T6: So You Want to be a Distance Educator?
Monday, March 18 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
Terri L. Demmon, Indiana University South Bend
Valerie Larsen, Indiana University South Bend
Elaine Bennington, Ivy Tech State College
Instructor email: tdemmon@iusb.edu
Learning is no longer limited to the four walls of a classroom, but before the fun begins in the high tech environment of distance learning (DL) classrooms much planning and preparation must occur to assure positive and successful experiences for faculty and students. Every distance education program should begin with a clear understanding of the learner, the objectives of the course, and the institutional goals. Educators need to understand the terminology, the challenges of time and space, the assumptions and premises for learning, and the true assessment of learning activities.
We will explore five steps for designing and developing a DL course; key issues in determining appropriate media platforms for DL delivery, planning and marketing strategies, course and instructional development, resources and support, and evaluation.
Topics of discussion will include ideas on instructional design changes to current lesson plans to enhance the learning experience via DL technologies; and levels of evaluation for students, the course, the technologies used, and the education team involved in the process of providing DL, tips and tools to foster communication within the DL environment, and the "Do's and Don'ts" for presentations. As time allows, the group will consider DL issues with the Internet and interactive video.
Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
describe 5 key steps to developing a distance learning course
compare and contrast DL/regular classrooms
to engage in multiple levels of evaluation associated with the distance learning environment
Audience:
Administrators or faculty who wish to understand the process of creating a distance learning course. The activities will not require the use of a computer or other electronic technologies.
Participants will work in groups and pairs throughout the workshop. Feel free to bring a course you would like to convert to a DL course to use in discussions.