Section 7: New Directions for Instructional Design and Technology

• From Chapter 28 locate 5 examples of distributed learning. You may pick and choose from the following list.  
• Corporate distributed learning

Boeing Corporation, as the country’s leading defense manufacturer, has made good use of distributed learning for corporate use.  The company has developed Networked Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) Mission Training Centers in Clovis, New Mexico and Wilmington, Delaware, which allow pilots, maintenance, and ground personnel to train on various pieces of equipment both, physically and virtually.

• Academic distributed learning

I was surprised to learn that the University of North Texas offers a Master’s degree in Distributed Learning Librarianship.  According to their web site, their purported purpose is as follows:  “The Distributed Learning Librarianship program is designed for graduates planning on working in a library or information center that supports distributed learning. The goals of this program are to provide a grounding in information and telecommunication technologies that underpin distributed learning, an understanding of copyright and intellectual property issues, and a knowledge of the issues facing those providing library services to students in a distributed learning environment.”



• Hybrid classes

The University of California, San Diego offers hybrid courses for its extension class offerings.  This is touted as a fairly evenly split course design, with half the meetings being face to face and the other half being delivered online.  This allows students both flexibility and control over their learning.

• Virtual classes

The Texas Virtual School Network was created by the state legislature in 2007.  This allows participating public and charter schools to offer students an alternative method of gaining either high school or dual credit through online course distribution.

• For-profit distributed learning

The University of Phoenix is a great example of the for-profit distributive learning environment.  Within this business model, classes are all taught online, thus saving the company the cost of faculty and buildings.  The student also has the ease of choosing when and where to participate in classes.  Although there may be some synchronous class meetings, the vast majority of these are asynchronous in nature.  It is important for the potential student at this type of institution to weigh the relative advantage of flexibility to the potential of a lessened value per dollar.

• 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.

Probably the course with the least amount of reusability was a Philosophy of Education course that I took while pursuing my undergraduate degree at Texas A&M.  The course was taught in a lecture format by a distinguished professor.  The insight and passion that the professor brought to the class made the material come to life.  However, this is not a replicable commodity; for some there is a gift of speaking and teaching a group.  This was something he possessed.  That being said, the only manner of replication might be to have the course recorded and present it online.  Although this method would inherently lose some of the magic from being in the presence of a gifted lecturer, it would probably still be a better presentation than another format or structure.

• Chapter 30 takes a look at using rich media. Find or create a visual for instruction describing its surface and functional features. 

Because of the many features that are blocked within my district, one of my favorite sites to get videos to share with my students is www1.teachertube.com.  The following is a sample video that exposes students not only to another way of visualizing the information, but it appeals to those that have a musical learning style.  This video would best be used as an opening to the lesson.  In my experience, when I have used music to relate to a learning objective, my students want to hear the music over and over for their own edification and reinforcement.
 http://www1.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=15395&title=50_States_and_Capitals__cartoon_song_

• 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.  

Considering the vast pieces of information that are contained within a school system, a very useful implementation would be a card or electronic file that that contained all of a student’s academic information from one point to the other.  Perhaps because Dallas is an urban district, or possibly because the nature of ELL’s seems to be more transient than the general population; but, it seems that students

can move from one district to the other before their instructional level and courses can catch up with them. 

• 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?

Although I can see the value of the honing in on a path and critically developing that skill, as an educator I don’t believe that I could ever philosophically negate the value of creativity and the development of ideas.  Thus, for me, I would always have to walk the road of the broad and inclusive.  To limit ourselves to only predetermined concepts without the flair of creativity, is unconscionable.