Distributed learning is defined as any educational training experience that uses a variety of means, including technology, to enable learning. It is also important to note that distributed learning can take place in real time, but it doesn’t have to do so.
Corporate distributed learning usually takes place over corporate intranets and through web-based training. Corporations are making the switch from face-to-face training to distributed learning because of the money it saves and because it helps make training available when it is needed. For example, Verizon uses three different levels of distributed learning. It uses web-based technology where employees are trained through the use of videos, online text, and interactive questions. Verizon also use instructor-led real-time virtual training as well as TelePresence, a fully interactive videoconferencing/ training system.
This is a screen shot of online, classroom, and deparmental training completed at Verizon.
TelePresence
Academic distributed learning includes traditional learning institutions that are branching out into online learning. For example, the school where I teach is becoming more reliant on different forms of technology. We offer our students access to online textbooks and other online resources like Studywiz and Edmodo. Studywiz and Edmodo provide students with opportunities to submit assignments electronically, participate in online polls, blog, and participate in threaded discussions, just to name a few.
Hybrid classes, also known as blended learning, are a combination of instructor-led classes with web-based instruction. These classes are synchronous as well as asynchronous and provide students with advantages of online instruction as well as face-to-face interaction with their instructor. Hybrid classes address many of the frustrations of a fully online course, and many believe these courses will eventually become more popular than the all online courses. The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee provides its students with hybrid classes.
Virtual classes provide learners with access at anytime, anywhere through the use of videoconferencing, Internet, and multimedia resources. Learning is independent of time and place, and students learn material when it is convenient for them. Virtual classes are becoming increasingly more popular and many districts provide virtual classes for students in grades K-12. Some districts are even requiring virtual classes as part of their graduation requirements.
Virtual institutions can exist as both a brick and mortar institution or as institution without a physical location. These institutions provide learning opportunities to students through the Internet and are becoming increasingly more popular. Capella University is one example of an online university. All of Capella’s courses are online, but they do have a corporate office in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Reusability
Professional development is one of the most frustrating things I have to endure as a teacher, and the reason it is incredibly frustrating is because of the lack of reusability of these courses/trainings. I’m not saying all of these courses or trainings are bad; they’re not. But what makes them bad is too many times I cannot use what I’ve learned to make it work for me. For example, technology professional development can be the best, most meaningful training, but the presenters try and cram too much down our throats without giving us the ability to “craft it” to fit our needs. Instead of showing us one or two new uses of technology and letting us work with only those two, they have us rotate to six different technology sessions and experiment with each one briefly. Many times the technology is just what I need, but because of a lack of time and forgetting what was thrown at me in a quick 45 minute lesson, I seldom will go back and reteach myself a way to incorporate the technology to fit my needs. If presenters would focus on two or even three different technologies and provide us with “experimental” time to make the technology work for the individual learner, then the reusability would increase for all without having to change the content.
Visual for Instruction
This screen shot is one of many interactive learning tools on the Read Write Think Website. Flash Player is required to run the Notetaker hierarchical outlining tool which instructs students on how to organize information in an outline. If students need additional help, a tutorial is available which will provide them with more instruction. Students can save and print their finished products.
The surface feature of the Notetaker is the animation used to create the outline. The functional features of the Notetaker include the tutorial as well as the automation of information into the outline form. These two features are what make the Notetaker effective in teaching correct outline format.
Nanotechnology
Learning about future uses for nanotechnology makes me feel as though I am reading a science fiction novel. Nanotechnology, the science of manipulating materials on an atomic or molecular scale especially to build microscopic devices, is becoming a reality in today’s world. Currently, at the University of California, electrical engineers are building a nanowire tree forest to use the sun’s energy to turn water into hydrogen fuel. Xerox Parc and MIT are developing electronic paper, and nanotechnology is being used to develop technology which will enable our electronic devices to go weeks at a time without being charged. With nanotechnology’s ability to improve medicine, military equipment, and thousands of everyday products; nanotechnology is here to stay.
Direction of the Field
I believe the broad and inclusive road is the way to travel. I believe this because of my fundamental belief that technology will continue to change not only how we learn but also how we instruct others, whether it’s through a classroom setting, a virtual institution, or corporate or military training. I also believe it is important to remain flexible and be open to change because we live in a world that is in constant change, and since things are constantly changing, it is important to share information in a variety of ways. Sharing information and using a variety of languages and terms will only help to increase membership in the world of IDT which will, in turn, provide more opportunities for the field to grow.
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