Introduction With the goals of contributing to the understanding of distance education, professional practices, and their own learning within an online and distance environment, students in MDDE 601 participate in a series of online discussions. In this brief essay I will compare a sample set of my own MDDE 601 discussion posts against a provided grading rubric, in order to assess the functional and substantive qualities of my posts, as well as my engagement with the course content and fellow students. Functional Requirements What follows here is a brief analysis of a representative sampling of my MDDE 601 posts in terms of how well they meet functional requirements. Frequency of Postings (See Appendix A Sample) Posting content at regular intervals …show more content…
In MDDE 601 I averaged about XXX substantive, distributed posts per week of any given unit (both initial and follow-up). In order to give my classmates as much time as possible within each unit to respond, I generally submitted my initial postings early in each unit. Also within the time frame of each unit, I made an effort to respond to a few of my classmates’ postings by elaborating, asking questions, or pointing to additional resources. I am satisfied that in my MDDE 601 postings overall, I did my best to engage regularly and promptly, with both the course material and my classmates’ thoughts and …show more content…
Indeed, supporting a viewpoint with personal anecdotes and/or academic references adds context and credibility to a contributor’s assertions, and in my MDDE 601 posts, I always tried to do this. Because I personally find that an anecdote or a little infographic can be more compelling to read than a rambling post full of theory, I often tried in my MDDE 601 posts to relay my personal experience, or some less academic information, as it related to the topic. In posts where I relied upon academic references to support my assertions, I always assigned proper attribution (sometimes by link, but usually through an APA reference). I am satisfied that in my MDDE 601 postings in general, I used appropriate and correctly-formatted referencing to support
We, as humans, fear the unknown, and change is after often at the root of our fears. One of the greatest catalysts for change is today’s rapid technological development, but the concept of traditional education has always been the same. Even that is changing, and as to be expected, there is a substantial amount of fear and apprehension towards distance education. With this, students are presented the chance to overcome of a
“Can You Be Educated from a Distance,” an insightful essay by James Barszcz, brings to focus some of the benefits and disadvantages of Distance Learning education (DL). In it, Barszcz discusses the mechanics of DL courses available to students, the quality of education DL can offer, and some reasoning behind its rapidly growing popularity. “Can You Be Educated from a Distance” is an engaging article that students of all ages can benefit from.
In order to analyze student participation they "presented an 8 week course on web-based distance learning to Masters students on a computer-integrated education course at the University of Pretoria" (Nagel et. al., 2007, p.41). Matriculated in this course were students from a diverse background and different age groups ranging from 30 to 50 years old.
Each student has to post at least one main posting by WEDNESDAY 11:59 p.m., of each week and respond to all assigned discussion topics by FRIDAY, 11:59 p.m., leaving time for you to respond to postings of classmates between Saturday and Sunday’s close of the week. You must participate at a minimum of 3 days of the week. This minimal posting is necessary, but not sufficient, in order to earn a good evaluation.
This course has been a tremendous experience being that I was practically able to learn at my own pace with the way the discussion post were set up. Working as a dispatcher at all hours of the day, the stress that comes from work is usually added to outside activities such as completing homework by the deadline. However, by having the two weeks to write an initial post and respond to a classmate allows me to comprehend the discussion questions and my responses to my fellow classmates; instead of me just answering the questions for the sake of completing the assignment.
In Morgan Jerkins article the reader may feel as if she lacked credibility because she had quotes and facts to support what she was saying, but she never cited the sources or mentioned where she got them from. Because of this I feel as if she missed an opportunity to establish credibility. A good example would be “While black men only make up six percent of the American population, they comprise a staggering seventy percent of NFL rosters. However, their power is mainly found on the field, since there are currently no African-Americans who are a majority owner of any team and no African-American CEOs or Presidents. The majority of NFL players are black, while the NFL fan base is 83 percent white and 64 percent
Even though he isn’t against all forms of technology, he is also able to argue that the form of close learning “is entirely compatible with engaging in meaningful conversations outside the classroom.” He uses examples of using e-mail to communicate regularly with his students and has even started using many different forms of media. He has been able to appeal to not only the professionals who may read this article, but also to current college students who are deciding if online courses would be best for them and want to see both sides of this particular
All three articles utilize many different tools to foster and promote distance education. The tools identified above ensure the doctoral student has sufficient socialization, development and collaboration with their peers to ensure personal and professional
Distance learning (education) has become an integral part of the education process over the past few decades and is growing in popularity as technology advances.(Willis 1992) describes distance education (as) "the organizational framework andprocess of providing instruction at a distance. Distance education takes place when ateacher and student(s) are physically separated, and technology…(is) used to bridge theinstruction gap." (Coutts 1996). Furthermore, "distance learning activities are designedto fit the specific context for learning, the nature of the subject matter; intended learningoutcomes, needs and goals of the learner, the learner's environment and the instructional echnologies and methods." (American
Learning outcomes in online instruction reflect both the course goals and students’ information technology competency (Shinkareva & Benson, 2007). When research compares the amount of time dedicated to distance versus traditional instruction in the areas of distribution of instructional content, student guidance and advisement, and student evaluation, the findings clearly show that, with the exception of student evaluation, more time is necessary to deliver a course at a distance (Tomei, 2010). To be able to convey more effective and efficient results
However, advocates of classroom learning believe the online method isolates the students from one another as well as their professor minimizing the overall value of taking the course. They also claim that students learn better when working together with their instructor and their fellow classmates. Students learn better when they are given the opportunity to ask questions, join in class discussions, and they move the process of learning forward through their participation. Face-to-face advocates firmly believe that this kind of interaction is not possible over the Internet; and for many types of education, e-learning will never meet the potential of live human interaction in the classroom. An article in the New York Times titled, “Second Thoughts on Online Education,” backs up the points made above. A recent research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, comes to the conclusion; “A rush to online education
Non-traditional students are finding it easier and easier to maintain a job, a family, and pursuing a college career at the same time. This is possible because more and more non-traditional students are receiving an education using distance learning, as opposed to traditional, in-the-classroom teaching. Distance learning is basically taking college level, credit-bearing courses via the Internet. One of the most obvious advantages of distance learning is that it puts the classroom in your home, office, or wherever you can find a computer and log on to the Internet. However, there is much controversy regarding the quality of the courses being offered on the Internet versus the quality of
Technology is changing every aspect in our lives, even the way we learn. Online classes are a rapidly growing trend it today’s society. Online classes are a cost-effective substitute for traditional courses and more convenient for many, so more schools and universities are offering this option. Due to the increase in online course enrollment, people are questioning if students truly learn something from online classes because it’s not a traditional learning environment. Online classes are just, if not more, effective as traditional classes because grades have increased and online discussions provide students with the chance to interact through networking while earning a degree for less than what it would cost to enroll at the same university.
Education is an important part of people’s lives; it will either make them or break them in the future depending on the careers they choose. Education is greatly diverse today in comparison to the 1950s because of advancements in teaching and other great inventions that provide easier techniques of teaching. One major issue that has been raised is distant learning courses and online education.
Online distant learning programs help make the easy connection of students in a program connect to the more accessible home environment in a simple way. Students are now given the option of getting their education and making their own schedules, without going through a second person in an easy more efficient way. Consequently, to succeed in online courses and programs the student must have good time management, a computer or laptop, and internet connection. Also online distant learning programs are subjectively done through monologue, not our dialogue; having been previously filmed and then posted on the internet stating course information, not caring about the viewers, or if the