Title of artifact/item: Learning Management System (LMS): Blackboard at NIU Freshman
Area of Mastery addressed: Instructional Design

A summary report of distance learning delivery systems, focus on technology, advantages, issues, limitations, debates, and potential applications. Northern Illinois University (NIU) uses Blackboard to support online learning. Blackboard is a comprehensive and flexible Learning Management System (LMS) platform that provides user the functionalities needed for interactive e-learning. Blackboard offers a robust set of tools, functions, and features for learning. First-year students usually come to NIU without the knowledge and skill needed to fully utilize Blackboard and therefore are in great disadvantage when using it to support their learning. The initial recommendation is to provide training opportunities for freshmen to learn on how to use Blackboard’s basic functions in order to support their learning.

This evaluation project was designed in ETT – 510 Instructional Development. The course explored the effects of instructional technology on teaching and learning. The purpose of this evaluation is to enhance the instructional design, before implementation, for the “Learning Management Systems (LMS): Blackboard at NIU Freshmen.” We hope that through this evaluation, the team will be able to identify the necessary improvements for the ideal degree. Furthermore, this plan will help the future implementers of this program to make the training workshop effective.

The designers themselves will be the ones to conduct the evaluation. In this way, they will be able to identify the areas that need to be improved. Team members will be presenting their respective parts of the design to the group for comments and feedback. This process will be conducted in a casual way to ease the tension in group dynamics, and the atmosphere should be as congenial as possible.

The team strives to achieve a well-developed instructional design, and we hope to see new and thrilling results. As we progress through the design process, we expect to see areas which needed improvements. Also, we want our materials revised ahead of time. This revision is to make sure that feedback and recommendations during the previous meeting will be included for the design enhancement.

This report demonstrates my ability to assist and appraise the present trends and issues surrounding Learning Management System and Web 2.0 properties in education environment.

Artifacts: Analysis, Design & Development, Implementation , & Evaluation

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Title of artifact/item: Course Design
Area of Mastery addressed: Instructional Design

This Unit Plan is an overview of the characteristics, concepts, applications, and uses of Web 2.0 properties in distance learning. It will require hands-on learning-activities, workshops, and readings. The unit is design to introduce students in technology integration using Web 2.0 properties, in an online learning environment.

Developed in ETT – 535 Distance Education: Design and Delivery, this unit plan is designed to accommodate part-time students and working professionals at their own pace. The unit is design for online clients who are returning students not having the opportunity to finish schooling due to financial, personal or conflicting work schedules.

A new generation of Web-based tools and approaches are evolving, better suited to meet the need for dynamic online learning content, interaction, collaboration, and networking. Traditional LMS approaches tend to relegate students to the role of passive recipients of information. However, these new tools (Web 2.0) and collaborative approaches allow learners to take proactive control of their own learning.

For me the present state of distance education is the choice direction, especially using available free tools online, because we now have better developed technological platforms (Open Source MOODLE and private developers like Blackboard) to support student learning. Currently, distance learning is also used in big corporations, who want to train their outsourced employees.

Online faculty handling this course should consider carefully the financial and time resources of the students. Course requirements must be stated clearly. The teacher should consider scanning materials instead of requiring students to buy books, a major expense. The teacher should also use readily available online materials that have been compiled by other educational institutions. Surely, these materials are of good source and credibility. These online sources can be reused, saving time and resources.

This project exhibits my ability to create, organize and design an instructional unit plan design for distance learning. Furthermore, the project enables me to prepare hands-on learning-activities, workshops, and readings online. This unit design prepares me to teach students on how to integrate Web 2.0 properties in an online learning environment.

Artifacts: Distance Education - Design and Delivery

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