Forum 2 - Chapter 1, eLearning: Promises and Pitfalls
Write your responses in a post to this Forum the following: (by Monday, July 17 at 11:59 PM) Respond to one classmate's post before the Wednesday WebEx meeting at 6:30 (EST).
Read Chapter 1. eLearning: Promises and Pitfalls.
1. When finished the chapter, find one point idea or principle in the Chapter that you agree with based upon your own experience as a student or teacher/trainer or that you don't agree with, or don't understand, or about something from which you just want more information. Jargon doesn’t count, there’s a Glossary at the back of the book.
2. Then, go to the References section on Page 425, and get the full citation.
3. Track down the source using the CCSU Library, ERIC or any other source and find the information from the original research study cited in the Chapter. Describe what it is, what page its on and why you want to know more about it.Can’t find the source, try another . . .
4. Then, in the original research study, read the relevant part of section of source material and evaluate whether or not the text authors got it right ,or not. If its something you don't understand, is it now clearer from reading the original information in the study, or not? If its something you don't agree with, does the original study give enough evidence to convince you that they may be correct in how they applied that information to the text?
Response:
Find one point idea or principle in the Chapter that you agree with based upon your own experience as a student or teacher/trainer or that you don't agree with, or don't understand, or about something from which you just want more information.
I agree with the point about the review done by Tallent-Runnels, Thomas, Lan, Cooper, Ahern, Shaw, and Liu in 2006 which is on page 13 in the book it tells us that e-learning can be as effective as traditional classroom style learning. In my experience as a student when taking courses online and in the classroom I found that these courses can be effective when the course is well designed and implemented and when technology issues were minimal.
Then, go to the References section on Page 425, and get the full citation.
Tallent-Runnels, M.K., Thomas, J.A., Lan, W.Y., Cooper, S., Ahern, T.C., Shaw S.M., & Liu, X. (2006) Teaching courses online: A review of the research. Review of Educational Research, 76(1) 93-135.
Track down the source using the CCSU Library, ERIC and find the information from the original research study cited in the Chapter. Describe what it is, what page its on and why you want to know more about it.
I used ERIC to track down the original literature review which can be found on page 93-135 of the Review of Educational Research which was cited in Chapter 1 on page 13. This review is rather interesting as it summaries the research in online teaching and learning using the asynchronous and synchronous methods it also compares learning in an online and traditional classroom environment.
Then, in the original research study, read the relevant part of section of source material and evaluate whether or not the text authors got it right, or not. If it’s something you don't understand, is it now clearer from reading the original information in the study, or not? If it’s something you don't agree with, does the original study give enough evidence to convince you that they may be correct in how they applied that information to the text? I found that the text author is correct with stating that the evidence has shown that learning in an online environment can be as effective as that in a traditional classroom. In the original literature review I found that the review of this study focused on two objectives. One is comparing students’ learning in online and traditional environments. The other is that students’ learning in an online course is affected by the quality of online instruction. The better designed and well-implemented online courses are the more effective the course will be.
Classmates post:
When finished the chapter, find one point idea or principle in the Chapter that you agree with based upon your own experience as a student or teacher/trainer or that you don't agree with, or don't understand, or about something from which you just want more information. Jargon doesn’t count, there’s a Glossary at the back of the book.
On page 3 Pitfall: Losing Sight of the Goal discusses that companies have "little evidence of return on that investment—a safe speculation on our part because most organizations don’t invest the time or resources to assess outcomes from their training."(Pg 19) this session argues that companies are not tracking and analyzing the information they are getting from e-learning tools.I disagree with this ideas, I have seen many examples of companies using e-learning data to have personnel decisions.
Companies that are both public and private use e-learning data to develop your company.One example is a large national sporting goods company uses an online training program to determine if an employee can sell a certain brand. The employee watches videos and ppt. of the merchandise that brand makes. At the end of the online program, the employee must take a test and pass with an 80%.The certificate is made from the program and the management is emailed the results. From that point, the employee is able to sell that brand which would allow them to make more commission. Some school districts follow a similar process for DCF training for mandated reporters in schools. E-learning is also being used by police departments to improve public safety.
A number of police departments are using simulators to have their officers train in different situations that would need the officers to make split second decisions. The results of the simulation are reviewed by the trainers and the officer. The departments have stated that hope to be able to use the data to see if the simulation training has driven slow police incidents in high-pressure situations.
I believe that companies are looking at the data from e-learning programs. As the programs increase in popularity companies will look to the data to help pick the best candidates.
Then, go to the References section on Page 425, and get the full citation.
ASTD. (2010). State of the industry report. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development.
Track down the source using the CCSU Library, ERIC or any other source and find the information from the original research study cited in the Chapter. Describe what it is, what page its on and why you want to know more about it.Can’t find the source, try another . . .
The data that Association for Talent Development (ASTD) did reviews the money that US companies spent to develop their workers.The report looked at where the money was spent and what was the outcomes. ASTD Research tracks trends, informs decisions, and connects research to performance. By providing comprehensive data and insightful analysis ASTD Research Reports hopes to help business leaders to create better learning and development for employees. This data used was on page 19 of the book. This information is important because it can help understand the trends for training that industries focus on.
Then, in the original research study, read the relevant part of section of source material and evaluate whether or not the text authors got it right ,or not. If its something you don't understand, is it now clearer from reading the original information in the study, or not? If its something you don't agree with, does the original study give enough evidence to convince you that they may be correct in how they applied that information to the text?
After reading the original research data I think the authors got it right. It seems that companies do not use the data they are receiving from the e-learning platforms as deeply as they could. Companies are using the platform to save money and provide training that is mandated by the government.The companies do not see this data as vital to the development of the company. I think that the authors of the book used the study to strength their piont of view.
Response to classmates post:
I also agree with the book on the fact that most companies do not use the data they collect from the e-learning platforms to develop the company employees further. As you stated the company uses e-learning so that the they can save money when it comes to training their employees. I think companies have collected an abundance of data but without the necessary people to analyze them the company does not use this data as information for furthering themselves or their employees.
