Shelby Simmons – M. Ed. Educational TechnologyResearch and Practice in Distance EducationGoal 1. To be knowledgeable about research in aspects of distance education and the use of telecommunications in educational and other settings.The first component of the initial goal of EDET 755 was for students to become knowledgeable about research related to aspects of distance education. To that end, students completed a research synthesis consisting of an annotated bibliography on a selected topic in distance education, an introduction to that topic, a summary of the research included in the bibliography, and a conclusion that allowed the student to reflect upon the articles we found and read, the method of organizing the articles, and possible applications of the knowledge gained. The synthesis is available on my website, embedded using Scribd, an online digital library that can be used to provide access to online documents or subscribed to as a free/paid online library.

In addition, as small groups, I worked with four other students to review, discuss, and evaluate two research articles on the topics of critical thinking in online discussions and online learning self-efficacy. Through those discussions, accessible through the course learning management system, we identified research-based actions that students and instructors could take to improve outcomes for students in online learning environments and had the opportunity to act as group leaders, participants, and collaborative content summarizers.

For the synthesis assignment I selected the topic of “For-Profit Colleges” and looked at research related to the current popularity and profitability of for-profit or proprietary schools, the schools impact on students, the characteristics of students who attend such schools, the impact on education and the government, and the academic climate at such schools. In the process of reading over twenty-five articles on those topics, twenty-one of which made it into the final project, I thought deeply on the topic, identified the common themes I used as categories, and evaluated the topic and the research. However this assignment yielded other benefits; I had the opportunity to review other students’ projects on topics ranging from accessibility to project-based learning, mobile devices, and learning management systems.

As a result, I am now more familiar with my and others’ topics, can speak intelligently on those topics with parents who may ask me for information for themselves or their children, and use the information to evaluate the next step in my educational career. In addition, in support of the second component of that initial goal, I prepared a five-minute presentation that highlighted the key points identified by my research synthesis using Present.me a web 2.0 tool that can be used to support distance education. As Parent Involvement Coordinator for the Colleton County School District, my priority is to create opportunities to engage parents in their children’s education and to improve parent’s

academic and parenting skills. Present.me, Scribd, and my research synthesis presentation are all tools I can use to assist parents via a distance educational format and students in the various courses I teach.

Goal 2. To critically evaluate examples of distance education implementation in educational and business settings.The process of critically evaluating examples of distance education implementation in various settings involves identifying good criteria to base such an evaluation upon and examining various examples of implementation. For this course, those activities were conducted in a group setting in the course management software and using Google Drive and Dropbox to create an embeddable evaluation document that reviewed two open online courses from MIT, one on game design, the other on combinatorics. In addition to the evaluation tool provided by the professor, our evaluation was informed by the BlackBoard Exemplary Course Rubric and a course text, Theory and Practice of Online Learning (Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Eds., 2008) both of which helped us to identify policies and regulations that can be applied to improve the utilization, application, and integration of distance delivery technologies.

This course evaluation exercise gave us the opportunity to see how different instructors addressed the challenge of online course instruction and provided background knowledge for subsequent activities in this course. Moreover, working in a group mimicked the collaborative process that is used in various businesses and educational institutions to evaluate and improve online and distance education and each member worked within the group dynamics to improve interpersonal skills and build the team.

A second group project required us to build an online course, teach a version of the course to a small group of students, and participate as a student in another course. My reflection upon that second group project is another example of evaluating online/distance education courses and reflects upon the courses while providing evaluation from the perspective of student and instructor roles, informed by research and experience. A final influence on my evaluation of online course can be seen in my review of a chapter in the course text, Theory and Practice of Online Learning (Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Eds., 2008), via a narrated slideshow that discussed the roles and rationale for developing online courses.

In my position with my local school district and as an adjunct professor for a local technical college I implement online courses of varying lengths and topics with and without learning management systems. The course evaluation activities gave me the opportunity to identify useful processes and policies to implement in the courses I teach and practical ideas to improve my pedagogy as I look forward to teaching several courses this fall.

Goal 3. To construct effective delivery of courses, topics, or training by using existing CMS tools.This course would not be complete without the opportunity for students to actually design, develop, implement, and evaluate our own course, which I did with a small group of fellow students using CourseSites to create a course teaching parents to read-aloud to children ages 0 to 10. As a collaborative group, each member took the lead in a specific aspect of the course design and development after extensive discussions in which we implemented the ADDIE instructional design process and conducted a detailed learner analysis. The project resulted in the design of an instructional unit for parents on reading aloud to children in order to improve reading comprehension and overall literacy skills. However, the process went beyond the macro level of course design and we created and implemented instructional plans that met the needs of a wide variety of learners and reflected universal design principles within the assigned learning management system. The resulting course, titled Read to Lead, consisted of a variety of instructional materials including instructional and demonstration videos, handouts, PowerPoints, and interactive activities.

Another project, a proposal to provide professional development at the South Carolina EdTech conference, highlights the fact that as our society continues to embrace life-long learning we will continue to experience roles as teachers, leaders, learners, and collaborators. The proposal details a session teaching teachers, administrators, and technology coordinators how to engage with parents and communities using a variety of technology based tools. Although I will not be able to present at EdTech this year, I will present sessions at the SC Association of Title I Administrators conference and at our district’s professional development offerings throughout the year.

These assignments have particular significance for me as I will continue to improve and implement the course and the development/training session for use within my school district and possible use it as a template for other similar courses. The process of design and development mirrors that recommended in course literature and such skills will continue to play a role as my educational and professional careers develop. I look forward to beginning a doctoral program in curriculum and instruction in the fall of 2014 as I believe the development of online curriculum and blended learning environments will continue to be an area of growth in education.

SummaryTo briefly summarize, although EDET 755 is just four weeks, it is an opportunity to synthesize life, educational, and instructional experience and inform educational practice with high-quality research and thoughtful reflection. The projects I have highlighted in this portfolio reflect Association for Educational Communications Technology program accreditation standards (1.1.2a, 1.1.2b, 1.1.2d, 2.4.2, 3.4.5, 4.0.1) and course goals and objectives. I am proud of the products, but most importantly I

believe I have demonstrated competence in the design, delivery, and evaluation of distance/online education and taken the opportunity to build valuable relationships with like-minded professionals and create instructional materials that will benefit learners for years to come.