List of the 10 Principles

The first draft of the Script

The following ten principles guide decisions that we make as instructional designers, instructional technologists and as teachers and students in distance education.

The timings were measured using http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ and my narrated voice…. or I'll just look at the video that I made.

Principle 1

"The Student is the Class."

-- Abraham Fischler

Comment: This principle is expressed in the paper titled "Person Centered Model of Instruction" in the Perfect Online Course (p. 297). The principal difference between face to face teaching and distance education is that distance education can more easily be shaped to give the student an individualized learning program. See also "Student Centered Learning" in Simonson, p. 195. "When teaching at a distance, the role of the instructor is often that of a facilitator rather than presenter."

TIMING: 27 seconds

Principle 2

"Meet learning needs by being innovative."

-- Jan Visser, p 37, Trends and Issues

Comment: This principle is a supporting theme that helps create a well-functioning online course. This principle helps meet the needs of the student (and satisfy the conditions of the first principle.)

TIMING: 20 seconds

Principle 3

"Independent study places greater responsibility on the student."

-- Simonson, p. 43

"Students become responsible for both their own learning and assisting in the learning of others."

-- Perfect Online Course, p. 402

Comment: Simonson wrote about the theory of Independent Study, a theory by Charles Wedemeyer. The independent learner is more successful in distance learning situations than students who require more support in the learning experience.

TIMING: 25 seconds

Principle 4

"Understand learner characteristics before developing distance learning environments." (Willis, 1994)

found in Simonson, p. 156

Comment: This is a corollary of the first principle. Only by understanding our students can we truly develop programs that meet their needs. As Dennis Littky puts it, "Until we know the kid, the program is just school. After we know the kid's interests and passions, we can teach to those passions and the kid gets engaged in the learning."

TIMING: 25 seconds

Principle 5

"Flexibility is critical to successful distance educational experiences." Simonson, p. 201

TIMING: 10 seconds

Principle 6

"The success of an instructional program often can be assessed only some time after instruction is concluded." Morrison, p. 332.

Comments: Has it ever happened to you that you took a course, failed to understand some procedures, barely passed the final exam, and six month later found that you could explain what you didn't know on the final exam? Sometimes it takes time for understanding to settle in. According to Morrison, it might be that a program is successful after the participants have had time to use the new information just acquired. It takes time to integrate new procedures into the work routine.

TIMING: 30 seconds

Principle 7

"Instructional media must enhance learning opportunities" Simonson, p. 201

Don't add a procedure or the latest technology just to have the "most recent update."

TIMING: 15 seconds

Principle 8

"Design of graphics in the course should be balanced and take account of line, shape, space, texture and other characteristics."

Simonson, p. 248-249

TIMING: 12 seconds

Principle 9

Narrator: Dr. Simonson articulates the "equivalency" theory.

"The teacher of online instruction should provide a wide collection of activities that make possible equivalent learning experiences for students using an approach that recognizes fundamental differences between learners, distant and local. Equivalency is more difficult but promises to be more effective." Simonson, p. 284.

TIMING: 25 seconds

Principle 10

"Lifelong learning is possible for the many, thanks to distance education." Michael Young. on page 118 of Trends book.

TIMING: 9 seconds

Total seconds:

3:30 plus a minute in the credits -- 4:30 total show.

Closing credits will show the sources and will have 20 seconds of each of key figures talking, such as 20 seconds x 3 = 1 minute

Phil Harris, Michael Simonson, Abraham Fischler the voice will be in the back ground while the credits unfold.

References

Fischler, A. (2012). The student is the class. In H. Howrey, C. Burfield, and S. McCrea (Eds.), Building better schools. pp. 6-7. Lulu Press.

Morrison, G., Ross, S. & Kemp, J. (2004). Designing effective instruction. Hoboken, NJ: WIley.

Orellana, Hudgins & Simonson (2009). The perfect online course: Best practices for designing and teaching.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., et al. (2012) Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (fifth edition). Boston: Pearson.

Visser, Y.L., Visser, L., Simonson, M. & Amirault, R. (2005). Trends and issues in distance education: International perspectives. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Press.

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Some of the photos from the video

Some additional points...

Available on Youtube.com/KPHagen1