The Impact of Open Source

Stanford Engineering Online Course, Machine Learning, http://ml-class.org//

            For this week’s blog topic, I elected to examine Stanford Engineering Online course, Machine Learning presented by Professor Ng, the Director of Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab.  The instructional designer appears to have done a very good job at pre-planning the page layout for the course.  Its layout was designed to help students understand the orienting context, instructional context, and transfer context (Morrison, G., Ross, S. & Kemp, J., 2004).  Its introduction information was divided into five sections; “About The Instructor, About The Class, What is Machine Learning, Course Description, and What You Will Learn.”  Each section provided clarification of student responsibility, course expectation and provided each student with the elements of the principal, “What’s In It For Me, (WIIFM)”.  The course homepage presented a lot of information that was well balanced between text and YouTube videos, taking into account students’ different learning styles (Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. 2009).  In my opinion this online course creates the perfect distance learning environment that is conducive by providing students with all desired information to minimize student’s stress, keeping them informed, reviewing objectives for instruction, and providing example on how they will be evaluated (Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. 2009).

After viewing the online course, I concluded that the course was developed utilizing the ADDIE process.  In each of the sections the professor provided detailed information:

• As to whom they considered the course student population by stating what level of experience they assumed the student currently posed.
• Course objectives were addressed by outlining course expectation, course break down, and course assignment time line etc.
•  Method of instructions.  The students were provided an example of what they could expect to see during a lecture.  The lecture provided samples of activities that accompanied the lecture as method to re-enforce the learning objective.
• Methods of evaluation.  Within the lecture and from the course syllabus, students are provided check- on- learning questions, project assignments in which they were required to apply the information learned and lessons learned as methods of evaluation.
• Feedback methods.  The course provided a section where students or visitors could take the time to provide feedback of their experience with the course.

The course designer has implemented very effective course activities that maximize active learning for the students.  This was accomplished by chucking the information into smaller section for each lecture.  Within each of these lectures were check-on-learning activities that drew student to participate in the learning activity, as well test their knowledge.  The course also had a number of projects that the students had to complete before the course ended.  These projects allowed students to apply their understanding of the knowledge by putting them into practice.  Each of the activities could be measured by utilizing the principal of the Bloom’s taxonomy of the cognitive domain pyramid.  The course appears to start at the lowest level and continue upward towards evaluation (Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. 2009).

References

Wickham, S. (n.d.) Using the Power of W-I-I-F-M. EZine Articles. Retrieved on

Oct 9, 2011. From http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Wickham

Morrison, G., Ross, S., & Kemp, J. (2004). Designing effective instructions (4^th ed.).

New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and

 learning at a distance foundation of distance education (4^th ed.). New York: Pearson Education Inc.

The Integration of New Technology into E-Learning

As technology advances and becomes more accessible it’s understandable that these advances will affect how students will learn in the new age.  These changes are opening the doors for companies to develop user friendly applications creating newer generations of Web tools, providing new learning opportunities for students (Beldarrain, 2006).  

By creating a strategy plan that encompasses the special needs of the learning environment, customer’s expectation, the desired learning goals, and learning principles, an instructional designer can create effective online learning experience for students (Beldarrain, 2006). 

Based on the information detailed in each of the following examples, I recommend the following Web 2. Tool solutions:

Example 2: Interactive Tours - “A high school history teacher, located on the west coast of the United States, wants to showcase to her students new exhibits being held at two prominent New York City museums. The teacher wants her students to take a "tour" of the museums and be able to interact with the museum curators, as well as see the art work on display. Afterward, the teacher would like to choose two pieces of artwork from each exhibit and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art”.  

Recommend:

Video Podcast - offers students a method in which to receive information that connects them to the learning environment (Beldarrain, 2006).  

The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. uses video and lecture podcasts to provide students with a learning experience full of information connecting them to the world of art.

http://www.nga.gov/podcasts/index.shtm

Browser Plug Ins – ADOBE Shockwave player and ADOBE Flash player provides designers the tools to develop interactive learning environments for students.  These created learning environments allow students the ability to engage in learning activities to re-enforce student learning.

The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. uses browser plug-ins to create online interactive learning environments for children of all ages.  The Art Zone has a host of activities that fosters and re-enforces learning.  These activities allow students to apply their knowledge of art by creating their own art.

http://www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm

Example 3: Asynchronous Training – “In an effort to improve its poor safety record, a biodiesel manufacturing plant needs a series of safety training modules. These stand-alone modules must illustrate best practices on how to safely operate the many pieces of heavy machinery on the plant floor. The modules should involve step-by-step processes and the method of delivery needs to be available to all shifts at the plant. As well, the shift supervisors want to be sure the employees are engaged and can demonstrate their learning from the modules”.

Recommend:

YouTube Video – Allows educator to create quick instructional video guides that can be tailored to a specific topic that can be integrate onto the web or into a web based training product.  YouTube video applications offer mobile training thru apps that allow students to receive the information on the go thru their Smart phones, iPhones, Android phones, or Blackberries, (Shoaf, J., 2009).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C6js5JtCIQ

The above recommended Web tools all provide a form of collaboration, allowing students the means to activity participate in their learning.  

Reference:

National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Copyright © 2011

Shoaf, J. (2009). 3 Benefits to using YouTube in E-Learning, Integrated Learning Service. Retrieved September 25, 2011 from http://blog.integratedlearningservices.com/2009/12/3-benefits-to-using-youtube-in-your-e.html

Safety Videos Shop (2009). 10 Commandments of Workplace Safety (2009), Retrieved September 25, 2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C6js5JtCIQ

Distance Learning What It Means to Me

My Personal Definition of Distance Learning:

     My first exposure to distance learning formed the following impression and stuck with me until today.  When I hear the words "distance learning" or "online course",  I automatically think back to my first exposure, a PowerPoint without a teacher, a promise of a quick class and a mandatory requirement.  Never fully focused on the material just focused enough to follow the directions, clicking and clicking through slide, praying for these slides to come to an end but fearful that my finial click would lead me to a quiz, with a consequence of no certificate of completion of the course due to my lack of ability to recall the information to answer the questions.  This narrow thinking was support time and time again and held true over years.  Lending me to the same question each time "did anyone important take this class and if so, "why didn't they authorize someone to fix it or I hope we didn't pay full price for the development of this course", why did I have to take this course again?

My MindMap:

http://www.webspirationpro.com/view/982686a18c07

     I created my MindMap to represent my thoughts, of what the words distance learning means to me.   As me in the center,  I branched off into two different directions, first with the definition and the second with my vision of the future for this type of learning.  Although I feel distance learning has come a long way, I feel it still has more to go and will continue to evolve as time goes by.  I agree with the statement made by Dr.  Simons in this week's reading, that distance learning will never fully replace traditional learning methods.  Instead distance learning will work together acting as a bridge to bring together other thoughts and ideas that due to distance would never cross paths other wise.

    Reading through this weeks resources, I feel like someone has turned on a light, exposing me to the fact that I was in the dark about distance learning.  I didn't realize that distance learning had been around since 1833's and then was called mail correspondence.  Its hard for me to picture that this type of learning was effective back then but I can see how it was born from an idea to for fill a need and a desire to learn.
   
     As this need grew, history soon shows that others feel this type of learning had value and a purpose. Marking history with the University Chicago becoming the first to offer mail correspondence.  Distance learning's history continues through the year as technology starts to advance.  It seems that the two became partners during this evolution of discovery.  Mr. Evert Roger developed the "Diffusion of Innovation Theory, S Shape Curve",  pinpointing the need for change agents and acceptance, and with time no longer looked upon as a new idea but instead become the norm.   All contributed to defining the terminology which represents what distance learning has become, a method of learning that bridges resources, students, and teacher from distant places, all coming together to share new ideas, learning from each other verse learning from the teacher only.

     In summary, I feel more jobs will be opened and filled with trained personnel skilled in this method of learning.  All working together to design, meaningful, interactive, stimulating and purposeful training  courses that serve the needs of many, who other wise would not be able to receive the training.  Meeting the needs of students that traditional learning institution can't provide.  Although I feel distance learning needs will grow and evolve into possibly different meanings,  it wont fully replace traditional learning but instead work with traditional learning methods to provide everyone with the opportunity to learn.

Welcome To My Blog

Its the start of a new adventure and I can't wait to get started.  Learning and sharing with all of you my thoughts on distance learning but most of all I can't wait to read all of your thoughts on the subject.  I look forward to blogging with all of you soon.

Sandra

Reflection

     What I found surprising as I furthered my knowledge about how people learn is all the information and the depth of each, level and sublevels providing an insight that learning and humans are complex and depending on the number of different learning/environmental scenario a triggering factor of (X) amount of learning combinations (learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivations) can be used to design curriculum to satisfied an individual’s ability to maximizes their comprehension of the learning event.  The most important thing I learned is that you will not be able to factor each student’s learning method a 100% but by understanding the basic foundation of all the learning theories and how the other elements work together you will be able to define common learning patterns that best suited for the content and the majority of your target learning population (i.e. age, knowledge level, experience, ect).

     How has this course deepened my understanding of my personal learning process?  Before this course I thought I knew how I was able to learn new information but after these pasted eight weeks, I now realize that I only had a limit amount of knowledge about how I learned.  I have discovered that I use a combination of all the theories depending on the content or learning environment but I favor the learning styles of auditory and Tactile/Kinesthetic.  Explaining why I have a hard time staying focused and sitting still during long lectures and why I recall information if I hear it virus reading it first.  Never realized why I can recall some learned information and can’t remember; other information as if it was on the tip of my tongue.  I learn best when I can relate the information to past experiences, the foundation of the Constructivist Theory and Cognitive Theory.  I also found that I could learn faster if information is expressed in a group setting, sharing each other’s in trepidation utilizing the Social Learning Theory.  I learned that at different times my motivation it triggered by the “need for approval” to gain of acceptance and respect of my knowledge from my peers as well search for knowledge just to know, the “need for achievement” motivation.

     What I have learned these eight weeks regarding the connection between learning theories, learning styles, educational technology, and motivation; is two things first, in the beginning each theory was thought to be a new discovery, independent of each other.  Second they are in my opinion all parts and pieces of a whole in terms of how the brain intrepid, implies and stores information allowing a human to learn and function as they grow (e.g. steps of learning, the higher the step the deeper the learning).  They seem to me to act together as a learning evaluation; each piece addressing required action supported by a specific and/or combination of a mean (s), reinforced by a form of motivation, each when used properly increases the likely hood of recall.

     How will my learning in this course help me as I further my career in the field of instructional design?  This course will help me tremendously because with this new knowledge and skill that I have learned from this course about the different foundation of learning theories and how the other elements work in support of maximizing the learning effects for the student.  I now have as they say a deeper understanding of how to use “my tool in my toolbox” as well as a conformation that what I suspected about how human’s is true; inspiring me to feel confident to be more creative in my development of my future designed curriculum and to be open to the possibility that a learning solution might be just right outside the box of traditional instructional design.  I will end this with some inspirational quotes that I thought summed up my thoughts about what I have learned from this course:

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail by Abraham Maslow

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives by 
Clay P. Bedford

Aim for success, not perfection.  Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life.  Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism by David M. Burns

Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each by Plato 

21 Inspirational Quotes on Education by Henrik Edberg:  http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2007/04/20/21-inspirational-quotes-on-education/

Learning Theories Adventure

I have a deeper understanding of the different learning theories and learning styles, and to be honest it was sometime overwhelming all the information associated with each of them but it opened my eyes that learning is simple and complex; as well as learning occurs as an individual and/or in a group environment. I never put much thought into the assumption that learning is consent, and why we forget learned information but I have to admit I was surprised to find out the answer.  I learned a little bit about my own personal learning style, my strengths and weakness and how they work with my learning style preference.  All of this information has provided me with the insight to design better lessons for my student’s by understanding how different people learn and how to apply different or use a combination of strategies/theories/learning styles to design my lesson; providing the optimal benefit to my students.

      I have learned that I swing back and forth between several different theories (of Behavioral, Constructivist, Social and adult learning theories) depending on the subject or the learning situation.  I also discovered that I pull more towards the audio learning style and that I recall information better when it is relevant and familiar to me or I when I can discuss it with others.

        The role that technology has played in my learning was a very big surprise, I never was good with technology (Internets and blogs) or open discussions, and I was comfortable with the   same old methods of transferring knowledge with lectures and PowerPoint.  I never gave much thought to how new technology can help improve my lessons (never having access to the tools), or how I could reach more students, tapping into their best method of learning.  As mentioned previously (audio learner), I was sinking with all the required reading but I was able to reinforce my reading with YouTube video on the same subject, allowing me to hear the subject being presented, reinforcing my understanding of the information I was reading. The use of discussions allowed me to open up and share my thought; taking a change to express myself.  No matter what the level of my knowledge was at the time because the learning environment was safe to collaboration with my peers, everyone share their thoughts and experience allowing me the opportunity to grow my knowledge level.  I can see how the use of technology will benefit my students and help to improve my lesson designs.

    

Connectivism

My Link to: Connectivism Mind Map (click to view)
http://www.mywebspiration.com/publish.php?i=672248a5e29

Connectivism theory as defined by George Siemens, as a drive by which the individual understand that “decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations” (Siemens, 2005, para. 24).  Translate that as technology changes rapidly in today’s environment or as new information is discovered the learner must be able to filter though an overload of information to be able to determine the difference between important and unimportant information.  More importantly having the critical capability of realizing when new information becomes key altering previous made decisions.

Connectivism Theory is made up of a combination of three components: chaos theory, importance of networks, and the interplay of complexity and self-organization.

Chaos Theory:  Defining that related and unrelated events that seem uneventful; when study as a whole reveals patterns of relevance beyond the initial event itself, (Salmon, 1999, para. 5).  Creating what is referred to as “sensitive dependence on initial conditions” (1987, p.8).

Networks:  Analyzing rapid innovation of technology brings up a realism factor that we may no longer have to ability to learn and experience every part of a learning event and my creating networks will be able to share new ideas through developed communities and individual people expanding learning as a group; sharing viewpoint of learned experience bridging learning gap. (Siemens, 2005, para. 21).

Complexity and Self-Organization:  As Heylighen (2008) describes that learning is a balance of interactions that can’t be defined as only “order and disorder” but are based on the interacting agents and the degree of unpredictability and uncontrolled of the interaction that produces “global coordination and synergy”.  As defined by Luis Mateus Rocha (1998), she defines self-organization as a “spontaneous formation of well organized structures, patterns, or behaviors, from random initial conditions” (p.3).

As represented in my Connectivism Mind Map, I depict how my network has changed the way I now learn new information.  My mind map helped me to draw the conclusion the components of connectivism: Chaos, network and complexity/social-organization are being used by me to transfer knowledge.  My adventure starts with my “Social Network” that I can collaborate with them to clarify learning points and share ideas; bridging my learning gap with their personal knowledge and experience.  This diversity of individuals representing friends, and professional that toggles back and forth as mentors/coaches and friends/peers solidifying my understanding of the learning activity.  In this group environment allows me access to a knowledge based of information experts in field of my interest to ask questions and bump ideas off of them.  I utilize technology as my digital tools of YouTube, discussion board and Internet access to help me research information from other user to clarify information in my quest to seek knowledge.  Attending institution of higher learning, sharing case studies with other students allows me to also network gaining conformation of understanding as well as another perceptive of the information.  All of these tools within my network help me to address the complexities of learning.  As information changes the need to understand how to be flexible as a learner; understanding any decisions made today may no longer be correct tomorrow and that with technology is victim of “Half-Life”. With the capability to filter through important and unimportant information furthering my understanding of the new information. Tying all these components with my ability to “self-organizes” based on my learned behavior of my culture and the values that I have learned along the way; with my life learning experience allows me to draw from my interactive agents to learn new information.

In conclusion:  Connectivsm type of learning is useful and effective utilizing its components and is supported by my conclusion but I still prefer classroom environment guided by an instructor lead program.  This type of environment is most comfortable to me due to my limited “Social Network” in my new profession. 

• Web Article: Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Connectivism
  
• Blog: Connectivism: http://www.connectivism.ca/