As a reporter and student in this graduate program, research is valuable to any assignment both professionally and academically. Both areas of discussion and the Research Synthesis allowed me to comprehend the importance of in-depth research through hands-on activities consisting of analyzing and evaluating research and scholarly articles. After completing these assignments, I noticed my journalism skills had been heightened in regards to my needs to thoroughly examine the credibility of my sources and to research as much about my story topics as possible in order to effectively report my information to the masses. As a future educator, I believe these assignments helped me become more evaluative in terms of conducting the proper research of web tools and course concepts in order to design the ideal pedagogical or online class.
Goal 2. To critically evaluate examples of distance education implementation in educational and business settings.
Learning management systems are the catalyst through which online education can be effective for the instructor and the student. Upon engaging in this group activity, I learned how to better evaluate different components that make up a well-designed online course. Learning to notice things such as the user-friendliness of an LMS interface and the accessibility of information and course assignments were research and evaluative methods that I had acquired through course readings and interacting with different course sites. These skills also crossover into my occupation as a journalist. It is important that I pay attention to all details of a crime scene, accident, or an event in order to capture the best footage and ask the right questions so I can produce a quality news report for my audience.
Goal 3. To construct effective delivery of courses, topics, or training by using existing CMS tools.
This was one of the most helpful assignments in this course. Not only did I have the opportunity to be an instructor with a course developed with a group of my peers, I was able to see what it was like to have the same responsibilities as an online professor. I believe many people doubt the credibility of online education due to its Internet accessibility. However, online learning is the most challenging form in contrast to pedagogical environments, because the responsibility to learn the course material is that of the students. Also, the instructor has more responsibilities such as keeping online learners up-to-date on deadlines and interacting with students through virtual course gatherings and e-mail. The web tools available for designing a course amazed me as well. In the Net Age, it is important to be well-rounded with popular software as well as free or reasonably priced resources that are available on the Web. While I do not think these skills will be of much use to my career in media journalism, it will help me produce a great story about how online learning has changed since its infancy in the 1990s to the present.
Israel Butler
M.Ed. – Educational Technology - USC Aiken
Research and Practice in Distance Education
Goal 1. To be knowledgeable about research in aspects of distance education and the use of telecommunications in educational and other settings.
TPOL Chapter 10
TPOL Chapter 13
Research Synthesis
As a reporter and student in this graduate program, research is valuable to any assignment both professionally and academically. Both areas of discussion and the Research Synthesis allowed me to comprehend the importance of in-depth research through hands-on activities consisting of analyzing and evaluating research and scholarly articles. After completing these assignments, I noticed my journalism skills had been heightened in regards to my needs to thoroughly examine the credibility of my sources and to research as much about my story topics as possible in order to effectively report my information to the masses. As a future educator, I believe these assignments helped me become more evaluative in terms of conducting the proper research of web tools and course concepts in order to design the ideal pedagogical or online class.
Goal 2. To critically evaluate examples of distance education implementation in educational and business settings.
LMS Evaluation
Learning management systems are the catalyst through which online education can be effective for the instructor and the student. Upon engaging in this group activity, I learned how to better evaluate different components that make up a well-designed online course. Learning to notice things such as the user-friendliness of an LMS interface and the accessibility of information and course assignments were research and evaluative methods that I had acquired through course readings and interacting with different course sites. These skills also crossover into my occupation as a journalist. It is important that I pay attention to all details of a crime scene, accident, or an event in order to capture the best footage and ask the right questions so I can produce a quality news report for my audience.
Goal 3. To construct effective delivery of courses, topics, or training by using existing CMS tools.
LMS Build Reflection
This was one of the most helpful assignments in this course. Not only did I have the opportunity to be an instructor with a course developed with a group of my peers, I was able to see what it was like to have the same responsibilities as an online professor. I believe many people doubt the credibility of online education due to its Internet accessibility. However, online learning is the most challenging form in contrast to pedagogical environments, because the responsibility to learn the course material is that of the students. Also, the instructor has more responsibilities such as keeping online learners up-to-date on deadlines and interacting with students through virtual course gatherings and e-mail. The web tools available for designing a course amazed me as well. In the Net Age, it is important to be well-rounded with popular software as well as free or reasonably priced resources that are available on the Web. While I do not think these skills will be of much use to my career in media journalism, it will help me produce a great story about how online learning has changed since its infancy in the 1990s to the present.