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ACC Distance Learning Course Design and Delivery
DESIGNING A DL COURSE WITH TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA IN MINDWhen designing a DL course, it is very important to consider the impact and role of technology. Technology is the primary way that course content is delivered and it is the primary way that students interact with the course content and with the instructor. Initially, an instructor needs to consider what the minimum hardware and software requirements, connection speeds, as well as what the minimum technological skill level of the students needs to be to successfully complete the course. What kind of players and plug ins will be required? Which ones will be recommended? Are links available to the student to obtain these plug ins as well as the required software? Once the minimum technology considerations have been established, the next thing for a DL instructor to consider is which technology tools will be used to facilitate communication and interaction. There are a variety of tools available within Blackboard, such as Wimba audio tools, which the instructor can use. The decision to use this tools, then results in some additional considerations, such as will the students be allowed to record messages or will only the instructor be able to record audio messages? Will a microphone be part of the required hardware requirements for the class? Have alternative technology arrangements been made available to students and communicated to them? (i.e. learning lab for headphones, etc.) If streaming media is going to be used, which kind of streaming media? Will the student need additional plug ins or players (i.e. Flash or Windows Media Player) to view this material? If so, have links and instructions been provided to students so they can obtain the necessary software and plug ins? What are the bandwidth considerations of offering streaming or other media? Does offering this streaming media mean that students will be required to have a higher minimum Internet connection speed? Is it required that they have an Internet service provider? If not, what alternative arrangements have been made for them to access the media? Have alternative viewing arrangements been established? (i.e. ACC library) What, if any, alternative viewing arrangements have made for students who reside outside of Austin? In addition to communication and interaction, which technology tools will be used in the DL course to facilitate learning? How will technologies such as Wimba audio tools, discussion forums, blogs, wikis, Flash and other animations, streaming video, video players, various instructional software, secure online testing using Respondus, etc. Along with the technology tools to facilitate communication, interaction and learning, teaching strategies on how to best use the technology to obtain course outcomes need to designed. How will the technology tools be used to enhance student learning and how will technology support the course's learning objectives. How will the interactions be used? One way? Two way? Asynchronous? Live? How quickly will the instructor respond to student inquiries and what technology tools will be used? Email? Voice email? Teleconferencing? Virtual office hours using Wimba's Voice Direct (live chat), etc. Online Resources: Web, Video, Audio, & GraphicsHow a DL instructor chooses to use graphics, web sites, audio, video and other media in a DL course, is an important aspect of course design and it helps to improve a DL course's level of interactivity which can help ensure a course complies with Best Practice guidelines. Graphics, audio, video and other multimedia are useful tools that can be implemented by distance learning instructors to engage students and to help promote interactivity.
There are three types of learners, visual, auditory and tactile/kinesthetic. It is important to take these learning styles into consideration when developing an DL Course and when deciding what type of media to use for the course. Research shows people remember:
As a result of this research, the more a DL instructor can use visual and auditory elements, in addition to merely using text, the greater the likelihood that students will remember and retain the course information. Guidelines for Selecting MediaSome things to keep in mind when selecting media material are:
When designing the use of media in a DL course, it is recommended for the instructor to address some of the following questions:
When showing a video program, clip or other media, instructors should inform students how the media ties in and relates to other course materials. Audio Resources-WimbaWimba is an audio plug-in for Blackboard. It is automatically included as one of the available resources within Blackboard's course content area. For more information on Wimba go to: http://dl.austincc.edu/wimba.Audio is an excellent tool for a DL instructor to use in order to add interactivity to a DL course. With all of the standard Wimba tools that are already available within Blackboard, interactive audio resources are the quickest and easiest for an instructor to implement into a DL course. The basic tool that a DL instructor needs to record audio is a microphone. An inexpensive and easy to use microphone is a headset microphone. (i.e. Cyber Acoustics makes a model that is under $30) Some of the audio tools which are currently available in Bb are:
ImagesACC has an online free image gallery which includes licensed use of Associated Press images for educational purposes. For more information on this gallery of images visit: http://irt.austincc.edu/digitalimages/galleries_free.html. Images can help support a class topic. they are visual representations of what is being discussed and can greatly improve a student's retention of the course content:
Effective use of graphics can help to engage students. Chances are good that a relatively high percentage of students will be visual learners, meaning that the primary way they process and retain information is visually. Therefore, the more captivating the graphics used in a DL course, the greater the likelihood that important course concepts will be retained. Like all media, some thought should be given to how the graphics used support the course's learning objectives. For additional ACC digital image resources, visit: http://irt.austincc.edu/digitalimages/ . Charts and graphsIf there is a lot information, especially numerical information, a chart or graph may be the best way to condense it into a format which is easy to visually comprehend for the students. One way to create charts or graphs is to develop them in Excel and then cut and paste them into a PowerPoint slide or save them as a web page. Some examples of different ways you can present information visually are charts and graphs, pie charts, bar graphs, stacked bar graphs, line graphs, organizational charts, flowcharts Due to the impact of color in graphs or detailed charts, limit the number of colors or shades to five or six per graph and one or two for text. After you have decided on the technology and media you intend to use for your course, the next step is to design a testing and assessment strategy for your course. Download Adobe Reader to view and print PDF files. |