Even at first glace, Open Culture is very user
friendly and is carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning
environment. From the detailed course
listings to the organizational tabs and links, the developers of Open Culture
want users to feel comfortable. By
having a good organizational system of courses, learners are able to navigate
the various locations of this tool and get to where they need to be. There is little chance of getting lost within
the way that Open Culture is designed and that is a huge plus for distance
learners. “If the design is effective,
instruction will also be effective” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek,
2012, p. 171).
I specifically found a great course on
epidemics. I am currently in charge of
our emergency preparation training program at East Tennessee Children’s
Hospital. I am always trying to keep in
touch with current trends and safety concerns.
This course was even part of the curriculum at Penn State. I was amazed at the quality of free programs
that were available. I briefly took a
stroll through the various menus and almost any topic I could think of was
covered. The vast array of options is
much more than I had expected and that makes Open Culture a very nice find!
One specific way that Open Culture implements
activities that maximize active learning and engages students is through the
use of informative and introductory videos.
For example, the free course I found on epidemics had a very cool video
link that introduced the course. Even
from the beginning, Open Culture did a great job of engaging me and allowing me
to become active in the course. This
introductory video also represented a visual impact. “Because of the nature of distance learning
and the separation of the instructor from the students, it is essential that
the instructor begin to think visually” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and
Zvacek, 2012, p. 159). I relate visual
aspects as advertisements. If a page,
link or source looks appealing and interesting, I will make time for a visit.
I do believe that Open Culture follows
recommendations for online instruction.
In addition to having a great visual aspect and easy to navigate menus,
Open Culture does a great job establishing course objectives and learning
outcomes. “A learning outcome is observable and measurable” (Simonson,
Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek, 2012, p. 181).
Most every course I visited had clear objectives and indications to
learning outcomes. It is vital that a
learner understands what he or she will get out of a course. Having these matters settled upfront adds to
engagement and really matches up a learner with the right product.
Simonson,
M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and
learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston,
MA: Pearson.
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