Addressing Diversity in Online Learning

This week's reading about diversity is particularly inspiring for me. Describing globalization in the words of Thomas L. Friedman, the author of one of my favorite books called The world is Flat, "...any activity where we can digitize and decompose the value chain, and move the work around, will get moved around." With businesses using strategies such as 'off-shoring' and 'outsourcing' to gain competitive advantage, partnerships are being created around the world to secure the best and the cheapest resources. Such changes have created a need for a diverse work force, and therefore, impact the education system to meet these changing needs. Diversity, now, an issue that does not have to be managed, but can be explored to create alternative views and multiple perspectives.

What does this mean for online learning?

Addressing diversity among students in online learning can prove to be a challenging task. Online constructivist learning approach can be helpful to create an environment that allows all learners to share their experiences and views. A design based on a mixture of tools in cultural contexts can be employed. Information resources, such as books or the internet can be used to provide the necessary knowledge required. practical examples, cases studies and problem situations can be incorporated in the design to make learning more meaningful. One of the key features of such a design is encouraging learners to communicate with each other. That too can be developed using social networking tools such as chat, blog etc. To foster collaboration, exercises can be performed in teams.

What other design components can we use to address diversity?

Emerging Interaction Strategies in Online Learning

One of the challenges of online learning is to create a learning environment that is highly interactive. Online learning is not limited to sharing information like web-courses with schedules, course contents, and power point presentation slides, but can actually be used to develop skills through the same interactive processes used in face-to-face class room learning.

To achieve high level of interaction in online learning, the teacher cannot be held solely responsible for the learning process. Instructional designers and technological tool developers must also work on understanding learners’ needs and how they can effectively utilize information technology to meet those needs. With these changes, the role of online learners has also changed drastically. Learners have to be self motivated and take responsibility for their own learning.

The instructors can use a combination of tools that not only rely on simple interaction strategies (interaction between learners, teachers and content), but also employ enriched interaction strategies, based on cases studies, extended readings, concept mapping of subject topic, feedback on assignments, online group discussions and communities of practice etc. They require tools that can help them have better class management for example better distribution of learning material, announcements, easy to use file exchange programs etc. To enhance learning, they can use Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy, simple self-assessment tools, and exercises to develop higher analytical skills. In order to motivate students, instructors can ask them to document their reflections on the topics being discussed and share their personal stories (also known as the critical incident approach).

Building an environment based on sharing and collaborating, online learning can not only be used as a tool to provide information but also help with developing more generalizable skills like communication skills, team building, self learning and problem solving.

Issues such as the paradigm shift, from a learning system controlled by an instructor, to a more learner-centered model, are difficult to address. Learners have no choice but to rely on the expert, the teacher. Since the power remains with the teacher, how does that change anything, even in the learner-centered model?

Blogging is becoming increasingly popular for its simplicity and effectiveness out of the many social computing tools. I am glad to have finally created my own blog!

In reference to a recent article I read on usnews.com (See references below), blogging is a simple tool small businesses and entrepreneurs can use to direct internet traffic to their business's web address. With the use of blog-gennerating services like Typepad and Wordpress that automatically format words and contents on the blog so that serach engines can pick up on those words and phrases. According to John Jantsch, a blogger since 2002 and author of the Duct Tape Marketing Blog, "a blog gives a small-business owner the ability to show up much higher in the Google rankings than any kind of static website."

In the coming weeks, I will share information that I find interesting about the tools used in Online Learning and Instructional Design.

I look forward to your views, comments and suggestions.

References:

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/small-business-entrepreneurs/2008/09/26/how-to-blog-your-way-to-small-business-success.html

http://wordpress.org/

http://www.typepad.com/