Why I'm Taking the Class

I'm on my way to getting a graduate certificate in Distance Education Management and E-Learning.  I happen to be at a school that has been fairly forward thinking.  I mentioned before that all my students have tablet PCs.  Every day is a web-based lesson in my class.  My school recently published it's strategic plan.  For some reason institutions feel the need to spend a lot of time planning for things that cannot be predicted.  Economic crises, new technology, it doesn't matter, just stick to the plan.  Fortunately, the strategic plan included the development of a hybrid learning model for the school. Enter UMUC distance education courses.

When my principal approved the courses he added a small disclaimer.  I must help my high school develop their hybrid model.  I am still nervous about where to start.  Chapter 5 of Michale Moore and Greg Kearsley's Distance Education: A Systems View  has helped me get a game plan that I need to start documenting.  So here is my rough outline based on the readings.

1. Assemble Instructional Design Team
2. Decide between Author-Editor Model or Course Team Model
1. Recommend the Course Team Model since most of our courses are taught in teams currently (Example: 3 freshmen social studies teachers teaching the same subject, work together to create, edit, grade, etc...)
3. Choose survey course to create hybrid model with
4. Design Study Guide
5. Create Lessons

Most of our courses would not be delivered solely online so we would still see our students face-to-face at least once per week.  Another topic to discuss is what do those face-to-face meetings look like.  Are they lectures, are they tests, are they discussions, are they presentations, or are they a bit of everything.

Just reading this material and thinking about the possibilities gets me excited for the future or education. 

Moore quotes Randy Garrison's viewpoint, "...it is normally not possible to satisfy all of the design considerations fully, if only because of time and budget limitations.  However the more factors that can be addressed, the more effective the course is likely to be." (Moore and Kearsley, 2005, p. 126)  This quote described our situation precisely.  Being a smaller private high school, it appears unattainable when the recommendations are to have a lead designer, graphic artist, technical typist, etc.  That is simply not possible. One or two people will be all of those positions and more.  Most likely the instructors themselves will fill many of these roles.  

Even with the limitations of budgets and instructional design talent I am proud to be on the implementation team.  I just hope we get it right!