MIT Open Course –
American Urban History I
Distance courses
require time and effort to design an effective course that attempts to reach
all learners regardless of their background (economic, social, and political)
and their learning styles (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2012). Many factors go into the development of an
online course, and many times an online course design is just a copy and paste
project from a real time classroom (lpc1.clpccd.cc.ca.us, n.d.). Open and free courses are a new trend that
many colleges are implementing for learners who desire to expand their
knowledge on a topic. The course is not
a design for college credit, but the best practices an online course must have
should still be in consideration when designing a course. Three areas in evaluation are critical when
evaluating the usefulness of an online course.
Course pre-planning, online design and course activities are vital in
assessing if a course is right for a learner (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and
Zvacek, 2012).
The open course
evaluation for this paper is from the MIT OpenCourseWare website and is a focus
on historical studies. The title of the
course is “American
Urban History I” (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/urban-studies-and-planning/11-013j-american-urban-history-i-spring-2010/index.htm)
and is a course from Spring 2010 (ocw.mit.edu, 2010). This course is a fourteen week online course
that follows the Equivalency Theory by Desmond Keegan. The design is a liner approach that appears
to be a face to face synchronous course that is a transfer into the online
world. The course appears to be a design
that follows Keegan’s theory is due to the fact the course uses a strategy of
“equivalency” in the design for all learners.
Keegan states that a learner whether local or distant, should have the
same equivalent outcomes from a course. The issue with the equivalency theory
is not all learners whether distant or local have the same environments, and
online learners tend to have time constraints (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright,
and Zvacek, 2012).
The best practices
or recommendations for online instruction are critical and a clear and concise
course layout is vital. The ability to
set clear and concise goals, design an effective syllabus, recognize individual
student learning styles, and design a course that represents a variety of
learning styles is a challenge (sanjuancollege.edu, 2012). The MIT course from this paper has its
challenges in some of these areas.
First, the goals of this course lay out a clear and concise method that
gives the learner a detailed calendar of the topics for each weeks and what
reading assignments, and goals for every week.
Second, the course does give a syllabus with a course description and
assignments and expectations for the course, but it is general and not in depth
in content. Third, the course does not
address a variety of learning styles that allow all students to express
themselves in the best manner. The
course limits itself to reading, discussion, and a final research paper using
primary sources. The lack of variety and
flexibility in the course design is difficult for some to succeed and can be a
challenge if a learner does not do well in this environment (Simonson,
Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2012). There
is no reference to technology and computer hardware or requirements that one
may need for this course. It also does
not address issues such as plagiarism, netiquette, and assisting any students
who may have learning disabilities (lpc1.clpccd.cc.ca.us, n.d.).
The idea of
enrichment learning and project based learning is important when developing an
online course. Since online courses interact
either in a synchronous or asynchronous method, the instructor must be sure
that the lessons and activities have a design that enriches a student’s
understanding of a subject (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek,
2012). In this course, the two key
enrichment activities revolve around discussion and a research project that
uses primary sources (ocw.mit.edu, 2010).
In online discussion questions, it is important that students reflect
and deepen their understanding of a topic (ets.tlt.psu.edu, 2008). In addition, the research paper needs to
enhance the learning process on the topic at hand if it is to hold any value to
the learner. Group activities or project
base learning activities sometimes make for a valuable enrichment activity for
a learner (sanjuancollege.edu, 2012).
An online course
whether it is free or for educational credit needs to be an in-depth learning
experience for all students. The design
and layout of the course needs to be a well thought out approach that makes the
transition from in-class a painless process.
In addition, enriching activities and discussions that force a learner
to think deeper is a valuable asset in the long run for all
(sanjuancollege.edu, 2012). Instructors
and instructional designers need to keep these thoughts in mind. The course from MIT may be valuable for many
students, but it does not reach all learners because of the lack of a variety
of activities. The effort must be made
to reach all learning styles and educate all that desire to learn.
References
ets.tlt.psu.edu, (2008). Introduction to Crafting Question for On-line
Discussion.
Retrieved on
November 25, 2012 from http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/learningdesign/crafting_question
Fogelson, R.,
(2010). Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare.
Retrieved on
November 25, 2012 from http://ocw.mit.edu.
November
25, 2012 from http://lpc1.clpccd.cc.ca.us/lpc/blackboard/best_practices/
Simonson, M.,
Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning
at a
distance:
Foundations of distance education (5th ed.)
Boston, MA: Pearson.
November
25, 2012 from http://www.sanjuancollege.edu/pages/2825.asp
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