Distance Learning and Interactive Tours

Scenerio:


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?



Suggestions:


As the instructional designer in a scenerio such as the one stated above; I would suggest using a technology that is very user friendly, inexpensive and something that students can actively participate in with their classmates. The course reading states , "taking tthe time to develop good visual media will enhance the quality of the learning experience" (Simonson, M. et. al., 2012). One of the programs I chose is called Prezi. This program comes at a small cost but there is a free trial with this  that gives you the feel of its features and allows you the opportunity to create your own presentation. A summary of the features include:

• The ability to zoom in close or pan out for better visualization of your ideas and concepts
• Being able to import images, youtube videos, PDF's and other types of media
• Adding a story line to go along with visuals
• Collaborating with peers in real-time
• The ability to present on and offline
• Customizable themes

This technology would be very beneficial in this situation because the presentation would be very professional, outline and emphasis key points and provide the opportunity for student critiques.

Features and interactive example:

Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gCmL0P5RNA


Another technology that can be used in combination with Prezi is Skype education. With this program students are allowed to communicate via video and voice conferencing as well as through instant messages. By using these two programs in conjunction with each other, students will be able to effectively communicate with the curator and they will become actively engaged in the learning process.


References


Simonson, M., et. al., (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) p. 159


Youtube, (2009). Prezi Demo 2. retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gCmL0P5RNA




One more technology I would like to share is called The Docent Tour, I I saw the video and thought it was pretty intriguing:

retrieved from: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeLuDol1XVo