Blackboard and Distance Learning Technology
Over the years there have been numerous tips, tricks and gimmicks educators have used in an effort to reduce their teaching load. Is there anything that can be done to lessen the scholastic load without sacrificing quality instruction? Yes there is, it's the Internet.
Finally applications such as WebCT and Blackboard have merged to create the ideal software support application for distance education. These products provide you - the educator - with the ability to seamlessly integrate your traditional classroom presentation with the virtual capability and extend your scholastic "reach" across the street, or around the world! They were developed or created to make your job easier. It's time you took hold of the reigns and bend technology to your will, rather than be a slave to it!
An e-Learning environment will provide a framework and a set of tools, however, by themselves they are not more likely to facilitate your teaching and the students' learning than the filing cabinet in which you keep your lecture notes.
You can and should make technology work for you - not the other way around. A place to start might be by learning all you can about these online applications, what do the ads promise? What do other educators or like users have to say about it? Imagine, if you could get your students undivided attention for 15 - 30 minutes at a time, what would you want them to learn? Learn the technology and you will become its master.
Overcoming Traditionalists
One common concern I hear from fellow educators is "if I use this online stuff, students will stop showing up for class." At the college level, the struggle for consistent class attendance has always been a struggle. Online presentations can actually "pull" students back in the classroom if they're effective.
Students need a good reason to use an e-Learning environment so if use is optional and there is not real added value then the most you will attract will be a few early-adopters and even they won't hang around too long
Consider this technique; announce to your class that your lecture notes or presentation will be available on Blackboard for the upcoming class. Let them know that the lecture notes will aid them in studying and preparing for quizzes, tests or examinations. Now look through your lecture notes and highlight key terms that you want your students to remember and key phrases or ideas that you want them to recognize and understand.
Due to the use of internet, the learning management system becomes the virtual classroom, and I avail this facility off the campus"
Technologies used in training and education are a popular topic of discussion all over the world. Two major views on delivery modes of educational content exist: some focus on asynchronous delivery for the accessibility of information anytime and anywhere through the use of collaborative tools while whereas others focus on the real-time interaction with the instructor, students, and content during class through synchronous delivery. This comparative analysis will look at Elluminate, a synchronous application, and compare it to Sakai, an asynchronous application. The comparative analysis will further examine general aspects, technological components, pedagogical concepts, strengths and limitations of systems that affect students and instructors for both technologies. This analysis would be helpful to a student who wants to learn how to explore web-based technologies and compare systems.
It will be harder for students to develop their social skills since there is no face-to-face interaction with other people involved. Instructors will need to undergo retraining for them to be competent and it can be costly. It is also expensive to purchase the latest softwares or programs needed to provide online education. E-learning needs constant maintenance and updating as well to ensure that students are getting the latest information. It will also be a challenge for people who doesn 't have access to computers and are not computer literate. It will also be harder for the instructors to assess the performance of their students since they have no guarantee of who actually completed the exercises, home works, and
In the beginning was the word, and the word was written. Some people have described distance education as the use of print or electronic communications media to deliver instruction when teachers and learners are separated in place and/or time(Eastmond, 1995, qtd. in Kerka). Others emphasize distance learning over education, defining it as “getting people - and often video images of people - into the same electronic space so they can help one another learn” (Filipczak, 1995, p. 111 qtd in Kerka), or a “system and process that connects learners with distributed resources” (Filipczak, p. 113). These last two definitions tend to center on the learner and give the learner more control. Given that the teacher evaluation in the state of Texas is now looking toward “Learner centered education”, this will be the emphasis of this research, that distance learning is a system which connects people in order to obtain information or education.
Schoolwork has been able to appear on the internet through a program called Blackboard. It has become the leading provider of Internet infrastructure software for e-Education in today’s society as it is widely used across many campuses. Blackboard was created in June of 1997 from students and faculty at Cornell University. Their intend was to develop an online software program which would advance online education and be capable for other institutions to use as well. Two other important people in the creation of Blackboard would be two education consultants, Matthew Pittinsky and Michael Chasen. Their job was to lead the Educause IMS standards group for online education technology as they had formally created Blackboard LLC.
McCormack & Jones (1998) attribute the limited use of the Web in instruction to the following factors: knowledge, reluctance and resources. Very few educators have the knowledge of technical and educational principles required in constructing Web-based instruction. Also, some educators are reluctant to adopt new methods, particularly those that involve technology. This reluctance may derive from ignorance and misconceptions about the characteristics of new methods and what they have to offer. Moreover, very few institutions will provide the time, support, training, recognition, and infrastructure necessary to implement Web-based instruction. At the same time, even as resources are shrinking, industries and consumers are demanding more ...
Interactive whiteboards – known through such brand names as Panasonic or Hitachi - look very similar to the traditional whiteboards or chalkboards teachers use to display information to their students. The interactive versions, ...
However, studies reveal that “e-learning courses which provide interactivity can boost the overall knowledge retention rate to anywhere from 50% to 90%.”
Some students within society need to have online learning to complete college degrees due to their lifestyles. While it
Physical presence was must & any other sort of learning was questionable. Then came the Computer evolution which actually changed the learning landscape. In simple words, e-learning is a computer based education tool or a type of system that enables to learn at any time anywhere. Nowadays, e-learning is delivered though the internet, although in the past e-learning was delivered using a blend of Computer-based methods like CD-ROM. Technology has advance a lot now,
An interactive whiteboard is an instructional tool that allows computer images to be displayed onto a board using a digital projector. The instructor can then manipulate the elements on the board by using his finger as a mouse, directly on the screen. Items can be dragged, clicked and copied and the lecturer can handwrite notes, which can be transformed into text and saved. They are a powerful tool in the classroom adding interactivity and collaboration, allowing the integration of media content into the lecture and supporting collaborative learning. Used innovatively they create a wide range of learning opportunities.
The interactive whiteboard has been in use in the corporate arena for many years and has been successful in making impact on customers through a seamless presentation of data. The interactive whiteboard has made a jump to the classroom and has been able to have just as significant of an impact but for many different reasons. The interactive whiteboard has become a tool to engage students, provide for student involvement in the learning process and has generally made learning more fun for both teacher and student. There are many articles about the use of interactive whiteboards and there have been researchers throughout the world measuring the benefits that these boards are providing to the impact of learning and delivery of knowledge.
Those who disagree with me think that online learning allows a student to learn at their own pace. Students are able to take the time to understand and figure out problems with the resources that are provided. The convenience of learning in an environment that is conducive to that particular students learning is provided by the student. If the student feels comfortable they are more apt
There are many advantages to online learning, it affects the way people can learn. According to “Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students”, “students have a greater willingness to write or work on computational skills”. “They say student like the immediate results of having online learning.” Another advantage is that students can learn at their own pace. With learning at their own pace they will be able to actually know the information well. If, they are in a regular classroom setting they may no...
With the advent of modern technology, a forceful impact of this technology has been observed in nearly all walks of modern day life. With the increasing access to these facilities, the lives of modern-day human beings have changed so dramatically that in many cases a reversal towards the old ways of life seems apparently impossible. Similar is the case with the process of education. In general the concept of e-learning has modified learning modes and behaviors to a much greater extent. It has...