Week 7

I have experimented with many technologies that are or could be incorporated into a course management system. Those that are most reliable are always the most user friendly and common methods. Discussion/bulletin boards are the easiest for students to use because they don’t require any external devices or software other than a computer or cell phone. They also allow for interaction between all parties involved in the e-Learning process. Another big advantage is the asynchronous nature of the interaction. Students can engage in the discussion at their convenience and this makes for a much richer discussion. The only downfall that I can see with discussion boards is that there is no real sensory stimulation. It’s hard to be excited about a course (particularly an online course) when the interaction is primarily text based regardless of the subject matter being covered. I plan to use a discussion forum as a means to generate and gather feedback on class activities and issues. If I see that students are having similar issues or experiences, I will use this information to make adaptations within my instruction and provide additional support where needed.

I agree with Dr. Newberry when it comes to threaded discussions. They tend to be all over the place and there is no real structure to them, which makes it extremely difficult to follow or access specific information within a thread. Maybe that’s why it’s called a threaded discussion. I’m sure that there are sites out there that host these discussions in a manner that has structure and organization to it, but I have yet to come across these. I typically stick with the discussion features offered within the CMS and they work, but I won’t go out of my way to incorporate this into every lesson plan. If I were to use threaded discussions extensively, it would probably be to promote a holistic approach to problem solving and get an idea of where my students’ heads are at. This doesn’t really apply to the course that I’m developing, but I will perceivably incorporate it as a means to address student concerns and facilitate the creative thought process for composing music.  The real benefit to using threaded discussions is the interactions between students, content and instructor. They are flexible in that they can be student-led or instructor-led and dynamic in that new topics can be introduced at any point in the conversation. Though they seem to mimic a face-to-face class discussion, I find that this form of communication is most effective when used sparingly.

Streaming video is becoming more and more commonplace in eLearning and there are many new ways to capture or deliver this media. In fact, most new cell phones and iPods have the capability to access the internet and play streaming video. There are many sites that allow users to enter the URL to an online video and convert it to a portable video that can be saved transferred to different devices.  You can even extract the audio from a video and import it as an mp3 to your iPod. I personally prefer to do this if the audio is descriptive enough and place the mp3 on a flash drive where I play it in my car via an usb reader on my car stereo. There are also many applications and sites available that will process videos or slideshows that you’ve produced and convert them to a flash movie to be viewed online or generate an html code that allows you to embed your video. Some that I use are Adobe Media Encoder and longtailvideo.com. You can also post a video on Youtube and automatically add captions and retrieve the embed code to post your video anywhere on the web. Sharing video online is so easy now that many of the discussions within social networking sites either have videos embedded or a video as the topic of the discussion. With the advancements of portability and accessibility, the only real disadvantages of using video within an online course would be the lack of interaction and possibly user characteristics. You would have to have a really outdated computer or dial up internet for video to be an unreliable media. If either of these were the case, the user probably shouldn’t be taking online courses in the first place.

Podcasts are another effective means of delivering content in eLearning because of their portability and accessibility. Because they are non-streamed and the file sizes are so small they can be downloaded in seconds and uploaded to almost any portable device that plays audio these days. They can be especially effective in eLearning when delivered through what is called a RSS feed. This allows a user to subscribe to a podcast or series of audio/video files and automatically receive these files as once they have been posted. I prefer this means of delivery because there is no additional effort required from the user to access the podcast once established. Unlike typical methods of delivering media such as streamed webcasting or direct download, an application known as a podcatcher can be configured to automatically access the podcast and check for new files and download them to your phone or computer. If my instruction didn’t require the student to reproduce what is being taught on a computer, I would opt to incorporate RSS feed into my CMS. Like with video, the primary downfall with podcast is the lack of interaction between student-student and student-instructor.

I tend to try to be on the cutting edge of technological advancement. I do my best to stay informed on advancements and new features introduced in software that I use regularly as well as implementing newly established applications to optimize my workflow. That being said, I would ultimately like to have dynamic video presentations embedded within a PDF guide that include direct links to the corresponding discussion forum/threads and additional resources on the web. I know that if the subject matter was solid and the course layout was simple and accessible, integrating these presentations would positively impact on the learning experience. I am only hesitant to use video as my main means of delivering information because of potential end user’s characteristics. I can offer these videos in mp4 format so that they would be viewable on iPods and mobile phones, but this would essentially defeat the purpose. The purpose for my instruction would be not only to introduce the processes and procedures, but also to serve as a guide for users to reference simultaneously while duplicating the processes presented. A podcast would serve no purpose without accompanying video or images to display the processes unless the user had prior knowledge of the devices being utilized. Bandwidth and ADA compliance are also issues that could come into play. A downloadable PDF with images including alt text rather than video would be my alternative to address these issues.

There are advantages and disadvantages to all forms of communication in eLearning. It is up to the instructor to assess the variables and custom tailor a combination of methods for delivering content and inspire interaction amongst the learning group. Like in marketing, the decisions made during the process of developing and delivering a message is ultimately dictated by the target market. As an instructor, one of the toughest tasks is to define this target market (students) and prescribe a lesson plan that will best accommodate all possible variables. These variables range from prior knowledge to socio-economic class. I presume that the most significant changes to an online course occur in the first year and decrease from year to year as the instructor learns his or her audience and their tendencies.