Scope Creep and Risk

About two years ago, my ESE Department implemented an after school tutoring program specifically aimed at students with disabilities.  The goal was to improve the students’ phonics and reading comprehension skills. To ensure intense instruction and maximum support for our students, we decided that the class size for each teacher should be no more than ten students. This way we could also rotate among small groups of five or pair in twos.  Funding for the program was obtained through an educational grant of $20,000. We had just enough money to buy a complete reading curriculum, priced at $7, 795 and to pay our small staff of ESE teachers, which totaled $7, 200.  The rest of the money was to be used for supplies and supplemental materials.  The program was to last for a duration of 6 six weeks, but we only had three weeks to plan and get the program started.

 By the end of week 2, the students had been identified and selected for the invitations to be sent home and that’s when our Principal threw in a curve ball.  After careful consideration and an examination of past FCAT scores, she thought it would be best for us to also add in a math component along with additional “at risk” students who have been identified during the RTI process as needing additional remediation in math and reading.  This addition would certainly increase our expenditures for resources, especially since we were not planning for a math component, along with an increase in students per class. The increase in class size left us all feeling a little disappointed, because the larger number would mean less individual time with students, which was one of our primary purposes. The initial number of students given to us included about 40 other students, which would have put each class at about 20 students. So we needed go come up with a contingency plan and had one week left before launch date.

So feeling the pressure of the short notice, we presented a list of concerns to our Principal along with a list of compromises that would allow the ESE team to meet the goals of small group instruction, with an additional math component.  We were able to get the number of additional students reduced to 20, thereby limiting the class size to no more than 15 students per class. Although the class size was still larger than we originally planned, the number was still small enough for us to effectively manage small group instruction. For the addition of the math component, we decided to focus on mathematical word problems and critical thinking skills. This approach still gave us the opportunity to focus on reading comprehension skills.   We used some of the money we had set aside for supplies, to purchase inexpensive classroom sets of problem solving workbooks. We were able to use our previously purchased sets of math manipulative to supplement our hands on activities for the small groups. With three days left before the start date, we each divided up the list of students to make personal phone calls to parents of the selected students.  With one day left to spare, we were able to gain permission and enrollment on all our student participants!  Now the only thing we had to wait on, was our order of supplies and materials.  But we had a contingency plan for that too!

This project taught me that often time changes will be dictated by the boss or upper management that can present a certain amount of risk.  Although our Principal had the authority to make decisions that we were obligated to follow, we were fortunate in that she was willing to listen to our concerns and alternative suggestions.  The success of a project can be determined in the PM’s ability to effectively identify and communicate the risks along with providing a written contingency plan.  “The best strategy for addressing risk focuses on minimizing the chances that the risks will occur, developing contingency plans in they do occur, and continually updating the project’s risk management plan throughout the remainder of the project” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton & Kramer, 20007).

Reference

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  

Communications

Simple Communication

As ID professionals, we all know that effective communication is essential to any project.  Communication is the bridge to building and maintaining working relationships. If done properly, communication can bring people together for a common cause. If done improperly, communication can poke holes in the best of intentions.

There are several forms communications may take place during our project endeavors.  The most common in this day and age occurs through email. Sending an email is one of the most common ways to communicate across office structures, especially in work environments where the usage of mobile devices such as cell phones for texting, are limited or simply prohibited. Either way, text communications can have their drawbacks.  The following email message for example, gives the impression that although this co-worker is requesting specific data to complete her report by the deadline, receiving the data is not that urgent of a matter. She leaves the window open for Mike to respond whenever he feels he has the opportunity to get around to it. What do you think?

                Hi Mark,

                I know you have been busy and possibly in that all day meeting today, but I really need an ETA on the        missing report. Because you r report contains data I need to finish my report, I might miss my own deadline if I don’t get your report soon. Please let me know when you think you can get your report sent over to me, or even if you can send the data I need in a separate email. I really appreciate your help.

                Jane.

                -Laureate Education, Inc

This same message sent via voicemail, evokes a little more feeling. The courteous and professional tone of the message urges you to reply in kind, but does not necessarily move you to act immediately. 

In the face to face meeting, Mike is confronted with the issue first hand. Although the tone is consistently polite and professional, you can see the concern on the co-worker’s face, which provokes an immediate response. Making a request in person also carries with it the weight of urgency, meaning if someone is willing to take the time out of their busy schedule to come see you about a matter, then that signals that an immediate response is expected.

So this experience has proven what we’ve already known about communication, as the interaction decreases, the potential for misinterpretation increases. What does this mean for communication efforts between team members?  That communications should be specific, professional, and time sensitive when requesting or sending information to others.  My personal rule of thumb is to make sure to include the: who, when, where and how as much as possible, especially when talking to others from a distance (email, text, written or voicemail). What would you do?

References

The Art of Communication. (n.d.). [Video] Laureate Education, Inc. Retrieved from: http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

A Project Endeavor and Evaluation

A Summer Project

As a public education teacher there is always a need to supplement income. So I along with a co-worker friend of mine, decided to try our hands at starting up an academic summer camp for struggling students.  We came up with the idea two months before school was to end so we were really anxious to get the ball rolling. Outside of our intention to supplement our summer income, our primary purpose for the camp was to provide learning activities that would increase student skills in reading comprehension and math skills. We both  had been working in the Special Education field and felt that our background  and experience would be beneficial for those students who were struggling in these areas or simply wanted to get ahead for the upcoming school year.

We weren’t sure who or how many would be interested, so we created a mini brochure introducing the camp and its purpose. We included contact information so the parents could call, express interest and reserve a spot. We would later call them back to confirm acceptance and invite them to a formal orientation.  In the meantime, we had to book a location, as we expected a high response. Due to our very limited budget, we needed to find a location that would either be free or charge us no more than $ 100 per month for rent. We were very lucky. Our local city hall building had small rooms available for community functions and would only charge $75 per month.  So with our location secured we were ready to start accepting our summer participants.

To our surprise we had over 60 interested participants.  We soon realized though that our location would not hold all 60 at once. Therefore we needed to change our plan to have a full day summer camp into a half day summer camp with two sessions of no more than 20 students per session. Each session was to last for two and half hours with a lunch break in between. The cost per session was $25 per session for 4 days per week, which yielded $100 dollars per child. So the payoff for the two of us was pretty nice. The parents seem to think that the price was reasonable too, compared to other summer camps.  After it was all said and done we ended up with an average of 40 student participants over a six week period. Some opted for a full day program due to work schedules and others tapered off due to vacation trips or financial hardship.

Other issues that we needed to address were lack of materials for the various levels of students that we acquired. Part of this was due to lack of initial start-up funding and limited time to really assess the needs of our participants. We were also initially counting on having the ability to use several computers with internet access. We had come across several online learning sites that we wanted to incorporate into the curriculum to supplement our lack in materials. At the very last minute we were told that the city would not be able to provide these computers as originally planned.  We also noticed that towards the end of each session, there were several of our student participants who needed time to be active (outside) play, due to developmental or attention deficit concerns. Unfortunately, the facility did not have an outside play area, so we had to revise our lesson schedules again to include some indoor fun activities. That revision turned out to be a positive one though, because it gave the participants something fun to look forward to at the end of the session. It also gave us a mental break and more time to preplan for our afternoon session.

Overall my co-worker and I were pleased with the outcome. We did not really do an in-depth survey for our parents at the end but we did ask if they would be interested in returning the following summer. Most replied that they would especially for the price that was set. Others wanted to know if would be able to do a full day and some were interested in having their children attend field trips. Just about all the children said they wanted to return, but many wanted to take trips to the movies and have a pizza day! We think this response was prompted by our end of the summer pizza party.

If we had to do it all over again, we would definitely take more time to plan and gather resources. We also needed a back- up contingency plan for the failed computer idea. We eventually used some of the profits we made to buy materials to support hands-on activities, but we weren’t able to do that until 3-4 weeks in to our summer program. It would have also been helpful had we been able to assess each participant to quickly identify specific skills that needed to be addressed. We did do a brief survey intake from the parents who identified the weak subject areas, but a more in-depth survey would have led to better lesson plans and activities from the start. As time went on though, we were able to identify some individual needs of the students rather quickly. Although the facility seemed a little small at times, the city staff was very flexible, friendly and helpful. They even helped the first week with directing traffic and setting up cones, so the parents could get in an out the drop off area without any problems. Although we would like to find larger facility, we couldn’t beat that price plus they provided free advertising in their marque, newsletter and website.

Our next project endeavor can be improved by finding and taking time to effectively assess our student participants before the start of program. A simple needs assessment form can be filled out by the parents which would identify the specific learning needs of their child. This way we will ensure that our learning activities are confirming and addressing identified needs (Portny Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2008 ). We would also benefit greatly by planning for the unknown or examining our limitations imposed by various needs, such as budget, spacing, and accounting for holiday and vacation schedules.  Determining and planning for limitations is a fact finding process that can led to quick resolutions and time saving efforts (Portny et al, 2008).  

Reference

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Reflections

Reflections on Distance Education

      Distance education continues to be a viable alternative for those adult learners who seek learning environments that are flexible, engaging, convenient and able to meet their learning needs. Increasing workforce demands and fluctuating economies are placing emphasis on continued education requirements on the adult learner to promote and maintain successful innovations in their field. These driving forces have given rise to an adult population of learners who are self-motivated, organized and self-directed in their learning. These characteristics have led to successful distance learning among those learners of varying ages. Distance learning is not meant for all and there are some who might even believe that distance learning is not valued or equal in quality compared to traditional learning environments. Then there are those that believe distance learning is the next wave in the future of education.

     There is a growing trend of acceptance in regards to distance education. Enrollment for online university courses has drastically risen and “has out distanced all other forms of distance learning” over the last few years (Gambescia & Paolucci, 2009). Technology tools and courseware management programs have enhanced student communication and interactivity in such a way that the “distance” aspect appears to have minimum effect on student achievement. In ten years online courses will rely more on web based tools such as blogs to support the delivery of content. Bill Gates has gone so far to say that “five years from now on the web for free you’ll be able to find the best lectures in the world,” and brick and motor colleges will be less relevant. It is possible that twenty years from now, distance learning will be termed virtual learning. Schroeder (2007) believes that virtual environments will ultimately replace the World Wide Web (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2009).

      In 5 to 10 years I expect text book learning in the K-12 setting to be drastically reduced due to the utilization of technology tools such as I pads and electronic book nooks. My own child will be attending the only high school in Lake County, Florida that is providing all of their high school students with I pads. During Lake Minneola High’s welcome back orientation, Principal Shepherd emphasized the push towards being innovative on both the teaching and learning fronts. She believes that students of today are technology driven and that drive will continue to shape our future. Shepherd said she fought to bring the technology to her school because she wanted her students to be better prepared for the business world (Shepherd, 2011). Depending upon Lake Minneola’s success and other successful school pilots who are integrating technology into their curriculum, I expect to see K-12 learning environments moving towards a blended learning curriculum, giving virtual schools some competition in the next ten to twenty years.

      University leaders and stakeholders are concerned with providing quality distance programs that are equivalent to the standards, professionalism and reputational brand of their campus based environment (Gambescia & Paolucci, 2009). As an instructional designer I am obligated to ensure that distance programs speak to the integrity and fidelity of distance learning. To improve societal perceptions, instructional designs should continue to develop designs that speak to the needs of the learners, while meeting the objectives of the learning content. As an ID I can do this by using effective pre-planning and careful analysis. I believe that a systematic approach such as the ADDIE process is always best practice when it comes to design. The first principle of design is to recognize that distance education is a system that requires a systematic process that applies research-based principles to education practice (Simonson et al, 2009). The goal is to avoid simply dumping content onto online formats; this approach will almost guarantee a negative perception among potential learners.

     There are several things I can do to be a positive force for continued improvement in the field of distance education. By using my current status as an elementary teacher, I will continue to strive to be an active model or mentor teacher who incorporates technology with the classroom. I plan to share what I am learning from my Walden experience with by continuing to collaborate with coworkers on technology needs. During this school year I have set aside time to plan with the gifted teacher, who is willing to participate in class to class collaborations through Edmodo and Moodle. Our goal is to improve the students’ critical thinking skills through creative collaboration. On a professional level we would like to share this experience with other classroom teachers as a way to inspire the continued use of technology within the classroom setting.

References:

Gambescia, S., & Paolucci, R. (2009). Academic fidelity and integrity as attributes of university online degree program offerings. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 12(1). Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring121/gambescia121.html

Shepherd, L. (18, August, 2011). Live orientation presentation for Lake Minneola High. http://lake.k12.fl.us/lmh/site/default.asp

Siegler, M.G. (2010). Bill Gates: In five years the best education will come from the web. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/06/bill-gates-education/

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

A Best Practice Triaining Guide

Training the Trainer

There are many driving forces that are pushing businesses and educational institutions to seek alternatives to classroom training. One of the main forces is the need to cut cost, while raising the performance outcome. So what you find is a lot of corner cutting training techniques. These techniques often include the dumping of course materials onto an online setting and calling it training.

"It often seems that managers or customers care only about the appearance of training" which place the ID in a difficult situation of having to train a workforce to be ready to execute innovations (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008).

Effective distance training programs will require thoughtful pre-plannining strategies that will ensure learner success.  The following training guide will outline the sytematic approach to planning. It will also highlight strategies for the conversion of course materials onto an online format. It is important for instructors to note that distance teaching / training will require a change in roles along with methods used to deliver instruction. This training guide also will address the issues of student interactiviy and communication needs to promote active engagement. Additional information on effective pre-planing strategies can be found in A Guide for Training the Trainer. Enjoy! 

Reference

Moller, L., Foshay,W., & Huett, J. (2008) The evolution of distance education:Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web. Tech Trends. Vol. 52 (3).

Open CourseWare

Open CourseWare Programs - How do they fit into the ADDIE Model?

The field of instructional design requires the ID to ensure that the application of technology is a perfect match for the teaching and the learning process.  The ID meets this requirement by following a systematic process (ADDIE) for the planning and implementation of instruction. There are critical components that make this process effective. These components are the learners, the content, the method and materials, and the environment, including the technology (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2009). It is important that these components maintain an interactive balance in order to produce a quality learning experience. The evaluation process is another critical component that ensures that successful learning takes place. It determines what works well and what needs to be improved.  A careful examination of these components is part of the pre-planning process that creates a meaningful and interactive learning environment for distance learners.

The internet has given rise to various types of distance education programs.  With the increase in popularity, one wonders how much pre-planning goes into developing these distance education programs. For example the open courseware programs, which are available to everyone, are primarily composed of videotaped lectures and transcripts. How much planning went into that? Let’s take a look at Yale University’s Open Courseware program and see how the components fit within the ADDIE model.

	Learners	Content	Methods / Materials	Technology
Analysis	Heterogeneous- Open to all	Introductory College level	Introductory College level	Assumes access for all
Development	Not Applicable	Based on traditional setting	Based on traditional setting	Uses a Web Based Portal
Design	Not Applicable	Lecture format –linear in design	Lecture, Readings and problem sets.	Plain text with limited links
Implementation	Open – Free Enrollment	Converted into online	Video, audio and transcripts	Downloadable files (html, mp3, flash)
Evaluation	Mid- term and Final exams	Student Surveys	Student Surveys	Student Surveys

Who are the Learners?
“Distance education can be an important approach to responding to the growing pluralism of learners’ background, [and] characteristics”. Yale’s open courseware program has taken note of this growing tide of learners and aims to “increase its presence and strengthen its relationships internationally” by expanding access to educational resources through the use of internet technology.
The learning group is heterogeneous, with learners from various backgrounds, ages, experiences and cultures. “The aim of the project is to expand access to educational materials for all who wish to learn.”
This aim does not speak to a careful analysis of the learner, in which valuable information can help the instructor determine 1) the students’ cognitive abilities 2) supporting materials to individualize instruction and 3) the students’ potential for interactivity (Simonson et al, 2009).

What is the essential Content?

The orienting context for Yale’s courses, appear to be brief in nature with limited details included in the course descriptions and course syllabi.  The information is so general in nature that it does not identify for the learner; goals or objectives. It simply identifies the name and title of instructor, with no contact information, brief course description, required texts, class requirements and grading percentages.  Instructional goals and objectives should always be shared with the students; this will help students to focus on the parameters of the instruction (Simonson et al, 2009). The majority of the content for the courses is introductory in nature.  Although the course content  is available to all who are interested, the learner should have at least a tenth grade education in order to understand and comprehend the material content.
What Teaching Strategies and Media are used?
Yale has taken on a “talking head” approach in which each class session is presented in lecture format, available as downloadable videos, audio and searchable transcripts.  Simonson et al would propose that this talking head approach is the least successful method of them all. Instructional strategies should engage all learners, and limit the informative content to provide more room for the discovery of information (Simonson et al, 2009).

Final Thoughts

Overall, Yale’s open courseware program appears to be as welled planned as a professor’s lecture on any given day. It is an instructor driven program with limited to no interactivity for the learner. But then again Yale’s focus was simply to provide access to its course materials for the viewing of all who are interested. Therefore it appears very limited analysis went into determining the needs of the learner.  The content on the other hand seems to have taken into account the prior knowledge of the novice learner, as all the courses are introductory in nature.  The methods and materials used works well primarily for auditory learners, who are provided access to videotaped lecture, audio and transcript links. Those learners, who require visual examples and cognitive experience with the content, are left wanting more.  The technology tools used assume that the majority of the student population has equal access to the internet  and while most can argue that, that is the case, does the internet access alone account for the needs of the learner? Like Yale, most open courseware programs simply seek to provide information, so is it fair to judge them against the ADDIE model?  If so do we identify open courseware programs to being nothing more than “shovelware” programs, dumping grounds of information?

Click here to visit Yale’s Open Courseware: A Course on Philosophy - Death


Reference
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson

Collaborative Technologies

 Collaborative Technologies

Technology tools are not only impacting the field of education, but are sought out to promote effective training solutions for businesses and corporations. Economic trends and industry needs are dictating training programs that are convenient, flexible and cost effective. As businesses continue to grow and expand, its training program will also need to grow and expand in order to reach and teach to the individual needs of its employees. It is important for instructional designers and consultants to be knowledgeable and aware of what technology solutions will be most effective. Take a look at the following scenario and recommended solution.

A Scenario Fit for a Collaborative Training Environment

An 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.

The Technology Solution

Elluminate (BlackBoard Collaborate) and WebEx provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), video, and collaboration options that allow users to interact face-to-face. Both will allow staff to meet where-ever they want, in the office, iPhone, smartphone and even on the iPad. Additional features will also allow staff to create and share documents with others from a distance. For the staff that is missing in action, the meetings can be recorded and replayed at a later time. See Table for additional features of each.

Elluminate-BlackBoard Collaborate	WebEx
Benefits / Features Easily incorporate wider variety of content. Application sharing configuration preferences. Streamlined, easy deployment of multiple locations and choice of language. Better support for international users. Organize, script, and package content and activities before live session (formerly Plan!) Automate routine tasks to focus on facilitating real-time interaction. Create standalone recordings or industry-standard video files from session recordings and store on a computer, LMS, website, or CD ROM (formerly Publish!). Playback video files on iPod or view standalone recordings even when not connected to Internet	Benefits / Features Deliver just-in-time internal or external online training to quickly respond to market or organizational needs. Reach more people, more often, without travel, facilities, or equipment costs. Demonstrate products, concepts and procedures using high-quality video. Promote critical learning skills and collaboration with virtual breakout sessions and hands-on lab. Track attendance and training completion. Train up to 1,000 attendees at once, anywhere in the word.
Take a Tour of BlackBoard Collaborate	Take a Tour of WebEx

“Collaborative technologies will enable business partners to easily switch back and forth from web, video and audio conferencing to see and hear each other and to share documents and information in real time. Today's enterprises are also looking forward to leading edge technology, flexible conferences, flexible deployment, common management suites, highly scalable solutions, secure VoIP conferencing, embedded multipoint options and videoconferencing solutions” (Sharma, n.d).

Reference
Sharma, S. (n.d.) Video conferencing: Next gen communication. Retrieved from http://www.ciol.com/ciol-techportal/content/Mobility/Features/2007/20706181562.asp

My Definition of Distance Education

Before the start of this course, I never really gave much thought to distance learning and what it means. My experience of distance learning involves online coursework, with an asynchronous design. The instructor is in a separate location from the students and learning activities are student centered.  Communication between peers and instructor occurs through discussion formats, online chat rooms, and email correspondence. Although I have not experienced it myself, I am aware that online courses can provide synchronous learning activities in the form of video conferencing and other two way formats. So based on my experience and observations, I would define distance learning as; a learning process that occurs through multimedia formats in an asynchronous or synchronous setting.

Since the start of this course I’ve learned that distance learning has existed since the early 1800’s. At that time distance learning occurred between instructor and student in the form of telegraph correspondence.  By the 1950’s broadcast television was used to offer college credits. Fiber optic communication in the 1980’s-90’s, allowed for two way communications to occur and made distance education interactive for the first time. The advancements of computer technology and the introduction of the World Wide Web, brings us where we are today with the highly demanded online courses, available for students of varying needs. 

Many theorists have proposed various theories in an effort to describe and define distance learning. Both Holmberg and Keegan suggested a need for a theoretical foundation for distance learning in order to provide a “touchstone against which decisions could be made with confidence” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009). At the core, most theorists seem to agree on the basics; that there is a separation between instructor and student, learning can occur synchronously or asynchronously, communication and learning content is delivered through one or more media outlets. Keegan goes on to classify the theories of distance education into three groups; 1) Independence and autonomy 2) industrialization of teaching and 3) interaction and communication (Simonson et al, 2009).

Dr. Michael Simonson defines distance education as; “formal education that is institutionally based, where the learning group; the teacher, the students and the resources, are separated not only by geography and sometimes by time and sometimes by intellect. Communication technology, instruction technologies and media technologies are used to link the resources, the teacher and the student”.

 Revision of My Definition

Distance learning is an ever-evolving system of formal education and training that seeks to bridge the learning process between the instructor and the learner while participating in different locations during asynchronous or synchronous settings.  Distance learning is delivered through multimedia formats which meets the individual needs of the learner and encourages autonomy among the instructors and learners. It is learner driven with emphasis placed on community learning and shared knowledge.

My Vision of the Future of Distance Education

I believe distance learning will become the primary mode for providing education for our population in the near future. Its cost effectiveness has attracted the attention of most local and state officials as they seek to reduce the education budget, not to mention a viable option to address teacher shortage and class size restrictions.  Due to the social trends and consumer interests in technology tools and software, distance learning is easily accessible and highly sought after for its convenience of use. The youth of today are technology ready and eager to learn with technology tools.  Workforce trend and needs will continue to require access to immediate training programs for its employees.  Therefore we will continue to see “exponential growth” in the field of distance education and will see the use of distance education technologies almost across the board in k-12 education, higher education, and in the training and learning environments” (Distance of Education: The next generation –podcast). Not only will we see this growth take place across settings on a national level, but the continued expansion in technology education will occur globally. Dr. Patrick Dixon said it best when he suggested that the future of distance education is in the hands of the student, as we seek to build long lasting relationships across the globe.

References

Dixon, P. (2008) Future of education: High school and college educational trends; preparing

students for life. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU85gPt4FMY

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

 distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson

Simonson, M. (n.d.) Distance education: The next generation. Laureate Media Inc.



Click on link to see larger view: http://www.xmind.net/share/denna72/-distance-learning-1/

View Patrick Dixon's presentation on the Future of Distance Learning