Week 8

The last section of your textbook discusses the concepts of distributed learning, reusability, rich media and the future of instructional design. Focus on the following for your post:
From Chapter 28 locate 5 examples of distributed learning. You may pick and choose from the following list.

Corporate distributed learning

Walmart has a program that allows employees to advance their career by mastering levels of competency for various positions. With continued learning you can advance to become a customer service manager which is a stepping stone to upper level management. This company used to provide these classes via paper testing. Currently they have an online program that employees can access from anywhere to improve their competency to qualify for higher level positions.

Academic distributed learning

Southwestern Adventist University is a program that began as a brick and mortar institution until recently around 2002 they began a program called Desire2Learn incorporating classes online and offering distance learning. Through distance learning was something that was in place at one time however it was not electronic. Conversion to this new dimension of learning has increased their enrollment.

Distributed learning based at physical locations

Evolution Academy Charter School
The mission of the EACS is to enable its students to achieve academic, social and career success. This supportive school community identifies, encourages and develops students' interests and abilities while, acknowledging and respecting each student's personal and cultural identity. This location is a physical location but however provides online assisted learning for high school dropouts. Students can actually get their diplomas early by about a year and a half.

For-profit distributed learning

Art Institute of Atlanta
The Art Institute of Atlanta was founded in 1949 as Massey Business College, with diploma programs in basic business and secretarial skills. The school added liberal arts, fashion, and interior design during the next two decades. After becoming The Art Institute of Atlanta in 1975, the college shifted its focus to a creative applied arts curriculum

Free distributed learning

Project Gutenberg
Is an organization where you can download over 33,000 free ebooks to read on your PC, iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, Android or other portable device. They carry high quality ebooks and the ebooks were previously published by publishers and digitized by the company with the help of thousands of volunteers. All ebooks can be freely downloaded.

Chapter 29 discusses the concept of reusability. Think back over the courses you've had over your educational career and identify one with poor reusability characteristics. Explain how the course could be redesigned to improve reusability without changing the underlying content.

I took an online course where submission requirements changed each week. This was crazy I was constantly having to relearn a new process for submitting an assignment. I would have to go to various websites different ones sometimes creating a new login! How crazy. I was very frustrated. Luckily it was not a course at Commerce. However I would have benefited more if the process was designed with a template specific or a reusable portal so that I could submit the same way each week. I hope they have revised since then which would have been around 1998

Chapter 30 takes a look at using rich media. Find or create a visual for instruction describing its surface and functional features.
Flash Media Quiz
This rich media example is a quiz designed to test trivial knowledge. I think this would be a great learning tool for students and teachers to use for re-teaching prior learned concepts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQStdKsLGuM&feature=related



Chapter 31 discusses the future of instructional technologies in the near future from metadata to nanotechnology. Describe how nanotechnology could be used to improve a specific job or task you are familiar with.

The basic function that most people are used to is word processing. Imagine if nanotechnology could possibly affect the way we send information back and forth? This video attached is a breakthrough in that direction by actually being able to read the brain’s thoughts.



And finally! Chapter 32 provides two points of view on the direction of the field - the straight and narrow road and the broad and inclusive road. Which point of view do you agree with and why?

I think it is necessary to have a broadened sense of technology. How can we not allow the most life changing development not to influence areas for which the basics of thinking and knowledge have been built? Looking at blogs as an example has given people who may have never had a voice to have a significant impact on society. I do however think we must be careful with how we govern such power. Although I think it is something that we are not going to be able to control, police is a possibility, but not control. The borders have already been compromised I think learning to live within these borders is survival at this point.