John,
Love the example of the powerpoint presentations.....excellent!
Shelly Crider
Rubiela ,
Oh so true. We want instructors who first and foremost know the content. Knowing the technology comes in second!
Shelly Crider
I think that developers of online courses need to have a basic understanding of technology. Ideally, it would help if the developers have attended online courses themselves. They need to know how to create graphs, access clip art, etc. They need to know how to cut and paste, etc.
I think that developers of online courses need to have a basic understanding of technology. Ideally, it would help if the developers have attended online courses themselves. They need to know how to create graphs, access clip art, etc. They need to know how to cut and paste, etc.
They do not necessary; but software development require skills - specially when it comes to online courses designs, Modules, etc.
I have seen software that you can use to create your own class; but the design is the same.
i agree. Technology like teaching - I have told my pre-service teachers, I can teach you how to create and present an effective lesson, but its your creativity, your personality and your temperamant that can transform a simple lesson into a magical time for learners - same as online formats.
They dont have to be tech wizards, but they do have to spend alot of time learning and studying different technologies.
It took me 5 hours of reasearh then another 10 hours of trial and error before I created my first youtube video.
Now I am learning even more about utilyzing them in different ways.
I agree that online course developers do not have to be technological wizards, although the more knowledge an instructor gains in this area, the better.
There is a great deal of technical support available to course developers. Certainly, the institutions they work for will have technical support personnel to assist subject matter experts in developing online courses.
In addition, technological advances allow the average person to develop things that would have been much more difficult in the past. Examples would be powerpoint presentations, or synchronous chat forums. These were not easy to prepare or navigate at one time, but now, with technological advances, they are well within the reach of most online course developers and instructors.
To a point I agree with this idea however I do not think that they need to be completly unaware of the technology and the benefits of designing a good class. The developers of a course should be knowledgeable to a point on design and the specific area of expertise of the class; for example, if the class is in accounting, development, analysis, design and evaluation should be guided to this area. A good example I noted in one of my classes is the following. The university included as one of the assignments a flowchart of the accounting cycle as part of the discussion board participation. In addition to the fact that the students did not necessarily know what a flowchart is and this class was now a flowcharting class, we also faced another dilema. The discussion board do not support drawings or images too elaborated. They will not post or they will not show. Now the developer of the online course thought will be a good assignment; however, the technology department could not help the students complete the assignment and I as the instructor need to look for optional work submissions methods for my students.
The answer depends on how strong your development team is. If you have a strong development department, they should be able to create all the tech components. If not, then you have to have a fairly high degree of facility with technology.
Dawn,
One needs to know who there client is. Not all students have high speed Internet and may get frustrated not being able to view all the extras.
Shelly Crider
I would have to say that for starters any online course development begins with the developer having knowledge of the subject matter. How can one design a course if they do not understand the subject? Secondly, depending on the LMS being used basic technological expertise is all that is required. Now if one wants to go all out with animations, voice-over, video type chats, etc., then that is where the technological needs will arise. For those who go “all out†in the online classroom design, the extra training will be of benefit.
Erin,
Good point. You must have a little technical savvy skills. This way you can help the students with their skills!
Shelly Crider
I think that it helps them to be technologically savvy, but I think that it is more important for them to understand how different people learn and to be able to design courses and course materials for all types of learners.
My best math teachers were not math geniuses, but they understood how to convey information in a way that could be digested by the class. I think that the same idea holds true for developers of online courses.
Dianna,
I love Captivate! You can really make some outstanding presentations!
Shelly Crider
I agree! I am not a technological wizard. There are so many software products available today that allows and instructional designer to create their course from beginning to end. I have used products such as Articulate, Captivate, and Lectora. These are simple to use applications. I have also just done storyboarding and passed the course to a developer who is a technological wizard to create the course in Flash.
Dianna
Rose-Mary,
Oh so true. Fears of what "might" happen is a terrible feeling!
Shelly Crider
I do not think that you have to be a wizard. I am very tech savvy and do have a web design background therefore it makes it easy for me. However, with overall changes to technology and the drag and drop that many programs now offer. I do believe that everyone could do this. Maybe we need to get over our own fears sometimes.
Misty,
We certainly are in education for life and along the road we learn.
Shelly Crider
I have to agree with that statement. Although we must remain current in those technologies that will provide the greatest learning experience for the student, we merely must take the time to learn how to utilize them! Luckily the programs are written and developed for us, as are often step by step guides. I think that is where the technological expertise comes in!
Misty Walker
