Selecting Distance Learning Technologies

Instructional Design Problem: 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 artwork 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. As a novice of distance learning and distance learning technologies, the teacher turned to the school district’s instructional designer for assistance. In the role of the instructional designer, what distance learning technologies would you suggest the teacher use to provide the best learning experience for her students?

Instructional Design Solution: Synchronous Media & Blog Post Discussion
Many CMS platforms, including COURSEsites (https://www.coursesites.com/) provide both synchronous media opportunities and blogging/message forums. The teacher could use a CMS platform to kill two birds with one stone, or the teacher could use several open source websites. For example, she could use Skype (education.skype.com) to take a virtual tour and to host a discussion, with the aid of the curator of course, and she could use an open source blog / message board such as Google’s Blogger (www.blogger.com) to post artwork and lead a discussion / critique of the artwork.
If the teacher chooses to use a CMS, she would register her class on the CMS and create a module for the students to follow (Simonson, 2012). Each student would then register themselves on the CMS and participate accordingly. Depending on the CMS, the teacher could track student participation. This would allow the entire lesson to remain private and in one Internet location, easily accessible to all involved.
If the teacher chooses to utilize Skype and/or Blogger, a Google search could provide her many powerful insights into best practices while using these sources. For example, it is important for the teacher to recognize and adhere to privacy and copyright laws while Skyping and Blogging (Simonson, 2012). It would also be important for the teacher to become familiar with both resources prior to introducing them in the classroom (Simonson, 2012).
Although it may take some extra energy on the teacher’s part to incorporate these activities, it will be well worth the effort. Skype has been used successfully in many classrooms over the past few years to challenge and motivate students. Neil Stephenson, a middle school teacher in Canada provides his students with an ongoing Skype conversation with a curator at Canada's National Museum as students work on history units. This use of technology allows students “to see the value of their work in the context of the work of a historian, to get feedback, and to hear firsthand about what curatorial work is and does” (Skype, 2013). The Eisenhower Middle School in Wickoff, New Jersey, used Skype to record interviews with other students on field trips to historic sites. In Virginia, a first grade class used Skype to correspond with a penpal in London (Skype, 2013). These teachers all used technology to broaden their classroom walls and incorporate authentic collaboration into their instructional design.

References
Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–6 7.
Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 1: Training and development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75.
Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Skype. (2013). Teachinghistory.org. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://teachinghistory.org/digital-classroom/tech-for-teachers/23569