My Courses in the Master of Distance Education Program
This page will list all of the courses I have taken in my MDE program, along with the objectives of the course (taken from UMUC's MDE website), the name of my professor(s), when I took the course, my final grade, my thoughts on the course, and a sample of one or more of the assignments I completed for the course.
OMDE 601 - Foundations of Distance Education and E-learning
Professors Christine Walti and Lisa Blaschke -- Fall, 2010 -- Grade: B
"(Developed by Ulrich Bernath of Germany and Eugene Rubin of the United States, in collaboration with Borje Holmberg of Sweden and Otto Peters of Germany.) An overview of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are required by a competent practitioner of distance education. Critical concepts and issues identified in the distance education literature are explored and the history and theories of the field are critically examined."
What I learned from this class: This was my first exposure to the topic of distance education (DE), and had I not persevered, it could have become an "o.k., I tried, but . . . " situation. I learned in this class, as well as subsequent ones, that the history and theory of probably anything is dry and not very interesting to me. I understand that two MDE professors have re-done OMDE 601 to make it more interactive and interesting. However, I did learn how early researchers, now approaching the end of their careers, such as Otto Peters and Michael Moore, had such an uphill battle to research and implement distance learning in their respective schools. This course had some of these world-renowned DE scholars as guests in the conference for a week at a time. It was fascinating, but pretty intimidating, to have these brilliant scholars in our class! Based on our readings, we were to formulate (intelligent) questions to ask these visitors. The hardest part was thinking of a question and posting it before some other classmate had the same idea.
It was also my first exposure to the fabulous Allison Kipta, a tremendously knowledgeable teaching assistant! I have had the pleasure of meeting Allison face-to-face (not that common in a distance education program!) and reaching out to her on occasion for questions with which I knew she could help. Allison created great tutorials with screen shots and included them in the conferences. I asked her, "Allison, how do you make those cool screen shots?" She introduced me to "Snag-It" and I was hooked. I purchased the software for my work and have used it repeatedly since that time both at work and in my courses. There are many screen captures in my DETT 611 library research project.
In terms of assignments, we were required to set up and maintain a reflective learning journal (wiki). This was a very interesting and enriching project, which I enjoyed continuing in future MDE classes. I wish that all MDE instructors made it mandatory for all students to keep up their wiki, because if it's not required, it is often difficult to set the time aside to keep it updated.
Another conference technique from OMDE 601 that I appreciated was the instructor's requirement to change the subject line in conference posts. This was excellent, and again, I wish that all MDE instructors had this requirement. It's surprising that students would not continue this habit learned in OMDE 601, because everyone has to take this class (unless some students had instructors other than Christine Walti or Lisa Blaschke). It is frustrating to see conference posts in Re: Re: Re: Re: without the respondee's name, and that get cut off because useless previous text is kept in the subject line. I always tried to continue this habit in my own posts to change the subject to reflect my response, such as "Back to Susan, comments on ID."
Sample assignment from OMDE 601: Subsequent to a group assignment to define the five generations of distance education (DE), an individual assignment was to select six DE providers from around the world and classify them according to the generations of DE.
Classification of Six DE Institutions into Five Generations of DE
OMDE 603 - Technology in Distance Education and E-learning
Professor Eli Collins-Brown -- Spring, 2011 -- Grade: A
"A review of the history and the terminology of technology used in distance education. The basic technology building blocks of hardware, networks, and software are identified. Analysis covers the characteristics of asynchronous and synchronous technologies and tools used in the teaching and learning, as well as the administration of distance education. The relationship between technology and the goals of the educational/training organization are critically examined. The relationship between information technology (especially online technology) and distance education is explored. Topics include the criteria and guidelines for selecting technologies for distance education and the future directions of technology in distance education."
What I learned from this class: The most important term I learned in OMDE 603 was: INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN(ER). An instructional designer works with faculty to create the documents, elements, learning objects and hyperlinks to exterior websites for the successful delivery of an online class. One of the topics covered in this class was the SECTIONS model. SECTIONS is an acronym for the model frequently used to build distance education courses to ensure the many facets of an online course are addressed. As described by Bates & Poole, the eight elements of this model are as follows (p. 79):
S: Students - what is known about them; potential students; appropriateness of the technology?
E: Ease of use and reliability – is the technology easy to use; how well-tested is it?
C: Costs – what is the cost structure and how much does the unit cost per student?
T: Teaching and learning – what kinds of learning, instructional approaches and types of technology are needed?
I: Interactivity – what kinds of interactivity does this technology enable?
O: Organizational issues – what is required; what are the barriers to success; what changes are needed?
N: Novelty – how new is this technology?
S: Speed – how quickly can this course be started and changes made with this technology?
Sample assignment from OMDE 603: I created a course concept to be delivered via DE and then applied the SECTIONS model to both the selection of technology for the course as well as the preliminary structure of the course.
Application of SECTIONS Model
OMDE 606 - Costs and Economics of Distance Education and E-learning
Professor Thomas Huelsmann -- Spring, 2011 -- Grade: A
"(Developed by Professor Thomas Huelsmann of Germany.) A study of the economics of distance education in the larger context of the economics of education. A variety of methodological approaches (including cost/benefit and cost/effectiveness analysis) are applied to the distance education context. A variety of costing techniques and economic models are explored and applied to different institutional forms and levels of distance education."
What I learned from this class: This was a really interesting class, but quite challenging. Not being a numbers type of person, I struggled with the costing of DE and the economics. It didn't help that the Excel spreadsheets were in GERMAN! One of the primary things we learned in this class was that the notion that distance education is "cheaper" than face-to-face instruction is not true. DE classes are much more expensive to set up initially due to the technology infrastructure, learner supports and production of course materials. However, after the same course has been offered XX number of times, and more and more students are taking it -- which generates income from tuition, the costs and the income begin to balance out and a favorable breakeven point can be predicted.
Sample assignment from OMDE 606: We had a major group project and worked long and hard on it. The assignment was to develop a single course and calculate the costs based on the list of ingredients, including the cost of personnel (faculty, staff, instructional designers and tutors). We applied the fixed costs vs. the variable costs -- all of which we had been learning about earlier in the course. I remember individual challenges that various members of our group faced, but they did not let those challenges stand in the way of doing their assigned task. In fact, I wrote about it when I submitted the group project, and we got a few extra points because of overcoming these challenges. One group member was acting as a single parent while her husband was deployed in Afghanistan, and another was an employee of UMUC, stationed in Japan when the Tsunami hit in the Spring of 2011. When we asked him for some more content to "beef up" a section, he texted it on his phone while flying from Japan to the U.S., due to lack of Internet in Japan! Permission to use this assignment in our respective capstone/e-portfolios was granted to/by all study group members before the class ended.
Develop and Cost a DE Course
DETT 607 - Instructional Design and Course Development in Distance Education and E-learning
Professor Linda Smith - Summer, 2011 -- Grade: B
"An examination of the instructional design process, its history and place in today's course development efforts, and the use of instructional design
components in practice. Emphasis is on the nature of learning and the requirements for effective instruction. The theoretical underpinnings of learning are explored and applied to the design of a prototype classroom. Management issues surrounding course and curriculum development efforts are discussed, and a comprehensive curriculum management plan is developed."
About this class: DETT 607 was an "oops course," in that I registered for and took it, not realizing it was not a requirement for my MDE specialization. As mentioned elsewhere in this e-Portfolio, I'm tremendously interested in the specialization of instructional design in distance education. Upon conferring with Dr. Stella Porto, she altered my program plan to allow substitution of DETT 607 for another course in which I really was not interested (relating to K-12 distance education). One of reasons I selected this course was because there simply was nothing else available in the Summer of 2011 that I had not already taken. I had the same experience this summer (2012), and that is the reason I am taking OMDE 670 before finishing all of my MDE classes. I suspect this situation has happened to a number of people, and Dr. Porto apparently has adjusted the course offerings going forward to offer more classes in the summer.
What I learned from this class: I really, really enjoyed learning about instructional design. I have referred to my experience in this class frequently in subsequent MDE class conferences, how I learned to create RLOs (reuseable learning objects), such as crossword puzzles and automated quizzes. The assignments in this class were all built one upon the other, and this is the class where I came up with the idea for English grammar for international doctoral students. My management plan, course proposal, course design in WebTycho, and curriculum that I researched and developed all focused on this topic. I developed a passion for this topic and have presented it to the leadership in my school. The idea was well-received, but I was told there was no additional funding to pay for this type of course currently. I also used this concept for developing multimedia in DETC 620. Finally, my research paper for the capstone OMDE 670 was written on this topic.
Sample assignment from DETT 607: There are numerous assignments I could show in this section for DETT 607, but the page in my e-portfolio "English Grammar Course" has a greater sample of work, as well as a few fun things, that I've done for my course design. Included below is a diagram done during the early stages of this course on our understanding of instructional design, and the management plan I developed for my proposed course.
Concept of Instructional Design (one page diagram)
Management Plan for English Grammar for International PhD Students
DETT 611 - Library and Intellectual Property Issues in Distance Education and E-learning
Professor Ilene Frank - Summer, 2011 -- Grade: B
"An overview of the development and delivery of digital resources for distance education. Discussion covers the intellectual property issues affecting the use of copyrighted works in distance education, developing and delivering library resources online to a faculty and student population, and the future of digital information delivery and the impact of digital rights management (DRM) technologies and social networking."
What I learned from this class: This was a very interesting class that is required throughout the MDE program. The first part of the course focused on intellectual property and copyright laws, and the second part focused on graduate research and learning how to seach for relevant material for an assignment. The knowledge and experience gained from this class has helped me in all of my subsequent courses.
Sample assignment from DETT 611: The final project for this class was to pick a topic -- any topic -- it did not have to relate to distance education at all, and research it, and acquire documentation and sources (or at least determine their location). We needed to identify both primary and secondary sources. With the assistance of the UMUC librarian at McKeldin Library (on the campus of University of Maryland, College Park - where I work), I chose to research the Calvert Family, the founding family of the State of Maryland. We did not have to actually write the research report. The assignment was to document how we researched it and identified our sources, and how we would get them had we needed to actually write the paper. The Calvert Family's home in Maryland is now open to the public and is called "Riversdale." It is just five minutes from my home, and for the end of my research project I visited Riversdale on a day when they had a re-enactment taking place.
PowerPoint Research Project
OMDE 610 - Teaching and Learning in Online Distance Education
Professors Christine Walti and Cindy Whitesel - Fall, 2011 -- Grade: A
"An exploration of the online teaching and learning dynamic, including its theoretical foundation and best practices. The themes that shape the online teaching/learning relationship are addressed through individual and collaborative projects. Topics include philosophical frameworks; instructional, social, and cognitive presence; interaction, collaboration, and participation; community and engagement; and administration and management."
What I learned from this class: This was one of the few classes in the MDE with a team of instructors -- Christine Walti and Cindy Whitesel. It is interesting to note that I had both of these instructors previously -- Christine Walti taught OMDE 601 with Lisa Blaschke and Cindy Whitesel was my instructor in an undergraduate Theory of Communication class at UMUC (which was taught in a F2F format).
This was not a favorite class, but it was not difficult. I personally have a hard time absorbing the plethora of research on theory -- regardless of the topic (whether it be the theory of distance education, the theory of communication, or the theory of relativity!) Through the readings and conference exchanges, by the end of OMDE 610, we were able to speak to how DE theory contributed to online teaching and learning; discuss both theoretical and practical issues relevant to online teaching and learning and how they related to social, instructional, and cognitive presence; identify and explain the difference between the various stakeholders in distance education, including the administrators, instructors, instructional designers and of course the students; and finally, make an informed analysis of how communication technologies have impacted the pedagogy of online teaching and learning.
Sample assignment from OMDE 610: There were not as many fun and interesting assignments for this class. The sample assignment for OMDE 610 is an annotated bibliography on the research topic of "What material is available to help veterans enter and be successful in college?" This question is an important one and was highly personal to me, in that my son is a 31-year-old recent veteran with three years of active and combat duty in the United States Army. He received an Honorable (Medical) Discharge and is qualified to receive postsecondary educational benefits under the Post 9/11 GI Bill. With very little guidance from the Veteran’s Administration, and virtually no instructions from the U.S. Army, it is frustrating to know where to start. The research done for this assignment helped to lead the way to his application and enrollment in UMUC.
Annotated Bibliography: Veterans and College
OMDE 608 - Learner Support in Distance Education and Training
Professor Jane Brindley - Spring, 2012 -- Grade: A
"An introduction to the theories and concepts of support for learners in distance education and training. The various types of learner support, including tutoring and teaching; advising and counseling; and library, registrarial, and other administrative services are examined. Discussion addresses management issues, such as planning, organizational models, staffing and staff development, designing services to meet learner needs, serving special groups, and evaluation and applied research. Assignments include designing a learner support model for a particular context (e.g., public or private educational institution or corporate or military training)."
What I learned from this class: This was an interesting course, but very hard, in that Professor Brindley was a tough grader! I ended up with an A, but I had to work awfully hard for it, in terms of multiple revisions to my written assignments! Learner supports are so different in DE than in a traditional university. When students are studying at a distance, not only can they NOT get to the campus between 9 and 5, Monday through Friday, but they should not be expected to do that. They need supports that are virtual, online, and available 24/7. They need to be able to register themselves for classes online, access the virtual library, and contact advisors by e-mail (even though it might be the next day before they get a response). They need technical help 24/7 for their learning management system. The many facets of learner support are very important considerations in planning a DE program.
Sample assignment from OMDE 608: We did a two part project for this class -- the first part as a group project, which was not graded (!), and then a response to it. The group project was to select a DE provider, whether in higher education, secondary education or private industry, and to research it extensively to identify first -- the types of learner supports that are offered, and second -- any problems that we found, especially with their learner supports and write about it in the form of a case study. Because so much work was put into the group project it was unfortunate that we did not receive a grade for the work. The follow-up, individual assignment was to write a recommendation paper with solutions to the various problems identified in the case study.
Response to Case Study for Drexel University Online
DETC 620 - Training and Learning with Multimedia
Professor Jill Fresen - Spring, 2012 -- Grade: A
"(Developed by Joachim Hasebrook of Germany.) An examination of the use of digital media in a variety of educational settings to identify properties, strengths, and weaknesses of multimedia in different learning contexts. Basic psychological processes of perception, understanding, and learning are introduced. Focus is on multimedia and instructional design for online learning systems, such as Web-based training. Hands-on experiences with several multimedia and online learning and information systems are provided. Topics also include groupware and collaborative learning technologies,
intelligent systems, instructional simulations, and virtual reality systems."
What I learned from this class: This was a great class, and very enjoyable as I learned to create a lot of new multimedia, including a podcast. We began by defining learning with multimedia and identified the opportunities to teach and learn with multimedia in DE. We did an interesting group project to develop criteria to evaluate multimedia and then did an individual project using the knowledge gained in the group exercise to evaluate and compare two specific pieces of multimedia. One of the "disappointments" was that we had to identify multimedia we would use to create our class, but we didn't actually have to create them (as we did for DETT 607).
Sample assignment from DETC 620: For my evaluation two multimedia lessons were selected that complemented each other in the field of written English – specifically, word choice such as to, too and two, and vocabulary and spelling. The final assignment was to create a proposal to "request funding" from the DE director for a course -- in this case, Professor Jill Fresen was the program director. Since we could not meet with her F2F, we created a podcast to replicate a F2F meeting. It certainly was a successful exercise, garnering a grade of 100%.
Multimedia Evaluation Paper and Rubric
Podcast
DEPM 604 - Management and Leadership in Distance Education and E-learning
Professor Michael Beaudoin - Summer, 2012 -- Grade: A
"An introduction to the organization, management, and administration of distance education and e-learning training programs and systems. Topics include management theory and practice, organizational behavior and change, leadership roles and styles, and planning and policy. Discussion covers education and training in academic and corporate settings and the knowledge and skills necessary for a distance education practitioner to function effectively in either type of organizational environment. Assignments include individual and group case-study analyses, brief essays, and literature searches related to distance education and e-learning leadership."
What I learned from this class: This class focused on leadership and management styles, such as situational, transformational and transactional leadership. One of the assigned books was Flexible Higher Education by Elizabeth Burge. It was a very interesting collection of chapters by highly recognized and prominent names in the field of distance education, including Michael Moore, Sir John Daniel, and Tony Bates, who are considered to be pioneers in the field.
Sample assignment from DEPM 604: One assignment was to select the best leadership style for a distance education program. We wrote about the characteristics of the style and applied it to a (real or imagined) DE setting. I chose to apply it to the Smith School of Business online Executive MBA program which is slated to begin next year.
Leadership Style in Distance Education
DETT 621 - Training at a Distance
Professor Zane Berge - Fall, 2012 -- Grade: A
"An examination of the role of distance training in business, nonprofit, and government organizations. A wide variety of issues, problems, and solutions in Web-based training are explored. Topics include the economics of distance training, distance technology in the business organization, synchronous versus asynchronous interactive tools, collaborative and problem-solving tools, authoring tools, insourcing versus outsourcing, and the role of multimedia in distance training. Emphasis is on the concept of the corporate virtual university and its design and operation."
What I learned from this class: Through the readings and assignments in this course I mastered the ability to explain to others what e-learning is, how it is different from F2F classes, and how it relates to the terms of blended, hybrid and flipped classes. We studied the business of e-learning in both the corporate and academic world and studied the organizational issues of e-learning.
Sample assignment from DETT 621: The final project was a research paper to be done with a partner. Donna Ballard, another MDE student with whom I had worked in other courses, and I selected the topic of the e-portfolio. We wrote a paper on what it is, and how the e-portfolio is currently being used in academic and professional settings.
The e-Portfolio: What it Is and How it Is Being Used
DETC 630 - Emerging Technology Trends and Issues in Distance Education and E-learning
Professors Stella Porto and Rhonda Blackburn - Fall, 2012 -- Grade: A
"An examination of emerging and advanced technologies that affect teaching and learning, as well as areas of support and management, in the field of distance education. Topics include emerging synchronous and asynchronous technology functions, mobile technologies, and social media tools for development and delivery, as well as technologies used in providing learner, faculty, and managerial support to distance education. Technologies are explored critically in both a theoretical and applied contexts. Analysis covers trends and critical issues associated with the adoption of such technologies."
What I learned from this class: This was a great class that exposed us to a wide variety of cutting-edge technologies that forced us to look outside the box of what we already knew and what we were comfortable using. We paired with a classmate to spend two weeks finding and using new technologies, including a blog or wiki such as PM Wiki or Tumblr, a social media platform, such as Facebook, asynchronous and synchronous multimedia, such as Audacity and Skype, and LMS platforms, such a Canvas. The final project was to work in a team to evaluate technologies. We added Google Docs, WebEx and ProProfs to our list of technologies to test and rate.
Sample assignment from DETC 630: The final report, the Technology Scorecard was a comprehensive evaluation of many different technologies.
Technology Scorecard
References
Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Effective teaching with technology in higher education: Foundations for success. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
University of Maryland University College (2012). Graduate School MDE Program. http://www.umuc.edu/grad/gradprograms/mde-teaching-training.cfm
OMDE 601 - Foundations of Distance Education and E-learning
Professors Christine Walti and Lisa Blaschke -- Fall, 2010 -- Grade: B
"(Developed by Ulrich Bernath of Germany and Eugene Rubin of the United States, in collaboration with Borje Holmberg of Sweden and Otto Peters of Germany.) An overview of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are required by a competent practitioner of distance education. Critical concepts and issues identified in the distance education literature are explored and the history and theories of the field are critically examined."
What I learned from this class: This was my first exposure to the topic of distance education (DE), and had I not persevered, it could have become an "o.k., I tried, but . . . " situation. I learned in this class, as well as subsequent ones, that the history and theory of probably anything is dry and not very interesting to me. I understand that two MDE professors have re-done OMDE 601 to make it more interactive and interesting. However, I did learn how early researchers, now approaching the end of their careers, such as Otto Peters and Michael Moore, had such an uphill battle to research and implement distance learning in their respective schools. This course had some of these world-renowned DE scholars as guests in the conference for a week at a time. It was fascinating, but pretty intimidating, to have these brilliant scholars in our class! Based on our readings, we were to formulate (intelligent) questions to ask these visitors. The hardest part was thinking of a question and posting it before some other classmate had the same idea.
It was also my first exposure to the fabulous Allison Kipta, a tremendously knowledgeable teaching assistant! I have had the pleasure of meeting Allison face-to-face (not that common in a distance education program!) and reaching out to her on occasion for questions with which I knew she could help. Allison created great tutorials with screen shots and included them in the conferences. I asked her, "Allison, how do you make those cool screen shots?" She introduced me to "Snag-It" and I was hooked. I purchased the software for my work and have used it repeatedly since that time both at work and in my courses. There are many screen captures in my DETT 611 library research project.
In terms of assignments, we were required to set up and maintain a reflective learning journal (wiki). This was a very interesting and enriching project, which I enjoyed continuing in future MDE classes. I wish that all MDE instructors made it mandatory for all students to keep up their wiki, because if it's not required, it is often difficult to set the time aside to keep it updated.
Another conference technique from OMDE 601 that I appreciated was the instructor's requirement to change the subject line in conference posts. This was excellent, and again, I wish that all MDE instructors had this requirement. It's surprising that students would not continue this habit learned in OMDE 601, because everyone has to take this class (unless some students had instructors other than Christine Walti or Lisa Blaschke). It is frustrating to see conference posts in Re: Re: Re: Re: without the respondee's name, and that get cut off because useless previous text is kept in the subject line. I always tried to continue this habit in my own posts to change the subject to reflect my response, such as "Back to Susan, comments on ID."
Sample assignment from OMDE 601: Subsequent to a group assignment to define the five generations of distance education (DE), an individual assignment was to select six DE providers from around the world and classify them according to the generations of DE.
Classification of Six DE Institutions into Five Generations of DE
OMDE 603 - Technology in Distance Education and E-learning
Professor Eli Collins-Brown -- Spring, 2011 -- Grade: A
"A review of the history and the terminology of technology used in distance education. The basic technology building blocks of hardware, networks, and software are identified. Analysis covers the characteristics of asynchronous and synchronous technologies and tools used in the teaching and learning, as well as the administration of distance education. The relationship between technology and the goals of the educational/training organization are critically examined. The relationship between information technology (especially online technology) and distance education is explored. Topics include the criteria and guidelines for selecting technologies for distance education and the future directions of technology in distance education."
What I learned from this class: The most important term I learned in OMDE 603 was: INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN(ER). An instructional designer works with faculty to create the documents, elements, learning objects and hyperlinks to exterior websites for the successful delivery of an online class. One of the topics covered in this class was the SECTIONS model. SECTIONS is an acronym for the model frequently used to build distance education courses to ensure the many facets of an online course are addressed. As described by Bates & Poole, the eight elements of this model are as follows (p. 79):
S: Students - what is known about them; potential students; appropriateness of the technology?
E: Ease of use and reliability – is the technology easy to use; how well-tested is it?
C: Costs – what is the cost structure and how much does the unit cost per student?
T: Teaching and learning – what kinds of learning, instructional approaches and types of technology are needed?
I: Interactivity – what kinds of interactivity does this technology enable?
O: Organizational issues – what is required; what are the barriers to success; what changes are needed?
N: Novelty – how new is this technology?
S: Speed – how quickly can this course be started and changes made with this technology?
Sample assignment from OMDE 603: I created a course concept to be delivered via DE and then applied the SECTIONS model to both the selection of technology for the course as well as the preliminary structure of the course.
Application of SECTIONS Model
OMDE 606 - Costs and Economics of Distance Education and E-learning
Professor Thomas Huelsmann -- Spring, 2011 -- Grade: A
"(Developed by Professor Thomas Huelsmann of Germany.) A study of the economics of distance education in the larger context of the economics of education. A variety of methodological approaches (including cost/benefit and cost/effectiveness analysis) are applied to the distance education context. A variety of costing techniques and economic models are explored and applied to different institutional forms and levels of distance education."
What I learned from this class: This was a really interesting class, but quite challenging. Not being a numbers type of person, I struggled with the costing of DE and the economics. It didn't help that the Excel spreadsheets were in GERMAN! One of the primary things we learned in this class was that the notion that distance education is "cheaper" than face-to-face instruction is not true. DE classes are much more expensive to set up initially due to the technology infrastructure, learner supports and production of course materials. However, after the same course has been offered XX number of times, and more and more students are taking it -- which generates income from tuition, the costs and the income begin to balance out and a favorable breakeven point can be predicted.
Sample assignment from OMDE 606: We had a major group project and worked long and hard on it. The assignment was to develop a single course and calculate the costs based on the list of ingredients, including the cost of personnel (faculty, staff, instructional designers and tutors). We applied the fixed costs vs. the variable costs -- all of which we had been learning about earlier in the course. I remember individual challenges that various members of our group faced, but they did not let those challenges stand in the way of doing their assigned task. In fact, I wrote about it when I submitted the group project, and we got a few extra points because of overcoming these challenges. One group member was acting as a single parent while her husband was deployed in Afghanistan, and another was an employee of UMUC, stationed in Japan when the Tsunami hit in the Spring of 2011. When we asked him for some more content to "beef up" a section, he texted it on his phone while flying from Japan to the U.S., due to lack of Internet in Japan! Permission to use this assignment in our respective capstone/e-portfolios was granted to/by all study group members before the class ended.
Develop and Cost a DE Course
DETT 607 - Instructional Design and Course Development in Distance Education and E-learning
Professor Linda Smith - Summer, 2011 -- Grade: B
"An examination of the instructional design process, its history and place in today's course development efforts, and the use of instructional design
components in practice. Emphasis is on the nature of learning and the requirements for effective instruction. The theoretical underpinnings of learning are explored and applied to the design of a prototype classroom. Management issues surrounding course and curriculum development efforts are discussed, and a comprehensive curriculum management plan is developed."
About this class: DETT 607 was an "oops course," in that I registered for and took it, not realizing it was not a requirement for my MDE specialization. As mentioned elsewhere in this e-Portfolio, I'm tremendously interested in the specialization of instructional design in distance education. Upon conferring with Dr. Stella Porto, she altered my program plan to allow substitution of DETT 607 for another course in which I really was not interested (relating to K-12 distance education). One of reasons I selected this course was because there simply was nothing else available in the Summer of 2011 that I had not already taken. I had the same experience this summer (2012), and that is the reason I am taking OMDE 670 before finishing all of my MDE classes. I suspect this situation has happened to a number of people, and Dr. Porto apparently has adjusted the course offerings going forward to offer more classes in the summer.
What I learned from this class: I really, really enjoyed learning about instructional design. I have referred to my experience in this class frequently in subsequent MDE class conferences, how I learned to create RLOs (reuseable learning objects), such as crossword puzzles and automated quizzes. The assignments in this class were all built one upon the other, and this is the class where I came up with the idea for English grammar for international doctoral students. My management plan, course proposal, course design in WebTycho, and curriculum that I researched and developed all focused on this topic. I developed a passion for this topic and have presented it to the leadership in my school. The idea was well-received, but I was told there was no additional funding to pay for this type of course currently. I also used this concept for developing multimedia in DETC 620. Finally, my research paper for the capstone OMDE 670 was written on this topic.
Sample assignment from DETT 607: There are numerous assignments I could show in this section for DETT 607, but the page in my e-portfolio "English Grammar Course" has a greater sample of work, as well as a few fun things, that I've done for my course design. Included below is a diagram done during the early stages of this course on our understanding of instructional design, and the management plan I developed for my proposed course.
Concept of Instructional Design (one page diagram)
Management Plan for English Grammar for International PhD Students
DETT 611 - Library and Intellectual Property Issues in Distance Education and E-learning
Professor Ilene Frank - Summer, 2011 -- Grade: B
"An overview of the development and delivery of digital resources for distance education. Discussion covers the intellectual property issues affecting the use of copyrighted works in distance education, developing and delivering library resources online to a faculty and student population, and the future of digital information delivery and the impact of digital rights management (DRM) technologies and social networking."
What I learned from this class: This was a very interesting class that is required throughout the MDE program. The first part of the course focused on intellectual property and copyright laws, and the second part focused on graduate research and learning how to seach for relevant material for an assignment. The knowledge and experience gained from this class has helped me in all of my subsequent courses.
Sample assignment from DETT 611: The final project for this class was to pick a topic -- any topic -- it did not have to relate to distance education at all, and research it, and acquire documentation and sources (or at least determine their location). We needed to identify both primary and secondary sources. With the assistance of the UMUC librarian at McKeldin Library (on the campus of University of Maryland, College Park - where I work), I chose to research the Calvert Family, the founding family of the State of Maryland. We did not have to actually write the research report. The assignment was to document how we researched it and identified our sources, and how we would get them had we needed to actually write the paper. The Calvert Family's home in Maryland is now open to the public and is called "Riversdale." It is just five minutes from my home, and for the end of my research project I visited Riversdale on a day when they had a re-enactment taking place.
PowerPoint Research Project
OMDE 610 - Teaching and Learning in Online Distance Education
Professors Christine Walti and Cindy Whitesel - Fall, 2011 -- Grade: A
"An exploration of the online teaching and learning dynamic, including its theoretical foundation and best practices. The themes that shape the online teaching/learning relationship are addressed through individual and collaborative projects. Topics include philosophical frameworks; instructional, social, and cognitive presence; interaction, collaboration, and participation; community and engagement; and administration and management."
What I learned from this class: This was one of the few classes in the MDE with a team of instructors -- Christine Walti and Cindy Whitesel. It is interesting to note that I had both of these instructors previously -- Christine Walti taught OMDE 601 with Lisa Blaschke and Cindy Whitesel was my instructor in an undergraduate Theory of Communication class at UMUC (which was taught in a F2F format).
This was not a favorite class, but it was not difficult. I personally have a hard time absorbing the plethora of research on theory -- regardless of the topic (whether it be the theory of distance education, the theory of communication, or the theory of relativity!) Through the readings and conference exchanges, by the end of OMDE 610, we were able to speak to how DE theory contributed to online teaching and learning; discuss both theoretical and practical issues relevant to online teaching and learning and how they related to social, instructional, and cognitive presence; identify and explain the difference between the various stakeholders in distance education, including the administrators, instructors, instructional designers and of course the students; and finally, make an informed analysis of how communication technologies have impacted the pedagogy of online teaching and learning.
Sample assignment from OMDE 610: There were not as many fun and interesting assignments for this class. The sample assignment for OMDE 610 is an annotated bibliography on the research topic of "What material is available to help veterans enter and be successful in college?" This question is an important one and was highly personal to me, in that my son is a 31-year-old recent veteran with three years of active and combat duty in the United States Army. He received an Honorable (Medical) Discharge and is qualified to receive postsecondary educational benefits under the Post 9/11 GI Bill. With very little guidance from the Veteran’s Administration, and virtually no instructions from the U.S. Army, it is frustrating to know where to start. The research done for this assignment helped to lead the way to his application and enrollment in UMUC.
Annotated Bibliography: Veterans and College
OMDE 608 - Learner Support in Distance Education and Training
Professor Jane Brindley - Spring, 2012 -- Grade: A
"An introduction to the theories and concepts of support for learners in distance education and training. The various types of learner support, including tutoring and teaching; advising and counseling; and library, registrarial, and other administrative services are examined. Discussion addresses management issues, such as planning, organizational models, staffing and staff development, designing services to meet learner needs, serving special groups, and evaluation and applied research. Assignments include designing a learner support model for a particular context (e.g., public or private educational institution or corporate or military training)."
What I learned from this class: This was an interesting course, but very hard, in that Professor Brindley was a tough grader! I ended up with an A, but I had to work awfully hard for it, in terms of multiple revisions to my written assignments! Learner supports are so different in DE than in a traditional university. When students are studying at a distance, not only can they NOT get to the campus between 9 and 5, Monday through Friday, but they should not be expected to do that. They need supports that are virtual, online, and available 24/7. They need to be able to register themselves for classes online, access the virtual library, and contact advisors by e-mail (even though it might be the next day before they get a response). They need technical help 24/7 for their learning management system. The many facets of learner support are very important considerations in planning a DE program.
Sample assignment from OMDE 608: We did a two part project for this class -- the first part as a group project, which was not graded (!), and then a response to it. The group project was to select a DE provider, whether in higher education, secondary education or private industry, and to research it extensively to identify first -- the types of learner supports that are offered, and second -- any problems that we found, especially with their learner supports and write about it in the form of a case study. Because so much work was put into the group project it was unfortunate that we did not receive a grade for the work. The follow-up, individual assignment was to write a recommendation paper with solutions to the various problems identified in the case study.
Response to Case Study for Drexel University Online
DETC 620 - Training and Learning with Multimedia
Professor Jill Fresen - Spring, 2012 -- Grade: A
"(Developed by Joachim Hasebrook of Germany.) An examination of the use of digital media in a variety of educational settings to identify properties, strengths, and weaknesses of multimedia in different learning contexts. Basic psychological processes of perception, understanding, and learning are introduced. Focus is on multimedia and instructional design for online learning systems, such as Web-based training. Hands-on experiences with several multimedia and online learning and information systems are provided. Topics also include groupware and collaborative learning technologies,
intelligent systems, instructional simulations, and virtual reality systems."
What I learned from this class: This was a great class, and very enjoyable as I learned to create a lot of new multimedia, including a podcast. We began by defining learning with multimedia and identified the opportunities to teach and learn with multimedia in DE. We did an interesting group project to develop criteria to evaluate multimedia and then did an individual project using the knowledge gained in the group exercise to evaluate and compare two specific pieces of multimedia. One of the "disappointments" was that we had to identify multimedia we would use to create our class, but we didn't actually have to create them (as we did for DETT 607).
Sample assignment from DETC 620: For my evaluation two multimedia lessons were selected that complemented each other in the field of written English – specifically, word choice such as to, too and two, and vocabulary and spelling. The final assignment was to create a proposal to "request funding" from the DE director for a course -- in this case, Professor Jill Fresen was the program director. Since we could not meet with her F2F, we created a podcast to replicate a F2F meeting. It certainly was a successful exercise, garnering a grade of 100%.
Multimedia Evaluation Paper and Rubric
Podcast
DEPM 604 - Management and Leadership in Distance Education and E-learning
Professor Michael Beaudoin - Summer, 2012 -- Grade: A
"An introduction to the organization, management, and administration of distance education and e-learning training programs and systems. Topics include management theory and practice, organizational behavior and change, leadership roles and styles, and planning and policy. Discussion covers education and training in academic and corporate settings and the knowledge and skills necessary for a distance education practitioner to function effectively in either type of organizational environment. Assignments include individual and group case-study analyses, brief essays, and literature searches related to distance education and e-learning leadership."
What I learned from this class: This class focused on leadership and management styles, such as situational, transformational and transactional leadership. One of the assigned books was Flexible Higher Education by Elizabeth Burge. It was a very interesting collection of chapters by highly recognized and prominent names in the field of distance education, including Michael Moore, Sir John Daniel, and Tony Bates, who are considered to be pioneers in the field.
Sample assignment from DEPM 604: One assignment was to select the best leadership style for a distance education program. We wrote about the characteristics of the style and applied it to a (real or imagined) DE setting. I chose to apply it to the Smith School of Business online Executive MBA program which is slated to begin next year.
Leadership Style in Distance Education
DETT 621 - Training at a Distance
Professor Zane Berge - Fall, 2012 -- Grade: A
"An examination of the role of distance training in business, nonprofit, and government organizations. A wide variety of issues, problems, and solutions in Web-based training are explored. Topics include the economics of distance training, distance technology in the business organization, synchronous versus asynchronous interactive tools, collaborative and problem-solving tools, authoring tools, insourcing versus outsourcing, and the role of multimedia in distance training. Emphasis is on the concept of the corporate virtual university and its design and operation."
What I learned from this class: Through the readings and assignments in this course I mastered the ability to explain to others what e-learning is, how it is different from F2F classes, and how it relates to the terms of blended, hybrid and flipped classes. We studied the business of e-learning in both the corporate and academic world and studied the organizational issues of e-learning.
Sample assignment from DETT 621: The final project was a research paper to be done with a partner. Donna Ballard, another MDE student with whom I had worked in other courses, and I selected the topic of the e-portfolio. We wrote a paper on what it is, and how the e-portfolio is currently being used in academic and professional settings.
The e-Portfolio: What it Is and How it Is Being Used
DETC 630 - Emerging Technology Trends and Issues in Distance Education and E-learning
Professors Stella Porto and Rhonda Blackburn - Fall, 2012 -- Grade: A
"An examination of emerging and advanced technologies that affect teaching and learning, as well as areas of support and management, in the field of distance education. Topics include emerging synchronous and asynchronous technology functions, mobile technologies, and social media tools for development and delivery, as well as technologies used in providing learner, faculty, and managerial support to distance education. Technologies are explored critically in both a theoretical and applied contexts. Analysis covers trends and critical issues associated with the adoption of such technologies."
What I learned from this class: This was a great class that exposed us to a wide variety of cutting-edge technologies that forced us to look outside the box of what we already knew and what we were comfortable using. We paired with a classmate to spend two weeks finding and using new technologies, including a blog or wiki such as PM Wiki or Tumblr, a social media platform, such as Facebook, asynchronous and synchronous multimedia, such as Audacity and Skype, and LMS platforms, such a Canvas. The final project was to work in a team to evaluate technologies. We added Google Docs, WebEx and ProProfs to our list of technologies to test and rate.
Sample assignment from DETC 630: The final report, the Technology Scorecard was a comprehensive evaluation of many different technologies.
Technology Scorecard
References
Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Effective teaching with technology in higher education: Foundations for success. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
University of Maryland University College (2012). Graduate School MDE Program. http://www.umuc.edu/grad/gradprograms/mde-teaching-training.cfm