Introduction
Companies create education and training departments to support professional development goals of employees and external clients. Although the purpose for these education initiatives may seem obvious, defining the technologies to use when it comes to curricula can be rather obscure. The University of Public Health (UofPH), an organization established to provide high-quality learning opportunities through the delivery of timely and cost-effective learning products. The university supports the mission and strategic goals of the agency to meet the training and developmental needs of the division. The target audience for courses is students (investigators and analysts) and course development team (CAG) members. The CAG consists of management, trainers, instructional designers, instructors, SMEs and support staff. The program content is objective-based focusing on mastery of public health professional job skills. A learning management system (LMS) is a “software system used to manage student data and records for online and classroom learning” (Moore and Kearsley, 2005, p. 329). Online, face-to-face (F2F), and blended learning courses are managed in three LMSs (in three different locations)—CWire, Lorepath, and UofPH Learning Portal.
Purpose
This essay will examine factors to consider as a UofPH moves toward selecting one LMS to use. The selected LMS should efficiently and effectively transition existing course content, improve course records accessibility, and significantly reduce manual administrative tasks. I’ve selected Absorb LMS, a robust technology that can comply with the mandate of offering courses hosted on the portal, and to meet the essential needs of the organization: Although the essay focuses on the fea...
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(Alan Davis is the author)
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(Judith Hughes is the author)
A. Smith, L. J. (2003). Assessing student needs in an online graduate program. In U. Bernath, & E. Rubin (Eds.), Reflections on teaching and learning in an online master program - A case study (pp. 255-267). Oldenburg: Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg.
http://www.absorbanywhere.com/default.asp
McWay, D. (2014). Today's Health Information Management: An Integrated Approach. Cengage Learning. Retrieved from http:// www.kaplanvitalsource.com
In “Can You Be Educated from a Distance?” by James Barszcz, the author attempts to pinpoint the negative aspects of distance education compared to traditional classrooms. At the beginning of the article, he first describes the basic format of online courses, which results in a vast minimization of face-to-face communication of students with instructors. He then touches on some of the beneficial qualities of online education, and the reasoning for its quickly growing popularity among students and schools alike. He mainly attributes this trend to the overall convenience that is promised to students by online courses. These courses allow students to learn material in the comfort of their own home. Barszcz also considers the financial appeal for universities. Having an increasing number of students enrolled solely in online classes allows schools to save money on electricity, as well as decrease the amount of staff they employ. Also mentioned is that many strong advocates of distance...
... problems and carry out planned change through communication and understanding. An important part in implementing positive attitudes and facilitating successful learning is the acceptance of technology by healthcare professionals staff members.
Menchaca, Michael P., and Teklu Abate Bekele. "Learner and Instructor Identified Success Factors in Distance Education." Distance Education 29.3 (2008): 231-52. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.
One of the major advantages of an online degree program is the flexibility it provides to someone working a demanding job, living geographically removed from a college campus, or that simply finds it most convenient for a host of other reasons. These challenges of the modern workforce have in fact been the big driver behind the exponential rise in online degree programs over the past decade. Furthermore, the flexibility provided by an online degree program enables tailoring a program matched to personal learning style and pace.
O'Malley, John, and Harrison McCraw. "Students perceptions of distance learning, online learning and the traditional classroom." Online journal of distance learning administration [Online] 2.4 (1999). Web. 10 Jan. 2014
Some students within society need to have online learning to complete college degrees due to their lifestyles. While it is good to have online learning as an option if one chooses, it should not be the only option available to some students. Some may argue that online education is not creating discrimination within the educational environment. Furthermore, some may suggest that online learning is benefiting our students in society. There has been a breakthrough in time and geographical limitations of education via online courses (Ho, 2009).
Nowadays, teaching is no longer restricted to face-to-face interaction between the students and the teachers. (Yueh & Hsu, 2008). The usage of learning management systems in the classroom and in the workplace continues to play an important role in helping instructors, trainers and educators in meeting their pedagogical as well as their organizational goals (see Argyris, 1977; Beatty & Ulasewicz, 2006; Liu, Li & Carlsson, 2010; Shrivastava, 1983; Ong, Lai & Wang, 2004). Becoming ubiquitous since the 80’s and 90’s, learning management systems (LMS) are one of the means of e-learning—a learning situation where instructors and learners are separated by distance, time, or both (Raab, Ellis, & Abdon, 2002) as well as m-learning (mobile
To build an online course there must be a process; this process needs to incorporate the methods of instructional design and applying these components into an online format. The overall end result is that the student learning outcomes are developed into instructional activities used for learning. Key decisions were made into developing the online design. Part of the process included documentation as to the online design, methods for interactivity, number of contacts with the faculty-member, and methods for online assessment and evaluation. One thing that was important to realize was that developing an online courses was different than developing a traditional face-to-face course. An article written by Nanette Johnson-Curiskis, a faculty member from Minnesota State University has provided some additional cons...
Today’s generation is like no other. The nation as a whole has completely evolved from past times, with technology being one of the greatest improvements. Traditionally, schooling takes place in a classroom setting, but, with the many modifications in our world’s system, we are able to assimilate more modern means of education, such as online learning. However, with many changes comes differences and requires adjustments. The online learning system has proven to be just as effective as traditional learning, with some minor differences, however, nothing of great significance. A few of those insignificant differences include online learning being convenient, especially for the non-traditional students,
This article made some interesting evaluations; online learning was a big dilemma for me when I decided to go back to school. While I possessed the discipline to attend online, I did however lack the skills needed to maneuver within my course of study. After attending a classroom-based school with some online classes, I made a decision to continue my studies online. The teachers design and interaction meets my level of understanding and when I’m not sure of an assignment, I simply contact them via e-mail. I feel the author did a great job in addressing his chosen topic, showing both the strengths and the weaknesses of his study.
People have a lot of options in educating themselves online in today’s time and technology. Online education has improved a lot in the past twenty years. Even though it has had its setbacks, it continues to show promising results. Online education has many benefits with little to no disadvantages. It provides flexibility in scheduling and offers various options in educational online programs. In the past decade, education has evolved into a more technological-driven world.
The implementation of online learning in many universities has proven to be a successful method of course delivery (Regan, Evmenova, Baker, Jerome, Spencer, Lawson, & Werner, 2012). Dickson-Dean, Galyen, and Moore (2011) proposed that online learning can promote successful learning opportunities for students as well as rewarding benefits for all educational stakeholders. Factors that contribute to the success of online learning include, but are not limited to, flexibility and accessibility, cost reduction, increased retention, and varied learning opportunities (Neely & Tucker, 2010). Online learning and associated technology is becoming increasingly adaptable and can be used to meet the educational needs of all students while providing opportunities for differentiated instruction (Krishnakumar & Kumar, 2011). Online learning provides both students and instructors with opportun...
Abstract: Recently, there has been a rush to create web-based instructional courses. The approach that is being taken to create web-based courses is to create websites that will function as the central distributors of information and materials. Based on the format and content of the course, the student is to go through lesson by lesson to complete courses. In this paper, I address some of the problems inherent in this approach, especially with respect to 18-22 year-old undergraduate education.