Distance Learning Scenario

Distance Education Scenario:

“A high school history teacher, located on the west coast of the United States, wants to showcase to her students new exhibits being held at two prominent New York City museums. The teacher wants her students to take a "tour" of the museums and be able to interact with the museum curators, as well as see the art work on display. Afterward, the teacher would like to choose two pieces of artwork from each exhibit and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art. As a novice of distance learning and distance learning technologies, the teacher turned to the school district’s instructional designer for assistance. In the role of the instructional designer, what distance learning technologies would you suggest the teacher use to provide the best learning experience for her students?”

This scenario presents an interesting opportunity for the creation of a virtual world or virtual learning experience, (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012). Simonson et al states,“ [Virtual worlds] have exciting potential for placing students in real-life applications of course content, ( pg. 132).”

Technology Recommendations

As the instructional designer, I would recommend that the teacher use Adobe Flash to put together a “tour” of the new art exhibits. The teacher can upload pictures from the exhibit, and insert reference text where necessary. This text can be linked to audio from Adobe Soundbooth, or another audio recording program, where the curator is able explain each piece of art, as they would to the general audience.  Adobe Flash provides each student the opportunity to zoom in and out on certain images, pause the narration, and control the overall pace of the tour asynchronously.
At the end of the tour, the students can click on certain questions that they may have about the art exhibit, and the curator can share pre-recorded answers to those questions. The teacher can then encourage the students to email any remaining questions to the art curator, by providing the link to the curator’s email address. After the tour is complete, students can participate in an art critique in the face-to-face classroom.
This scenario is an example of Web-Based Distance Education, where the web is used to support the content being presented in a traditional learning environment, (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).

Real-World Examples

Virtual tours have been successfully created by Buffalo State College in New York, as well as the city of Hamilton, Ontario through the use of narration and Adobe Flash.
Buffalo State College: http://www.buffalostate.edu/tour/flash/
City of Hamilton, Ontario: http://museumshamilton.com/hamilton-civic-museums.html?location_num=3

References

Buffalo State College. (2012). Tour. Retrieved on May 13, 2012 from: http://www.buffalostate.edu/tour/flash/.
City of Hamilton. Hamilton civic museums: virtual tours. Retrieved on May 13, 2012 from: http://museumshamilton.com/hamilton-civic-museums.html?location_num=3
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.