Friday 18 October 2013

A Best Practice Guide


“The heart of distance education is the concept of separation of teacher and learner” Simonson et al (2013). Successfully engaging learners in the online experience results in successful learning. Therefore successfully presenting a course of study at a distance requires a great deal planning, and consideration given to the four major components of the online instructional environment, the Learner, the Instructor, the Method of Communication and the Course Content and Activities.
Before creating new online learning environments or converting existing face-to-face classrooms to an online format, instructors, facilitators, instructional designers and subject matter experts should ensure that the learners experience success. Click the link below to download a copy of the best practice guide.
Reference:
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson. Chapter 5 “Instructional Design for Distance Education”.

 
 

5 comments:

  1. Pat, I'm not sure why, but I can't see your guide! Do I have to have a Screencast account?

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    1. Thanks Lesley. Please try again. I've changed the location of the file. Click on Best Practice Guide again then look to the top of the popup box and click Download this media. You shouldn't need an account with Screencast to see the file.

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    2. I had to download it, but I got it to work. :-) Glad it was an easy fix. Now to put the finishing touches on my own. Eek!

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  2. I like the tips that you highlight in your guide. I had not considered specifically the size of the training course when I analyzing the situation, but this definitely would be an important thing to consider for choosing appropriate activities as you mentioned. I can also see how this would be important too in determining whether or not there would be a need for dividing the course participants into subgroups for discussions or course projects. Great suggestions overall for the trainer to follow!

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