Expectations of Blended e-Learning, Final Post

Expectations of Blended e-Learning Course
My expectations for this course were to gain a better understanding of the course topic, Blended e-Learning, which I know has happened, and add to my course requirements for my MSIT degree, and get the best grade I could get, which I believe I came close to achieving. As I mentioned in my initial blog, I had no clue what exactly Blended e-Learning was when I began this class. It has almost felt like a window into the office of Dr. Byers. Coupled with my experience in Instructional Design, I am beginning to make sense of the method behind what I initially thought was Dr. Byers’ madness, if you will excuse the expression. All of the pieces are beginning to fit together.

The blended part is the combination of what I now know is synchronous and asynchronous coursework, and the “e” part is the fact that it is all virtual, well, except for the work – and once again, quite a bit of work it was! I have decided that while summer courses may seem better because you get the same credit in half as much time, it is evened out by having twice as much work in that amount of time.

I still do not enjoy some aspects of these e-courses, the blended part, having so much to do, while I could almost sit back and be served with a traditional class setting. These blended classes cause me to be more involved and participative, resulting in an increase in my retention and understanding of new material. It reminds me of my first Physics class in college, with Dr. Medina, who was very mature and very traditional. The quote I recall was, “I teach you the theory, you work the problems.” Well, he did just that. Sometimes this blended e-learning mode appears to be just that, except the only real teaching that goes on is slight guidance from Dr. Byers and researching on my own, within my group, and then listening to presentations by fellow groups on the instructional material. I don’t like it, I sort of resent it, but darn if it doesn’t work. I do wish it could be a little more fun and less dry, but this is still pretty new stuff to me, so I will have to wait for that I guess.

Sixth Reflection, Blended e-Learning

My learning experience about synchronous tools for e-learning delivery consisted of reading the required reading article, reviewing the required reading website, and the link concerning the comparison of Blackboard and Moogle, and reflecting on my personal experience with Blackboard. The only CMS I have experience with is Blackboard 6.0, so this was the one I chose to discuss. At first glance, I thought this would be an easy assignment, (thankfully, since it is the last!), however I had to put quite a bit of thought into the characteristics of the software and the advantages/disadvantages because having had now two courses using it, it has become second nature for me. I noticed that I take it for granted. I grumble about it sometimes, but it has become part of my routine for the online classes I have taken.
I had to recall my initial impression of the system from last spring's ID course and the things I was impressed by. I hadn’t taken any college class at all in 25+ years, much less an online class, and as I have said before, I was intimidated to say the least. Recalling my confidence with my computer skills when I began the MSIT program, I was a bit overconfident with my ability to use the software, but once I had a few pointers and had my questions answered, I felt much relief, and my confidence increased. I realized that this tool was amazing.
Learning that there was another CMS (actually, it seems, dozens), Moogle, which was compared with Blackboard in one of the reading for the assignment was interesting. I had heard folks complain a little about Blackboard, but had never experienced anything else and had nothing to compare it to, but the surveys done by the researchers of the article clearly showed a slight preference for the freeware, Moogle. I found that interesting. I would like to give Moogle a try after reading those survey results.
I also learned from reading my group-mates’ responses that there are many features which Blackboard offers that I was unfamiliar with – the Whiteboard capability, the details on the assessment capabilities, and while I noticed a difference in the appearance between the course materials for this class vs. Instructional Design, the ability to revise the appearance of the tool itself. I do know that on the Navigation bar of Blackboard, there are tools which we have not used for either class, and I noted in one of the articles that many instructors use Blackboard as a PART of their instruction, while for our online classes (at least the asynchronous part) it comprises the entirety of our asynchronous part, whereas Centra is only really used for the weekly class meeting of 3 or so hours.
Learning some of the potential of Blackboard and the realization that there are many other CMS tools available had piqued my curiosity. I hope to have the opportunity experience other systems as my progress in the MSIT program continues.

Fifth Blog Reflection, Blended e-Learning

My learning experience with web-based assessment was more positive than I thought it might be following the tedious work of preparing a web safari. Beginning these tasks always appears more daunting at the onset. Evaluating the experience after completing the task is the true test of its difficulty. I need to remember that when I procrastinate!
I believe I made the thought of this exercise more difficult than necessary, because I imagined having to look up additional information on asking the right questions, prepping proper multiple choices, etc., but luckily I was able to recall some of that information we were given in my Instructional Design class. When I combined that material with my experience, by far the biggest job was to determine which questions to use in the assessment and then to find the answers!
That part of the exercise reinforced my admiration for teachers. Making a test is harder than taking a test.
I was also a bit worried about the difficulty of learning yet another piece of software. I have often felt overwhelmed when using software such as Powerpoint and Centra and making the Blog, and even Word sometimes. Seems like by now I would be a pro at all that but I still have a bit of that anxiety. Combining that with the realization that I would be required to link the assessments to my webpage, which had not gone down too easily, I was once again a little stressed. To add even more stress, I had missed the entire week beforehand doing absolutely NO computer work at all, and I was out of my routine that I had just newly created. Oh, yes, and while I am lamenting, I should mention that creating the safari had been extremely frustrating, finding the proper links, preparing the html code, and getting things all linked together was maddening, so the thought of linking this creation from a new piece of software was less than appetizing.
I had no choice but to dive in. I began by deciding which two types of assessment I wanted to do. I chose the jcross and the jmatch just for the heck of it. Then I began gathering my assessment information from the notes I had taken with my Pastor on the confirmation class. I had categorized these into four groups: Church History, People, Missions, and Church Growth. There were more references in the Church History and Missions categories, and the fewest in the Church Growth, so I decided to do ten questions: four on History, three on Missions, two on People and one on church growth, using the same breakdown for both jmatch and jcross. I needed twenty questions and answers. That took some time, but once I had that I was ready to begin with Hot Potatoes. It actually turned out much easier than I thought it would. Except one problem. The jcross was very small (8 letters by 8 letters), and the jmatch only allowed five questions. So I realized that I had prepared twice as much material as I had needed. I really got frustrated with the jcross, because it was maddening trying to assemble the answers in such a way as they would fit. I ended up eliminating questions based on how they fit into the puzzle so my breakdown was moot. When I did the jmatch, I realized that if I was going to have a year as an answer, I would have to have two questions referring to a year, and that limited my ability to follow my breakdown as well. For the five questions, two pairs of questions had either numbers or names for answers and the fifth had the extra word (the list provides six answer possibilities) which would be similar to the answer to maintain the challenge.
That was the biggest part of the exercise, or so I thought. Then it came time to link it all together. I think that sometimes the biggest frustration with getting this degree comes from my lack of strong skills with any given software. Maybe it is because of my age, these young kids seem to pick things up so much faster and remember it so much better. (the old dog/new tricks syndrome I suppose). I tell myself that they don't have the responsibilities I have, my mind is crowded with too many other things, that's why couldn't keep my sanity when I linked my assessments to my lesson home page.
Luckily Dr. Byers helped me to realize that the template I had used in Dreamweaver had been the culprit. Live and learn. The downside is that I might not remember next class!!!
It felt good to get it all done, and get it all assembled. When Dr. Byers showed my Daniel Urbina's assessment page, where he had done more than the required two, it made me want to go back and add more to the assessment, because it really did not feel complete. I hope to do that, and I will add it to my to do list, however just today I realized that my project is due in ONE WEEK!!!

Fourth Blog Reflection, Blended E-Learning

My learning experience of exploring the use of Scavenger Hunts, AKA Web Safaris, in blended e-learning was interesting. As with previous exercises, the first thing I had to do is figure out just exactly what a Web Safari was. It was a little confusing, because there was some similarity with the Web Safari and the WebQuest. The links to the Web Safaris provided by Dr. Byers helped me to discern that the Web Safari was almost akin to a section of a WebQuest. The Web Safari links, which were all of nearly identical format and created by one person, showed what appeared to be simplistic ‘worksheets’ requiring the learner to answer questions or extract information using links embedded in the questions. Links to additional information are usually provided at the bottom of the page, as well as a means of contacting the creator of the Web Safari. Web Safaris were not specifically mentioned, but the components of the Safaris were discussed as tools to enhance learning in the article Emerging Technologies: Language in Action: From Webquests to Virtual Realities., by Robert Goodwin-Jones.
I visited all of the Web Safari links provided in the additional resources suggested by Dr. Byers and used them as my foundation. Our group met and because I was to miss class, I wanted to put forth additional effort in hopes that my grade would not be affected so I volunteered to prepare the Web Safari for our group presentation. So, I will be discussing that experience, which was mirrored by my experience designing my personal project Web Safari.(I figured it wouldn’t be THAT big of a deal to make them both…) Little did I know.
Since two of my fellow group members were both doing a blended e-learning project on Mathematics, it seemed natural to do the Safari on that subject. I have just finished the Intro. to Website Development class, and felt somewhat comfortable using the WYSIWYG editor provided by Dr. Byers. I felt that the most challenging part of the preparation would be using that editor and developing the HTML code for the Safari. Little did I know.
The two math geeks, Rich and Corey, (I told them I was qualified to call them that, since I have a minor in Mathematics) came up with the most obscure questions possible for me to design the safari by. I know this because it took me FOREVER to find the answers to the questions in the context that they were originally asked, and in one case I had to change the question so the point was made but a link could realistically be used to get the answer. Additionally, my personal Web Safari related to John Calvin, who is very well known in religious circles, but the unbiased information on him was not available in massive quantities.
As a result of my effort for the group, the design portion of the Safari development was NOT the most challenging part of the exercise. In fact, it became the more enjoyable part. I have reinforced my respect for those who teach for a living by performing this exercise. Coming up with suitable questions is one challenge, which with my experience in both the group Web Safari creation and my own personal project Web Safari, pales in comparison to finding appropriate links, especially when it seems important for student interest and experience to ensure that different links for each question is a key component.
Luckily, since I had created the Safari for the group, I was able to take the format, which did take quite a bit of time as well, and make the revisions in the text and links to create my personal Safari. Again, getting the links for the questions was VERY time consuming, when choosing those which were most stimulating and varied from question to question.

Third Reflection, Blended e-Learning

My learning experience of defining and designing the interface for my lesson was a frustrating one to say the least. In an effort to produce something useable, I am making a lesson for the 7th and 8th grade Confirmation class at my Presbyterian church. I just completed the Intro. To Website Development class, and my final project was to design a website, and I chose to do one for my church. Learning HTML was a challenge, especially over six weeks, with various holidays and missing a weeks’ worth of class. I got just familiar enough with Dreamweaver to do some damage, but I know enough to know that using it will make my work come together more quickly.
It was my desire to maintain the consistency between this project and the website project, since it is my goal to integrate the lesson into the website once it is complete.
Reading the articles about the importance of interface design reinforced and reminded me that just like painting, it takes longer to prepare for the main job, than it does to actually do the main job! I knew all of that was important, I had just forgotten HOW important.
As previously mentioned, it was my desire to maintain consistency with the website already completed, so I chose to use the same CSS for both projects. I also wanted to make it unique for their class, so I chose an older photo which the church had provided for the website.
However, getting back into working with HTML code was extremely frustrating. I will presume that working with it on a daily basis greatly enhances one’s chances of keeping the knowledge at the forefront of memory and understanding, and I had been enjoying my break from it just a little TOO long. Coming up with a design that would maintain interest from the learners, ensuring that all the elements we had discussed in class were included (the links in the navigation bar, et c.) took some thinking, but actually translating the design from paper to webpage was overwhelming at times.
I had typical code problems, typos, misnamed files, mislocated files, et c. which further enflamed the process. Then when it came time to try and figure out how to post it, there was an additional obstacle. Now that I am familiar with Dr. Byers’ class format, I think I can pretty well keep things on track, but then something like that can cost me hours of frustration! I eventually chose to post it to the MSIT server as a url, but then there were technical difficulties there as well, although they were eventually overcome. It was a relief to have it done, and then I had to move on to the next big stumbling block, the Scavenger Hunt!

Blended E-Learning, Second Blog Post

Second Blog Reflection
Blended e-Learning

My learning experience of defining blended e-learning began with my desire to understand just what this course was about. I couldn’t remember which class I had registered for, for the second half of the summer term, although I knew it was with Dr. Byers, and when I learned the name of the course the first thought I had was, “what the heck is ‘blended e-learning’?” Even after receiving the course materials, I was still not sure. I found it rather fortuitous that my first assignment was just that!
My first step in learning the definition was to read the required reading. Coming from a science background, I again found myself absorbing material that at first glance appears rather vague. Sometimes it seems like this educational material is created by people who are too wordy. I am still more accustomed to “Just the facts, m’am.” Understanding learning theories, describing teaching tools, et c., is a huge contrast from understanding chemistry or mathematics. The former has a more generalized range of focus because there ar so many variations on how to accomplish the goal, whereas the latter is very specific and focused, and rarely has alternative methods to reach the end.
So, once again, I found myself somewhat bothered when presented with reading materials for which I had to broaden my focus to the whole picture. I read and underlined pertinent facts in the article of required reading, Blended Learning Environments: Definitions and Directions. I needed this information to complete my first Blog. I also printed out all of the articles which I could gain access to (a couple of the links didn’t work for me), and was specifically focused on the article titled Blended e-Learning, since it had a specific definition of what this course is titled.
In my need to simplify a large volume of information into a few succinct words, I focused in on the phrase from the blended learning article above, “Blended learning combines face-to-face with distance delivery systems.” I understood that blended learning was a combination of self-study in any format, combined with instructor-led study in any format. Likewise, I was able to deduce that blended e-learning is an extension of blended learning, which takes place in electronic form. Voila! I had my simplified definitions. Simplified definitions require a greater knowledge of the whole, however, so I must keep in mind the rather large variation in the phrases “self-study” and “instructor-led study.” I had a bit of a scare during the group compilations, when I consistently heard the others stating something to the effect that either type of blended learning always included electronic media. I questioned my understanding, but I have come to believe that perhaps my personal definition of the two works best for me as long as when explaining it to others I am sure to be more specifically detailed about the components of ‘independent study’ and ‘instructor-led study.’
As much as I like to grumble about all of the work involved in Dr. Byers’ courses, the reading, the blogs, the documents and presentations provided, the discussion postings, the group work, the projects, I try to look at it as I do literature or poetry. Each piece in the whole is linked to the others, they are synergistic, forming a more unified picture, i.e., ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.’ In a way, that is what blended learning and blended e-learning are to me. All of the theories and definitions are integrated resulting in a greater opportunity for the students to learn the course materials more deeply and memorably. I don’t necessarily like it sometimes (mostly because it is so different from the more traditional educational training I had for my B.S. degree), but then the reason I am following this field of study is not for my personal entertainment, but for my betterment as a ‘master of instructional technology.’
So, reading the articles, having to think about the topics in writing my blog posting, organizing my thoughts for answering and posting my responses to the questions, combining my understanding with that of my fellow group members, listening to the presentations of the other groups all unite synergistically to create in me an understanding of the course content which is also linked to my existing knowledge, giving me wisdom.

Blended e-Learning, First Reflection

My expectations of the course Blended e-Learning include gaining the understanding of the topic, gaining experience relating to my Master’s of Science in Instructional Technology degree and future employment, meeting the requirements to obtain my degree, and doing the work necessary to obtain the best grade possible. These expectations fall on me, it is my responsibility to ensure that I accomplish these goals, with the understanding that my instructor will provide reliable information and support, along with tools to reinforce this learning experience.

I had no real understanding of the course until I read the article required for the first question on the discussion board. It took me a little bit of thinking to come up with what the difference between Blended Learning and Blended e-Learning is. (Hopefully I have it!) I am noticing a strong similarity in the structure of this class and the first class I took from Dr. Byers, Instructional Design, so there is some familiarity, which is somewhat comforting. Again, I find myself somewhat disquieted by some of the terminology, i.e., synchronous and asynchronous, and a bit unsure of the direction I wish to take with my projects.

I am somewhat concerned about the timing of this course, remembering how overloaded I felt with Instructional Design and knowing that the schedule for this course is extremely condensed, and that I will be away for one week of the course. I feel pressured by myself to get as much work done ahead of time as possible, so that there is not a huge crunch at the end. I also learned from Instructional design that online learning feels much more formal than a classroom experience, and that I will most likely need to be aware of that, and prepare my presentations to be more formal, having had an embarrassing experience with the final presentation of Instructional Design.

My expectation for what I will learn with this class is the ‘research proven’ method to blend both ‘media centered’ and traditional teaching methods into a course, which will optimize students’ knowledge and understanding of the subject matter combined with the convenience that electronic media can provide for both student and instructor.

C. S. Taylor-Santos

C. S. Taylor-Santos

Final Blog!

Final Blog
My progress in learning the instructional design process was bumpy, but I believe successful in the end. I began feeling intimidated as previously mentioned by the terminology used, and at times, during most steps of the project. In the Needs Assessment, I was confused until I heard the phrase from Dr. Byers, “You’re not even thinking about any instruction right now, you’re trying to justify whether there even needs to be instruction,” When doing the Instructional Goal, I couldn’t quite imagine what my learners would be “doing” within the confines of the instruction I had in mind. I am a little shaky on that, but I have a general understanding and I know where to go for help if I need it. It is my goal to cement this understanding of each of the steps in the instructional design process when I take Advanced Instructional Design.
Following the Instructional Goal came the Instructional Goal Analysis, where I had to break down the steps to achieve the Instructional Goal, I began to feel as though I was thinking backwards, and not doing so very well. I was not terribly confused when developing the subskills analysis, but determining if they were in the proper order was a challenge. It seemed to me that there were some discrepancies between what the text was showing and what was eventually required to do. The method of determining whether a decision box or a verbal information box is required is still just a little cloudy for me even at this point.
I was confused again on how to do the Performance Objectives. I still feel a little unsure about determining the behavior and the criteria, and the Terminal Objective. I think it would be beneficial to have some live lecture concerning each of these, and have the recorded lecture available for reinforcement. When the recorded lecture is listened to, it is not possible to ask questions, and sometimes those questions don’t resurface during class time due to the huge work load and other requirements, my mind is overloaded! When working on the Assessment Items, I continuously wondered how, in my instructor led instruction to parents wishing to know how to give allowance to their kids, I was to assess whether the learners had achieved that particular step of the Performance Objective. I think I finally understand that part. The Sullivan and Higgins text was very helpful in that area.
The only real frustrating part after that was formatting the Instructional Materials. One of the posted examples had a navigation bar included, and an example in class had one which was noted and praised. I spent a significant amount of time constructing and then placing one in both of my guides only to learn that they were not appropriate for instructor led materials. Removing them took considerable time. Other formatting problems were incurred with the table format of writing the Instructor Guide; fortunately I had assistance in repairing those, but they caused severe frustration and a significant time cost as well.
The factors influencing my learning progress for the course were my motivation to get all of the work done as correctly and completely as possible, and my drive to do my best and to achieve the objectives of the assignment as well as develop a clear understanding of everything required. I believe I came very close to achieving each of those goals, with some room for improvement with the last. The writing requirement influenced my learning progress in a positive way by forcing my to think about what I was doing and how things were coming together. I was able to analyze the structure of the ID class and compare it to both the learning theories and my personal project design as well.
My understanding of the learning theories went from zero, other than how they compared to my experience and observation that I had already internalized, to significant. Having to summarize them, and post responses to others’ summaries reinforced my understanding significantly, even though I felt like doing that was a chore. I am glad I learned what I did, although some of the ideas of some of the theories, constructivism comes to mind, did not seem completely reasonable to me. It was interesting to see how inter-related they all were.
The relationship of the learning theories and instructional design as my understanding developed was significant. I often felt as though I was an investigator, comparing the ideas in the learning theories with the way our ID class was structured and thinking about how I would structure my instruction. It was interesting to connect the similarities. Knowing those helped me to accept some of the teaching methods used for this class.
This leads me to suggestions for improvement, and I think as familiarity with the student body, the institution, and the goals for the instruction are more precisely defined, this class will continue to have an increasingly significant impact on the students who take it. I believe that if the requirements for the projects are more clearly defined, correct examples are provided, rebrics are provided for each step of the project, and additional live lecture with back up from recorded lecture is used, with ample time for ensuring understanding, the class will be much improved. Additionally, if students are informed from the beginning that the work load will be extremely heavy, so students can prepare, the frustration levels will also decrease.
It would also be helpful to have documentation of hints on how to do basic formatting for this project using Word. The syllabus and Class Materials are extremely helpful, but the organization of them is often confusing, and there seems to be some redundancy. If there is a way to pare down the requirements for the learning theories so that while they are important, some of the additional work such as grading others on their postings, is eliminated which may not reinforce understanding.
This class was without a doubt one of the more challenging that I have ever undertaken, including advanced college chemistry and mathematics, but mainly due to the confusing text, instructions and tremendous work load. That said, this is one class which I feel proud to have achieved what I did in, because I worked hard and I was able to get the assignments done. I feel accomplished and confident about what I have learned, and I have respect for the job my instructor has undertaken, I know it must be a challenge as well. The support was obvious and the instructor’s desire to do right by the students was clear.