I am an instructional technologist at a company that publishes college textbooks. I'm currently developing a content model for college Web-based distance learning courses. Having spent the last several years developing instructional technologies and content for online training in the business world, I'm familiar with capabilities provided by technology, content standards, best practices, and in general what sorts of things work well "online." However, distance learning in the academic world seems to afford a whole different set of challenges and opportunities. I'm curious if any of you have come across research/documentation regarding students' and instructors' experiences in higher ed distance learning courses. Of course, I'm especially interested in issues related to content. (By "content" I mean print and electronic textbooks, software simulations and other "desktop software," Web-based tutorials, assessment activities, collaborative learning tools, and so forth). In my discussions with students and professors, I've begun to identify several issues with which those involved in distance learning currently grapple (usability problems, bandwidth issues, inappropriate use of text and media, etc.), but I'm eager for any additional insights that will help me to design content that is useful and effective for Web-based distance learning. I appreciate any URLs, book titles, and other information that you might pass on. Thank you in advance! -- Brian Wilson
These are matters more often explored on the other two major news forums in this field, AEDnet, and DEOS, the one at Nova Southeastern, the other at Penn State, and I can never remember which. (But I can remember the acronyms: Adult Education Network; Distance Education Online Service)
If you're an instructional designer, I'm sure you're aware of these standardization efforts, but I'll list some related links anyway: International Forum of Educational Technology & Society Formal Discussion Initiation Beyond Classroom Solutions: New Design Perspectives for Online Learning Excellence next discussion: http://ifets.ieee.org/discussions/discuss_january2002.html past discussions: http://ifets.ieee.org/discussions/discuss.html The above organization is a subgroup of the IEEE Computer Society Learning Technology Task Force (LTTF, http://lttf.ieee.org/). This group manages these standards efforts: P1484.1 Architecture and Reference Model Working Group P1484.2 Learner Model Working Group P1484.3 Glossary Working Group P1484.4 Task Model Working Group P1484.6 Course Sequencing Working Group P1484.7 Tool/Agent Communication Working Group P1484.10 CBT Interchange Language Working Group P1484.11 Computer Managed Instruction Working Group P1484.12 Learning Objects Metadata Working Group P1484.13 Student Identifier Working Group P1484.14 Semantics and Exchange Bindings Working Group P1484.15 Data Interchange Protocols Study Group P1484.16 HTTP Bindings Study Group P1484.17 Content Packaging Study Group P1484.18 Platform and Media Profiles Study Group P1484.19 Quality System for Technology-Based Life-Long Learning Study Group P1484.20 Competency Definitions Study Group LTSC Sponsor Executive Committee (SEC) Even if you are not specifically interested in these technical aspects, your may find a lot of collateral overlap in the papers and journals. See also: SCORM: Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) http://www.adlnet.org/ http://www.adlnet.org/sitemap/ourstory_about.cfm Instructional Managment System http://www.imsproject.org Learning objects: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/AOP/learningobjects.html http://www.adlnet.org/sitemap/ourstory_about.cfm