Technologies in Distance Learning

Example 2: 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 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?

Discussion Forums:

For the history assignment, one technology I think can be used by the students to communicate with the museum curator is discussion forum technologies. This technology can also be used in group collaboration. It allows colleagues, instructors and others to converse in real time as well as delayed time on different topics and subjects in an online environment. These technologies are usually free and they can be embedded within the webpage (Simpson, 2006).

Multimedia:

An additional technology that can be used to showcase students’ exhibits being held at the museums, taking a virtual tour of the museums, being able to interact with the museum’s curators, and see the art work on display is multimedia technologies. There are various multimedia websites such as Flickr, YouTube, Slideshare and more that enables sharing of content and artifacts such as pictures, video, presentation and audio files. These multimedia websites can be used with groups sharing the same interest and colleagues are able to view each others’ work. Some websites such as Slideshare allow users to share information globally. Users can provide feedback, comment on presentation and express their opinions and views (Simpson, 2006).

An additional part of my assignment for this week was to provide two examples of the above technologies, showcasing how they have been successfully used in distance learning. One of the internet sites I researched is by TechTrekers. I was ecstatic when I found this website. It has tons of virtual field trips that are appropriate for students from early elementary to high school. As it is stated on this website, students can travel around the world on this website right from the comforts of their own classroom or home. Therefore, if you visit this site buckle-up and get prepared for the ride of your life. On each site there is at least one form of communication technology such as a blog, forum, email or some other form of contact for students to ask questions, post responses and comments. After taking a virtual tour of one of these museums, the students should definitely be able to critique on pieces of the art exhibits. There is a contact person on duty 24/7 according to the author. This site offers so much more. For those of you in education, I think you will find this website very useful. You can access the website using the following Link: http://www.techtrekers.com

The second site I researched was the Online Universities. This site offers a hundred educational virtual tours where you can explore cities, famous landmarks, buildings, college campuses and even outer space. You can also learn how things are made; explore the human body, a life size whale, parks, theme parks and a virtual tour of Google Earth in a whole new way (Rivas, 2010). This website also has embedded communication technology such as blogs, forums, and emails. You can access this website using the following Link: http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/01/100-incredible-educational-virtual-tours-you-dont-want-to-miss/

Reference

Rivas, K. (2010, January 5). 100 Incredible & Educational Virtual Tours You Don’t Want to

Miss. Retrieved January 24, 2011, from Online Universities.Com: http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/01/100-incredible-educational-virtual-tours-you-dont-want-to-miss/

Rollins, D. (2010, June 21). TechTreckers. Retrieved January 24, 2011, from TechTreckers:

http://www.techtrekers.com/

Simonson, M. (Director). (2006). Technologies in Distance Education [Motion Picture].