Technology is something that excites, scares, concerns, and daunts me. I love the idea of all this information at our finger tips, but am concerned a bit by the impact of it on society. I believe the young generation is learning a great skill in technology but fear that the standard "old school" of learning has shifted. Several young people have lost the simple skills of mathematics, geography, history, and even the English language. Wow, reading that back I sound like an older generation!
With that said, I find technology an exciting challenge in designing training for the corporate setting. Technology and online learning is here to stay and I have been working extremely hard to change my current companies way of thinking to save money and invest in online training. It is far too expensive to send people across the country to a central location for f2f instruction when there are great alternatives - online instruction. One challenge that faces me is the misconception that online instruction is the typical f2f manual presented online. This is a huge hurdle to overcome because of the initial online courses created. They were good for the timing, but they have also tainted the learners view on this media.
The next generation wants only what they want, when they want it, and as fast as you can give it them. This is the way the world is moving and online education has to catch up. I agree with Mohamed Ally's argument that there is no one school of thought for online design. I believe you have to consider all the learners, learning styles, society, and your message. All of this takes development time and resources. In a perfect world, you will have the time to develop the best course possible because of the wonderful design and strategy, though I have found those ideals get compromised with deadlines and the misconception that online training is just a PowerPoint.
While there a lots of technology constraints and functionality in designing online course, I believe the larger constraints are changing the mentality of the others around you, namely the powers in charge. Technology can and will enhance the online education system, but the people's beliefs is where the greatest impact and/or impasse of the online education is.
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1 comment:
Hi Teri,
Just stopping by to say that our children are the same age! Maybe they will see each other online! Ack!
You made me think about the idea that online education is just another, among many, way to deliver education; and that is a good thing. Another way to reach out to a diverse learning community.
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