On Saturday, February 16, 2013, LeAnn Morris, Sharmaine Sharusan, and I met synchronously on Skype as a learning community to discuss our video presentations. Our meeting lasted roughly 55 minutes.
Allen,
E., & Seaman, J. (2013). Changing course: Ten years of tracking online
education in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group and Quahog
Research Group, LLC.
Presents the research findings on
the state of online learning in the United States. This was the tenth year this research has
been conducted. Surveyed items include
the growth in online education, perceptions and acceptance of online learning
by faculty, as well as the effectiveness of online education in comparison to traditional
educational settings. Statistical graphs
portray the changes occurred during the varying time frames.
Raj,
S., & Al-Alawheh, M. (2010). A Perspective on Online Degrees Vs.
Face-to-Face in the Academic Field Proceedings of the Fifth Conference of
Learning International Networks Consortium. Cambridge, MA; LINC.
Described the perspectives of
employers in regards to the acceptability of online distant education programs
of online doctoral degrees. Delivers
insight into the minds of hiring officials from multiple fields depicting the uncertainties
surrounding online graduate degree programs.
Suggests new approaches to instructional design for online courses could
improve these perceptions.
Richardson,
J. (2010). Online Credentials: A State of Wariness. School Administrator, 67(8),
18-22.
Discusses the skepticisms found in
personnel directors towards individuals with a graduate degree that was
primarily obtained online. School
districts are noted as being reluctant to hire administrators without a
traditional education. Research suggests
that individuals with a degree obtained online are viewed as under qualified to
potential employers.
Shelton,
K. (2011). A Review of Paradigms for Evaluating the Quality of Online Education
Programs. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume IV,
Spring 2011(Number I).
Sinow,
R. &.-B. (2012). The Value and Acceptability of an Online Degree in Hiring
Gatekeepers’ choice for Employment in the Multimedia Production Industry. Proceedings
of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and
Higher Education (pp. 1918-1927). Chesapeake: AACE.
Describes the acceptability of
online degrees in the multimedia production industry. Studies show that individuals with experience
in online learning are more likely to accept online degrees. Hiring personnel from technology-based fields
find online degrees more credible than that of management fields. Limitations to peer interaction is viewed as
a weakness of online education. General acceptance
of online degree programs rises.
Udegbe,
I. (2012, March). Attitudes of Prospective Human Resource Personnel towards
Distance Learning Degrees. Online Journal of Distance Learning
Administration, XV(1).
Discusses the attitudes of human
resource personnel towards obtaining online degrees. The majority of those surveyed believed
traditional campus-based universities provided a more rigorous experience. Nearly 43% of respondents stated that they
would not hire someone with an online degree.
Overall, only a third of employers surveys had favorable attitudes
towards online learning.
Vukelic,
B. &. (2011). Employers' evaluation of online education. Annals Of DAAAM
& Proceedings, 1471-1472.
Research studies conducted in
Austria discovered employers held negative opinion towards applicants with
online degrees. 90% stated that online
degrees did not provide adequate skills and/or knowledge for successful
potential employees. It was noted that
often it is difficult to differentiate between degrees obtained online and
degrees earned from a traditional academic setting.
Zain-Ul-Abdin,
K. &. (2010). The acceptability of online degrees in teacher training and
hiring. Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher
Education International Conference 2010 (pp. 995-1000). Chesapeake, VA:
AACE.
Provides research findings on high
school principals’ acceptance of potential teachers with licensure degrees
obtained online. Findings showed that
95% of those surveyed would not hire a teacher with an online degree. Meanwhile, 99% stated they would choose an
applicant with a traditional education over one with an online degree. The participants’ reasoning was that online
programs could not provide adequate socialization required of effective
teachers.
I believe I fall somewhere between static and dynamic on this continuum. According to Moller (2008), "The middle-of-the-road approaches allow learners to interact with the content." However, in thinking of distance education, I believe that higher levels of learning occur when using more dynamic tools. In order for me to move towards dynamic technologies, I must first gain a deep understanding of how to use the technologies. While I have experience in Google Apps, wikis, and Dropbox, I don't feel like my level of knowledge is enough to be able to successfully integrate them into a distance education setting. Research shows that a teacher's experience with the technologies is more important than teaching experience (Fahy, 2008). Therefore, as I increase my abilities with the different dynamic tools, I will become more effective as a distance education educator.
Fahy, P. (2008). Characteristics of Interactive Online Learning Media. The Theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed., pp. 305-340). Edmonton: AU Press Moller, L. (2008). Static and dynamic technological tools. [Unpublished Paper].
Posts
