides such a barrier to many older students. We are not always cognizant of the challenges they face, in physical ways (sight, hearing), cognitive ways (slower processing, changes in memory), and in behavioral ways (lacking motivation when they cannot see the value). These are issues which we must face in the development stage, to insure that the lessons we create are suitable for our audience. These design and development challenges are considered when creating lessons for College of Emeriti. The success of these courses lie partly in the ability of the lessons in meeting the special learning needs of the older learner. These will continue to remain important considerations while building content for these courses. So it is from these ideas that this plan has developed. This plan has become my love, my meaning for continuing the program. This plan represents a shift in the direction of education for our institution, a focus away from the teacher led lecture to the student involved experience. Change: Change is necessary for all learning to take place. The concept of College of Emeriti relies on change. It requires that the current community of learners change the way that they view socialization, or their attitudes on technology. It may require that they change from thinking that they cannot be a leader or a design expert. They may have to change the way they view others, or the way that they communicate. The success of this concept, and for a future in distance education relies on this change. From the center of this concept, I must be the most flexible as all. I have developed the model, but I rely on the community to fill in the pieces. I cannot expect that I will complete the model alone; by doing so, I lose the valuable contributions of the community. I need to trust my community to contribute as they see best, and to accept them as part of the whole picture. I must remain receptive to the evaluations which follow. It is through these evaluations that we can determine what will be effective as we continue. Through their participation, we can discover how the students use the technology, and how effective it is in meeting their educational goals. Revisions are necessary for the evaluation to be effective, and change will arise from the revisions. By incorporating the learning community into the evaluation process, the responsibility for change becomes a community endeavor. This learning community is one true aspect of the College Of Emeriti plan which I feel must remain. By vesting the success of the program in the students and community, it will help to insure that the program thrives. groups. This team approach to development will help community members to feel a part of the curriculum, and to help them to feel that their input is necessary and vital to the success. I can see this as a new model for community education. Lifelong learning needs to be relevant to the learner. Who is better qualified to identify learning needs than the learners themselves? In this student led program, students determine the content, they help to design and develop methods of delivery which are most effective to most learners, they help to deliver and implement programs as needed, and they help to evaluate programs for strengths and weaknesses. As facilitator, I can help this process along, but can accept the group vision as the direction of choice. The importance of the Educational Technology program at SDSU has been, for me, the beginning of this vision of a future for education. This vision will be cultivated in years to come. Bibliography American Federation of Teachers (AFT). (May, 2000). //Distance Education: Guidelines for Good Practice.// Washington DC: AFT. Ashcraft, D., & Treadwill, T. a. (2008, March). Collaborative Online Learning: A Constructivist Example. //Merlot Journal of Online Learning and Teaching//, 109-117. Clark, R. N. 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