Tools to Create Interactive Tours

Interactive Tours

Case Scenario
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 art work 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?

Web 2.0 tools are the tools of the future for teachers.   As the twenty-first century progressed, it has become more and more evident that course management systems, and indeed the Web itself in its first decade of widespread public use, reflected the teacher-centered instructional paradigm(Brown, 2007) Beginning in the early 2000s, however, a new generation of web applications emerged, tools that are highly participatory and promote collaboration, networking, sharing, and widespread generation of content, and the editing and mixing of content from diverse sources for new purposes (Simonson,  Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).  The teacher can combine several Web 2.0 tools to create the desired interactive environment provided by interner4classrooms(Brooks & Byles,2012):

1. Audio/Podcasting- Online audio broadcasting. Will allow for two way communication between the students and the museum curators.
2. PLN Tools - Personal Learning Network - A PLN is a collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online. There are many tools that help you in creating your own personal PLN for professional.  The PLN tools can also facilitate the conversation between the curators, teacher and student.
1. Twitter - Connect with other teachers and share, discover and discuss ideas.
2. Plurk - Connect with others to share ideas, events, and information.
3. Ning - Online service for creating, joining and sharing Social Networks
4. Twitter Kit - What is a PLN? Why is it important? Module 1 - Watch more Tech Videos at Vodpod.
3. Graphic Organizers - Use these tools to create a picture representation of relationships between facts, terms and ideas.  The organizers can support the students in participating in a group critique of the individual work of art.
1. Bubbl.us - Create mind maps online. The directions for using this tool are on the right side of the page.
2. Cacoo - Click on play for instructions, then create a mind map.
3. Gliffy - draw and share diagrams on the web
4. Mindomo - Web-based mind mapping tool - free registration - very similar to inspiration

Please leave any comment suggest of ways to support the teacher.

References

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Web Resources

http://web2012.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools-presentation.cfm

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/web2.htm

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/

Defining Distance Learning

Distance learning is ever changing and growing.  In simple terms the definition to me is learning from a distance or the absence of the face to face traditional classroom.  Distance education is defined by(Simonson & Syacek, 2012) as instruction-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructions.  Edwards(1995) uses the term open learning to describe a new way of looking at education in a quickly changing and diverse world.  He indicates that distance education and open learning are two distinct approaches to education. 

Distance learning may seem like a new idea or concept but it is not.  However, the concepts that form the basis of this type of education are more than a century old(Simonson & Syacek, 2012). Distance education can be determined as far back as over 160 years.  An advertisement in a Swedish newspaper in 1833 touted the opportunity to study “composition through the medium of the post.” In 1840, England’s newly established penny post allowed Isaac Pitman to offer shorthand instruction via correspondence.  Three years later, instruction was formalized with the founding of the Phonographic Correspondence Society, precursor of Sir Isaac Pitman’s Correspondence Colleges(Simonson & Syacek, 2012).

I am in the education field and staff development days are becoming fewer and fewer.   The need for web based training and learning opportunities are growing. The motivating factors for corporate e-learning are predominantly economic (Moller & Huett, 2008).  The benefits of distance learning for me have been , convenience, no travel time to a site,  the ability to complete my assignments at my own rate by assigned due dates of course.  In the technology world distant education is no longer a thing of the future but of the present.   With rising cost of gas and everything else the need for distance training and education is a must to cut cost for businesses and individuals.

Distance learning is here to stay.   The Distance Education and Training Council(DETC) calls distance education a “mainstream “educational delivery method and predict more than a 300% increase in students served in the next five years(DETC,2004) The rapid growth in information technology is reshaping the learning styles of students.  The education field must be ready and keep up with this ever changing environment.

In this fast pace changing environment of distance  education a lot is still left  learn In this environment  it is difficult to arrive at on definition or agree on a theory on how to practice and do research in the field of distance education(Simonson & Syacek, 2012). New technology is developing and growing daily and so does the need to address student learning in non-traditional methods.

Reference

·         Distance Education Survey,(2004).  A report on course structure and educational services in distance education and training council member institutions.

·         Edwards,R.(1995).  Different discources, discourses of difference: Globalisation,distance education, and open learning.  Distance Education,16(2),241-255

·         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.  Chapter 2, "Definitions, History, and Theories of Distance Education" (pp. 32–41 only)

Distance Education Mind map