Evolution of Technology and Teaching

This video, from 1991, is a quick four and one-half minute look at the evolution of technology and teaching. While the technology may be somewhat dated—a LOT has changed in two decades—it still provides a useful look at the way technology has changed. It also provides insight into the way that we thought technology might change education. Some of which has occurred; others, not so much. Sit back and watch — Do you wonder where will we go in another two decades?

Resources to Bookmark

There are a few resources that you may wnat to be aware of as you go through the course and also as you continue to teach online, particularly if you teach in an academic setting. 

The first is the Online Learning Consortium. This consortium provides many resources and educational opportunities to those interested in learning more and being more involved in online learning. They publish an open access journal called the Online Learning Journal  which may have helpful articles for you as you explore the world of teaching online.

The following two resources are specific to those who teach in academic environments:

• Is your Distance Education Actually a Correspondence Course?  You may have read articles in the news about universities running into problems with the federal government related to financial aid funding when course(s) they defined as distance learning were really  correspondence courses. This is important for institutions and faculty teaching the courses to understand in order to ensure that the coursework meets the definition of distance education. One key to meeting the criteria is that there must be "regular and substantive interactions between...students and the instructor".
• National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). Faculty should be familiar with the concept that there are state laws that govern whether students from one state may participate in online academic coursework at a university in another state, including agreements between the higher education commissions of both states, which then are utilized by approved institutions in that state.  SARA was developed as a way for states to more effectively arrange for reciprocal enrollment in higher education programs as more and more institutions offer online programs. Online learning experts at your institution can tell you more about your state and institutional agreements and arrangements.

Activity

To get started, read this blog posting from Online Learning Insights on "How [not] to Design an Online Course." As you move through the course, reflect on how similar or dissimilar to Professor Harding you may be, and what lessons you learn that can help you avoid the issues that he faced.

Congratulations! You've completed the first module. If you decide that you really do need a brief refresher before proceeding, remember you can jump into the terminology section. Otherwise, review the resources for this section or proceed to the next module, Acknowledging the Elephant, by making the selection from the navigation above, or clicking here.