Example 1:
Collaborative Training Environment
A new automated
staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and
needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff
is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same
time or in the same location.
As an
instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with
implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the
training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members
share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and
participate in ongoing collaboration.
|
Collaborative
Training
Environment
Scenario
|
I would like to consider
the needs and requirements of the learning context presented in Example 1: Collaborative Training
Environment below and recommend which technologies could provide solutions
in this situation.
Let’s review the needs
of Example 1: Collaborative Training
Environment:
Example
1: Collaborative Training Environment
|
A new automated staff
information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to
be implemented in six regional
offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the
different offices and cannot
meet at the same time or
in the same location.
As an instructional
designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop
for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how
imperative it is that the staff
members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing
collaboration.
To enhance and tailor a
distance learning experience to fit the needs and requirements of the learning
context itself presented in the Collaborative Training Environment in Example 1,
let’s develop a needs or requirement list to choose the applicable technology-based
solution for the scenario.
Assessment Needs:
|
Solution:
|
Cannot meet at the same time
|
Asynchronous
Delivery
|
Cannot meet in the same location
|
Internet
based
|
Staff members must share information, such as screen captures
and documents
|
Forum
to share information
|
Must be able to participate in ongoing collaboration
|
Forum to
Communicate
|
This scenario is really
is pretty straight forward in the distance learning community. As a matter of fact, the last two
Universities formatted their online learning courses using the same solution as
would apply to this case. This is a constantly growing trend in instruction for
schools and business alike.
“The
demand for distance education will only continue to grow. The ever-evolving nature
of technology will continue to push distance educators to use new tools to create
learning environments that will indeed prepare students to be life-long
learners, who can problem solve through collaboration with global partners” (Beldarrain,
2006, p. 150)
What we are talking about here is a CMS.
“Course
management systems (CMSs), also called learning management systems or virtual
learning environments are software systems designed to assist in the management
of educational courses for students, especially by helping teachers and
learners with course administration” (Simonson,
2012, p. 162) .
We will need an
internet-based software for this case.
“Ullman
and Rabinowitz (2004) more succinctly define course management systems as “Internet-based software that manages
student enrollment, tracks student performance, and creates and distributes
course content” (Simonson,
2012, p. 162) .
Both universities use
Blackboard for their delivery method to satisfy the needs of online learners. It might be helpful to explain the background
of Blackboard for those who are new to its use.
“Blackboard
is used by more than 70 percent of the U.S. colleges and universities named to
the Forbes.com Most Connected Campuses’ List. As of June 2006, the Blackboard
empire includes over 12 million users in over 60 countries. Products are
offered in 12 languages to over 2,200 learning institutions and contain more
than 2,500 supplements from educational publishers” (Bradford, 2007, p. 2) .
Ok, so what is
Blackboard exactly you may ask?
“A
brief history of Blackboard. Blackboard LLC was founded in 1997 by two
education advisors, Matthew Pittinsky and Michael Chasen, as a consulting firm
to provide technical standards for online learning applications. Blackboard LLC
was contracted to the IMS Global Learning Consortium, a worldwide non-profit
organization within the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative of
Educause. Blackboard’s vision was to
provide a user-friendly means by which college professors could put course
information, including syllabi, reference sites, and study guides, on the Web” (Bradford,
2007, p. 1)
CourseSites, which is
powered by Blackboard is the applicable technology-based solution for this
scenario that I would choose. Here are
some of the features of Course Sites from their website:
“Interactive, Free Online Learning
Platform
CourseSites
is a free, hosted online course creation and facilitation service that empowers
individual K–12 teachers, college and university instructors and community
educators to add a web–based component to their courses, or even host an entire
course on the Internet. You even choose your own URL, so students can find your
page easily.
Engage Your Students Anywhere, Anytime
Imagine
having your own interactive elearning platform, that allows you to post and
update course material, interact with students, promote collaboration, as well
as assess and improve performance –– anytime, anywhere, 24/7. All the online
teaching tools you need in one place!
Powered By Blackboard's Latest Technology
Powered By Blackboard's Latest Technology
CourseSites
is powered by the latest and greatest technology from Blackboard, including
Blackboard Learn™, Release 9.1, Blackboard Collaborate™, Blackboard Mobile™,
and Blackboard Connect™” (COURSEsites, https://www.coursesites.com/webapps/Bb-sites-course-creation-BBLEARN/pages/index.html).
CourseSites
is one solution for our scenario this week. In it we have an asynchronous
instruction vehicle that provides a venue for: discussion forums or
blogs, podcasts, and document sharing.
This permits a participant to engage in the course at different times,
in different places, collaborate with classmates and instructor, share
information such as screen captures and documents while being able to review
the information multiple times for understanding. The following sites could
augment the course, all for free:
In addition ,I would like to provide examples of the use of these
technologies by searching the Internet for two external resources that showcase
how these technologies have been successfully used in distance learning. Many Universities such as Walden
(www.waldenu.edu) and Ashford (www.ashfordu.edu) use the Blackboard CMS
delivery system for their classes. I am
confident that this will work well for our scenario this week.
References
Beldarrain, Y. (2006).
Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction
and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2), 139–153
Bradford, P.,
Porciello, M., Balkon, N. & Backus, D. The
blackboard learning system. (2007). The Journal of Educational Technology
Systems. Retrieved at http://uupinfo.org/research/working/bradford.pdf
Simonson,
M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and
learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston,
MA: Pearson
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