Collaborative Training Environment

"A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration."

 

When creating a distance learning module, assessing the use of technology is an essential component of the planning process (Simonson et. al, 2012). Although cloud computing has been around in some form for the better part of a decade, it is only recently becoming a widely recognized as a viable tool for not only document sharing, but collaboration in its’ truest form; this is a benefit for designers as it alleviates one of the most critical hurdles in distance learning. The major hurdle that designers face when implementing the use of one of these applications is the uninitiated that may resist change. In order to best address the needs, there are two performance tasks that need to be addressed: information sharing and ongoing collaboration. There are a variety of options to address these needs that range in price and complexity. The key is to find an effective low-cost option that is not too complicated for the average worker to master in an acceptable time frame.

There are multiple methods for sharing information via the internet, but I believe that Google Docs would the most cost effective application for this process. A lead Google account would have to be created and then the desired document folders would have to be shared with all of the collaborators in the company. Google Docs will allow those granted access to save notes, voice notes, screen captures, picture files, documents (office files, PDF’s etc…). Google Docs also allows individuals to review, edit and share items in real time which would satisfy the client request for information sharing.
 

The Senior Instructional Designer at the University of Alabama has successfully integrated Google Docs into both online course development and professional development for the faculty, stating that Google Docs serves to eliminate the difficulties of collaborating across great distances and multiple time zones.  Additionally, a team of Florida State University professors researched the benefits of using Google Docs for distance learning and presented their findings at the Columbia State University Learning “Now “ Frontier Conference. Their presentation was called Google Docs: A Robust Hub for Online Collaboration; in this presentation they emphasized the affordability, wide compatibility and robust online capabilities. Google Docs addresses one of the major concerns of distance education practitioners, the amount of interactivity/collaboration that is possible in a course (Beldarrain, 2006), is appropriately addressed and should be sufficient for most collaborative scenarios over distance.

Distance Learning Mind Map



Distance Learning:A Changing Landscape

Prior to the beginning of this course I had not given explicit thought to the term distance learning. I defined it to myself in the simplest manner possible, learning at a distance. I first became aware of distance learning in 1996, when a course at my college was offered via closed-circuit television. The concept seemed somewhat novel, but I could not see myself learning in that environment, but was fascinated by the concept, nonetheless. Prior to being exposed to this form of distance learning I had heard of correspondence courses that were facilitated through the postal system, but never took much stock in them because the concept seemed to leave an open door for cheating and dishonesty.

I enrolled in graduate school in 2003 in order to earn an M.S. degree in education. The week before classes were to begin, I was involved in a car accident that led to a back injury and I was unable to begin my program of study. A little over a year later, I was eager to re-enroll, but also impatient, as I felt that I should be much further along in the program. An enrollment advisor pointed out that I had the option of taking some of my courses online alongside my physical classroom courses. Initially, I was hesitant to enroll in the online courses because, at the time, most people looked at online courses as subpar. I decided to take one just to see if it was an environment that I could both learn and excel in. The positive experience that I had in that course led me to enroll in more online courses and ultimately led to me choosing Walden’s completely online program later on.

Later on in life when I became aware of instructional design I was exposed to the term eLearning. Initially I assumed that it simply referred to online course such as this one. Upon further education I learned that eLearning not only refers to online courses, but to asynchronously deployed modules, video conference courses and various other variations of computer-based courses. I was amazed that I made a living in the field of education but was so clueless about the height to which educational delivery methods had grown. Whereas distance learning was once limited to static interactions such as using the mail system and later through two-way video conferencing it is now dynamic and robust with the introduction of tools such as Camtasia and Captivate. Tablets and netbooks have led to truly mobile learning. I can take this class at home in my basement, on vacation in Mexico or even on my cell phone while I am on break at work.

I would have to say that my revised definition of distance learning would actually not include the word distance. I would perhaps refer to it as remote learning. There are many instances in which learners may participate in a deployed module while the moderator is in the same building or even the room next door. With the advances in technology, especially wireless and mobile, learning modules can be deployed remotely at either remote or minimal distances. Now that distance learning is widely accepted as a not only acceptable, but equal to face-to-face education, its availability has grown exponentially.

I believe that the future of distance learning lies in the tablet arena. The iPad has led to a complete overhaul of the computer industry landscape. The iPad single-handedly forced Microsoft to alter the concept of the PC in order to remain relevant. Almost the iPad and Android tablets have achieved a level of saturations in a few years in that laptops did not in over two decades, with their popularity still growing. Adobe has added almost point and click functionality to their creative programs that allow transference to mobile platforms. I believe that this will lead to distance learning courses and modules being tailored with tablets in mind. Like laptops unchained people from their home desktops (but they still had to stop and remain stationary) tablet will allow people to turn on a Bluetooth earpiece and learn as they walk from place to place, run on a treadmill or even stand in line for a concert. I believe that tablets are the future of distance learning.