Distributed Learning
Innovative technologies offer higher education a solution to the pressing problem of preparing students for the twenty-first-century workplace, and to attract more students especially from the underrepresented populations (Stewart, A., Harlow, D., & DeBacco, K., 2011). Online technologies have the flexibility for students to take courses at any higher education institute without consideration for their physical location. The popularity of online courses has the ability to take courses wherever and whenever one likes. Interactive dialogue is a crucial component of distance learning although this could be accommodated through video conferencing technologies where a local student is assigned to host a distance learner through Google Video chat and the learners are able to receive real-time attention from the instructor.
The students will be using computers and the internet while interacting, dialoguing, and collaborating even being physically located in a distance. Synchronous Learning in distributed environments (SLIDE) was developed under the assumption that productive learning occurs through conversations among students and faculty who create knowledge together, in real time, even though physically not being together in the same place. This enhances not only the student experience but also the professional experience. SLIDE will provide opportunities to engage in more diverse groups of students in higher education (Stewart, A., Harlow, D., & DeBacco, K., 2011).
We are quickly moving towards distributed, self-organized learning networks for lifelong learning. This involves multiple providers contribute content that needs to be developed as new techniques to determine where the learners are to be positioned in these networks. Positioning required to map the characteristics of the learner, learner materials and curricula. Curricula usability of Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) has been drawn, in order to analyze and understand the characteristics of the learner and learning materials. Educational practices are changing to student-centered from the institute and teacher-led practices. The future learning environments offers diverse learning activities where the learner will have to choose their paths. These paths are likely to differ in their attractiveness in terms of efficiency and effectiveness to the learner and their personal goals. (Van Bruggen, Sloep, Van Rosmalen, Brouns, Vogten, Koper, & Tattersall, 2004)
References
Stewart, A., Harlow, D., & DeBacco, K. (2011). Students’ experience of synchronous learning in distributed environments. Distance Education, 32(3), 357–381. https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2147/10.1080/01587919.2011.610289
Van Bruggen, J., Sloep, P., Van Rosmalen, P., Brouns, F., Vogten, H., Koper, R., & Tattersall, C. (2004). Latent semantic analysis as a tool for learner positioning in learning networks for lifelong learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 35(6), 729–738. https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2147/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2004.00430.x
Immersive education
Immersive education is defined as learning through the environment which gives the participants a sense of “being there” even though they are not physically present in the location. This can be achieved through a variety of mixed reality experiences. The adaption of virtual, augmented, and mixed learning environments that have been adapted through Virtual learning environment (VLE) has the capabilities of the enhanced sensor, computing systems, and software development technologies, and simpler interfaces to create and interact with VLE systems.
This environment hosts the opportunities to enhance community, presence and authentic situated learning experiences. This situates the learner with an imaginary or real-world setting that facilitates participatory and metacognitive learning processes. Participants are connected as avatars from remote locations. The environment supports collaborations, and instructors need to plan activities that support communication between instructor and student and between students. Mirror world infrastructure provides the students with learning opportunities in an immersive, mixed reality environment that extends traditional VE or VR environment to an environment where the participants interact within a mixed real and virtual space. (Gautam, A., Williams, D., Terry, K., Robinson, K., & Newbill, P., 2018).
References
Gautam, A., Williams, D., Terry, K., Robinson, K., & Newbill, P. (2018). Mirror Worlds: Examining the Affordances of a Next Generation Immersive Learning Environment. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 62(1), 119–125. https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2147/10.1007/s11528-017-0233-x
Virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is recognized as an impressive learning tool that has unique capabilities of virtual reality and aspects of constructivist learning that also has the potential educational effectiveness for special needs student, the role of teacher changed as a facilitator and students enjoy using pre-developed applications and developing their own virtual worlds.
The virtual environment stimulates learning and comprehension as it provides coupling between symbolic and experiential information. This leads the learners to new discoveries while motivating students with interaction and encourages active participation in the learning environment with a sense of presence while being part of the environment. VR grabs and holds the attention of the student and they find this exciting and challenged to walk through an environment in three dimensions by interacting with the environment and creating through own dimensional that allows an extreme close-up examination of an object. A prime disadvantage is the cost and time necessary for learning which involves the usage of hardware and software.
Reference
Pantelidis, V. S. (n.d) Reasons to Use Virtual Reality in Education and Training Courses and a Model to Determine When to Use Virtual Reality https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1131313.pdf
MOOCs
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) improved the quality of educational content through online delivery. As of now online networks are used as learning spaces that are distributed, flexible, accessible and the openness in education. There are three key strands that lead the open education core concept which is open access education, open source software, and web 2.0 culture while providing access to higher learning opportunities.
The recent development of this open learning movement is through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that draws attention from both the academic and public circle. MOOCs is tied with other developments in the field, potential to support the lifelong learning, eliminating barriers in the learning process and providing equality of opportunities in education. The most important is ensuring the relaxation of knowledge. MOOCs is new but emerging, rapidly evolving field of practice and research. This has open access to courses and directly connected in a concept map and has the potential of delivering education around the world. MOOCs create opportunities for accessing quality higher education by building learning communities on a global scale which could reduce the tuition cost (Zawacki-Richter, O., Bozkurt, A., Alturki, U., & Aldraiweesh, A., 2018). MOOCs platforms of learning are Coursera, edX, and Udacity which supports a large no of learners. The paper highlights that Open education should be open with regard to people, places, and methods along with online curriculum, course development, instructional design, quality assurance, student and faculty support, technical platforms and infrastructure.
Reference
Zawacki-Richter, O., Bozkurt, A., Alturki, U., & Aldraiweesh, A. (2018). What Research Says About MOOCs – An Exploration Content Analysis. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.19173/
Mixed Reality
When next generation learning environments are designed, they have exciting opportunities that are realistic, authentic, engaging and extremely fun. It is like students looking at a real plastic model of city and seeing virtual models of their designs while they see the different building styles interact with real space. The next generation’s technologies as mixed and virtual reality enable more complex and authentic interactions with regard to physical and cognitive fidelity to embed learning and training experiences into the real world (Kirkley, S. E., & Kirkley, J. R., 2005).
These capabilities provide exciting opportunities for designing innovative learning environments that can make learning more fun, interactive, effective, relevant and powerful. Mixed reality if the experience of blending virtual and real world through physical, space, real, objects and environmental conditions. One form of mixed and virtual reality is game simulation. Simulations provide an authentic context to facilitate learning about the relationships between a realistic context, environment, actions and outcomes. This simulation offers learners to control and manipulate a wide range of interrelated variables within a complex system which can impact outcomes. They provide the learners a safe environment where alternative decisions can be tested in support of learning (Kirkley, S. E., & Kirkley, J. R., 2005).
Reference
Kirkley, S. E., & Kirkley, J. R. (2005). Creating Next Generation Blended Learning Environments Using Mixed Reality, Video Games and Simulations. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 49(3), 42–89. https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2147/10.1007/BF02763646
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