A Discussion of how learning theories are applied to distance education
|
Since distance education has been an evolving field, it all centers around what has been commonly called as instruction technology. The mission of instruction technology has always been the transformation of education through technology by creating engaging, effective learning experiences with the integration of mobile devices, blended learning, cloud infrastructure, virtual reality, and other adaptive technologies. As the pace of these new technologies in the classroom accelerates, schools have to enable students to identify and overcome any hurdles that might incur in adopting these new innovations that can enhance the classroom experience.
|
Now what has happened is that the pandemic has ushered in a new era of digital convergence. It is a fundamental evolution of the structure and environment of education in schools. What has happened is educators need to connect with students so that instruction has remained continuously relevant and engaging, even in diverse situations.
|
|
|
One of the new technologies that has had to take the forefront for distance education, especially the way it was thrust upon us due to do the pandemic, is video conferencing tools. Allowing teachers who previously only taught in-person new ways to make their lectures and lessons more engaging while keeping their students' attention. Instructors can use various technologies, from simply prerecording or live streaming their classes to interactive video conferencing software.
|
In addition to the convenience of online learning, instructors and students can benefit in multiple ways from distance learning through tools such as video conferencing. It allows teachers and students to share documents and files in real time. Video conferencing applications facilitate interaction by bringing students together. Third, video conferencing will enable educators to record the lecture or the lesson for future reference and further help by studying the material and exam preparation by replaying it. Also, video conferencing can facilitate bringing in subject matter experts, such as guest lectures; this can be accomplished whether physically located in the same county or halfway across the globe, thus creating a more engaging environment. Finally, video conferencing encourages interaction and collaboration between students and teachers, making students more motivated and engaged in their learning experience.
Another fundamental shift in the classroom is that the whiteboard has evolved into the interactive board, sometimes known as the smart board. Thus a well-implemented interactive whiteboard solution works perfectly with distance learning, especially with video conferencing, because classrooms might have a combination of students present at the school and some students connected remotely.
|
|
These solutions allow educators to turn standard lectures into interactive activities by engaging various learning styles in one experience. For example, students using interactive boards can learn by touching, seeing, hearing, and collaborating with the board. Thus intelligent interactive boards equip educators with innovative ways to teach the same subject material. Moreover, as a result, the students learn better and yield other benefits.
- Interactive boards require much less maintenance and are clean because there is no chalk or markers. So there's ease.
- Interactive boards allow educators to create lessons that inspire students using photos, graphs, maps, and videos. So there's a lot of flexibility involved.
- Interactive whiteboards are connected to the internet, which is vital for this new high flex distance learning environment. Teachers can enhance and support their lessons with videos, articles, images, and learning tools by giving educators a resource of readily shareable online tools and information.
- And finally, integration. The interactive boards can be attached to computers, microscopes, cameras, and webcams, all to enhance education.
|
Another critical component necessary for distance education in our modern classroom design is the learning management system. A learning management system is a tool that helps school communities manage face-to-face, blended, and online learning environments. The idea is that this LMS has this built-in versatility that allows educators to create and facilitate learning communities and engage parents, students, and educational partners, partners in student learning.
|
This ties in with the need for mobile devices. Today's students might have a computer in the classroom and a laptop in front of them. You might also have a tablet or a smartphone. So the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices has scaled to a degree that has never been seen before, putting a tremendous burden on infrastructure. So today, one of the most significant things is having constant, anytime, high-bandwidth connectivity for students. Putting all these parts together gives you a framework of the current challenges and state of distance education in educational design.
Learning theory, which has meant to explain and help us understand how people learn.
|
|
- As part of this process, we're looking to gain the students' attention. Describe the goals, stimulate prior knowledge, present the material to be learned, provide guidance for learning, elicit performance, provide feedback, assess performance, and enhance retention and transfer. Exactly, as if we were in a standard classroom,
- Social constructive, an evolution of constructivism, is all of these significant learning theories get brought into the current distance learning model, which has been coined high-flex.
References
Digital Convergence. (2022). Digital Convergence. Dadeschools.net. https://digital.dadeschools.net/#!/
Hybrid-Flexible Course Design. Hybrid-Flexible Course Design. Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://edtechbooks.org/hyflex
Reiser, R., & Dempsey, J. (2017). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (What's New in Ed Psych / Tests & Measurements) (4th ed.). Pearson.
Hybrid-Flexible Course Design. Hybrid-Flexible Course Design. Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://edtechbooks.org/hyflex
Reiser, R., & Dempsey, J. (2017). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (What's New in Ed Psych / Tests & Measurements) (4th ed.). Pearson.