I like your mixed-media, multi-channel approach. I think you only
increase the richness
of your courses by using this approach.
I used to work at Regis University, where I evaluated and implemented
existing technologies
for things like distance learning.
One of the gems I found for course facilitation was Moodle. It was
quite nice for those loosely-
coupled interactions and collaborations. At the time it didn't carry
many features for live
collaboration, but it was a very nice piece of work. And.... <drumroll>
it's free & open-source.
Regis didn't end up using it officially, but a handful of professors
ended up with their own
instances of it for their own courses, since they preferred it (which
speaks to me).
Adobe ConnectNow is an interesting service for live presentation and
collaboration.
Mike Caskey
Denver, Colorado
Michael Eckersley wrote:
Interesting to see the various opinions.
Probably necessary to explain that our current graduate programs rely
on regular student-instructor and student-student group interaction.
The "co-located" courses are offered evenings simultaneously
between two campuses in KC and Lawrence, with the professor
alternating between locations every week. We currently rely on
Polycom systems. Not ideal, but a workable, fairly low cost solution
for now. Blackboard offers useful asynchronous course backup for
information sharing: readings, discussion boards, lecture material,
etc. Lecture material can be videotaped and archived for reference.
Ideally, we'd prefer having all students together at same
time/place, but we've found that the benefits of this delivery
channel outweigh most of the obvious limitations. This model
contrasts from conventional distance learning models in that there's
still plenty of face-to-face in a lecture/studio format. But it's
been surprising how adaptive the learning experience can be without
sacrificing qualities that make it meaningful and useful to people.
We are getting requests to make these programs available remotely in
a more conventional distance learning mode. It appears doable for the
Design Management MA, but not well suited to the serious study of
Interaction Design--at least with current commercially available
technology.
Hope this clarifies...
Michael
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37349
________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
To post to this list ....... [email protected]
Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe
List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines
List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
To post to this list ....... [email protected]
Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe
List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines
List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
