The Impact of Open Source

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) OpenCourseWare Consortium is a free publication of courses and course materials offered by this institution.  This resource is free and it is available to everyone who wishes to gain knowledge in any number of fields.  Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) believe that the key to designing effective distance learning instruction is by applying principles that are grounded on research-based best practices.  Furthermore, they rely on the notion that effective instruction is the result of effective design. 

I chose to examine the High-Intermediate Academic Communication course to evaluate this resource based on the best practices of distance learning instructional design.    This evaluation considers the answers to the following three questions:

• Does the course appear to be carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment? How so?

• Does the course follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in your course textbook?

• Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students?

The first question regards to the planning and design phases in a distance learning environment.  At first glance, the course is well organized as it includes a course description, the syllabus, a calendar, the reading material, and the assignments.  This organization is important because it guides the learners in terms of the course content, materials, methods, evaluation, and the environment.  Nevertheless, this course was designed to be taught as a face-to-face course which means that it does not incorporate some of the planning principles of distance learning.  For example, Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) provide principles and guidelines that should be considered when planning for instruction at a distance.  For instance, one feature of planning for distance learning is to focus the instruction using visual aids to engage learners because face-to-face interaction is decreased in a distance learning environment.  Another important principle is the use of visual representations such as tables and figures to illustrate key concepts of the course.  In addition, activities that foster student interaction such as discussions and collaborative work are a major aspect of the distance learning setting.  Moreover, the course has to provide other communication venues in case that technology fails.  Likewise, it is important to evaluate the course by inquiring if it meets the needs of the learners.  The following table illustrates a checklist to show the alignment of the course with some of the principles and guidelines as Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) described as best practices when planning distance learning courses. 

Table 1:

Course Evaluation Based on Distance Learning Planning Principles and Guidelines
Distance Learning Planning Principles	Yes	No	Comments
Visual presentations (e.g., videos, power point presentations…)			PDF files
Visual representations (e.g., tables, figures…)			In the syllabus and calendar
Active group interaction (e.g., discussion forums, collaborative work…)			Class discussions, debates, and presentations
Alternative means of communication if technology fails (e.g., fax, phone, e-mail…)			Not specified
Who are the learners?	Yes	No	Comments
Characteristics (age, origin, grade, educational background)			Described as graduate/undergraduate students
Cognitive abilities (prior experiences)			No pre requisites specified
Learning, linguistic, cultural, and affective styles.			English language learners (ELL) not specified
Orienting context Why are they taking the course?			Expand communicative competence in grammar, vocabulary, and writing.
Instructional context When are they taking the course?			25 class sessions of 1.5 hours each plus 2 hours a week in the language Learning and Resource Center
Transfer context How will they use the knowledge gained?			To improve academic language skills in written and spoken English
What is the essential context?	Yes	No	Comments
Sequence of information			A sequence is included in the calendar, but a hierarchical sequence is not specified
Time constraints			Not specified
Goal and objectives for instruction			Not included
What teaching strategies and media should be used?	Yes	No	Comments
Delivery mode			This course was designed as a face-to-face course that include class discussions, debates, and presentations
The instructor’s educational philosophy (e.g., teacher-centered, student-centered…)			Classes are identified as lectures which usually implies content-centered
Media selection How will the content of the course be presented visually?			Face-to-face lectures with two hours a week Internet-based listening/speaking/pronunciation practice
What is the learning environment?	Yes	No	Comments
Technology (e.g., asynchronous, synchronous, blended…)			Mostly face-to-face interaction with Internet-based listening/speaking/pronunciation practice
Considerations using distance learning mode (e.g., equipment, hardware, software, terminology…)			Not specified
Resources and instructional materials			List of readings all in PDF format
Does the course meet the learners’ needs?	Yes	No	Comments
Is the content relevant to the needs of the students?			The content of the course matches the course description.
Does the course include clear directions for students of what they should do at every stage of the course?			List of topics in the course calendar but these are non-directional
Do learners have control over the pace of the course?			None
Does the course include a way to attend the learners’ individual concerns?			Not included
Does the course include an assessment system that incorporates testing, progress monitoring, and feedback from the instructors?			None
Are the materials of the course useful, active, and interesting?			Traditional storage of reading material and practice exercises

Besides the guiding principles that should be considered when planning distance learning courses, it is also important to assess the structure of the course in terms of organization, assessment, content, instruction, and technology tools.  The following table represents an evaluation of the course based on Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2012) recommendations for distance delivered instruction. 

Table 2:

Recommendations for Distance Delivered Instruction
Course Structure: Unit-Module-Topic Model	Yes	No	Comments
Organizational guidelines- Unit-Module-Topic 15 50-minute class sessions			The course is organized by topics.  No units or modules are present.
Assessment guidelines- Learning outcome: 1 major assignment per unit, 1 minor assignment per two to three modules (at least one learning outcome for each topic). Assessment strategy: 1 examination, 1 ten-page paper, 1 project, 3 quizzes, 3 small assignments, graded threaded discussions, e-mails, and chats.			None
Content guidelines- readings, videos, audio recordings, recorded presentations using Power Point with prerecorded audio and synchronous chats with content experts.			The course does not include visual aids other than PDF files and handouts.
Instruction/teaching guidelines- 1 module per week Instructor-e-mail to students each week 1 synchronous chat per week 2 to 3 threaded discussion questions per topic, or 6 to 10 questions per week Instructor comments on discussions as part of a threaded discussion board Progress reports submitted to students every two weeks			Not specified
Technology tools guidelines			No CMS is available or any other learning platform.

            To answer the initial three questions according to the results of this course evaluation, it is fair to say that this course was not planned nor designed for a distance learning environment.  In contrast, it was initially designed as a face-to-face course and then all the course materials were taken and put together in the open courseware to make it available for the people who want to gain knowledge in the field.  This is why this course fails to comply with the distance learning requirements that should be met in the planning phase for distance delivered courses.  For this same reason, the course only follows one of the four recommendations for distance delivered instruction as seen in the second table.  Lastly, the course includes activities to maximize active learning such as classroom discussions, debates, and presentations, but these activities are not designed to be delivered at a distance; instead, these were created to be developed on site.  Additionally, there is no technology tools incorporated in the course to increase the learners’ active participation such as discussion forums, chats, e-mail, Wikis, messengers, or a CMS to deliver the content of the course. 

            In short, this course was not initially designed as a distance learning course which results in the lack of compliance in the pre-planning and design phases for distance learning.  Still, this evaluation could be the first step to transform this course into a distance learning course.  The impact of the current trend regarding open courses is an excellent and advantageous resource for people who want to increase their knowledge, but it also brings the disadvantage of the lack of feedback from the instructor that guides the learners through the learning experience.  It is recommended that a checklist should be created to ease the transition from a face-to-face course to a distance learning course in a more effective way.  This way, the people who participate from these courses could have more resources available suitable for an online learning experience.   In the end, planning and designing courses with the learners in mind is what matters the most. 

References

WonHo, Y. I.  (2004).  High-Intermediate Academic Communication Course.  MIT OpenCourseWare.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Retrieved from http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/foreign-languages-and-literatures/21f-213-high-intermediate-academic-communication-spring-2004/

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education. (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.