Distributed
Learning Environments
Transforming the Teaching/Learning Process
Deborah
Lynn Stirling, Ph.D.
November 24, 1997
Last Revision: July13, 1998
Table of Contents
Overview
Distributed Learning Environment
Distributed learning is frequently used interchangeably with distance learning but the concept differs qualitatively:
Distributed learning can be implemented in conventional classrooms, distance learning courses, or, as it is evolving to, in virtual classrooms.
The mission of the Institute for Academic Technology (IAT) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is to support network environments and develop prototypes of distributed learning environments.
How Best to Teach our Children
The President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology Panel on Educational Technology (1997) believe that the constructivist approach will play a major role in improving the quality of education. Distributed learning embraces the spirit of this approach.
Comprehensive review with excellent bibliography
14 Observations by Réginald Grégoire inc., Robert Bracewell, and Thérèse Laferrière
Information technology helps teachers recover time and enhances professional growth
Reengineering Learning Environments: Bibliography
LEARN North Carolina is a professional development and support program for North Carolina teachers and administrators
"Not only do technologies allow access to a broader range of instructional resources, but they also offer students the opportunity to learn to use electronic tools to access information and develop research skills using the technologies they will face in the future" (US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, p. 59).
Powerful telecommunications networks foster students' learning of critical information-age skills and builds higher-order thinking skills (Newman, 1994, p. 58).
Summary of The Report on President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology: Panel on Educational Technology
Organized in 1995 "to provide independent advice to the President on matters related to the application of various technologies (and in particular, interactive computer- and network-based technologies) to K-12 education in the United States."
Focuses on six main recommendations:
Source:
Future Wiring Trends for Classrooms
Wireless local networking technologies based on the use of low-power radio frequency communication may provide a viable alternative.
Obstacles to Using Network Resources
Role of the Student
Role of the Teacher
Role of the Environment
An average of 25 computers per school, with a single Internet-connected computer lab or multimedia -- initial acquisition cost of $11 billion nationwide, with an additional $4 billion per year required for operation and maintenance (McKinsey/NIIAC study in Panel on Technology, 1995).
Funding for Technology--Very comprehensive and valuable metasite
Asymetrix unveils Neuron™: A ToolBook Plug-in for Netscape Navigator
Collaborative Networked Communication: MUDs as Systems Tools by Rémy Evard - Northeastern University
University of Tennessee's Toolbox
The NODE: Technologies for Learning--Integrated Learning Packages
Models of Distributed Learning
Distributed Learning Research in the Instructional Technology Program
Distributed Learning Environments
Distributed Learning Communities
So You Want to Have a Distributed Learning Class?
Benton Foundation's The Learning Connection: Schools in the Information Age
"broker" the educational resources of western colleges and universities
Research Activities
Learning over the Internet: Courses, Curricula, Programs, Syllabi, etc.
Taming the Electronic Frontier--Syllabus for the Fall 1997 Session of a 15 week 3-credit course by Brad Cox of the George Mason Program on Social and Organizational Learning.
Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is a non-profit organization formed to further the development and use of telecommunications in K-12 education.
ALN and the 97 Proceedings and the 98 Proceedings
Satellite Educational Resources Consortium
Online Internet Institute (OII)
Presentation about OII
LearningConnect (a specialist in Distributed Learning solutions based around Lotus LearningSpace and Lotus Notes)
Engines for Education: Children as Teachers
The Use Of Cable and the Internet/World Wide Web In Elementary and Secondary Classrooms
Tucson's and America's 1st On-line & Video University: Magellan University
SunSITE @ UTK (University of Tennessee at Knoxville)
Quality Education Data's Home page
The American Center for the Study of Distance Education's Home page
Three Models of Distance Education at the University of Maryland
The International Centre
for Distance Learning (ICDL)-contains a
database of current DE courses
Adult Education & Distance Learner's Resource Center
Peterson's Education Center - contains a searchable directory of institutions with
distance learning programs categorized alphabetically as well as by
degree program and course
The
Globewide Network Academy - lists over 15,000 courses and
programs in their distance learning catalog
The World Lecture Hall - links to faculty created materials used to deliver class materials via the Web
Harvard Sites
Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association (TERENA) represents its members, the national research networks of Europe and other associated organizations.
TERENA Guide to Network Resource Tools
National School Network
Partners
Kent State University has 6 Distributed Learning Sites
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
Instructional Telecommunications Council
News, Resources, and Trends
Syllabus Web--Contains useful information on technologies used to enhance education
Technology and Learning
Online Newsletter
Distributed Learning Environments
UTK's Distributed Learning Resources
Learning over the Internet: Courses, Curricula, Programs, Syllabi, etc.
Professor Llanes' Research Resources
TeleEducation NB's Distance Education Resources
Guide to Conferencing on the WWW by David R. Woolley
Teachers and Technology: Making the Connection-- Office of Technology Assessment, 1995. This publication provides a comprehensive analysis of research findings over the past 15 years.
PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE OF ADVISORS ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Panel on Educational Technology A Report to the President on the Use of Technology to Strengthen K-12 Education in the United States March 1997
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education Technology and the New Professional Teacher: Preparing for the 21st Century Classroom (1997) Note: Dr. Bitter was on this Task Force on Technology and Teacher Education
Comprehensive review with excellent bibliography: The Contribution of New Technologies to Learning and Teaching in Elementary and Secondary Schools
Creating Learning Communities: Practical, Universal Networking for Learning in Schools and Homes--165-page report
What's going on: Efforts to deliver computer networking to schools
RAND publication on Educational Technology
Impact of college-level courses via Asynchronous Learning Networks: Focus
on Students by
Starr Roxanne Hiltz, NJIT
Sites that Explore the Issue of Training Teachers How to Integrate Technology into the Classroom
Teaching the Teachers--
reports on the lack of adequate training could result in wasted money spent on hardware and software.CALOS: First Results From an Experiment in Computer-Aided Learning
byWebCT and First Year Computer Science: Student Reaction to and Use of a Web-Based Resource in First Year Computer Science by Murray W. Goldberg, Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia
Camden Conference on Telecommunications
Telecommunications Online Information Metasite
Frequently Used Terms
Network Technology Information
Historical Events in the Early Days
1819 Hans C. Oersted detected the current pulses at the remote receiving
station
1837 Willaim F. Cooke and Charles Wheatstone the first railway telegraph in England
1844 Samuel F. B. Morse first message sent over telegraph
1866 Cyrus Fields first telegraph cable
1874 Emile Baudot increased the traffic capacity of a telegraph line
1892 Alexander Graham Bell first telephone call
Dictionary of PC Hardware and Data Communications Terms
T
echWeb Technology Encyclopedia
Overview of the New Networking Architecture
Sonet Websites
Networked Multimedia Overview--"
discusses the structure of the industry that is delivering multimedia, the requirements that multimedia places on a network, and Cisco's products that will enable multimedia both today and in the future."
The Impact of Technology--Metasite
The Telecommunications Act of 1996--ftp file
Technology Law Group's HTML Index to the Act
Government's website about the Act
The Benton Foundation's Telecommunications Act of 1996 Home page
"A Mathematical Theory of Communication"
by Claude Shannon (1948) developed a new science--Information TheoryEducom--a nonprofit consortium of higher education institutions focused on transforming education using information technology
NLII - National Learning Infrastructure Initiative
Bibliography - "Technology and the African-American Experience"
The Internet as a distributed learning system brings us closer to the brain model
Distributed Learning on the World Wide Web by Steven Salzberg and Susan Polyson, Virginia Commonwealth University
OnRamp Search of Distributed Learning
InterNic's Search Engine: Academic Guide to the Internet
Quaichang Furball's Find-it Easy --a web search engine for 10-14 year olds
Have a Question? Ask Jeeves
Yahooligans--another good web search engine for 10-14 year olds.
Metacrawler search engine
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Copyright © 1997
Most recent revision March 20, 1999