Online Learning Part 6 – Series Final Thoughts
by Mark Sivy
In this age of global opportunities due to increased connectivity, greater mobility, and seemingly endless web-based possibilities, intellectual capacity is now being recognized as a nation’s greatest resource. In response, governments and educational institutions should now be seeking to leverage forward thinking strategies and innovative technologies to develop and capitalize on the human resource. Whether changes are being made in public schools, higher education, talent development, or training, the educational processes should be interactive, engaging, and reflective of present and future social and technological trends. A cornerstone of this movement is online education.
At the Core
As a foundation to online education offerings and support, it should be recognized that creating instructional materials is both an art and a science. As appropriate, design and development staff should incorporate K-12 learning theory (pedagogy) and adult learning theory (andragogy) in the creation of educational content. Additional considerations include:
- needs analyses
- stakeholder involvement
- instructional design – the mechanical / technical aspects of online content creation
- instructional systems development – the strategic merging of instructional design with learning theory and situational analyses
- other learning theories such as constructivism, connectivism, and social constructivism
- web-based learning environment implementation and administration
- additional web-based learning tools
- course authoring tools
- multiple language availability
- accessibility
- communication planning
- media creation
- project management
- teaching and learning support
A Broader Sense
Given the current global trends in education, this matter should not a question of whether or not to accept online learning as part of the educational process, but rather how online learning will be incorporated into the local and regional educational culture. For those educational institutions, regions, and countries that want their citizens and country to remain competitive in a global market and economy, online learning should become an integral part of the teaching and learning process.
Reflection Point – “Wherever I see people doing something the way it’s always been done, the way it’s ‘supposed’ to be done, following the same old trends, well, that’s just a big red flag to me to go look somewhere else.” ~Mark Cuban
Online Teaching & Learning...by Mark Sivy 