Needs Analysis & Reflection
Needs Analysis On Distance Education Focusing On How Instructional Technology Could Be Implemented To Help Blended Learning
Since distance education has been an evolving field that faces many challenges, many of which can be made more effective through instructional technology. The pandemic has ushered in a new era of digital convergence in the classroom experience. It is a fundamental evolution of the structure and environment of education in schools. Today educators must connect with students so that instruction remains continuously relevant and engaging, even in diverse situations.
The mission of instruction technology is to transform education through technology by creating engaging, effective learning experiences with the integration of mobile devices, blended learning, cloud infrastructure, virtual reality, and other adaptive technologies. As the pace of these new technologies in the classroom accelerates, schools have to enable students to identify and overcome any hurdles that might occur in adopting these innovations to enhance the classroom experience.
One of the new technologies in our post-pandemic classroom is video conferencing tools. They are allowing teachers who previously only taught in-person new ways to make their lectures and lessons more engaging while keeping their students' attention. Instructors can use various technologies, from simply prerecording or live streaming their classes to interactive video conferencing software.
In addition to the convenience of online learning, instructors and students can benefit in multiple ways from distance learning through tools such as video conferencing:
Another fundamental shift in the classroom is that the whiteboard has evolved into the interactive board, sometimes known as the smart board. Thus a well-implemented interactive whiteboard solution works perfectly with distance learning, especially with video conferencing, because classrooms might have a combination of students present at the school and some students connected remotely.
These solutions allow educators to turn standard lectures into interactive activities by engaging various learning styles in one experience. For example, students using interactive boards can learn by touching, seeing, hearing, and collaborating with the board. Thus intelligent interactive boards equip educators with innovative ways to teach the same subject material. Moreover, as a result, the students learn better and yield other benefits.
Benefits to interactive boards include the following:
Another critical component necessary for distance education in our modern classroom design is the learning management system. A learning management system is a tool that helps school communities manage face-to-face, blended, and online learning environments. The idea is that this LMS has this built-in versatility that allows educators to create and facilitate learning communities and engage parents, students, and educational partners, partners in student learning.
This ties in with the need for mobile devices. Today's students might have a computer in the classroom and a laptop in front of them. Students might also have a tablet or a smartphone. So the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices has scaled to an unprecedented degree, placing a tremendous burden on infrastructure. So today, one of the most significant things is having constant, anytime, high-bandwidth connectivity for students. Putting all these parts together provides a framework to solve the current challenges of distance education in blended education.
The mission of instruction technology is to transform education through technology by creating engaging, effective learning experiences with the integration of mobile devices, blended learning, cloud infrastructure, virtual reality, and other adaptive technologies. As the pace of these new technologies in the classroom accelerates, schools have to enable students to identify and overcome any hurdles that might occur in adopting these innovations to enhance the classroom experience.
One of the new technologies in our post-pandemic classroom is video conferencing tools. They are allowing teachers who previously only taught in-person new ways to make their lectures and lessons more engaging while keeping their students' attention. Instructors can use various technologies, from simply prerecording or live streaming their classes to interactive video conferencing software.
In addition to the convenience of online learning, instructors and students can benefit in multiple ways from distance learning through tools such as video conferencing:
- It allows teachers and students to share documents and files in real-time.
- Video conferencing applications facilitate interaction by bringing students together.
- Video conferencing enables educators to record the lecture or the lesson for future reference and further help by studying the material and exam preparation by replaying it.
- Video conferencing facilitates bringing in subject matter experts, such as guest lecturers, whether physically located in the same county or halfway across the globe, thus creating a more engaging environment.
- Video conferencing encourages interaction and collaboration between students and teachers, making students more motivated and engaged in their learning experience.
Another fundamental shift in the classroom is that the whiteboard has evolved into the interactive board, sometimes known as the smart board. Thus a well-implemented interactive whiteboard solution works perfectly with distance learning, especially with video conferencing, because classrooms might have a combination of students present at the school and some students connected remotely.
These solutions allow educators to turn standard lectures into interactive activities by engaging various learning styles in one experience. For example, students using interactive boards can learn by touching, seeing, hearing, and collaborating with the board. Thus intelligent interactive boards equip educators with innovative ways to teach the same subject material. Moreover, as a result, the students learn better and yield other benefits.
Benefits to interactive boards include the following:
- Less maintenance than traditional boards,
- Flexibility permits educators to create lessons that inspire students using photos, graphs, maps, and videos,
- Connectivity allows educators to enhance and support their lessons with videos, articles, images, and learning tools by giving educators a resource of readily shareable online tools and information; and
- Integration with computers, microscopes, cameras, and webcams, all to enhance education.
Another critical component necessary for distance education in our modern classroom design is the learning management system. A learning management system is a tool that helps school communities manage face-to-face, blended, and online learning environments. The idea is that this LMS has this built-in versatility that allows educators to create and facilitate learning communities and engage parents, students, and educational partners, partners in student learning.
This ties in with the need for mobile devices. Today's students might have a computer in the classroom and a laptop in front of them. Students might also have a tablet or a smartphone. So the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices has scaled to an unprecedented degree, placing a tremendous burden on infrastructure. So today, one of the most significant things is having constant, anytime, high-bandwidth connectivity for students. Putting all these parts together provides a framework to solve the current challenges of distance education in blended education.
References
Digital Convergence. (2022). Digital Convergence. Dadeschools.net. https://digital.dadeschools.net/#!/
Hybrid-Flexible Course Design. Hybrid-Flexible Course Design. Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://edtechbooks.org/hyflex
Reiser, R., & Dempsey, J. (2017). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (What's New in Ed Psych / Tests & Measurements) (4th ed.). Pearson.
Hybrid-Flexible Course Design. Hybrid-Flexible Course Design. Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://edtechbooks.org/hyflex
Reiser, R., & Dempsey, J. (2017). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (What's New in Ed Psych / Tests & Measurements) (4th ed.). Pearson.